Cracking Open with Molly Carroll

hello@molly-carroll.com

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

Jodie Patterson on Staying Curious When Your Kids (and Your Identity) Are Changing

July 23, 2026

This fall, my youngest, my last one, leaves for college. Twenty-one years of being a mom, and I’m standing at the edge of a chapter I don’t know how to close. When my son left two years ago, I was a wreck. Shame that I was “too attached,” fear of who I am when mothering isn’t my daily identity, questions about my marriage, my life, my self.So when Jodie Patterson agreed to come back on the podcast, the timing felt like more than coincidence.This is Jodie’s third time on Cracking Open: she was...

Afraid AI Is Replacing Human Connection? Jack Swift on Leadership, Consciousness, and the Human-Machine Era

July 02, 2026

I don't know about you, but even though I use AI almost every single day, there is still a part of me that gets nervous about it. I love nothing more than sitting across from a friend with a cup of coffee, driving in the car with my kids and husband to Seattle to see a World Cup Game (yep, I went), or being out in nature with nothing but my own thoughts, no machine, no screen, just me. I am deeply passionate about human connection. So passionate that I did a TED talk on The Power of Huma...

Why Small Talk Is Making You More Lonely (And What To Do Instead)

June 11, 2026

I recorded this episode in the middle of one of the most emotional weeks of my life. My daughter Cora was three days from graduating high school, and I found myself at backyard parties where the conversation kept drifting to the same familiar places: the weather, work, the kids.And I felt that quiet ache I believe so many of us are carrying right now. The longing for something deeper. More real. More connected.So that’s what today’s episode is about: how we find the courage to have more conne...