Most people prefer to keep their relationships private, and then there are those who choose to broadcast their personal stories, along with some advice and a few laughs, to the masses via podcasts.
Formatted to entertain, educate and facilitate self-help, these podcasts often uncover hot topics and sensitive issues, from tales of singledom to parenting struggles, and everything in between.
Whether you’re actively seeking direction, or just looking for ways to pass the time during coronavirus quarantine, here is a sampling of shows to consider.
Wedding Planning
Hosted by Taylor Strecker, 37, and produced by Ashley Fern, 30, both based in New York, this podcast offers a snarky and realistic perspective on subjects like shopping for overpriced dresses, proposal debacles, establishing boundaries with future in-laws and postponing “I do.” Weekly episodes feature about 50 minutes of guidance, personal stories, listeners’ questions and a “Bridezilla or Bridechilla” poll about overreacting to various scenarios.
The host, Aleisha McCormack, 38, of Melbourne, Australia, is focused on reducing wedding-planning stress. The 30- to 60-minute segments every other week detail decisions about décor and dresses, as well as elements beyond aesthetics such as money, people, and the idea of “perfection” that causes strain. With more than 400 episodes to date, guests include psychologists, financial experts and travel planners.
The Big Wedding Planning Podcast
Two wedding planners, Christy Matthews, 36, of Phoenix, and Michelle Martinez, 44, of San Francisco, use their combined 31 years of experience to broadcast valuable takeaways from their viewpoints as industry insiders. The weekly, hourlong installments feature entertaining wedding day stories, audience-submitted concerns, and interviews with venue owners, lawyers and marriage proposal photographers. Chats explore etiquette, meshing religions, the rental business and newspaper announcements.
Four years into their marriage, the former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, 28, and Andrew East, 28, a National Football League free agent, deliver raw stories and unguarded confessions while chronicling their history together. They include details about their daughter’s 2019 birth, exes who shaped them, embarrassing moments and arguing during engagement. Weekly 50-minute sitdowns also spotlight interviews with notable couples like the retired tennis player Andy Roddick and the model/actress Brooklyn Decker, as well as the YouTube stars Ellie and Jared Mecham, about their relationships, careers, parenting, and more.
Sara, 33, and Sterling Buckley, 36, high school sweethearts, became parents as teens. With three children and 17 years together, the Las Vegas couple opens up about marriage hardships for an hour each week. With a lighthearted approach, their program consists of personal stories and opinions regarding things like emotional and physical space, infidelity and pet peeves. Equipped with a few swear words, the self-proclaimed “two young idiots doing their best” firmly believe any marriage can be fixed.
The host Nicole Byer, 33, is perpetually single and on a quest to figure out why. In her pursuit, she recruits friends, ex-flings, actors and comedians to discuss topics ranging from self-worth to open partnerships, to finding single men while shopping at Target, to Ms. Byer’s own fear of relationships. Weekly hourlong segments provide laughs through candid conversations and explicit subject matter.
Lindsey Metselaar, 29, a native New Yorker, hosts a weekly show about millennial dating. The 35- to 50-minute broadcasts involve themes such as comparing new relationships to exes, living with partners for the first time, dating two people at once, and the difference between settling and compromise. Porn stars, psychics, reality TV personalities and astrologists, among other guests, contribute funny anecdotes, offer expert advice and vulnerable moments, too.
Following her divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage, Laura Stassi, 59, of Reston, Va., explores dating for people 50 and older. The self-proclaimed hopeless romantic hosts 30-minute, subject-driven segments every other week that navigate sex etiquette, deal-breakers, online dating, and money, including how to merge two lives without combining bank accounts. Scientists, financial planners, sexuality counselors, authors, and everyday people analyze predicaments and give feedback.
Molly Kochan, 45, of Los Angeles left her husband after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. Post breakup, while she’s combating health issues and undergoing treatment, Ms. Kochan shares her intimate and freeing experiences with her friend and the podcast host, Nikki Boyer, 45. Through ups and downs, the six-part series highlights Ms. Kochan’s ability to feel alive and live by her own rules after an unsatisfying relationship.
Sutanya Dacres, 34, of New York, married, moved to Paris, got divorced and decided to stay abroad. Crediting the healing power of food, Ms. Dacres tells her story, which involves rebuilding her life and identity as a divorced woman, while cooking dinner for herself. Recipes include Jamaican and French fare (or a combination), like fried dumplings, saltfish and plantains, confit de canard, and French Jamaican jerk duck. Stories and interviews with friends address dating, loneliness and self-care during the 25- to 30-minute episodes.
Kate Anthony, 49, of Los Angeles, is a happily divorced mother of one and life coach who helps women decide to leave or stay in their marriages. Ms. Anthony’s weekly podcast, which runs 20 to 45 minutes, taps mental health, financial and legal experts, who elaborate on the processes and aftermaths of divorce. Listen to learn about mediation, co-parenting, trauma, whether it’s best to stay together for the children, and more.
Friendship
Between carefree banter, Jenn Bane, 29, and Trin Garritano, 34, friends from Chicago, answer tricky, silly and weird questions regarding modern-day friendships weekly. Without formal professional training, real queries — like “How do I make friends at my new job?” “Can I ask someone why they unfollowed me on Twitter?” and “Do I have to be friends with my partner’s friends?” — yield strong opinions and suggestions, with levity, for about 35 minutes.
Roughly three times a month, two authors, Kristan Higgins, 55, and Joss Dey, 50, discuss female friendships: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Each 30-minute episode dives into the dynamics of complex bonds featuring listeners’ dilemmas, the hosts’ personal feedback and occasional therapist commentary. The Connecticut-based hosts share how to cope with show-offs, judgmental people and self-destructive individuals, among other unsavory friendships.
Each week, Mike Wessells, 30, and Cam Shepherd, 33, best friends from Los Angeles, read through Mr. Wessells’s private journal, igniting salacious fodder for 45 to 60 minutes. A comedic tone prevails during first-person stories as the hosts shine light on growing up gay, L.G.B.T.Q. issues, family, progressive politics and their 10-year friendship.
Dan Kois, a Gen X dad from Arlington, Va., along with the millennial moms Elizabeth Newcamp of Navarre, Fla., and Jamilah Lemieux of Los Angeles, speak about parenting “triumphs and fails” and answer questions from listeners. With six children collectively — from preschool to high school — the 30- to 60-minute show touches upon co-parenting, hyphenating last names, home-schooling advice, the popularity of “Baby Shark” holiday-gifting conundrums, and colorism in preschool. Special guests, who are also parents, often co-host.
The actors and siblings Kate Hudson, 41, and Oliver Hudson, 43, ponder family relationships and examine the special connections between brothers and sisters during weekly hourlong episodes recorded in Los Angeles. Guests occasionally include authors and psychologists, but most often celebrities such as Chelsea Handler, Taye Diggs, and Jimmy Kimmel. Alongside their siblings, famous participants reflect on their experiences growing up together, how they’ve influenced one another and what their connection is like today.
Splitting her time between New York and Los Angeles, Aliza Pressman, a developmental psychologist and mother of two, supplies effective approaches in parenting based on research. Broadcasting weekly for 40 to 60 minutes, Dr. Pressman, an assistant clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in the Department of Pediatrics, is regularly joined by fellow parents, professors, prominent scientists, doctors, authors and celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Molly Sims and Christy Turlington Burns. Dr. Pressman and company discuss digital safety, puberty, helping children cope with loss and grief, dealing with sibling rivalry and how children learn to lie.
Every other week, Heather Hester, 48, of Wilmette, Ill., incorporates firsthand accounts, advice, interviews and education surrounding parenting L.G.B.T.Q. teens. Since Ms. Hester’s son embraced his sexuality as a gay man, the family has experienced a range of emotions and situations. In one episode, Ms. Hester invites her son, Connor Hester, to explain what L.G.B.T.Q. teens want their parents to know, while other 30- to 60-minute installments examine anxiety, questions of faith and finding a support system.
Boundaries
As a doctor of human sexuality, Emily Morse produces content about sex, love, dating, relationships and communication. During three 30-to-60-minute episodes each week, the Los Angeles-based host informs audiences with a combination of interviews, tips, and listeners’ questions fielded by sex educators, therapists, mental health professionals and fellow podcasters. Rejection, compliments, bouncing back after breast cancer and love languages are all up for discussion.
On a mostly weekly basis, Esther Perel, a psychotherapist and author, hosts 45-minute counseling segments featuring couples whose names have been changed for confidentiality. Based in New York, Ms. Perel listens to personal stories — about intimate topics including impotency, trauma, caregiving and more — and offers suggestions.
Promising to change your life for the better, or worse, Joel Kim Booster, 32, and Mitra Jouhari, 27, aren’t qualified to give relationship or life advice, but the two comedy writers share their blunt stances on a weekly basis anyway. During one-hour episodes, the hosts indulge their audience with personal updates, and answer emails and voice mail messages from fans requesting help concerning specific issues. Past productions have covered Snapchat mishaps, gay pregnancy scares, how to deal with a lying friend and landlord revenge.
