Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley
Finding the Throughline: Conversations about the Creative Process invites you into the minds of writers and other creatives as they open up about their process, their doubts, and what kinds of changes they’re thinking about making. The questions are mildly invasive, honestly, and the answers are unvarnished…and so refreshing!
Whether your creative work is writing, painting, making music, parenting, or simply living, Finding the Throughline can help you get—and stay—inspired. Invigorated, even.
For detailed show notes on each interview, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you’d like to hear these interviews in one ad-free episode (as opposed to broken up into three shorter episodes with a few ads sprinkled in to keep the lights on), become a paid subscriber once you’re there.
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901
Confrontation Nation: What’s the Better Person ...
You used to more or less be able to decide when you wanted to wade into a potentially heated conversation. Now you can stumble into them multiple times a day. What's a person who's trying to be a better person to do? Face them head on, or keep the peace?
7 min
902
Day 10: It’s All About Stamina: When You Can’t ...
Doing the things that help you stay strong isn’t an all or nothing proposition. And when you can’t do a lot, doing a little is a great second place option. (Featuring many listener-submitted things to do that help you keep going.)
5 min
903
Day 9: It’s All About Stamina: Hello Discomfor...
The way you think about the things that are requiring you to develop your stamina has an awful lot to do with how much you are able to take. To increase your wherewithal, you've got to increase your tolerance for discomfort.
6 min
904
Day 8: It’s All About Stamina: How to Cultivate...
To help us all think about how to go about cultivating more grit I wanted to talk to a pro, so I reached out to Shannon Huffman Polson, the youngest woman ever to climb Mt. McKinley, one of the first women to be trained to fly an Apache helicopter...
10 min
905
Day 7: It’s All About Stamina: Take a Schlub Da...
When you are living through a challenging time, you’ve got to let some things slide. And because they help refill your well, you really don’t want those things to be your self-care. So… what gives?
6 min
906
Day 6: It’s All About Stamina: Listen for what’...
The things that are weighing heavy on your mind and your heart are also detracting from your stamina. And Lord knows, there are so many of them right now, particularly in the realm of interpersonal interactions.
7 min
907
Day 5: It’s All About Stamina: Fast Forward 50 ...
Thinking about how you’ll think about what you’re going through today in 10, 20, or even 50 years really helps problems feel smaller, and when your problems feel less daunting, it’s easier to keep going.
7 min
908
Day 4: It’s All About Stamina: Embrace Downtime...
Building in some white space into your life will help you have more stamina for when things are busy, and help you have less stress when they aren’t.
5 min
909
Day 3: It’s All About Stamina: Eating for Resil...
There are lots of different ways to build your stamina, from adjusting your mindset to getting good sleep to eating the foods the fuel you up instead of deplete you. That’s why today I’m talking with the Queen of All Things Nutrition, Mary...
15 min
910
Day 2: It’s All About Stamina: Strengthen Your ...
Every challenge has an opportunity wrapped up inside it. Even the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad challenges, like, say, a global pandemic. And one of those opportunities now is to strengthen and hone our ‘keep going’ muscles.
7 min
911
Day 1: It’s All About Stamina: Find A Rhythm a...
Giving your days a basic rhythm will help ground you and make sure you’re doing the things that sustain you without having to spend a lot of effort on having to find the time or the motivation to do them.
7 min
912
Day 5: Operation De-Escalation: Work Out the Is...
Today I’m talking with fitness expert and author Ellen Barrett about how to pump up your own happiness and give your stress a release valve by moving your body--not by pounding out a workout, but by enjoying some energy-raising movement.
16 min
913
Day 4: Operation De-Escalation: Declare a Morat...
Complaining, while tempting, and human, only heightens tension rather than defuses it. Here's what you can do instead.
9 min
914
Day 3: Operation De-Escalation: 3 Surefire Ways...
There are certain things that you just don’t want to do if your goal is to de-fuse tension. And we all do them. So let's take a look at them.
7 min
915
Day 2: Operation De-Escalation: It’s All About ...
Tone matters. It has always mattered, but it matters now more than ever. (And it's what helped me not get into a fight with a stranger in the coffee bean aisle.)
7 min
916
Day 1: Operation De-Escalation: It’s TENSE Out ...
This week, I’m devoting all the episodes to what I’m calling Operation De-Escalation, because we are all on our last nerves. We'll explore ways you can help take things down a notch, both in the outside world and in your own mind. And today is all...
8 min
917
"Best Of": Are You a Tortoise, a Hare, or a Tor...
This is one of my personal favorites because when I answered this question for myself, it helped me find a process that helped me get my work done without feeling guilty or stressed--and it can help you do the same thing. See you next week with new...
6 min
918
"Best Of": What Pink Elephants Are Talking to ...
Ooh, this is a juicy episode that helps you poke around in your subconscious and figure out why you do the things you do AND why you don’t do the things you don’t do.
8 min
919
"Best Of": Forgive YOUR Mistakes EP: 224
This episode helped put How to Be a Better Person podcast on the map when it got mentioned in an article called "The 7 Podcasts Will Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2020." It offers a deceptively simple, and deceptively powerful, forgiveness exercise...
5 min
920
"Best Of": Don’t Be an Interrupting Cow EP: 223
This is another 'best of' episode that gives you one simple task to do for the rest of the day, and that is to do whatever it takes to not interrupt anyone. It's harder than it might sound (and shows just how challenging it can be to truly listen).
6 min
921
"Best Of": Let Someone Else Go First EP: 222
Know that awkward moment, at a 4-way stop sign or on a sidewalk, when you don't know who should go first? Just for one day, be the person who waves the other person on. It's nice, yes, but it also alleviates decision fatigue (and dispels awkwardness).
5 min
922
"Best Of": Your Ticket Out of Judgment-Land EP:...
As you head out to celebrate the 4th of July, you are probably going to see plenty of examples of behavior that you are going to want to judge something fierce. This 'best of' episode will help you either a) head judgment off at the pass, or b)...
9 min
923
"Best Of": The Need for Alone Time Is Real EP: 220
Alone time is an important component of emotional hygiene, but since Covid-19 struck, it's been in limited supply for those folks who live with other people--especially when those other people are your children.
10 min
924
"Best Of": The Importance of Being Naughty EP: 219
Yes, it's a worthy effort to try to be and do better. But if that's all you do, it can start to feel like you're wearing a too-tight jacket. And then you want to just give up. This 'best of' episode helps you keep making progress while also cutting...
5 min
925
"Best Of": Say What You Mean, But Don’t Be a Je...
Here's another one from the vault that pertains to relationships. It's a mantra that helps you find the right balance between being truthful and being kind. (And includes a story about my daughter that will send you straight back to 6th grade.)
7 min