Lisa Birnbach with guest, author Lisa Taddeo

Every day I hear about another podcast I must listen to. Every single livelong day. I understand there are about 800,000 of them at the moment, give or take 20,000. Since some of you listen to mine, thank you.

You could be listening to a grisly series about a real-life murder, or a grisly series about a real-life sociopath who terrorized a community, or a grisly series about love gone wrong, but no, you’re here. Listening to me and my guest talking about small things we like and big things we like, and stuff we appreciate but never spoke about before in public, and about how in taking small steps we can gain a form of control over this wildly out of control moment. September 2019. If you also listen to the podcast, I’d like to ask you a favor.

Would you please rate this podcast on whichever server you use? at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – they all want to know what you think. As do I.

If you haven't heard of writer Lisa Taddeo before, you will now and then again and again. She spent eight years crisscrossing the country to understand desire in the American female psyche. The resulting work, Three Women, was published this summer. I am delighted she could drop by our studio.

Now onto the five things that made this week better.

1. Public Art, in particular the Alex Katz cutouts of the walking pedestrians on Park Avenue in midtown. The walking pedestrian is on several medians on the avenue. They are flat, but they are fun. Who is that woman? Do I know her? Didn’t I just see her? She looks familiar. When NYC installs art on the streets it always adds excitement to our treks through our crowded city. I wish there were more of it.

2. Eyedrops. Soothing, especially after a long blinkless slog on the computer.

3. The humility of being rejected for a position, and being reminded of that rejection 3 months later. I get it! I get it! A college that rhymes with “Giddlegury” doesn’t really want me to teach a writing course there this January. You might be asking, “why is this a good thing?” Do I need a reminder that I fail or don’t connect or am judged to be lacking? No, but I was amused to be waitlisted for a teaching gig. I hadn’t been waitlisted in let’s see…. many years.

4. Cooking no longer scares me. For years the most important implements in my kitchen were the menus from local restaurants that delivered. Now, when faced with a last minute dinner plan vacuum, I head to my refrigerator and freezer and cook dinner. I still find it shocking, but I also feel competent in a way that I didn’t as a panicked new mother or an overwhelmed single mother of three. (Sorry, exhibits ™).

5. I attended a friend’s birthday lunch last weekend. As I looked around the table at women – some of whom I’ve known for 40 years and some of whom I just met – and saw everyone’s reading glasses, and maybe a few wrinkles or grey hairs I felt grateful that we had something positive and optimistic to celebrate. We’re still here, dammit!

Lisa Taddeo’s 5 Things:

1. The little rubber animals that are like 25 cents each. She gets them for her daughter but then her daughter forgets about them or loses interest and Lisa lines them up in little soldier or ballet formations around her workspace. She currently has three unicorns, one fox, one Labrador, one dragon, one moose, one rabbit, one dachshund and one rhinoceros. By extension, these animals are her daughter.

2. Space heater under her desk. Even in the summer. Her feet are always cold and the heater she says is Dickensian.

3. The family dog. Since her child has come, she’s been back-burnered. The usual thing. Sad but now it’s changed into something different and lovely. Lisa works every night and it’s only she and her dog downstairs. The dog keeps her company; she watches Lisa go to the kitchen and waits to see if she will get a slice of turkey and what part in that dance her dog will play. She feels like the dog is the only person who knows how hard she works. And Lisa is the only person who knows how quiet and trusting her dog can be.

4. Chick’n Sliders, by Gardein. She’s not vegan but these make her want to be.

5. The quilt that one of Lisa’s oldest and best friends, Jan, made for her after her parents passed away. She took several of their items, ties and dresses and scarves and denim skirts and corduroy pants, and she patchworked them into something Lisa can hold.