Podcast Summary: We Can Do Hard Things

Episode: Jane Fonda – How to Not Lose Yourself Right Now

Date: April 14, 2026
Hosts: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle
Guest: Jane Fonda

Overview

This deeply moving, candid, and inspiring episode features Jane Fonda, the legendary actress, activist, and author. The conversation spans Fonda’s lifelong journey through activism, personal trauma, recovery, aging, embodiment, and hope for the planet. Fonda opens up about her childhood, her battles with disembodiment, eating disorders, relationships, activism, and her ongoing fight for justice and the environment. The Pod Squad—Glennon, Abby, and Amanda—explore with Fonda how staying awake, present, and embodied is the true work of a lifetime.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jane Fonda’s Lifelong Activism and Impact ([00:12]–[04:33])

• Glennon and Abby honor Fonda’s activism: From Vietnam protests and the Black Panthers, to LGBTQ+ allyship and environmental work.
  • "Her evolution marked our nation’s revolution. She is a woman who owns her brilliant light as clearly as she owns her shadows.” – Glennon Doyle ([02:30])
• Memorable moment: Fonda is visibly touched:
  • "Oh, that’s so beautiful... gonna make me cry. Thank you." – Jane Fonda ([04:34])

2. Disembodiment, Trauma, and Returning to Self ([05:01]–[14:38])

• On leaving herself:
  • "When you found out your mom had died, you left your body and you didn’t come back for 50 years. Can you talk about disembodiment?" – Abby Wambach ([05:01])
  • "I think the disembodiment... happened much earlier than my mother’s suicide... It was like a double image... I had to work really hard to bring myself back into myself." – Jane Fonda ([05:41])
• Effects of trauma and body image:
  • Fonda discloses both her and her mother’s histories of sexual abuse.
  • "If you’re pretending to be someone you aren’t... you fill up that hole created by inauthenticity. For us, it was food..." – Jane Fonda ([08:43])
• Eating Disorders as coping mechanisms:
  • Both Abby and Jane connect eating disorders to disconnection from authenticity and self.

3. Struggles and Lessons from Relationships & Perfectionism ([10:00]–[14:38])

• On marriage and fear of intimacy:
  • "I’ve been under bombs. I’ve been shot at. But if… a guy said to me, come on Fonda, show up. Who are you? Show me... I fled in terror because they were going to demand that I show up." – Jane Fonda ([10:00])
• Impact of parental expectations:
  • "Most people blame eating disorders on moms, but for me, it was stuff my dad said... I want my father to love me, so I’ll get really, really skinny." – Jane Fonda ([11:04])
• Chameleon tendencies in relationships:
  • "You want me to be that kind of woman? Okay, I’ll do that... But under that, I can become pretty much whatever a guy wants me to be. And I did that for a long time." – Jane Fonda ([12:20])

4. Becoming Whole: Aging, Bravery, and Spiritual Insights ([13:11]–[18:41])

• Fear of regret as motivation:
  • "My big fear is getting to the end of my life... with a lot of regrets. My dad died with a lot. Oh my god, I don’t want that." – Jane Fonda ([13:20])
• Pivot toward wholeness:
  • "I left them [her husbands] for the idea... that you can reside in your own skin..." – Glennon Doyle ([14:12])
  • Fonda recalls feeling herself "moving back into myself" after the end of her marriage to Ted Turner, and connecting this to the concept of wholeness rather than perfection:
    • "What [Jesus] said was, you have to be whole like our Lord in heaven is whole." – Jane Fonda ([17:51])
• Rebirth and self-acceptance in her sixties:
  • "I’m being reborn. It’s appropriate that I get reborn in the home of my firstborn. It was the most beautiful time in my life." – Jane Fonda ([18:05])

5. Remembering, Healing, and Generational Trauma ([19:49]–[29:27])

• Remembering vs. dismembering:
  • "Remember is also to come back together... members of your body." – Jane Fonda ([20:27])
  • "If we lived authentically as embodied men and women, there would be no climate crisis, no racism, no patriarchy." – Jane Fonda ([20:42])
• Learning parents’ humanity:
  • "In order to know where I wanted to go in my third act, I had to know where I’d been." – Jane Fonda ([25:37])
  • Fonda shares research into her parents’ lives and the power of generational empathy:
    • "That’s the value of finding out who your parents are… It didn’t have anything to do with me. It was because that happened to them. And then you can have compassion and forgiveness." ([27:35])

6. The Differences Between Men and Women in Emotional Expression ([28:24]–[31:02])

• On men’s and women’s friendships:
  • "Men friendships... are sharing things outside of themselves. What do women do? — we show up emotionally for each other." – Jane Fonda ([28:24])
  • "Men don’t have it. I feel so sorry for them... It’s important to have empathy for men." ([29:27])
• Voice changes and embodiment:
  • "As you begin to connect to your core self, the voice drops. It started to happen... when I made Klute... I touched my core self and became a feminist. And my voice dropped." – Jane Fonda ([31:02])

7. Embodying Joy, Contentment, and Agency ([34:22]–[36:41])

• Who is real Jane Fonda?:
  • "I’m a brave, strong, persistent, curious woman who wants to make things better." – Jane Fonda ([34:47])
• Finding happiness:
  • "I’m always happy when I’m high on a mountain. Nature to me is my soul, my religion... I’m happy most of the time. Isn’t that weird?" – Jane Fonda ([35:09])
• Intentional living and agency:
  • "You have agency over what you do with your life. But that can only happen if you’re really intentional about who you want to be and where you want to go." – Jane Fonda ([35:48])

8. Marriages, Strategic Relationships, and Friendship ([36:41]–[41:10])

• Choosing partners for growth:
  • "What if instead of passively assuming your husband’s identity, you actively selected men that were aligned with your personal and political objectives?" – Abby/Sister ([37:17])
  • "That’s what I did." – Jane Fonda ([37:19])
• Life after marriage:
  • "I don’t need any more marriage... I’m alone now and so happy. ...Girlfriends…are just all so wonderful." – Jane Fonda ([38:46])
• Fire Drill Fridays origin:
  • Fonda describes how a climate crisis conversation with close friends led to her moving to D.C. and launching the Fire Drill Fridays protests ([39:14])

9. Climate Crisis and Hope ([41:10]–[47:10])

• Activism for the Earth:
  • "The things that are being destroyed by us... breaks my heart. And I’ve read the science... there’s a way to stop it and to save it. And so that’s what I’m devoting my life to." – Jane Fonda ([41:19])
  • "You don’t have to only be that thing [activist or embodied]. You can do that [heal] while you’re being an activist." – Jane Fonda ([44:28])
  • "We don’t have time. You have to do that while you’re doing the other." ([44:52])
• The Jane Fonda Climate PAC:
  • Targets politicians who accept fossil fuel money and supports those who fight for people and the planet, with a focus on down-ballot races ([45:13])
  • "We kept seeing important legislation isn’t passing because all these damn elected officials are getting money from the fossil fuel industry... So I should start a PAC that brings fossil fuels into the electoral arena..." – Jane Fonda ([45:41])
• Activism metaphors:
  • "You can only pull people out of the river for so long till you go upstream to see who’s pushing them in... Fire Drill Fridays is getting people out, while the PAC is confronting those pushing people in the river." – Glennon Doyle ([47:10])

10. Final Reflections: Legacy, Advice, and The Work Left To Do ([50:41]–[54:53])

• Doing your part:
  • "On my deathbed, I want to say I did everything I possibly could so that this incredible planet… is saved for the young people." – Jane Fonda ([41:19] & [50:41])
  • "Everybody can do something. The most important thing is join an organization so you’re not alone." – Jane Fonda ([51:06])
• Hard thing for the new year:
  • "I have to get better at not being afraid of conflict... I want to try to get more used to talking things out so they don’t fester." – Jane Fonda ([51:37])
• Wisdom for grandchildren:
  • "You can be anything you want to be. Figure out what your dream is, what your passion is, what would make you happy, forget about rich, what will satisfy you, and then go for it." – Jane Fonda ([53:28])

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On authenticity:
  "The goal isn’t perfection. It’s alignment. It’s integration. It’s matching your insides with your outsides." – Abby Wambach ([00:12])

• On showing up in activism:
  "Activism isn’t something you do once you have your life all sorted out... You just show up as you are." – Abby Wambach ([00:12])

• On wholeness, not perfection:
  "What [Jesus] said was... you have to be whole like our Lord in heaven is whole. So Jesus knew that the goal of humanity is to become fully integrated, fully whole." – Jane Fonda ([17:51])

• On resilience in the face of detractors:
  "You’re not gonna scare me. I just refuse to play into that preconception... I wasn’t gonna let them get me down." – Jane Fonda ([22:59])

• On moving toward what breaks your heart:
  "Go towards the thing that breaks your heart... I think really every decade. Vietnam, racism, misogyny, the teenagers in Georgia with the G cap. Aren’t these all things that tore at your heart and so you rush towards them?" – Abby Wambach ([53:41])

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• [05:41] Jane explains disembodiment and work to reintegrate self
• [08:43] Eating disorders and inauthenticity
• [14:12] Leaving relationships to live aligned with self
• [17:51] Concept of wholeness vs. perfection – spiritual reflection
• [27:35] Investigating parental history, forgiveness, and generational trauma
• [31:02] Voice and embodiment, transformation through acting
• [39:14] The origin of Fire Drill Fridays
• [41:19] Fonda’s impassioned call for climate action
• [45:41] The Jane Fonda Climate PAC explanation
• [53:28] Jane’s advice and wisdom for her grandchildren

Episode Tone & Style

The conversation is intimate, raw, witty, and deeply compassionate, balancing humor and gravity. Fonda’s humility and wisdom shine throughout, with all participants leaning into honesty, self-reflection, and mutual admiration.

Final Toast (Abby & Glennon at Jane’s 85th Birthday) ([56:24])

"To say I love Jane Fonda is to say I stand on the side of goodness and courage and the people and the earth and revolution. Happy birthday to the woman who lives her life in such a way that her name has become a clarion call, an ethos in itself, a battle cry." – Glennon Doyle & Abby Wambach

Takeaways

• Wholeness, not perfection, is the goal of life and activism.
• Embodiment is both a personal healing practice and a revolution against the dismemberment caused by trauma, patriarchy, and modern life.
• Strength comes from community. Activism is a collective effort.
• Facing our histories—personal and generational—allows us to live with compassion, intent, and fewer regrets.
• Each of us can do something. The work is urgent, imperfect, and ongoing.

For anyone seeking hope, courage, or a blueprint for “doing hard things”—this episode is a masterclass, and a lifeline, from Jane Fonda.

Listen to the full episode for even more wisdom and laughter.