A psychologist and her daughter talk life down to size.
Beth, a clinical psychologist, and her daughter Joyce sit down each week to talk through whatever life is throwing at them, from a year-old grudge to household logistics that always land on the mother. The psychology is real, but it arrives sideways, between coffee counts, crossword rivalries and a dog who refuses to come inside.
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No, You're Not Dying is a conversation between a mother and a daughter who bicker affectionately and record it anyway. Beth is a clinical psychologist. Joyce is her daughter. The title carries the premise: whatever feels unbearable this week is, on inspection, probably survivable, and the two of them spend each episode doing the inspecting. The format is loose by design. Every episode begins with the two checking in on each other, often a round of highs and lows, and usually a report on the room itself, whether that is a neighborhood full of lawnmowers, a snowstorm covering the skylights, or a matcha order that came out a size too large. The chatter is not filler. It is how the show establishes the texture of an ordinary day before asking why ordinary days are so hard. The subjects are wide but always personal. One episode works through why household logistics, from playdates to pickups, default to the mother, and why asking for help frames the work as hers alone rather than the household's. Another asks why someone can find plain kindness smothering and pull away from it. A third, 'Body Image in the Age of GLP-1s', ends with a plan to tally how often weight-loss and antidepressant commercials appear and a blunt argument that they are aimed at people who already feel bad about themselves. Lighter entries hold their own. 'Simple Things That Make Us Happy (How to Find Joy in the Mundane)' is a catalogue of small rituals: passion tea with sugar in the raw, gummy vitamins in a glass jar by the bed, a dog who knows his commands and ignores them. 'Our Favorite TV Shows and What They Have Taught Us' becomes a discussion of what a show about people caring for patients in a system that does not work gets right about carrying a job home. What separates this from other two-person chat shows is the asymmetry of the pair. Beth's professional observations sometimes land on Joyce herself, and Joyce answers as the person being described rather than as a neutral co-host. That produces moments of real candor, delivered with the impatience only family permits. Neither host is precious about it. The crossword rivalry is genuine, the grudge held for a year gets examined rather than excused, and a shared distaste for Valentine's Day is aired on Valentine's Day itself. New episodes drop on Wednesdays. Listeners can submit topics through a form linked in the show notes, and at least one episode came directly from such a request. A good place to start is 'The Balancing Act: Sharing Routines, Raising Kids, and Being a Working Parent', which shows the pair at their most practical, or 'Why We're Attracted to People Who Are Mean to Us', which shows them at their most personal.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants the clinical framing of a psychologist but prefers it delivered as family conversation rather than a lecture. Also a fit for anyone who works through a bad week out loud with someone who knows them too well.
What sets it apart: The psychologist and the person she is reading are mother and daughter, so a clinical observation can land on the co-host and be answered in real time by its subject. The advice is never abstract because the case study is sitting across the table.
Mother-daughter duo Beth (a PhD clinical psychologist) and Joyce (a chronic over-thinking millennial) love to sit and chat about finding balance in the never-ending ups and downs of life - so much so, that they turned it into a podcast. Join them every week for a candid conversation about the many ways in which life impacts our mental health, how psychology can shift your perspective, and why even if you feel like you’re dying, you’re probably not. Kinda funny, never scripted, always honest - so join the conversation! To share topics and stay up to date on the show...
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
TV talk that becomes a clear look at pressure, care, and the cost of getting it wrong.
Joyce and Beth use TV talk to get at pressure, responsibility, and what it takes to keep some humanity when the work gets heavy. The discussion is strongest when it settles on medical shows and the strain of caring for patients inside a system that is not much help, because that…
Outback lives, told close to the dust.
Rural motherhood, told with grit and care.
Joyce and Beth open the first of what becomes a three-part series on pressure to have kids by focusing on internal pressure, after a long highs-and-lows segment covering a Packers game, a burned lip from microwaved baby carrots and a well-behaved family at a restaurant.
Joyce and Beth discuss personal highs and lows, including a recent movie outing to see the 1980s rom-com 'Crossing Delancey' and humorous reflections on outfits and social interactions.
Joyce and Beth use a listener-requested episode of No, You're Not Dying to compare The Pit, The Bear, and Hacks as shows that changed how they think about work, grief, and aging.
Joyce and Beth examine why adults withhold recommendations, invitations, or public information to protect a sense of uniqueness, status, or competitive advantage.
Joyce and Beth use a mystery series about a kidnapped child to examine how working parents divide childcare, household labor, and personal time.
Joyce and Beth examine why some people reject affectionate partners while finding a partner with a slight edge more attractive.
Joyce and Beth record on Valentine's Day while questioning the pressure created by cards, flowers, and public declarations of romantic happiness.
Joyce and Beth open with highs and lows, including a husband discovering 170,000 Amex points that cut a $3,000 computer to 50 bucks, before turning to body image in the age of GLP-1 medications.
Joyce and Beth open with highs and lows (a rental Kia seat that wouldn't adjust, a call from the Korean soup brand OMA, Indiana's college football championship) before turning to a video by a creator named Sarahcha about the funding cutoff for SNAP benefits.
A clinical psychologist and the host recap the first four of eight season-three episodes of Tell Me Lies, with the psychologist labeling Stephen DeMarco a "narcissistic sociopath" with "very little empathy." She hypothesizes that Stephen's parents' divorce left his mother leaning on him, adding "that's not excusing it." She calls Lucy "participatory," citing her impulsive decision to claim an assault to protect Pippa, and says "ducks marry ducks" to describe Lucy and Stephen's similarity.