Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People

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This week's caller has dedicated her life to understanding hoarding disorder. Years ago, she married someone whose relationship with collecting changed the course of her own life. Now she's on a mission to educate others and replace stigma with compassion. She and Gethard get into what hoarding really looks like, the reasons people find it hard to let go, and how shows like Hoarders have turned personal struggle into public spectacle. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Give yourself and your loved ones the most extraordinary feeling sleep with 25% off sitewide, plus free shipping and extended returns during Boll & Branch's best sale of the year. Shop now at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful with code beautiful. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.  Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. Whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair, or find relief for anxiety, Hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com/BEAUTIFUL to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

A caller checks in from a Costco parking lot to mark one year sober after 25 years of blackout drinking. He talks about kicking opioids, rebuilding his life, and what it's like to actually remember things again. He and Geth get into punk shows, lost friends, and how addiction doesn't always look the way people think it does. Plus, Dog Talk makes a rare appearance from behind the paywall. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $20 off their 10 inch Frames by going to my skylight.com/BEAUTIFUL Upside has given back $1 Billion dollars to its users. To find out how much you could earn, Download the FREE Upside App and use promo code BEAUTIFUL to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.   

Here we are. Episode 500. We celebrated the only way that makes sense. With a few hundred listeners packed into a theater in Jersey and a caller whose story pretty much sums up what this show is all about. Our 500th caller is one year out from a stay in a mental hospital. She opens up about what it was like to lose her grip on reality in a pretty intense way and shares how far she's come with self-awareness, perspective, and so much humor. She and Gethard also get deep into some classic Jersey debates with our audience (porkroll vs Taylor ham? Does Central Jersey exist?), who share some of their best roadside emergency rest stop stories and try to convince our caller to divulge her government secrets Five hundred episodes. Wild. Thanks to everyone who's listened, called, and shared a piece of themselves with this show. Here's to the next 500. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 500 Episodes of Beautiful Anonymous T-Shirt: chrisgethard.bigcartel.com Visit Upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.

You've  heard us talk about it. Here's your reminder. In the last nearly TEN YEARS of Beautiful Anonymous, Gethard has had 499 unforgettable conversations with our callers. This Friday, October 17th, we're recording number 500. We'll be live at Kevin Smith's Smodcastle Cinemas in beautiful Atlantic Highlands, NJ. Get your tickets now, then come hang out, grab a shirt, get to know one another, and maybe win a chance to be a future caller.  It'll be our usual mix of chaos and heart… or at least we think so. Live shows are unpredictable. Could be the best call ever. Could be a total trainwreck. Come find out with us. Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey THIS Friday, October 17th.

Gethard talks with a caller who shares her story of adopting a young girl and what happened when, after a year, that child chose to return to her foster family. It's an honest conversation about one person's experience with adoption, the unpredictability of parenthood,  and finding a way forward when something you've hoped for doesn't turn out the way you imagined. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey THIS Friday, October 17th. Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at Audible.com/BEAUTIFUL. Whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair, or find relief for anxiety, Hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com/BEAUTIFUL to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.

An Australian on a solo vacation calls in from Italy. She and Gethard chat about travel, trade stereotypes about each other's countries, and get into how the rest of the world views the U.S. right now, all while the caller gives us a little walking tour of the charming Italian town she's calling from. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! For a limited time get 20% off Bed Bundles, plus free shipping and returns, at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful. Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at Audible.com/beautiful. For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box - PLUS free Croissants in every box - when you go to Wildgrain.com/BEAUTIFUL to start your subscription. Upside has given back $1 Billion dollars to its users. To find out how much you could earn, Download the FREE Upside App and use promo code BEAUTIFUL to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.

This call starts at Burning Man but quickly opens up into a far more complicated conversation about grief, abuse, healing, and the long work of rebuilding. But the playa stays in the mix throughout, a touchstone for how this caller has tried to redefine life along the way. And, of course, we make a stop at the Orgy Dome. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Head to LETSLIVEITUP.com/BEAUTIFUL and use code BEAUTIFUL for 15% off your first Super Greens order! Plus shipping's always free. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. Keep it classic and cool this fall—with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

This week, Geth talks with a railroad worker who shares what it's really like on the job. They get into the nitty-gritty of trains, unions, and infrastructure, and explore how the rails often reflect bigger truths about where the country is headed.  Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Listen now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Keep it classic and cool this fall—with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at Audible.com/BEAUTIFUL. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.  

This week, Geth talks with a firefighter/EMT who's training to be a paramedic. They get into the vital importance of volunteer work, what it's like to serve in rural communities versus tourist towns, and how showing up in moments of crisis can remind you what humanity is all about. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Head to letsliveitup.com/BEAUTIFUL and use code BEAUTIFUL for 15% off your first Super Greens order. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. Feel the difference an extraordinary night's sleep can make with Boll & Branch. Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets, at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.

Raised by a zoologist in a house full of wild animals, this psychology professor's life has remained just as untamed: coaching junior roller derby, a stint making high-end chocolate, parenting a trans kid, and that's just for starters. Unpredictable but never aimless, her conversation with Gethard is just as wide-ranging as her life. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Get early access to Gethard's special A Father and the Sun! Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at Audible.com/BEAUTIFUL. For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box - PLUS free Croissants in every box - when you go to Wildgrain.com/BEAUTIFUL to start you subscription. Keep it classic and cool this fall—with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. Whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair, or find relief for anxiety, Hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com/BEAUTIFUL to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.

This week's caller takes us into the complicated, messy, and deeply human world of sex work. The conversation stretches from personal experience to bigger questions about society. It's thoughtful, challenging, and impossible to boil down. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at Audible.com/BEAUTIFUL. Keep it classic and cool — with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. Whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair, or find relief for anxiety, Hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com/BEAUTIFUL to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.

Does what it says on the tin. Gethard talks to a polyamorous witch librarian who once worked the front desk at a brothel, surprisingly perfect training for library life. They get into the realities of coven community, late-discovered neurodivergence, leaving a faith tradition, and why public libraries are such vital spaces, now more than ever. It's wide-ranging but never scattered. More like a life filed neatly into sections by someone who knows how to organize a catalog. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com/beautiful. Listen now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. Keep it classic and cool — with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Here's the pitch: Engineer by day. International award-winning clown by night. Learned to read and walk in her 20s. This caller has a lot going on, and every story branches into a whole new world of surprises. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad-free episodes and access to exclusive audio, including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Head to LETSLIVEITUP.com/BEAUTIFUL and use code BEAUTIFUL for 15% off your first Super Greens order! Plus shipping's always free.  Warby Parker has over 300+ locations to help you find your next pair of glasses. You can also head over to WarbyParker.com/BEAUTIFUL right now to try on any pair virtually! Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.  Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. 

A couple weeks back, Gethard talked with a lawyer whose husband came up a few times. We learned two key facts about him: he's got a lot of birds, and he works on a tugboat. Well, he got through this week, and that means Geth got to ask him a few questions about the birds and a million more about life aboard a tugboat. It's a conversation packed with oddly fascinating details about this very specific, rarely discussed job. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to our 500th episode, recording live at Smodcastle Cinemas in New Jersey! Tackle your to-do list today and get $15 off your first task at taskrabbit.com or on the Taskrabbit app using promo code ANONYMOUS. Keep it classic and cool — with long-lasting staples from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. Whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair, or find relief for anxiety, Hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com/BEAUTIFUL to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.  

This week, Gethard talks to a Vietnam veteran with a lifetime of stories. He's never listened to the podcast, but his granddaughter has, and she encouraged him to call in as a way to share and preserve the experiences he's carried for decades. He recounts some harrowing moments from his childhood before walking us through the catastrophic day in Vietnam that changed the course of his life. It's a conversation about trauma, memory, survival, and what it means to have your story heard. ​​Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of childhood trauma, animal death, graphic descriptions of violent injury, death, and experiences of war. Please listen with care. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to That Show hosted by Gethard at UCB Theatre. Visit Upwork.com/save to claim a $200 credit after spending $1,000 in your first 30 days. Valid June 24th through August 5th, 2025. Get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus get FREE shipping. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.  Get 15% off, plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at BollAndBranch.com/beautiful  

This week's caller is a medical device engineer with a deeply personal stake in the healthcare system. She talks with Gethard about living with a rare liver disease, how Martin Shkreli changed the course of her life, and the three-legged, half-tailed foster cat who might just send her back to therapy. Check out The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time as decided by TIME Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to That Show hosted by Gethard at UCB Theatre. Listen now to the Life Kit podcast from NPR. Stick to the staples that last—with elevated essentials from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. 

This week's caller joined Gethard at 10:30 on a Friday night to talk about wrestling and her love of a New Jersey ska band, but the conversation quickly turned into something else entirely. We hear about her tugboat captain husband (who happens to have Geth's secret dream job), her own work representing our most vulnerable population, and the utterly baffling hobby that's taken over her home. Somehow, this one-hour call manages to hit all the Beautiful/Anonymous sweet spots: unique jobs, highly specific interests, and someone doing the kind of quietly heroic work that keeps the world turning. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to That Show hosted by Gethard at UCB Theatre. Start your free online visit today at http://forhers.com/beautiful Stick to the staples that last—with elevated essentials from Quince. Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/ BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout. Get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus get FREE shipping. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details.

In another installment of our unofficial "The Young People Are Alright" series, a 19-year-old entrepreneur calls in to talk about hustle culture, mental health, and the lessons he's learning from his first relationship. He's thoughtful, ambitious, and asking big questions about what it means to grow up in a world where the American Dream feels increasingly out of reach and the future is anything but certain. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to That Show hosted by Gethard at UCB Theatre. Visit Upwork.com/save to claim a $200 credit after spending $1,000 in your first 30 days. Valid June 24th through August 5th, 2025. Get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus get FREE shipping. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Tackle your to-do list today and get 15% off your first task at TASKRABBIT.com or on the Taskrabbit app using promo code ANONYMOUS.  Go to Quince.com/beautiful for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

This week's caller is a mom of two young boys doing her best to face life head-on. Her oldest son is autistic and recently diagnosed with depression. She talks with Gethard about parenting a neurodivergent child, advocating in a world that doesn't always get it, and staying grounded through it all with warmth, humor, and zero B.S. Sign up for Beautiful/Anonymous+ to get ad free episodes and access to exclusive audio including 5 Random Questions with this week's caller.  Leave us a voicemail at (973) 306-4676 Head to punchup.live/chrisgethard for tickets to That Show hosted by Gethard at UCB Theatre. Get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus get FREE shipping. Text BEAUTIFUL to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/BEAUTIFUL and use promo code BEAUTIFUL at checkout.