Shhh! Don't Talk About It

This week we talk with the incredible advocate and stand up comedian Laura High about donor conception. Laura is a self described "sperm donor baby" dedicated to bringing ethics, regulation, and bravery to the infertility industry.

This is the third in our series on this topic starting last season with friend of the pod Alexis from the DNA Surprises podcast, who shared her non-paternal event DNA surprise with us, along with our episode with Megan's sister and sister in law who talked about their IVF and donor experience on the road to becoming parents. Laura rounds this topic out sharing her experience as a donor conceived person. Laura is a fierce advocate, Tik Toker, and host of the Insemination podcast, who walks us through the dark side of the fertility industry with grace, humor, and incredible empathy for everyone (except the dirty industry insiders and capitalists making money off people's trauma) caught up in the multi billion dollar donor conception industry.

If you are inspired by Laura's story and advocacy please sign on to the efforts to pass HR 451 to make fertility fraud illegal - preventing sexual assault and fraud in the fertility industry.

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This week we are joined by wonderful couple Jonathan and Nato to learn about their journey with polyamory. They walk us through how they met, the process of opening their relationship up, and what they are learning about taking care of themselves and each other through it all.

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This week dive into long term relationships - what makes them work, how to keep growing in them, and when to call it quits. We each explore and share our very different relationship histories and what we've learned about ourselves through the process of making it work with someone else.

Reyna has been in her relationship almost 19 years and shares her insight on how to keep things fresh, how to avoid codependence, and how she's grown with her partner from her 20s to her 40s.

Megan has an entire Lifetime movie of toxic relationships, heartbreak, and bad dates to talk about and shares how she was finally able to make the leap from codependent serial dater into a securely attached relationship.

This episode is for anyone - single or attached - trying to relate romantically to another person and figure out how to go the distance. Do you have your own relationship success story or dating horror story to share? Email us and let us know at info@ shhhdonttalk.com.

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This week Reyna and Megan open up about their greatest fears and phobias. Some are heavy and rooted in trauma, others are just weird and we have no idea where they came from but we do our best this episode to try and figure it out. In this episode we cover

Can you guess which one of us is afraid of what? How about which one of us sleeps with a knife under her pillow? You'll have to tune into find out, and let us know your own fears and phobias on our Insta

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This week we're talk with Oliver James, a motivational speaker who's catch phrase on TikTok "What's up, I can't read" caught our attention and brought us into his incredible journey as he teaches himself to read at age 34.

It's rare to hear someone talk about struggling to read as an adult, but in reality 21% of the adult population in America can't read and 54% read at a 6th grade level or lower. Oliver isn't alone, he's just one of the few people brave enough to talk about it. He's also spent the last year teaching himself how to read and is inspiring thousands of people to take on big challenges by documenting the process.

His story is one of systemic abuse and neglect in the education system, childhood wounding, and overcoming major adversity. We were SO inspired by his journey and are honored to bring him to the pod.

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Content warning: This episode discusses suicide, suicidal ideation, and (briefly) sexual assault. At Shhh! Don't Talk About It we believe these topics must be discussed - and that talking about them freely and without shame saves lives. However, sensitive listeners should take care of themselves throughout the episode. Feel free to take in slowly, and take breaks as you listen but we hope you'll stick with us through this difficult - but ultimately hopeful - episode.

This week Megan and Reyna are joined by Nancy Nettles to discuss surviving suicide. Nancy is a mother, grandmother, mental health therapist, educator, opera singer and... three time suicide attempt survivor. On this episode she graciously shares her story and what it took for her to overcome her darkest hours to build the beautiful, full, life she is living today.

In this episode we cover:

Thank you so much to Nancy for being so open, compassionate, and fierce in her drive to normalize talking about suicide. Stories like hers save lives.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please reach out to your local crisis line, or call 988. This episode is not a substitute for therapy.

We dedicate this episode to our friend Joseph Brandon Smith who died by suicide July 12, 2020. We're glad Nancy stayed and we wish Joe did too.

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This week Reyna and Megan take a deep dive into their mental health and well being for the first time in two years. We explore and talk about

Content warning: Brief mention of a friend who died by suicide.

If you are in need of mental health support contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness at 800-950-6264.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please call 988 for help and someone to talk to.

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Megan and Reyna are back for Season 5 with more to talk about than ever. This week's episode sets up the theme of this coming season - Leap of Faith. This season we'll be going deeper into taboos and topics that we've looked at before, focusing on letting go of shame, but also finding the wisdom and lessons in difficult things we all go through in life.

To that end, we're proud to announce our own leap of faith: we have officially joined the Solid Listen podcast network and are honored to be joining such an amazing group of podcasters. Stay tuned this season for bonus content available on the network's Patreon.

Join us this week as we take a look back at the show's origins, reflect on how we've grown, and get hyped for what's ahead.

Content warning: This week's episode briefly mentions death by suicide as we discuss the loss that sparked us to start the pod back in July 2020.

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This week is our season 4 finale! In the last episode of the season we look back at the season, look ahead to 2023, and revisit our thoughts on holiday traditions and boundaries. Oh yeah AND we’re celebrating a big milestone… last week we passed 5,000 downloads. Amazing! 

Thank you SO much to all of you for sticking with us this season. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review and we’ll see you in a few months. 

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When you're struggling with your mental health and wellbeing it's tempting to pretend that "everything's fine" - even when it's not. (And even when you run a podcast that's premise is talking about hard things!) 

This week we get more vulnerable about our mental health than we've had the chance to in a long time. Long time listeners know both of us struggling with depression, anxiety, and PTSD - and the last several months have been super hard on both of us.

 This week we catch up on our current mental health, what it's like to be in a state of burnout and overwhelm, how we're coping with emotional distress and set backs, and what we're learning along the way. 

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