• Approval Junkie

  • By: Faith Salie
  • Narrated by: Faith Salie
  • Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (434 ratings)

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Approval Junkie

By: Faith Salie
Narrated by: Faith Salie
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Publisher's summary

Faith Salie's Approval Junkie, developed in collaboration with Amanda Watkins, made its New York premiere at the Minetta Lane Theatre after original rehearsals were postponed in March 2020. Emmy-winning comedian Salie, a regular guest on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and contributor to CBS Sunday Morning on PBS, recorded her one-woman memoir live onstage in the winter of 2021. Approval Junkie brings her laugh-out-loud, often tender recollections of the turbulent emotional waters of adolescence and adulthood to listeners. It is a no-holds-barred look into Salie's very relatable journey to self-acceptance, learning that the only person she ever truly needs to impress is herself.

Now available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.

©2022 Faith Salie (P)2022 AO Media LLC

Go Behind the Scenes of Approval Junkie

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About the Creator and Performer

Faith Salie is a five-time Emmy-winning contributor to CBS Sunday Morning and a regular on NPR’s Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! She hosted five seasons of PBS’s Science Goes to the Movies and is a storyteller for The Moth, with her story viewed over 4 million times and included in The Moth’s New York Times bestseller, Occasional Magic. Her favorite stage roles include playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret (American Repertory Theatre) Squeaky Fromme in Assassins (Oxford Playhouse, England), Svetlana in Chess (Edinburgh Fringe), and a member of the Los Angeles premiere of The Laramie Project. Faith’s interviewed thousands of people as the host of a dozen podcasts and has been interviewed by Oprah, Anderson Cooper, and Bill O’Reilly (consensually). Her solo show Approval Junkie—based on her memoir of the same name—premiered to sold out audiences at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. She’s performed at Carnegie Hall, sung with the Boston Pops, and swum with the Weeki Wachee mermaids. Faith’s a Rhodes scholar who received her MPhil in Literature from Oxford University, after which her cohort became things like 2020 presidential candidates and Pulitzer Prize winners, while she went to Hollywood and landed on a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine collectible trading card worth hundreds of cents. She lives in Manhattan with two kids and one husband.

About the Director

Amanda Watkins is the Associate Producer at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta GA., where she recently co-developed and directed Approval Junkie under the artistic director leadership of Susan V Booth.She served as Executive Vice President of Production and Development at The Araca Group for 8 years, producing and developing dozens of new plays and musicals. She was the Executive Producer of Broadway's Disgraced, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama by Ayad Akhtar as well as the 2010 revival of Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor, directed by Stanley Tucci. From 2015-2019, Amanda was the General Manager of Broadway Dreams, a nonprofit dedicated to the training and mentoring of young adults in the theatre arts. She was anactor on and off Broadway and throughout the regions for 15 years.

Dear Listener,

What’s the story behind my title?
"In my early 40s, the most pressing and painful questions of my life finally started answering themselves: "Will I find love?" "What’s my purpose?" "Where is home?" "Will I ever get to be a mother?" "Should I ever get bangs?" As those answers manifested, I felt I had stories to share, stories that could touch people—make them laugh, cry, and/or shudder with relief that they have not, say, been humiliated on Fox News or undergone an exorcism at the request of their wasband (aka ex-husband). I realized that all my experiences of both triumph and heartache share a common theme: I’ve always quested for validation, whether from others or myself. I am an approval junkie, and it’s not an addiction that has undone me; it’s…done me, dinged me, built me.
I believe that the things we do in order to be seen, understood, and applauded show us who we are and who we can be. In a world where folks think it’s cool to brag that they don’t care what anyone thinks, I’m here to care hard. And to share how I ultimately learned to care most about winning my own approval." – Faith Salie, writer of Approval Junkie

What listeners say about Approval Junkie

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Such a wonderful rollercoaster!

Laughter, tears, vulnerability, and affirmation all rolled into a single performance...who could ask for more?

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

really wanted to like this more

look, she is a humorous woman, that is not really in doubt here. I think what was so jarring was these transitions between humorous anecdotes to these incredibly sad events or introspection. the funny was not SO funny to bring the tone up, it was more made me smile kind. the sad parts are ... pretty grim in places. so while I have enjoyed her from other mediums, this is pretty uneven and I was hoping for a touch more fun, but hey she's pretty damm honest and you can't fault that!

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  • Overall
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relatable, hilarious & heartfelt performance 👏

wonderful stories lots of laugh out loud moments, and some tearful ones. thanks for taking us on that journey. loved it!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

BURSTING with raw honesty!

Ms Salie delivers a soul-baring gut punch that left me inspired and hopeful. Her layers are revealed like pulling a band-aid off too slow.. in that the pain is there, but the healing is exposed. BRAVA!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Hilariously Poignant!!

This was not at all what was expecting, and everything I didn’t know I needed, Enjoy!!!

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This Was Great! A Great Mood Lifter

I really enjoyed this. It was well written and performed by the author. Thanks so much for the laugh I needed today.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Charming memoir preformed for a live audience.

I'd known Faith Salie through Wait... Wait... Don't Tell Me and enjoyed this deep dive into the life of a Southern Girl who grew into a humorous women and proud mother of two.

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Love it

I laughed and almost cried. I really enjoyed listening to this audible. It was exactly what I needed

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Funny and heart wrenching

Faith is a great storyteller. I was so moved by her stories of disordered eating, infertility and motherhood especially. I laughed I cried I recommend a listen!

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Real

I found Faith’s story to be honest, raw, real and funny. She performed it in a genuine way that helped me to be empathetic to her experiences. I highly recommend this podcast.

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