Last Year of Single

Episod

• My Last Year of Single List: the 5 goals I set myself (and the 2 I'm keeping secret) 07.07.2026 11min

  If you have been listening to Last Year of Single from the beginning, you know I have been talking about the Last Year of Single List since the very first episode. The idea is simple: if you knew in twelve months you would never be single again, how would you spend your time? What would you do that you have been waiting to do with someone else?In this episode, I am finally revealing five of the things on my own list: what they are, why I chose them, and what success actually looks like to me for each one. I am keeping two items secret for now. But five is enough to be going on with.Here is what made the list:Writing a book. Being in a Bollywood film. Watching an entire Bollywood film without subtitles and actually understanding it. Learning what a healthy and trustworthy romantic relationship is supposed to feel like and what that even means for someone who has never quite experienced it.And becoming financially secure, not rich, not retired, just genuinely, solidly secure.For the relationship goal, I play a clip from my episode with Ann Davidman, a counsellor and author who specialises in helping people understand what they actually want from love and relationships. For the financial security goal, I play a clip from my episode with Glen James, creator of the Money Money Money podcast, formerly My Millennial Money, and one of Australia's most trusted voices on personal finance.I also want to hear what is on your list. Email me, DM me on Instagram, or come and talk about it in the Last Year of Single Facebook community. And if you have not written your list yet, Episode 10 is where I explain exactly how to do it.The Last Year of Single List is not about being productive while you wait for life to start. It is about deciding what your life is and living it. Whatever happens next.Substack memoir: breesteele.substack.comInstagram: @breesteele.mp3Facebook community: Last Year of SingleHost, Executive Producer & Editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why Asian men are the least swiped on dating apps & and how to challenge our own biases 30.06.2026 18min

  Asian men are twice as likely as Asian women to be single. Black women face the same exclusion from the other direction. This is not a coincidence and it is not about attraction — it is about bias, and dating apps have made that bias faster, more efficient, and easier to never have to examine.I wanted to make this episode because of two things I have noticed. The first: every time I post about dating in India, Indian men get flooded with racist comments - comments that would never be said about a white man doing the exact same thing. The second: I am a white woman dating in India, and I have had to sit with an uncomfortable truth: in a country still shaped by colonial history, my whiteness makes me more desirable to many people here than I would ever be considered at home. That is a bias I benefit from. Harry Au, psychologist and social worker whose practice focuses on the Asian experience in North America, joins me to talk about what it is actually like to be a single Asian man navigating dating apps built on a hierarchy he did not choose and cannot opt out of. We talk about the research, the stereotypes, where they come from, and - more importantly - what each of us can actually do to check our own dating biases instead of pretending we don't have any.This episode is a departure from my usual single-women focus, and I am not sorry about that. Last Year of Single exists because nobody is having an honest conversation about what it is actually like to be single and that conversation has to include people who are not straight white women, because the rom-com version of single life was never the whole story.In this episode:The research on racial bias in dating apps. What the data actually shows, and whyWhy Asian men are twice as likely as Asian women to remain unpartneredWhat it is actually like to date as a single Asian man in North AmericaThe specific stereotypes Asian men face and where they historically come fromWhy Indian men get disproportionately racist comments when dating content goes viralThe uncomfortable truth about whiteness and desirability in post-colonial IndiaHow to actually check your own dating biases. Practical steps, not just awarenessWhy "I just have a type" is rarely as innocent as it soundsHarry Au is a registered social worker and psychologist whose practice, Asian Therapy, focuses specifically on helping Asian clients navigate identity, family and relationships. He holds a Master's in Gender Studies and Feminist Research from McMaster University.This is not a comfortable episode. It is an important one.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Harry Au: https://www.therapywithharry.com/ Substack memoir: breesteele.substack.comInstagram: @breesteele.mp3 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Going to a wedding alone: the single woman's guide to surviving wedding season 23.06.2026 18min

  Going to a wedding alone when everyone else has a plus one is one of the most quietly expensive, emotionally exhausting and occasionally humiliating experiences of being single. This episode is the bible for single women at weddings and for the couples planning them.I am writing this from Mumbai during Indian wedding season, where the city looks like a Bollywood film set and the celebrations last for days. It got me thinking: why do Indian weddings look so much more fun? And why, as a single woman, do I dread a western wedding invitation?Etiquette expert Jackie Vernon-Thompson joins me to answer everything nobody tells you about navigating weddings as a single person: how to handle the plus one conversation, how to decline a wedding invitation without destroying a friendship, whether you are actually obligated to attend a bachelorette party, and why - according to Jackie - wishing wells at weddings are genuinely rude and should be retired immediately.We also talk about a theory I have been sitting with for a while: when couples throw out all the traditional wedding etiquette rules to make the day entirely about themselves, they stop thinking about their guests. Main character energy is great for the couple getting married. It is expensive and exhausting for everyone else in the room.According to LendingTree, 40% of wedding guests have gone into debt to attend a wedding, and for bridal party members that number jumps to 62%. And 48% of Americans are secretly hoping they are not asked to be in a bridal party this year because of the financial and time burden. The etiquette around all of this is broken. This episode fixes it.Jackie Vernon-Thompson is a Certified Etiquette Consultant, #1 bestselling author of Transformative Etiquette, and founder of From the Inside-Out School of Etiquette, featured in HuffPost.In this episode you'll learn:How to go to a wedding alone without feeling like the exhibit The exact etiquette around plus ones for single guests, what you can ask for and how to askHow to decline a wedding invitation without damaging the friendshipWhether couples should pay for their guests to attend bachelorette and bachelor partiesWhy wishing wells are considered rude and what good wedding gift etiquette actually looks likeHow to decide whether you actually want to go to a wedding How wedding etiquette has changed in the past 20 years and why bucking tradition is putting pressure on guestsHow couples can be more inclusive of their single guests Why Indian weddings look more fun than western weddings and what western couples could learn from themWhether you are heading to a wedding alone this summer, trying to figure out if you can say no without the guilt, secretly relieved someone cancelled their engagement, or planning a wedding and want to actually be a good host to your single friends, this episode is for you.Jackie Vernon-Thompson: transformativeetiquette.com · @fromtheinsideoutsoeSubstack memoir - the Last Year of Single story in real time: breesteele.substack.comInstagram: @breesteele.mp3 Host and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Dating with a disability: ableism, sex, dating apps and learning to love single life (Peta Hooke) 16.06.2026 24min

  It's the end of monsoon season in Mumbai. Bree went to the premiere of Call Me Bae last night. And she's been thinking about a question that's been sitting with her: what is it like when you have never once seen yourself reflected in a rom-com?That question brought her to Peta Hooke.Peta is a disability advocate, podcaster, and single woman living with cerebral palsy in Melbourne, Australia. She uses an electric wheelchair and has been navigating dating, ableism, body image, fertility decisions and the complicated business of loving her single life, all while the world largely pretends people with disabilities don't date, don't have sex, and don't deserve to see themselves in the stories we tell about love.This episode is one of the most honest, important and entertaining conversations in the entire series. It will change how you see single life, dating, representation, and what it actually means to enjoy being on your own, regardless of whether you have a disability or not.Peta is the creator and host of The I Can't Stand Podcast - the show that answers every question people are too scared to ask about living with a disability. It took her 313 days to be given access to freeze her eggs due to ableism in the medical system. She is not here to be inspirational. She is here to be honest. In this episode you'll learn:What dating with a disability actually looks like: the ableism on dating apps, the assumptions able-bodied people make, and the exhausting work of navigating a world that wasn't built for youHow growing up without ever seeing yourself in a rom-com shapes your expectations of love, relationships and single life The myth that wheelchair users can't have sex What Peta wishes able-bodied people understood before dating someone with a disability, the practical advice that changes everythingThe 313-day fight to access egg freezing: what ableism in the medical system looks like when you're trying to make decisions about your own fertility and futureHow Peta's relationship with being single has changed over the years, from grief about the life she hoped for to genuinely loving the life she hasWhat single women - with or without a disability - can learn from Peta's experience about self-worth, representation and refusing to make yourself smaller so the world is more comfortableThis episode is for every single woman who has ever felt like she wasn't the person the love story was written for.Peta Hooke's podcast: The I Can't Stand Podcast - icantstandpodcast.comFollow Peta on Instagram: @petahookeFollow Bree on Instagram: @breesteele.mp3 Substack - community + Last Year of Single List hereListen to the full series (best in order)Email: lastyearofsingle@gmail.com Host and Executive Producer: Bree Steele  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to be happy, single & confident - how self-esteem impacts single life & building unbreakable self-worth 09.06.2026 21min

  I used to say I loved myself. I also used to people-please, stay in situationships that made me feel worthless, and spend every night alone wondering what was wrong with me. Those two things cannot both be true. One of them was lying.If you would say you love yourself, but you keep accepting less than you deserve, chasing people who don't choose you, and feeling like being single means something is fundamentally wrong with you; this episode is the one that explains why. And what to actually do about it.Clinical psychologist Dr Adia Gooden joins Bree to break down what self-esteem actually is, why so many high-achieving women have dangerously low self-worth without realising it, and how to build the kind of unconditional self-worth that doesn't crumble when the world: dating apps, rejection, situationships, the stories in your own head, confirms every insecurity you've ever had.Because it will confirm them. Repeatedly. And your self-worth needs to be built for that.Dr Adia Gooden is a licensed clinical psychologist with a BA from Stanford University and PhD from DePaul University. Her TEDx talk "Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth" has over 1 million views. She hosts the Unconditionally Worthy podcast and coaches high-achieving professional women to stop making their worth conditional on achievement, approval or being chosen.In this episode you'll learn:What self-esteem actually is and the difference between self-esteem and unconditional self-worth that changes everythingThe hidden signs of low self-worth that look like being a good person: people-pleasing, over-giving, settling, chasingWhy hating being single is a self-esteem problem disguised as a relationship problem and why no relationship will fix itHow the stories we tell ourselves: "I'm too much," "I'm not enough," "nobody stays", become self-fulfilling and how to break themWhy the world, dating apps, rejection and situationships are specifically designed to confirm your worst fears about yourself and how to build self-worth that survives all of itThe four practices Dr Adia Gooden uses to help women build unconditional self-worthWhat genuinely loving yourself looks like in practice, not as a concept but as a daily experience that changes how you date, how you live single, and how far across the world you're willing to go alone on gut instinctWhether you're newly single after a breakup, stuck in self-sabotage and people-pleasing, exhausted by attracting people who treat you as less than you're worth, or a solo female traveller who moved countries alone and still wonders if she's enough, this episode is the foundation everything else builds on.Dr Adia Gooden's free ebook: 4 Practices to Cultivate Unconditional Self-Worth - dradiagooden.com Unconditionally Worthy podcast — Dr Adia GoodenTEDx: Cultivating Unconditional Self-Worth dradiagooden.com · 📸 @dradiagoodenFollow Bree on Instagram: @breesteele.mp3 Substack community + Last Year of Single List hereEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.com Host and Executive Producer: Bree Steele  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• What single men are really going through - the male loneliness epidemic & how to fix it with researcher Elaine Hoan 02.06.2026 19min

  For the women listening: if you've spent years dating emotionally unavailable men and wondering why - this episode has the peer-reviewed answer. And it's more surprising, and more human, than you'd expect. For the single men listening: this episode was made for you. Not to lecture you. Not to make you feel worse about yourself. To actually help.University of Toronto PhD researcher Elaine Hoan joins Bree to break down her landmark study of nearly 6,000 adults - the first comprehensive research of its kind - which found that single women are happier than single men across every measure: life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, sexual fulfilment, and desire for a partner. The eligible bachelor is a myth. The male loneliness epidemic is real. And it's quietly destroying modern dating for everyone.Bree also asked single men on Instagram what it's actually like to be them. Their answers were raw, honest and revealing. They feel intense pressure to do everything alone. They feel deeply isolated but don't know how to change it. They cope by throwing themselves into the gym and their careers. Almost none of them have the kind of deep, honest friendships that women build naturally. And the finding that explains modern dating in one sentence - men think women want money, muscles and someone who never cries. Women actually want emotional maturity, real vulnerability and a man who knows how to be a genuine friend.This episode covers the male loneliness epidemic, the male friendship crisis, what women actually want versus what men think women want, the limiting definition of masculinity that is making single men miserable, and most importantly, what single men can actually do to be happier, more connected, and better at dating.Elaine Hoan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto, supervised by Professor Geoff MacDonald. Her study "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves": Gender Differences in Singles' Well-Being was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science (2025).In this episode you'll learn:Why single men are less happy than single women across every measure — the findings from nearly 6,000 adultsThe male loneliness epidemic: why single men are isolated, friendless and struggling in ways they rarely admitWhy men fear singlehood more than women, and how that fear creates emotionally unavailable behaviour in datingThe male friendship crisis: why men don't have real friendships, what masculinity has to do with it, and what it's costing themWhy single men cope through the gym and their careers, and why it will never fill the gapWhat women actually want in dating: emotional maturity, vulnerability, real connection; versus what men think women wantWhy single women are more sexually fulfilled than single men and what that reveals about modern relationshipsThe limiting definition of masculinity that is keeping single men isolated, unhappy and undateableWhat single men can actually do differently to be happier, build real friendships and become the kind of partner women are genuinely looking forWhat the male loneliness epidemic means for your dating life as a newly single woman, and why emotional maturity is the only green flag that actually mattersWhether you're a single woman exhausted by emotionally unavailable men, newly single after a breakup and trying to understand the modern dating landscape, or a single man who recognises himself in any of this and is ready to actually change, this episode is for you.Elaine Hoan's study: "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" - Social Psychological and Personality Science (2025)University of Toronto Department of Psychology: psych.utoronto.ca Follow Bree on Instagram: @breesteele.mp3 Substack — memoir, community + Last Year of Single List: [Substack link] Email: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comExecutive producer, host & editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why you keep attracting the wrong people: love bombing, dopamine, dating apps, toxic relationship patterns and how to break them - Dr Anastasia Hronis 26.05.2026 20min

  If you've just come out of a relationship, situationship or hookup that felt like an addiction: intense highs, crushing lows, a pattern you can't seem to escape no matter how much you want to, this episode explains exactly what was happening in your brain. And what it takes to actually stop it.Clinical psychologist Dr Anastasia Hronis joins Bree to break down the psychology and neuroscience behind love bombing, dopamine-driven dating, toxic relationship patterns, anxious attachment, and why dating apps are making it all so much harder to find genuine connection.Dr Hronis is the founder of the Australian Institute for Human Wellness, Honorary Associate at the University of Technology Sydney, and author of The Dopamine Brain (Penguin, 2024) - the science-backed guide to breaking cycles of impulse and living with intention.Whether you're newly single after a relationship that felt like a drug, struggling with why you keep attracting emotionally unavailable people, or trying to understand why your last relationship had such extreme high highs and low lows — this conversation will change how you understand yourself and your patterns.In this episode you'll learn:•    What love bombing actually is and the early red flags that are easy to miss when everything feels so good•    Why your brain confuses intensity with genuine love, the dopamine science behind it•    How dopamine creates addiction to toxic relationships and emotional chaos•    Why dating apps are built like slot machines and what that does to your ability to attach•    Anxious attachment, avoidant patterns and why you keep attracting emotionally unavailable people•    How to tell the difference between real connection and a dopamine hit•    Why you keep repeating the same relationship patterns and how to actually break them•    What healthy, secure dating actually feels like when you're used to chaos•    Practical steps to start dating like a grounded, regulated person and stop the cycleThe Dopamine Brain by Dr Anastasia Hronis — Penguin, 2024 — available everywhere books are soldDr Anastasia Hronis: anastasiahronis.com.auAustralian Institute for Human Wellness: ausihw.com.auFollow Bree on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breesteele.mp3/Join the Last Year of Single community on Substack: https://breesteele.substack.com/Email: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to get over a breakup: healing your heartbreak and building a life no one can take from you - with breakup coach Dorothy Johnson 13.05.2026 22min

  Getting over a breakup is one of the most painful things you'll go through. The standard advice: go no contact, keep busy, time heals all wounds; often isn't enough. This episode gives you what actually works.Dorothy Johnson, breakup coach and host of How to Get Over Your Ex, joins Bree to talk about how to truly heal from a breakup and build a life so full that no one - not your ex, not a situationship, not a love bomb - can take it from you.Whether your breakup was yesterday or two years ago and you're still not over it, whether you're stuck repeating the same relationship patterns, or whether you keep attracting emotionally unavailable people after every attempt to move on, this episode gives you a real path forward.Bree also brings her own experience: the relationships she has navigated as a solo female traveller living abroad alone, the patterns she recognised in herself, and what finally changed.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why no-contact and other standard breakup rules don't always work and what does•    How to stop obsessing over your ex and redirect that energy into your own life•    Why you keep attracting emotionally unavailable people after a breakup and how to break the pattern•    The real reason it feels impossible to move on and the mindset shift that changes everything•    How to build a life after a breakup that's bigger, fuller and better than before•    Why newly single women get stuck in grief that goes beyond missing one person•    What to do when you're dating after a breakup and keep repeating the same patternsThis episode mentions miscarriage.Bree is in Mumbai, India and has MASSIVE BOY NEWS!!!Subscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Fear of being single and trying new things: how to stop playing it safe and actually start your Last Year of Single List 10.09.2025 20min

  You know exactly what you want to do with your single life. You just can't make yourself do it. Fear of being alone, of starting over after a breakup, of putting yourself out there and failing; is what keeps most single women stuck. This episode gives you the psychological tools to push through it.The Psychology Sisters join Bree to unpack the specific fears that hold single women back from actually living their lives, and give you psychology-backed strategies to break through them. This episode is especially useful if you've started your Last Year of Single List and found it harder than expected to actually begin.Bree shares her own experience of fear: the fear of staying in Melbourne, the fear of going to Mumbai, the fear of the hostel, the fear of coming home. And how fear and the right decision are sometimes the exact same thing.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why fear shows up most powerfully exactly when you're on the edge of real change•    The specific fears that come up for newly single women after a breakup and how to name them•    How to sit with fear without letting it make your decisions for you•    Why the fear of being alone is different from the fear of being lonely•    Psychology-backed strategies for overcoming the fear of being single and starting over•    How to use your Last Year of Single List as a tool for building real courageFollow The Psychology Sisters on Instagram hereFind The Psychology Sisters podcast hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Single motherhood: the real challenges, choices and resilience of raising children alone (and how we can support single mothers) 11.05.2025 18min

  Single motherhood is one of the most talked-about and least honestly depicted realities for women. Jenny Davidson tells it completely straight: the financial pressure, the stigma, the resilience, and everything in between.Jenny Davidson, CEO of the Council of Single Mothers and their Children Victoria, joins Bree to share the unfiltered reality of single motherhood today, and what it actually looks like, why single parents are disproportionately women, and what support genuinely exists versus what needs to urgently change.This episode is for single mothers, women considering solo parenting, and anyone who wants to understand the reality for women doing this alone — without the Instagram version.In this episode you'll learn:•    What life is really like for single mothers, beyond the curated version•    The financial and social challenges single parents face that nobody prepares you for•    Why single parents in Australia are overwhelmingly women and what that reveals•    The difference between single motherhood by circumstance and single motherhood by choice•    The resilience and community that single mothers build for themselves and their children•    What support exists and what urgently needs to changeBree is in Mumbai, India and celebrated Dahi Handi.The website for The Council of Single Mothers and their Children Victoria here Potential organisations you could donate to in:America hereCanada hereAustralia hereUK hereEurope hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereJoin the Last Year of Single community on Facebookwww.lastyearofsingle.comEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The single woman's bucket list: how to write your Last Year of Single List in 8 steps (and actually do it) 01.05.2025 13min

  What would you do if you knew this was your last year of being single? Not rushing to find a relationship, but doing everything you've been putting off, dreaming about, or telling yourself you'll do someday. This episode shows you exactly how.Bree Steele walks you through the 8-step process for writing your own Last Year of Single List - the single woman's bucket list that is the heart of this podcast, the community, and the memoir.Plus! There's boy tea. You'll want to hear it.This is the episode that makes everything else in the series click. Whether you're newly single after a breakup, happily single, or somewhere in between — come out of it with your own list and a reason to make this the chapter you look back on as your best.In this episode you'll learn:•    The 8 steps to writing a Last Year of Single List that actually means something to you•    How to figure out what you genuinely want, not what you think you should want•    Why this list works whether you're newly single, healing from a breakup, or happily single and free•    How to set goals that make single life feel exciting rather than like a consolation prize•    What Bree's own list looks like; including what she's crossed off as a solo female traveller living abroad•    The boy tea. That's all we're saying.Here is the Last Year of Single List blog post - you can find detailed step by step information on how to create your listBree is in Mumbai, IndiaSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on Facebookwww.lastyearofsingle.comEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Do I want children? How to find clarity when you're single and feeling the pressure of your body clock 15.02.2025 17min

  When you're single (after a breakup or chronically single) the question 'do you want kids?' can feel like the most urgent, loaded and impossible question you've ever been asked. This episode helps you actually answer it, honestly, for yourself.Ann Davidman, Parenthood Clarity Mentor and co-author of Motherhood — Is It For Me?, has helped hundreds of single women find genuine clarity on one of life's most personal decisions. This conversation cuts through the pressure, the cultural noise, and the 'you'll just know' clichés.Bree brings her own experience navigating this question as a solo female traveller and single woman, living abroad alone and watching the cultural pressure to decide play out differently in India than in Australia.In this episode you'll learn:•    How to separate what you actually want from what you've been told you should want•    Why so many single women feel paralysed by this question and how to break through it•    The process Ann uses to help people reach a decision they genuinely own•    How to stop letting the biological clock make the decision for you•    What a child-free life can look like and how to feel genuinely good about choosing it•    Why being single makes this question feel more urgent than it needs to beBree is in Mumbai, India.Find Ann Davidman's book Motherhood Is It For Me? hereAnn Davidman's websiteSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on Facebookwww.lastyearofsingle.comEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Single person housing: why living alone is so expensive and the co-living solutions changing single life 01.02.2025 25min

  The housing market was built for couples, and if you're single and renting or trying to buy alone, you feel that every single month. This episode explains why it's not your fault, and what's actually changing.Alicia Denby, sociology researcher and PhD expert on singles in urban spaces, reveals the structural reasons housing is harder and more expensive for single people. Plus, co-living company Cohabs explains how a new model of living is solving the loneliness and cost crisis for single women simultaneously.Bree speaks from direct experience: as a solo female traveller and single woman living alone in multiple cities, she has navigated the housing market from hostels to private apartments — and found that the traditional model of solo living is only one option.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why housing genuinely costs more for single people; the structural reasons•    How urban spaces are designed around couples and families, and what that means for single women living alone•    The loneliness tax of solo living and why co-living might be the answer•    What co-living actually looks like in 2026 and whether it's right for you•    Your real options as a single person beyond renting alone or moving back home•    Why single women in major cities are increasingly choosing community living over isolationBree is in Mumbai, India.Find out more about Alicia Denby's work here You can follow Alicia Denby on Instagram hereFind out more about Cohabs hereFind Lucy d'Alençon hereSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Sex life while single: how to feel sexually fulfilled and stop settling for losers & empty connections 24.01.2025 21min

  Being single doesn't mean your sex life has to be a series of disappointing hookups that leave you feeling worse than before. Clinical sex therapist Laura Miano joins Bree for the honest, practical conversation about sexual fulfilment that single women are rarely given.Laura Miano is a clinical sex therapist and co-founder of POSMO, and she brings zero judgement and complete honesty to one of the topics single women talk about the least (and need to talk about the most).Whether you're newly single after a breakup trying to figure out what your sex life looks like now, or you've been single for a while and want to stop settling for connections that don't serve you - this is the conversation that fills the gap.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why sexual satisfaction doesn't require being in a relationship•    How to build a confident, empowered relationship with your own sexuality•    Why hookup culture so often leaves you feeling emptier than before•    What ethically non-monogamous connections might offer single women that traditional dating doesn't•    How to meet people in real life beyond the apps and the swipe•    Practical ways to explore your sexuality as a single woman and feel genuinely good about itBree is currently in Mumbai, India. She met Anil Kapoor.Contact Laura Miano for guided masturbations hereFind KAMA guided masturbations hereFind our more about POSMO hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• BONUS: Guided body scan meditation for burnout recovery and stress relief - with SIRPA practitioner Irralee Andrzejowska 24.01.2025 4min

  Burnout, stress and heartbreak don't just live in your mind, they live in your body. This short guided body scan, led by SIRPA practitioner Irralee Andrzejowska, helps you check in with what your body is actually trying to tell you.You can do this body scan any time, as many times as you like. It pairs directly with Episode 6 on burnout recovery, but works as a standalone practice whenever you need to come back to yourself.Important: make sure you're sitting or lying down and not driving while listening.A simple, powerful tool for any single woman who's been carrying too much for too long.Contact Irralee AndrzejowskaSIRPA websiteFollow Bree Steele on InstagramFollow Last Year of Single on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Burnout recovery for single women: how to heal from exhaustion when you're carrying everything alone 17.01.2025 25min

  Burnout hits differently when you're single. There's no one to pick up the slack, share the mental load, or notice before you crash. If you've come out of a breakup already running on empty, or you've been carrying too much alone for too long - this episode is what you need.Irralee Andrzejowska (SIRPA practitioner and physiotherapist) and Dr Michael Leiter (burnout researcher and author) reveal why burnout is so much harder to recover from when you're doing life alone, and give you a real, practical path back to yourself.Bree shares her own experience of burning out as single woman; living alone and struggling to get ahead financially.In this episode you'll learn:•    The signs and stages of burnout: how to spot them before you completely crash•    Why burnout recovery is harder when you're single and have no one to catch you•    How to start recovering your energy without having to do it all alone•    Workplace burnout — how to set boundaries before you hit the wall•    Self-compassion practices that actually help when everything feels overwhelming•    Why burnout and heartbreak often arrive together and how to address bothBree is currently in Mumbai, India.Contact Irralee AndrzejowskaSIRPA websiteDr Kristin Neff self-compassion techniquesContact Michael Leiter and find his book hereSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single community on FacebookEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost and Executive Producer: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Single woman finances: how to build real financial security, save money and get ahead when you're doing life alone 09.01.2025 22min

  Being single (especially after a breakup) can make money feel terrifying. There's no safety net, no one to split the bills with, no shared savings. But being single is also one of the most powerful opportunities to build real financial independence on your own terms.Glen James (host of the Money Money Money podcast) and Brian Nathan (life and mindset coach) share the practical steps and mindset shifts that make money less stressful and more empowering for single women. From budgeting on one income to building genuine wealth.Bree brings her own story: saving enough money as a single woman living alone to quit her job and fund six months in India. The budget maths, the sacrifices, and what financial independence actually felt like for a solo female traveller starting from scratch.In this episode you'll learn:•    The biggest financial challenges single people face that nobody talks about honestly•    Smart budgeting and saving strategies designed specifically for single incomes•    How to build financial security and start creating wealth without a partner•    The mindset shift that makes money feel like freedom rather than fear•    How to figure out what you want from your career and build a plan to get there•    Why financial independence is the most liberating thing a single woman can haveBree is in Mumbai, India.Follow Glen JamesFollow Brian NathanSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereJoin the Last Year of Single community hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramEmail: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost, Executive Producer & Editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to make friends as an adult: beating loneliness and building real connections when you're single 18.12.2024 17min

  One of the hardest and least talked-about parts of being single (especially after a breakup) is loneliness. Not missing one person. Missing a whole world of connection. This episode gives you a practical plan to fix it.Anna Goldfarb (New York Times friendship journalist) and Demi Kotsoris, founder of Millennial Crisis, share the exact strategies that work for making new friends as an adult, and why so many of the standard pieces of advice completely miss the mark.Bree brings her own story: arriving in Mumbai as a solo female traveller knowing no one, and building a community from scratch in one of the world's most densely populated cities.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why making friends as an adult is so much harder than it was when you were younger (the real reasons)•    How to turn an acquaintance into an actual friend •    Where single women are actually meeting new friends in 2026, beyond the apps•    How to overcome the fear of putting yourself out there when you're already lonely•    Why loneliness after a breakup feels different from ordinary loneliness and how to address both•    How to build a social life that makes being single genuinely enjoyable rather than isolatingBree is in Mumbai, India.Anna Goldfarb's book 'Modern Friendship' Follow Demi Kotsoris on InstagramMillennial Crisis websiteSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single communityEmail Bree Steele: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost, Executive Producer & Editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to have better friendships as a single woman: why your friendships feel disappointing & how to fix them 12.12.2024 23min

  When you're single (especially after a breakup) your friendships become everything. Your support system, your social life, your chosen family. So why do they so often fall short of what you actually need?Anna Goldfarb, friendship expert and New York Times journalist, and queer friendship researcher Tom Roach reveal why friendships get harder as we get older, and what single women can actually do about it.Tom also shares what straight women can learn from LGBTQIA+ communities about building truly honest, intimate friendships.Bree brings her own experience: as a solo female traveller living abroad alone in Mumbai, she had to build an entire social world from scratch, and learned more about friendship in six months than in the previous decade.In this episode you'll learn:•    Why friendships feel less satisfying as you get older and the specific challenges single women face•    What happens to your friendships when you're the only one still single•    How loneliness after a breakup or in single life goes deeper than just missing people•    What the LGBTQIA+ community does differently when it comes to friendship depth and honesty•    How to stop settling for surface-level friendships that leave you feeling more alone•    How to have the conversations that actually deepen a friendshipBree is currently in Mumbai, India.Anna Goldfarb's book 'Modern Friendship'Tom Roach's book 'Friendship As a Way of Life'Subscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the community on Instagram on FacebookEmail Bree Steele: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost, Executive Producer & Editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Fear of being single: why being alone feels so scary — and how to stop letting it control your life (Dr Anna Machin, Oxford) 11.12.2024 18min

  Whether you're newly single after a breakup and terrified of being alone or you've been single for years and still feel like something is wrong with you, this episode gives you the science behind why, and what to actually do about it.Dr Anna Machin, evolutionary anthropologist and love researcher at the University of Oxford, reveals the biological and societal reasons behind our fear of singlehood. Plus, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu - founder of Status Single and a solo woman navigating single life in India - shares what it's really like to face the pressure of being single in a culture that expects you to be partnered.As a solo female traveller living alone in Mumbai, Bree brings her own experience of navigating the fear of being single far from home and how she stopped letting it make her decisions.In this episode you'll learn:•Why fear of being single is hardwired into us and how to override it•How dopamine, serotonin and beta endorphins (love chemicals) drive our need for connection and how to get them without a romantic partner•Why being single feels like failure and the cultural and biological truth•How to stop letting the fear of being alone control your dating decisions•What single women navigating cultural pressure in India reveal about universal fears•Practical ways to feel connected, loved and satisfied as a single personLink to Anna Machin’s book ‘Why We Love’Follow Sreeymoyee Piu KunduSubscribe to Last Year of Single Substack hereFollow Bree Steele on InstagramJoin the Last Year of Single communityEmail Bree Steele: lastyearofsingle@gmail.comHost, Executive Producer & Editor: Bree Steele Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.