This Is Uncomfortable

Latest Episodes:

More "This Is Uncomfortable" is on the way Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

“This Is Uncomfortable” returns Jan. 15. Listen to this note from Reema for more, including an exciting change — we're going to start coming to you weekly! Bringing you more uncomfortable conversations with everyday people, experts, and authors about how money shapes our choices, relationships, and identity.

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And let us know what you think by emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org or calling 347-RING-TIU.

The Emotionally Awkward Cost of Money, from “Alive with Steve Burns” Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

Reema and the team are working on some updates to the podcast that will arrive in your feeds in the new year. You’ve been telling us you want more TIU and we heard you. Stay tuned to this feed for more soon…

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something that gets you thinking about the emotional side of money, you’ll enjoy Reema’s recent guest appearance on “Alive with Steve Burns.” Reema and Steve dig into what she’s learned about money over the years and why talking about finances can feel so strangely vulnerable and awkward.

To hear more episodes, follow “Alive with Steve Burns” wherever you get your podcasts or head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/AlivewithSteveBurnsfd

The things we leave behind (updated rerun) Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

This week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes, plus a new update and your surprising reactions.

While sorting through her father’s belongings after his death, Amanda Petteruti came across a collection of locked toolboxes. What she discovered inside made her rethink what she knew about her family’s finances and left her with unsettling questions about her dad: Why had he spent so much money on this secret hobby? Why was it now Amanda’s burden to handle? And how do you find closure with someone once they’re gone?

We want to know what you think about This Is Uncomfortable. Please complete a short, anonymous survey by going to marketplace.org/survey. It should only take about 10 minutes, and you do all of us at Marketplace a huge favor by filling it out.

Who wants to be a crypto millionaire? Jul 11, 2025

Show notes

What would you do with a million dollars…in crypto? Reema Khrais talks with Marketplace reporter Matt Levin about one man’s journey to becoming crypto rich. Levin’s reporting reveals a complicated picture, not just about the ups and downs of crypto, but also about what it means to chase the American dream when you're living on the margins.

We want to know what you think about This Is Uncomfortable. Please complete a short, anonymous survey by going to marketplace.org/survey. It should only take about 10 minutes, and you do all of us at Marketplace a huge favor by filling it out.

"You'll never be ready to buy a home" May 22, 2025

Show notes

When newlyweds Chantal and Travis Lisback started searching for their dream home in Seattle, they weren’t entirely on the same page. Chantal was eager to settle down as soon as possible, while Travis was more comfortable waiting a few years. As the search dragged on, what began as a shared dream started to feel more like a standoff.

This week, a story about how a big life decision can bring to light the money and communication issues you didn’t know were there. Plus, later in the episode, Chantal and Travis sit down with financial therapist Aja Evans to unpack what’s happening beneath the surface, and how to approach money fights with more care and intention.

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

Work Drama: Your questions, our advice May 15, 2025

Show notes

Ever wrestled with a work problem and didn’t know where to turn? We’ve got you. In our new advice column, “Work Drama,” we try to find answers to your sticky work situations.

This week, “This Is Uncomfortable” host Reema Khrais is joined by career coach and podcaster Mandi Woodruff-Santos to unpack your workplace problems -- from messy, toxic bosses to dealing with salary negotiations.

Got workplace drama you need help dealing with? Shoot us an email at uncomfortable@marketplace.org to tell us about it, or call ‪(347) 746-4848‬ and leave a message.

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

New Nun Syndrome May 08, 2025

Show notes

After decades of trying to make it as an actor and comedian in Hollywood, Claudette Powell felt deeply unfulfilled. So she set her sights on a radically different life -- one that required her to pay off nearly $150,000 of debt. When she finally wrote that last check, she took a vow of poverty and entered a convent.

But leaving behind her material life wasn’t as simple as it sounded. This week: how paying off debt was only the beginning – and how money still finds a way to complicate life within convent walls.

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

Will you be my nanny? May 01, 2025

Show notes

Hanna Sanborn was a single mom with newborn twins, struggling to find affordable childcare. Her best friend, Bryer Rossi, was burned out at work and looking for a way out. One day, Hanna floated an idea to him: “What if you quit your job and took care of my babies?”

What started as a running joke between friends turned into a lifeline that changed their lives and the way they saw each other.

If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

"This Is Uncomfortable" is back May 1 Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

“This Is Uncomfortable” returns with four brand-new episodes about life and how money messes with it.

This season: Two best friends, struggling with work and unaffordable child care, come up with an unconventional solution that reshapes their relationship. A woman walks away from a Hollywood career to take a vow of poverty. Our “Money Fight” series is back, following a couple whose search for a dream home turns into a power struggle. And in our new advice series, "Work Drama," we tackle your uncomfortable work questions on toxic offices and pay discrepancies.

New episodes drop starting May 1.

“Unlocking the Gates” on housing and economic opportunity Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

“This Is Uncomfortable” will be back in your feeds with brand new episodes in May, and in the meantime, we’re sharing the first episode of “Unlocking the Gates,” a series from Marketplace and APM Studios hosted by special correspondent Lee Hawkins. He tells the story of how the Minnesota suburb he grew up in went from being a place where the housing market was inaccessible to Black families to one where many Black families found economic opportunity. And it all started with a nighttime business deal.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected