Tell Me Something True with Laura McKowen – Details, episodes & analysis

As we announced last week, this is the last episode of Tell Me Something True. Today, Laura walks through why we made this decision (it’s all fine, nothing is wrong!) 

A thing worth celebrating is that, over 67 episodes, nearly a quarter of a million adventurous, curious people said YES and pressed play over 600,000 times. Holy cow…that’s A LOT!!!!! 

The numbers only matter because they’re the mirror of how much YOU - and thousands of folks like you - said yes to falling in love with the mystery of life again. With every episode we asked, “how can this help someone to have a better next week?” We’re so grateful that you have been interested in going on this adventure with us. All of the episodes will stay up and we hope you’ll share them and return to these shows as you’re looking for inspiration, comfort, new tools, and new ideas. 

And we hope you’ll lease keep in touch! 

If you have a passionate idea for a show, or a message that absolutely MUST be heard, give Mikel a holler here: https://www.liminahouse.com/

Laura’s site (https://www.lauramckowen.com/) and her IG are the best way to say hey (https://www.instagram.com/laura_mckowen/) and pre-orders for her new book, Push Off From Here are happening! (https://www.lauramckowen.com/books/push-off-from-here)

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/67-laura-mckowen-on-why-we-are-wrapping-tmst

Spotify playlist for this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07kXA2JZj7QaprV563Wfvj

Here’s the transcript: https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/laura-on-why-were-wrapping-tmst-BVRgiJfS/transcript

TMST Members - We will take care of canceling the membership program and you will not see any new charges. It’s impossible to say how much we appreciate your support of the show. You made a difference and we are forever grateful.

Melissa Urban is one of the few people we’ve asked back to the show and there’s a reason for that. She’s got such a unique, magnetic energy and this strong, no-nonsense, yet compassionate way of showing up in the world. 

And now, she’s written The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free and, can we get a hell yes? We need this in our lives.

Melissa walks us through why boundaries are one of the most important life skills one can have, common pitfalls, why she wrote a specific section for mother-in-laws, and so much more. Friends, we are not overstating it when we say it’s hands-down the best book on boundaries EVER.

Also, we have an announcement: we’ve decided to bring TMST to a close, and this episode will be our second to last. Laura will have a lot to say about what went into this decision next week, in her final solo episode. 

Melissa Urban’s site: https://www.melissau.com/

Melissa’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/melissau/

The Book of Boundaries: https://www.melissau.com/boundaries-book/

 

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/66-melissa-urban-on-how-boundaries-will-set-you-free 

Spotify playlist for this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5fhCRmsIQewGFB5b1Qz9fd

Here’s the transcript: 

https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/melissa-urban-on-how-boundaries-will-set-you-free/transcript

 

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Support TMST: https://tmst.supercast.com/

Being human means sometimes we feel deeply alone. Cut off from other people. For most people, it passes quickly.

For others, especially those who also suffer from addiction, that feeling of isolation is persistent. It’s a low hum that follows a person everywhere. Part of the reason why some drink is to numb that feeling and turn down the voices that whisper why we’re alone.

Chris Marshall knows these feelings well and he’s here today to share how listening to those voices have almost killed him on several occasions. And how he’s developed a support network to make them less loud. Chris learned how powerful the experience of connection can be and it, literally, helped to save his life. It led him to create Sans Bar, a community connection space that specializes in serving extravagantly amazing, zero alcohol cocktails.

You may know Chris if you’re a member of The Luckiest Club, the sobriety support community Laura founded where he’s one of the meeting leaders.

BONUS: Chris and Laura recorded some material just for TMST Plus members. Become a TMST Plus member to hear some of his top tips and secrets for creating an inclusive space, his favorite drink for the hottest summer day and the TWO WORD genius answer to “Do you want a drink?” and “Why aren’t you drinking?”

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/57-chrismarshall-on-how-connection-can-save-your-life

Spotify playlist for this episode: 

Here’s the transcript: https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/chris-marshall-on-how-connection-can-save-your-life/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

HANDS UP if knowing what you want, and standing up for it, has not always been welcome.

Imagine being hit with that - and you’re America’s top-selling female group of all time!

Marissa Moss has a lot to say about powerful women, making their own rules, and finding solidarity when the world is pitting them against each other. This TMST is a  conversation about how women are being true to themselves and reshaping culture, while building huge, diverse audiences. 

In the book, “Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Never Were Supposed to Be,” Moss weaves together The Chicks, Shania and Loretta, and the new generation like Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Mickey Guyton.

The stories she shares in our conversation are gripping, and gut churning. And…. she’s going to explain to us the veiled threat that still exists today - you don’t want to get Chicked, do ya?

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/56-marissa-moss-on-not-getting-chicked

Spotify playlist for this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hJwhPHQzuqT9OgiAnpAhQ

Here’s the transcript: https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/marissa-moss-on-not-getting-chicked/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

When was the last time you got real about jealousy or envy?

In this episode, Laura brings the heat, digging into how jealousy and envy have shown up in her life. She explores the ways they’re different and the ways we use them to blow ourselves up.

This is no trail of tears, though! We’ll take a look at what social psychologists and researchers have identified as the purpose of these emotions. And then we explore ways to help work through these feelings when they rise up and want to take charge of our lives.

If you’re a TMST Plus member, the members-only episode features a bonus conversation Laura had with her friend Christie Tate, the NY Times Bestselling author of Group, which was about her experience in group therapy. The two of them have spent a lot of time delving into these gross, uncomfortable feelings, and you can be a fly on the wall as they explore it.

SUPPORT: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

You can find the transcript for this episode here.

We are never more than one connection away from a veteran or first responder.

They are the ULTRA helping professions. During the pandemic, many were the first line of protection and care. Over 20 years of The Global War of Terror, many have experienced repeated deployments with an anodyne “thank you for your service” and a bad country music song as their only Thank You.

But how many of us have asked how we can be part of THEIR solution network?

Meet Dr. Kate Pate, a neurophysiologist who is looking at the ways our brains impact our bodies, and how we heal both in harmony. Kate is laser-focused on the health and healing needs of our veterans and first responders, which means she’s focused on matters that impact our entire society.

Her perspective is grounded in healing and is relevant to all of us because we’re connected to these folks or need similar healing. She gets the role recovery plays in the equation and she brings true illumination to things like, “what’s a trigger?” and “is this PTSD?”

Dr. Kate Pate is one of the most impressive and insightful people we’ve ever met and you are going to love her.

 

Dr Kate Pate’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/doc.pate/

Episode link:  https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/54-dr-kate-pate-vets-first-responders-being-triggered

Transcript: https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/dr-kate-pate-on-vets-first-responders-and-why-being-triggered-is-more-complicated-than-you-think/transcript

Spotify playlist for this episode:

 

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

Rollercoasters are a fun diversion, but they’re no way to live. That’s why the whipsaw experience of being on an emotional rollercoaster is one of the things folks are most happy to see leave their life. Those radical highs and lows aren’t confined to the times when people are using - they often extend well into sobriety. Usually driven by hyper-sensitivity and, to be honest, a lot of self-absorption.

And that’s where today’s guest comes in…. As we mark the beginning of Year Two for Tell Me Something True, we’re revisiting a conversation with Veronica Valli on emotional sobriety.

We get into how emotional sobriety does and doesn’t relate to abstinence from substance or process addictions. What emotional sobriety actually means, why it’s something everyone has to do (not just people in recovery) if they want healthy relationships, because no matter what, “the hardest thing any human being has to do is deal with other people.”

In addition to being a dear friend, Veronica is a woman in long-term recovery, a therapist, a sobriety coach, founder of the Soberful program, a co-host of the Soberful podcast, and the author of three books, the most recent of which, Soberful: Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol.

Veronica has genuine encouragement to share about the comfort and relief that comes from living an integrated life. As happens every time we talk, after this conversation, we felt more grounded, clear, and hopeful, and hope this has the same effect for you, too.

• Veronica’s website
• The Soberful podcast

SUPPORT: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

Brianna Madia’s journey as a vagabond lifestyle influencer was extraordinary. It was her, her van, her dogs and, for a time, her husband. And according to her it was really good. Until it wasn’t. And then, it got really scary. Brianna takes us behind the curtain of the IG influencer life - and then we go 100 levels deeper. While the world was fixed on her very attractive-appearing life, she was living with a slow, gnawing truth that was killing her. When she came clean, the geyser of vitriol was horrific. The extreme shaming she received after admitting that she made some, admittedly, desperate life choices - was topped only by the brutality she inflicted on herself. A brutality that had her considering some irrevocable actions. Brianna is able to talk about some big truths and hard things - and yet it never feels like trauma porn. There’s no voyeuristic charge to her story, so you’re left being able to see where we’ve all made choices we wouldn’t want to repeat - and where we go from there. Brianna’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/briannamadia/ Brianna’s site: https://www.briannamadia.com/ Her book, Nowhere For Very Long: https://www.briannamadia.com/nowhereforverylong Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/52-brianna-madia-on-surviving-the-lie-that-was-killing-her Spotify playlist for this episode: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Support TMST today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free: https://tmst.supercast.com/

An insatiable need for romantic attention and love. Periods of overeating or starving. Using alcohol, food, or over-working to numb out. A pattern of unstable and painful relationships. Does this sound painfully familiar? Kelly McDaniel is a trauma therapist who saw these traits over and over in clients who felt trapped in cycles of harmful behaviors and were unable to stop. In 2008, she coined the term Mother Hunger as a way to describe this pattern and has since helped countless women. In this conversation, Kelly and Laura talk about: – What Mother Hunger is – How Mother Hunger shows up in our relationship to food – The three critical elements of mothering and what happens when those needs aren’t met – What Mother Hunger looks like in other relationships, like friendships and at work – The link between food and unstable relationship patterns – The concept of “frozen grief” – The double-bind women face when it comes to sexual expression – How to begin to heal Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/51-kelly-mcdaniel-on-mother-hunger Show notes: Ready to Heal book Mother Hunger book Kelly’s website: https://kellymcdanieltherapy.com/ Kelly’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellymcdanieltherapy/ Spotify playlist for this episode: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free. ==== TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

What could be heavier than the secrets we carry? The constant vigilance and concealment can be exhausting. But can you tell the difference between what’s a secret and what’s being kept private? Michael Slepian does and he can back it up with research. Slepian studies the psychology of secrets and, as he’s discovered, the real problem with keeping a secret is not that you have to hide it, but that you have to live with it, and think about it. But here’s the trick - we confuse secrets, lies and privacy all the time! And we hurt ourselves in the process. Slepian helps us figure out where we’re hurting ourselves -and where we can give ourselves a break, drop the guilt and free up some mental space! Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/50-michael-slepian-knowing-difference-between-secrets-lies-privacy Spotify playlist for this episode: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Support TMST today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free: https://tmst.supercast.com/