We Can Do Hard Things

What if the secret to stronger relationships isn’t avoiding conflict—but learning how to do it well?

Conflict resolution expert and bestselling author Priya Parker joins us to teach us how to fight with more courage, clarity, and love—and how to know which relationships are actually worth the fight.

- Why “we never fight” can be a warning sign, not a relationship goal

- The difference between unhealthy peace and healthy heat

- How to know when to confront, when to let go, and when to walk away

- The simple rule that can make a hard conversation easier to hear: name the behavior, not the person

- Why the relationships with the most depth often require some heat—and why fighting well can bring us closer

For more, listen to:

256. How to Host a Magical Gathering with Priya Parker

163. How to Make Wrongs Right with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

About Priya:

PRIYA PARKER is a facilitator, strategic advisor, and acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. Trained in the field of conflict resolution, Parker has worked on race relations on American college campuses and on peace processes in the Arab world, southern Africa, and India. She studied organizational design at MIT, public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and political and social thought at the University of Virginia.

Her new book THE ART OF FIGHTING: The Transformative Power of Conflict is available now.

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Today, we remember Gloria Steinem—a woman who spent her life reminding us that we are not broken, just born into systems designed to break us. She taught us how to stay whole anyway, how to tell the truth, get free, find our people, get to work—and laugh while we work.

Gloria showed us how to lead. Our turn.

Gloria, Gloria, Hallelujah.

Heartbreak isn't just happening in your mind—it's happening in your body.

In this Best Of conversation, science journalist Florence Williams joins us to discuss what heartbreak does to our brains, bodies, and nervous systems—and the surprising science behind healing. We explore why awe, beauty, and nature may be some of our most powerful medicines when life breaks us open.

- What heartbreak actually does to your body

- Why loneliness can make us physically sick

- The surprising connection between awe and healing

- How nature helps regulate our nervous systems

- Simple practices to feel more alive after loss

About Florence:

Florence Williams is author of "The Nature Fix" and, most recently, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey. Florence explores the connections between humans and the natural world, and reveals the profound psychological and physiological benefits of rewilding our lives.

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If you've been living inside your head lately, this conversation is for you.

Glennon, Abby, and Amanda talk about the exhausting mental chatter that keeps so many of us anxious, overwhelmed, and disconnected from our lives. Glennon shares the surprising shift that helped her stop trusting every thought she had—and start finding a steadier place beneath the noise.

- Why you are not your thoughts

- Glennon's #1 sanity strategy

- The "touch tree" practice for staying grounded

- How Amanda stopped accepting assignments from strangers

- The wedding-week rule that changed everything for Glennon and Abby

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Today, we remember the one and only Dolly Parton.

Dolly gave the world so much: her music, her humor, her generosity, her courage, and her unwavering commitment to being exactly who she was—and letting everyone else be exactly who they are, too.

We feel incredibly lucky to have had this conversation with her about trusting yourself even when it breaks your heart, beginning again at any age, mothering the world, and living a life of many colors.

We love you, Dolly. Thank you for showing all of us how to be more ourselves on purpose.

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