Best What the F Magazine Podcasts (2025)

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Ezra Klein’s Big-Tent Vision of the Democratic Party 50:02

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20h ago50:02

50:02

The author and podcaster Ezra Klein may be only forty-one years old, but he’s been part of the political-culture conversation for a long time. He was a blogger, then a Washington Post columnist and editor, a co-founder of Vox, and is now a writer and podcast host for the New York Times. He’s also the co-author of the recent best-selling book “Abund…

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The Cartoonist Liana Finck Picks Three Favorite Children’s Books 11:38

4d ago11:38

11:38

Liana Finck is a cartoonist and an illustrator who has contributed to The New Yorker since 2015. She is the author of several books, including the graphic memoir “Passing for Human.” Like many of her forebears at the magazine, Finck has also published works for children, and her recent book, “Mixed Feelings,” explores the ways that emotions are oft…

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Episode #72: Robert Gallery, Athletes for Care 1:09:55

2d ago1:09:55

1:09:55

Robert Gallery is a former professional football player in the NFL and teammate of mine from our days at the University of Iowa together who now serves as the Co-Founder and CEO of Athletes for Care, a nonprofit organization supporting research and advocacy for athlete mental health. Robert begins by looks back on his time at Iowa with me, includin…

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Is The 2026 Election Already in Danger? 37:32

8d ago37:32

37:32

“The Constitution gives the states the power to set the time, place, and manner of elections,” the election lawyer Marc Elias points out. “It gives the President no [such] power.” Yet, almost one year before the midterms, Donald Trump has called for a nationwide prohibition on mail-in voting, an option favored by Democrats, as well as restrictions …

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Kevin Young on His Book “Night Watch,” Inspired by Death and Dante 17:39

11d ago17:39

17:39

Kevin Young is the poetry editor for The New Yorker, and the author of many books of his own poetry. His newest work, “Night Watch,” focusses on death, while also drawing upon his wide view of history, from the end of slavery in the U.S. to Dante’s seven-hundred-year-old poem “The Divine Comedy.” Young tells David Remnick that Dante actually played…

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How the “Dangerous Gimmick” of the Two-State Solution Ended in Disaster 38:27

15d ago38:27

38:27

For decades, the United States backed efforts to achieve a two-state solution—in which Israel would exist side by side with the Palestinian state, with both states recognizing each other’s claim to contested territory. The veteran negotiators Hussein Agha, representing Palestine, and Robert Malley, an American diplomat, played instrumental roles in…

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Jeff Tweedy on His New Triple Album, “Twilight Override” 28:27

18d ago28:27

28:27

Jeff Tweedy is best known as the front man of Wilco, the rock band he formed in Chicago in 1994. In recent years, he’s been working more often as a solo artist, putting out records under his own name as well as a memoir and essays on songwriting. Amanda Petrusich sat down with the singer-songwriter to talk about “Twilight Override,” which comes out…

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Anna Wintour Embraces a New Era at Vogue 39:30

22d ago39:30

39:30

Speculation, analysis, and commentary circulated all summer, after the announcement, in June, that Anna Wintour would step back from her role as the editor-in-chief of American Vogue. This changing of the guard is uniquely fraught, because Wintour’s name has become nearly inextricable from the magazine, to a degree almost unknown today. And, as New…

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Fred Armisen on “100 Sound Effects” 18:11

25d ago18:11

18:11

The comedian Fred Armisen has a thing for sound. He’s a former punk musician and a master of accents, and he is now releasing a new album of sound effects. “I was lamenting that there aren’t sound-effects albums in our lives as much,” he tells Michael Schulman. “I feel like they just used to exist more or they were more present. . . . And instead o…

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Ep. 81 - "The 605 Show" | Jimmy May of Prime Capital Financial 58:23

27d ago58:23

58:23

Jimmy May of Prime Capital Financial in Sioux Falls chats with 605's Alana Snyder and Maddi Kallsen about how he got into the financial world, advice on how to invest, and tell us if Labubus are worth the hype. Also, go out and buy Pokemon cards now... just sayin'.Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYkhbhmeW2c&t=25sR…

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Donald Trump’s War on Culture Is Not a Sideshow 31:56

29d ago31:56

31:56

The term “culture wars” is most often associated with issues of sexuality, race, religion, and gender. But, as recent months have made plain, when Donald Trump refers to the culture wars, he also means the arts. He fired the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which Republicans want to rename for him. His Administration fir…

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How Extreme Heat Affects the Body 17:17

1M ago17:17

17:17

The Korey Stringer Institute, at the University of Connecticut, is named after an N.F.L. player who died of exertional heatstroke. The lab’s main research subjects have been athletes, members of the military, and laborers. But, with the extreme heat wrought by climate change, even mild exertion will put more and more of us in harm’s way; in many pa…

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Episode #71: Sawyer Whisler, Farmer Grade 48:43

1M ago48:43

48:43

In this episode, business leaders hear from Sawyer Whisler, founder of Farmer Grade, a direct-to-consumer meat company. Whisler discusses building a transparent supply chain by partnering with farmers who share their practices on social media, navigating USDA processing logistics, and the importance of trust in branding. He addresses challenges fac…

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How Big Tech Sets the Agenda in Trump’s America 32:43

1M ago32:43

32:43

Donald Trump is the most tech-friendly President in American history. He enlisted social media to win office; he became a promoter—and beneficiary—of cryptocurrency, breaking long-standing norms around conflicts of interest; and, in his second term, he brought Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest tech baron, to the White House, to disrupt the federal …

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A Palestinian Journalist Escapes Death in Gaza 26:43

1M ago26:43

26:43

Mohammed R. Mhawish was living in Gaza City during Israel’s invasion, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attack. He witnessed the invasion for months and reported on its devastating consequences for Al Jazeera, The Nation, and other outlets. After his home was targeted in an Israeli strike, which nearly killed him, he fled Gaza. In The N…

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Spike Lee and Denzel Washington on a Reunion Making “Highest 2 Lowest” 23:58

1M ago23:58

23:58

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington first worked together on “Mo’ Better Blues,” released in 1990. Washington starred as a trumpet player trying to make a living in jazz clubs; Lee, who directed the film, also played the musician’s hapless manager. They later worked together on “Malcolm X” and other films, but it has been nearly twenty years since thei…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Editor’s Corner - Laura W., ESSAY Editor 1:01

1M ago1:01

1:01

It can seem that being happy and single are two ideas that don’t fit together. What a great discovery to learn that our joy does not rely on a relationship or even marriage! It relies on following the will of God through working the Steps. In this edition of “Happy, Joyous, and … Single”, we will hear the many transformations that Higher Power has …

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ESSAY August 2025 - Dear ESSAY - Iris, India 1:40

1M ago1:40

1:40

Dear ESSAY, Greetings from India. I am Iris from India–grateful, recovering, and blessed lustaholic and sexaholic. My SA journey and sobriety began on May 25, 2021, one day at a time(ODaAT). I heard about ESSAY and its garden of recovery at the beginning of my SA journey. I was approached to be a part of ESSAY’s garden, and I blossomed through shar…

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ESSAY August 2025 - What’s Going On in SA - Levi H., Nebraska, USA 2:15

1M ago2:15

2:15

Informing Professionals about SA One of SA’s 18 committees that helps to carry the message and serve the fellowship is the Support for Institutions and Professionals Committee (SIP). Formerly, it was called the Hospitals and Institutions Committee. Our mission is still the same, to inform institutions and professionals as to how SA can help restore…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Happy, Joyous, and Single: Is That How It Goes? - An anonymous brother from Russia 5:04

2M ago5:04

5:04

I broke up with my last girlfriend when I came to the program, after a two-year relationship. The reason was my shocking admission to the truth about myself—that I used her, trying to find a sense of self-worth at her expense, satisfy lust, and not feel lonely. This realization was painful, but honest and therefore healing. I saw that I had always …

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ESSAY August 2025 - My Higher Self - Nathalie V., Mortsel, Belgium 2:30

1M ago2:30

2:30

Time being single and sober has allowed her to hear Higher Power’s will for her. I have been sober for several years now, and have taken my first steps toward recovery. By “recovery,” I don’t just mean working the Steps, but that I am literally “recovering.” I’m talking about healing and restoration. This allows me to better discern the voice of my…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Being Truly Satisfied - Lee F., Chicago, IL 3:11

1M ago3:11

3:11

He discovered that being single allowed him to devote his whole life to God. I was not put in this program by a spouse. I put myself here of my own volition. I don’t have to get found out or exposed because I have the opportunity to expose and find out about myself here in safety and connection with others, united in fellowship all across the world…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Base Salary Versus Bonuses - Arpita, Delhi, India 2:51

1M ago2:51

2:51

God’s love and will in her life are all she needs, and anything else is extra. I grew up with an urge to be a grandmother; I just loved the idea of having a family and children. I would name my daughter after the girl who sits on the last bench in my class. I was in first grade, and I looked at my crush and thought, “If we had a daughter, I would n…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Smashing the Golden Idol - Joe S., Ohio, USA 2:51

1M ago2:51

2:51

By repairing the past, through working the program, he found the freedom of being single. Throughout my lust addiction, romantic relationships became a golden calf to me. I thought an attractive, emotionally compatible girlfriend would fulfill and complete me. Having a girlfriend became a persistent fantasy, but every time a woman would say yes to …

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ESSAY August 2025 - Sober, Single, and Grateful - Peg V., Cleveland, Ohio 3:46

1M ago3:46

3:46

She came to accept Higher Power’s plan for her. I had to learn to love myself, not in the way a conceited person does, but as a precious child of God. I had to learn to enjoy my own company and to remember I am a precious child of God. Not a perfect one, but a work in progress with my Higher Power molding me to His will. I am not in charge of my li…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Power of the Lust Hit - Paul R., Prince Edward Island, Canada 2:29

1M ago2:29

2:29

Surrendering Lust helped him to surrender the shame that came with it. Yesterday, I started the day in the usual way with prayers and readings—I thank God for that. I then went to do some errands. About mid-morning, there was a lust hit. I knew the danger, and I acted swiftly. I averted my eyes, got out of the situation, surrendered the look, and p…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Prayer of Divine Remembrance - Ephraim, Oklahoma, USA 4:20

1M ago4:20

4:20

This tool helps him to release the past. There are moments in life when the past will not let go. I’ve started the path of recovery, made amends where I could, committed to change, and yet — the memories remain. The images return. The shame lingers. While I’ve begun to move forward on the outside, my mind is still caught in the painful echoes of wh…

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ESSAY August 2025 - From Being Thanked to Giving Thanks - Bachan A., Kochi, India 5:24

1M ago5:24

5:24

Recovery radically changed how he celebrates Father’s Day. I used to think Father’s Day was about waiting for my children to shower me with drawings, or words that would make me feel like a good father. I thought it was a day to sit back and receive—to be told that all my sacrifices were noticed, my sleepless nights appreciated, my worrying underst…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Availability To Dive - Luke H, Memphis, TN 2:24

1M ago2:24

2:24

This period of being single has given him time to work a rigorous program. For most of my life, I’ve been looking for someone to connect with me and make me whole. I felt “inadequate, unworthy, alone, and afraid” (SA 203), always comparing my insides to the outsides of others. I was terrified of people seeing me for fear that they’d reject me—which…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Happy? Joyous? Single. - Pasha F., Washington, USA 2:11

1M ago2:11

2:11

Sobriety has helped him deal with the highs and lows of being single. I am single. I am not always happy, joyous, and free. It can be lonely. Divorce is painful. I don’t feel happy, joyous, and free. Today, I am 18 months sober—miraculous proof that God can do for me what I couldn’t do for myself. I have also been depressed for about a month. I hav…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Sober, Single, and Dancing - Ryan - CASA 4:21

1M ago4:21

4:21

Learning how to surrender and open up to healthy activities affirmed that he belonged. My name is Ryan, and I am a child of my Higher Power. As a former SA sponsor once humorously suggested, “You qualify to be in the program, you are one of us!” I came to SA in 2017, but after a while, it became clear that I needed to leave the Program. I needed to…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Moving the One-Year Dating Line - Catherine H., Cleveland, Ohio 3:23

1M ago3:23

3:23

Having had a spiritual experience has allowed her to accept the plans God has for her personal life. Sitting in the counselor’s office in early 2020, I voiced my biggest fear: that one day my sexual behavior would destroy a marriage. Fetish-oriented fantasy, masturbation, literature, and pornography had been a part of my life for as long as I could…

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ESSAY August 2025 - There I Am Also - Jack H., California, USA 2:13

1M ago2:13

2:13

Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. I began service in SA to practice leadership based on the principles and values I am learning from our 12-Step program and to learn a new sober way of life and functioning in the world. SA service means I am too focused on helping sexaholics find the Progr…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Not That Different - Justin W. – Virginia, USA 3:25

1M ago3:25

3:25

Hearing others share from their weakness helped him realize he was not alone. Hi, I’m Justin, I’m a grateful recovering sexaholic. I came to SA in 2019 when a priest friend introduced me to the Fellowship. I had just started a new job and it was summertime. He invited me to a meeting, gave me the SA White Book, and encouraged me to attend. At that …

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ESSAY August 2025 - SA CFC - James D., Virginia State Prison, USA 1:20

1M ago1:20

1:20

This period in his life has given him time to grow. Hi, I’m James D., and I’ve been incarcerated since January 28, 2022. I’ve been sexually sober since November 29, 2023—one year, ten months, and one day from the worst day of my life. That day, I experienced the first of many of the best days of my life: the day I entered sobriety.…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Contentment in His Care - Dorene S., Washington, USA 0:53

1M ago0:53

0:53

Surrendering her life to God through the steps I am single in SA. And I am content. How is that possible? It is possible because I feel content each day as I surrender to my Higher Power’s care. I don’t look into the future about what that means. My focus is on today. Each day, I decide to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I under…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Discussion Topic - The ESSAY Editor 1:00

1M ago1:00

1:00

If single, have you embraced this time in your life to grow? The author of the article “The Availability to Dive” brings to light how beneficial it can be to live single while recovering. While it can also be challenging, the single life can give us the time needed to learn how to live without our drug and relate to others. This prepares those who …

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ESSAY August 2025 - Dealing With Infatuation - KB, St Louis 2:54

1M ago2:54

2:54

Detachment was the path that led him to a break from the unreal and to seek what was real. Without a doubt, my program is one of progress, not perfection. It has taken me some years to understand how infatuation has kept me bound to lust. Infatuation, I believe, is a distortion of reality. What begins in me as a natural response, appreciating what …

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Healing Began - Barry O., Charlestown, Ireland 3:05

1M ago3:05

3:05

As a result of working the Program, this member likes the man he is growing into. Before SA and recovery from chronic lusting and the acting out that followed, I was frequently lost in fantasy, on dating apps, or in an “intimate encounter.” The irony was, there was nothing intimate about it. This behavior eroded away my soul and made me feel deeply…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Lifeboat of the Fellowship - Silas, Ottawa, Canada 2:36

1M ago2:36

2:36

Participating in the Fellowship helped him to accept his disease and to laugh with those carrying the message to him. Ontario’s SA Spring Retreat 2025, themed “Acceptance is the Answer”, took place from Friday, May 23rd–Sunday, May 25th, coordinated by the Peterborough SA group.By Essay Magazine

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ESSAY August 2025 - Finding Freedom Through the Big Book - Sheri B., Michigan, USA 2:36

1M ago2:36

2:36

She decided to give away what was freely given to her. As I reflect on my journey in recovery, I’m filled with gratitude for the AA Big Book and those who have carried its message. Working the steps as they’re written in the Big Book has been the most transformative path to true freedom that I’ve experienced.…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Best Caption - ESSAY Editor 1:05

1M ago1:05

1:05

Are you ready for another caption challenge? We invite you to craft the perfect recovery caption for the cartoon below, centered on October’s theme, “Surrendering Shame.” If your caption makes us laugh, it will be featured in the October ESSAY edition. Don't miss out—the submission deadline is September 15. Send your entry to essay@ sa.org. Unleash…

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ESSAY August 2025 - The Problem - Dustrise - USA 3:03

1M ago3:03

3:03

By Essay Magazine

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ESSAY August 2025 - Coming Next 1:59

1M ago1:59

1:59

Our next edition’s theme is “Surrendering Fear, Guilt, and Shame.” Coming into the Program, many of us experience fear of facing the guilt and shame that the addiction of sexaholism brings to those powerless over lust. The Fellowship helps us overcome this fear by walking with us through the process of finding a sponsor and working the Steps. In do…

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ESSAY August 2025 - Bless The Ground - Eileen P. and Susie B. - USA 1:01

1M ago1:01

1:01

By Essay Magazine

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ESSAY August 2025 - Thank You Song - Eileen P. and Susie B. - USA 0:57

1M ago0:57

0:57

By Essay Magazine

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ESSAY August 2025 - 11th Step Prayer - Winfried W. 2:11

1M ago2:11

2:11

By Essay Magazine

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מאמר מאוגוסט 2025 - מפוכחת, רווקה ואסירת תודה - פג וי., קליבלנד, אוהיו. 3:30

2M ago3:30

3:30

היא למדה לקבל את התכנית של הכוח העליון עבורה הייתי חייבת לאהוב את עצמי, לא כמו אדם יהיר אלא בתור ילדה אהובה של אלוהים. הייתי חייבת ללמוד ליהנות מחברת עצמי ולזכור שאני ילדה אהובה של אלוהים. לא מושלמת, אבל נמצאת בתהליך של צמיחה הדרגתית כאשר הכוח העליון שלי מעצב אותי לפי רצונו. אני לא שולטת על החיים שלי, הכוח העליון שלי שולט…

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מאמר מאוגוסט 2025 - ניפוץ האליל הזהב - ג'ו ס., אוהיו, ארה"ב 2:37

2M ago2:37

2:37

על ידי ריפוי העבר, דרך העבודה על התוכנית, הוא מצא את החירות בלהיות רווק במהלך ההתמכרות שלי לתאווה, מערכות יחסים רומנטיות הפכו עבורי לעגל זהב. חשבתי שחברה מושכת ובעלת התאמה רגשית תמלא אותי ותשלים אותי. הרצון שיהיה לי קשר זוגי הפך לפנטזיה מתמשכת, אך בכל פעם שאישה אמרה "כן" להצעה לצאת לדייט, הייתי בורח מהקשר ברגע שהוא התחיל להתפתח. הייתי בלתי מפותח רג…

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מאמר מאוגוסט 2025 - משכורת בסיס מול בונוסים - ארפיטה, דלהי, הודו. 2:18

2M ago2:18

2:18

אהבתו של אלוהים ורצונו בחייה הם כל מה שהיא צריכה, וכל דבר נוסף הוא בונוס גדלתי עם הדחף להיות סבתא; אהבתי את הרעיון שיהיה לי משפחה וילדים. אקרה שם לבת שלי כמו של הילדה שיושבת בספסל האחרון בכיתה. הייתי בכיתה א' הסתכלתי על מה שהייתי דלוקה עליו וחשבתי: "אם תהיה לנו בת, אני אקרא לה כמו שותפתי ללימודים שהיא מקום ראשון בכיתתנו." חמוד, נכון? אני מגחכת כי ה…

What The F Magazine Podcasts