It's hard to think of anything that I have loved as long or as consistently as I have loved advice columns. My earliest memories of reading are of laying on the floor with a newspaper at my grandma's, because my arms were too short to hold the newspaper upright, reading the daily advice column in the back. Emily Yoffe's Dear Prudence carried me through high school and college. The Toast (RIP) had occasional advice columns; you can bet I read them. Here are a few I read today, that still post new stuff often, and also have rich, binge-worthy archives.

# My Go-Tos

  • Captain Awkward. I discovered Captain Awkward quite recently, though her archive goes back to 2011 and includes a whopping 1250+ posts. I love Captain Awkward for her distinctive writing style and straightforward guidance on navigating tough conversations & setting boundaries.
  • Ask a Swole Woman. Casey Johnston writes about the joys of lifting weights, and getting stronger for the sake of being stronger. Her columns convinced me to try weight lifting for the first time, and remind me that it's okay, good even, to do exercise without the goal of changing my appearance. See also previous iterations of AaSW at other outlets.
  • Ask a Manager. An advice column all about tricky work situations! Alison's been giving advice to managers and people who have managers since 2007, and she's very good at it.
  • Daniel Lavery's Dear Prudence. Dear Prudence has actually been going since 1997, and Daniel (né Ortberg, co-founder of The Toast) is a noble (and funny and compassionate) carrier of the mantle.
  • Care and Feeding. Yes, this is a parenting column, and no, I don't have kids. I'm really dedicated to the genre, okay? With or without kids, you'll find interesting dilemmas and insightful responses here.
  • r/relationships. Are you done reading all of the above? Are you sure? Okay, I guess you can try some advice subreddits. Most of the advice here is not too terrible, but the writing quality of both posts and responses varies a lot. See also Am I the Asshole?, an advice-adjacent spin-off.

# Honorable Mention

I don't read these advice columns super regularly, but have enjoyed what I have read.



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