When the book ends, the conversation begins. On Bookends, Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.

Bookends does not shy away from difficult conversations … and neither does Anna Sale, the host of the popular Slate podcast Death, Sex and Money. The show is all about diving into topics that get deep fast, and Anna expands on that promise in her book, Let’s Talk About Hard Things. In this special bonus episode, Anna joins Mattea to chat all about the book, podcasting and how her own outlook on tough topics has changed over the years. 

You can listen to Bookends wherever you get your podcasts, or here: https://link.mgln.ai/OPPxBookends

We’re sharing something special with you this week: an episode of Pulling the Thread with Elise Loehnen. On her podcast, the New York Times–bestselling author sits down with today’s leading thinkers to try to answer life’s big questions: Why do we do what we do? How can we know and love each other better? What does it look like to live a meaningful life?

In this episode, Loehnen chats with the iconic therapist Esther Perel about what's underneath the conflicts in our relationships—what we're actually fighting about—and how we can turn those conflicts into connection.

You can listen to more of Pulling the Thread at: https://link.chtbl.com/PTT

Rachael has worked for years to heal from her own trauma and is now wanting to learn how to let love and affection in. Rachael practices allowing Hillary to care for her. It sounds simple, but as Rachael says, for her and for many of us, it can feel deeply “cringey.” Hillary sings a lullaby and Rachael relaxes into the feeling of being loved. 

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Hillary sings a lullaby she wrote for her own daughter full of affirmations, she dedicates it to all OPP listeners as well.

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

When David began to do therapy using cannabis with Hillary, he had very few childhood memories. So he was surprised to find a really big question about whether he was beaten surface in his consciousness. In this session, we hear David grappling with the truth of what happened to him. Hillary shepherds him through healing the imprint his suffering has left on his body, even as she admits the truth about what happened to him might never be known. 

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

In this Other People’s Problems first, Hillary lets us see her as the patient in this deeply personal cannabis session of her own. She feels back into the pain and heartbreak of miscarrying twins and a subsequent freak hemorrhage that nearly killed her. As she screams, “No!” and “It’s mine!,” she confronts the horror of watching first responders struggle to keep her alive and the feeling of losing control of what was happening to her own body. 

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Brandi (not her real name) has social anxiety because she grew up in a cult where members gathered regularly around her family’s dinner table to talk about mortality and sin. To cope, Brandi hid at the top of the stairs in silence, afraid to even go get a snack. In this session using cannabis, she imagines herself and Hillary bulldozing into the room, taking a stand on the kitchen table together, and demanding freedom.

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Donovan has lived in fear and anger ever since he told the truth about being abused by his mother’s boyfriend and then felt betrayed by social workers who were supposed to help. Now, after several ketamine therapy sessions, Donovan can finally look back upon his child-self with care and calm and works to become the kind of adult he needed for his own children. Hillary makes a bad move in treating him and faces the mistake. 

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

With the growing acceptance of psychedelic therapy, questions arise about the ethics, effectiveness, and experiences it brings. In this episode, Hillary addresses those questions in conversation with Geoff Turner, the host of CBC’s On Drugs podcast. Through historical clips and moments from actual sessions, they explore how substances are reshaping mental health treatment — including Hillary’s own experience as a patient — to talk about how psychedelic psychotherapy works. Using clips of the upcoming episodes, they talk about the big ethical questions, the big scientific questions, and what Hillary sees as the enormous promise of psychedelics to help people with their mental health. 

New episodes will be released weekly on Mondays. Don't want to wait? Binge the whole season right now via CBC Stories Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Dr. Hillary McBride introduces the new season of Other People Problems, and there's something new: in Season 5 Hillary's clients are experiencing therapy with the assistance of psychedelic drugs.

Listen to the new season on May 12, 2025.