The Lonely Hour

Manoush Zomorodi, host of the Note to Self podcast, makes the case for rethinking our digital habits and being more purposeful about putting boredom into our lives.

Having grown up in a born-again Christian community with strict rules governing how best to live, James finally woke up to the fact that he didn’t know himself—and that his marriage was crumbling. He turned inward, retreating to a cabin in the Catskills, to figure it all out.

This episode is sponsored by Audible and Away. Original illustration by Payton Cosell Turner.

Brandon Baltzley is the chef and co-owner of a restaurant called the Buffalo Jump. Determined to kick his substance abuse issues, he climbed a snow- and ice-covered hill in the dark to reach his home for the next month of his life: a yurt with no heat or running water.

This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh and Care/of Vitamins. Original illustration by Payton Cosell Turner.

How losing both parents, navigating the transition of her only sibling, and extreme burnout led film producer Annabelle Dunne to seek solitude in Sri Lanka with just a cot and 17 books—and what it taught her about how she should lead her life now that she’s back home.

This episode is sponsored by Audible and Away. Original illustration by Payton Cosell Turner.

After a decade in New York working as a talent agent and a producer in fashion and a loss in her family, Kamey Butler sacrificed leaving her friends and familiar places to try to regain control the only way she knew how: She bought a one-way ticket to Cape Town.

Original illustration by Payton Cosell Turner.

Comedian Lane Moore, host of Tinder Live author of the new essay collection How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't, talks about “stranger luck” and how she plans on spending Valentine’s Day with her dog, Lights.

Find four new episodes of The Lonely Hour on Stitcher Premium. Subscribe now at stitcher.com/lonelyhour.

Abandon Me author and former heroin addict and dominatrix Melissa Febos discusses what it’s like to lose your identity to addiction and obsession—and host Julia Bainbridge signs off with a meditation on living in that loneliness.

Jennifer Romolini, author of the new memoir and career guide, Weird in a World That's Not, opens her book with this: “I am not supposed to be here. I spent the first 28 years of my life as a fuckup and a failure. I failed and I failed and I failed.” And then she became a professional success—and wrote a book about it. She speaks about her journey on today’s episode.

Writer Jennifer Romolini visits the show next week. Here's an excerpt from her new book, Weird in a World That's Not.