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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Education
Self-Improvement
How To
926
Re-Committing to Your Health EP: 297
We all fall off the health wagon at some point. Here's why you don't want to wait until a health crisis, or even a health thing, to get back on it. Also, I cover how a parody video of me, made by my daughter, helped me make sense of a health...
7 min
927
Creativity Mantra #3: Keep Showing Up EP: 296
Creativity isn’t a one and done thing. It’s a part of you and just like a dog or a baby it needs loving care on the regular. So, today, we’re going to cover ways to make creativity just a thing you do. 
6 min
928
Creativity Mantra #2: Let It Suck EP: 295
In order to breathe life into your ideas and get them out into the world, you’ve got to get the ego to stand down. And the way you do that is by giving yourself permission to let that thing suck.
7 min
929
How to Stop Talking Yourself Out of Being Creat...
Today I'm talking to Zarinah El-Amin, CEO of Book Power Publishing and author of the brand-new book Book Power, about how to get over the excuses you may be giving yourself for not doing anything creative. And wow, does she deliver!
17 min
930
Creativity Mantra #1: Make the Headspace EP: 293
Creative ideas have a hard time penetrating a busy mind. You’ve got to clear a little space in that beautiful noggin of yours for the ideas to come in and be heard.
6 min
931
Feeding Your Creative Fire EP: 292
This week on the podcast, I’m pivoting to talk about something that’s still super important, but is way, way lighter than the pandemic-related themes I’ve been covering lately. And that thing is creativity. I mean, doesn’t that sound nice...
7 min
932
Difficult People: Boundaries, People! EP: 291
Because empathy is important, but often not enough, when it comes to dealing with difficult people, today talking about setting boundaries--both for them and for you.
6 min
933
Difficult People: Find Connection, One Step at ...
Today’s big idea is that difficult people are still people. And you are a person. And deep down we are more alike than we are different. So a helpful way to approach a difficult person is to seek out the things that connect you
8 min
934
Difficult People: How Conflict Can Make You a B...
Does conflict have an upside? Today I’m talking with Amy Gallo, who is the author of the to get her inside scoop on how and why to engage with the difficult people in your life.
14 min
935
Difficult People: You Spot It, You Either Got I...
While I wouldn’t wish a difficult person on anyone else, I believe that they, like every other challenging situation, show up to teach us something. It’s on us to look for that opportunity that’s wrapped up inside every fraught interaction.
7 min
936
Dealing with Difficult People EP: 287
This week on the podcast I’m talking about how to handle the difficult people in your life, whether it’s folks you don’t know that you encounter out in the world, a problematic neighbor, a boss or colleague, or even a partner or a family member....
5 min
937
Love Yourself: A Practical Way to Send Yourself...
Loving yourself is a nice idea but it’s kind of squishy--how do you actually go about doing it? Well, I’ve got something to share with you that will help you put ‘love myself’ on to your calendar, and then actually do it
4 min
938
Love Yourself: Finding Your Way to Self-Accepta...
Accepting the things about yourself that you might otherwise judge as ‘bad’ is a big piece of loving yourself. After all, love isn’t conditional. It’s not, I’ll love myself after I lose 5 pounds, or get a new job, or things calm down.
6 min
939
Love Yourself: Breaking Free from PSD (Patriarc...
When I first encountered the idea that we’re talking about today, I definitely looked like a meme of a person whose mind has just been blown.  It’s the idea that in general, women are vulnerable to thinking less of themselves, chronic stress,...
17 min
940
Love Yourself: Don’t Talk to My Friend That Way...
If someone is constantly saying mean, disparaging, discouraging things about you, would that make it feel like they loved you? Yeah. No. But that’s what we often do to ourselves.
5 min
941
Loving Yourself Is a Radical Act EP: 282
Loving yourself is something so few of us are ever given any guidance on, in any way. We just don’t talk about it as a thing. It’s like this big secret that very few people speak about. This week, let’s change that.
6 min
942
Activism: Give Back Without Wearing Yourself Ou...
As important as it is to give back through activism in some way, you don’t want to let it become something that depletes you. Today I’m sharing 3 things I’ve learned about how to give back without wearing yourself out.
5 min
943
Activism: Seek to Understand EP: 280
It’s so tempting to rush toward something that you perceive to be a problem with a full head of steam and a lot of ideas about what should be done. But if you do, you could very well become part of the problem.
4 min
944
Activism 101, an Interview with Jocelyn Foye an...
Today I’m talking with two women who helped me embrace my inner activist both through their example and through the organization that they co-founded, The Womxn Project. We're talking about how activism can be fun, rewarding, and one of the great...
16 min
945
Activism: Finding the Right Fit, and the Bandwi...
When you find the right cause for you, it makes you more effective, it gives you more energy, and it enriches your life more. So the question then is, how do you find the right fit? And once you do, how do you find the bandwidth?
7 min
946
Let’s Get Activated EP: 277
This week I’m talking about activism--getting involved in causes you care about and lending your voice, time, and energy to creating positive change in the world. After all, being a better person isn’t just about you!
8 min
947
International Unreturned Message Forgiveness D...
Today is a very special day on the How to Be a Better Person podcast. I’m declaring a new international holiday. It’s Unreturned Message Forgiveness Day. Woo hoo!
6 min
948
Next Time You’re Tempted to Over-Do for Someone...
Let’s face it, other people’s happiness isn’t under your control. Sure, you can love someone and support them, but if you’re trying to make them feel a certain way, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Here's something to remind yourself...
6 min
949
Getting Over the Fear of Being Selfish, an Inte...
Today I'm talking to someone who is a total expert at doing good in the world by living unapologetically as yourself. Lisa Cherney, who has been mentoring entrepreneurs for over 20 years, teaches that you don't have to do anything just because people...
15 min
950
We Can Be NOT Sorry, Just for One Day EP: 273
Something we do when we’re overly focused on other people’s happiness is apologize. A lot. I’m not talking about owning up to something that you truly got or did wrong. I’m talking about a reflexive “I’m sorry” for anything that...
5 min