11 of the Best Life Advice Podcasts to Answer All Your Tough Questions
Reading Time: 5 minutesIf you have a life question—big or small—these podcasts have the answer.
Need some advice? Sure, we all do. And where we could once turn to the newspaper columnists of yore (from Abby, to Ann, to Amy) to tell us how to live better, these days, advice-givers are all about podcasts.
It makes sense—the medium offer the perfect space to either call in with your own problem, or live vicariously through the issues of others. The Best Advice Show is perhaps my favorite advice show podcasts (I wrote about it here), but there are a slew of others, each of which caters to a niche audience. Whether you have a tough question about your relationship or a silly question about your sandwich punch card, these podcasts offer advice that will make you feel like you’re being hugged, give you a good laugh, set you on a better path, or make you feel less alone.
The only thing I am qualified to give advice on is which podcasts I think you should listen to, and I think you should listen all of these. Take a break from your problems by listening to other people talk about theirs, or call in to one or two and get some help from the experts.
On A Bintel Brief, Brooklyn-based comedian Lynn Harris and South Carolina-based movement-builder Ginna Green are two Jewish moms ready to tackle listener questions with a mix of authentic emotional support and historical perspective. They dig into the archives of The Forward’s more than 100-year-old advice column ‘A Bintel Brief’ (that’s ‘a bundle of letters’ in Yiddish) that helped Jews new to America navigate life in the U.S. in the early 1900s. The Forward’s archivist, Chana Pollack, pops on to bring in history that ties current Jewish issues to old ones. It’s a friendly chat, an advice show, and a history lesson, all in one. There is nothing quite like it.
Formerly Dear Prudence, Big Mood, Little Mood is the safe space where host Danny M. Lavery brings on guests to help listeners with thorny relationship issues, big feelings, estrangement, embarrassment, and anything else weighing on their minds. Danny isn’t dishing out band-aids for boo-boos; each response launches him and the guest into deep conversations about what is at the heart of these specific issues, meaning they’ll likely speak directly to you in some way, and even challenge or change your perspectives. Danny is tough on evildoers and warm to those of use who need a hug. And if you don’t need a hug these days, give me the name of your therapist.
A decade ago, Andrew Ti felt like the token minority at his workplace, somehow deemed the only one his white coworkers could ask, ‘Andrew, I used this GIF. Is that racist?’ or ‘My Latino family is fatphobic…how do I not pass that along to my kids?’ Ever since, on his blog-turned podcast Yo! Is This Racist? he’s been answering the questions that are too embarrassing to ask someone in real life. Andrew and his co-host Tawny Newsome, both comedians, answer them in a way that sets the askers straight and can make everyone laugh (if uncomfortably at times). You could listen if you have a real question, or you could listen to hear smart, funny people talk about race.
Queen of psychotherapy Esther Perel has one of the most intimate podcasts in existence, Where Should We Begin?, where she lets listeners in on conversations with clients who come forth with their relationship problems and vulnerabilities, leaving nothing unsaid. These are big relationship toughies—a man coming to grips with why he cannot find a partner; two people who whose partnership started with an affair and who are now struggling to maintain a healthy relationship; a couple who were married, divorced, and married again—and Esther answers with such clarity, you’ll wonder why anyone had to ask. Esther’s show offers tough love and a peek into how other people live their lives, and the result feels like a heartfelt reality TV show, minus the screaming and unhinged dinner parties.
Another drop-into-therapy podcast, on Dear Therapists, Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone, and Guy Winch, author of Emotional First Aid, bring on listeners who have written letters voicing problems with things like a difficult mother or a lying spouse. Two hosts means two opinions, and the conversations that unfurl often develop in real time, and offer a multi-dimensional approach to the listener’s problem. Lori and Guy feel like your friends, and they always check in with the letter writer in later episodes. Sometimes those follow ups aren’t so sunny, but that’s what you get when you listen in on real people getting real help.
Sometimes you don’t need to have a degree to offer advice, especially if the advice is about silly things like accidentally kissing their friend’s neck or how to make the most of sandwich punch cards. Podcast royalty Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy have taken it upon themselves to offer some help with the light stuff in a silly way on My Brother, My Brother and Me.
It might not be the best advice—if you’re dealing with something serious you might want to write into Esther, Lori, or Guy. But if you’re ready to laugh about your troubles with three guys whose fraternal chemistry distracts from those daily annoyances, this is your ticket. Come for the humor, stay from the labyrinthine running gags and recurring bits.
Fans of The Fault in Our Stars will be thrilled to know that John Green has a podcast (two, actually—The Anthropocene Reviewed is also a must-listen). This one he co-hosts with his brother Hank, and Dear Hank & John
feels like an interactive, two-way chat between the Greens and their listeners. The guys answer strange questions about the universe and world around us. Why don’t woodpeckers get headaches? What if an asteroid hit a volcano that was ready to erupt? These are the questions you’ve been asking your mom since you were five, and you still haven’t gotten an answer. (Maybe the answer was: ‘ask your father.’) Answers take interesting tangents and will send your brain on an adventure.
Nick Leighton and Leah Bonnema answer your very specific etiquette questions on Were You Raised By Wolves?, from how to carry yourself at an uncomfortable family event to the proper way to eat Cheetos. This isn’t your picky, time-tested Emily Post advice (though there’s a show for that if you want it, and it’s great). Instead, Nick and Leah look at the etiquette questions through a lens of empathy for the asker, and with a genuine curiosity about what is at stake. They make talking manners funny and interesting, and their instructive advice will make you feel a little more compassion for others and a little better about yourself.
Each episode of How To! with Amanda Ripley (who replaced original host Charles Duhigg) tackles a big topic like standing up to a workplace bully or breaking the spell of social media—big conflicts that require more than a quick fix. Amanda (bestselling author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out and The Smartest Kids in the World) calls in the experts to help her craft multi-layered solutions that open us up to bigger conversations about the way we live.
The OG of advice podcasts, and the gateway podcast for many, the Savage Lovecast, hosted by journalist/LGBT community activist Dan Savage, has been doling out frank advice to sex-related conundrums for more than a decade. Callers’ questions cover everything from sex scandals, to relationship quibbles, to strap-on tips, and Dan often answers then with the help of an expert guest. No matter where you fall on the gender spectrum or how adventurous you are in bed, Savage Lovecast is one of the best shows about sex and relationships around. Think of it as continuing sex ed with a foul-mouthed, frankly funny teacher who isn’t afraid to tell you to try a new kink, get over your inhibitions, or DTMFA.
Dear Sugar was an anonymous advice column on The Rumpus, until it was revealed in 2012 that the current ‘Sugar’ was Wild author Cheryl Strayed. The column was popular because of Strayed’s beautiful writing, candor, and empathy for her question-writers, and in 2014, it became a podcast. On Dear Sugars, Strayed and cohost Steve Almond—the original Sugar—read out beautifully written, long-form letters from fans and took their time seeking helpful solutions, musing philosophically along the way. The show, now retired, felt like a literary solution to the biggest issues of the human condition—how to feel love again after a betrayal, how to push through emotional pain, and how to make a big life decision. Listeners fell for the pair across a four-year run, as Cheryl and Steve let us into their own lives and friendship. Though no new episodes are being produced, the archive is there, just waiting to solve your problem.