Death, Sex & Money

By WNYC Studios

What's Death, Sex & Money about?

Death, Sex & Money is a podcast about the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation. Host Anna Sale talks to celebrities you've heard of—and to regular people you haven't—about the Big Stuff: relationships, money, family, work and making it all count while we're here.
WNYC Studios is a listener-supported producer of other leading podcasts including Radiolab, Snap Judgment, On the Media, Nancy, Death-Sex & Money, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin and many others.
© WNYC Studios

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How Are You "Surfing The Ur...

08.14.2019

This month, we've been talking about drinking, and asking you what you do when the impulse to drink hits⁠—and you don't want to indulge. Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you podcast listening recommendations, ...

Death, Sex & Money episodes:

08.14.2019 How Are You "Surfing The Urge" To Drink? This month, we've been talking about drinking, and asking you what you do when the impulse to drink hits⁠—and you don't want to indulge. Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you podcast listening recommendations, ...
08.07.2019 Michael Arceneaux On Love, Liquid Courage And Letting Go The writer talks about how alcohol has helped him let go of his inhibitions and embrace his sexuality—after growing up in a house where drinking often led to violence. In our last episode, we asked you about what you do ...
07.31.2019 Bottled Up: Your Stories About Drinking We asked you about your relationships with alcohol—why you drink, or don't, the strategies you use to manage your consumption, and what alcohol brings you besides a buzz. Here's what you told us. If you or someone you know is ...
07.24.2019 Rashema Melson's Weakest Yet Bravest Moments Rashema Melson recently got her college degree. Leading up to graduation day, she cracked open the "time capsules" we recorded with her, right before she dropped out of Georgetown—and right before she came back. Sign up for our newsletter at ...
07.17.2019 A Brother, A Sister, And Their Eating Disorders Two siblings open up to each other about eating and mental health, and why it took them so long to be honest about it with each other. Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you ...
07.10.2019 When Work Changes, So Do We As I return from maternity leave, I'm thinking a lot about work and identity. So is Uma Kondabolu, who recently retired from the place where she worked for almost 30 years. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check ...
06.26.2019 Tayari Jones & Carrie Mae Weems: What's It Like Up There? In the final installment of our maternity leave lineup, bestselling author Tayari Jones sits down with artist Carrie Mae Weems to talk about independence, art, relationships, and one very fabulous white silk dress worn for a spur-of-the-moment wedding. This episode ...
06.19.2019 Sarah Smarsh & Nick Smarsh: Are You Different Than Me? The bestselling author and Kansan talks with her dad about what happens when you grow up believing the hard way is the best way, and then cross over into a different class. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity ...
06.12.2019 Mahershala Ali & Rafael Casal: Envy Is A Hell Of A Drug The Oscar-winning actor interviews the co-creator of one of his favorite movies of 2018, Blindspotting, about his childhood as a "knucklehead" in the Bay Area, finding a creative partner, and avoiding jealousy. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity ...
06.05.2019 Alia Shawkat & Esther Perel: Life In Our 30s, And 60s The last time Alia Shawkat was on the show, she was offering advice about being in your 20s. Now she's back, this time, getting advice about her 30s from therapist Esther Perel. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity ...
05.22.2019 Tressie McMillan Cottom & Trevor Noah: Optimistic and Depressed The Daily Show host says he sometimes struggles to get out of bed. But he's comfortable saying that with a smile. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna ...
05.15.2019 Al Letson & Nikole Hannah-Jones: Sensitive, Not Scared Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones self-describes as "super sensitive." But that's not the same thing as being scared. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. ...
05.08.2019 Jason Isbell & Will Welch: Somebody Needs Me The Nashville singer-songwriter and the editor-in-chief of GQ Magazine sit down together to talk about their close friendship, Will's recent cancer diagnosis, expensive risk-taking, and their shared sobriety. This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest ...
04.24.2019 Damon Young & Kiese Laymon: The "Good Dude" Closet The writers on why the label covers a multitude of sins. Don't forget to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up ...
04.17.2019 John Cameron Mitchell & Marilyn Maye: I Will Survive The actor and Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator talks with 91-year-old cabaret singing legend Marilyn Maye about love affairs, alcoholism and their hopes and fears about aging. Please give to our spring fundraising campaign and keep Death, Sex & ...
04.10.2019 Lisa Ling & Awkwafina: Shut Up, Let Me Shine The Crazy Rich Asians actor talks with guest host Lisa Ling about how Bambi helped her process her mom's death, and why she has no qualms about turning down offers to do high-paying panty liner commercials. The Death, Sex & ...
04.08.2019 The 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup For the next few months, some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money guests—and some new folks, too—are taking a turn in the host chair and interviewing the people they're most curious about. Among them: Journalist Lisa Ling talks ...
03.27.2019 A Father and Daughter Talk About Layoffs We asked for your stories about being laid off. A listener named Stephanie wrote in about her dad. Take our survey about losing a job by going to deathsexmoney.org/laidoff. And find advice from other listeners about how to handle a ...
03.20.2019 Daniel K. Isaac Is Opting For The Gray Area As a teen, Daniel K. Isaac fought his sexuality. But accepting that part of himself as an adult has meant finding new, complicated ways of relating to his mother. Please give to support Death, Sex & Money. If we get ...
03.06.2019 José Andrés Googled ‘How To Be A Father’ José Andrés is at the helm of more than a dozen restaurants and is famous for his humanitarian work. But when it comes to parenting, he says he's often felt less than confident. Apply for our Summer 2019 internship in ...
02.20.2019 When We Sent Our Son Away Diane Gill Morris moved her whole family, including her two young adult sons who have autism, into a house she thought they'd live in forever. Then one of her sons had a violent outburst, throwing everything into question. Have you ...
02.19.2019 Autism Isn't What I Signed Up For When we posted an article on Facebook about deciding to have children, Diane Gill Morris told us, "If someone had told me this is what it’d be like, I never would have had kids." Look out for an update from ...
02.06.2019 How Nikki Giovanni Finally Learned To Cry The legendary poet talks with host Anna Sale in front of a live audience about standing up to her father, surviving breast and lung cancer, and why she now cries "over any damn thing." Have you ever been laid off? ...
01.23.2019 Let's Talk About Porn Again We're revisiting our most-listened to episode ever, about porn. Your stories about secret hard drives, fantasy plot lines, illegal downloads, titillating Tumblr feeds, and giving porn up completely. We're sharing this episode as part of our month-long series called Our ...
01.18.2019 How Do You Bring Up Your STI? If you have an STI, we've got an assignment for you. Send your voice memos to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
01.16.2019 Sexually Transmitted Secrets STI rates are on the rise. But when we asked our listeners to tell us their stories about having an STI, what we heard about was how alone it makes you feel. This episode is part of our month-long series ...
01.14.2019 So Many Sex Ed Fails You have a limited number of orgasms in life. Your penis will fall off if you get an infection. Kissing will get you pregnant. We asked you to share your "sex ed fails"—and you all had a lot to say. ...
01.09.2019 I Wanted To Be A "Good Girl" Andrea grew up attending an evangelical church in Texas, where she was taught to abstain from sex until marriage and keep herself sexually "pure." That early sex education—and her decision to have premarital sex anyway—had long-lasting impact, well into her ...
12.19.2018 When A Banker Was Called To The Convent Sister Josephine Garrett grew up Baptist and worked her way up the corporate ladder—only to realize in her late 20s that she wanted to convert to Catholicism and become a nun. It's the end of the year, and we need ...
12.05.2018 I Married A Dreamer During The Trump Presidency Vanessa never thought much about the immigration process until she fell in love with Freddy, whose legal status in the U.S. is now in jeopardy. Your year-end donation of $75 combined with the support of other listeners will really help ...
11.20.2018 Married, Paralyzed and Moving On A couple reflects on the big strides they've made together since a cycling accident left one of them paralyzed two years ago—and on the things they still need to face. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send ...
11.08.2018 John Green Thinks Adulthood is Underrated YA author John Green has built his career on his ability to connect with young fans—but in his own lowest moments, the isolation he's felt has been all-consuming. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast ...
10.31.2018 Why Governor Jennifer Granholm Cut Her Hair When former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm ran for office, she was told not to remind voters that she'd be the first woman to hold the office — and that her hair needed to be short. The Death, Sex & Money ...
10.30.2018 Tell Us Your Sex Ed Fails What did you learn about sex that you wish you hadn't? Send a voice memo about how sex ed failures played out in your own life to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And we're working with the BBC on this project, so we'd especially ...
10.17.2018 When Fire Takes Everything: Rebuilding in Northern California Two stories of recovery after loss. The Death, Sex & Money eye mask is here! Sign on to become a sustaining member of the show at $8 a month, and we'll send you your very own DSM gel eye mask...perfect ...
10.03.2018 I Served 27 Years In Prison. Now, I'm Out On Parole. Lawrence Bartley was released on parole this spring. Now, he and his wife Ronnine are building an everyday life for their family on the outside. Listen to my past interviews with Lawrence and Ronnine here and here. Subscribe to our ...
09.19.2018 Jane Fonda After Death and Divorce, Revisted For one of our earliest episodes, I spoke with Jane Fonda about living her life in the public eye. This week, we're bringing you that conversation again. Get your tickets for our live event in New York City on October ...
09.05.2018 Hot Dates: Last Summer Nights We've been following eight listeners as they've dated this summer—this week, we do a final check-in as the warm weather winds down. Go back and listen to the entire series at deathsexmoney.org/hotdates. And we know that sometimes, being single can ...
08.22.2018 Nick Offerman Can Take Directions Nick Offerman is famous for playing the most macho man on TV, but in real life, he says he has "all the colors inside." This week, we're also asking for your stories about sexually transmitted infections. Send us a voice ...
08.08.2018 Alzheimer's and the World's Saddest Comedy Club Comedian Chris Garcia lost his dad to Alzheimer's last year. Now, he's turning his grief into conversations with other comedians for a new project from WNYC studios—and we're bringing you an early listen. WNYC Studios wants to know what you ...
08.02.2018 Hot Dates: From One Hot Dater to Another Ceci and Miracle talk about what's happened since Miracle ran into one of her Bumble matches making out with her middle school teacher, and Ceci shares a big update. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out ...
07.25.2018 Tig Notaro Isn't a Blob Anymore In the six years since Tig Notaro's famous comedy set about her cancer diagnosis and her mother's death, a lot has changed. Find the playlist of listener-generated episodes we love here. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you haven't ...
07.23.2018 Hot Dates: Open to Open Relationships Since we first talked, Jessie emailed to confess something about her dating life that she didn't tell me before. Plus, June's off Tinder! All summer, we're following a group of listeners as they date in real time around the country. ...
07.12.2018 Manhood, Now: Live This week, we continued our conversation about being a man today with a live national special, featuring CNN's W. Kamau Bell and your calls. For more of our stories about manhood today, including a list of books, articles and podcasts ...
07.11.2018 A Wife Interviews Her Husband About Manhood, Now Earlier this week, we got a voice memo in our inbox, from a husband and wife inspired to talk about masculinity together. So we asked them if we could share it with you. This conversation is part of our look ...
07.09.2018 Hot Dates: "I'm Supposed to Be Certain" The first time we talked to Dan, he was wrestling with how to navigate consent in the #MeToo era. This week, he and I dig a little deeper. All summer, we're following a group of listeners as they date in ...
07.04.2018 How to Be a Man With Bill Withers, Revisited We revisit our episode with the Grammy-winning songwriter and singer on his 80th birthday, for a conversation about a life lived with intention and the beauty of the perfect rhyme. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you haven't already. ...
06.27.2018 Hot Dates: A Middle School Teacher Walks Into A Bar... Miracle decided to try a dating app, and got a blast from the past. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you haven't already. Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from ...
06.20.2018 Manhood, Now "You kind of learn what you're supposed to do. But nobody tells you anything." A conversation about what it means to be a man today, in partnership with FiveThirtyEight and SurveyMonkey. We're just starting this conversation about being a man, ...
06.14.2018 Hot Dates: Help from an OKCupid Guru Louis is at his wit's end with dating apps...so we called in reinforcements. Plus, some musings from Ceci. All summer, we're following a group of listeners as they date in real time around the country. We're calling this series Hot ...

Older episodes

Death, Sex & Money

What's Death, Sex & Money about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Death, Sex & Money episodes:

How Are You "Surfing The Urge" To Drink?

Michael Arceneaux On Love, Liquid Courage And Letting Go

Bottled Up: Your Stories About Drinking

Rashema Melson's Weakest Yet Bravest Moments

A Brother, A Sister, And Their Eating Disorders

When Work Changes, So Do We

Tayari Jones & Carrie Mae Weems: What's It Like Up There?

Sarah Smarsh & Nick Smarsh: Are You Different Than Me?

Mahershala Ali & Rafael Casal: Envy Is A Hell Of A Drug

Alia Shawkat & Esther Perel: Life In Our 30s, And 60s

Tressie McMillan Cottom & Trevor Noah: Optimistic and Depressed

Al Letson & Nikole Hannah-Jones: Sensitive, Not Scared

Jason Isbell & Will Welch: Somebody Needs Me

Damon Young & Kiese Laymon: The "Good Dude" Closet

John Cameron Mitchell & Marilyn Maye: I Will Survive

Lisa Ling & Awkwafina: Shut Up, Let Me Shine

The 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup

A Father and Daughter Talk About Layoffs

Daniel K. Isaac Is Opting For The Gray Area

José Andrés Googled ‘How To Be A Father’

When We Sent Our Son Away

Autism Isn't What I Signed Up For

How Nikki Giovanni Finally Learned To Cry

Let's Talk About Porn Again

How Do You Bring Up Your STI?

Sexually Transmitted Secrets

So Many Sex Ed Fails

I Wanted To Be A "Good Girl"

When A Banker Was Called To The Convent

I Married A Dreamer During The Trump Presidency

Married, Paralyzed and Moving On

John Green Thinks Adulthood is Underrated

Why Governor Jennifer Granholm Cut Her Hair

Tell Us Your Sex Ed Fails

When Fire Takes Everything: Rebuilding in Northern California

I Served 27 Years In Prison. Now, I'm Out On Parole.

Jane Fonda After Death and Divorce, Revisted

Hot Dates: Last Summer Nights

Nick Offerman Can Take Directions

Alzheimer's and the World's Saddest Comedy Club

Hot Dates: From One Hot Dater to Another

Tig Notaro Isn't a Blob Anymore

Hot Dates: Open to Open Relationships

Manhood, Now: Live

A Wife Interviews Her Husband About Manhood, Now

Hot Dates: "I'm Supposed to Be Certain"

How to Be a Man With Bill Withers, Revisited

Hot Dates: A Middle School Teacher Walks Into A Bar...

Manhood, Now

Hot Dates: Help from an OKCupid Guru

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