This Is Uncomfortable

Millions of Americans leave the U.S. each year for medical care. But how do you reap the rewards of medical tourism while managing the risks? And why do some have to travel out of the country to get affordable healthcare in the first place? This week on the show, Reema is joined by Dr. Alok Patel and podcast host TK Dutes to discuss what it’s like to travel for medical care, and how to do so safely. Plus: another edition of “Alice Gets Her Life Together,” in which producer Alice Wilder tries to get into the habit of expense tracking. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

As a special bonus this weekend, we’re revisiting one of our favorite stories from 2024, which Reema and Alice mentioned in the latest episode. While sorting through her father’s belongings after his death, Amanda Petteruti came across a collection of locked toolboxes. What she discovered inside made her rethink what she knew about her family’s finances and left her with unsettling questions about her dad: Why had he spent so much money on this secret hobby? Why was it now Amanda’s burden to handle? And how do you find closure with someone once they’re gone?

Who doesn’t love getting mail? This week on the show, Reema and Alice open up the mailbag and respond to your messages about questionable investments, doomspending, and caring for aging loved ones. Plus, we hear your advice on keeping weddings affordable for your guests and wedding party. Past stories referenced in this episode: ”The things we leave behind” “Nicole Chung and the toll of caregiving” “Everything's on fire, might as well get my nails done?” “Would you go broke for a bachelorette?” “Wait...where did my retirement money go?” “Can I monetize my hobby without killing the joy?” If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

College sports has become a multi-billion dollar industry, but until just a few years ago, the actual athletes never saw a penny. It wasn’t until 2021 that the NCAA decided that college athletes could make money off of their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Guest host Alice Wilder talks to Madeline Hill and Charlotte Wilder (no relation), hosts of The Sports Gossip Show , to understand how NIL is changing the game for student athletes, financially and emotionally. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Ever look back and wish you could stop your past self from making a financial mistake? Yeah, us too. This week, Reema talks to researchers Abigail Sussman and Hal Hershfield about how to handle financial regrets, why our past choices look so much clearer in hindsight, and how our emotions and blind spots shape our financial lives. Plus, a new segment of “Alice Gets Her Life Together” on how to budget for a vacation. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

How much should parents budget for daycare? Does it make more financial sense for both parents to work and pay for childcare, or for one parent to stay home and care for their child? And why is childcare so expensive if childcare workers aren’t paid enough? In this episode, Reema shares a big announcement… She also hears from listeners and new parents about how they’re making childcare work for their families, and public policy expert Taylor Morrissey explains why the childcare system in the United States feels so broken. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Tight grocery budget? Try a "recession recipe." Reema talks producer Alice Wilder about her trip to meet Kiki Rough , a TikTok creator who makes hyper affordable recipes. Kiki learned how to to cook on a shoestring budget while on food stamps and has gained a large following as food insecurity in the U.S. rises. But even after going viral, she’s is still struggling to feel financially secure. How have you been stretching your grocery budget? Email us your favorite penny-pinching recipes, and we’ll put them together into a little cookbook on our website! If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

How were you raised to think about money, and how do you know when the values you inherited no longer fit? What do we owe other people, and when is generosity a duty? Reema talks with Abigail Disney, the grandniece of Walt Disney, about family, legacy, and giving away millions. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

How many subscriptions are you paying for right now? Whether we’re watching TV, listening to music, or even just storing photos, it feels like we are required to rent so many parts of daily life these days. Reema talks to tech reporter Lance Ulanoff and finance writer Hanna Horvath about the origins of the subscription economy, what lies ahead, and how we can cope. Plus, we’ve got another edition of “Alice Gets Her Life Together,” where producer Alice Wilders joins Reema to investigate their own subscriptions and find ways to cut costs. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Money Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Is a frustrating dynamic in your workplace keeping you up at night? In our recurring advice column, “Work Drama”, we try to find answers to your sticky work questions. This week Reema is joined by Marketplace correspondent Kristin Schwab and host/correspondent Sabri Ben-Achour to answer your workplace questions – from favoritism getting in the way of a promotion to persistent recruitment for the office kickball league. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

This week we’re sharing an episode of the Marketplace climate solutions podcast “ How We Survive .” The new season is all about the controversial ways humans are tinkering with nature in an effort to save the planet, from shooting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, to launching sunshades into space. In this episode, they explore the wildest intervention to date: de-extinction. The team takes a tour of Colossal Labs, the $10 billion Dallas-based startup betting it can reverse-engineer extinction itself, to see how they plan to turn pigeons into dodos and Asian elephants into woolly mammoths. But whether it’s bringing back the woolly mammoth from extinction or shooting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, just because we can mess with nature, does that mean we should? After the tour, host Amy Scott chats with Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental journalist Elizabeth Kolbert to find out. Follow “This Is Uncomfortable” on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support Marketplace with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Have you ever daydreamed about leaving your office job, moving to the countryside, and living off the land? In 2008, Laura Griggs and her husband did just that: they moved to a small farm in rural Missouri and raised their family there for nearly a decade. Reema talks with Laura about the real cost of homesteading, and why she ultimately had to leave it behind. And later in the episode, we’ve got another edition of Alice Gets Her Life Together, where producer Alice Wilder shuts down a high-interest credit card and learns why it’s so easy to get into debt. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

How are you supposed to juggle caring for your aging parents while also raising young children of your own? And how do you budget for those competing responsibilities? This week, Reema talks to Nicole Chung, author of “ A Living Remedy ,” about her experiences caring for her parents in their final years of illness, how the U.S. healthcare system failed them, and the toll it took on her both emotionally and financially. Plus, Reema and Alice dig into our mailbag and hear from listeners in the “sandwich generation” – those who have caregiving responsibilities for both their parents and their children. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions,” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

This week, we’re sharing an episode of “ Proxy ,” a podcast about the emotional questions that make people feel alone — and the conversation that unfolds when you find someone who gets it. Sam is a progressive person who suddenly has more money than friends and family — and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. He wants to be generous. He wants to be responsible. He wants to stop feeling guilty and secretive and afraid. But the more he thinks about what money can do, the less clear it becomes what having “enough” is supposed to mean. In this episode, host Yowei Shaw connects Sam with David Steely, a man who has spent years wrestling with the same questions — and has given away most of his money. We’ll be back with a new episode of “This Is Uncomfortable” next week! If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Marriage brings with it a slew of state and federal privileges – when it comes to taxes, inheritance, and benefits – but what if that’s not the most important relationship to you ? What legal and financial options are out there for chosen family? Reema talks to LGBTQ+ legal advocate Angela Giampolo and tax expert Brixton Carothers about everything from setting up a revocable living trust to forming an LLC with a polycule. Plus, Reema and Alice respond to listener messages, including confessions about workplace mishaps and financial infidelity. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org Check out our upcoming virtual event, "Get Your Life Together with This Is Uncomfortable" - a work session to tackle one tedious task...with friends! More info here: https://www.marketplace.org/tiu Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions,” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok !

Weddings are meant to be joyful milestones and a chance to show up for the people we love. But for many people today, being a part of a wedding can come with multi-day trips, expensive outfits, and financial pressure that leads to years of debt. Reema is joined by cultural commentator Josh Lora and The Atlantic editor Annie Joy Williams to talk about the cost of being a wedding guest, why wedding culture is getting more expensive, and how to navigate the pressure to say yes. Did you find a creative way to make your wedding affordable for your friends? Give us a call at 347-RING-TIU or send us an email at uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Check out our upcoming virtual event, "Get Your Life Together with This Is Uncomfortable" - a work session to tackle one tedious task...with friends! More info here: https://www.marketplace.org/tiu Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok !

Unfortunately, a lot of us know someone who has been scammed… but how many scammers do you know? After reporter Carlos Barragán ’s mother fell victim to an online romance scam, he traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, to investigate the world of “Yahoo Boys,” as Nigerian scammers call themselves. He spent years getting to know these young men, earning their trust and reporting the most intimate details of their lives. This week, Carlos joins Reema to talk about his new book, “ Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers ,” and the complicated story he discovered about the social and economic forces that push people into these crimes. Plus, how loneliness is key to the scam… on both sides! Here is our Spotify playlist of all the stories about scams and scammers that we’ve had on the show. If you like this episode, share it with a friend! And let us know what you think by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support “This Is Uncomfortable” with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Lots of us have dreamed about taking on a completely different career, but how do you actually make the leap? This week, Reema visits a cohort of people pivoting to the trades in North Carolina and speaks with career coach Phoebe Gavin to get her tips on making a successful pivot. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And let us know what you think by emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org or calling 347-RING-TIU. If you want to answer our “Uncomfortable Questions” see more info here . Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! Support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod

Today, we’re featuring an episode of NPR’s “ It’s Been A Minute .” Reema Khrais joins host Brittany Luse and Wailin Wong, host of NPR’s “ The Indicator ,” to talk about the hidden ways money shows up in dating and marriage. And we’ve got a new “This Is Uncomfortable” project to share! You’ve heard Reema Khrais ask rapid-fire “uncomfortable money questions” on the show, where she asks guests to share details of their financial lives. Now we want to hear how you would answer! Send us a voice memo, and we may feature it on the show. This week, we kick things off off with listener Thistle from California. Learn more here: https://www.marketplace.org/uncomfortablequestions Follow This Is Uncomfortable on Instagram and Tiktok ! And support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod If you liked this episode of NPR's “It’s Been A Minute,” you can follow their podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Four days a week you will get for more episodes like this, featuring deep dives into how culture impacts what you think, feel, and believe.

Do you ever look at the world and think: everything is so uncertain, who knows if I’ll ever be able to retire … so I might as well get those concert tickets? Then you might be doomspending. Reema talks with The Financial Diet’s Chelsea Fagan and behavioral economist Judd Kessler about why we doomspend, and what we should do instead. Plus, producer Alice Wilder makes a confession. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend. And let us know what you think by emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org or calling 347-RING-TIU. Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok ! And support This Is Uncomfortable with your donation today: https://bit.ly/mkp_tiu_pod