Maybe Baby

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comHey!Welcome back to Dear Danny. Today we've got: an anxious husband, a bad kisser, a two-year breakup pattern, a move-in crisis, a narcissistic brother, a boring relationship, and the mystery of love! I already published the introduction to this episode on the 3rd, so we're going to be diving straight in. I apologize for the diarrhea story—was ultimately a non sequitur.Thanks for listening,Haleyp.s. If you're a free subscriber, you're seeing this because I've shared one Q&A (bad kisser) with you today in lieu of an essay, similar to how I share one free Q&A every month of my advice column, Dear Baby. Hope you enjoy!

Hey!As a followup to my conversation with Harling and Crystal, I wanted to home in on my most frequently asked question: What's surprised me about motherhood? In this episode I tell you nine things about having a baby that have turned out totally different than I expected, in good ways and bad.Also curious to hear your own answers to this question, or reactions to mine!Thanks for listening,Haleyp.s. If you're the type to notice, Wednesday is my new podcast publish day! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comHi!!I'm back on the sauce (listening to my own voice a sickening amount). Kicking things off with an episode about having a baby, with my friends Harling and Crystal, who also just had babies. I do want to apologize for talking about our buttholes, but certain things needed to be said. This will be a 2-part conversation. This week we're covering:-What's going on with our bodies postpartum-Birth and the days after-What's surprised us the most (I've thought of like 20 things I didn't include since recording this…)-Sleep deprivation-& more!Next week we'll be covering: Whether we bonded with our babies right away, relationship stuff, philosophies about sharing our kids online, how we're relating to friends without kids, and whether we have anything to add to the “kids or no kids” question now that we're on the other side.Hit us up in the comments with your thoughts! I know you asked so many other good questions—I plan to cover them in future episodes. (Gotta get Avi in here too.)Thanks for listening!Haley

Hello!I got a great question in my Dear Baby bank last month that felt better suited to a solo podcast than my written column, so I've decided to dedicate an entire episode to it. It concerns influencing, sponcon, advertising, selling out, and what constitutes a morally impactful choice in any of those realms. This episode is sort of a sequel to my answer to last month's question about navigating immoral desires.Thanks for listening!HaleyP.s. Here's the question in full if you'd like to read it yourself versus hear me read it at the beginning of the episode:Hi Haley! I'm trying to work through some of my own thoughts on fame/influencer culture and sponcon and have been thinking a lot about the costs associated with doing good when many societal structures seem to incentivize greed, ambition in all its forms...aka doing bad. This prompted me to reread your “When I was an influencer” newsletter and while I admire your dedication to your ideals, and often turn to you for clarity and understanding, my unsolicited POV is: I do wonder if you're being too hard on yourself?I also wonder how you manage to uphold such strict values of no brand deals without becoming bitter or resentful that so many other people are profiting off doing a lot worse. As well, writing and many artistic pursuits are notoriously precarious and fraught with financial distress. Even so, writers and people who are similarly public about their desire to "do good" are often held to standards of purity politics which to me feel unfair when we don't hold people in other professions (investment bankers, tech engineers, etc.) to the same standards.To be clear, I don't think doing sponcon (depending what it is) is even bad, necessarily, (perhaps neutral?) so I wonder why you think it is antithetical to what you are trying to do with your writing. I feel like writers deserve some kind of opportunity to make money, too...they are more deserving than so many people who are exploiting systems IMO. Judging by the products you do share (which are by no means "needs" but lovely recommendations, many of which I've purchased and enjoyed), I wonder why you think opting out of sponcon entirely is the best form of activism?Women (and people in general) are always buying products (some that we need, some that we genuinely want that make our lives better, and some that we don't want but are indoctrinated into wanting and lead us to a cycle of needless purchasing to mask our feelings of inferiority.) That is to say, I don't think all consumption is the same and perhaps if you advertised product that you believed in, it could have greater impact than promoting nothing? Isn't there a road where you could actually amplify and share brands you love that are making quality products or which are sustainably made? Like, is sharing an Amazon link of a cervical neck stretching device bad in and of itself because it's from Amazon and Jeff Bezos does not need more money, or is it only bad if you're profiting off that recommendation?Presumably, not all your purchasing decisions align with your ideals either, so then is the issue not your individual purchase but propagating it to a larger audience? I'm sure you use skincare products but where is the line between advertising something you actually like for money versus making women feel deficient about their natural skin? (I'm thinking of Jessica DeFino's wonderful writing.) Also, if a brand came to you and wanted to invest in Maybe Baby in a way that would give you more freedom, money, time off, etc. and if you actually liked the product, would that be a bad deal? Isn't it a good thing for a brand to use some of their money to invest in the development of art or thinking...which is what you do?All of this being said, I do think maybe I am missing something and I'd like to better understand what led you to maintaining a hard NO on sponcon now that you're in a position of financial stability. Do you ever waiver? Do you ever feel like you incur costs as a result of your moral code? Is it frustrating to do good and incur the financial losses when most people around you aren't holding themselves to the same standard?I struggle with this but I also don't want to conveniently self-mythologize to make it easier to sleep at night, ya know?! Isn't it an oversimplification to say “selling out is always a prerequisite to fame”? To some people, you're famous (I know you don't think so but you still have a considerable IG following and are recognizable to many) and you certainly haven't sold out. Of course, you perpetuated certain structures to get to this position and then stopped when you felt secure which I think is so admirable. But even still, what is selling out? Is it one brand deal? Is it multiple? What is fame? Is it reaching Oprah status or is it just trying to break six figures as an influencer?Help me make sense of this please. I hope none of the above came across as a criticism. I just truly adore everything you write and I felt like having you engage with my nonsensical brain might help me better understand my own views. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comHey!After revealing on Sunday that Avi and I are trying to have a kid, I am finally prepared to unload the 1,000+ thoughts I have on this process, the decisions that led to it, and what I've learned since I started. I have neverrrrrr recorded this long of a solo podcast. I had so many things to stay I was literally out of BREATH, lol. Since this one has a pretty clear topic breakdown, I am bestowing timestamps (rare):0-4:58: Intro/why I'm recording this episode4:58-27:50: How I decided I wanted kids and when I knew it was the right time (+ some bones I have to pick with the discourse around this!)27:50-34:25: How I feel about sidelining my creative/intellectual pursuits34:25-39:36: How I'm navigating fears around labor imbalances in my relationship that having kids may create/exacerbate39:36-40:35: How I feel about having a kid without being married40:35-43:51: What not to say to a friend who is struggling with the “trying” process (based on what I do/don't prefer to hear)43:51-47:56: Whether Avi and I have seen a specialist/how I feel about medical intervention47:56-1:05:06: My experience with the literal trying process: Details on how I prepared, what it's actualllllly like, how I've felt, perspectives that have helped me as it's gone on1:05:06-1:10:26: How I've talked to friends and fam about “trying”/what I decided to share1:10:26-1:17:38: Whether it's made sex weird/more fun/worse/awkward1:17:38-1:21:36: The fun, exciting (and dare I say beautiful) parts of this processThanks so much for your great questions. I'll be hanging around the comments to discuss!Haley

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comHey!Welcome to another episode of Dear Danny, Danny's-on-a-haunted-ranch edition. Today we'll be answering six questions, about asymmetrical friendships, whether to rat out a lying boss, an ethical-non-monagomy-related pickle, how to trust yourself, how to deal with friends who won't stop talking about the same problems, and how to stop moving your own …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comHey!It's Dear Danny time. This week we're answering questions about friend envy, birthday sadness, romance on drugs, regrettable favors, body hair, and falling in love with a friend.Thanks for listening,Haley

Hi!Back with a Voice Note today about aging, and especially the cultural scripts around what happens as you do it. On Sunday I mentioned that my 30s have been more dynamic than cultural scripts indicated they would, and in this episode I talk more about what I meant by that. This is not a diatribe about what it means to be any particular age, but rather what I think it means to age (a.k.a. continue to be alive) in general.Hope you enjoy!Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit haleynahman.substack.comThis week I invited Avi and Harling back on the podcast to debrief on Nathan Fielder's new show The Rehearsal and all the dramatic discourse surrounding it. Two pieces we reference are “The Cruel and Arrogant Gaze of Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal,” by Richard Brody for The New Yorker and “Missed Connections: How to Tell if Nathan For You Is For You” a 2016 essay by Emma Healey for The LA Review of Books. We also dabble in some Love Island discussion and weigh in on The Bear.

Good morning,I asked my good friend Harling Ross to come back onto the podcast today to discuss Leslie Jamison's essay “Dreaming in Broad Daylight” for Astra Mag, which we both loved. This conversation is about the piece specifically, but also about what it means to write honestly (versus “authentically” or through confession), why a lot of modern writing falls short, and in the last segment, what we secretly daydream about, no holds barred. We also randomly talk about going to the gym…Pardon the New York City sounds in the background, we recorded in my office downtown.Thanks for listening!Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hi!Danny's back and rested up like a good boy. Today we have a full ep for you answering five questions: on finding a boyfriend's secret Twitter account, on grappling with the politics of weddings, on dreading going to weddings, on the loneliness of living alone, and how to know if it's worth committing to a partner forever. Thank you so much as always for calling in. Your messages literally make me cry…Hope you enjoy,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!Very excited to welcome the psychologist Dr. Barry Schwartz to the podcast today. I first spoke with Barry for this piece I wrote for the Times (and loved him), and was super grateful when he agreed to speak again for the Maybe Baby podcast. Barry is famous for his research on choice (especially how, at a certain point, freedom of choice increases anxiety), but his work touches so many related topics, like luck, justice, and politics. His most recent research is on how we respond when we believe our choices reflect who we are as people. I write and think about this sort of thing all the time, and was excited to ask him about what he's found in his research.In this conversation we touch on: comparison culture on social media, class differences when it comes to choice, the benefits and perils of individualism, political in-fighting, choice feminism (lol), dating and marriage (!), college admissions, and more. And I feel like we could have talked so much longer!Hope you enjoy,HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Labor Notes, “a media and organizing project that has been the voice of union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979.”Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!Welcome back to Dear Danny, my podcast version of Dear Baby wherein my friend Danny and I discuss your questions and more. Today we'll be talking about cologne, body image, infidelity, moving in with a partner, road trips, how to make friends as an adult, and whether Danny is nice enough on this podcast. I also randomly throw in a Dave Chapelle take in the beginning of the ep that I regret! Lol. Because ultimately I'm less interested in whether Chapelle is worthy of being a thought leader and more interested in how we, as a culture, respond to bad ideas. But I guess that's an essay for another time. Anyway thank you for being here, and thanks for dealing with Danny's underground-sounding audio (he literally was underground when we recorded, in his defense).Hope you enjoy!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Make the Road New York, the largest progressive grassroots immigrant-led organization in New York state, focusing on issues like education, housing, immigration, policing, and labor justice.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!Welcome back to Pop Quiz, my semi-regular pop culture roundup, this time with returning expert Avi Bonnerjee and perfect human Michelle Uranowitz (maybe you remember her from this ep about spiraling on Instagram). This week we discuss everything from Lorde's rebrand to John Mulaney's PR disaster to my latest Instagram follow. And so much more! Although sadly we recorded this before the VMAs or the Met Gala like idiots…. Some links to things we mention:Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcastChristy Carlson Romano's YouTube channelLorde's “Solar Power” music videoClairo on Fallon“Twitter Has a Parasocial Relationship With the Word Parasocial,” by Sarah Hagi for GawkerJohn Mulaney's weird Seth Myers appearanceThe Housewife & the Hustler on Hulu“The Reality of Reality Television,” by Mark Grief for N+1Salon.com on (of course) Mike Lindell@regret_counter_Hunter S. Thompson's morning routineI'm sure I'm missing some but anyway hope you enjoy!Thanks for listening,HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Center for Popular Democracy, a pro-worker, pro-immigrant advocacy group and network of over 50 community organizations working in low-income communities across the United States. They're currently focused on the eviction crisis.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!Today we're back with another episode of Dear Danny, in which my friend Danny comes on to discuss and debate five reader questions with me. Up this week:Do you think it's possible for women to see themselves as feminist and progressive whilst expecting chivalry from men in a more traditional sense?Most of my life feels unspectacular compared to the life I've always dreamed of leading. Am I being delusional? How can I cultivate a rich life?How do you navigate (really, really) not liking the person your friend is dating? Is it worth it letting this get in the way of your friendship?A higher-up at work coached me to try to stop leading with ‘I think'—to just make the statement and it'll be stronger. I notice you use ‘I think' a lot. Thoughts?In some of your writing, you talk about ‘performing personality,' which I've thought about often. When do you notice yourself performing your personality, and how do you avoid it?This is a good one! We both cried a bunch before it and generally stayed on topic. I hope you love it.Thanks for listening,HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to National Bail Out, a collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers, and activists focused on ending pre-trial detention and mass incarceration through community-based advocacy.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!Today, random man Avi Bonnerjee comes on the pod to discuss this month's Dear Baby newsletter, which covered woke culture, turning 30, going to therapy, putting out creative work when you're not confident in it, and getting a tattoo as an overthinking type. Avi has a few different perspectives to add to the mix.Some links to things we mention:“Race to the Bottom,” by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw for The Baffler“The Therapy App Fantasy,” by Molly Fischer for The CutSeth Godin's Design Matters interviewTATTOO by Henk SchiffmacherThanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Transgender Law Center, a trans-led organization grounded in legal expertise focused on community-driven strategies to liberate transgender and gender-noncomforing people.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!This week I invited beauty critic Jessica DeFino on the pod to talk about beauty culture. This is a followup to my Sunday newsletter about beauty anxiety. We discuss everything from Botox and the problem with “clean beauty,” to the source of beauty standards and the costs and benefits of divesting from them.Some links to things we mention + Jessica's work:-My own quitting makeup story-Thick by Tracie McMillan Cottom-Adweek's feature on Dove's “campaign for real beauty”-Contrapoints's YouTube essay on beauty-Jessica for Fashionista: “People Are Now Getting Botox & Fillers As Forms of Self-Care”-Jessica for Teen Vogue: “How White Supremacy & Capitalism Influence Beauty Standards”-Jessica for HelloGiggles: “Clean Beauty May Be Non-Toxic, But It Still Sells Toxic Beauty Standards”You can also check out Jessica's newsletter, The Unpublishable, where she writes about this stuff every week, or follow her on Instagram.Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Transgender Law Center, a trans-led organization grounded in legal expertise focused on community-driven strategies to liberate transgender and gender-noncomforing people.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!So happy to have on my friend Michelle Uranowitz this week to discuss Instagram. Michelle is an actor, filmmaker, and teacher, and I think you'll love her as much as I do. In this ep we rehash my Sunday newsletter on a more personal level, I make Michelle spiral when I analyze her Instagram, I spiral about whatever I'm always spiraling about, and together we imagine what it could look like to embrace social media as a fundamentally inauthentic medium.Pretty much the only article I bring up is this great one by Max Read! Also why not watch this unhinged & outrageous short film Michelle recently made with her boyfriend Daniel (who I also love)? Or Goodbye, Brooklyn, the short film that first introduced me to her? Much to watch…Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Transgender Law Center, a trans-led organization grounded in legal expertise focused on community-driven strategies to liberate transgender and gender-noncomforing people.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!Today's episode is inspired by how earnestly I cried at the end of the second season of Couples Therapy last week (which just dropped on Showtime). If you're not familiar, Couples Therapy follows actual couples as they go through a series of sessions with a genius therapist named Orna, who also sees a therapist throughout the show. It's eerily intimate, occasionally tense, and surprisingly hopeful. Today I have two guests! A couples sex therapist name Ciara who also binge-watched and cried after Couples Therapy, and my friend and writer Meghan Nesmith, who loves going to couples therapy with her husband and has written about it before.This ep is for anyone! Whether you've seen the show or not. We do talk about the show a little (no spoilers) but not so much that you couldn't follow along. Mostly we talk about other stuff: what's difficult about couples therapy, what's been happening with couples in the pandemic, how to de-escalate a fight, how to deal with a “desire discrepancy,” who could benefit from couples therapy, etc!Hope you enjoy,HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Transgender Law Center, a trans-led organization grounded in legal expertise focused on community-driven strategies to liberate transgender and gender-noncomforing people. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!My friend Danny is back for another round of Dear Danny, the darker-but-more-fun counterpart to Dear Baby, wherein the two of us review the questions and answers in my last advice column and go deeper/wider/weirder. Today we discuss feeling uncool in New York, wanting to flee your life, aging, and the experimental CBD trial Danny is currently participating in/high on. And also a bunch of other things! Here's Danny posing on my roof right after we finished recording (for context):Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Covenant House, New York City's largest provider serving homeless youths.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!This week's episode is about getting married and having kids, or choosing to do neither. I invited on my former editor and deadpan friend Leslie Price, who is both married and a parent and has never been afraid to talk about the downsides. Leslie is a media veteran (Time, Curbed, Racked, Man Repeller, InStyle) and recently launched a newsletter called Gloria, for women embarking on midlife. You may have read an excerpt of this conversation on Sunday. Everyone is always talking about Leslie's hair:Links to things we mention:“What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse,” by Wendy Len Catron for The AtlanticMy interview with a woman experience postpartum depression“The Things We Don't Discuss,” by Jill Filipovic about the taboo of parental regretClaire and Erica's “A Thing or Two” podcast episode about being child-free”Lately Kids Have Had a Serious PR Problem,” by Emma RosenblumThanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Covenant House, New York City's largest provider serving homeless youths.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!This week I brought on my friend Connie Wang, executive editor of Refinery29, to talk about consumerism and the pathologies we develop around what we buy. Connie is a cultural commentator who has written about style for years, and I happen to love her taste, so I was curious to get her perspective this week (after my last newsletter #50 on beautiful dining chairs). We confront questions like: What's the difference between having good taste and being on trend? Is it okay to feel defined by your things? Is it possible to vote with your wallet? What does it actually mean to take care of yourself? Et cetera. Here's Connie picking up my call:I've always been a nester and feel deeply impacted by my physical surroundings (whether in the form of my home or my clothes), and I know many of you probably feel the same. This discussion isn't meant to undermine the validity of that, but rather unpack how we metabolize and express those needs in the modern world, and when they get overshadowed by other forces.Some links to things we mention:-Connie's RIP to Opening Ceremony-Connie's piece about Asian representation-adrienne maree brown on Pleasure ActivismThanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to CAAV, an organization working to build grassroots community power across diverse poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!Welcome back to part 2 of my convo with Verena von Pfetten. Dare I say who she is again…? Ok sure she's the cofounder of Gossamer magazine, and a friend and mentor to me. She's very wise and grounded and I hope you find her as comforting as I do. If you missed part 1, go back and listen! We discuss feeling like it's too late (in an existential sense) and the worldview that is “everything happens for a reason.” Today we discuss aging, f*****g up as a good thing, and how to deal with writer's block.Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to CAAV, an organization working to build grassroots community power across diverse poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!Excited to share part 1 of my conversation with Verena von Pfetten, cofounder of Gossamer magazine. Verena was my first-ever editor and has been a mentor to me over the past five years, so she seemed like the perfect person to weigh in on March's Dear Baby questions. This episode has big existential-crisis energy, you've been warned. We cover these two questions:Can you talk about the feeling of it being “too late"? I know logistically it isn't true but the feeling is overwhelming.I recently received some disappointing career news. Should I tell myself everything happens for a reason? Is there another way?Come back next week for part 2 where we cover aging, mistakes (but when they're good), and writer's block.Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to CAAV, an organization working to build grassroots community power across diverse poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey,This week I invited Allison P. Davis onto the podcast to talk about horniness! It would be really wild if I chose that topic arbitrarily but I didn't: Allison is writing a book right now about horniness (it's called, if you can imagine, Horny) and my last newsletter was all about anticipation, which is basically existential horniness. We found some much to talk about in the liminal space between these two things. The nature of desire, the upsides and downsides of centering your life around it, etc.You might know Allison for her popular work at New York Magazine, like The Karen Next Door or her profiles of Mariah Carey or Lena Dunham. Or maybe you know her from Twitter or IG @babymeatballs. If you don't know her I'm glad you're here. You should fill out her horny survey!Some links to things we mention:Esther Perell's Mating in Captivity“Ghost of a Good Thing” by Dashboard Confessional (obviously)Do What You Love by Miya TokumitsuThanks for listening,HaleyP.S. This is a weird post-script I'm adding at 11pm on Monday but the news of another mass shooting tonight is almost beyond comprehension. A lot of my newsletter/podcast touches on how broken this country is but it's still jarring to be faced with it in increasingly fucked up ways so often. I don't even know what to say at this point except I hope we can manage to pull through this dark era. Anyway, I know tragedies are happening everywhere all the time, but I'm really sorry to anyone who felt at all alienated by the optimism of my pre-planned newsletter and podcast for this past week. I hope it's served as some kind of levity for some, if nothing else. Hang in there (dumb thing to say, there's nothing to say!). This month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to GlobalGiving Coronavirus Relief Fund, a non-profit focused on equitable vaccine distribution and getting resources to those made especially vulnerable by the pandemic. Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hi!So happy to say it's time for another round of Dear Danny: my monthly visit with fan-favorite Daniel Nelson, where he weighs in on the questions I answered for Dear Baby. This time, for Dear Baby: Weird Edition, we also brought in a few bonus questions I didn't originally answer. This one had me laughing a lot…we swap funny stories about New York, we talk about having body dysmorphia and losing our virginity, we even put a stake in the ground re: the evergreen human quandary of whether farts are funny or embarrassing. Much to cover much to cover. Here's a video excerpt.Two links to things we mention: this optimistic Atlantic article about the trajectory of covid and this article about how cats say “I love you.”Hope you enjoy!HaleyTheme song made special by Soft StreakThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Jobs With Justice, a grassroots nonprofit leading strategic campaigns to fight for workers' rights and build power for working people.Give me feedback • Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

My Tuesday podcast is typically for paying subscriber of Maybe Baby, but I've just unlocked all my 2020 episodes as an end-of-year thank you. (Ty!) To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app” from your phone.Hello!Last week I aired part 1 of my conversation with my friend Catherine Saint Siena, which was about workism (shitty jobs, following dreams, living to work vs working to live, etc). This is the second part of our conversation, which is about relationship doubt. These were topics I covered in my last Dear Baby ICYMI, but they're also relevant to my and Catherine's friendship, since we first bonded over leaving jobs and relationships that didn't feel right. This part of the conversation is shorter and less in depth in that we didn't exactly prep for it (we'd already talked for 90 minutes at this point), but we couldn't not! So it's getting its own baby episode.As I mentioned on Sunday this is my last podcast of 2020! And Avi's last royalty-free cover, although I'm sure they'll be back in 2021 thank god. Thanks so much for listening this year, it means a lot.HaleySubscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hello!This week's podcast is special because the guest is my friend and comedian Catherine Saint Siena, whom I was this close to starting a podcast with earlier this year before everything imploded, so I'm considering this ep a peek into a parallel universe. For the first time I've split this conversation into two parts. This first one is all about workism: the American zeal for work-as-identity, the unlikely impacts of that, the ways we've felt it, and how we want to challenge it. (In case you missed it, I answered a question about this in my last newsletter.) Part two is all about romantic relationships and the pivotal moment when you're deciding whether to stay or go (another question I answered last week). We both have so many stories and ideas about both that we didn't shut the f**k up for nearly two hours, hence two parts. Here is a photo Catherine took for her Instagram so she could make a joke about CEOs, but can you believe she looks like this: Some links to things we mention: “On Self-Respect,” by Joan Didion“Workism Is Making Americans Miserable,” by Derek Thompson for The Atlantic“Is There Such a Thing as a Dream Job?” by Sarah Jaffe for Dame MagazineDo What You Love: And Other Lies About Success and Happiness by Miya Tokumitsu“Readers Discuss American Workism and Its Discontents” by The Atlantic”Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?” by Erin Griffith for The TimesThis interview with Elizabeth Anderson about how modern workplaces are run like dictatorships for Jacobin Thanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Palante Harlem Inc, a New York-based nonprofit working to reduce poverty, end tenant exploitation, and advocate for safe housing in Harlem.Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hello!Thrilled to share I've invited my team of pop culture analysts, Avi Bonnerjee and Harling Ross, back on the podcast today to discuss nepotism in America (especially Hollywood), inspired by the Twitter discourse around Cazzie David's essay in The Cut last week. We also, in the name of literary critique, weigh in on whether we ever get too full to f**k. As usual I was very excited to be conversing with Avi and Harling, although I miss when the three of us could hang intimately on the beach.Links to things we mention:-The Light phone-The Grey's Anatomy trailer that teased a McDreamy comeback-Harling's piece about knocking vs jiggling the bathroom door handle + her theory that outfits go bad at 3pm-Cazzie David's essay in The Cut: “Too Full to F**k”-Our Emily in Paris podcast episode-Larry David's story of quitting SNL-Wyatt Koch's “Hawaiian” shirt line as featured in The Cut-Jia Tolentino's “The Land of the Large Adult Son” for The New Yorker-Harling's satire about the great Oatly shortage of 2018Come for the goss, stay for Avi's heart-wrenching cover of LMFAO's “Party Rock Anthem.”Happy Thanksgiving (and thanks for listening),HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Palante Harlem Inc, a New York-based nonprofit working to reduce poverty, end tenant exploitation, and advocate for safe housing in Harlem.Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Good morning!Today I brought on my favorite sad girl, Nora Taylor, to discuss melancholy, sadness, and depression, as explored in my last newsletter, #32: Stimulants. But it's also fun! Nora is an editor at Clever for Architectural Digest. We met at Man Repeller (where she wrote about things like Sauce Men, the Caesar haircut, and Tom Hanks) and initially bonded over our love of Phoebe Bridgers (yes…that's me and Avi coving “Smoke Signals” for today's intro song…lol!). Nora is a strange bird whom I truly cherish and I'm livid that I forgot to ask her about her dream of being a mailwoman. Here we are just before our “writers retreat” upstate in 2018—a very special story we save for the end:Some links to things we mention:-“Look at My Beautiful F*****g Hands,” by Nora herself-In Defense of Saccharin(e), by Leslie Jamison, an incredible essay that's unfortunately not online but is part of her collection, The Empathy Exams, which I highly recommend-“Finding Quietness in a Loud World,” by Harmony Holiday for Frieze-“3 Older Women on What Actually Gets Better With Age,” by Nora-ASMR Massage With Phoebe Bridgers by It'sBlitzzz-“Deliverance” by YanniThanks for listening!Haley(is signing a newsletter like signing a text?)This month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Palante Harlem Inc, a New York-based nonprofit working to reduce poverty, end tenant exploitation, and advocate for safe housing in Harlem.Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Good morning!This week I brought on my friend and talented writer Laura Bannister to discuss the themes I explored in Sunday's newsletter (#31: Lunacy), such as Looney Tunes, the US election, and whether art needs to be “relevant” to be worthwhile. Laura's a fellow TuneHead (just made that up), an Australian witnessing her first US election up close, and an art critic obsessed with American chain restaurants, so I knew she'd be the perfect guest…and she was! We reference a lot of Content—all the links below. I also do an audio reading of #31 at the end in case you're interested. That's around the 55-minute mark. Here's Laura and I last year when we could touch:Links to things we mention:-Laura's piece about Gemma Collins falling through a trapdoor -My essay about traveling alone when Trump won in 2016-“Bimbo's Initiation,” a 1931 Fleischer cartoon-This Vulture piece about the 11 “erased” episodes of Looney Tunes that were taken off air in 1968 for depicting racist themes-Garth Greenwell's Harpers essay about whether art aught to be “relevant”-Caity Weaver's Gawker piece about eating endless appetizers at TGIFridays-Caity Weaver's Gawker piece about eating at the Tenement Museum-Laura's piece about Planet Hollywood for The Paris Review-This New Yorker piece about Trump facing criminal charges once he loses his immunity-This New York Times piece about Trump's potential post-presidential careerThanks for listening!HaleyThis month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Palante Harlem Inc, a New York-based nonprofit working to reduce poverty, end tenant exploitation, and advocate for safe housing in Harlem.Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Good morning on this average Tuesday,This week I invited my favorite people in the world, Kelly and Andy Nahman, my older siblings, onto the podcast to discuss my last newsletter, #30: Intrusive thoughts. We talk about anxiety spirals, insomnia, and the strange neuroses we tend to leave out of small talk. I may be biased because I love my siblings and want to know everything going on in their brains all the time, but this one made me laugh a lot. I do want to warn that our tone may come across as insensitive or cavalier due to the gravity of the topics…so if dark humor isn't your thing, or you're not in a place to make light of serious things, this one might not be for you. Here we are looking happy in 1992:And yet our jet-black eyes hint at something dark beneath…Hope this serves as a welcome distraction on what might be—no reason, just spitballing—a stressful day. And let Kelly know in the comments if you, too, fantasize about being a pivotal witness in a criminal trial.Thanks for listening,HaleyToday's thematic musical accompaniment (a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's “Sound of Silence”) is by Avi Bonnerjee, recorded on our couch on Monday at my behest while he was busy doing other things! This month a portion of subscriber proceeds will be redistributed to Palante Harlem Inc, a New York-based nonprofit working to reduce poverty, end tenant exploitation, and advocate for safe housing in Harlem.Subscribe • Request a free subscription • Ask Dear Baby a question • Gift a subscription This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hey!This week I brought on culture, food, and climate writer Alicia Kennedy to talk about what it's like to be a semi-public figure (and receive public criticism), how to get yourself to write when you're not in the mood, and what it's like to make subscriber-funded work. This conversation is in response to my last newsletter, #29: On s**t-talking, clickbait, and politics (in bed). Remember adding “in bed” to the end of fortunes? Thinking about bringing that back. Anyway, Alicia and I have actually never met! Or spoken anywhere other than via Twitter replies. So it was nice to finally talk face to face, even though we didn't actually do that because there's a pandemic and she lives in Puerto Rico.Links to things we mention!•Alicia Kennedy's newsletter, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy•Her tweet about my last newsletter, and some of the replies by Nick Cho and Jen Agg•Her recent essay about chocolateHope you enjoy our conversation! I'm only slightly still mad at her for saying her newsletter is super easy to write.Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Coucou!Welcome to a special Emily in Paris extravaganza, featuring my boyfriend Avi Bonnerjee, lover of awful pop culture (and singer of today's intro song), and good friend Harling Ross, professional peer of Emily Cooper. We discuss everything from Emily's sex life and fashion choices to the show's impact and place in the canon of American art. I've been so blue lately and this conversation really cheered me up, so I hope it does the same for you! Please add all your EiP thots in the comments below.Bisous bisous,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week.Hello!This week I brought on my good friend and brilliant writer T Wise to talk about the themes in my last newsletter, #27: The pain/pleasure paradox. I met T when I was his editor at Man Repeller, and every time we published one of his essays people would comment “MORE OF THIS PLEASE!!!!” And I agree. Today we discuss everything from death to Judaism, gender, The Vow, and (dare I say it) cancel culture. Our conversation wraps around 1 hour 15 minutes, at which point I do an audio reading of the newsletter. So skip that if you already read it! In the future I may break out the audio readings, so thanks for dealing in the meantime.Some links to things we mention:•“The Case for Not Being Born,” by Joshua Rothman•“Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind” by Rachel Kushner•“Ordinary Things That Bring Me Extraordinary Joy” by T Wise“I Am Finally Living My Life as a Man, Albeit a Man Named ‘Praise Josephine'” by T Wise•“Outgrowing the Personal Essay: Can I Create a Voice Bigger Than My Trans Identity?” by T Wise•How to Do Nothing by Jenny OdellThank you for listening!Haleyp.s. follow T on Instagram This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving my Tuesday podcast because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.” Then it should automatically populate there every week like a real girl.Hey everyone,The day has come…my parents are on the pod. Per a question I answered in my last newsletter, #25, I brought them on to discuss what it's like to read my writing when it involves them (or parts of my life I might not otherwise share with them). It was so fun to talk to them and not only because they told flattering stories about my youth, like how I was slow to walk due to being “introspective,” according to my mom. Lol! We also discuss my fated career change.But before that, I brought on Amalie MacGowan, my friend and former Man Repeller colleague, to talk about her experience writing about her complicated childhood, including what led to her at one point pulling a story within an hour of publishing. She also waxes poetic about Bug for 5 minutes, which I couldn't legally cut. No audio-reading this time, so if you haven't read the written version I recommend checking that out for some context first.Thanks for listening!Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

You're receiving this email because you're a paying subscriber of Maybe Baby. Thank you! This is my Tuesday weekly podcast. To listen in your preferred app, click “Listen in podcast app.”Hi!Thanks so much for all your thoughtful engagement under my last newsletter, “#24: The Emily Ratajkowski effect.” It's been one of the more nerve-wracking but ultimately satisfying writing experiences I've had in a while. This week I brought on my friend and former editor Mallory Rice to discuss all of it—Emrata's essay, her brand of feminism, my response, and your responses to my response (both positive and critical). I also do an audio reading of my essay at the end—that starts around the 50-minute mark. Here's a really bad photo I took:Idk why it looks like that. Some things we mention:-My essay's moment in the sun on Twitter (where you can see more reactions)-Amber Hussain's critique of Natasha Stagg's Sleeveless-Amanda Mull's “Body Positivity Is a Scam”Thanks for reading/listening!Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

G'day and welcome to the Maybe Baby podcast,In today's episode I chat with my good friend Danny about everything from peeing in the shower to middle school style, fashion week, and the point of siblings (he's an only child). Around the 20-minute mark we tell the famed story of when I took Danny to a fashion show, one of my favorite New York memories. I met Danny through my brother, Andy, whom we refer to a lot throughout our conversation. Danny's worked a lot of odd jobs in New York, but mostly does woodworking. He's the handiest of my friends and is typically covered in dirt. He's also a deep thinker and an absolute weirdo; there are things he said to me years ago that I still think about all the time. I love talking to Danny and I hope it's just as fun to listen.Links to things we mention:-Danny's extremely popular and divisive Money Diary for Man Repeller-This insane 5-Minute Crafts video-The “Fade” music video featuring Teyana Taylor-Rae Sremmurd's “Somebody Come Get Her” The last 10 minutes are an audio reading of Newsletter #23: Sitting in the shower, which we reference loosely throughout the chat.Hope you like it! And thank you so much for supporting Maybe Baby.HaleyDon't forget you can click “Listen in podcast app” below the player to listen to the episode within your preferred app. After you select which app you want, it will open and you'll be prompted to click “subscribe” to a weird, long numeral (it looks like that because it's a private feed for paying subscribers, so it's not searchable). Then you can use that feed going forward! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

The warmest and steamiest of hellos…Excited to share that not unlike my peers I have yet again recorded a podcast. This week I brought my boyfriend Avi back to discuss death, recklessness, and David Blaine, and for some reason I admit to cheating in college. Is it material that we didn't change out of our pajamas until 4pm the day we recorded? Because that was the energy we were bringing. Also: I skipped the recommendations this time but did do an audio reading of the written portion of newsletter #22, which I saved for the end. If you don't need that in your life, feel free to bail at the 45-minute mark. Also, sorry again for my twee intro song, still working on licensing “My Neck, My Back” by Khia!Thanks for listening,Haleyp.s. Bug also makes, shall we say, multiple breathy appearances… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hi everyone!I'm really excited to share this week's episode. Based on some feedback I received last week, I decided to take a different approach with the podcast this time and bring on some guests to talk about my last newsletter instead of just reading it alone in a dark cave. In #21: Dear Baby, which you received on Sunday, I answered five reader questions. Today I'll be tackling three of them: First I'll be discussing moving in with a partner with my very own partner, Avi, and then I'll be talking about both editing and influencing with Harling Ross, my former Man Repeller colleague and good friend. We definitely cover some of the stuff I wrote about, but we also cover a lot more, and in different ways. So I think of this ep as more of a companion to the written newsletter versus an audio version. Also: It's about three times longer than anything I've released, so I hope you're up for it! And in the future I'll probably dial it in a bit….As always, thank you for giving a s**t,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

What's up!(Trying out a new greeting, lmk your thoughts.) I'm here to present you with the next episode of the Maybe Baby podcast, which includes a reading of #20: “Who are you online?” along with some truly off-the-leash monologuing. A question for you: Do you like hearing me talk out my recommendations? Sometimes I think they aren't super conducive to audio explanation and I wonder whether people skip them for that reason. Let me know in the comments! I'm open to reimagining what I use this podcast for pending what you find most spiritually fulfilling (i.e. maybe I skip the recs so it's shorter for you, or just talk longer about one or two of the recs that I find particularly thought-provoking, or take a long walk off a short pier into a cool lake in upstate New York then read a book under a tree!). I'm also doing some interview planning—if there's someone you'd like to hear me interview, put that in the comments, too!Love and tube socks,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hey (maybe) baby,Thanks for letting me email you twice in a week, I really appreciate that. Here's the latest episode of the Maybe Baby podcast: It's a reading of newsletter #19 + some extra context and excerpts that I didn't include in the written version. Hope you enjoy! Please don't tell Avi I just ate all the m&ms out of our trail mix.Love to your pinkies,Haleyp.s. a few people have asked me about the intro/outro song: It's Honey + Tea by Mōzi! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hi squirrels and chipmunks,So crazy to run into you here on a day like this. If you care to stop & chat, I have the next episode of the Maybe Baby podcast for you right here, and it's hot off the presses of my bedroom. This time I'm reading #18: Notes for therapy, which you received in written form on Sunday. I also include, as always, a little eXtra conteXt. I will warn that due to the list format this one might be slightly easier to read, but who am I to stop you from consuming this while folding your laundry/watching paint dry/walking aimlessly around your kitchen? Whatever you do is the right thing.Thank you as always for being a subscriber. I hope you're having a relatively nice Tuesday, unanimously agreed to be the worst day of the week!Haleyp.s. If you were an early supporter of Maybe Baby on Patreon, your free trial is about to run out on Substack. So if you'd like to keep supporting the newsletter and receiving the podcast and advice column, click here to sign up! THANK YOU! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hi! Welcome to Tuesdays with Morrie a.k.a. the Maybe Baby podcast. Pardon the slight delay on this—was having some technical issues! This week I'm doing a reading of #17: Xanax for the human condition, with the help of a brand new mic that makes me feel deeply professional. I also offer a little context behind why I wrote about nostalgia this week, and why I recommended some of the things I did (like the article about having kids during perilous times). Hope you enjoy!Love to you and the piglet squid,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!Honored to be in your electronic mailbox this morning to share the fourth episode of the Maybe Baby podcast. This week includes a reading of the newsletter (#16) you received on Sunday. In it I answer these five reader questions:How did you come to accept that you were ready for a major career change?What are your thoughts about everything that went down at Man Repeller in June?How can I trust my own voice?When do you know someone is "the one" to commit to?What are your thoughts on the gender fluidity of style?A quick note on production: I recorded this one in pieces, in various closets, on my iPhone, and I want to thank you for your patience while I make this thing on the lam! I'll be back in New York soon and the quality will definitely improve then. I'm also still trying to get myself to slow downnnn. I read like I've chugged a gallon of coffee! Lastly, this is the first time the podcast features !!another voice!! Click play for a surprise. (Lol)Hope you enjoy and see you on Sunday,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hey everyone!‘Tis my plej and honor to present the third episode of the Maybe Baby podcast. This week I'm talking about my decision to “go paid” (lol) and exploring some criticism I received on my last newsletter. It also includes an audio reading of #15 and more context behind my recommendations, if that's your kink. As you may know, this will be my last free podcast—if you want to receive it in the future, you can become a paying subscriber by clicking this button and entering your email. It's $5 a month and there are other perks too!As always feel free to drop your feedback in the comments. I'm definitely learning as I go! If you find it a bit monotonous to listen to one voice for 30 minutes, know that I'm planning to start incorporating some other people just as soon as I'm not recording in a closet. I swear I'm more lively when I'm not huddled alone in the dark! Learning a lot about myself…Thanks so much and hello to your pets,Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Good afternoon to you and the blobfish only!Excited to share episode two of the Maybe Baby podcast, now featuring music! (I watched a YouTube video on editing and am feeling EMPOWERED.) Just like last week, this is a reading of my latest newsletter, “My brain is melting in suburbia,” plus some extra thots & context. I can't believe how hard it is to physically say “maybe baby” (almost a dealbreaker…) and how often my throat dries out!!! New respect for voice actors. Anyway, don't forget you can either listen via the player embedded in this email, which works even if you close your phone, or in whatever podcast app you prefer. And I'm sorry this is going out a bit late, I had a small delay with music licensing…lol.Hope you like it, I spent an embarrassing amount of time on it.Haleyp.s. If you're having any trouble receiving the Sunday newsletter, try adding haleynahman@substack.com to your contacts and marking one of my newsletters as important! (Presumptuous…) I'm adding this graphic I had in my last one since, ironically, the people who needed it the most might not have seen it! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe

Hi!Some people have expressed interest in listening to my newsletter instead of reading it, so starting today I'm going to experiment with sending an audio version a couple days after the written one. These recordings will always come with a little behind-the-scenes info on what I've written and some extra context around my recommendations, so whether you didn't have time to read or just want to know more, there should be a little something for you.You should be able to listen within the email or open it in your favorite podcast app.Sorry in advance for the lackluster sound quality (I recorded this on my iPhone in my parents' closet), but it will get better I promise! I hope you like it. Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments. And thank you, as always, for giving a s**t about anything I write!Haley This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit haleynahman.substack.com/subscribe