A grounded look at rest, boundaries, and learning to disconnect.
Alicia Holdaway's sabbatical comes across as a plainspoken account of stepping away from work, traveling with her husband, and learning how to disconnect.

Cristie and DeAnna
112 episodes listed below
Warm conversations for complicated seasons of womanhood.
Pieces of a Woman pairs easy friendship with serious life reflection. Across intimate interviews and catch-up conversations, Deanna Robbins and Christy North make room for sabbaticals, sex, aging parents, trauma recovery, goals, and the strange adjustments that come with midlife.
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Pieces of a Woman is a women-centered conversation show with a strong sense of life stage. It is warm, but not weightless. Deanna Robbins and Christy North move easily from catch-up chatter into the subjects people often save for trusted friends: aging bodies, sex after years of marriage, grief, caregiving, ambition, and the private work of becoming less afraid. The show often begins with a personal detail. Then it opens into something broader. A discussion about cute flats becomes a reflection on femininity, resistance, and the losses tucked inside getting older. A sabbatical becomes a story about nervous-system repair, boundaries, and what it takes to truly disconnect from work. A conversation about aging parents becomes a practical and emotional look at advocacy, medical choices, and the difference between saving a life and prolonging death. The interviews carry much of the show’s force. Celeste Edmonds speaks about writing through trauma and the tenderness of being given permission not to publish. Leanne Garcia brings experience and lived concern to the uncertainty of caring for older adults. Mason Sawyer’s episode turns devastating family loss into a conversation about trauma, message, and the 1090 rule. Even the lighter episodes keep circling back to growth. The hosts are interested in what women outgrow, what they still want, and what they are finally ready to say plainly. The pacing is conversational and cumulative. Nothing feels rushed. The show is most compelling when a guest story gives the hosts a reason to ask one more question, then sit with the answer. It does not present empowerment as a slogan. It frames it as a practice: speaking honestly, staying curious, setting boundaries, loving a changing body, and choosing the hard thing with eyes open.
Made for: For listeners drawn to intimate, women-centered conversations about midlife, relationships, caregiving, healing, and personal growth. It especially suits people who prefer reflective storytelling over polished self-help.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its blend of familiar friendship and emotional range. It can talk about shoes, sex, sabbaticals, trauma, and caring for aging parents in the same human register without making any subject feel performative.
Each episode we will discuss and share real stories that are relevant, inspiring and engaging as it relates to women and the life that shape us into who we are today. Every episode will be committed to engaging conversations that will include interviews with influential women, leaders, healers, authors, and close friends. We will discuss EVERYTHING, nothing is off the table, except politics, we will leave that one off the table. DeAnna and Cristie will explore every genre from loss, grief, spirituality, divorce, marriage, raising children, blended families, infidelity, sex, menopause, girlfriends, those damn readers we now have hoarded in...
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Candid conversations connect midlife health with grief, intimacy, work, identity, and the practical choices that accompany change.
Deanna Robbins and Christy North turn midlife questions into candid conversations shaped by personal experience. Their subjects move from stepping away from work and setting boundaries to grief, marriage, aging, body confidence, and intimacy.
Grief meets naked Sunday here, so your tender and candid moods can share the couch.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded look at rest, boundaries, and learning to disconnect.
Alicia Holdaway's sabbatical comes across as a plainspoken account of stepping away from work, traveling with her husband, and learning how to disconnect.
A warm, reflective conversation about aging, beauty choices, and what women are reluctant to give up.
Pieces of a Woman turns a simple what-are-we-over prompt into a candid look at aging, beauty choices, and the things women are not always ready to let go.
A candid midlife talk about sex, shame, and the courage to ask for more.
Pieces of a Woman stays with shame, guilt, and the way body changes and empty nesting can reshape how women think about sex and intimacy. Deanna Robbins and Christy North speak plainly about not feeling in tune with being a sexual being, and the episode moves toward a steady,…
A plainspoken look at growth, choice, and the hard parts of changing your life.
Pieces of a Woman is a straightforward conversation about family, adulthood, and the kind of hard a life can ask for. Deanna Robbins and Christy North move from Thanksgiving and shifting holiday routines into growth, control, goals, and contentment, circling the idea that there…
A direct grief conversation shaped by Mason Sawyer's 2021 loss and The 1090 Rule.
Mason Sawyer's account is built around loss and the 2021 accident that took Courtney, Riggins, Frankie, Race, and Ryder. The piece frames him as a co-host of The 1090, then moves into The 1090 Rule once that history is set in place.


Career agency for unstable times.


Public ideas, recorded in the room.
Deanna Robbins and Christy North welcome Alicia Holdaway.
Deanna Robbins and Christy North return to Pieces of a Woman with a loose, candid conversation about what they are over as 2026 keeps moving.
This episode discusses a powerful story about a woman's life in foster care and how it transformed her, highlighting themes of personal growth and empowerment for women.
This episode features an interview with author Celeste Edmunds about her journey of finding hope and healing after trauma, including discussions on her book and writing process.
This episode features an interview with Leanne Garcia, an adult geriatric nurse practitioner, discussing the challenges of caring for aging parents, navigating the healthcare system, and advocating for better end-of-life care.
Deanna Robbins and Christy North are back after a couple of months away and catch up on holidays, travel, and family life.
Deanna Robbins and Christy North start with a familiar catch-up.
Mason Sawyer sits down with Deanna Robbins and Christy North and tells the story that changed his life.
This episode features an interview with Heidi about her 100 Humanitarians foundation, focusing on women's empowerment through initiatives like water access and craft centers in communities facing challenges like elephant encounters.
This episode features therapist Gabby Accord discussing marriage challenges, infidelity, and codependency based on her work with couples and families.
The hosts review the book 'Atlas of the Heart', emphasizing its value for emotional language development and personal growth, while announcing the season finale and upcoming season three.
This episode explores Christie's personal experiences with ayahuasca retreats, discussing its transformative effects, the reasons for multiple ceremonies, and its role in healing and self-discovery.