Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Every Monday morning step into the office of iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel on "Where Should We Begin" and listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories....
Insights from recent episode analysis
On the show
- anonymous guests3 eps
- Jodi Kantor1 ep
- Priya Parker1 ep
Also: Spike Jonze, a divorced woman, woman, twin brothers, Kashmir Hill, young woman, Anonymous, he, Anonymous Male Caller, Mary Alice Miller, Anonymous Guest, Anonymous Woman, anonymous caller
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Based on 1 signal.
Built from
By chart position
- 🇺🇸United States · Society & CultureHOME#4963K to 331K
- 🇮🇳India · Society & Culture#1320K to 104K
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom · Society & Culture#386.2K to 33K
- 🇨🇦Canada · Society & Culture#325.1K to 27K
- 🇦🇺Australia · Society & Culture#304.3K to 23K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
114K to 602K🎙 Weekly cadence·155 episodes·Last published 3d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
228K to 1.2M🇺🇸55%🇮🇳17%🇬🇧5%+11 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
125K to 663K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/26/26 |  Is My Fantasy Ruining My Love Life? | After years of struggling to stay present during sex, one caller wonders if her fantasies are keeping her from the intimacy she longs for. The more she depends on fantasies of domination and humiliation, the more she questions what they mean about her and her relationships. Esther helps her explore the difference between fantasy and flight, and how sexual patterns can become a language for deeper emotional needs. What happens when the fantasy is not the problem, but the place we go when it feels too risky to be fully seen? Esther Callings are a one time, 45-60 minute interventional phone call with Esther. They are edited for time, clarity, and anonymity. If you have a question you would like to talk through with Esther, send a voice memo to [email protected]. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Relationships are undergoing a massive cultural shift. We've never been more connected, and we've never felt more disconnected. We crave understanding and collective experience. We want to be seen but we're optimizing for isolation. Esther believes that the only way to improve our relationships is to remember the basics of being together. This is why she's inviting you to join her for an immersive experience: her international tour, Strangers, Friends, and Lovers. Tickets are selling fast. Get yours now at estherperel.com/tour. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 54m 02s | ||||||
| 10/19/26 |  Can I Still Be a Good Man if I Leave? | After decades together, he wonders whether he can stay in a marriage where intimacy and connection has all but disappeared. He's touch-starved and lonely and questioning whether preserving the family unit for the sake of his young daughter, is worth the cost of losing himself. Esther helps him look beyond the question of whether to stay or leave and toward what he needs to feel alive and true to himself. Esther Callings are a one time, 45-60 minute interventional phone call with Esther. They are edited for time, clarity, and anonymity. If you have a question you would like to talk through with Esther, send a voice memo to [email protected]. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Relationships are undergoing a massive cultural shift. We've never been more connected, and we've never felt more disconnected. We crave understanding and collective experience. We want to be seen but we're optimizing for isolation. Esther believes that the only way to improve our relationships is to remember the basics of being together. This is why she's inviting you to join her for an immersive experience: her international tour, Strangers, Friends, and Lovers. Tickets are selling fast. Get yours now at estherperel.com/tour. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 59m 59s | ||||||
| 10/12/26 |  I Want You To Want Me | Couples often struggle with gaps in their sex drives, but what does a couple do when one person has no desire for sex whatsoever? A married couple comes to Esther with this question: one of them has recently discovered that she's asexual, while the other craves sex as a primary form of connection. Is theirs an irreconcilable difference? Is there hope for their future, or should they accept that divorce is the only option before them? Esther challenges their long-held assumptions about sexuality, and offers a third path forward. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 53m 35s | ||||||
| 10/5/26 |  I Don't Mean to Be Mean, But... | This is a classic session of Where Should We Begin? She has no boundaries, he’s walled off. And their opposing communication styles cause immediate tension in this explosive session. So much so, that Esther finds herself adding to the chorus of angry voices. There might only be three people in this session, but Esther realizes she needs at least three more chairs for the in-laws whose voices and opinions are always playing in the background of this marriage. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 1h 06m 15s | ||||||
| 9/28/26 |  My Ex, His AI Girlfriend, And Our Kids | After the end of a fifteen-year marriage, she is trying to make sense of something she never imagined would become part of her family's story: her ex-husband's love affair with an AI companion. As her children struggle to make sense of what is real and what isn't, she turns to Esther for guidance on how to keep them grounded without invalidating their experience. How do you help your children trust reality without asking them to choose between their parents? Esther Callings are a one time, 45-60 minute interventional phone call with Esther. They are edited for time, clarity, and anonymity. If you have a question you would like to talk through with Esther, send a voice memo to [email protected]. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 53m 21s | ||||||
| 9/21/26 | Good Relationships Need Better Fights | Conflict is not toxic or immoral. In fact, it's generative and the lifeblood of our relationships. It isn't something to avoid. It matters, and it can even bring us closer together. Priya Parker, author of The Art of Fighting, joins Esther to dig into how conflict can be a productive force in our relationships rather than something to fear. For more about Priya Parker and The Art of Fighting visit https://www.priyaparker.com/ Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 58m 23s | ||||||
| 9/14/26 |  How Many Times Can You Betray Me? | A married couple arrives at Esther’s office hoping to recover from a devastating rupture with his mother after the birth of their first child. But immediately their session reveals a longer, more complex history of betrayal within their relationship and within his larger family system. Having a child, and experiencing an absolute break from his abusive mother, finally disrupted the toxic dynamics between the couple. Now, as they revisit the moments when she felt most abandoned by him, Esther helps them explore the differences between shame and accountability, the legacy of childhood family systems, and what it takes to truly repair the pain you've caused someone you love. Producer’s Note: When our anonymous guests do a session with Esther for the podcast, it is an act of generosity for everyone who listens. These sessions are meant not only to support the people in the room with Esther, but all of us who learn from their stories. Our stories have many chapters, and what you hear is just one moment in someone’s journey. So even though the sessions are anonymous, please remember that real people are behind them and they may be reading your comments. Also, please join me on Entre Nous, my new home on Substack for anyone who wants to live, love, and work with more connection and imagination. I invite you to sign up and become a free or paid member at estherperel.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 54m 35s | ||||||
| 8/31/26 | relationshipsmental health+3 | anonymous guests | — | — | relationshipsdepression+3 | — | 53m 12s | ||
| 8/24/26 | lonelinessemotional struggles+4 | Anonymous Guest | Esther Perel Global Mediachurch+2 | — | lonelinesschurch betrayal+5 | — | 49m 11s | ||
| 8/17/26 | emotional availabilitycontrol+3 | — | Esther Perel Global MediaSubstack+1 | — | emotional unavailabilityself-control+3 | — | 37m 20s | ||
| 8/10/26 | gaslightingrelationships+3 | Anonymous Woman | Esther Perel Global MediaSubstack+1 | — | gaslightingrelationship advice+3 | — | 36m 02s | ||
| 8/3/26 | relationshipsgrief+3 | anonymous caller | — | Philippines | love storylife story+5 | — | 50m 59s | ||
| 7/27/26 | family traumamarriage+3 | — | Esther Perel Global Media | — | familytrauma+5 | — | 42m 11s | ||
| 7/20/26 | relationshipscommunication+3 | Anonymous | ChatGPT | — | ChatGPTrelationships+3 | — | 52m 29s | ||
| 7/13/26 | betrayalrelationships+4 | — | — | — | betrayalaffair+4 | — | 54m 04s | ||
| 6/29/26 | hero complexrelationships+3 | heAnonymous Male Caller | — | — | hero complexrescue+3 | — | 40m 20s | ||
| 6/22/26 | desireintimacy+3 | Mary Alice Miller | Esther Perel Global MediaSessions Live+1 | Spotify | desireintimacy+5 | — | 44m 21s | ||
| 6/15/26 | relationshipsidentity+4 | anonymous guests | Esther Perel Global MediaSubstack | — | relationshipsidentity+5 | — | 46m 34s | ||
| 6/8/26 | family dynamicsrelationship conflict+3 | twin brothers | — | — | abandonmentsuffocation+4 | — | 51m 25s | ||
| 6/1/26 | AI relationshipscouples therapy+3 | Kashmir Hill | New York TimesOpenAI+2 | — | AIcouples therapy+5 | — | 49m 55s | ||
| 5/18/26 | family dynamicsautism+4 | young woman | Esther Perel Global Media | — | joyautism+5 | — | 55m 59s | ||
| 5/11/26 | relationshipsultimatums+3 | — | — | — | ultimatumrelationship dynamics+3 | — | 58m 14s | ||
| 5/4/26 | divorcefamily dynamics+4 | woman | — | — | divorcefamily+5 | — | 57m 55s | ||
| 4/27/26 | identityuncertainty+4 | Jodi KantorPriya Parker | New York TimesHachette Book Group+2 | — | startingidentity+7 | Sessions LiveFRIENDSLIVE | 54m 32s | ||
| 4/20/26 | relationship dynamicslove+3 | anonymous guests | — | — | relationshiplove+3 | — | 56m 18s | ||
| 4/13/26 | family dynamicsmother-daughter relationship+3 | — | Esther Perel Global Media | — | weddingmother+5 | — | 50m 59s | ||
| 4/6/26 | parentingdesire+3 | — | Esther Perel Global Media | NYC | parentingmotherhood+3 | Sessions LiveFRIENDSLIVE | 45m 35s | ||
| 3/30/26 | bipolarinfidelity+3 | — | Esther Perel Global Media | — | bipolarinfidelity+3 | — | 50m 31s | ||
| 3/23/26 | loveloneliness+4 | Spike Jonze | Vox MediaEsther Perel Global Media+1 | — | loveloneliness+5 | — | 56m 49s | ||
| 3/16/26 | AI relationshipsemotional connection+3 | — | — | — | AIlove+3 | — | 1h 04m 24s | ||
| 3/9/26 | jealousylove+3 | a divorced woman | Esther Perel Global Media | — | jealousylove+4 | — | 55m 26s | ||
| 3/2/26 | affairbetrayal+4 | — | Esther Perel Global Media | — | affairmarriage+5 | — | 55m 13s | ||
| 2/23/26 | relationship dynamicsinfidelity+3 | — | Esther Perel Global MediaSubstack+1 | — | relationshipinfidelity+3 | — | 47m 22s | ||
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Chart history for Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Peaked at #11 in RO, currently #11 in RO.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RO | — | #11 | #11 | — |
| India | — | #13 | #13 | — |
| South Africa | — | #14 | #14 | — |
| NG | — | #21 | #21 | — |
| KE | — | #22 | #22 | — |
| IS | — | #25 | #25 | — |
| Australia | — | #30 | #30 | — |
| Canada | — | #32 | #32 | — |
| BE | — | #33 | #33 | — |
| New Zealand | — | #34 | #34 | — |
| SG | — | #35 | #35 | — |
| United Kingdom | — | #38 | #38 | — |
| PT | — | #39 | #39 | — |
| IL | — | #43 | #43 | — |
| AE | — | #46 | #46 | — |
| AT | — | #48 | #48 | — |
| United States | — | #49 | #49 | — |
| Ireland | — | #49 | #49 | — |
| TR | — | #51 | #51 | — |
| VN | — | #55 | #55 | — |
Chart Positions
44 placements across 44 markets.
Chart Positions
44 placements across 44 markets.