Closing Letters Properly, Feeding Finicky Visitors, Blinding Fellow Drivers, and More
02/03/2026 | 45 min
Etiquette, manners, and beyond! In this episode, Nick and Leah tackle closing letters and cards properly, feeding finicky out-of-town visitors, blinding fellow drivers, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.)
Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.com
EPISODE CONTENTS AMUSE-BOUCHE: Signing letters and cards A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE: Cruise ships QUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS: What do you do about out of town guests with very narrow food preferences? Should I tell my sister that the gift card she just gave me isn't usable because the store just went bankrupt? VENT OR REPENT: Car headlights, Blowing bubbles CORDIALS OF KINDNESS: Thanks for the cruise, Thanks for the photos
THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW Cunard's Queen Mary 2
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TRANSCRIPT Episode 298 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Dropping State Names, Double-Thanking for Gifts, Arriving at Funerals Early, and More
23/02/2026 | 25 min
Etiquette, manners, and beyond! In this episode, Nick and Leah answer listener questions about dropping state names, double-thanking for gifts, arriving early for funerals, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.) Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.com
QUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS: When is a city sufficiently well known not to need the state name with it? Is it bad form to text a photo of yourself enjoying a gift after you've already sent a thank-you note? Is it true that you should arrive at weddings and funerals half an hour early? What should I do about a holiday postcard that was misaddressed and includes a lot of personal information? What should I do about store employees who address me as "dear," "hun," or "sweetheart"? Bonkers: Grabbing produce bags at the supermarket
THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW Clip from "Hoosiers" Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money"
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TRANSCRIPT Episode 297 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Second Helpings: Faking Wedding Start Times, Asking for Gifts Back, Clipping Nails in Church, and More
16/02/2026 | 24 min
Etiquette, manners, and beyond! This week, Nick and Leah are enjoying a well-deserved break, but they'll be back next week with an all-new episode. In the meantime, here's one of their favorite episodes from the archives in which they answer listener questions about faking wedding start times, asking for gifts back, clipping nails in church, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.) Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.com
QUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS: Is it rude to put a fake start time on a wedding invitation? What's the polite way to tell someone "when" to stop pouring wine? How do I politely decline someone's offer to share a hotel room? Is it OK to ask for a gift back after someone dies? What do you do if you only remember a dog's name but not the owner's? Etiquette Crime Report: Clipping nails in church
THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW A "Standard Pour" of wine
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CREDITS Hosts: Nick Leighton & Leah Bonnema Producer & Editor: Nick Leighton Theme Music: Rob Paravonian
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TRANSCRIPT Episode 227 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Herding Sheep in Iceland, Watching Hockey Respectfully, Hailing Cabs in Winter, and More
09/02/2026 | 34 min
Etiquette, manners, and beyond! In this episode, Nick and Leah tackle herding sheep in Iceland, watching hockey games respectfully, hailing cabs in winter, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.)
Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.com
EPISODE CONTENTS AMUSE-BOUCHE: Réttir (Annual Icelandic Sheep Roundup) A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE: Watching hockey QUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS: How do you navigate houseguests when working from home? Do I have to catch up with a parent I knew decades ago from my child's school? VENT OR REPENT: Unleashed dogs, Hailing cabs CORDIALS OF KINDNESS: Thanks to the neighbors, A nice comment
THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW Video of réttir in Iceland
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TRANSCRIPT Episode 296 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Waiting on Forgotten Gifts, Noticing New Wigs, Gossiping About Monarchs, and More
02/02/2026 | 25 min
Etiquette, manners, and beyond! In this episode, Nick and Leah answer listener questions about handling forgotten Secret Santa gifts, noticing a coworker's new wig, gossiping about monarchs, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.)
Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.com
QUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS: What should you do about a Secret Santa who never gave you a gift? Should you acknowledge a coworker's new wig? Whose responsibility is it to translate a customer email into English? If you bring a bottle of Chardonnay to a dinner party, should it arrive chilled? What should you do about friends and family who consistently spell your last name incorrectly? A certain monarch sends holiday cards incorrectly
THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood"
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TRANSCRIPT Episode 295 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Editors’ Notes: “I want to give everybody the tools to solve their own etiquette problems,” says Nick Leighton, cohost and producer of Were You Raised by Wolves?, a weekly podcast in which he and cohost Leah Bonnema look into the many sticky social situations we all face. “With each of the questions that we get, from the bonkers to the ordinary, I always try to take a step back and ask, ‘What are the bigger principles here?’ I'm always looking for topics that help us make a larger point.” In each episode, Leighton, a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, and Bonnema, a comic/writer, share practical advice on how to navigate a wide range of situations, from the serious to the whimsical—whether they tackle interrupting excessive talkers, establishing healthy boundaries with coworkers, or the proper way to eat Cheetos.When they developed the show in 2019, Leighton and Bonnema had one goal in mind: to have empathy for other people. Their informal conversations tackle a mix of personal topics, viewer questions, and the occasional historical fact with warmth and positivity and humor. Leighton views this approach as an antidote to a lot of the negativity he sees in the online world, while Bonnema thinks the show’s premise is a natural fit for her situational style of comedy. “A lot of my comedy is about events where I’m like, ‘What just happened here?’ or where I embarrass myself,” she says. “And, ironically, all of these fall under the guise of etiquette, where you either feel aggrieved or you feel like you committed some sort of social crime. I just loved the topic.”Leighton and Bonnema credit the show’s ongoing success to their work ethic. They haven’t missed a single week since they launched the show, which recently hit a new milestone: 100 episodes. But what they value the most, above all else, is how they've built a community of listeners from all backgrounds. “We have conservative grandmothers in Tallahassee to nonbinary chefs in Seattle and everybody in between,” he says. “Because who among us has not experienced an etiquette crime? This is universal.”---Etiquette, manners, and beyond! Join Emmy® Award-winning journalist Nick Leighton and acclaimed comedian Leah Bonnema ("Late Show with Stephen Colbert"), the perfect odd couple, as they try to make the world a nicer, more polite place and offer up practical advice to help you smoothly glide through any situation. Please listen and follow! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.)