Co-parenting between exes can be tough. This Pittsburgh couple goes public with a podcast, ‘You Mad, Bro?’

Photo courtesy of doctors Shannon Edwards and Jesse Sally.

This story first appeared in NEXTpittsburgh, which publishes Kidsburgh.

It was a messy divorce.

The 2018 break-up of Pittsburgh-based doctors Shannon Edwards and Jesse Sally had all the scandalous elements of a daytime soap opera — court battles, alleged death threats, public figures, media frenzy. Through it all, they had to find a healthy way to raise their young daughter.

Now, to help others navigate the often treacherous waters of divorce, the former couple is airing their own dirty laundry via a new podcast.

“You Mad, Bro?” — a phrase Sally utters to bring levity to a tense marital situation — is released every Tuesday. Each free, 45-minute installment explores a different subject, from co-parenting through COVID-19 and dating to family dynamics and back-to-school blues.

Since July, the podcast has amassed more than 600 listeners, who are invited to send in questions and feedback.

“It’s not about giving clinical advice,” says Sally, a sports medicine physician with Regenexx Pittsburgh. “We want to know what people have to say and try to build off of those topics and talk through those things.”

They’re already six episodes in, and eventually, they will feature expert guests, such as attorneys.

Edwards is a clinical forensic psychologist who provides psychological interventions and evaluations to courts across Pennsylvania. Long story short: she sees relationships unravel every day.

“After going through what should have been a private divorce, in the most public way, I realized that I wanted to take this negative experience and transform it into something positive,” she says. “I approached Jesse about telling our story in hopes of helping other people learn to successfully co-parent.”

With no broadcasting experience to speak of (they had to watch a YouTube tutorial on the subject), they set up microphones and mixing equipment at the dining room table and stared at each other for a long time before plunging into their backstory.

Dredging up the past helps them create a brighter future for their 10-year-old. Both Edwards and Sally live in Mt. Washington and have family meals together regularly. Most importantly, they’re friends.

“You Mad, Bro?” is a platform to give other exes a chance to mend fences.