Evan interviews therapist and author Oona Metz about her book, ‘Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women’, focusing on divorce grief, stigma and shame (including for initiators), isolation, and the value of support groups and community. They question whether “until death do us part” sets unrealistic expectations, discuss equitable partnership and hard premarital conversations, and explore when post-divorce survival becomes transformation through letting go and emotional processing alongside the legal and financial process.

Oona’s book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Unhitched/Oona-Metz/9781668075388

Topics

00:19 Podcast Intro and Season Kickoff

01:01 July 4 Reflections and Knicks Hype

04:31 Fireworks Talk and Guest Tease

05:47 Fourth of July Playlist Draft

07:03 Music Memories Through Divorce

12:01 Summer Routines and Co-Parenting

14:35 Overrated Underrated Begins

15:03 Custody Flexibility and Real Life

16:50 Dating During Divorce Debate

18:21 Fun Picks Zoos and Delivery Apps

22:45 Fireworks Verdict and Wrap

24:04 Interview Starts Oona Metz

24:30 Grief for the Divorce Initiator

26:08 Redefining Marriage and Vows

31:26 Designing a Modern Marriage Contract

32:53 Hard Conversations Before Marriage

33:39 Stress Tests Before Marriage

36:12 Expectations and Relationship Myths

39:37 Why She Wrote Unhitched

42:20 Writing Lessons and Shame

45:24 Deciding Whether to Divorce

47:50 Isolation and Finding Community

55:50 From Surviving to Transformed

01:02:53 They Said It Quote Game

01:11:55 Final Wrap and Where to Buy

Evan opens episode 102 by discussing co-parenting logistics around summer camp during divorce, then introduces the episode’s focus on sleep and relationships with guest Dr. Wendy Troxel, a sleep scientist and clinical psychologist. On the docket, Evan argues most “blindside divorces” reflect long-standing issues, and he frames “pickleball divorce” as a relationship problem, not a sport problem. In overrated/underrated, Evan calls expert witnesses and early prenup discussions underrated, and labels the Stanley Cup and Costco parking lots overrated. Troxel explains sleep is a social behavior, addresses stigma around sleeping separately, outlines the bidirectional cycle between sleep loss and relationship conflict, and recommends communication strategies and a nightly phone-free ritual (high-low-compliment). She notes divorce can disrupt sleep architecture, prioritizing sleep regularity and support, and criticizes the term “sleep divorce,” citing data that 31% of couples sleep apart occasionally.

Topics

00:49 Summer Camp Co-Parenting

03:46 Sleep Episode Setup

04:55 Docket Blindside Divorce

07:17 Docket Pickleball Drama

10:43 Overrated Underrated Begins

10:59 Expert Witnesses Matter

12:51 Prenups Early Talk

14:19 Sports And Costco Rants

18:49 Sponsor Break

20:40 Interview Dr Wendy Troxel

23:12 Social Sleep And Stigma

25:24 Sleep and Relationship Health

26:22 Sleep Communication Loop

28:34 Therapy and Sleeping Apart

31:23 Stigma and Sleep History

34:33 Dating and Chronotypes

37:28 How to Talk About Sleep

39:03 Divorce and Sleep Recovery

42:11 Sleep Divorce Explained

44:58 Gender Differences in Sleep

47:49 Kids and Family Sleep Habits

49:54 Nightly Ritual for Connection

52:28 They Said It Quotes Game

58:18 Infant Sleep Side Topic

01:00:10 Final Wrap and Thanks

Guest Dr. Rachel Glik returns to examine family estrangement, social media’s influence, misconceptions parents have, trauma language, reconciliation steps, when reconciliation may be unsafe, grieving “living loss,” healing despite no contact, pain-to-growth reframing, and forgiveness, reacting to quotes from Anne Lamott, Mark Twain, and Leo Tolstoy.

Topics

03:51 Whats on the Docket

04:13 Gray Divorce Reframed

06:34 Co Parenting After Divorce

09:44 Kids See It Coming

11:39 Overrated Underrated

15:17 Mini Golf Red Flags

17:03 Sponsor Break

18:59 Dr Rachel Glick Returns

19:38 Estrangement Trend Explained

21:26 Social Media Therapy Speak

22:06 Parents Blind Spots

23:31 Trauma Labels And Tolerance

24:58 Reconciliation Done Right

26:38 When Reconnection Is Unsafe

28:05 Grieving A Living Loss

30:07 Healing Without Contact

31:49 Pain Into Growth Steps

35:26 Apologies And Forgiveness

37:57 Boundaries With Compassion

39:46 They Said It Quotes Game

48:12 Closing And Final Thoughts