How Many Ads Does We Can Do Hard Things Have?

We Can Do Hard Things runs 3–5 ads per episode via Audacy's DAI system. PodSkip's free on-device AI skips every host-read spot automatically.

You settled in for a conversation about hard things — grief, identity, marriage, parenting — and then Glennon's voice pivots to a mattress company. It happens with jarring regularity. We Can Do Hard Things is one of the most emotionally resonant podcasts running today, and it also runs a full commercial load via Audacy's dynamic ad infrastructure. How many ads does We Can Do Hard Things have? Most episodes carry 3 to 5 ad breaks with 4 to 6 minutes of total sponsored content. Here's what's actually happening, why it's likely to get worse, and how to fix it for free.

The Ad Reality of We Can Do Hard Things

Hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle, We Can Do Hard Things is produced by Treat Media and distributed through Audacy, which renewed a multi-year partnership with the show's team in 2024. That deal keeps the show ad-supported rather than moving toward a subscription model, which means the commercial load is baked into the show's long-term economics.

A standard episode runs 45–75 minutes and typically contains:

3–5 ad breaks positioned at pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll
3–6 individual reads, most of them delivered in the hosts' own voices
4–6 minutes of total ad time, in line with the industry average of roughly 9–10% ad load for top-tier shows

Sponsors skew toward wellness brands, subscription services, and DTC products — a natural fit for the show's audience. Many are host-read, delivered in the same warm, intimate tone that makes the content so compelling. That overlap is the problem.

Why Dynamic Ad Insertion Makes This Worse

Audacy routes ads into episodes through dynamic ad insertion (DAI), a technology that now drives over 90% of all U.S. podcast advertising revenue, up from roughly 48% just five years ago. DAI means ads are swapped in at runtime, not recorded permanently into the file. When you go back to listen to an episode from 2022, the ads playing in it today are brand new — inserted fresh from whatever campaigns are currently live.

For listeners, this creates a fundamentally unpredictable experience. Ad length varies. Break placement varies. The number of ads varies week to week. Research on podcast ad frequency and listener fatigue shows that once ad load crosses the 10% threshold, advertiser conversion rates fall by 25–40%. The load isn't just annoying for you — it's counterproductive for the brands behind it.

For a deeper look at what dynamic ad insertion is and how it works, see our explainer on dynamic ad insertion in podcasts.

How PodSkip Detects and Skips We Can Do Hard Things Ads Automatically

The phrase "how many ads does We Can Do Hard Things have" transforms from a grievance into a non-issue once PodSkip is running.

PodSkip uses on-device AI that listens ahead in the audio stream and identifies sponsored segments automatically — no crowdsourced database, no manual timestamps. It catches host-read ads recorded directly into the episode, not just the programmatically inserted slots. That distinction matters enormously for a show like We Can Do Hard Things, where Glennon and her co-hosts voice the ads themselves.

Spotify Premium and Amazon Music Unlimited can suppress some pre-inserted ad slots on select shows. They cannot detect host-read content baked into the audio. PodSkip does. And it's completely free.

For more on how the detection works, see how AI detects podcast ads and the full guide to skipping podcast ads automatically.

What the Listening Experience Actually Feels Like

A typical We Can Do Hard Things episode opens with a pre-roll ad — sometimes back-to-back reads — before the conversation begins. The first mid-roll usually lands 15–20 minutes in, at a natural pause in dialogue. A second or third mid-roll follows. On high-engagement episodes with notable guests, the ad count trends higher.

With PodSkip running, those breaks are gone. The show continues at the content. Based on 5 minutes of ads per episode and two releases per week, that's roughly 8 hours of ad-free listening recovered per year — without paying for a premium tier anywhere.

A 2025 Sounds Profitable study on ad skipping behavior found that host-read ads retain listeners better than produced spots — but that retention advantage disappears when listeners have a clean, automatic tool that handles the skip for them.

Does This Work on Other Podcasts?

Yes. PodSkip runs across the full podcast ecosystem. For context on how other major shows compare, see how many ads Crime Junkie has and how many ads Huberman Lab runs per episode. Ad loads vary significantly by network and show — Audacy-distributed shows tend to run at the higher end of the industry range, consistent with what listeners hear on We Can Do Hard Things.

FAQ

How many ads does We Can Do Hard Things have per episode?

Most episodes include 3–5 ad breaks, adding up to approximately 4–6 minutes of sponsored content. The exact count varies because Audacy uses dynamic ad insertion, which swaps ads based on live campaign inventory.

Are the ads on We Can Do Hard Things host-read?

Many are. Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle deliver a significant portion of the ads in their own voices during the episode, which makes them indistinguishable from regular conversation until you're already listening.

Can Spotify skip We Can Do Hard Things ads?

Spotify Premium can suppress some dynamically inserted pre-roll slots on qualifying shows, but it cannot detect or skip host-read ads recorded into the audio. PodSkip handles both types.

Is PodSkip free?

Yes. PodSkip is free. Its on-device AI identifies and skips sponsored segments without a subscription.

Will the ad load on We Can Do Hard Things go down?

Unlikely in the near term. Audacy's 2024 contract extension with the show's team commits to ad-supported distribution, and 2025 podcast advertising data shows continued industry investment in DAI revenue models.

We Can Do Hard Things earns its audience through honest, vulnerable conversation. That audience deserves to hear it without interruption. PodSkip is free, catches every host-read ad that Spotify and Amazon miss, and works automatically from the first episode you play.