How To!

By Slate Podcasts

Education Business

What's How To! about?

What if Dear Abby was an investigative reporter? Each week, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit) takes on listeners’ toughest problems and, with the help of experts, finds the answers to questions you’ve always wanted to ask, but couldn’t. Until now.

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Congrats, You Won the Olymp...

07.20.2021

Winning the Olympics is everything Steve Mesler ever wanted. So when he and his U.S. bobsled teammates stood atop the podium at the 2010 Vancouver Games, his life seemed golden in every way. But soon after his triumph, Steve began ...

How To! episodes:

07.20.2021 Congrats, You Won the Olympics. Now What? Winning the Olympics is everything Steve Mesler ever wanted. So when he and his U.S. bobsled teammates stood atop the podium at the 2010 Vancouver Games, his life seemed golden in every way. But soon after his triumph, Steve began ...
07.13.2021 How To Make a Big Purchase Without Panicking Alexandra and her boyfriend want to buy a house, but they’re looking in one of the hottest housing markets in the U.S. So when they got outbid for their dream home, Alexandra was secretly relieved. Spending money, even if it’s ...
07.06.2021 How To Fight Outrageous Medical Bills Rich thought nothing of going to the hospital for a routine colonoscopy—until he got the bill. Even with insurance, Rich is on the hook for nearly $2,000, way more than he ever expected. It’s particularly painful because Rich was planning ...
06.29.2021 How To Trick Your Brain Into Running Longer Have you ever thought about running but been too intimidated to start? Or maybe you’ve already got an after-work jogging routine and need tips on how to increase your endurance? On this episode of How To!, we reveal the game-changing, ...
06.22.2021 I'm a Recovering Alcoholic. I'm Afraid My Kids Will End Up Like Me. Lee is worried that one day soon her 25-year-old adopted daughter, who is pregnant and struggling with a drug addiction, will show up on her doorstep with a baby in tow. How will she be able to explain the situation ...
06.15.2021 After a Year of Survival, How to Start Living Again For the past year, Brandon has been terrified of leaving his apartment. And so he’s settled into an extreme pandemic routine. He cooks all of his own meals, has yet to see his parents, and on the rare occasion he ...
06.08.2021 How To Have the Best Sex of Your Life Ever since she started taking a new medication a few years ago, Meme is worried that she’s lost her sex drive. She still has a great relationship with her husband, but she isn’t interested in sex the way that she ...
06.05.2021 How to Turn Grit Into a Lifelong Habit \| Angela Duckworth \| The TED Interview What does it take to persevere and succeed, not just in our careers but in all aspects of our lives? For psychologist Angela Duckworth, the answer can be summed up in one concept: grit. She explains the ingredients in grit ...
06.01.2021 My Kid's Anxiety Is Giving ME Anxiety! How Do I Fix This? Michaela is worried that her son, Asher, is constantly worried. At 8 years old, Asher is already dealing with some pretty intense anxiety. For example, he cried every day at school last year. Now that he’s being home schooled during ...
05.25.2021 The Single Most Important Thing to Know Before Becoming a Single Parent Stacie is in her early 30s and is ready to have a baby. There’s just one problem—she doesn’t have a partner. As much as she wants to be a mom, Stacie is worried about being a single parent by choice. ...
05.18.2021 How to Stand Up to Your Terrible Manager—Without Getting Fired Shirley loves her job as a product manager for a startup, but she can’t stand her manager. He’s inefficient, old-fashioned, and entirely unsupportive of her work. “Just so you know, you don’t deserve this,” he told Shirley when she recently ...
05.11.2021 How To Have a Fight That Actually Helps Your Relationship Diane feels like she’s constantly picking fights with her partner Mohammed—when he forgets to grab tomatoes from the grocery store or drops the ball on planning their son’s birthday party. Their conflicts are complicated by layers of cultural differences: Mohammed ...
05.04.2021 Now Is the Time To Escape Your Bad Relationship. Here’s How. Dating is always tough, but during a pandemic it can feel downright impossible. “I’m incredibly lonely, and it’s impossible to meet anybody my age right now,” our listener Sarah said. Feeling isolated, Sarah has clung to a friends-with-benefit situation with ...
04.27.2021 I’m Great at My Job. So Why Do I Feel Like a Fraud? When Shellye Archambeau walked into her first meeting as a board member of Verizon, she felt a moment of panic. “Do I actually belong at this table?” she remembers thinking. Shellye, one of the first Black women to work as ...
04.20.2021 How To Give a Killer Speech We're all have to give a presentation at some point in our lives — on a stage, in a conference room, and, these days, on Zoom. So what makes a good speech? On this episode of How To!, we bring ...
04.13.2021 I Was Lost at Sea for 438 Days. Here's How I Survived. Imagine you’re floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a boat the size of an SUV. You have no working electronics, no food or water, and only a styrofoam box to shade you from the sun. Your only ...
04.06.2021 How To Fight Rattlesnakes and Polar Bears Have you ever wondered how you’d fare in the wild? What you’d do when facing off against a rattlesnake or staring down a polar bear? On this episode of How To!, the first in a two-part series, we dive into ...
03.30.2021 How To Write the Perfect Obituary Laura’s dad lived an unusual life. He raised 12 children on a farm without running water in the Texas countryside while also programming his own website that connected families, for free, with help when they were going through difficult times. ...
03.23.2021 How To Make an Exit Like Mary Poppins For years, Stella helped raise twin girls whom she loved deeply. She potty trained them, read bedtime stories and made sure they ate their veggies. But then, one day with little warning, she was asked to leave them. Stella isn’t ...
03.16.2021 How To Stop Snoring (And Breathe Easier) Andrew snores so badly that his cats won’t sleep in the same room as him. He’s desperate to sleep better at night, and breathe more easily during the day. As a trans man, Andrew spent most of his life training ...
03.09.2021 How To Quiet the Chatter in Your Head Emilia can’t stop thinking about a long-ago love affair with Ivan, a man she met in Mexico in her early 20s and dated for several years. Now, a decade later, Emilia is newly married, but thoughts of her time with ...
03.02.2021 How To Survive a Doomsday Cult Michael grew up terrified that the world was going to end. This wasn’t your typical childhood anxiety, but something he was taught while being raised in the Children of God cult. Michael left the cult years ago, but now in ...
02.23.2021 How To Fall Out of Love Several months ago, Sarah told her best friend John she’s in love with him—but he doesn’t love her back. Now Sarah can’t get John out of her head, especially because they still talk all the time. How can Sarah move ...
02.16.2021 How To Start Over at 60 Age may just be a number but turning 60 is a big deal—at least, according to three listeners who recently wrote us about the challenges they’re facing in their later years. Joy can’t decide whether to retire from her job ...
02.09.2021 How To Leave the Church When Your Dad’s the Pastor Chris’s childhood was defined by the Pentecostal church, where his father is a minister and his siblings are following the same path. But when Chris went to college, his views on the church changed, and now at age 23, he ...
02.02.2021 How To Steal Back Your Identity Ever since Casey’s husband had his identity stolen, Casey hasn’t been able to relax. She spends late nights and weekends obsessively checking their family bank accounts and scouring the web for information on the thieves who live just 15 minutes ...
01.26.2021 How To Be a Badass On and Off the Court Juliet knows she’s one of the best tennis players in her community league, but whenever she gets on the court, she’s paralyzed by self-consciousness. Did the crowd notice how bad that shot was? With all eyes on her, Juliet keeps ...
01.19.2021 How To Get Things Done in a Divided Nation with Samantha Power Samantha Power knows what it’s like to arrive in Washington, D.C. and feel a little lost—literally. She once couldn't find the oval office. But more than that, as a Pulitzer Prize-winning human rights activist and former UN Ambassador under President ...
12.29.2020 Our Favorite Advice of 2020 Here at How To! headquarters, we give and receive a lot of good advice. This year we learned how to talk politics without wrecking relationships, lose weight and keep it off, confront a crazy neighbor, and even survive a shark ...
12.22.2020 How To Stress-Bake with Claire Saffitz Are you sick of sourdough? Stress-baking the same chocolate chip cookies every week? Our listener Daniel understands—he’s been baking like crazy during this pandemic, but is feeling tired and uninspired lately. On this episode of How To!, we bring on ...
12.15.2020 How To Get Your Dog to Stop Eating Your Daughters’ Underwear With Jenny Slate Erin thinks her dog Chief has the most embarrassing habit—he keeps eating her daughters’ underwear. This has happened several times, resulting in multiple costly surgeries. If she can't put a stop to it, it could eventually kill Chief. How can ...
12.11.2020 Bonus Ep - How To Get Out of Debt Faster Than You Think Irina and her husband are more than $100,000 in debt. They’re working to pay it off, but between monthly credit card bills, student loan payments, 401k contributions and spending on their new baby, their money is spread too thin. In ...
12.08.2020 How To Face Your Fear of Dying Katie is terrified of dying. As the youngest in a big family, she can’t stop thinking about the fact that all her loved ones may die before she does. Katie is a comedy writer who knows how to get laughs, ...
12.01.2020 How To Save Your Marriage Lauren and Carlos are afraid their marriage is at a breaking point. With Carlos out of work, an active toddler to care for, and another child on the way, Lauren and Carlos are feeling pressures familiar to many newlyweds—and the ...
11.24.2020 How To Rescue Someone From a Conspiracy Theory Matt’s dad believes some crazy conspiracy theories—that the moon landing was faked, that JFK’s assassination was an inside job, and that QAnon is real. Matt can’t stand talking about politics—or really anything—with his dad these days, but he’s desperate to ...
11.17.2020 How To Have an Open Relationship Abe’s girlfriend wants to try something different—sleeping with other people. In other words, she wants an open relationship. Abe could be on board, but he has some questions. How does that work exactly? What are the ground rules? And what ...
11.10.2020 How To Be the Next Erin Brockovich Mike is an average guy on a mission to change the state of Florida—specifically, to convince the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to stop overspraying the rivers and lakes with herbicides. As a fisherman, Mike cares deeply about the waterways ...
11.03.2020 How To End a Sibling Rivalry With Kate & Oliver Hudson Sam and his sister used to be close, but lately their relationship feels strained. Years of favoritism toward Sam by their parents has taken its toll and now, after one disastrous family celebration, Sam worries he may lose his sister ...
10.27.2020 How To Avoid Becoming Your Mother Have you ever had a moment where you realized… I’m becoming like my parents? For many of us that can be a funny realization, but for Michelle it was a wakeup call. Her mother can be a bit of a ...
10.23.2020 Bonus Ep - How To Get People to Vote Isabelle decided to spend her gap year as a political volunteer campaigning on behalf of Joe Biden. She’s been writing postcards, making phone calls, and even posting on social media. But she worries she’s not making enough of an impact, ...
10.20.2020 How To Survive a Public Shaming With Katie Hill Back in 2018, newly elected U.S. Representative Katie Hill was a rising star in the Democratic Party. Then unauthorized nude photos of her were leaked to a right-wing blog by her estranged husband, triggering a House Ethics investigation. Katie denied ...
10.13.2020 How To Talk Politics Without Wrecking Relationships On a recent phone call Shannon’s mom didn’t mince words: The only way she’d vote for Joe Biden is if Jesus himself comes down and tells her to. Growing up in a conservative household, Shannon understands her parents’ support for ...
10.06.2020 How To Lose Weight and Keep It Off John needs to shed 15-20 pounds. At age 72, on the cusp of retirement, he wants to reduce his blood pressure medication and have more energy to travel. John knows how to lose weight—at an earlier point in his life ...
09.29.2020 How To Get Away With Murder One day in 1987, a young girl in a small town in upstate New York disappeared and then turned up dead. For seven years her murder went unsolved, until police finally caught the killer, a local man whom everyone knew. ...
09.22.2020 How To Win Arguments Like a Hostage Negotiator Shayne defuses bombs for the military, but in his personal life he’s terrified of confrontation. Take, for example, the time his kids’ babysitter cleaned out a week’s worth of groceries from his fridge and he never said anything. Shayne wants ...
09.15.2020 Cheat Sheet: How To Survive High School & Whatever Comes Next College application season is here and Aria, a 17 year-old senior, is stressing—even more than usual. At her high school in Chicago’s south suburbs, she gets good grades, is on the cheer team, in multiple honor societies, leads the choral ...
09.08.2020 Cheat Sheet: How To Talk to Your Son About Sex Thirteen-year-old Henry seems like a model son. He gets good grades, plays on the hockey team, and has a solid group of friends. But Henry’s been spending a lot more time on the Internet during the pandemic, and recently brought ...
09.01.2020 Cheat Sheet: How To Ace Zoom School Anna is sure the amount of time her two children spend on YouTube or Roblox cannot be good for them. With remote learning this fall, Anna is worried their addiction to screens is only going to worsen, stunting their imagination ...
08.25.2020 How To Become Your Own Boss with Guy Raz Mitchell is a physical therapy student who dreams of revolutionizing the industry. What if physical therapists and their patients weren’t so constrained by insurance companies? His classmates and professors think he’s crazy, but Mitchell thinks disrupting the status quo could ...
08.21.2020 How To! Presents: "Cheat Sheet" Expert tips for navigating a most unusual back-to-school season. A special three-part series coming September 1st! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Older episodes

How To!

What's How To! about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

How To! episodes:

Congrats, You Won the Olympics. Now What?

How To Make a Big Purchase Without Panicking

How To Fight Outrageous Medical Bills

How To Trick Your Brain Into Running Longer

I'm a Recovering Alcoholic. I'm Afraid My Kids Will End Up Like Me.

After a Year of Survival, How to Start Living Again

How To Have the Best Sex of Your Life

How to Turn Grit Into a Lifelong Habit | Angela Duckworth | The TED Interview

My Kid's Anxiety Is Giving ME Anxiety! How Do I Fix This?

The Single Most Important Thing to Know Before Becoming a Single Parent

How to Stand Up to Your Terrible Manager—Without Getting Fired

How To Have a Fight That Actually Helps Your Relationship

Now Is the Time To Escape Your Bad Relationship. Here’s How.

I’m Great at My Job. So Why Do I Feel Like a Fraud?

How To Give a Killer Speech

I Was Lost at Sea for 438 Days. Here's How I Survived.

How To Fight Rattlesnakes and Polar Bears

How To Write the Perfect Obituary

How To Make an Exit Like Mary Poppins

How To Stop Snoring (And Breathe Easier)

How To Quiet the Chatter in Your Head

How To Survive a Doomsday Cult

How To Fall Out of Love

How To Start Over at 60

How To Leave the Church When Your Dad’s the Pastor

How To Steal Back Your Identity

How To Be a Badass On and Off the Court

How To Get Things Done in a Divided Nation with Samantha Power

Our Favorite Advice of 2020

How To Stress-Bake with Claire Saffitz

How To Get Your Dog to Stop Eating Your Daughters’ Underwear With Jenny Slate

Bonus Ep - How To Get Out of Debt Faster Than You Think

How To Face Your Fear of Dying

How To Save Your Marriage

How To Rescue Someone From a Conspiracy Theory

How To Have an Open Relationship

How To Be the Next Erin Brockovich

How To End a Sibling Rivalry With Kate & Oliver Hudson

How To Avoid Becoming Your Mother

Bonus Ep - How To Get People to Vote

How To Survive a Public Shaming With Katie Hill

How To Talk Politics Without Wrecking Relationships

How To Lose Weight and Keep It Off

How To Get Away With Murder

How To Win Arguments Like a Hostage Negotiator

Cheat Sheet: How To Survive High School & Whatever Comes Next

Cheat Sheet: How To Talk to Your Son About Sex

Cheat Sheet: How To Ace Zoom School

How To Become Your Own Boss with Guy Raz

How To! Presents: "Cheat Sheet"

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