Thanks For Asking

Drinking is a really acceptable thing in the US. Most towns have liquor stores on every few corners. Every home decor store has products with some variation of the same, tongue-in-cheek humor: “Mommy’s Go-Go Juice,” “I’m not whining, I’m wine-ing,” or “It’s WINE O’CLOCK!” More often than not, explaining that you’re sober can be more awkward than explaining that you binge drink every other weekend. In fact, in the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 79.2% of people aged 12 and up reported that they had consumed alcohol at some point in their lifetime.

Drinking is, for most people, considered “normal.” And for Laura McKowen, drinking was just a part of life – of work, of her social life, of relaxing. She didn’t realize how destructive it was until things had gone too far and her brother confronted her, saying, “This is your thing. You can’t drink.” Laura is here today to walk us through her addiction, guilt, turmoil, recovery, and path onwards, sharing the nine things that anyone facing addiction needs to hear.

References:

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2025). Alcohol use in the United States: Age groups and demographic characteristics. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics-z/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/alcohol-use-united-states-age-groups-and-demographic-characteristics

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What’s okay with Laura McKowen right now? After we talk about the weather (and who doesn’t love to talk about the weather?) we go on a journey through prestige and lowbrow television, briefcases, baked goods and a poem that will bring you the soul hug you need. 

Laura McKowens books:

We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life (Bookshop | Amazon)

Push Off From Here: 9 Essential Truths To Get You Through Sobriety (And Everything Else ( Bookshop | Amazon)

And Laura’s substack, Love Story. 

You can share your okay things with us at ☎️502-388-OKAY (6529) or 📧 IGTBO@feelingsand.co 

To support our show, you can subscribe to our YouTube content here.

Our music is by Secret Audio, and their new album is on Spotify or Apple

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There is no shame in giving up, despite the fact that the #Girlboss from the 2010s in us all might be rolling over in her metaphorical grave at the thought. But if you’re anything like Nora, you’ve felt the pressure from… well, everywhere to have a plan for the summer. To make it the most magical summer for your kids. To juggle work and hobbies and friends and your health with ease even as we’re hit by heat wave after heat wave. To meet every make believe deadline you have created for yourself.

This episode, Nora’s introducing you to the Summer Of Surrender: The One Where We Give Up. It’s about letting go of that tight hold you have on to-do lists, deadlines, and plans. It’s about letting life take you wherever it may go. It demands that you step away from that email you’ve been writing, accept you are not the center of the universe, and surrender.

Come surrender with us.

Watch us on YouTube here!

Get this episode ad-free here!

Listen to Geoffrey’s album on Spotify and Apple!

You can buy Nora’s books on Bookshop or Amazon, or wherever you buy books.

Nora is on IG, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Adoption is often viewed as a happy ending, and sometimes it is! But for Thenedra, her experiences as a child in the foster care system and later as a trans-racial adoptee were — and still are — much more complicated than that. This is an episode about what can happen when trans-racial foster and adoptive parents are not just unprepared to raise traumatized children, but also unprepared to raise Black children in a predominantly white society.

References: 


The National Association of Black Social Workers’ 1972 position statement on transracial adoption 


1984 study on the long-term effects of trans-racial adoption


Children of color disproportionately likely to enter foster care system

Watch us on YouTube here!

Listen to Geoffrey’s album on Spotify and Apple!

Our Sponsors:

❤️ Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

❤️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shop Everyday Cotton, and all of my favorite bras and underwear, at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

❤️ Experience your juiciest and deepest sensual experience with a bottle of Foria. FORIA is offering a special deal for our listeners. Get 20% off your first order by visiting ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠foriawellness.com/tfa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OR use code TFA at checkout. That’s F-O-R-I-A WELLNESS DOT COM FORWARD SLASH TFA for 20% off your first order. I recommend trying Awaken or their Pleasure Set with all three of their best sellers.
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If you’ve been feeling like life is throwing everything at you all at once – burnout, exhaustion, chaos – today’s episode is for you. Today, Nora is joined by author and friend of the pod Courtney Maum, who brought OK things from weird Zillow listings in Florida to fancy gifts from very classy ladies. And, despite their love for each other, they very nearly have a friendship-ending fight – over whether the calendar should start on Sunday or Monday. Things get pretty heated.

If you’re searching for joy in the chaos, sit back and press play on today’s episode.

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Listen to Geoffrey’s album on ⁠Spotify⁠ and ⁠Apple⁠!

You can buy Nora’s books on ⁠Bookshop ⁠or ⁠Amazon⁠, or wherever you buy books.

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Our Sponsors:

❤️ Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping and 365-day returns. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/TFA⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

❤️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shop Everyday Cotton, and all of my favorite bras and underwear, at SKIMS.com. After you place your order, be sure to let them know we sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

❤️ Experience your juiciest and deepest sensual experience with a bottle of Foria. FORIA is offering a special deal for our listeners. Get 20% off your first order by visiting ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠foriawellness.com/tfa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OR use code TFA at checkout. That’s F-O-R-I-A WELLNESS DOT COM FORWARD SLASH TFA for 20% off your first order. I recommend trying Awaken or their Pleasure Set with all three of their best sellers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices