Each episode of Giving In features an intimate conversation between Patty, Erin, and someone who has gone through a profound experience with surrender. Our guests come from all walks of life, but they are the kind of curious, clever, warm and captivating people you would actually feel lucky to be sitting next to on a cross-country flight. These stories aren’t about giving up, but instead softening the ego and surrendering to the heart. Which is really really hard! Especially in today’s productivity, hustle and perfectionist culture. That’s why we’re talking about it. Read and sign up for our newsletter at givingin.substack.com <3
Host [Host Name] interviews Associate Professor Dawna Ballard about rethinking our relationship with time, revealing how embracing uncertainty creates space for being human.
9 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT
Giving In to Multitudes with Sruti Swaminathan
Staff Attorney Sruti Swaminathan at the ACLU discusses their journey of living authentically as a trans and non-binary person, including gender-affirming care and reclaiming identity in this interview.
20 Dec 2024TRANSCRIPT
Giving In to the Hidden Wisdom of Dreams with Kristen Oberly
Dream analyst Kristen Oberly explores the creative power of dreams and how they reveal hidden aspects of ourselves, as she interprets dreams with hosts Erin Ozmat and Patty Carnevale in this interview episode.
9 Oct 2024TRANSCRIPT
Giving In to a Life of Poetry with Lauren Ducrey
In this episode, we sit down with Lauren Ducrey, a French-American poet, speaker, and mindfulness facilitator, to explore her journey of leaving behind a full-time career in tech to devote her life to poetry and art. Lauren shares insights on belonging across cultures, the power of poetic leadership, and how listening is central to both art and life. We also enjoy an exclusive reading of her poem "When They Say Be Like Water" and discuss the simple invitations that come from trusting intuition.
*Original music by Leslie Allison
*Sound editing by Erin Ozmat
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
15 Nov 2023
Giving In to Not Knowing with Kelly Ziemer
We speak with Kelly Ziemer, an assistant professor and researcher, about her journey to Amsterdam and her work exploring emotions, including her PhD dissertation on #self-love. Wading into the unknown and attuning to her emotions, Kelly began to align her life with her desires, and shares with us the lessons learned and magic met along the way.
*Original music by Leslie Allison
*Sound editing by Erin Ozmat
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
27 Sept 2023
Giving In to Your Bad Girl Era with Céline Semaan
We talk to Céline Semaan, the visionary behind Slow Factory, an organization at the intersection of climate justice and social equity. We explore Céline's powerful personal growth journey, from struggling with Good Girl Syndrome to discovering her Bad Girl Era and its impact on her leadership and the care she shows herself, her organization, and the world.
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
19 Jul 2023
Giving In to Going Under with Lily Baldwin
We dive into Lily's life as an artist, filmmaker, and dancer, exploring how her world turned upside down when she experienced sudden paralysis. Join us as we discuss surrendering to her body, the discovery of stillness, and the profound impact on her art and relationships.
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
9 Jun 2023
Giving In to Mortality with Ambika Gautam Pai
While preparing for motherhood, Ambika learned that she is a carrier for the gene linked to ovarian cancer. Now a mother of two, she speaks with Patty and Erin while caring for her infant son on maternity leave about the connection between grief and love.
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
24 May 2023
Giving In to Receiving with Arlene Grullon
Patty and Arlene met at a writer’s retreat with Roxane Gay this past summer and immediately hit it off. The week Patty called Arlene about being on the show, Arlene had just left her role as the director of a women’s shelter in Louisville, KY. Arlene generously shares her real-time processing of leaving a full-time job of service, strengthening her connection with her body, and stepping into the unknown.
Note: don't be alarmed if you see two Giving In to Receiving episodes in your feed! The first time we released this episode, a chunk of audio was mysteriously missing. This is the version you want...the other one had quite a cliffhanger!
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss, photography by Kendall Tichner
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
3 May 2023
Giving In to Choosing Yourself with Erin Ozmat
We recorded this as a test episode, but it’s so good we’ve gotta release it! Erin (producer of the show) talks to Patty about when she realized she needed to divorce her partner and the impact that choosing herself has had on her life, healing, and becoming in tune with her great creative capacities.
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*Sound recording facilities and support were provided by Headgum Studios
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
12 Apr 2023
Welcome to Giving In
Hi, I'm Patty, host of Giving In. In this trailer I share a bit about my journey with surrender and how I began to reach out to interesting people in my world and beyond with the questions: What have you given into? What are you in a process of surrendering to right now? Do you want to talk about it? Turns out, they did, and I'm so grateful to be sharing these conversations with you. Follow/subscribe/rate wherever you get your podcasts to keep these episodes coming! You can also sign up for the Giving In newsletter at givingin.substack.com.
*Original music and sound editing by Leslie Allison
*Logo and cover art by Kira Weiss
*Produced by Patty Carnevale and Erin Ozmat
*Sound recording facilities and support were provided by Headgum Studios
*All rights reserved in podcast content and the Giving In™ trademark
Inside a recent episode
Giving In to Time with Dawna Ballard
Published 9 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] I don't care. It doesn't matter to me and I can only do what I can do. So that was that. So, so that to answer your question, that was what I had to give up is people's approval and external validation in the form of this title, this job title. So I just was like, yeah, I'm, I'm good. I'm fine. You'll live. Wow. It sounds like you have a really healthy relationship with Enough. And you talk a lot in your book about the cost of urgency and how scarcity impacts the way that we think. And a lot of, honestly, the stories that we've been sold that keep us in that Charlie Chaplin situation cog in the machine, like, if you don't, you know, then you don't belong, or you won't keep up that like, poisonous narrative actually changes our brain and how we approach things. […]
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