 Named a best podcast of 2021 by Time, Vulture, Esquire and The Atlantic.  Each Tuesday and Friday, Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic of markets infiltrated too many aspects of our lives? What is the future of the Republican Party? What do psychedelics teach us about consciousness? What does sci-fi understand about our present that we miss? Can our food system be just to humans and animals alike? Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp

Named a best podcast of 2021 by Time, Vulture, Esquire and The Atlantic. Each Tuesday and Friday, Ezra Klein invites you into a conversation on something that matters. How do we address climate change if the political system fails to act? Has the logic of markets infiltrated too many aspects of our lives? What is the future of the Republican Party? What do psychedelics teach us about consciousness? What does sci-fi understand about our present that we miss? Can our food system be just to humans and animals alike? Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at <a href="http://nytimes.com/audioapp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">nytimes.com/audioapp</a>

The Ezra Klein Show

The creator and host of Death, Sex &amp; Money, a podcast that interviews people on "the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more". She recently wrote the book 'Let's Talk About Hard Things', a book of all the lessons learnt through all of her podcast interviews

How there's less human interactions in some parts of society

Why it's so hard to talk about sex &amp; money

Why it's especially hard to communicate with our family members

Anna Sale is one of my favorite interviewers. As the host of WNYC Studios’ “Death, Sex and Money,” she has an uncanny ability to get her guests to open up about the most personal, tragic, beautiful and embarrassing parts of their lives, whether it’s childhood trauma, the death of a partner or losing control of one’s limbs.The kinds of conversations Sale has on her show are hard to have in real life. So we rarely have them, even though our relationships and our society and even our politics desperately need them. Thankfully, Sale has written a new book, “Let’s Talk About Hard Things,” which distills the lessons she has learned over the years for the rest of us and offers wisdom for navigating the topics we too often shy away from: death, sex, money, family, identity.We discuss how society has increasingly pushed the responsibility for having these hard conversations onto individuals, what it takes to be a good listener, the common mistakes people make when supporting grieving friends and family members, why it’s especially hard to communicate with our family members, whether it’s necessary to give up our righteousness to preserve our relationships, the social stigma against talking about money, how to navigate tricky discussions about race and gender, and the art of asking open questions.Recommendations: "Death in Mud Lick" by Eric Eyre"Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner"The Secret to Superhuman Strength" by Alison BechdelYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of "The Ezra Klein Show" at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein.Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.“The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Rogé Karma and Jeff Geld; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld.

Anna Sale is one of my favorite interviewers. As the host of WNYC Studios’ “Death, Sex and Money,” she has an uncanny ability to get her guests to open up about the most personal, tragic, beautiful and embarrassing parts of their lives, whether it’s childhood trauma, the death of a partner or losing control of one’s limbs.The kinds of conversations Sale has on her show are hard to have in real life. So we rarely have them, even though our relationships and our society and even our politics desperately need them. Thankfully, Sale has written a new book,<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lets-Talk-About-Hard-Things/Anna-Sale/9781501190247" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> “Let’s Talk About Hard Things,”</a> which distills the lessons she has learned over the years for the rest of us and offers wisdom for navigating the topics we too often shy away from: death, sex, money, family, identity.We discuss how society has increasingly pushed the responsibility for having these hard conversations onto individuals, what it takes to be a good listener, the common mistakes people make when supporting grieving friends and family members, why it’s especially hard to communicate with our family members, whether it’s necessary to give up our righteousness to preserve our relationships, the social stigma against talking about money, how to navigate tricky discussions about race and gender, and the art of asking open questions.Recommendations: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Death-Mud-Lick-Companies-Delivered/dp/1982105313" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Death in Mud Lick"</a> by Eric Eyre<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crying-Mart-Memoir-Michelle-Zauner/dp/0525657746" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Crying in H Mart"</a> by Michelle Zauner<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Superhuman-Strength-Alison-Bechdel/dp/0544387651" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"The Secret to Superhuman Strength"</a> by Alison BechdelYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of "The Ezra Klein Show" at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast</a>, and you can find Ezra on Twitter <a href="https://www.twitter.com/ezraklein" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@ezraklein</a>.Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at <a href="mailto:ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com">ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com</a>.“The Ezra Klein Show” is produced by Rogé Karma and Jeff Geld; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld.

How to Have Better Conversations About Hard Things

For some of the most difficult topics of conversations such as mourning someone who's passed, there is no bullet point list of solutions that resolve the problems. The more productive mindset is that having these conversations is about sharing, understanding and acknowledging things as opposed to trying to wrap it up neatly at the end with a solution.

Expect & accept a lack of closure.

We grow up so closely connected with our parents, but as we grow older, our own sense of identity and priorities arises, and we begin to slowly detach and live our own lives. But just because the amount of time spent with our families lessen, doesn't mean the relationship can't strengthen.

All children go through a phase of navigating their distance with their parents.

For some people who've had the priviledges of being heard &amp; given opportunities, one of those roles is just listening to others share their experiences.

We all have different roles to play in important conversations on topics such as identity depending on the experiences we've had moving through the world.

Can you think of a situation where it wasn't about being right or finding an answer, but just about listening or being there?

"Sometimes it's not about being right or finding an answer, it's just about listening or being there."