Uncomfy: Sticking with Moments That Challenge Us

Beverley Elliott (Granny on ABC’s Once Upon a Time) caught the bouquet at her niece’s wedding. The dance that followed was cringey enough to become one of her best stories—with a twist that changed how she saw the whole encounter.

Beverley joins host Julie Rose to talk about why sharing our most embarrassing moments can help us let go of shame and feel less alone, and how focusing on one person can make an awkward conversation easier.

ABOUT GUEST
Beverley Elliott is an actor, singer, storyteller, and acting instructor. She is best known for playing Granny on ABC’s Once Upon a Time and has appeared in more than 100 film and television productions (https://beverleyelliott.com/).

Subscribe to Uncomfy for thoughtful conversations about the moments we’d rather avoid and what they can teach us about connection.

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(0:48) Meet Beverley Elliott
(1:29) Bouquet Catch Chaos
(2:59) The Awkward Dance
(5:32) The Twist
(6:27) Repairing the Moment
(7:18) Why Tell Cringe Stories
(11:53) Connecting Without Self Focus
(14:33) Once Upon a Time Memories
(16:03) Closing Thoughts and Credits

#BeverleyElliott #OnceUponATime #Uncomfy #AwkwardMoments #EmbarrassingStories #SocialAnxiety #SelfCompassion #HumanConnection #Storytelling #ActingAdvice

A room full of people can still feel lonely when every face is turned toward a phone. Melissa Kirsch shares how an uncomfortable moment with strangers changed the way she thinks about connection.

In this conversation, New York Times writer Melissa Kirsch joins host Julie Rose to explore the loneliness epidemic, social connection, smartphone habits, talking to strangers, and why in-person connection can feel harder than it should.

ABOUT GUEST
Melissa Kirsch is a writer-at-large for The New York Times, where she writes The Morning and The Good List newsletters (https://www.nytimes.com/by/melissa-kirsch).

The Morning newsletter - https://www.nytimes.com/series/us-morning-briefing
The Good List newsletter - https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-good-list

Subscribe to BYUradio for more conversations about connection, meaning, and navigating life’s uncomfortable moments.

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(1:06) Concert Alone Moment
(1:47) Phones and Rejection
(3:06) Strangers Start Talking
(5:04) Social Contract Gifts
(8:16) A Meaningful Life
(9:58) Happiness as Practice
(10:45) Postcards and Space
(12:35) Gratitude and Self Praise
(14:26) Wrap Up and Credits
(15:27) New Show, “Dispatches from the Divide”

#Loneliness #SocialConnection #HumanConnection #MakeFriends #AdultFriendship #TalkToStrangers #DigitalWellbeing #MeaningfulLife #MelissaKirsch

Mark Schroeder’s mother-in-law moved across the country to help care for his new baby. He was grateful...yet still found himself resenting her.

In this conversation, Mark shares how he made sense of that tension, what it taught him about gratitude and conflict in close relationships, and how the things that matter most can be interpreted as “noise.”

ABOUT GUEST
Mark Schroeder is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California and founding director of its Conceptual Foundations of Conflict Project. He is the author of “When Things Get Personal” (https://markschroeder.net/).

Subscribe to Uncomfy for thoughtful conversations about the awkward and tense moments that can change how we connect.

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(1:17) Mother-in-Law Tensions
(4:07) Philosophy Breakthrough
(4:48) Signal vs Noise Explained
(6:32) Reframing Gratitude
(8:30) Is This Real Philosophy
(9:17) What Makes a Person
(10:45) Agency Good and Bad Guys
(12:40) The Balancing Tip
(13:30) Wrap Up and Credits
(14:21) New Show, “Dispatches from the Divide”

#DifficultConversations #ConflictResolution #CommunicationSkills #FamilyConflict #RelationshipAdvice #InterpersonalConflict #EmotionalIntelligence #Uncomfy

Delivering bad news is one of the hardest parts of being a doctor. Dr. Neil Farber shares a moment with a patient that surprised him and what it taught him about caring for people.

In this conversation, Dr. Farber reflects on delivering bad news, the communication skills doctors need, and what patients may be up against when time with a physician is limited. We also talk about physician burnout, administrative burden, patient access, and how the healthcare system shapes the doctor-patient relationship.

ABOUT GUEST
Dr. Neil Farber is professor emeritus of general internal medicine at the University of California San Diego and author of “Treating a Broken System: A Physician’s Cure for the Healthcare Crisis” (https://neiljfarber.com/).

Subscribe to Uncomfy for more conversations about the moments we’d rather avoid and what we can learn by staying with them.

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(0:34) Meet Dr Neil Farber
(1:26) First Bad News Lesson
(2:33) The Unexpected Response
(3:42) SPIKES Protocol Explained
(6:15) When You Can’t Fix It
(7:13) Terry’s Diagnosis Story
(10:46) Fixing a Broken System
(12:45) Solutions for Burnout
(13:40) What Patients Can Do
(14:41) Wrap Up and Credits
(15:53) New Show, “Dispatches from the Divide"

#PhysicianBurnout #HealthcareSystem #DoctorPatientCommunication #PatientCare #PatientAdvocacy #HealthcareCrisis #MedicalCommunication #PriorAuthorization #DoctorPatientRelationship #Uncomfy

One hot flash in a room full of men left Emily Bell McCormick wondering how to escape…and why menopause was still so hard to talk about. Now she’s taking that uncomfortable moment to her state lawmakers, pushing for better menopause care, provider training, and research.

In this episode of Uncomfy, Emily shares with host Julie Rose what menopause can look like beyond hot flashes, why menopause symptoms are often misunderstood, and how gaps in women’s health education affect families, workplaces, and relationships. She also shares why menopause should be treated as a public-policy issue and what The Policy Project hopes to change through its Modernizing Menopause Care initiative.

Subscribe to Uncomfy for more honest conversations about health, relationships, politics, and the moments we usually avoid.

ABOUT GUEST
Emily Bell McCormick is the founder and president of The Policy Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit working to advance practical solutions to issues that difficult to discuss, including menopause care (https://www.thepolicyproject.org/menopause).

CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(0:37) The Hot Flash
(2:18) Owning the Moment
(3:08) Pitching Menopause to Lawmakers
(4:38) The Legislator Who Asked
(6:50) Check out “A Braver Way”
(8:18) Getting Women to Speak Up
(10:11) Policy Plan for Better Care
(11:51) Three Fixes
(13:45) Wrap Up and Credits
(14:30) New Show “Dispatches from the Divide”

#Menopause #Perimenopause #WomensHealth #MenopauseCare #HotFlashes #MidlifeHealth #MenopauseAwareness #HealthcarePolicy #MenopauseResearch #UtahPolitics