We Can Do Hard Things

414. Candace Parker: WHAT’S THE COST OF GREATNESS?

Basketball legend, Candace Parker, joins Abby and Amanda to discuss her illustrious career, her new book, The Can Do Mindset, and explore themes of ambition, sacrifice, and the cost of greatness. 

-The surprising reason Candace doesn’t like fame, and what she wants instead 

-Candace’s distinction between a boss and a leader that rocked Abby’s world 

-How to call someone you love to a higher version of themselves 

-Candace’s definition of “enough” and how she works to reach it 

Candace Parker has already solidified herself as one of the most influential athletes of this generation. After being selected as the No 1. overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, following a champion career at Tennessee, Parker went on to become the first player to earn WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season, win three WNBA championship titles, and take home two Olympic gold medals. Off the court, and since retired, she serves as a public speaker, activist, entrepreneur, studio broadcaster for NBA on TNT, and a wife and mother of three.

1. The one question to ask yourself when deciding whether it’s time to quit something.

2. Why Glennon actually believes that quitting each day is necessary for her survival.

3. The big quits that led Abby to Glennon.  

4. Amanda’s unexpected great relief—and hope for your relief—in learning about how we’re all just as happy as we’re ever going to be. (And how, as expected, Glennon disagrees.) 

5. Rethinking the ending of a marriage as a positive quit and how to talk to friends going through it.

1. The question Carson’s sister asked that made him radically reimagine his life.  

2. Why Carson is having the best sex of his life.

3. How Carson received sign-off from his Mormon Bishop for his first queer date.  

4. The accident that left Carson paralyzed from the chest down at 23.

5. How ableism hurts us all.  

About Carson: 

Carson Tueller is a coach, speaker and activist whose work provides people with the tools they need to live authentic, fulfilling, and powerful lives. He identifies as queer and disabled. Carson grew up as a Mormon in a military family moving around a lot before settling in Utah. His own journey into powerful living began in 2013 when, in the same year, he came out, and was then injured in an accident that paralyzed him from the chest down. Since then, Carson has brought his work to international nonprofits and presidential campaigns – and when he isn’t coaching or speaking, Carson can be found at the gym, reading non-fiction, or playing Pokemon with his niece and nephews.

TW: ⁠@carson_tueller⁠

IG: ⁠@carson_tueller⁠

#disabilitypride #disabilitypridemonth

413. 7 Questions To Reclaim Yourself with Dr. Thema Bryant 

Psychologist, author, professor, and minister, Dr. Thema Bryant, joins us to explore how to rebuild a relationship with yourself and why healing that relationship is the foundation for real connection with others.

-The essential shift to stop believing your wounded self is your whole self

-Why you are worthy of grieving—and why recognizing that changes everything

-How to end the hunger for safety—and what to trust instead

-How to stop constantly running and finally learn to stand still

-The question Abby asked that made Amanda nauseous.

Dr. Thema Bryant is a psychologist, professor, sacred artist, minister and author of the new book Matters of the Heart, who teaches how to create healthy relationships, heal trauma, and overcome stress and oppression.  She is a professor of psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Dr. Tayma is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and leads the mental health ministry at First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles. She was the 2023 president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and is the host of The Homecoming Podcast.

412. Trusting Yourself Again with Dr. Hillary McBride 

Psychologist and researcher, Dr. Hillary McBride, joins us to discuss healing spiritual wounds and learning to trust yourself again.

-Why every family is a religion—and every adult is healing from it-How we lose touch with our own needs and desires—and the steps to reconnect and trust ourselves again.-Why having a rescuer fantasy takes us away from critical thinking and our own autonomy-The two main reasons why you might fall into a high-control group

Dr. Hillary McBride is a Registered Psychologist, researcher, podcaster, author, and speaker, - She has lived experience and clinical expertise in the areas of trauma, embodiment, eating disorders, and the intersection of spirituality and mental health. Her research has focused on women's relationships with their bodies across the lifespan, and her books include: Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image; Embodiment and Eating Disorders; The Wisdom of Your Body; and Practices for Embodied Living. Her latest book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing is available now.

Recently, Glennon and Abby had the pleasure of being guests on a new podcast from our dear friend Michelle Obama, called IMO. You know on WCDHT, we have insightful conversations that give fresh perspectives, uplift you and leave you feeling more fulfilled.

And on IMO, Michelle and her big brother Craig Robinson bring candid perspectives to the everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships and the world around us. Each week, they’re joined by a guest to tackle real questions from real folks just like you offering practical advice, personal storytelling, and plenty of laughs. In this episode, Abby and Glennon join to help an IMO listener figure out priorities when deciding where to move her young family. Glennon discusses why she moved her family seven times, and, as the “bonus parent,” Abby shares what she thinks is most important to their kids’ happiness (hint: It’s not unlimited cake-pops, though she’s tried). Plus, Michelle and Craig share their own stories of uprooting families for careers—including a very strange move to a big house in Washington, DC. 

You can find more episodes of IMO at https://lnk.to/imomichellecraigGD

Trauma therapist (and survivor of marriage to a narcissist) Caroline Strawson joins us to discuss: how to know if someone’s really a narcissist; how to know if you’re more likely to get into a relationship with a narcissist (and avoid it); strategies for parallel parenting with a narcissist; how the brain and body respond to narcissists; and how to rebuild after ending a relationship with a narcissist. 

CW: Abusive relationships, self harm

For more related episodes, check out: ⁠Episode 170 The Most Radical Way to Heal: Internal Family Systems with Dr. Becky Kennedy⁠, ⁠Episode 169 Why We Love the Way We Love: Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy⁠, and ⁠Episode 142 Codependence: How to Stop Controlling Others with Melody Beattie⁠

About Caroline: 

Caroline Strawson is a Trauma Therapist and Coach specializing in helping others heal from the trauma and shame of narcissistic abuse. She hosts the Narcissistic Abuse & Trauma Recovery Podcast and is the #1 best selling author of Divorce Became My Superpower. Having been married to a covert narcissist herself, Caroline was in debt, lost her family home, and was at rock bottom with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Caroline integrates Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting and breath work with positive psychology, to help others move from post traumatic stress to post traumatic growth.

TW: ⁠@cstrawson11⁠

IG: ⁠@carolinestrawson

Imagine if you could ask someone anything you wanted about their finances. On What We Spend, people from across the country and across the financial spectrum are opening their wallets—and their lives—to tell you everything: what they make, what they want, and—for one week—what they spend.

411. Inside Trump’s Personal Profits: His Abuse of Power for Private Deals & Who is Paying the Price | Jessica Yellin & Amanda

Award-winning journalist Jessica Yellin joins Amanda to expose how Trump’s personal profit, political power grabs, and selective immigration policies are reshaping American democracy—and what we can do about it.

From the scandal behind Trump’s “free” plane to the foreign “investments” flooding his businesses, Jessica and Amanda connect the dots between foreign entanglements, mass deportations, and economic cruelty disguised as policy.

-How Trump is using public office for private gain—and what it signals about self-enrichment at the highest levels;-The alarming surge in ICE raids and what your local law enforcement may have to do with it;-The Afrikaner refugee scam—and what it reveals about race, privilege, and the weaponization of asylum;

-How cuts to Medicaid are funding tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy;-And the concrete actions you can take—locally and federally—to disrupt the dangerous normalization of these policies.

Jessica Yellin is the founder of News Not Noise, a pioneering Webby award-winning independent news brand -- dedicated to helping you manage your  “information overload.” She is the former chief White House correspondent for CNN and an Emmy, Peabody and Gracie Award-winning political correspondent. You can follow her on Instagram at Jessica Yellin.

And also, to get real time, clear and brilliant reporting, go to substack.com and search for her page newsnotnoise and subscribe there.

410.  Are You a Cynic, Optimist, or Skeptic? Dr. Jamil Zaki Shares Which Way is Happiest 

Dr. Jamil Zaki–a Stanford psychologist and director of their Social Neuroscience Lab–discusses how worldviews like optimism, cynicism, and skepticism shape our lives, health, and relationships. 

-The three lies we tell ourselves about cynicism

-Why we need to stop putting faith in people who don’t put faith in people

-The quiz you need to know if you’re a cynic

-Why hope could very well save your life

Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. He trained at Columbia and Harvard, studying empathy and kindness in the human brain. He is interested in how we can learn to connect better. Dr. Zaki is the author of The War For Kindness and, most recently, Hope for Cynics.