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It’s our 2nd annual Halloween special, and this year we’re keeping things fun and nostalgic. We start by revealing our 2026 costumes, with Erica going as Zara Larsson and Meg dressing as the 60s, before taking a trip down memory lane to our favourite childhood TV shows and the board games and video games we couldn’t get enough of as kids. Then we get into the animal chat: our spirit animals, our favourite animals, and the ones we’d secretly love to have as pets. We finish with the funny Halloween stories from our childhoods, the kind that only make sense in hindsight. A cosy, chaotic, feel-good listen for spooky season. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. Follow us: @fingerscrossedthepodcast @fakewitcherica @megstierney @ericalilly on substack

We start with something a lot of people quietly live with: feeling frozen after trauma and what it looks like to move through that and then discuss the quiet power of taking accountability when it would be easier to deflect. Erica talks about launching her Substack and we circle back to male OBGYNs and why people choose to enter the field. We get into the power that sits in women's bodies and how rarely that's framed as something to celebrate. We finish on a fun one: the five items we'd each need to be summoned. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. Follow us: @fingerscrossedthepodcast @fakewitcherica @megstierney @ericalilly on substack chapters: 00:00 intro 00:41 frozen after trauma 09:33 taking accountability 20:36 erica’s substack launch 33:41 male obgyns 36:29 feminine power 43:50 5 items to summon us 50:23 outro

Why don't men ask questions? We kick things off with a debate that so many women will recognise and get into what it says about relationship dynamics and what we each actually want from a partner. From there we talk about serial complainers, the people who can find the downside in anything and how to deal with them without absorbing all that negativity. We also get into botox and where we land on it, plus the ugly reality of pretty privilege and the ways looks quietly shape how people are treated. Meg pays Erica a compliment and we round things out with a recap and honest review of The Love Hypothesis movie. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. Follow us: @fingerscrossedthepodcast @fakewitcherica @megstierney chapters: 00:00 intro 01:39 men don’t ask questions 08:42 relationship dynamics 33:57 serial complainers 37:23 meg pays a complement 40:23 botox 45:50 pretty privilege reality 57:56 the love hypothesis 01:01:13 outro

Meg's away this week, so we've pulled together an offcuts episode: all the leftovers from previous episodes that were maybe a bit too hot and spicy to make the final cut. Consider this the unfiltered bonus round. We get into whether it's ever okay to share your friends' secrets with your partner, Olivia Rodrigo's latest album, and the habit of therapising every relationship in your life. We talk about how we each express anger and what that says about us, before wading into the state of modern politics and the appeal of co-ops. And we close on the wild world of people living double lives, cheating and secretly maintaining multiple families. It's a looser, spicier listen than usual, so settle in. 📩 email us your thoughts: [email protected] 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. Follow us: @fingerscrossedthepodcast @fakewitcherica @megstierney chapters: 00:00 intro 00:14 keeping secrets 18:27 olivia rodrigo’s album 29:33 therapy conversations 31:50 expressing anger 47:27 modern politics 53:47 co-ops 56:36 cheating 58:48 outro

in this episode we talk about: softness in men. particularly following up our last episodeClavicular has been arrested and we discuss people getting into harmful relationshipsone of our listeners Tash requested we talk about the vibes between Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic 2Erica’s therapist dropped a bombshell about autism impacting dating and attachmentwe talk about casual bullying and how it relates to classMeg shares an update on her sister 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. chapters: 00:00 intro 00:12 softness in men 14:40 clavicular arrested 24:38 practical magic 2 31:36 autism in dating 40:07 casual bullying 52:56 meg’s update 55:33 outro

we have our first guest ever!!!! our friend and man about town, Jacob from Yarnberg Entertainment, joins us and dives deep into his personal history. Jacob’s always been our #1 fan and he made sure to bring his a-game :) Just some of the things we touched on: sydney swans scandalafl grand finaltoxic masculinity healthy masculinity romantasyfantasytriviabecoming a good personcalling out friendschanging your lifeboys schoolsboys club culturebeing a good partner and parentthe struggles of self-employmentperforming and public speakingand the power of women!!! 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan.

This episode got cut a bit short because Meg’s sister went into labour but it’s still got some good stuff: People critiquing Sandra Bullock for prioritising her husband over her careerwe get stuck into shame and specifically how we both suffer shame around our bodieshaving shame/fears disprovenmeg’s sister kept calling her phone for some reason  🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. chapters: 00:00 intro 01:12 sandra bullock critique 05:16 shame around body 17:58 shame being disproven 25:53 shame vs disappointment 30:10 meg’s sister goes into labour

In this episode, we cover: Meg giving an update on her mental health, dealing with GLP-1s, a dietician and therapistsome of the habits that changed our livesgen z vs millennial problemshealing the relationship with your parentssome of our thoughts on the pros and cons of ageing 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. chapters: 00:00 intro 01:48 meg recovery update 9:43 life changing habits 23:11 gen z vs millennials  30:31 healing your relationship with your parents 46:19 pros and cons of ageing 54:47 outro

We start with the way so many women are hypervigilant about occupying space and what it feels like to move through the world constantly managing how much room you take up. That opens into a conversation about feeling safe around men, and Meg reflects on growing up in a house with slamming doors and how that shapes your nervous system long term. Erica shares a big realisation from therapy: her lifelong high achieving is actually a chronic fawn response, not just ambition. We get into what that means and how survival patterns can disguise themselves as strengths. From there we cover anxious attachment and the tricky habit of justifying everything as a "need" in a relationship, plus tangents on bedroom vs living room mums, boomers with no filter, Erica missing extended family, and her plan to start a regular games night (tips very welcome). 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan chapters: 00:00 intro 01:04 female hypervigilance 04:45 feeling safe around men 09:34 chronic fawn response 19:49 bedroom vs living room mum 32:40 games night 35:11 lacking family 40:08 boomers with no filter 44:55 anxious attachment and “needs” in a relationship 58:27 outro

Erica's back in therapy, so we dig into some of what's come up. We talk about polyvagal theory and what it actually means for regulating your nervous system, the work of healing your inner child, and what it looks like to start living by your core values rather than on autopilot.  We also cover lighter ground, sharing our thoughts on proposals and how they should go, revisiting the separate bedrooms debate, and getting into the Drew Afualo fallout and where things have landed since.  🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan chapters: 00:00 intro 00:34 proposals 06:08 student drummers 09:06 drew afualo fallout 16:07 separate bedrooms 22:51 erica back in therapy 35:49 inner child healing 45:02 life purpose 52:18 outro

We get into the drama between Drew Afualo and ER Fightmaster and the wider conversation it sparked around cis and trans women. We talk through the different perspectives at play and what the discourse reveals about how these conversations tend to go online. Erica also has a special surprise for viewers this week, so you'll want to stick around for that one. From there we tackle a tender question: how much time is actually appropriate before moving on after a partner passes away, and why there's no clean answer. Meg shares a dating app update as she keeps navigating putting herself out there. We close on Ariana Grande's petal music video and her recent appearance, and the wave of comments it triggered around her body. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan chapters: 00:00 intro 01:18 drew afualo er fightmaster drama 07:08 tiara time 13:37 how soon to move on 21:21 meg dating app update 25:59 ariana grande music video petal 31:58 outro

There's a new addition to the family. Erica got a papillon puppy named Vivienne, or Viv for short, and she and Meg made a big road trip to South Australia to bring her home. We talk all about the trip, the new puppy chaos, and the joy of a little one entering the picture. Meg has also joined a dating app, so Erica steps in with some advice as she navigates putting herself out there.  We then get into a deeper conversation about avoidant attachment and the memory issues that can come from emotional neglect in childhood.  🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan chapters: 00:00 intro 03:45 road trip to get a puppy 19:31 meg joined a dating app 30:20 avoidant attachment and memory 41:08 outro

We're getting into some of our favourite things and some of our least favourite this week. We kick off with the ASMRtists we can't stop watching and what makes a good one, before Erica launches into a full rant about skincare and everything that winds her up about it. From there we talk BBLs and where we land on the whole conversation around them. The back half is all about the stuff that gets under our skin. We share our most irrational fears and rational ones like erica’s valid fear of ghosts and some ghost stories and the pet peeves that drive mostly meg up the wall. It's a lighter, funnier episode with plenty of tangents, so settle in. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. OUR MOST / IRRATIONAL / FEARS chapters: 00:00 intro 03:51 asmr 06:30 skincare lecture 16:21 hormones and neurodivergence 21:40 BBLs 25:47 irrational fears 41:30 clairs  44:12 pet peeves 51:15 outro

This is a tender one. Erica recently had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her beloved German Shepherd Raffy down, so we spend some time talking about grief, what pet loss actually feels like, and why the love we have for our animals runs so deep. It's an honest conversation about loss and letting go, and the particular ache of saying goodbye to a companion who was there through so much. From there we move into a gold digger debate from reddit and what it really says about relationships and money, share our thoughts on male gynaecologists and talk about being comfortable with affection, where that comfort comes from, and why some of us find it harder than others. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megan. chapters: 00:00 intro 04:47 losing a pet 16:16 story from reddit 31:05 alex reads tarot drama 33:19 male gynos 36:44 being comfortable with affection 41:06 outro

It's our 50th episode and the week after our one year anniversary, so we're taking some time to look back on the year that was. We talk about our favourite moments, what we've learnt, and how we've each changed along the way. Meg opens up about her fear of being seen, which launches us into a bigger conversation about why so many women are afraid of initiating in relationships and where that hesitation actually comes from. We get into how someone can be deeply spiritual and still wrestle with insecurities, like tying self worth to appearance, and why those two things aren't as contradictory as they seem. It's a reflective, honest episode about growth, visibility, and the parts of ourselves we're still learning to accept. It's also a bittersweet one, as it's the final episode with Erica's dog Raffy by her side. 🎙️ Fingers Crossed is a female friendship podcast with honest chats about mental health and life, hosted by Erica and Megs. 📩 email us your thoughts: [email protected] chapters: 00:00 intro 01:07 raffy update 04:42 our favourite moments 07:56 avoidants laughter coping mechanism 09:45 fear of being seen 27:20 3 things we’ve learnt in the past year 46:30 how we’ve changed 58:44 outro