Bonus - An Episode Honoring Jill Smokler: Friendship, Cancer, and Community

Bonus - An Episode Honoring Jill Smokler: Friendship, Cancer, and Community

From Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship by Nina Badzin

June 28, 2026 · 39 min

About this episode

This episode honors Jill Smokler, focusing on her candid conversation about friendship and support during her cancer diagnosis.

In this bonus episode, I’m honoring my friend Jill Smokler by sharing again the conversation she asked me to record with her in the summer of 2024, soon after she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Jill died on June 22, 2026, and I’m replaying this episode around what would have been her 49th birthday. Jill was the founder of Scary Mommy and later the creator of She’s Got Issues. Her writing, humor, honesty, and support of other writers helped countless women feel less alone. In this conversation, Jill speaks frankly about her diagnosis, the outpouring of love she received from every era of her life, and what friendship looks like in a crisis. We talked about what helped, what didn’t, why “you don’t have to respond” can be such a gift, and the importance of brief, consistent check-ins with no expectations. It is heartbreaking, funny, blunt, generous, and pure Jill. Special thank you, as always, to my assistant producer, Rebekah Jacobs!

People in this episode

Host: Nina Badzin

Guest: Jill Smokler

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Scary Mommy, She’s Got Issues

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