This Is Uncomfortable

By Marketplace

Business

What's This Is Uncomfortable about?

This is a show about life and how money messes with it. Each week, Reema Khrais digs in with stories about the unanticipated ways money affects relationships, shapes identities and often defines what it means to be an adult. Presented by Marketplace.

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Meet the scammer

06.24.2021

How do you bounce back from getting scammed? Become a scammer yourself, obviously. The inside story of a young man’s transformation into an online scammer — and the lengths he goes to for money when no one is looking. To ...

This Is Uncomfortable episodes:

06.24.2021 Meet the scammer How do you bounce back from getting scammed? Become a scammer yourself, obviously. The inside story of a young man’s transformation into an online scammer — and the lengths he goes to for money when no one is looking. To ...
06.17.2021 A big, fat loophole What if we told you there was a way to walk away from your debts with no financial consequences? There’s just one big catch. By 21, Anthony was on top of the world: He had a six-figure salary, a loft ...
06.10.2021 Going off script Many of us feel pressure to hit life milestones by a certain age. But what if that prepackaged timeline — finishing school, achieving financial stability, getting married, having children — just doesn’t work for you? Ana Sauceda always struggled at ...
06.03.2021 Productivity won’t save you (rerun) We live in a world that rewards us for producing, and producing, and producing. But why is it that no matter how much we do, it never feels like enough? This week, we’re going to look at our obsession with ...
05.27.2021 Bad romance Mira Celper had always wanted to be best friends with her mom, but their relationship grew strained once her mom started dating the mysterious David, a successful engineer. As her mom fell deeper in love, Mira couldn’t shake the feeling ...
05.20.2021 I need more money because I need more money Growing up, Aisha Salaudeen always considered herself middle-class. But when she turned 13, her parents sent her to boarding school in Lagos, Nigeria, where her classmates talked about the designer shoes they bought in France, the mansions they lived in ...
05.13.2021 The intern uprising Growing up in Ohio, Diana Wang dreamed of working for a fashion magazine. So when she was offered the position of head intern at Harper’s Bazaar, she thought she’d finally landed her big break. But she didn’t realize her unpaid ...
05.06.2021 What’s mine is not yours When Lindsey Galbraith’s marriage ended over financial infidelity, she swore she would never mix money and relationships again. Then she met someone new. This week, we look at the aftermath of betrayal and how the consequences can last far beyond ...
04.29.2021 A cruel disease Reporting on suicide is complicated. In trying to tell the story of someone who’s no longer here, which parts do you tell, which parts do you keep private? After a young woman dies by suicide, Reema sets out to understand ...
04.22.2021 Pretty hurts Society places a big premium on looking a certain way — our cleanliness, our class status, even our mental health is judged based on our appearance. Esther Calixte-Bea was taught at a young age to hide her body hair. For ...
04.15.2021 The marriage penalty After spending years fighting to get disability benefits, Amber was finally approved. But she and her wife, Diana, didn’t realize they had entered a complicated, arcane system where health care might cost you your marriage. For more “This Is Uncomfortable,” ...
04.08.2021 “Click here for a life-changing opportunity” Kiara Aceves felt a little lost after graduating high school. She didn’t know what her next steps would be until she was presented with a “life-changing opportunity” to join a multilevel marketing company. The U.S. had more than 16 million ...
04.01.2021 A lifelong scam Axton Betz-Hamilton spent 20 years trying to track down an identity thief that wreaked havoc on her family, only to discover the truth was uglier than she’d imagined. For more “This Is Uncomfortable,” subscribe to our newsletter! This week’s is ...
03.25.2021 On April 1, we’re all getting scammed This season we get into those gut-wrenching, eyebrow-raising money moments and the nagging feeling that one way or another, we’re all getting cheated. There’s a decadeslong search over a stolen identity, the culty allure of hunbots and of course, the ...
12.17.2020 Productivity won’t save you We live in a world that rewards us for producing, and producing, and producing. But why is it that no matter how much we do, it never feels like enough? This week, we’re going to look at our obsession with ...
12.10.2020 Pandemic motherhood The pandemic has been brutal on working moms. In September alone, women left the workplace at four times the rate that men did. The numbers are shocking, but behind them are real, human experiences. This week, we hear some of ...
12.03.2020 There’s no place like home One woman pursues her idea of the American dream — home ownership — only to have it completely backfire.
11.26.2020 The lies we tell our friends Most of us tell little white lies at some point or another to make things less weird about money. But what happens when disaster strikes, and your money situation becomes impossible to hide? This episode originally aired in August 2019. ...
11.19.2020 The student loan trap Jessie Suren grew up hearing the same advice over and over: College would be her ticket to the middle class, even if it meant taking out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. But when the job she applied ...
11.12.2020 How the WNBA drove Loeffler into overtime The WNBA is a workplace with a track record of standing up for its rights and beliefs. And this year, players went up against an unlikely opponent: a U.S. senator who co-owns one of the league’s teams. Plus, we take ...
11.05.2020 Can’t buy me love After hooking up with her roommate, one woman can’t seem to avoid him — or his spending habits. Then, a couple tries showing their love for each other … in a way neither of them actually loves. This episode originally ...
10.29.2020 Money horror stories III: the ghost of purchases past This Halloween, we have listeners’ spooky stories about good ideas gone bad, from giving a hormonal teen a debit card to getting into business with a scammer. Plus, a Backstreet Boys obsession that goes awry.
10.22.2020 Financial infidelity You find out your partner has hidden thousands of dollars of debt. Now what? Jordan Rosenfeld is a writer. Follow her on Twitter @Jordanrosenfeld.
10.15.2020 Friendship is a full-time job, with Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman are very good friends. And as hosts of the podcast “Call Your Girlfriend,” and co-authors of “Big Friendship,” they’re also in business together. This week they sit down with Reema to talk about how work ...
10.08.2020 Divorce story (rerun), plus a request for your help! Money gets complicated when a marriage falls apart. First, we’ll hear from a divorce lawyer who ends up representing herself. Then from a couple trying to plan for the day they hate each other. Plus: Have you hidden a purchase, ...
10.01.2020 Can’t make rent, can’t get evicted Marilyn worked hard to afford her own home. But when a sheriff showed up at her front door with a summons for eviction court, suddenly she was stuck trying to navigate a system with confusing rules.
09.24.2020 “Why don’t you fix your teeth?” One woman’s smile becomes a marker of poverty that feels impossible to escape.
09.17.2020 Who can afford to vote? From restricted access mail-in ballots to poll taxes, voting rights have always been tied to power and money.
09.15.2020 “This Is Uncomfortable” is back this week! Money messes up everything. This pandemic is widening the wealth gap, pushing thousands of people into debt, and shifting family and relationship dynamics. Why do so many of us let our careers define who we are? Who can afford to ...
09.10.2020 Love in the time of coronavirus (rerun) There are a lot of couples stuck at home right now. Some of them are out of work or dealing with canceled plans. Today, we’ll hear from two couples trying to figure out what their future will look like. This ...
08.20.2020 WeWork too much (rerun) When WeWork acquired her company, she got executive training, fancy corporate retreats and a dope Patagonia jacket. It was almost enough to make her forget everything she lost. This week: Why we’re so obsessed with our jobs, even though they’ll ...
08.06.2020 Life in the coronavirus heckhole To get a new bike, this 11-year-old signs a contract to do the thing he hates most: math. How one family is using a tactic borrowed from the business world to settle arguments (and help them get through the pandemic).
07.16.2020 Money makes me sick Meet the professional auditor who can’t stand to look at his own bank account. Our team goes on an adventure to help a man who’s anxious about his spending get more comfortable checking his finances.
07.02.2020 The fight for fair pay in Big Tech One woman’s fight against Silicon Valley’s racial pay gap. Plus, why it’s so hard for Black workers in tech to get ahead
06.18.2020 How to pay for college Years ago, one woman put college on hold because she couldn’t afford it. Now she faces a hard choice to keep history from repeating itself. Plus: What will college even look like this fall?
06.05.2020 It’s expensive to get arrested A teenager protesting police brutality lands in jail, and we try to understand the tricky business of bail.
05.28.2020 Barred from benefits (from The Uncertain Hour) Millions of Americans who are out of work don’t receive unemployment benefits. That’s by design. An episode from “The Uncertain Hour’s” pop-up season “A History of Now.” If you liked this epsiode, you can hear more at uncertainhour.org.
05.21.2020 School’s out (forever?) When you’re 17 or 18, you’re often making choices that can dictate the course of your whole life. Making those decisions during a pandemic is even harder. Today we follow three high school friends trying to figure out what comes ...
05.15.2020 Our parents’ debts (from Terrible, Thanks for Asking) This week, we’re showcasing a story from our colleagues at “Terrible, Thanks For Asking”: When a supporting pillar is knocked out of a family, the consequences can be costly.
05.07.2020 From prison to pandemic Kevin Harrington was exonerated last month after spending 17 years in prison for a murder conviction. He and his family are overjoyed, but the coronavirus pandemic means freedom looks a little different right now. By the way, Marketplace is in ...
04.30.2020 Confessions of a shopaholic A woman grapples with her shopping addiction in quarantine. By the way, we were just nominated for a Webby! Please take a second and vote for us at wbby.co/pod09.
04.23.2020 A $35,000 COVID bill Danni Askini fought cancer for 18 months before getting COVID-19. Their focus was on surviving, not the cost of care. That didn’t make the bill any easier to take.
04.16.2020 What it’s like getting an abortion in Texas right now The clock is ticking for one college student after she finds out she’s pregnant in the middle of a pandemic, in a state that’s trying to restrict abortion.
04.09.2020 Zoom therapy in a pandemic How do I keep from fighting with my partner about money? What do I say to a friend who’s just lost a job? This week, a little financial therapy session over zoom to help us all cope with our COVID-19 ...
04.03.2020 Love in the time of coronavirus There are a lot of couples stuck at home right now. Some of them are out of work or dealing with canceled plans. Today, we’ll hear from two couples trying to figure out what their future will look like.
03.27.2020 Hard choices As states across the country close all non-essential businesses, people are rethinking what it means to do the right thing. Today we hear listeners’ stories of pay cuts, layoffs and telling employers they’re putting people at risk.
03.20.2020 COVID-19 comforts The coronavirus is changing how we think about money and community. We set out to see how people are coping and put together this audio care package. And we want to check in on you, too — let us know ...
03.12.2020 What’s a friendship worth? Would you spot a friend money if they needed it? How about if they asked every month? This week: the limits of friendship.
03.05.2020 WeWork too much When WeWork acquired her company, she got executive training, fancy corporate retreats and a dope Patagonia jacket. It was almost enough to make her forget everything she lost. This week: Why we’re so obsessed with our jobs, although they’ll never ...
02.27.2020 My boyfriend wants to pay my rent Sam Sanders, host of NPR’s “It’s Been A Minute” and Marketplace product specialist Sarah Menendez are here give advice on salary sharing, expensive olive oil, and bridesmaid duties in the latest installment of “The Group Chat.” Got anything you want ...

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