Life Will Be the Death of Me with Chelsea Handler - The Hunting Wives with Malin Akerman

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Malin Akerman is here to talk about the power of women, why you’ll never win an argument with a narcissist, and why much-younger men make surprisingly great husbands. Then: A 20-something can’t stomach her influencer friend’s lifestyle. A sister wonders how to stay in touch when she makes a cross-country move.  And a dad struggles to deal with his kid’s mom - especially when she tells lies about him.  * Want to help families impacted by ICE?  Follow the links below: Immigrant Defenders Law Center Jail Support LA UnionDelBarrio.org chirla.org buen-vecino.org 805undocufund.org mixteco.org * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at [e-mail] * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.  This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.  Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, Katherine. It's Thursday. Hi, Chelsea. It's Thursday and I'm in Los Angeles. I'm so happy to have you here, finally.

I know. Doug is a mountain man here, too, now. I told Felix, I was like, listen, you have to take him to the mountains every morning. So he picks him up and he takes him to Los Montaños. But it's so sad, the dirt. Like, he sends me videos of Doug, and it's just dirt, white, gray dirt. He went from Whistler, where it's verdant and green and beautiful. And snowy. And yeah, well, it wasn't Snowy some more, but like, you know, lakes and now there's pictures. He sends me a video yesterday. I'm like, is that a coyote? He's like, I'm like, is Doug, what does Doug do when he sees a coyote? Doug can take a coyote.

He's like, nothing. He looks at him. I'm like, oh my God. Oh my gosh. And so, yeah, I'm like, he's living a different lifestyle for sure. But you know what? There are new smells here. He's, you know, having some variety.

Don't we love variety? I mean, I guess we do love variety. I added a new show to my West Hampton show. The first one sold out, so I added a show August 21st now and 22nd. I will be in West Hampton performing. And then I'm headlining the Rochester Fringe Festival. That's in September, and I am doing Napa Valley, and that's on October 3rd. I'm doing Napa Valley, some big winery.

So that's going to be beautiful, yes. And, of course, we had so much fun at your Vegas show. Oh, my God, Vegas. That was so fun. It was so fun. We gambled. Everyone won. Well, you didn't win in the minute, but you won when you went to the slots.

Yeah, I went to the slots, and I, like, put in a $20 bill, and I won $115. I can see you winning at the slots, Catherine. Yeah, I love a penny slot, like an old lady. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would never waste my time at the slots, because that's just, like, I need more bang for— This weekend, I started betting bigger. I started betting, like, $400 or $500 a round. Yeah.

And it worked, or a hand, and it was working. So I left with $300 more than I started with. I mean, you were brave betting. You were, like, throwing out the money. Yeah, but I also supplied again. I supplied everybody with their gambling money, and they all lost. well no not everybody lost

people won I mean the bottom line is I never see that money again but if I walk away with it it's like I've given away money and I'm walking away

with more than I started with that's a win yeah it's a win for everybody everyone's happy and then also like people are gambling because there's just like you know

there's a fun energy around gambling yeah it was a really good time it was a really good time I go to the same table every time after the show and Doug was there

Doug was gambling because he's my king well he's your lucky charm he's my king yeah No, I win without him. He is definitely not my lucky charm. He is definitely not.

I'm staying with my friend Kat right now, and she has a little Oompa Loompa dog. I don't know what kind it is, but it's a small one. Pomeranian-ish? Something. Fluffy? Not fluffy. Short hair. Okay.

I don't know what that type is, but it's not of interest to me. But Doug, it's so funny when they play, because Doug is obviously like 14 times the size of her, and he goes to pick her up like with his teeth. Oh, no. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, that isn't a chew toy. no like and he goes and gets it

like puts his mouth around your neck on the front of the throat and I'm like no no and then he looks at us like oh I'm sorry am I not supposed to pick her up like this

it's like no you're not her mother is this not a chew toy yeah I know so poor little Luna she's a little Luna bear yeah she's like I'm like

but he's rough stuff thank God he's not a rapist though you know I mean yeah not a humper we don't want a humper he did try to hump his friend Sally in Canada

but that was you know that was okay because she's a friend of mine and that dog is big and could defend herself Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? And she was like, fuck you, Doug.

But he's, like, fixed and everything, right? No, of course not. No, I have a dog that's not fixed. I mean, come on. Hello? That's just one more thing that I can't afford to deal with. I know, right? Yeah, they just do it sometimes.

My friend Kat and I—well, Kat's a good cook, so she's been cooking for me because my house, of course, is still not ready. No, of course not. Of course not. My house is still not ready. Can you fucking believe it? I scheduled my entire European tour and my entire European travels to come home to a house. To a home. And it's still not ready.

Oh, speaking of which, ICE. We have a lot of groups to donate to that I aggregated. So let's add those. Like different organizations you can donate to for families being affected by ICE. You could donate to attorneys that are defending these people. Or you can donate to organizations that are helping feed them and are helping them. Legal fees and all that. Legal fees.

And also to help them financially while they're unable to go to work because they're being stopped every single fucking day so that they don't get separated from their families. So it's a good place. There's like five or six donation spots that I found out that are really good to donate to. So let's do that. Okay. If you want to donate to families who are affected by ICE and immigration issues, here

are a few places that you can donate. So one place you can support is the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and we'll put a link in the bio. They're a next-generation social justice law firm that defends immigrant communities against injustices. Jail Support LA, it's a grassroots collective dedicated to supporting anti-repression work in Los Angeles, and they provide bail money for protesters in downtown LA. Unión del Barrio is an organization that defends Mexican and Latin American communities. They have been organizing a lot of protests and teach people how to do patrols in the event of a raid. CHIRLA is the Coalition for Human Immigration Rights

and empowers immigrants to push policies that promote freedom of movement, full human rights, vigorous civic action, and strengthens democracy. Buen Vecino is an in-person responder training being held on July 25th, and it's in Moorpark, California. So if you want to attend that,

we'll put a link in the bio. 805 UndocuFund provides funds and support for immigrants. Mixteco supports, organizes, and empowers the indigenous migrant communities in California's Central Coast. And these raids, illegal immigration raids, continue to happen. So any support that you guys can provide will be put to good use. Okay, great. And we have a great guest today, an old friend of mine who is in a new show, and the new show is called Hunting Wives on Netflix. It's not to be confused with hunting husbands or hunting for husbands. It's hunting wives. Try and figure that one out. Please

welcome Malin Ackerman. Hi, honey. Hi. How you doing? I was just talking about my bunion surgery I'm getting at July 5th. So much fun. So much fun. I know. I can't wait. I'm excited. I'm actually excited to have it for you. I'm excited for you. A month off and just lying around my house. You know what I mean? Unfortunately, it won't even be a month. You'll be up and if you want to, you can be up. But otherwise, just milk it. I milked it for as long as I could, even though I could walk after a week. And you could walk. Wow. Did you do physical therapy after? Yeah, I did. I did with a trainer and a physical therapist, a PT, but I was in a boot, obviously. I wasn't walking without a boot and not here in a boot for a while. But I think we

went to Vegas two weeks after my surgery because we'd already booked it. And I just got one of those little rolly things where you put your knee on it and you like roll. Oh my God. What Vegas was intended for. That and Disney World when people roll around in Disney World. Yeah. All you're missing is a drumstick, like one of those giant turkey drumsticks. Okay, Malin, first of all, when did I see you last? I saw you at Guy's house probably, right? At Guy's house. Yeah, it was probably 3 a.m. in the morning, dancing on the dance floor. Yeah, that's peak time. I think I was looking for my purse for about four hours at that party. Did you ever find it? I did. It was amazing. It's the story of my life. Some strange person just came up to me, someone who

I had never met, because I was going around the party asking people, I'm like, do you have my assistance info because I might need to get my driver. And I'm alone. I came with a bunch of people, but everybody had left and I was still there. And then someone just walked right up to me like some sort of heavenly angel and said, have you been looking for your purse? And I was like, oh my God, who are you? And do you know who that person is? You have no idea. It was just a lovely human being. That's nice. A good Samaritan in the world. We like that. It was a fun party. It was. It's always fun, right? Although last year was a little bit too hectic. And I remember talking to Guy I'm like don't let anybody into that party like I know it gets nuts but you kind

of get lost like you get your little pockets of like I'm always on the dance floor I love to dance so my husband and I are the same and so we're always on the dance floor until our feet can't take it anymore and I feel like you find your little pockets and all of a sudden you turn around you're like oh I'm doing the shuffle with Miles Teller and then you turn around and there's Chelsea falling over the table and having the blast exactly that's exactly the kind of impression I want to leave people with. I remember the last time we were hanging out. This was many, many years ago.

You had just had your kid. That's how long ago we've spent. It's been since we spent time together. 12 years ago, yeah. So you were, I think you got divorced soon after that. And then you met your husband. It was very soon after that. My real, like the real life one,

the first one was like a trial run. And then number two, I met him when my son was three. And so he's been in our life since then, which is awesome. Nine years, crazy. I think that's crazy that you have a baby with someone and then you unexpectedly become a single mother. That was a little bit of a surprise. You know, life is, you can never plan it, as we all know. We all try to do it.

But it just, it was one of those things. And we're good now. Like, he's in our life and we're friends and all that. But it was just, when you have kids, you just never know what that's going to be like, what it's going to feel like. I know that so many people have so many different reactions. Some people are like in the movies, we're like, everything's grand and beautiful, but for the most part, it's fucking shocking. And you go through a real emotional rollercoaster bringing a human being home and you have to take care of it. So I think for both of us, it was just, we just didn't prepare properly. And I

think it really affected our relationship. But who does prepare properly? Like, I mean, It's not like so many people are taking parenting classes before they have a baby, you know? No, I know. And nine months is not enough time to prepare for that kind of invasion. No. And I wasn't even – we weren't even preparing. I mean, I was just living life the way it normally was. And then a baby was born.

You're like, oh, my God. Geez, this is – I got to keep this thing alive and try to keep my relationship sexy. I don't know. How do you do that? I have no idea. I don't know. I have no idea. I failed at it.

But number two is good. is good and we decided not to have another kid together because I was like you know let's just keep it sexy and we've got a kid already and like let's have fun and when he gets old he's 12 now you know a few more years and he's out of the house and we're gonna travel the world and we're still gonna keep it sexy so I know you know a little something about that because you decided not to have children you just kept spontaneity part of your life which is so much fun and I miss it do you your sister introduced you to your husband right yeah she did good memory she is now married to the guy who she's married to your husband too she's where yeah we live a polygamous

life it's very cool you know a little incestuous but her husband is also a Brit and so my husband and her husband were at drama school together so he would come out for like pilot season when they when there was pilot season when that existed and so I met him a couple times and then we ended up sitting at Hamburger Mary's beside each other for Dry Queen Bingo Night. And that's where we fell in love, as you do. Because we sat beside each other and I just realized at that time, like I'd met him a few times, but I was finally ready, I guess. And he was just so, you know, that British charm and wit and he was funny and kind of cute. And so, I mean, I still didn't think we were going to get married. I just thought we'd have a fun little affair because

he's seven years younger than me. Oh, I love that. Yeah, it's great. And the nice thing about younger men is that they adore you. He's like, wow, you're my woman. And it feels you feel like a woman around a younger man. I love it. I'm enjoying this experience. Yeah, I could see that I don't I've never dated somebody that was so much younger than me, more than like a year or so. So I don't know. But I'm assuming I'm going to get around to it because I'm not getting any younger. Like I'm sure I'm going to start dating. I'll introduce you to a few young boys. Yeah, I mean, I'd like a little couple of flings, especially with, you know, the energy, sexual energy that younger men have I'm more interested in that than having to deal with you know men my own age and

their own issues not not naming any names you dm me when I was in Sweden or you were texting me or one of those things because that's where you're you're from you're from Sweden I am but I was reading your bio and you also have permanent residency status in Canada so I did that one I had to give up when I moved out here I had a permanent because I was there for 22 years and when we first moved to Canada Sweden wouldn't allow dual citizenship and then when it was finally time for me to move America to America then I could get dual citizenship but I was going to America so it's like you know what I don't need a Canadian passport I've got my Swedish passport now I wish I had would have done it but because I was about to ask you I'm like wait I have a house

in Canada and I don't have permanent residence yeah I do in Whistler I go I love skiing so I see do yeah I ski in the winter time and I love I love Canadians you know they're so civilized They're so nice and normal. It's a nice contrast to what we deal with in America. A little bit, yeah. Yeah, I was curious about learning. I mean, all my conversations lately are basically about how to naturalize another place and how to become a permanent resident of another place. Back to Sweden. I have like a few Swedish people in my life. And when I was in Stockholm for my most recent, I just came from Europe. I was on this European tour.

It looked amazing. Thank you. It was amazing. And Stockholm was such a highlight. It was so gorgeous out. We walked probably like 15,000 steps that day. We walked and walked and walked and walked. And it was like one of the first days of, you know, what felt like summer, you know, it was in May, but it felt like the first and the whole place was pumping. And this was, like, how it was when we kept, like, hopping through Europe. We'd land and, like, the sun would be out and we'd be in Copenhagen or Amsterdam. But Stockholm was such a highlight. And I have a really good girlfriend who lives in Whistler who is Swedish. And then I have another friend that I spent, like, my 20s with that was Swedish. And I have to say Swedish women, A, are so much fucking fun.

And I feel like Swedish culture—tell me if this is true. yeah like women don't care about marriage in the same way that american women care about marriage no not at all the whole thing of like i don't know there's that really weird thing where it's like you have to spend half your yearly salary for the rank like there's all these rules around things swedish women are kind of like take it early i think it's like the viking mentality we grew up on versus you know i i guess america was built on you know religion and so it's it's a very separate it feels very logical in sweden and i also feel like the women there for whatever reason i don't know why or the history of it but the women in sweden are the aggressors and they're

very independent and it feels very like it always feels like women have always been an equal over there and so you just feel empowered which is really interesting and i don't know the reason why but i do feel like women are just strong and take what they want kind of thing and and i love that about it you know and men kind of follow suit and stand in line yeah i wonder if it does have something to do with the vikings i'm gonna have to read a book about that i know me too i should know my own culture really and i wonder if it's all scale like if it's all that area and scandinavian cultures too where women i mean obviously they're like government wise and happy wise like everybody seems a lot happier in that part of the world scandinavia in general

when also when you get like a year maternity leave six months paternity leave like everything is it works like everything you pay really high taxes in Stockholm but they go towards the things that you want them to go towards like you can go to university for free in Sweden and get a really brilliant education you know and that's where our tax money goes to which I would love to see here you know having a kid here I'm like wow it's expensive because he can't go to all the public schools we were lucky to put him in a charter school for the first few years of his life but now we just switched them over and we're like, wow, it's crazy. It's crazy that we have to pay for kindergarten. Well, I don't have to pay for anything, but it's crazy that parents have to pay

for fucking kindergarten. I mean, we live in a city that is absolutely ridiculous. Watching that rat race and watching people apply to kindergartens and preschools is like, honestly. When I was pregnant, I had a friend of mine, a friend of mine's mother who was like, okay, listen, we need a meeting. And I was like, okay. And she comes over to my place and she goes, listen you got to start looking into preschools you got to start putting yourself i'm like my kid isn't even born what do you mean she's like oh it's impossible i'm going to introduce you to a woman who's going to get you in and i was like okay i was really freaked out i didn't know what what the fuck was going on so this woman comes over and she's like okay i know everybody at

every school i'll help you fill out all the forms i'll help you i was like i feel like i could fill out a form myself and she goes and it'll cost seven thousand dollars i just went i'm good he'll go to whatever preschool he goes to and it'll be fine. He'll learn how to count to three and it'll be great. But it was just, there's this whole gamut here where people scare you into thinking like if they don't get into the right preschool, then, you know, they're just never going to make it in life, which is nuts. It really is coming from Canada where you're just like, you just go to the schools that you go to, you know. By the way, Canadian colleges are $7,000 for a whole entire year. So you could either get a coach to get you into kindergarten in America, or you could

go to college for $7,000 a year. You're a dealer's choice. Yeah. Dealer's choice. What are you going to choose? I'm into that new prime minister of Canada though, Mark Carney. I like his attitude a lot. Yeah, me too. Speaking of taking what you want. Okay. Let's talk about hunting wives because first of all, you are really getting after it in this show. Did you get to see it? I saw three episodes. Yes. I watched it while I was getting my roots done yesterday. Back to back to back. I saw you in full action, having lots of action with a variety of different people. Yes, yes. And I was like, wow, look at you go.

Margot Banks, who is the character that I play, as you saw, is probably one of the favorite characters that I've ever played. Talk about like living in her own power, right? Just like taking whatever she wants. She is master manipulator. She is Lady Macbeth behind the scenes just with her puppeteering. Super fun to play. you know all the cast was it's one of those dream scenarios where everything kind of fell in place I mean at first when I read the script I then gave it to my husband and I was like

am I this person can I do this like should I do this is this crazy it is nuts and he read it and he went oh my god are you kidding me this you have to do this it's literally his fantasy is this whole show but yeah she is she is something to be reckoned with but the beauty of it because you only saw three episodes it gets there's so many twists and turns that are coming your way by the end you can't even believe where it's taking you and that's what the fun part is about it is that yeah you can see that there's a lot happening and there's a lot that's going to happen oh this is exciting this is awesome for you all eight episodes get dropped all at the same time on july 21st so you know okay grab your popcorn and sit for eight hours straight and watch this

crazy show yeah so it's basically let's give a synopsis of the show it's basically this Brittany Snow is also in the show and she basically moves I think from the east coast to east Texas is that right that's right small little made-up town in east Texas where Margo Banks and her husband Jed Banks are basically like the the queen bee and the soon-to-be governor of this little town who's played by Dermot Mulroney that's right dreamboat he's so sweet oh my god he's such a great chemistry together I love that man yeah he's a great guy and it's such a great role for you I like I love seeing you in a lead role and being this kind of master puppeteer like I love watching that and I love seeing you shine in that way so congratulations thank you yeah it's

so much fun it really is like if you like Big Little Lies and Yellowstone it's like they had a baby and this is it you know so it's it's salacious and fun and sexy and wild do you get how do you deal with having sex scenes with different people does that is that an issue Like, what do you do to prepare for those? Well, the thing is, is that, you know, we have intimacy coordinators nowadays, which is a saving grace. I love it so much because you have this person who comes to eat, you know, if it's me and Brittany having a scene together, she'll talk to us separately and say, all right, what

are you guys comfortable with? What do you want to show? What do you not want to show? What, like, what are we doing here? And then we come in together and do rehearsals, just like stint choreography. She actually used to, our intimacy coordinator used to be a stint choreographer, which is awesome and she was the best and so it's like doing choreography you get it all settled then you show your director and they sign off on it so when you go to set that day you know exactly what

you're doing there are no surprises nobody's doing anything different we both feel comfortable with with what we're doing now when I say comfortable it's still not like woo this is gonna be great it's still weird you know you're still there with the crew and cameras it's never what it looks like on screen is it's never as intimate as it as we make it look but it's very respectful and it's very well organized and directed and taken care of so you know I once did a movie like I don't remember what it was even called and I had to kiss this guy and I was like I can't I couldn't kiss him I was like I can't kiss this person and the director's like you just have to kiss him on the lips like it can be short like it just has to look like you're about like you're about to start

making out I'm like I don't I can't do it like I'm not attracted to him he's like I know but this is not real life you're acting I'm like which is why I'm not an actress I'm like I can't make out with a man and and the whole time I just wanted him to be yelling cut before he yelled it like the whole time I was like please like I had such a childish reaction to being to be having to act in like a romantic setting where where it wasn't really attracted to him so do you ever have those types of feelings where you're like I I want this to be over I think I've suppressed it so far down it's been so long doing it for so long that you just pull up your bootstraps and go but no you know I gotta be honest there hasn't been I haven't I've I had one once I gotta say and this was in

the very beginning of my career before I even came out to Hollywood and I had to do a kit like a kiss with it I was nothing like it wasn't even a makeout thing but he there was he was one of those like off camera just wasn't a nice guy like wasn't a great guy so I just didn't like him very much and not only that but he decided to eat tzatziki which has tons of garlic in it right at lunch right before our scene so not only did I not like him he smelt like garlic and I had to kiss him and I was like oh everything about and that was very early on in my career so I didn't know how to handle it but yes that was one moment where I was like no please just cold cut but otherwise it's it's I've had a beautiful experience and and most of the people that I've worked with I've just

really enjoyed and and it's been you kind of when you're in that character you go into it and you feel like that character and of course once they call cut you feel silly and awkward and you're like hey how's your wife everything good at home great it is a very strange thing and if you're not in the acting world and you don't do it I can understand people on the outside going wow how how do you do that? But I guess you get used to it. I guess you do it in character. Well, yeah, I guess. Right. You would do it in character. But do you feel a sense of like you must feel a sense of responsibility to make the other actor, whether it's a woman or a man or anything in between? Do you feel responsible for making the other person feel comfortable?

One hundred percent. And I think both both parties. And that's been in my experience. Ninety nine percent of the time is that both parties, myself and the other party, are just super respectful and considerate and you know as soon as they call cut it's like hey are you okay are you good you know I have some scenes with George Ferrier in this in this show and he plays a 19 year old boy but he's in his early 20s and we have a relationship that's of a sexual nature and of course everything was treated just as it would with the intimacy court it was beautiful it was lovely respectful but after every shot I would be like I felt like a mother to him I was like, are you okay, son? Do you need some water? Can I get you anything? I'm sorry. Or are you

welcome? I don't know what to say right now. But it was just really, to say that, it's just been a lovely experience. And yes, I think everyone is super considerate in those situations. There's a great shot of you pulling up on a jet ski. First of all, your wardrobe is awesome. Isn't it great? Yeah. I mean, I hate to comment on women's bodies, but your body's just ridiculous and your legs go on for miles and miles and miles and you should always just be in a bathing suit because you should be showing that body off but she pulls up on a jet ski on this beach to pick up britney and it's so funny because it's just like you know you're on the hunt basically it's

like a baywatch moment yes totally it's totally like a baywatch moment and um but yeah i just like seeing you kind of command a show it's it's very nice to see that i'm definitely enjoying it And I have to say, you know, I... You've earned that. Thank you. I feel like I've earned it too. But I also feel like this character, I love sitting in the power of what it is sometimes to be female and what it is to use that and weld that power.

Not that I would ever use it the way she does, but it's fun to play that because you go, women really have this power, not that it should be used in this way, but wow, is it ever fun to exercise that in a role. And it is really just juicy. And it was I felt the same about my role in Billions, where she was just this powerful character. And I love women in power like that, whether they're using it for good or bad. It's just fun to play. It's also fun to examine that because men can be so powerful with almost no power, you know, like they don't really have any real power necessarily. And they present as they do just because of the nature of society and, you know, the way things have shaken out thus far. But women really are the powerful ones. Like we have so much inside of us.

So whenever there are people that call into the podcast, which you'll experience shortly, like there's so many women who are unaware of the power that lies within them. Yeah, totally. It's our job as women who are more mature and have the wisdom and experience to know that it's so important to inject women with that vibe. A hundred percent. You know, to make sure everyone knows how powerful you are. Like, I was with this young couple yesterday doing something and we were filming something and they were just so traditional, right? And they were like talking about getting married and they were, I was in their apartment in New York City and they were so young and they were both adorable and sweet and kind of innocent,

but they weren't even 30. And she was just, I just could tell like, oh, this girl really wants to marry this guy and he wants to marry, and they think this is it. And you know, it probably, or may, will be, who knows, but also why, why is it necessary to, you know, especially, I mean, you know that. because you've been through you know a first marriage but I want women to know like life just keeps getting better and better as you get older and the more wisdom we acquire the sexier life becomes and the more like possibilities and like don't limit your possibilities for the world

a hundred and that you know Chelsea that's why I love you so much and what you put out there in the world, in your comedy and your voice, you just, it shows women that you can, you can be vocal and you can be out there and you can be confident and you can do whatever the fuck you want, like skiing in a bikini, because we can. But I just think that it is so important for women to understand that our voices can and should be heard. And it's okay. Not every, I had to go through a lot of work of I was I still am it's still in me I'm a people pleaser but I realized that people pleasing is actually just a way to control other people so it's not a really nice thing it's just I need to control their emotions so that they don't make me feel a certain way

so instead I had to start learning how to say no and standing up for myself and being okay with the fact that some people might think that I I'm a bitch or some people might think that whatever they want to think but I have to align myself with what's true to me and how I feel and the same goes with relationships like when I met my husband I was like I'm not a finished product yet you know I just went through a divorce I just had a kid like I don't really know who I am right now so who you're getting right now is not who I'm going to be in 10 years from now so if you want to enter into this as a relationship cool it may or may not work but we can give it our best shot and that's fun and that's great. Now he happens to be the best partner ever, which I didn't expect.

I really thought he was just going to be a little romp in the sack and then he's going back to England, but it didn't turn out that way. He stayed. But I think it's really important and it's really hard and it's a really long journey. And I feel like I'm only stepping into myself in my forties, you know, and who I want to be and understanding myself and being confident enough to take those steps to living more authentically to who I am and whoever doesn't want to be part of that just isn't going to be in my life and that's okay right and that and that the stage of your life that you're in when you meet somebody is not a fixed state like you're not going to be that way forever none of us are we're always evolving or devolving or sometimes you go through

a rough patch and you know you're not at your best and that can happen at any time in your life even when you feel like you've gotten all figured out then something can like you know kind of throw you and you're like, oh shit, this isn't me operating on my A plus plus self, but that's okay. Like to give yourself the grace that, okay, this is a rough patch. I'm going to get through it because I've gotten through everything else that has come my way in my life. And this is just another something I didn't expect. As you said, when we started talking today that you can't really plan, you know, your life. So when I see these young people planning their futures and I've got to marry this by this age, and I want to have this many kids by this age, I'm like,

Like, oh, God, throw that owl out the window. Totally. You can have your kids and you can have your husband, but, like, it doesn't have to be at, like, these little tent poles, like, in this order and arrangement. And I feel like that sets you up for disappointment instead of just going, let's see what happens. Okay. We'll take a break and we'll be right back with Malin Ackerman. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies?

Will the pesto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full, or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the cucumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell. Connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months.

I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the Survivor Files I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying shut up don't say anything Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable I knew if he woke up without a doubt he was going to hurt me I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.

They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to

look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts See you between the pages Hey, this is Hayes Davenport

And Sean Clements We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners Each week we talk to someone in show business, aka The Biz And try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show we've had a lot of great guests like sarah sherman not that great actually can you help me can can you help me shape this yeah how about we flip it on his head right how about we flip the script

okay what is the surprise woman who actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird adam scott this entire time you've been expecting adam sandler to come to visit the show i i would never let go of that i have i would never set expectations for something like that if the universe allows for something like that to happen i'm open to it i'm always going to accept you know danny mcbride fine yeah it's all this fragile masculinity exuding i could smell it walking down the hallway to be honest with you i was like is that weed nope it's It's fragile masculinity. Ben Stiller, no.

Because a lot of times, out of context, people don't get it or even know what a circle is. You know what I mean? They're so stupid. Everyone's so dumb except for you. And fake. Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us.

Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode. but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with Malin. What's your husband's name? Jack. Jack Donnelly.

Oh, yeah. I love British guys. Very British. Yeah, well, we'll find you a young one. A young Brit. I know, I know, yes. Next stop. Put the word out.

I like that. That's usually where I have most of my hookups is London. Yeah, because they're super fun and just a blast, you know? Yeah. I'll ask my husband if he has any real good ones that are single. Okay. Please do. Please do.

Catherine, what do we have in store for us? Well, we can start with an easy one. So Jessica says, Dear Chelsea, I'm a twin sister and my mom and aunt are also twins. My mom is one of nine and has six sisters. All that to say, sisterhood is a huge value I hold and has always been a major part of my life. Due to work, which is a good thing and an opportunity I'm elated for, I'm going to be moving to the West Coast from the East Coast. And my big question is about my twin sister.

She's had some recent challenges in her life, and I'm so worried about, quote, abandoning her or feeling like I'm moving on without her across the country. She's also a badass and is in no way in trouble, like where she's reliant on me. However, emotionally and with her self-confidence, she's in a rut right now. I'm wondering if you have any tips and tricks on how you keep in touch with your sisters that are in different time zones than you, and also how to help them grow and navigate the challenges they might be facing while you aren't there physically. Finally, one last question is whether you prioritize

certain events to be there in person with them versus those you're okay with not being physically there for. Kind regards, Jess. How many sisters do you have, Malin? I have two half-sisters and one half-brother. And they're all over the place. I mean, we grew up in different countries. They grew up in Sweden, my brother and I grew up in Canada,

and I moved out here when I was 22. too. So I've only experienced long distance relationships with my siblings. And if anything, I think you cherish your time together even more when you do see each other. And I think with all the technology that we have nowadays, I mean, all of my besties are somewhere in Costa Rica, somewhere in Canada, somewhere in Sweden. We keep in touch all the time. And when you get together, it's like no time has passed. I think the people that you're closest to, you work it out. It works itself out. And yes, I think you should go and be there for milestones and big events and whatnot and, you know, make time for that. But it sounds like this woman is saying, you know, her sister's

a badass and she's going to figure it out. You can be there from a distance time zone. It's just three hours difference. It's not that bad. I don't feel like any sort of distance is prohibitive to maintaining a relationship with somebody that you care about deeply, especially your sisters. There's texting, there's FaceTime, there's Zooms. You can like schedule calls. You can text and say want to hop on the phone, you can FaceTime, you can do all those things and just make sure that your presence is known and available, that you're making yourself available. I think that's the most important thing for any relationship that you care about is that you're, you know, when you hear from your sister, that you're responsive, that you get back to her in a nice fashion. Not like, I hate

when this doesn't happen to me and my sisters or siblings, but like, you know, if someone texts you, you should text them back that day. I'm really good on text. I'm less good on email. You know, like, text is more immediate to me. But there are some people who don't text back for fucking four or five days. And I'm like, what kind of app do you like? How does that show up on your phone? But I think especially if you're worried about somebody, you just make sure that your presence is understood for for the other person and make sure that you're checking in going, you know, hey, what's up? And asking questions that lead somewhere rather than going, how are you? How's it going? Yeah, what it like more specific, like, what did you do today? Who were you? You

know, did you have a good weekend? Did you do anything fun? Like, I don't know, just like try to engage in a way that requires a response so you can kind of measure how your sister is doing rather than just checking in in a kind of banal way. Yeah, exactly. Open-ended questions that let her kind of figure it out on her own, but you're there holding the space I think is really important. Yeah. Something that's helpful for me too is like having a regular call. So it's like with my mom every friday we know what time we're talking and like sometimes it has to move by a day or we skip a week or whatever but having that time on the calendar just so we know like it it makes it a lot more regular than yeah that's a good idea yeah i mean it really depends on your personality

type like i would never stick to something like that but i think it's a great idea if you're if you are organized and your sister's organized then that's great yeah yeah it's nice to have something to look forward to as well yeah yeah totally especially you can also put it on you Like, I'm moving away. I'm going to miss you. You know, like, don't make it about checking in on her. You make it presented as, like, I hate being this far away from you or I need to make sure we have a check-in for my sanity. Yeah.

And I don't know if you guys ever did this during COVID, but, like, you do the Zooms where you, like, happy hour Zooms and you bring, you grab your cocktail and you sit and have happy hour together. You can do that from afar. You can do so many things with technology nowadays. Those are the only kind of Zooms I had. Even if the other people on the Zooms weren't having happy hour. Even if it was a work call, I was drinking. I was like, okay. Yeah, I'm like, this is a Zoom, and that means everyone needs to start drinking.

Well, our next question comes from Lucy. She says, Dear Chelsea, I've recently become close friends with someone, and while our friendship sparked quickly, I'm now questioning if we're truly compatible or if I'm just being a hater. She's fiery, outspoken, and unapologetically flashy. Think bold designer fits and luxury everything. I, on the other hand, lean more toward quiet luxury and a calmer energy. We share a meaningful bond.

We both grew up in fairly turbulent homes, and we've both worked hard to break out of that. So there's a sisterhood there. But sometimes I find her behavior grating. There's a subtle superiority vibe that creeps in, and it stirs something competitive in me that I don't love. I pride myself on being grounded and accepting, but this dynamic has me questioning whether I'm being too judgmental or if deep down we're just not bestie material long term. So my question is, how do you tell the difference between being incompatible and being insecure? Is it okay to love someone but not like all of them? Respectfully, Lucy.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is a hard lesson to learn for me, I know, because I want everyone to be like 100% of the things I like. I don't like the negatives, but that doesn't happen in life. Like everyone's going to have the thing that grates you on your nerves when you spend too much time with somebody or enough time with somebody. And you don't have to like diagnose the relationship to be the best friend that you'll ever have in your life. Like a friendship is give and take. The fact that she's so much different than you is a good thing. Like that's exciting.

Like that's a good way for you to be less narrow-minded. You know, if we just become friends with people who are like us, then we're not really learning that much and we're not – we're actually being very judgmental. So I think it's always a good exercise to be friends with people that kind of take you out of your comfort zone. And then when you are feeling judgmental, something I do is like, why do I feel judgmental right now? What is it about this behavior that is making me act like this? Because I don't want to be judgmental. I want to be open-minded, you know, or if somebody's grating on my nerves, that's usually something about yourself rather than something about the other person. Because you shouldn't, somebody shouldn't annoy you that much that you're friends with.

Like, you don't need to spend that much time with them if they're kind of annoying. Does that add up to you? Totally, totally. Yeah, I think it's definitely this difficulty, right, of, like, it's a harsh world. Like, being human is very difficult. So I'm super receptive and open to the fact that we have so many different ways of going through life, and it's such a layered experience. Yeah, it's obviously insecurity. is there a little incompatibility in in the sense of maybe we don't need to be super close

is this a loose acquaintance do you have these people in your life yeah definitely I think so absolutely I think you know I read a book that John Cleese and his therapist wrote because I was studying psychology in school I thought that was going to be my path and I remember it so vividly Because what I loved about it was in relationships, any relationship, romantic or friendship, you get attracted to people that have these, you know, you have these sliding doors that are, you know, the mosquito net doors, right? And behind those doors are things about yourself that you haven't shared or that are maybe subconscious or like the DNA and the fiber of who you are. And the other person has the same thing. And you get attracted to somebody because of the things that are behind those doors. And then when they start to come out, it's because you're meant to share those things and learn from them and grow from them and growth can be uncomfortable. So this might be one of those situations where there's stuff that's getting stirred up from behind those doors for you and it's uncomfortable, but maybe you've met this person that you have to face those things and look at them.

And like Chelsea said, like, why am I feeling this way? And what about vocalizing it and saying, hey, you know, sometimes when you do this, it makes me feel like this is the onus is on me right now. And I'm just trying to figure myself out. Yeah. But I just wanted to let you know, maybe we could have a conversation about it. Maybe. I don't know.

You know what? What's in it for you to lose? Really? I did that with my husband when I first met him. And I was like, this is how I'm feeling. These are the things that I'm afraid of. And these I'm going to tell you a few things. And if you leave and walk away because you think that's terrible, then leave and walk away.

And I guess I'm going to have to take that. But I need to be honest now and start speaking from an honest place. So if you're feeling uncomfortable in situations or she does something that feels weird, address it in a diplomatic, beautiful way that opens a conversation maybe. What's an example of something that she does that gives you kind of like cringe feelings? Yeah, yeah. I was thinking about this. There's definitely this social media element to it all, right? because it was just like the physical experience of us hanging out. It's more subdued. But on

social media, I think I just have like this status signaling fatigue. And, you know, in this day and age of influencers, of course, it's usually more like indirect and they're trying to it's a little more modest, humble, you know, whatever. And so I kind of am like, OK, go you for my friend, because she's a little more just like direct, like this is how it is. I'm excited about this. also rubs me the wrong way but um I think it's a general fatigue though but I will give one example so they recently got a little a little boat and in the post she's steering the boat with big old ring um left uh but I know I know she's right-handed you know so I'm like are you steering that butt with your left hand right right I hear you know just silly little things like that where

it's it's not as though it's a massive deal it just puts me off a little bit I think that's a fair thing to say yeah don't you Rollin and like I think that is because that is kind of not true is she's presenting something that's you know and it's very showy and while you can accept that as a part of her personality that she's showy like you have to understand that's who she is but there is something about like presenting something that's not true but I mean I wouldn't pick that example because it can be that's pretty like granular you can say to someone it makes me uncomfortable how showy you can be you can say that go I I it's that's me that's me personally I don't want to prohibit your behavior but it just doesn't make me feel it makes me feel weird

like it's hard for me to watch a little bit like that that can come up organically at some point But you also don't have to label exactly what type of friend this person is to you. Like when you said, like, is this a loose associate or is this my best friend? You are like kind of declaring what something is while it's happening. And then you're like missing the whole moment anyway. And I've been there. I understand what that is. You're like, oh, how much of this person can I take?

And that's up for you to decide. But you can also have more fun within the moment and be like, oh, my God, this is fun to hang out with a person. And I would never act like this. I have a lot of friends that I'm like, oh, my God, I would never act like that. And half of my friends think that about me. So I think that that's like a good reminder. You know what I mean? Because I'm sure there's things that you do that probably maybe rub her the wrong way

and she's able to look beyond them. Or maybe there isn't anything that you do that rubs her the wrong way. But, like, I would just pick and choose your moments. And also, it's an interesting experiment to find out when you get annoyed with someone and when you somebody starts to grate on your nerves. It's very it's like a nice introspective opportunity to find out what it is that is bothering you about that person. What why does this bother me? Like what's underneath that? Yeah, no.

And I appreciate that so much. I guess that is like ultimately what I'm trying to articulate. I feel like I'm fairly accepting, but this has thrown a spanner in the works a little bit. But you're totally right. And I think as we get older, too, like I'm getting to a phase of life where it's harder to make friends. It's a little more difficult. Have you thought about taking up hunting? Malin can coach you on how to hunt on her new show, Hunting Wives.

I can hunt fake wild boar if you want. We can go hunting together, you know, with blanks. It's going to be super fun. but I do make a mean margarita so you know okay but I'm in I do think you go and enjoy the flash and the luxury dip in and dip out as much as you want and then and that's it and then you'll see over time if you need to shave the fat and you're like no I'm not a good friend maybe a great friend but very different and just limit the time yeah get very acquainted with that mute button on Instagram like there are people I love in real life and I cannot tolerate their social media

presence and that's okay it's a different thing but it's also like if someone is also filming the whole time you're with them you have every right to go can you please like cool it like let's not we're not you know I'm here to spend time with you like that's totally justifiable yeah I don't if somebody's constantly filming you or you know wanting to film themselves that then they're not being present at all so that that is something you can say and that's not being judgy that's being wanting real time plus you don't know how many people you're going to meet through this woman she sounds like very social and she'll probably introduce you to a lot more people who probably feel the same way about her that you do so then you'll have people

then you can really start talking shit about her with some other friends so you have that to look forward to so many bonuses yeah yeah it sounds like fun lucy just don't put so much pressure on it like it's not a romantic relationship and we shouldn't be putting so much pressure on our relationships just have fun and clock yourself when you're being judgmental take it in I appreciate that. Yeah. All right. Thanks, Lucy.

Thank you. Take care. Good luck. Bye. Well, our next question comes from Stu. He's 32 and says, Dear Chelsea, straight white male father and lover of the podcast writing in. What?

A straight man is listening to this podcast? We should get a support group for straight men who listen to this podcast because there's only got to be like less than 10. Right. There should be a celebration for these men. And he's cute. So he says, I've been meaning to reach out for a while now, and I'm glad I finally am. My partner, Hannah, was featured in one of your episodes about a year ago.

Everything is amazing between us, and she's not the subject of my plea for advice. I have an almost five-year-old son with my ex who I dated on and off for about seven years prior to meeting my current partner. I left for good about three years ago. It was a tumultuous relationship between us from the beginning. and with the help of my friends, I was finally able to break the cycle. I had four separate apartments during our various breaks and broke all of the leases to move back in with her each time into a house that I built for her.

Regardless, things are better than ever at the moment, but she still needs to be in my life. With lawyers and multiple mediations, we were able to come to a somewhat copacetic parenting agreement. However, the reality is anything but pleasant. My dilemma is basically, how do I shift my perspective for the next 18 years to probably the rest of my life of having to deal with this person who's caused me so much trauma and deep, deep pain? How do I co-parent with someone who's unable to communicate rationally? A person who exhibits all the classic narcissistic qualities, we can barely communicate. So the court suggested a parenting app, and that's what we rely on currently.

Being face-to-face is extremely challenging as she consistently initiates volatile arguments in front of our young son, regardless of what I say or do. I feel that I'm doing the work on myself to be able to move past this and create a future of my dreams with my current partner. But what happens when you're bound to a person like this for the rest of your life? In a nutshell, how do I stay sane and create healthy boundaries for myself for the foreseeable future and beyond in a seemingly impossible situation? Best, Stu. Hi, Stu. Hi, Stu. Hi, this is our special guest, Malin Ackerman. Hi, how you doing? Good. Nice to meet you.

nice to meet you too i'm divorced why don't you start since you have some co-parenting experience yeah my husband and i we were together 11 years we separated when my son was four months old and only spoke through lawyers it was similar kind of thing i understand narcissistic people more than anyone you would know but it's definitely they are a narcissist is impossible to negotiate with it's like negotiating with a terrorist so there's you're just never gonna to just don't ever hope that this person is going to come around to anything, but you can absolutely shape your own life the way you want to. It sounds like you're already on the path for that, where you're taking really good

care of yourself and you're doing your own self-work and you've got a supportive partner. It sounds like you guys can be a loving home for your son. There's going to be bumps in the road and you're never going to be able to protect your son from the world or life or her or whatever she wants to be saying or doing. But as he grows up, my son is now 12 years old, the questions start to come and they see things, they're very smart and they're very bright and they take things in and they understand what's happening. But unfortunately, I wish I knew about this parenting app where you could just go on an

app and decide everything. That sounds amazing. I think stick to that and have as little amount of contact with her as possible and just do the kind of drop off and hand off of your son and just be there for him really and for your partner. Just take care of yourselves. but there's not much you can do when you're dealing with a narcissist. And maybe over time, it'll start to dissipate. The anger might start to dissipate and the, you know, ferocity,

but it sounds like you're on the right path, at least. I don't know, Chelsea, what do you have to say? I have some experience with this too, surprisingly, dealing with someone who behaves in that way, who creates tons of chaos and then takes absolutely no accountability for it. And they have children and, you know, and they're in my life. And so I totally understand what you're saying. And I think what I would say is there's so much dignity in not getting down with that behavior. Like there's so much dignity in remaining separate and never bad mouthing that person and never not to your child anyway. Obviously you can go off on her all you want to your friends and family, but, and you need to, you know, but the app is amazing. I didn't know

there was something like that, but I think there's so much dignity in not getting into the muck of it and mired in it with your child, that once you have like a few years, and I'm not saying that you have, but I think that in it of itself is an honorable thing and an honorable way to react with somebody who's unstable and narcissistic and creates chaos wherever they go. And it's kind of like you're setting an example for your kid to see what the calm is and where the storm is, right? And so if you're always reliable and you're always dependable and you're always calm, because a storm can't fight by itself. It just fizzles out. So as long as you keep the engagement to the bare, bare, bare, bare minimum, she's going to find somebody else to argue and fight with. and you know hopefully that will occupy her time as soon as she like loses the energy that she gets from you and I'm sure you've already done most of this but I would say like just continuing

through it in a dignified way and holding your son's mental health in such a high place like that's more important than anything is to know and exemplify the kind of behavior that you want him to attach to rather than to that behavior, you know, so that there's a contrast and he can see, oh, this person's stable. This person's reliable. This person does what they say. This person is dependable. And then there's this. So he's going to figure it out because everyone does. But it's definitely not your job to paint the picture for him. It's your job to just show him what the opposite of that looks like. Yeah. And that's kind of the only thing that's kept me sane in this whole thing honestly is just anchoring down and really doing that myself i thought she would

change when i started dating her and clearly you know that was my bad and i've learned to not and i don't see it happening anytime in the future but one of the main kind of issues that we're having at the moment is that obviously he's in a lot of school and summer camps now and everything and she's kind of been bad mouthing me to all the other parents and the teachers and more or less putting everything on me which I you know if she wants to do that go ahead have fun it's clear when you meet me in person that that is not who I am but I just you know it paints a bad picture of me and people look at me differently when I come to pick up my son and you know they treat me differently and how would how should I deal with that because that is not fun but that's on them

I mean that's crazy to me that people will just take one side of the story you know what I mean I feel like that, then who are these people? Do you really care what they think? Do you really care? That's a great point. Like there are two sides to every story. And if they're not willing to hear both sides, then be gone with them. You don't need them. But also I would argue they don't even need to hear your side because there's one person spinning tails and then there's you that's acting normal and going to pick up your son and being polite and pleasant and engaging to whomever you can. You don't have to go and convince them that you're the good guy. They're going to figure it out too. Everybody, the person I'm talking about, everybody knows that this person's off

their rocker. Everybody knows. I'm not, I didn't have to tell anybody. Most people figured it out on their own. So that's another song and dance that you can just eliminate. Like you don't have to participate in that. All you have to do is be a great dad to your kid. It doesn't matter what these people think of you in the moment. They're all going to figure the same shit out too. And for the other people that want to glom onto the drama of the story, there are people that create drama wherever they go and people get tired of it. People don't want to be involved in other people's drama endlessly. It sounds fun in the beginning sometimes, but it doesn't go on like that. So I would say it's the same advice I would give you with regard to dealing with her directly

and like just act in a dignified way. Like you are dignified, you're doing the right thing and just be consistent about all of your behavior. And then there, then it's just the writings on the wall. It's just obvious to everybody. And it doesn't necessarily happen And when you want to, I know you want to like defend yourself, but don't. There's nothing to defend. It has to crash and burn, in my opinion. That's the only inevitable outcome is that eventually it's just going to, she's going to do this until she doesn't have any friends left or he will obviously see it.

Absolutely. She'll go through a million friends. That's what she'll do. She'll go through a million people. Narcissists burn their bridges wherever they go. And it just happens. And if you're like Chelsea saying this, the best advice is just be consistent and be dignified and people will see it over time.

That's it. Yeah. And there's no reason to badmouth her to anybody, even if you become friends with any of those parents. Like, all you have to, you just have to give the look like, I don't want to go there. I'm not interested in participating in that kind of conversation. You know what I mean? Be above it because that is respectable behavior. And when people see that, they're like, oh, okay, there's the normal one.

Yeah. And it sets us more apart, too. Exactly like you said. Yeah. So it's kind of like taking that attitude with you in every, for the big stuff and the small stuff, you know? You just have to have that attitude. And like, it's like every morning you have to meditate for 20 minutes. Like, I will not react to her today.

I will not get involved in this drama today and do that. And before you know it, then that becomes your second skin. And I mean, you sound like you have your shit together anyway, and you've done the hardest stuff is behind you. But I can understand how challenging it would be to think of leading this life. I mean, she's going to start terrorizing another man at some point anyway. So, you know. She's been through a few.

So let's hope one sticks. See, there you go. Yeah, well. But thanks for calling in. We're so excited to have a straight male caller. I can't even tell you. It'll happen more, for sure. We can stuff here.

Oh, thanks. Okay, well, take care. Cheers. Thank you so much. Bye. Bye. That was sweet. I know.

That is amazing. See, there are such good guys out there. That's sweet. And, you know, those people like that, though, that are so crazy, you know, you talk about narcissists and then everything comes up on your phone and it's like, a narcissist will do this. A narcissist will do this. A narcissist. And somebody said to me, I was with this guy I dated. I was in Barcelona when I did this European tour. And we were talking about narcissism. We went to dinner before. And he's an old ex. And he was like, I'm reading this. I was working with a psychiatrist. And he has this philosophy that every child is a narcissist. Every child is a narcissist because they have to learn how to get attention. And they have to smile and they have to be funny or they have to create drama. They have to get attention.

And I was like, I don't think that's the right depiction. And I go, not every child is a narcissist. He goes, no, every person is a narcissist. And I was like, that's not true either. That's just simply not true. And he's like, well, you're a narcissist. And I said, I don't have a problem with you calling me a narcissist because I don't struggle with that identity.

Like, I'm not worried about me being a narcissist. So you can call me that. And if you think that that's OK, my opinion of me is more important than anyone else's anyway. but like a narcissist if you call a narcissist a narcissist they will argue with you about it until the fucking sun goes down you know what i mean and they and and they get they get mired in details that have nothing to do with the actual basis of the argument or the conversation they will talk about the color of the sky and and disagree with this and then we'll focus on

this is like narcissists are so toxic to be around and they exhaust everyone around them and they will never say they're sorry about any of their behavior yeah ever absolutely they'll justify it till the cows come home it's incredible and it's sad i'm telling you it's like it's like talking to it's like trying to negotiate with terrorists like it's we're never going to win this fight so oh yeah yeah and and the and the only piece that you get is when you stop communicating with that person yeah well stop trying to change them and like stop trying to have those fights when you start picking no battles it's like oh okay it's like such a relief yeah then they have to go elsewhere for their drama and they can't find it there so like

it's it's just always better and and you know obviously when you share a child with somebody it's not that easy to just walk away from somebody and not communicate with them but this parenting app sounds fucking awesome I'd like to have an app yeah to do to handle a lot of my relationships yeah me too it'd be great okay we'll be right back with malin ackerman behind every night spent making the kids lunches there's a lot of suspense will they finally eat the veggies will the pesto survive the first bite will the lunchbox come home empty half full or come home at all and will you finish episode eight before you're done slicing the cucumbers Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Crave, Netflix, and Disney Plus from $94 a month.

Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell. Connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything.

Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having.

I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table it's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is a trojan horse whether you're looking for literary deep dives smart pop culture conversations or a community of readers who love to think a little too much you're in the right place listen to pro society on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts See you between the pages. Hey, this is Hayes Davenport.

And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook on the Big Money Players Network. Our show is extremely accessible to first-time listeners. Each week, we talk to someone in show business, a.k.a. the biz, and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time, and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show. We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman.

Not that great. Actually, can you help me shape this? how about we flip it on its head how about we flip the script what if the surprise woman who actually you think is the straight man is actually the one who's acting weird Adam Scott

this entire time you've been expecting Adam Sandler to come to visit the show I would never expect I would never set expectations for something like that to happen if the universe allows for

something like that to happen i'm open to it i'm always going to accept you know danny mcbride fine yeah it's all this fragile masculinity exuding i could smell it walking down the hallway to be honest with you i was like is that weed nope it's fragile masculinity ben stiller no because a lot of times in out of context people don't get it or even know what a circle is you know what i mean like you're like They're so stupid. Everyone's so dumb except for you. And fake.

Right, fake and also not interested or just like, oh, I've got my life. I don't care about your life. And a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Oh, and by the way, Will Ferrell told us personally he loves the show and he wants to be a guest on every episode, but he's just so busy. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. and we're back to wrap things up with malin ackerman we're okay we're very excited her

show debuts on july 21st is that the date july 21st on netflix yes it's on netflix it's called so this is even a better outcome than you started with i think ending up on netflix it sure is i think so yeah i mean i think a lot more people have netflix and so it's kind of the og of all the streamers so it's great i'm very excited i'm very excited for the world to see this show. I'm also nervous and there's lots of feelings around it, but ultimately I just think that it's a really fun show. I think people are going to love it. I think it's going to be a big hit. Oh, thanks. I hope so. So yes, it's called Haunting Wives, everybody. It premieres July 21st on Netflix. Thank you, Malin. I hope I see you soon. I'm going to text you when I'm in LA

this summer. Are you based in LA now? I'm based in LA, but of course we're going away for the summer. We go to Europe for the summer. We go to Sweden and England and visit family and stuff like that. So we'll be gone for a bit of it. All right. Well, we'll, we'll figure out a time to hook up at some point. Yeah, that would be awesome. It's so nice to chat with you. Congrats on everything. Thanks, Sunny. Thank you. All right. Nice talking to you both. Okay. My remaining dates for Vegas. There are remaining dates for this year. Summertime is coming and I will be in Vegas at the Cosmo doing my residency on August 30th and then November 1st and 29th. November 1st and November 29th, I will be in Las Vegas at the Cosmo performing Inside Myself at

the Chelsea. It's called Chelsea at the Chelsea for a reason. Okay. Thank you. Do you want advice from Chelsea? Write into DearChelseaPodcast at gmail.com. Find full video episodes of Dear Chelsea on YouTube by searching at Dear Chelsea Pod. Dear Chelsea is edited and engineered by Brad Dickert, executive producer, Catherine Law. And be sure to check out our merch at ChelseaHandler.com. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out

alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Hoda Kotb, host of the podcast Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb. You know, I'm always searching for inspiration and useful tools to maximize joy. Like when my friend Henry Winkler offered advice to aspiring actors and really anybody hoping to stand out. You're not hired just to fill time and space. You're hired to fill the space with you. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Our hometown is not a test tube. 90 miles northeast of Nashville, a battle for the future of America plays out in one small town. Developers with right-wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land. We need cities on a shining hill.

This is Our Town, a podcast about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment and fights back. Guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you? Listen to Our Town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.