Guest: Melissa Dahl

Awkwardness isn’t just a teenage emotion that goes away once the braces are off and pimples disappear. Cringey feelings continue throughout our lives, but some of us experience them more than others. Writer MELISSA DAHL has struggles with awkwardness, so much so, that she decided to take a close look at this misunderstood emotion. Her research involved putting herself into some very uncomfortable moments–she talked with strangers on the New York subway, went on “Tinder-for-friendship” date, did improv comedy, and read her middle school diary to a crowd. Marty talks with Dahl about what she learned from these embarrassing experiences and about her new book, Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness.