Solo – The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life

Do you have aging parents? This week’s guest, Leighann Lord, is a stand-up comic and solo caregiver for elderly parents. Peter McGraw and Leighann discuss the challenges of being a caregiver and how those responsibilities are often taken up by people who are not married with children. Leighann gives tips for caregivers, and they finish by discussing some ways to begin prepping for getting older yourself.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

In this episode, Peter McGraw speaks to David Jay, an asexuality activist, about what it means to be asexual. They discuss the prevalence of asexuality in the population, as well as their shared perspective about the importance of being connected to a wide array of people. If you stick around to the end, they recap by defining terms that are often overlooked when talking about people’s sexual and romantic preferences. Note: Peter is still in the desert and dealing with less than ideal equipment. Please be patient with the sound quality. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

Living a remarkable life should be fun, but it takes work. This episode is on the more serious side. Money Amy returns (from episode seven) to address the financial distress that some listeners are experiencing due to the pandemic. Peter McGraw and Amy talk about tactics to get your financial house in order (and your house in order, more generally). A few things to be ready for: 1) you are going to need to dedicate some real time to figuring out your financial situation, 2) you will need to make sacrifices – in other words, you must learn to stop spending money on things that are not truly important, and 3) you may have to make big changes to your housing situation – maybe even get rid of your car. If you stick around to the end, Peter gives a few book recommendations and make a case for the opportunity to build a better financial future and to pivot your career and maybe start a side hustle that could become a new business.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

Single people are way cooler than married people, right? To answer this question, Peter McGraw turns to Caleb Warren, who has developed “the” theory of coolness. In this week’s bonus material, Peter presents some cool people, and Caleb uses his theory to explains what makes them cool.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

In the second part of this two-part series, Peter McGraw continues his conversation with Martie Haselton, a scientist who specializes in evolutionary psychology, and Shane Mauss, a comic who has material about dating and mating from an evolutionary perspective. The guests continue their far-ranging conversation covering topics from how the modern mind has not adapted to the invention of birth control, to why children may be viewed as parasites, to the puzzles that evolutionary psychology struggles to answer. They also explore the tension between a solo lifestyle, people’s evolutionary motives, and a culture shaped by ancestral desires.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

In the first part of this two-part series, Peter McGraw talks to Martie Haselton, a scientist who specializes in evolutionary psychology and Shane Mauss, a comic who has material about dating and mating from an evolutionary perspective. The guests present a primer on evolutionary psychology, and they have a far-ranging conversation covering topics from how the modern mind has not adapted to the invention of birth control, to why children may be viewed as parasites, to the puzzles that evolutionary psychology struggles to answer. They also explore the tension between a solo lifestyle, people’s evolutionary motives, and a culture shaped by ancestral desires.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

What if the hero’s journey isn’t the best story structure to describe the process of becoming unapologetically unattached? This episode examines an alternative to the hero’s journey with the unfortunate name of The Virgin’s Promise. I speak to Kimberly Kessler, who presents this alternative model as a way to escape human domestication and thrive as a single person. She also relates The Virgin’s Promise to well-known stories, such as Cinderella, Frozen, Billy Elliot, and even Rocky. If you stick around for the bonus material, Kim, who is married with children, talks about how non-solos can support their solo friends and family.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

Peter sits down with two solo comedians—Neal Brennan and Alonzo Bodden—for a far-reaching conversation. The guests speak frankly and unapologetically about comedy, relationships, dating, and their single lives. If you stick around to the end, they give some advice about how to have a conversation with dates about your solo lifestyle.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

As you may know, I like to ask, “Are you the hero in the movie of your life?” To make a better sense of what that means, Peter McGraw speaks to a writer, editor, and expert on story structure about the hero’s journey and what it means for you and the change you want to make — due to the pandemic or otherwise. Note: It helps to have seen the movie The Matrix, but it isn’t a deal-breaker if you haven’t. If you stick around the end, Peter’s guest applies the hero’s journey framework to some well-known stories.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today:

How are you using your quarantine? This episode was scheduled in haste after Peter McGraw received an uplifting email from a friend and SOLO listener who is using the quarantine to “sharpen his sword.” Peter’s guest talks about his nearly 60 30-day challenges and how they make him fulfilled but difficult to date.   Note: This episode was taped prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet it seems especially fitting as the pandemic is causing people to re-evaluate their lives. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Join the I’m Not Joking community today: