Podcasts

How to Talk to People

How do we overcome the awkwardness that keeps us from starting a conversation?

By Hanna Rosin, Julie Beck, and Becca Rashid
The outline of a blue speech bubble fills the top half of the screen. A yellow, filled-in speech bubble is on the bottom of the screen. In the middle is a black-and-white photo of two women from the 1950s talking to each other under hair dryers.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Debrocke / ClassicStock / Getty.

Making small talk can be hard—especially when you’re not sure whether you’re doing it well. But conversations are a central part of relationship-building. Radio Atlantic is pleased to share this episode of How to Talk to People.

The social scientist Ty Tashiro and the hairstylists Erin Derosa and Mimi Craft help describe what it means to integrate awkwardness into our pursuit of relationships.

This episode is hosted by Julie Beck, produced by Rebecca Rashid, and edited by Jocelyn Frank and Claudine Ebeid. Fact-check by Ena Alvarado. Engineering by Rob Smierciak.

Music by Tellsonic (“The Whistle Funk”), Ryan James Carr (“Botanist Boogie Breakdown”), and Arthur Benson (“Organized Chaos,” “She Is Whimsical”). Click here to listen to additional seasons of The Atlantic’s How To series.

Hanna Rosin is a senior editor at The Atlantic and the host of Radio Atlantic.
Julie Beck is a staff writer at The Atlantic and is the creator of “The Friendship Files.”
Becca Rashid is a former producer/reporter at The Atlantic and co-host of the podcast “How to Keep Time.”