Overview of Our Most Hilarious Episode EVER: Embarrassing Stories Comic Relief!
This episode of We Can Do Hard Things (Treat Media, hosted by Glennon Doyle and friends) is a deliberately joyful reset: an hour of mortifying personal confessions, listener voicemails, and comic relief. The hosts frame the episode as an experiment in normalization—sharing the stories that make us want to disappear so shame softens and connection grows. The hour mixes short, vivid anecdotes (teacher moments, travel mishaps, bodily-function disasters) with listener-submitted gems and a recurring, cheeky refrain: “Why yes, that is a prosthetic penis.”
Main themes and takeaways
- Normalization is the antidote to shame: telling embarrassing stories makes them less isolating and more human.
- Laughter is restorative: the hosts describe laughing as a “cleanse” comparable to crying.
- Mortifying moments are universal and often involve bodies, travel, relationships, and social expectations.
- Reframing and owning the moment (e.g., the confident line about the “prosthetic penis”) can defuse humiliation.
- The episode is a call to community: listeners are encouraged to submit their own stories to feel less alone.
Notable stories (hosts and guests)
- Accountant + dog Zoom: Sister mocks a rescue dog’s name as “pretentious/waspy,” only to have the accountant introduce the dog as “Jeeves” on camera — the dog’s real name was actually Bentley.
- Teacher Valentine’s gift: A student (Oscar) gives a gold chain with a medallion that reads “Number One Sex Machine.” The teacher wears it publicly through the school—mortifying and hilarious.
- The giant-dolly parking-lot fail: A lawyer-in-training transports confidential boxes and then spends hours rolling the dolly through a parking garage searching for her car while the client’s counsel unknowingly leaves her holding the load.
- Mistaken stolen-car panic: Call to husband from mall—car “stolen”—only to realize she’d driven a different car that day.
- Urgent care birthday snafu: Mom tries to check in child at urgent care but gives the wrong birthday; staff can’t find the child.
- Spray-tan baby: A mom’s spray tan transfers to her breastfeeding baby’s face causing orange smudges; doctor suggests the mom’s spray tan is the cause.
- Teen poop-in-pants: A 14-year-old poops on the walk home, disposes soiled underwear in a wicker bedroom trash basket—cousin calls her out.
- Driving pee in front seat: Sister describes a full bladder failure while stuck leaving high school—ended up peeing in the car.
- Bed-wetting/bladder fail during an overnight with a boyfriend: Glennon (humorously) recounts peeing through bedding, then carrying stained sheets back to her dorm and getting nicknamed “Puddles.”
- Vacation poop floater: On a family trip, Glennon’s ex’s relative discovers a large bowel movement in the hotel bathroom; family blames her aloud—extreme mortification.
Best listener voicemails and write-ins (highlights)
- “The train told me I had lupus”: 19-year-old drunk on an empty subway reads an ad and convinces herself she has lupus—calls friends and coworkers at 3 AM.
- Army ball blunder: A guest loudly reads the “responses” script and shouts “Moment of silence” during a toast to fallen comrades.
- Diarrhea at lunch: Woman admits to openly announcing she’d pooped her pants and scramming out of the restaurant with her purse covering her backside.
- Wrong boyfriend’s house: A drunk woman gets out at an ex’s address, realizes she’s at the wrong house—and stays the night (awkward).
- Stall-sit: Caller reports another woman (possibly drunk) unknowingly sat down in the same toilet stall—naked—on top of her.
- TSA/prosthetic penis: A woman casually tells security her strap-on is a “prosthetic penis” and walks away with dignity.
- Vibrator security check: TSA agent finds a vibrator, asks what it is, the agent turns it on to see what it does—awkward but educational.
- Top-write-in list (selected): practicing kissing on a shopping bag, calling Target for a lost phone while actually holding it, shitting in a car in a takeout container, opening a laptop to a “how to have lesbian sex” video on a date, pooping during a job interview.
Notable quotes
- “It’s a cleanse.” (Laughter as emotional hygiene)
- “Number One Sex Machine.” (element of comic gold in the teacher story)
- “Why yes, that is a prosthetic penis.” (listener’s confident line — new mortification coping mantra)
- “Let ye who has not pooped her pants throw the first stone.” (on universal bodily mortification)
Recommendations / action items
- If you enjoyed this episode, submit your own mortifying story: voicemail 747-200-5307 (the hosts encourage more submissions; they plan to do similar episodes periodically).
- Re-listen to the Jenny Lawson episode and the Brené Brown episode referenced for deeper context on humiliation, shame, and normalization.
- Use humor as a coping strategy—when appropriate, owning or playfully reframing a mortifying moment reduces its power.
Why this episode matters
- The show turns shame into solidarity. By elevating real, human embarrassment and pairing it with humor, the episode reminds listeners they are not alone in their most cringe-worthy moments. It’s part therapy, part comic relief, and part community building—a light but meaningful antidote to heavy news and constant “doing hard things.”
If you want a compact list of the funniest listener moments or a one-paragraph recap for sharing, say which length you prefer and I’ll condense it.