Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim — Episode Summary

Guest: Tituss Burgess
Air Date: December 9, 2025
Podcast: Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

This episode features a candid, emotionally resonant conversation between host Ego Nwodim and multi-talented actor and singer Tituss Burgess. With both sharing backgrounds shaped by complex relationships with their fathers, the dialogue threads through family history, self-discovery, boundaries, identity, navigating fame, and the pursuit of personal peace. Each brings humor and vulnerability to the discussion, exploring how childhood experiences impact adult relationships, and how honesty and self-knowledge guide them through life and love. The episode concludes with advice for listeners on self-care and making friends in new environments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value of Frankness and Honest Communication

Timestamp: [07:19] – [10:26]

• Struggles with "Perfection":
  Ego and Tituss bond over resisting the entertainment industry's pressure to seem perfect.

  • Tituss: "That’s the problem with entertainment, we try to make everything look perfect, and I think it trickles down into daily life. That’s unrealistic." ([07:24])

• Directness vs. Cruelty:
  They reflect on the difference between being direct and being cruel—how frankness is often misinterpreted.

  • Tituss: "Now we’ve returned to a more frank environment, but it’s frank in the name of cruelty, not clarity, and that is disappointing." ([09:17])

• Both discuss growing up amid blunt communication and now feeling misunderstood for that same style outside their communities.

2. Family Dynamics & The Meaning of "Dad"

Timestamp: [11:00] – [15:27]

• Tituss’s Childhood:
  Raised in rural Georgia, Tituss lived on a farm with his single mother and grandparents.

  • Felt closer to his grandparents than to his biological father, who lived nearby but was largely absent.

• Traumatic Memory:
  Tituss recalls witnessing his biological father's violence towards his mother; an event never discussed but always remembered.

  • Tituss: "He knocked down the door and started to choke her...I just sat there frozen." ([16:16])

• Evolving Relationships:
  The trauma complicated his sense of fatherhood, leading Tituss to refer to his biological father as a "sperm donor", and his stepdad as "dad".

3. Identity and Self-Acceptance

Timestamp: [18:25] – [19:37]

• Ego’s Heritage:
  She openly claims her identity: African American, Nigerian-American, and first-generation Nigerian.
  • Ego: "No part of me wants to deny any part of my identity...I’m all of these things at once." ([19:00])
• Discussion on name meanings, family, and growing into one's given name.

4. The Experience of Being Highly Sensitive

Timestamp: [25:03] – [27:52]

• Highly Sensitive Person (HSP):
  Tituss describes the revelation of identifying as an HSP, triggered by a former partner’s (Pablo's) introduction of the term.

  • Sensitivity to energy; difficulty distinguishing between one’s own emotions and others’.
  • The realization led to the end of his 10-year relationship.
  • Tituss: "There’s a percentage of people who are overstimulated, empathic to a fault, can’t always tell what’s their own energy or inherited." ([25:47])

• Ego relates, mentioning her dislike of sleepovers and need for energetic clarity in her own space.

5. Faith & Spirituality

Timestamp: [29:00] – [30:54], [39:13] – [41:13]

• Astrology and the Church:
  Tituss discusses having both a spiritual guide and an astrologer, seeing no conflict with his Christian faith.
  • Tituss: "God made the stars, God made the moon. They did everything...If they’re in me, are they not a they?" ([39:24])
  • Views multiple spiritual resources as ways to access deeper self-understanding.

6. Intimacy, Partnership, and Personal Space

Timestamp: [42:49] – [46:12]

• Shifting Views on Partnership:
  Now single, Tituss expresses a deep desire for meaningful partnership, someone to care for—but on his own terms.

  • Tituss: "I desperately am desirous of being a wife...My insatiable desire to take care of people."
  • Values energy preservation, struggles with being the "center of attention," and feels misunderstood for being reclusive yet a public figure.

• Boundaries in Relationships:
  Tituss shares that true partnership means not feeling depleted or obligated to change for another; seeks "peace" and an equal yoking.

  • Tituss: "When you’re with the person, you’re not searching for your peace. It is just there...That’s the energy I want in a partner." ([46:30])

• Recent Date Story:
  He describes a recent date, noting he felt comfortable enough to do work during it and slept separately for comfort.

  • "If we were together, you wouldn’t not be doing what you need...let me see it." (date's words to Tituss, [47:37])
  • Conversation about sleep temperature quirks—Tituss prefers an icy 61°F.

7. Navigating Fame and Public Perception

Timestamp: [21:05] – [22:34]

• Tituss and Ego both share discomfort with attention; though they can perform for an audience, they don’t crave the spotlight.
  • Tituss: "Don’t confuse me being the lead of a show with wanting my whole walk in life to look like that." ([22:12])

8. Legacy, Parenting & Artistic Impact

Timestamp: [58:17] – [60:16]

• On Having Children:
  Tituss is clear he does not want kids, citing personal boundaries and societal conditions.
  • He feels his legacy is through his art and the truth he shares publicly.
  • Tituss: "My children is art...That I feel a paternal instinct about." ([59:19], [59:27])

9. Advice Segment: Self-Care & Making Friends

Timestamp: [60:25] – [64:43]

• Advice to Ego on Burnout:

  • Tituss: "Even if it’s a big money grab or family needs you, if you’re not taking care of this one thing [yourself], you’ve offered energy into these other things that is murky." ([61:49])
  • "No" is a complete sentence—prioritize your peace so you can show up fully elsewhere.

• Listener Question – Making Friends at College:

  • Both encourage leaning into personal interests to find genuine connections.
  • Ego: "Meet like-minded people that way...that’s a good barometer for whether you’d be friends naturally." ([64:27])

Memorable Quotes & Moments

On Directness & Honesty:

• Tituss: "My body started responding to stimuli differently and to people’s influence differently...I call it brutally honest, but most of the world operates in these strange niceties." ([07:49])

• Ego: "Some people conflate frankness and directness with cruelty, but my intent is to be direct and efficient." ([09:43])

On Family & Acceptance:

• Tituss: "My sperm donor lived about 12 minutes away from my mom and I my entire life...Not great with money. Didn’t like to pay child support." ([15:38])

• Ego: "No part of me wants to deny any part of my identity...so I don’t resonate with the distinction for myself. I’m all these things." ([19:00])

On Being Highly Sensitive:

• Tituss: "To be a highly sensitive person—there are people who are so empathic, you absorb everybody’s stuff, can’t tell what’s yours or not." ([25:47])

On Legacy and Artistry:

• Tituss: "My children is art...What I can leave behind that will go on after I leave here is what part of my mind I let be recorded." ([59:19], [59:27])

Closing Wisdom:

• Tituss: "No is a complete sentence." ([62:36])

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• Frankness, Perfection, and Bluntness: [07:19]–[10:26]
• Family History, Parental Roles: [11:00]–[16:00]
• Trauma with Father: [16:16]–[17:05]
• African/Black Identity: [18:25]–[19:44]
• Highly Sensitive Person & Dating: [25:03]–[27:52]
• Faith and Astrology: [29:00]–[41:13]
• On Fame & Attention: [21:05]–[22:34]
• Desire for Partnership: [42:49]–[46:12]
• Rejecting Father’s Reconnection Attempts: [54:01]–[56:53]
• On Not Having Kids, Legacy: [58:17]–[60:16]
• Advice Section (Self-care, Boundaries): [60:25]–[62:36]
• Listener Advice: Making Friends: [63:05]–[64:40]

Tone & Atmosphere

The episode balances deep emotional honesty with frequent humor and playful banter. Both Ego and Tituss approach difficult topics—family trauma, boundaries, self-doubt—with vulnerability but refuse self-pity, searching instead for clarity, connection, and authentic joy. Laughter punctuates confessions, and sage advice is delivered with warmth.

For Listeners...

If you’ve ever tried to find your place, struggled with family ties, redefined legacy, or simply wanted permission to claim your peace in a busy world, this episode resonates. Both hosts model self-respect, forgiveness, and the power of frank, loving boundaries.

End of Summary.