Walter Thompson-Hernández speaks with formerly incarcerated young writers whose work will be read over the course of the season by creatives like John Legend, Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Karamo Brown, Jay Ellis, Keke Palmer, Julio Torres, and Jesse Williams. Vulnerable poems and honest stories play out against a tailored soundtrack with original music. From Lemonada Media and Black Bar Mitzvah. The voices of those locked up in the U.S. prison system have been all but written off, but no more. These aren’t voices you’ve missed; they’re voices that haven’t been heard.
How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis | Introducing Last Day
Nadia Bowers shares with host Stephanie how writing her memoir helped her navigate grief and new motherhood after losing her sister to the opioid crisis.
28 Dec 2025
Everything Happens: A Not-So Hallmark Christmas
The pandemic introduced many to living with uncertainty. But for some, uncertainty has always been their norm. Actress Nikki Deloach has starred in several Hallmark Christmas movies, but her life hasn’t matched the happily-ever-after plot-lines of her characters. Nikki’s dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia and her son was diagnosed with congenital heart defects in utero… all in the same week. In this conversation, Kate and Nikki discuss how to live with constant uncertainty, how to stay open to both the terror and the beauty of living close to the edge, and how to make Christmas meaningful when hope is hard to come by. CW: suicidal ideation, postpartum depression, a parent grappling with a child’s fragile diagnosis, dementia
21 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT
Happier with Gretchen Rubin: Did We Get Everything Done on Our “25 for ’25” Lists?
Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen’s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully.
As part of “Design Your Year,” each of us made a list of 25 things we wanted to accomplish in 2025; here, we report on what we got done—and what we didn’t.
Resources & links related to this episode:
Happier in Hollywood Substack (https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com/)
Simon Haisell's Footnotes and Tangents (https://footnotesandtangents.substack.com/about)
Allie Coyle Photography (https://alliecoylephotography.pixieset.com/)
The Earth Room created by American artist Walter De Maria (https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit-our-locations-sites/walter-de-maria-the-new-york-earth-room-new-york-united-states)
Click here to find everything related to the Design Your Year challenge (http://happiercast.com/designyouryear)
If you want to hear more episodes, follow Happier with Gretchen Rubin wherever you get your podcasts, or head to: https://lemonada.lnk.to/happierfd
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Inside a recent episode
How to Stop Losing Our Loved Ones to the Opioid Crisis | Introducing Last Day
Published 19 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] A house full of dummies. My gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I was like very impressed with your family. I'd love to know more about Sasha. So growing up, how would you describe her and characterize your relationship, the two of you? She was that person, like you heard her voice before she entered a room. […]
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