It's been almost two years since I did a podcast here at the Since You Asked podcast station, and geez I've been paying Buzzsprout every month all this time, anyway, here in this rather casual talky-type podast there's a song, and I talk a litt

Come to Italy May 12-22, 2022 and have a ball at our writing workshop

Jan 4th, 2022 12m 45s

May 12 to 22, this year, 2022, I will be hosting another of our fabulous writing workshops here in beautiful Castiglion Fiorentino at lovely Le Santucce. The Amherst Writers and Artists method we use in the workshops has been a godsend to thous

Are you trying to make me sick?

Aug 13th, 2021 18m 48s

The moment has come to tell our unvaccinated friends and relatives the truth: Their refusal to be vaccinated is killing people. It is morally wrong. The moment has come to get in their faces, to reveal ourselves passionately, how deeply we car

Is sex a "disgusting, wicked drive"?

May 20th, 2021 26m 55s

Today I respond to the below comment from someone who identifies himself as "Ugly hunchback," posted on last week's column, as though it were a question. It expresses suffering for which I propose an antidote. The author of the comment was app

Is my boyfriend cheating on me?

May 12th, 2021 12m

Hi Cary,I have huge trust issues and it’s affecting my relationship with my partner of 3 years. My trust issues have stemmed from my childhood for many different reasons and to top it off, last year I found out my step dad had been abusing me.M

Finishing School: The story behind the workshops … and the book

Apr 29th, 2021 22m 36s

In 2004 I was finishing up an article for Salon.com about George W. Bush and the upcoming presidential election, when I thought I was having a heart attack. I hit “send” and then I dialed 911. I called my wife from the ambulance. I spent the ni

It's been a heck of a week!

Apr 22nd, 2021 6m 17s

Hi everybody this is Cary Tennis, it’s Thursday, April 22, 2021 and I’m exhausted.I gotta tell ya. What a week. What a few weeks. Living in Italy but I’m watching CNN and the news constantly and I gotta tell ya, I’m full of hope for the possibi

Voting Rights, Democracy, Hope, Optimism, and the "Arc of the Moral Universe"

Mar 29th, 2021 38m 22s

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia said this Friday about the fight for voting rights:"Hope is a little different from optimism. Hope is the recognition that, yeah, we are in a serious fight for what is good, what is true, what is righteous, and e

My Mother the Narcissist

Mar 25th, 2021 25m 17s

Dear Cary,I hate my family of origin. I recently discovered that I grew up in a mostly narcissistic family, with a narc mother who subtly but persistently projected her own guilt and shame and anger about her situation onto us, her six childre

The Psychedelic Madness of Covid-19: A Personal Journey

Mar 25th, 2021 39m 58s

David Talbot, founder and former editor in chief of Salon.com, has a new site called TheDavidTalbotShow.com, and he asked me to write for him a piece about my stay in the hospital in Arezzo and my crazy adventures recovering from Covid-19. Yo

The Massage Parlor Murders: What can you do?

Mar 18th, 2021 3m 48s

This is not an advice column. This is commentary.Robert Aaron Long, 21 years old, of Woodstock, Georgia, was arrested Tuesday in the murders of eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent working in massage parlors.Initial media repo

In Love with a Memory

Mar 12th, 2021 18m 18s

Dear Cary,I’ve loved the same boy since I was a teenager, knowing that for lots of reasons we would never end up together. Our love has endured and we’ve had decades of meaningful time together for its own sake, without the pressure of everyday

The Traveler: An Encounter with Taxidermists and their Antlers, on the Landing of the Stairs

Mar 8th, 2021 8m 7s

Right before we left I had to stop on the stairs to tie my shoe, and I had a spell of dizziness, and couldn’t remember how to tie my shoe, and I felt panic wash over me, the kind of panic that I used to feel as a young recruit, those first few

The Traveler: We went up high in the mountains, where it was quiet

Mar 8th, 2021 4m 44s

Support the show (https://www.carytennis.com/donate/)

Learning from Delirium: The Madness of Covid-19 PTSD

Mar 4th, 2021 31m 55s

Hi Folks!Wow, was I insane! This week's podcast dives deep into the fantastical delirium I experienced in the intensive care unit of San Donato hospital in Arezzo, Italy.I'll be publishing a longer prose version soon and will let you know when

What is service? Being a senator should be less attractive and more humbling

Feb 25th, 2021 3m 20s

I was still thinking about the reasons senators would find it impossible to act on their conscience when it comes to decisions that might threaten their chances of reelection, and I just thought, well, the job should have less perks, be less of

And finally, because you've waited so long ... a little song for you.

Feb 25th, 2021 2m 49s

I wrote this song a few weeks ago and sang it to my wife on Valentines Day. Support the Show.

Right Now, this is what's going on: Maybe I will continue the Advice column! I just need people to send me letters!

Feb 25th, 2021 5m 44s

It's been a crazy couple of weeks but it just occurred to me that all I need to do to get more questions for the column is invite people on social media to send me questions! And also, I almost forgot, also starting up an online Finishing Schoo

Don't get Covid-19 no matter what you do, Castiglion Fiorentino is now the *Oakland* of Florence, I spent the morning pruning the roses and other oddball notions, confessions, etc.

Feb 24th, 2021 12m 21s

This podcast is an exhortation to keep your guard up during the next few weeks as conditions improve and the temptation will arise to relax on the coronavirus protocols, and also just a kind of rambling commentary on Italy, on myself, and on t

Finding the Faith to Act on Conscience

Feb 11th, 2021 28m 14s

I am watching the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump and so my podcast asks, "How do you reach a point where your conscience is overwhelming and you must make the leap? How do you get to that point? How do you get to that point? How could

I cry for my country

Feb 4th, 2021 12m 3s

In Castiglion Fiorentino, in the beautiful Tuscan hills, I’m looking out across the continent, I’m looking out at the country that I love, that I was born in, the country that my father fought for and my uncles fought for, my grandparents fough

The Post-Covid Acute Renal Failure Happy Kidneys Diet

Feb 4th, 2021 19m 1s

On a lighter note, my friends, let’s talk about Foods That Are Good for the Kidneys! Having been out of the hospital for six weeks now, having spent five weeks in the hospital with Covid-19 and another disorder which was life-threatening—I was

Are you at the end of your rope?

Jan 14th, 2021 25m 59s

Do you feel like life will never return to normal? Does the future seem like a dim, unending nightmare of isolation? Do you fear that the habits we have acquired will forever dampen the bright spontaneous spirit of social life? Does despair fee

The Revenge of the American Id

Jan 7th, 2021 30m 23s

Right-wing violence, insurrection, irrational fury: President Trump stirred the flames. But he didn't create the pain and disillusionment underneath it all. Why are so many Americans in pain? Why are so many Americans angry? What is underneath

Serene in the noise of catastrophe

Dec 31st, 2020 15m 8s

How to balance our grief about the pandemic with the desire for happiness and normalcy? How to remain whole and vital and strong when the world seems to be falling apart? Where is the line between staying informed and obsessive news-watching?