Cancer is a heavy topic. It’s a hard thing for anyone in the family/support system to talk about. It’s challenging for people on the outside looking in to know what to say. And, no question, it’s an arduous, isolating, and disorienting time for the one living with it. For Tyler Merritt, a favorite around the JHBC community, the cancer journey was/is an opportunity to
He and Jen sit down to talk about This Changes Everything, the recent book which Tyler penned as a humorous and optimistic love letter to his beautiful life following his recent battle with cancer. Written with the same trademark humor, pop culture and musical theater references, (and a sick companion playlist) that we came love in his first book, I Take My Coffee Black, Tyler laces very candid and vulnerable stories from his highly invasive surgery and cancer treatment with anecdotes like a five-page play written about his appendix, subtitles inspired by Taylor Swift songs, and sometimes completely divergent footnotes about the ten best dogs in fiction, to serve as the connective tissue in his much deeper story of joy and healing. It might sound crazy but it works.
Things may unravel at the end of this discussion when Jen and Tyler debate whether words/phrases like “lovers” and “making love” have gone out of fashion and we’re sorry.
Back in the olden days of the 1990s with our dial-up internet and AOL accounts, twelve-year-old Brian Kelly was at home honing his budding interest in travel planning by booking his family vacations and maximizing the reach of his family’s points and frequent flyer miles. Cut to a few decades later and that hobby (which started as a small-time blog powered by affiliate-marketing, which his mom was convinced was a scam) has evolved into a whirlwind operation that the world now knows familiarly as “The Points Guy”.
Brian Sherpas us through all of the twists and turns of booking travel to eliminate the headaches and get THE MOST bang for our buck.
Highlights from this chat include:
- Why Brian thinks this is “the Platinum Age of Travel”
- Mastering family travel – Brian has been to sixteen countries with his two-year-old and is currently planning a month-long trip to Thailand with his newborn so he’s figured this out!
- How, when leveraged correctly, you can finance your travel using your loyalty points
- The 3 main types of rewards to have on your radar
- Surprisingly helpful hacks to avoid jetlag
- And Jen shares a hilarious story about a flight to Spain seated next to a nun that quickly got out of hand
It seemed like a good idea at the time… a twisty, suspenseful thriller set on a cruise ship. How could this not be the perfect story to build a little buzz and excitement in my community ahead of our upcoming Jen Hatmaker cruise? Did we get more than we bargained for?
Ruth Ware’s writing has rightfully been compared to that of suspense-queen, Agatha Christie, for featuring everyday female protagonists often white-knuckling it through some treacherous situations in places where they are isolated from any rescue – a glass house in the woods, an excluded ski resort, a remote tropical island, a boutique cruise ship!
Today, Jen sits down with the author of our January 2025 JHBC pick to navigate the many twists and turns of The Woman in Cabin 10 and why so many of our readers are losing sleep this month thanks to her innate skill of setting a heart-pounding scene.
In this funny, refreshing, and irreverent conversation about parenting, Jen welcomes Caitlin Murray to the show to talk about her Big Time Adulting community space, the blog (and now podcast) that Caitlin started when her 5-year-old son was in cancer treatment for Leukemia, as a place to connect with other moms and parents craving funny, provocative, no-nonsense entertainment to distract themselves from the hamster wheel of life
Like a big sister, Jen offers encouragement to guide Cailin through the years to come, with the two ultimately agreeing that early childhood is hard but middle school is the real shit show.
They commiserate over:
- Spirit Weeks, PTA obligations, and signing reading logs
- The idea of the ‘Hardship Olympics’ that creates unnecessary competition among women / moms
- Comparison parenting and why authenticity resonates more with their communities than curated perfection
- How community and humor that can be found in the everyday chaos of parenting
In this delightful episode, Jen Hatmaker sits down with bestselling author Josie Silver, the brilliant mind behind One Day in December. Josie shares her journey from writing ten novels to achieving massive success with this enchanting Christmas love story. Together, Jen and Josie discuss the creative process, the inspiration behind her characters, and the challenges of crafting a love story that spans a decade.
Josie opens up about the unexpected ways her personal life influences her writing, how she brings authenticity to her characters, and what it feels like to finally hit her stride after years of writing. Whether you’re a die-hard romance fan or simply looking for your next great read, this cozy conversation will inspire and entertain.
Today, Jen gets to fulfill a dream of interviewing one of her favorite influences and mentors in the food world. The iconic six-time James Beard award-winning Ruth Reichl sits down with Jen to discuss her extensive impact on food culture spanning the last several decades. They hit on everything from the alarming state of the modern food industrial complex, how we source our food and the impacts it poses to our health (as well as the hope they see for our future), to what it has been like to document the evolution of food across the changing media landscape of print media and the internet. Ruth reflects on highlights from her career as a chef, food critic, editor, tv personality, author, novelist and documentarian and discusses the challenges and joys of her various roles in the culinary world, including the emotional toll of her work which has garnered both admiration and criticism.
Friends, today’s episode is a powerhouse! We’re thrilled to have Sharon McMahon, known as “America’s Government Teacher,” joining us to share insights from her new book, Small and Mighty. Sharon dives deep into how twelve unsung heroes from American history played pivotal roles in shaping democracy—and what we can learn from their stories to impact our world today. This conversation is all about finding hope amid challenges and understanding that each of us, no matter our size or reach, can make a difference. So, buckle up for an inspiring episode that’ll remind you of your own power to effect change. Let’s dive in!
In this hope-filled chat:
- Jen and Amy discuss which historical figures they’d most like to meet and share their election night routines.
- Sharon walks us through her journey from award-winning yarn influencer to “America’s Government Teacher.”
- We break down why factual information is so critical in today’s world of fake news and disinformation.
- Sharon explains the importance of participating in state and local elections.
- We explore ways to engage in democracy beyond voting.
- And Sharon answers questions from our audience!
Mentioned In This Episode
The Henry Fite House of Baltimore
The Angry Trout Cafe, Grand Mariais, MN
The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon
As we come to the end of our Favorite Pastimes series, we hope you are filling your summer with your favorite activities —and maybe some new ones we’ve talked about here! Our series wouldn’t be complete without a conversation about one universal pastime that is approached with either love or loathing—cooking! Perhaps cooking has become nothing but drudgery for you and those ungrateful kids who eye your culinary masterpieces with disdain have made you turn to slinging out Lunchables and microwave mac and cheese. Or maybe you are single and cooking for one seems like a chore. Or maybe you *think* cooking could be your thing but you’re intimidated by the lingo and measurements and if you have the right appliances (Hot Pots! Air Fryers! Immersion Blenders! Oh my!). No matter where you fall on the cooking spectrum, easy and delicious summer cooking is within your reach and we have a guest who is here to help us claim our cooking identity. Teri Turner is an author, home cook, and podcast host who has turned her love of the kitchen into a whole career for herself. Her mantra is “It’s Just Food,” —takes the pressure off, right? She encourages us to find our “food thing” and how we can perfect that signature dish that will have even the most skeptical palates coming back for more. Teri’s tips include Whole30 options, gluten free dishes—she leaves nothing behind. Teri makes cooking seem accessible to us all—and promises our kitchens can be places of joy and magic-making.
Time to grab your passport and packing cubes! The world’s back open for travel—and if you’ve tried to book a trip recently, you know that, hello, the prices are a smidge higher than they used to be. But with a little planning and a lot of advice from The Points Guy, you can rack up the credit card points that’ll get you to unforgettable destinations around the world for a fraction of the price! Brian Kelly, The Points Guy himself, joins Jen to share how he turned his love of a good deal into a lifestyle brand sharing travel how-to’s for every budget from every corner of the planet (it’s a *wild* story!). Brian tips his hand on the best-kept trips you need to take at home and abroad, how you can earn enough points for a free flight to Europe in 90 days, all while building a credit score that can unlock opportunities at home while you plan your next getaway. #practical This episode is a treasure trove of travel tips, so grab a pen and paper—and maybe a fruity drink with an umbrella—because your next adventure is closer than you think!
