Most of us dislike or even fear conflict with loved ones. Without it, however, you won't achieve sustained intimacy with your partner.

This week, Andrew talks to writer, psychologist and Jungian analyst Polly Young-Eisendrath, the author of Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path. They explore the challenges and possibilities of building partnerships based on respect, freedom and real dialogue.

Andrew and Polly discuss:

• What “real dialogue” means—and how to practice mindful curiosity with your partner.
• How and why to stop avoiding conflict with your partner.
• Projective identification in relationships.
• What to do if you’re feeling defeated or distant in your relationship.

Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., is the founder of the Center for Real Dialogue in Vermont and the author of 19 books. Her work combines psychoanalytic thinking, mindfulness, and Buddhism to illuminate the inner work required to love with both strength and humility. She is also the host of the popular podcasts Enemies: From War to Wisdom and Waking Up is Not Enough: Flourishing in the Human Space.

If You’re Looking for More…

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: Join here

This week, supporters will hear: ⭐ The Benefits of a Conversation Between the Spiritual and Psychological ⭐ Three Things Polly Young-Eisendrath Knows to Be True ⭐️AND access to all our previous bonus content—a rich archive of insight and inspiration

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin: Learn more here

Read Polly Young-Eisendrath’s book Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path

Visit Polly Young-Eisendrath’s website

Listen to Polly Young-Eisendrath’s podcasts:

• ENEMIES: From War to Wisdom
• Waking Up is Not Enough: Flourishing in the Human Space

Follow Polly Young-Eisendrath on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter.

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: patreon.com/andrewgmarshall

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Are you one of the many people who end up shocked by the ultimate similarity of romantic relationships that felt very different starting out? Why is it that we find the same patterns repeating, the same problems coming up over and over?

In this classic episode, Andrew talks to author and attachment theory specialist Tara Blair-Ball. Tara explains how attachment theory - which is grounded in analysis of how we bonded to our mother as infants - can explain these patterns.

Andrew and Tara emphasise that rather than dwelling on the particular faults of partner A and partner B, we can try to understand how our earliest relationships in life have determined later ones. This will help us make the changes that can lead to more meaningful and more fulfilling relationships.

Tara Blair Ball is a Certified Relationship Coach, as well as the author of several books on love and relationships. Her content on relationship and dating has been viewed more than 6 million times.

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Three Things Tara Blair Ball knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin.

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Tara Blair Ball’s website

Read Emerson Eggerichs’ book Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

Read Gary Chapman’s book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

What does it mean to be truly seen and accepted in your sexuality? For those who identify as bisexual—or who experience sexual fluidity—the path to self-understanding and relational honesty can be filled with challenges, uncertainty, and social stigma.

This week, Andrew talks with DIANE HASSALL, a Relationship and Psychosexual Psychotherapist, about how we explore and express our sexual identities within intimate partnerships. Together, they consider how to stay true to yourself, even when your sexuality doesn’t conform to the narrow definitions the culture has offered you.

Andrew and Diane discuss: ⭐ What bisexuality and sexual fluidity really mean ⭐ How to have honest conversations with your partner about identity and attraction ⭐ The importance of curiosity and compassion when exploring new facets of yourself

Diane Hassall is an Accredited Member of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) and the founder of the therapy practice, Your Time to Talk. She specialises in working with clients exploring gender, sexual, erotic and relationship diversity, and also trains and supervises other therapists in psychosexual and relationship work.

If You’re Looking for More…

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week, supporters will hear: ⭐ The Importance of Sexual Fantasies ⭐ Three Things Diane Hassall Knows to Be True ⭐️AND access to all our previous bonus content—a rich archive of insight and inspiration.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin: Learn more here

Visit Diane Hassall’s therapy practice: yourtimetotalk.net

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

How can we learn to be at ease in our bodies so that we can be fully “in the moment” during sex? Anxiety about body image is one of the biggest obstacles to a happy, fulfilled sex life. Many people seek therapy to help them relax and enjoy sex with their partner, others struggle on in low-sex or no-sex relationships.

In this classic episode, Andrew talks to KATE MOYLE, a psychosexual and relationship therapist, about the knots we tie ourselves up in over how we look. Our culture’s esteem for youth and beauty, (expressed in social media images of physical perfection) can make it very hard to inhabit our normal, imperfect bodies. Yet the self-confidence we need to enjoy sex is grounded in how we feel, not how we look.

As well as her work as a therapist, Kate Moyle is host of The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast, and also appeared on BBC Three’s Sex on the Couch. Kate helps people to work through challenges in their sex lives and relationships; moving towards a place of sexual health, happiness and wellbeing. Her podcast hosts discussions that focus on normalising sex and relationships talk, and tackling the topics that are often left out of mainstream conversation; and she is a regular media contributor on the topic of sex and relationships.

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Three Things Kate Moyle knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin.

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Listen to Kate Moyle’s The Sexual Wellness Sessions Podcast

Take a look at Kate’s website

Follow Kate on Instagram @katemoyletherapy

Read Andrew’s book Have the Sex You Want: a Couple’s Guide to Getting the Spark Back

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Society would grind to a halt without the work done by unpaid carers - yet they are too often left to feel invisible, unsupported and alone.

In this episode, Andrew talks to PENNY WINCER, the author of Tender: The Imperfect Art of Caring, about how to provide care for loved ones without burning out yourself.

Penny shares her deeply personal story of caring for her mother, who lived with mental illness, and later for her autistic son. She sheds light on the complexity of care—the beauty, the exhaustion, and the personal costs.

Andrew and Penny discuss:

• Asking for help
• Dealing with isolation
• How being a “young carer” can shape adult relationships
• The importance of self-compassion.

Penny Wincer is a Melbourne born, London dwelling, author and non-fiction writing coach. She has written for Red Magazine, iPaper, BBC Radio 4 and The Telegraph. Penny’s first book Tender was published by Coronet Books in 2020. Her second non-fiction book, Home Matters, was published in August 2024.

If You’re Looking for More…

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions.

This week supporters will hear:

• Three Things Penny Wincer knows to be true.
• How to balance what YOU want to do with the pressures of life.
• Subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content—a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Read Penny Wincer’s book Tender: The Imperfect Art of Caring, and her latest book, Home Matters

Follow Penny Wincer on Instagram @pennywincer

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

When did you last learn to do something totally and utterly new? Tom Vanderbilt, author of Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, was awestruck by his young daughter’s insatiable need to know how to do almost everything. He was inspired by her to embark on a year of learning purely for its own sake.

Tom had a truly unique year - a circuitous journey of learning, in which he attempted to learn chess, singing, surfing, drawing and juggling. These skills were chosen on the basis of difficulty and lack of marketability.

Tom found that his new sense of curiosity opened him up to a profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him. By reinventing himself in small ways, life began to seem more magical.

In this classic episode Andrew and Tom talk about just why it is that so many of us stop learning new skills as adults. While we’re encouraging our children to be adventurous and to try new things, are we ourselves afraid of failure? Have we forgotten the pleasure and rewards of starting from scratch?

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Three Things Tom Vanderbilt knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin https://andrewgmarshall.com/mens-retreat/

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things https://andrewgmarshall.com/download/

Learn more about Tom Vanderbilt’s book Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning

Follow Tom Vanderbilt on Instagram @tomvanderbilt

Andrew and Tom also discuss Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools https://courses.andrewgmarshall.com/relationship-tools

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

In a world that often rewards toughness and detachment, could empathy actually be a hidden superpower?

This week, Andrew speaks with psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Judith Orloff about how empathy can become one of the most powerful tools for healing, personal growth and connection.

Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and energy medicine, Judith explains how anyone can deepen their empathic abilities, protect themselves from burnout, and create stronger, more authentic relationships.

Andrew and Judith discuss:

⭐ What it really means to be an empath (and how to tell if you are one) ⭐ Strategies to prevent empathy overload ⭐ The importance of boundaries for empaths.

Dr. Judith Orloff is the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Empathy and The Empath’s Survival Guide. Her upcoming children’s book The Highly Sensitive Rabbit, helps sensitive kids embrace their empathic gifts as a strength. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath and intuitive healer, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty.

If You’re Looking for More…

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: Join here.

This week, supporters will hear:

⭐ What is Healthy Giving? ⭐ Three things Judith Orloff knows to be true ⭐️AND access to all our previous bonus content—a rich archive of insight and inspiration

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin.

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Read The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World by Judith Orloff.

Preorder Judith Orloff’s new book for children, The Highly Sensitive Rabbit

Visit Judith Orloff’s website: www.drjudithorloff.com

Follow Judith Orloff on social media:

• Instagram: @judith.orloff.md
• Facebook: @DrJudithOrloff
• Twitter/X: @JudithOrloffMD

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

Today, the “four pale horsemen” of war, famine, pestilence and death have broken into our comfortable lives once again.

As the climate emergency and shortage become normalised, how do we live through crisis after crisis without falling into fear and anxiety on the one hand, or agitated reaction and rage on the other?

Do we face the horsemen, go into denial or settle for the dull throb of numbness? And how do we maintain contact with the heart, with soul, with love and compassion?

In this week's classic episode, Andrew speaks with award-winning poet, author and teacher William Ayot about:

⭐️The burdens men carry

⭐️The healing power of ritual

⭐️Male loneliness and how men’s groups help

⭐️Confronting shame and anger

As well as his writing and poetry, William Ayot leads workshops and seminars on personal development topics and creates and conducts private rituals and ceremonies. William is also the co-founding director of Olivier Mythodrama and worked around the world for ten years, teaching leadership through story, theatre practice and ritual. He founded NaCOT- The National Centre for the Oral Tradition, and hosts the poetry series On the Border.

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• Creating a daily ritual for a deeper connection to life.
• Three Things William Ayot knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Visit William Ayot’s website for information on bespoke rituals, poetry etc

Visit William Ayot and Juliet Grayson’s online library of poetry and talks on shame, men’s issues and relationships

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall