“Needed to Hear That” hosted by Chaz and Pondoff, brings real conversations about mental health into real life. Therapist Chaz Franke and Chris Pondoff talk anxiety, trauma, recovery, relationships, and the ongoing work of becoming healthier humans. No clinical jargon, no fake positivity… just honest dialogue, grounded insight, and conversations that meet people where they actually are. Part of the Pondoff Network.
Publisher
Pondoff's Anonymous Network, Chaz Franke, Chris Pondoff
Enjoy some of the best moments from this summer's episodes of Needed To Hear That.
Chaz and Chris will be back next week with a brand new episode.
25 Sept 2026
The Lost Art of Doing Nothing | Needed To Hear That Episode 32
When was the last time you were actually bored?Not scrolling your phone. Not watching something in the background. Not checking social media, shopping, working, gambling, eating or finding another way to occupy your attention. Just… nothing to do.This week on Needed to Hear That, Chris and Chaz talk about why boredom has become increasingly difficult for us to tolerate and why learning to live with a little of it might actually matter.Chaz explains how our nearly unlimited access to stimulation has created a world where we rarely have to sit quietly with our thoughts, feelings or even a lack of distraction. And underneath what we casually call boredom can be something much deeper: FOMO, anxiety, comparison, loneliness and even the uncomfortable question of who we are when nobody is watching and there’s nothing to accomplish.The conversation also gets personal. Chris admits how quickly a quiet Saturday watching college football can turn into guilt that he’s “wasting time.” Chaz challenges the idea that our worth has to be constantly proven through productivity and asks what it would look like to become a little more comfortable with the ordinary, mundane parts of our lives. Because those boring moments—the quiet night with someone you love, the familiar routine, the coffee mug somebody decided was worth fixing, the afternoon where nothing particularly remarkable happens—aren’t necessarily time between the important parts.They might be the important parts.This week on Needed to Hear That: boredom, recovery, FOMO, productivity, rest, distraction and learning how not to wish our lives away.
18 Sept 2026
Who Takes Care of the Caretaker? | Needed To Hear That Episode 31
Who takes care of the people who take care of everyone else?
This week on Needed to Hear That, Chaz and Chris talk about caregiving, not just as a profession, but as something almost all of us will be called to do at some point in our lives.
The conversation begins with grief and the loss of grandparents, including Chaz reflecting on caring for his grandmother at the end of her life and realizing years later that those small acts of care were some of the most significant things he has ever done. From there, they explore what happens to people who are constantly turning toward the needs and suffering of others.
They talk about parents, therapists, nurses, social workers, people caring for loved ones struggling with addiction, and anyone whose instinct is to make life a little easier for someone else. Chaz also challenges the idea that being healthy or strong means becoming completely self-sufficient. Eventually, every one of us will need someone else, and learning how to receive care may be just as important as learning how to give it.
Because if you're always the person who turns toward everyone else's suffering, there's an important question worth asking:
Who turns toward you?
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
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