<![CDATA[Ela's Got the Tea]]>Every day somebody posts the worst week of their life and asks a few thousand strangers: was I wrong? And every day, those strangers line up to tell them exactly how wrong they were.

I'm not going to do that.

I'm Ela, and this is an advice column, with tea. Every Monday I pour a cup and read three real posts straight from the source. No summaries, no editing them to make my point for me. Then I give you the read instead of the verdict: the dynamic nobody in the comments bothered to name. Because most of these stories aren't about bad people. They're about tired people, scared people, people repeating something they learned at home and never questioned.

I'm a mom, and your mom friend. Not your therapist.

There's a tea of the month, described by taste and mood rather than sold to you. There's an organization every month doing real work for women and children, because sometimes the help somebody needs isn't a hot take. It's a phone number. And every episode ends by pouring something back into your own cup.

This is a soft place to land. Put it on while you fold the laundry, or drive home, or hide in the car for ten minutes before you go back inside. Some of these stories sit heavy, but I won't leave you there.

Just me, a hot cup, and other people's chaos. Grab your cup. Let me pour.

]]>https://riverside.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:44:59 GMTMon, 31 Aug 2026 07:27:39 GMT60Ela Scolari<p>Every day somebody posts the worst week of their life and asks a few thousand strangers: was I wrong? And every day, those strangers line up to tell them exactly how wrong they were.</p><p></p><p>I'm not going to do that.</p><p></p><p>I'm Ela, and this is an advice column, with tea. Every Monday I pour a cup and read three real posts straight from the source. No summaries, no editing them to make my point for me. Then I give you the read instead of the verdict: the dynamic nobody in the comments bothered to name. Because most of these stories aren't about bad people. They're about tired people, scared people, people repeating something they learned at home and never questioned.</p><p></p><p>I'm a mom, and your mom friend. Not your therapist.</p><p></p><p>There's a tea of the month, described by taste and mood rather than sold to you. There's an organization every month doing real work for women and children, because sometimes the help somebody needs isn't a hot take. It's a phone number. And every episode ends by pouring something back into your own cup.</p><p></p><p>This is a soft place to land. Put it on while you fold the laundry, or drive home, or hide in the car for ten minutes before you go back inside. Some of these stories sit heavy, but I won't leave you there.</p><p></p><p>Just me, a hot cup, and other people's chaos. Grab your cup. Let me pour.</p>episodicEla Scolarielascolari@gmail.comyes<![CDATA[My Daughter Isn't Going to That Funeral.]]>An advice column with tea. Three real posts a week, and instead of telling you who the villain is, I'll tell you what's actually going on underneath.

This is the first one. New episodes every Monday.

Today we cover:

A woman is dead. And OP won't let their own daughter go to the funeral, because their daughter is the reason she's gone.

Also this week: OP makes their kid ring the coach and quit for themselves, and a widower gets shouted at for finally clearing out his own house.

Chapters

00:00 — Open

01:51 — The Coach Call (r/AmItheAsshole)

10:05 — The Funeral (r/AmItheAsshole)

19:30 — The Widower (r/AmItheAsshole)

27:38 — The Last Pour

Heads up: The Funeral deals with death and infidelity. The Widower deals with the death of a spouse. Both are timestamped above.

Tea of the month: vanilla pear white tea. It's from the Tea Forte Lotus sampler I'm working my way through →

https://teaforte.com/products/gourmet-tea-lotus-collection-single-steeps-17866

This month's charity: AdoptAClassroom.org. Most teachers spend around $895 a year of their own money on classroom supplies. You can give to the organisation directly, or find a teacher or school near you → https://www.adoptaclassroom.org/

]]>6ed5ab08-784b-4b5a-ba9e-9720365a5bc2Mon, 07 Sep 2026 13:21:44 GMT<p>An advice column with tea. Three real posts a week, and instead of telling you who the villain is, I'll tell you what's actually going on underneath.</p><p></p><p>This is the first one. New episodes every Monday.</p><p></p><p>Today we cover:</p><p></p><p>A woman is dead. And OP won't let their own daughter go to the funeral, because their daughter is the reason she's gone.</p><p></p><p>Also this week: OP makes their kid ring the coach and quit for themselves, and a widower gets shouted at for finally clearing out his own house.</p><p></p><p>Chapters</p><p>00:00 — Open</p><p>01:51 — The Coach Call (r/AmItheAsshole)</p><p>10:05 — The Funeral (r/AmItheAsshole)</p><p>19:30 — The Widower (r/AmItheAsshole)</p><p>27:38 — The Last Pour</p><p></p><p>Heads up: The Funeral deals with death and infidelity. The Widower deals with the death of a spouse. Both are timestamped above.</p><p>Tea of the month: vanilla pear white tea. It's from the Tea Forte Lotus sampler I'm working my way through → </p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://teaforte.com/products/gourmet-tea-lotus-collection-single-steeps-17866" target="_blank">https://teaforte.com/products/gourmet-tea-lotus-collection-single-steeps-17866</a></p><p></p><p>This month's charity: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://AdoptAClassroom.org" target="_blank">AdoptAClassroom.org</a>. Most teachers spend around $895 a year of their own money on classroom supplies. You can give to the organisation directly, or find a teacher or school near you → <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.adoptaclassroom.org/" target="_blank">https://www.adoptaclassroom.org/</a></p>yes00:30:1011My Daughter Isn't Going to That Funeral.full<![CDATA[Trailer: An Advice Column With Tea]]>What this show is, why I make it, and what you can expect every Monday. I'm Ela. Your host, your mom friend, and the person who reads you the internet's messiest family drama so you don't have to go digging for it yourself.

First episode September 7.

]]>34c2eef1-b9d4-4d52-a381-df404e30cf4bMon, 31 Aug 2026 07:42:46 GMT<p>What this show is, why I make it, and what you can expect every Monday. I'm Ela. Your host, your mom friend, and the person who reads you the internet's messiest family drama so you don't have to go digging for it yourself.</p><p></p><p>First episode September 7.</p>no00:03:09Trailer: An Advice Column With Teatrailer