Terrible, Thanks For Asking

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Why do we hold on to things we no longer need? For many of us, it’s because they remind us of who we were and who we thought we might become. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. Read the episode transcript here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Last year, we did a virtual live show on Valentine’s Day, and Nora — who considers herself a bit of a matchmaker — did some matchmaking. And while she was doing that, the live show comments section was popping off with other Terribles looking for love. This gave Nora the harebrained idea to make … a matchmaking episode. Consider this the podcast version of that “Great Expectations” video dating service from the ‘90s.  We're no longer taking submissions for these daters, but we hope you enjoy the episode anyway! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Girlboss culture is now, as they say, cringe, but during the 2010s, SO MANY of us thought we were on the precipice of busting through that glass ceiling. We thought we could rise and grind, hustle our way to the life of our dreams, and as long as we loved what we did we wouldn’t work a day in our lives. Leigh Stein is also a recovering girlboss, who went into debt building an organization that supported women but left her burned all the way out. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. Read the transcript for this episode here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - In March, a New York Times article made the rounds titled, “How Long Should It Take to Grieve? Psychiatry Has Come Up With an Answer.” And if that sentence alone makes you roll your eyes and want to punch an inanimate object, you’ve come to the right place. Nora read the article (twice) and had … some thoughts. So did her friend — and former TTFA guest — Brittany Freeman Jean-Louis. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Our language surrounding mental illness has evolved a lot over the past couple of decades … to a point. There are still some mental illnesses that exist outside of the bounds of most people’s understanding and compassion, that are not so easily accepted and are really scary to people who don’t have them. Illnesses that make the person seem “crazy,” where people might not want to associate themselves with you. Today’s guest -- Brettina -- has one of those. Resources: “Why Borderline Personality Disorder is Misdiagnosed” from NAMI  Building a Life Worth Living by Marsha Linehan Follow @TheBrettina on Instagram You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Some holidays are just more loaded than others, depending on our individual experiences. When you’re grieving the loss of your mother — either because they’ve died or because you don’t have a relationship with them — what the heck are you supposed to do with a holiday like Mother’s Day?  When a listener reached out to Nora after their mom died to ask for advice on moving forward, Nora decided to tap into the Terrible Rolodex of accidental grief experts … past TTFA guests and listeners and friends of the pod who have been there. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Grief comes with so much judgment. Everybody is sure that there's a right way to do it, and only for a certain length of time. If our grief doesn’t neatly fit into a category, we worry that it’s illegitimate. Erin knows this judgment very well. She’s a widow … or is she? Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - In 2020, we asked how it was going in there … wherever it was you were isolating, quarantining, social distancing. Somehow, it’s been *checks watch* TWO YEARS of COVID and so much more, so we thought it was time for another check-in. How *is* it going in there, Terribles? Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Danielle’s daughter Della was a quintessential “good baby.” She slept through the night almost from the get go. She rarely cried! But when Danielle started weaning her, little Della would just … not eat. Could not eat. Her tiny body rebelled against her with every food she tried. When your baby lives with a chronic illness that wants to kill her, each day brings more anxiety. And it’s especially tough when you’re Della. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Growing up, Dani Shapiro never felt like she truly belonged to the orthodox Jewish community she lived in. All around her were kids who dressed and prayed and looked alike … and then, there was Dani — a fair-skinned, fair-haired, blue-eyed little Jewish girl. Dani spent much of her early writing career authoring fictional stories about secrets within families, not knowing that she would soon learn her own family had a big secret: Dani herself. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - When someone we love dies, we become the vessels responsible for carrying their memory forward. The people we love stay alive in the big things, of course … but in the little things, too. When a listener shared an inside joke with the Terrible community about her late husband, we knew it was the beginning of an episode. Today, we share your stories, your inside jokes, your memories about your people. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Liam was raised as a girl, but from a very young age he knew that just … didn’t make sense. When he comes out to his evangelical Christian parents as a young adult — first as a lesbian, then as a trans man — it unfortunately goes exactly how he expected it to. This episode includes anecdotes and language that disparages the LGBTQIA+ community and trans experience. We include them with Liam’s explicit permission, as they play a role in his story as a trans man. We also refer to Liam by his birth name (and he refers to himself by his birth name) at times during this episode. For more tips on how to be a better ally to transgender people, visit GLAAD’s resource center. Follow Liam on TikTok. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - In our “Behind The Scammer” episode, you met Celisia Stanton and Rev. Gonzales, two people who had their life savings stolen from them by their financial adviser, a man named Isaiah Goodman. We intentionally focused that episode on the scammed – on the victims. But we do have a duty to reach out to the subject of any story and say “Hey, do you want to comment on this?” So we did. And Isaiah agreed to an interview, from inside federal prison. Celisia’s podcast is called “Truer Crime,” and you can (and should!) listen to it here. She also set up a GoFundMe to help the Gonzales family recoup some of their financial losses. You can help them here. - Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices.

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - We are all just products of the people who raise us. And they are products of those who raised them. Vanessa Zoltan knows that better than most. She is the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors, and for her, nihilism and depression kind of run in the family. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Many people who have autism are diagnosed at a young age. But today’s guest, Grace, wasn’t diagnosed with autism until she was 27 years old. In the months since the diagnosis, Grace has spent a lot of time reflecting on her childhood and young adulthood to understand why this wasn’t caught sooner — and in the process, she’s come to better understand herself and who she’s always been. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - We recently made an episode called “The Grudge Book” filled with your grudges, and the feedback was SO strong. People felt validated. They laughed. They connected. So Nora got to thinking … did we need an episode that also gave you a place to share the other things that are hard to say? Your regrets? Your almosts? We decided the answer was yes, and this episode is loaded with them. Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olivia is 7 years old when her dad moves out of state to take a new job … and is never heard from again. In high school, a manilla envelope appears in Olivia’s mailbox letting her know the reason she never heard from him is because he died by suicide. But when Olivia learns as a young journalist that her father might have faked his own death all those years ago, she decides to investigate. - Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - It’s the stuff of romantic comedies: Man meets woman as they’re boarding a flight. The two quickly discover they share many similarities and go on to chat for hours. There’s an instant connection. The big difference here is the woman is Nora, and the man is a TTFA listener. And what she and Jose spend hours talking about, what they instantly connect on ... is their grief. Because like Nora, Jose recently lost the love of his life. - Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Suffering can feel like such a singular experience -- like there’s no one else in the world who understands what we’re going through. But sometimes, if we look hard enough, we find that our singular experience intersects with another. This is the story of two young girls whose stories intertwined during a tragic accident on October 8, 1988 … though they wouldn’t meet for decades to come. - Did you know we’re on TikTok? Yep, it’s true. Follow Nora. You can catch up with TTFA on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using @ttfapodcast. Nora's Instagram is @noraborealis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - We’re culturally obsessed with scammers, con artists and fraudsters. People like Elizabeth Holmes and Bernie Madoff dominate headlines and then get films made and books written documenting what they did and how they did it. But behind the scammers are the victims: individuals who are struggling to recover their sense of safety, their identity … and their money. In July 2021, Isaiah Goodman was sentenced to 7 years in prison for defrauding clients out of more than $2.3 million dollars. He spent the money on a hot tub, a fancy house, two cars, a cruise … but it wasn’t his money. That money belonged to -- among others -- Celisia Stanton and Rev. Michael Gonzales, two very real people whose lives were materially impacted by Goodman’s materialism. Celisia’s podcast is called “Truer Crime,” and you can (and should!) listen to it here. She also set up a GoFundMe to help the Gonzales family recoup some of their