Big Mood, Little Mood with Daniel M. Lavery
418 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★ - 938 ratingsEvery week, Danny M. Lavery brings on a guest to answer questions from listeners before diving into conversation about relationships, dissatisfaction, drives, regrets, estrangement, embarrassment, self-assessments, and feelings from the monumental to the minute.
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Episodes
Dear Prudence: The "Devil's Advocate" Edition, Part 1
October 11, 2016 18:00 - 42 minutesJust say no to the “Don’t Tread On Me” snake. Mallory and returning listener favorite Carvell Wallace tackle and disagree over thorny questions like: should you intervene when your sister invites your mom to her wedding — but not your stepdad? When your adult sister is a cheater, how do you support her through her divorce? And finally, how do you break it to your white friend that she’s not as “woke” as she thinks she is? Plus: a love letter to bisexuals. We want you to tell us about the podc...
Dear Prudence: The "Boundaries" Edition
October 04, 2016 18:00 - 46 minutesThis week, your questions discussed in the cozy setting of Prudie’s literal bedroom. That might sound overly-intimate, but it’s not as intimate as going to a sweat lodge with your coworkers! Our guest is writer Lauren O’Neal, and together she and Prudie tackle how to set boundaries when your boyfriend’s family comes over every day without knocking, what to say to a mother who’s shunting her paid nanny duties off onto her teenage children, how to give your friend with cancer the support you ne...
Dear Prudence: The "Creative Solutions" Edition
September 27, 2016 18:00 - 40 minutesAnn M. Martin and the gay Baby-Sitters Club, plus some unsolicited advice to a letter-writer who’d like to ruin his sons’ lives from beyond the grave and can’t find a lawyer to help him do it. SkyMall nostalgia. Then, Prudence and guest Rebeca Sanchez answer your questions as creatively as they’re able: how to talk to in-laws so obsessed with death they may as well be funeral crashers? How to repair the friendship between your husband and your best friend — which you most likely ruined? Your ...
Dear Prudence: The "Talk About It Now" Edition
September 20, 2016 19:00 - 48 minutesThe great lie that is, “they don’t really mean it.” Mallory and her sister, writer Laura Turner, bring some family wisdom to this week’s show. First: is it alright to ask your family to stop texting you the news of relatives’ deaths? What about when your family expects you to take in five young children — indefinitely? Then: how do you talk to a friend who’s always been your creative companion, but suddenly won’t acknowledge your success? Plus: the ethics of sharing cigarettes with your 18-ye...
Dear Prudence: The "Petty Revenge" Edition
September 13, 2016 18:00 - 39 minutesEnd the tyranny of the snooze button. Prudie and writer Mikki Kendall answer your questions, and let’s just get one thing out of the way right now: don’t try to attempted-murder Mikki by turning on an electric fence while she’s touching it; that won’t go over any better than writing your adopted daughter completely out of your will, then asking her to host Thanksgiving for 50 people. Plus: killing your mean-girl co-worker with kindness (and some friendly plant-poisoning tips); whether a lifel...
Dear Prudence: The "Do it In Song" Edition
September 06, 2016 18:00 - 39 minutesComedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu of the podcast Politically Re-Active join Prudie to dispense advice — sometimes in song! — about how to get a needy ex out of your house, how best to deal with a deadbeat husband, and how to figure out if your boyfriend is only into you because you’re Asian. Plus, Ayn Rand and the true identity of Chuck E. Cheese. Hear more Prudence by joining Slate Plus: Slate.com/Prudiepod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dear Prudence: The "Time is Not an Apology" Edition
August 30, 2016 18:00 - 39 minutesPrudence and guest Lisa McIntire on when you should rock the boat, why people feel entitled to be rude to their friends, and how time passing does not equal an apology. First though, you should go see Bad Moms… the audience, that is. More thoughts on HR and how capitalism is a hellscape, with apologies to the robber barons among our listeners. Now to your questions: A parent is allowing their 18-year-old daughter to work out of the house as a phone sex operator, on the condition that she doe...
Dear Prudence: The "Little Red Hen" Edition
August 23, 2016 18:00 - 37 minutesA woman dropped family, friends, and job to move across the country for a relationship that didn’t work out — and things got worse from there. Is she doomed to make poor decisions for the rest of her life? A man dies, and his obituary lists a woman who barely remembers him as “the love of his life.” Should she try to find out what happened, or let him take his secret to the grave? A daughter mentioned long-term care insurance to her mom — and got an earful from her aunt about what a terrible ...
Dear Prudence: The "Read the Room" Edition
August 16, 2016 18:00 - 33 minutesPrudence flies solo and argues with — or against — her better angels. She anoints the Worst Commercial of the Year and advises a woman wondering if she has to let a family member with money trouble live in her empty investment apartment. But Prudie loves it when you send her letters that don’t have to do with someone possibly getting put out on the street, and vastly prefers questions about things like meat-eating parents trolling their vegetarian daughter-in-law. For example: should those pa...
Dear Prudence: The “Self Indulgence vs. Self-Care” Edition
August 09, 2016 22:00 - 37 minutesDoes HR really work for employees — or is it just there for the company? Prudence shares a listener perspective. Then, Prudie and friend of the show Jos Lavery counsel a woman who’s essentially written in just to say how great her life is. A listener asks how to restrain their financially irresponsible fiancé before they both end up broke. Continuing the theme: a husband won’t stop smoking even though his doctors have ordered him to — and he blames his wife for conspiring with them. And fina...
Dear Prudence: The "You Can’t Treat People That Way" Edition
August 02, 2016 18:00 - 34 minutesJasmine Guillory is back in the studio with Prudie to talk about how to handle a partner who doesn’t believe in antidepressants, counsel a woman in an emotionally abusive relationship with a physically disabled man, and, for a bit of relief, adjudicate a parking-space dispute. Plus: do you, or do you not, have to go see the new Ghostbusters movie? Hear the most Prudie you can by joining Slate Plus: visit slate.com/prudiepod to sign up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...
Dear Prudence: The Unconditional Love Edition
July 26, 2016 18:00 - 43 minutesToday’s questions are about life’s unfairness and the meaning of unconditional love; Dear Prudence and writer Carvell Wallace roll up their sleeves and get tough. A woman writes with a question about what she owes her troubled, and now-adult, adopted daughter; and an aunt wonders whether she must spend her savings on a treatment that might -- or might not -- save her terminally-ill nephew’s life. Remember, you can always hear more questions and advice by subscribing to Slate Plus: visit slate...
Dear Prudence: The "Butt Out" Edition
July 19, 2016 18:00 - 28 minutesMallory and Slate’s Aisha Harris talk about butting in where you don’t belong. Should you call Child Protective Services because you think someone’s kids aren’t learning enough algebra? How do you deal with a colleague making inappropriate remarks about your employees’ personal lives? And as always, there’s more of everything at Slate Plus -- visit slate.com/prudiepod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dear Prudence: The "Regret Baby" Edition
July 12, 2016 20:42 - 35 minutesDear Prudence and Slate’s Christina Cauterucci take on behavior that goes from bad to worse: a “toxic friend” who uses her mental health issues to get away with abusing her friends; a man trying to shame his wife into having a “regret baby” seven years after they both agreed to an abortion; and a father who wants to tell his preteen sons how much he doesn’t love their mother. Plus, Prudie advises a woman wondering if she can move into her own place even though she’s happily married, encourage...
The "Transactional Relationships" Edition
July 05, 2016 18:08 - 25 minutesMallory Ortberg and guest Jos Lavery discuss why we feel so compelled to discuss human relationships as transactions, and discuss how to handle family members who might be committing insurance fraud. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The "Sisters!" Edition
June 28, 2016 18:52 - 25 minutesHow do you tactfully let your sister know it’s time for deodorant? Or that you hate her dog? And how do you protect your sister from your overbearing parents? This week, Mallory Ortberg and guest Jasmine Guillory bring their advisory, legal, and child-of-therapists expertise to bear on the thorny questions of sisterhood, including a candid, live call with a listener (available only at Slate Plus!) Plus, Mallory reflects on being the Jack Johnson of road rage, responds to people who think it's...
The "Is This a Real Question?" Edition
June 21, 2016 10:00 - 31 minutesMallory assesses the emotional fitness of people who spill drinks on themselves and tackles your questions with Alison Green of Ask a Manager. Is the letter about "a series of Spider-Man piss revelations" real or fake? How do you manage a recently dumped friend whose behavior is endangering others? And why did Panera hire that bizarre-sounding woman to talk about "clean salads"? And what to tell a letter-writer whose gay son wants to go to religious college? Well, for that last one you'll hav...
Coming Soon: Dear Prudence
June 13, 2016 16:03 - 4 minutesEvery week, Mallory Ortberg (aka Dear Prudence) tackles problems about love, life, and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices