When the Flames Go Up
When the Flames Go Up
He thinks, she thinks
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He thinks, she thinks

Men and women reacted very differently to the vice presidential candidates during their debate. Which got us thinking about how, later in life, understanding each other seems like a lot more work.

We came up with the idea for this podcast topic after gauging the different reactions from men and women about the vice presidential debate last week. After a weekend of canvassing, Doug found that most men listened to the bearded guy’s glib, shameless horseshit and wanted to take him outside. But women reacted more fearfully, recognizing him as the oily gaslighter they all knew who disguises his blatant lies with practiced charm.

Whether you’re in a long-term relationship and are focusing on each other after the kids have gone, or you’re dating and trying to unpack each other’s decades of baggage, empathizing with how the opposite sex sees the world takes a lot of practice (which, unfortunately is not guaranteed to make perfect).

Do you think it’s harder or easier to understand your partner now? And do women understand men better than men understand women? And doesn’t that underscore the whole friggin problem in the first place?

Thanks for listening to When the Flames Go Up! We’re a listener-supported enterprise, so please consider a paid subscription to support our writing and podcasting.

Tune in to learn which former astronaut Doug met, why LaCroix is a bad beverage on the campaign trail, and the story that Magda reacted to with a deep, extended gasp!

Other links:

  • The Episode 58 discussion with MaryBeth Lewis-Boardman

  • The Episode 31 discussion with Bill Braine

Edited Transcript

Discussion about this podcast

When the Flames Go Up
When the Flames Go Up
After we divorced, we started a blog about co-parenting to learn how to work together until our kids were grown. And now that they are, and the world is so busy disrupting and disavowing what we thought we were working for, we're looking to our community to help us all keep up.