How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Science, Social Sciences, Society & Culture, Education

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s a big, bad, scary, lonely world out there. Lucky for us, Jenny Lawson — aka the Bloggess — has collected more than a hundred tricks and tools that have helped her keep going, and she shares them in her heartwarming and hilarious new book, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay. The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out Arthur’s previous appearances on the show ⁠here⁠ and ⁠here⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off). Sponsored By: Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠⁠granola.ai/idea⁠⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Pani O'Gionnoplas.
0:01.9	And I'm Caleb Bissinger.
0:03.2	And this is the next big idea.
0:05.9	Today, how to be okay when nothing is okay. Ponyo. How are you?
0:33.6	I'm good. You? You know, I'm okay. Hensely done.
0:38.3	Thank you.
0:39.3	So you're here because you're in the host chair today.
0:43.3	You sat down with Jenny Lawson and she's got a new book out.
0:46.3	It's called How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay.
0:50.3	What drew you to this one?
0:51.3	Honestly, the title is classic Jenny Lawson. It's funny, provocative, and just a little despairing.
0:58.0	And then I found out it's her first self-help book where she offers what she calls tools for weirdos, and I couldn't resist.
1:04.0	Though to be clear, the book's not just for weirdos.
1:07.0	My stuff is based on having depression, anxiety, ADHD, chronic illness, chronic pain,
1:14.6	imposter syndrome, self-doubt, all of that stuff.
1:18.6	But I think everybody at one point deals with sadness or fear or all of those little things.
1:26.6	And so there's something in here for everyone.
1:31.9	All right. So what are the moments that stuck with you? Let's see. Why hitting number one on the
1:37.3	New York Times bestseller list didn't make Jenny happy and what ultimately did, how she used a
1:42.7	hair band to stop doom scrolling,
1:47.4	and why whenever you're feeling self-doubt coming on,
1:50.1	you should picture Sigmund Freud snorting a lot of Coke.
	...

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