New Nun Syndrome

From our sponsor: Imagine if you could ask someone anything you wanted about their finances. On “What We Spend,” people from across the country and across the financial spectrum are opening their wallets — and their lives — to tell you everything: What they make, what they want, and — for one week — what they spend.

When newlyweds Chantal and Travis Lisback started searching for their dream home in Seattle, they weren’t entirely on the same page. Chantal was eager to settle down as soon as possible, while Travis was more comfortable waiting a few years. As the search dragged on, what began as a shared dream started to feel more like a standoff. This week, a story about how a big life decision can bring to light the money and communication issues you didn’t know were there. Plus, later in the episode, Chantal and Travis sit down with financial therapist Aja Evans to unpack what’s happening beneath the surface, and how to approach money fights with more care and intention. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

Ever wrestled with a work problem and didn’t know where to turn? We’ve got you. In our new advice column, “Work Drama,” we try to find answers to your sticky work situations. This week, “This Is Uncomfortable” host Reema Khrais is joined by career coach and podcaster Mandi Woodruff-Santos to unpack your workplace problems -- from messy, toxic bosses to dealing with salary negotiations.Got workplace drama you need help dealing with? Shoot us an email at [email protected] to tell us about it, or call ‪(347) 746-4848‬ and leave a message. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

After decades of trying to make it as an actor and comedian in Hollywood, Claudette Powell felt deeply unfulfilled. So she set her sights on a radically different life -- one that required her to pay off nearly $150,000 of debt. When she finally wrote that last check, she took a vow of poverty and entered a convent. But leaving behind her material life wasn’t as simple as it sounded. This week: how paying off debt was only the beginning – and how money still finds a way to complicate life within convent walls.If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

Hanna Sanborn was a single mom with newborn twins, struggling to find affordable childcare. Her best friend, Bryer Rossi, was burned out at work and looking for a way out. One day, Hanna floated an idea to him: “What if you quit your job and took care of my babies?” What started as a running joke between friends turned into a lifeline that changed their lives and the way they saw each other.If you liked this episode, share it with a friend!

“This Is Uncomfortable” returns with four brand-new episodes about life and how money messes with it.This season: Two best friends, struggling with work and unaffordable child care, come up with an unconventional solution that reshapes their relationship. A woman walks away from a Hollywood career to take a vow of poverty. Our “Money Fight” series is back, following a couple whose search for a dream home turns into a power struggle. And in our new advice series, "Work Drama," we tackle your uncomfortable work questions on toxic offices and pay discrepancies.New episodes drop starting May 1.

“This Is Uncomfortable” will be back in your feeds with brand new episodes in May, and in the meantime, we’re sharing the first episode of “Unlocking the Gates,” a series from Marketplace and APM Studios hosted by special correspondent Lee Hawkins. He tells the story of how the Minnesota suburb he grew up in went from being a place where the housing market was inaccessible to Black families to one where many Black families found economic opportunity. And it all started with a nighttime business deal.

Hard to believe, but we’re celebrating 10 seasons, and five years, of  “This Is Uncomfortable”! In this special episode, we’re pulling back the curtain to reveal the show’s origins, the biggest lessons Reema’s learned along the way and our favorite money tips from expert guests. Plus we’ll hear from you, our listeners, about the insights that have stuck with you through the years. We’ll be back with a new season in 2025! For special content and updates on what’s next, subscribe to our newsletter. 

Last spring, Jay Benedith and Ben Williams matched on a dating app and quickly hit it off. But just a few weeks into their budding romance, a Venmo request started to raise questions about their future together. What happens when your partner’s approach to money clashes with yours? Can nickel-and-diming jeopardize a connection? If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And to get even more Uncomfortable, subscribe to our newsletter!

This week, we’re sharing an episode of another podcast we think you’ll love. “Notes From America With Kai Wright” is a show from WNYC Studios about the unfinished business of our history, and its grip on our future. In this episode, Wright interviews choreographer Bill T. Jones about his groundbreaking dance performance “Still/Here.” Jones shares his reflections on creating such an essential piece of performance art amid the AIDS epidemic and while grieving his own partner, what he learned from spending time with the “survivors” who inspired it, and how “Still/Here” has evolved for a new generation of audiences.To get even more Uncomfortable, subscribe to our newsletter!