Ep. 72 – with Annabelle Gurwitch – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on November 22, 2019

Annabelle Gurwitch and Lisa Birnbach

Every week I try and scour my brain to find five good things – just five!  Not six or 12. Five things that make my life better.  You might be surprised to learn that most weeks it is a huge burden, a chore, a dreaded proposition.  Every sentient adult I know has struggles, and one thing good about this moment at the end of this decade is that we are so much more willing to be open about them. 

This past week the great things flew into my head and out on the page.  What a pleasure.

My guest this week is the hilarious author of the new book “I see you made an effort”, Annabelle Gurwitch. Not only do I love her book cover, I love her!

But first, here are the 5 things that made my life better this week.

1.  Photo booth picture strips.  I can’t believe I’ve never spoken to you about photo booths.  I’ve loved them my whole life.  Seeing one in a bowling alley as a child was about the most exciting thing ever.  When I was a young woman of 22 traveling the country on my first book tour, I found a photo booth in the IDS Center Crystal Court in Minneapolis – the same exact mall where Mary Richards rode the escalator in the later seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  I couldn’t have been happier.   Anyway, I never miss a chance to pose in them.  And normally I am someone semi-uncomfortable posing for pictures.

2.  Paper Mate mechanical pencils. If you knew how many pages of my date book – yes, that’s right, and I’m not apologizing  --were covered with the crossing-outs of appointments and arrows to move things from one day to another, you too would write things down in pencil.  But as an adult woman I cannot carry a normal pencil around – where could I find a sharpener outside of a classroom anymore?  So I write most dates down in pencil, and then erase them when they’re cancelled.  And the bright orange plastic pencil is easy to find in my dark bag.

3.  David Byrne and American Utopia.  How do I love David Byrne and his band The Talking Heads?  Let me count the ways.  I love how his singing voice swoops.  I love how he tilts when he dances, almost to a precarious level (not to mention his core must be strong).  His speaking voice surprised me, as he narrated the show – with its warmth and ordinariness.  American Utopia is and isn’t just a concert; it has ambitions. It has morals.  It has a beginning and an end.  It has great musicianship.  (The dancing musicians/ the singing dancers/ the nimble percussionists are thrilling to watch.).   I urge you to see it if you can.  (David Byrne, a naturalized American who was born in Scotland, has voter registration forms and helpers posted just outside the theater, if you need to sign up.)

4.  Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the model of a civil servant.  The modesty, straightforwardness of her answers.  Her decades of experience in statecraft.  Her poise. Her willingness to participate in this moment where our democracy hinges on the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Her willingness to do so knowing that it would make her even more of a target of this administration – I have nothing but the utmost respect for her. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/yovanovitch-marie-l

5.  Ambassador Bill Taylor, a former ambassador to the Ukraine was also the model of decorum and trustworthiness.  As my friend Micki says, he offered “no snark,” “was not threatened;” He behaved “just like a diplomat.”  It’s Americans like these who embody patriotism.  When he spoke it felt reassuring.  Simply put, these career State Department officers are so humble and so brave.  Thank you.

Author Gurwitch - publicity credit: David Stewart

My Guest this week is Annabelle Gurwitch, whom I first noticed on air in the 1990s as co-host of an old movie franchise called “Dinner and a Movie” on TBS. She seemed a lot more…. like me – I was going to say “normal,” but who’d buy that – than other female TV hosts.  For one thing, she was brunette. For another, she wore glasses.  (This was long before Tina Fey.). When I read that she wrote humorous essays, I bought them.  We happened to meet several weeks ago, when we both read stories at a storytelling event.  Not only do I find her hilarious, she’s pretty brilliant as well.

Annabelle’s 5 Things:

1. Finally accepted that her car will never be clean.

2. Grandmother’s gold Jack LaLanne 40th anniversary membership ring.

3. Mac DeMarco’s cover of James Taylor’s I Was A Fool To Care.

4. Showtime’s TV series On Becoming A God in Central Florida.

5. Meghan Daum’s book, The Problem With Everything.

More about Annabelle Gurwitch

Website:  www.annabellegurwitch.com — https://www.annabellegurwitch.com/

Facebook: @annabellegurwitchauthor   — https://www.facebook.com/annabellegurwitchauthor/

Twitter:  @AnnabelGurwitch   — https://twitter.com/AnnabelGurwitch

Annabell’s New Book: “I See You Made An Effort” By Annabelle Gurwitch - https://www.annabellegurwitch.com/i-see-you-made-an-effort

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

Our podcast is recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV - http://www.thefieldtv.com

Ep. 71 – with Chris Stills, Tamara Weiss, David Heilbroner and Kate Davis - BORN INTO THE GIG – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on November 15, 2019

Lisa Birnbach with the team from the new documentary “Born into the Gig”

I’ve been reading a bit here and there about gratitude, and it’s got so many physiological benefits.  I mean, selfishly one should be grateful, as it gives one energy, empathy, and a good boost of endorphins.  That’s what this blog and podcast are all about. And don’t get me started on kindness!

With today’s guests, we tried something new. We invited 4 of the creative team from the new film“Born into the Gig” to join us. Three filmmakers - Tamara Weiss, the producer, David Heilbroner and Kate Davis the co-directors are in the studio, and one of their subjects: Chris Stills, the son of Stephen Stills and Veronique Sanson - by phone. Listen to the PODCAST for their interview, it’s a good one! I promise.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen to the podcast goto: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts.

 The five things that made my life better this week are:

1 & 2. Will be a two parter.  I got to see “Marriage Story” on Sunday.  What a powerful, powerful movie about marriage and divorce and responsibility and family.  Oh brother.   “Marriage Story” is on Netflix, so you can all see it at home.  I saw it at the Paris Theater, New York’s last single screen cinema.  The Paris, a 71 years old theater has been home of my best and most resonant movie memories.  And the real estate company that owns the building announced in August that they were closing the theater down.  It was a fait accompli and nothing could be done.  Stealthily the Netflix people, led by Ted Sarandos, rescued the movie house – at least for now.  Sitting in the storied room I appreciated the swooping Deco details as never before, as it could be my last time there. 

But the movie is gentle, with an emphasis on the tiny almost irrelevant details that are so telling in a character study.  It will be compared to the 1970s’ “Kramer vs. Kramer,” another boundary-breaking movie of its time.  (Note to self:  Re watch Kramer vs. Kramer.).  As someone who has suffered through divorce with children, this movie was painful and funny in turns.  Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Alan Alda, Merritt Weaver, Laura Dern, Scarlett Johanson….all wonderfully believable and touching.

3.  This one is an oldie but goodie, and it’s my morning coffee.  A lot of us – no let’s say pretty much all of us recognize that our morning routine has a lot to do with how we set up our days.  Coffee is the most frequently mentioned great thing that my guests have mentioned in the past 70 episodes (followed by dogs, by the way).  Now I know that I pretty much fetishize my coffee, but I am going to admit that looking forward to a cup of coffee made by me is part of my daily routine.   Two days ago my brew lacked oomph and the day suffered as a result.

4.  “Billy on the Street”.   If you have never heard or seen Billy Eichner before, I need to remedy it.  His eponymous show, “Billy on the Street” is rude, surprising, and always gives me a lift.   You can find excerpts all over the internet, though his official home is now Netflix.  Billy’s persona is that of a cruel show business obsessive, who wants innocent bystanders to have the same opinions as he does.  He screams, he insults, he says dangerously provocative and silly things.  He makes me laugh.

5.  A documentary that I saw the other day also gave me a long-lasting wave of pleasure.  It’s called “Born Into the Gig”, and it’s about the privileges and hardships borne by the children of James Taylor, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, Bill Withers, and the grandson of Bob Marley.  The filmmakers spend a good amount of time with all their subjects – and some of their parents.  And there’s such wonderful music to enjoy!  I forgot how much I loved Bill Withers’ songs.  “Born Into the Gig” also delves into the fact that these children of stars had a complicated love/hate relationship with the music business that forced their parents to go on tour and be away for much of their growing up.  In the end the decisions they make as adults are pretty triumphant.  We root for their successes. 

It’s a great treat to welcome the“Born into the Gig”’s filmmakers this week, joined by musician Chris Stills by phone.

Here are the 5 things that make their collective lives better:

Born Into The Gig’s 5 Things:

1. Tamara loves massaging her home-grown Lacinato Kale,

2. David enjoys playing classical guitar,

3. Kate loves playing with her dog,

4, 5, 6, 7.: Chris loves being with his kids, finishing a song, taking a 20 minute nap and doing something for somebody without them knowing.

L-R: Kate Davis, Tamara Weiss, Lisa Birnbach, David Heilbroner

L-R: Sally Taylor, Ben Taylor, Chris Stills, Kori Withers

More about the new documentary BORN INTO THE GIG here:

Website:  BornIntoTheGig.com  https://bornintothegig.com/

Producer: Tamara Weiss https://www.instagram.com/twislandgirl/

Directors:   Kate Davis and David Heilbroner - Q Ball Productions http://www.qballproductions.com/

Cast/artists:

Chris Stills https://www.chrisstills.com/

Ben Taylor http://bentaylormusic.com/

Sally Taylor https://consenses.org/

Kori Withers  https://www.koriwithers.com/

Skip Marley  http://www.skipmarley.com/

5 Things That Make Life Better Podcast is produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 70 – with Meghan Daum – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on November 8, 2019

Lisa Birnbach with author Meghan Daum

Here are things that I’m thinking about:  how dark the dusk feels – a kind of sad elegy on a shortened day.  I’m thinking about the wheels of justice are whirring backwards or just stuck in the muck of political partisanship.  But I’m also thinking about all the adorable pictures I’ve seen of babies and children in their Halloween costumes, the beauty of the fall here in the mid-Atlantic, and how my guest this week, Meghan Daum is one of the smartest people I know.

Her new book The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars takes aim at the wokeness at the center of the young progressive talking points… and yet she is a progressive.  I hope you enjoy our conversation.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

Here are my five things for the week.

1.  The Wing.  A “We work” space for women only, The Wing is a blush-pink colored, highly designed and comfortable club and hang out.  You can meet people, eat, leave your child in a chic daycare there or shower and attend special programs.  And there are now 12 Wing chapters in 8 cities around the world.  Earlier this week I “interviewed” E. Jean Carroll at the Wing’s Soho branch.  You know by now that we are friends.  Her bravery is something the wingers wanted to see and understand up close.  The questions from the audience were nuanced and sincere.  I think we all learned from one another.

2.  Cauliflower Cheesecake with cauliflower ice cream.  You read that right.  I know they sound improbable if not downright disgusting, but after our night at The Wing, E. Jean and I went to a restaurant on the lower east side called Dirt Candy,(yes, you read that right too), an all-vegetable restaurant.  Yes I liked the carrot sliders and the portobello mushroom pate, but the dessert – made from cauliflower – was otherworldly and delicious.  I assume a tremendous amount of sugar was sacrificed for the dessert.

3.  What happened in Virginia.  Namely, the Democrats retook the state House and the state Senate, for the first time in about 30 years. It is suggested that at this point Virginia could become the 38th state to ratify the ERA.   I’m just going to leave that there.  Hope is not a small thing these days.

4.  My newish bathrobe.  For the longest time my bathrobes were of the terry cloth variety.  Reversible and lined and warm and heavy. They weighed me down.  I ordered a short cotton kimono on line and feel wonderful every time I put it on.  It’s barely there, but perfectly modest when our super shows up to fix the toilet again.  Anyway, I am wearing it as I type these words.

5.  The radiator smell.  Does the heat in your house have an odor?  Ours does, but it’s impossible to describe other than heat thrumming through ancient pipes.  But that scent – I love because it means the room is warm.  I need that reassurance on a cold morning.  I don’t even mind the whirring of the gears noises that our radiator makes.  It’s all part of the routine. 

Author Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum’s 5 Things:

1. Dogs (preferably large, furry)

2. Winter sunsets (I inherited this from my mother)

3. Wide plank wood floors (ditto above)

4. The Bach B Minor Mass (got this from my father)

5. Free — often frenetic — exchange of ideas with friends over drinks (my doing entirely)

More about Meghan Daum 

The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars - By Meghan Daum - Published October 22, 2019 by Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Problem-with-Everything/Meghan-Daum/9781982129330

Website:  Meghan Daum - https://www.meghandaum.com/

Twitter: @Meghan_Daum - https://twitter.com/meghan_daum

Instagram: @Meghan_Daum - https://www.instagram.com/meghan_daum/

Facebook:  @MeghanDaum - https://www.facebook.com/Meghan-Daum-44319076324/

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Paul Krupnick - 11/25/48 - 11/04/19

Ep. 69 – with Jami Attenberg – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on November 1, 2019

Lisa Birnbach with author Jami Attenberg

November!  Holy cow!  That was fast.  November.  Soon the leaves will change color and make their way to our streets and sidewalks, and you’ll be offered everything in a “pumpkin spice” option and you’ll see orange everywhere.  If orange doesn’t flatter your complexion, don’t fret.  Red and green will soon take over.  Yes, there’s something for everyone.

My guest this week is author Jami Attenberg.  She’s a very disciplined and prolific novelist, whose newest book, “All This Could Be Yours” could be your next great read.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

The 5 Things that made my life better this week are:

 1.  Pajama-like clothing.  Ever since athleisure became the hugely popular trend that it is, the difference between what we wear at home and what we wear outside has become minimal – nominal?  I know people who wear leggings day and night to everything.  I know people who dress up for even the least important chore.  Now fashion -- (we used to refer it in shorthand as “Seventh Ave”, but since fashion is global, Seventh Ave. just doesn’t carry as much weight any more) – has offered us stylish outfits that look like silk pajamas.  I myself tried on such an ensemble last summer while I was on vacation, and now I want to wear pajamas out, but what does one wear on one’s feet with the pajamas?  Let me know, please.

2.  Forever stamps.  Unlike most people I know, I still frequent the post office.  I mail packages to my exhibits ™ frequently, and also mail checks (Google them, kids) to pay my credit card bills.  I enjoy putting stamps on my letters, and love not having to figure out how many cents each one is worth.  And I do not miss licking the stamps, as we had to do in the Dark Ages of the 20th century.  Also, stamps have gotten cool – I have some with Marvin Gaye’s face on them, some with the Woodstock logo, and they are the adult’s version of playing with stickers.

3.  Lunch.  I don’t generally eat lunch when I’m home working, but it’s a pleasure to meet people over a quick midday meal.  I know it’s not hip with millennials, but I make myself make lunch dates with people for several reasons.  One is, I spend a lot of time alone – enough time in fact.  I get a jolt of energy meeting other humanoids.

4.  New York taxis.  They get a bad rap, but lately I have found myself grateful to some very decent cab drivers.  That plus the car service apps are lately misleading about how far the cars are, and there’s too much mystery about when said Lyft or Uber might show up.  New York cabs have their own apps that streamline paying for your rides.  One is called Arro and the other is Curb.  Using either one you can pay for any taxi in New York.  And I find there are fewer drivers speaking to their homelands for the duration of the rides these days.

5.  Handkerchiefs.  I’m finding that I prefer carrying a cotton handkerchief to stuffing my pockets with Kleenexes.  And then I realize that choosing a washable hankie is probably preferable for the environment to wasting all that paper.  I have some hankies that just turned up in my stuff.  I don’t remember buying them; maybe my grandma hid them in my dresser years ago?  WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?  In Japan department stores have entire handkerchief departments!  I wouldn’t even know where to buy new ones outside of men’s haberdasheries.  And that concludes the historical portion of our podcast.

Lisa Birnbach with author Jami Attenberg in the studio at The Field

Jami Attenberg’s 5 Things:

1. Dog parks

2. WRBH (my local radio for the blind station)

3. Stila Beso lipstick (aka the AOC red)

4. Crystal hot sauce

5. Weed whackers

More about Jami Attenberg

All This Could Be Yours - By Jami Attenberg

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Website:  http://www.jamiattenberg.com/

Twitter:  @jamiattenberg — https://twitter.com/jamiattenberg

Instagram: @jamiattenberg - https://www.instagram.com/jamiattenberg/ 

Facebook:  @JamiAttenbergWriter - https://www.facebook.com/JamiAttenbergWriter

Ep. 68 – with Adrienne Brodeur – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on October 25, 2019

Author Adrienne Brodeur and host Lisa Birnbach

Thanks to the rain of last weekend, I spent almost all of Sunday indoors.  I finished reading one book and began another one.  I listened to music on the stereo.  I worked on knitting my never ending scarf (begun circa 2017 or 18…. Or who am I kidding?  2016) and took a few stabs at my next embroidery project for The Tiny Pricks Project.  (See Episode 64).  The day was utterly restorative.  I feel like I’ve been going and going and going.  I needed the slowness and the quiet.

 I used to be embarrassed to spend a day so indulgently, but is that really indulgent if I need it?  I don’t always recharge by moving, though I hate to admit it.  Secretly I prefer to see myself as the kind of wristwatch that winds by being worn and in motion.  And now you know something about me that I’ve really never told anyone before.

Author Adrienne Brodeur

 Before I get carried away sharing confidences, you should know that this week’s guest is Adrienne Brodeur who has written one of the great memoirs of recent memory.  It’s called Wild Game, subtitled My Mother, Her Lover, and Me.  Read it before the movie is made.  Adrienne’s favorite place on earth is Cape Cod, and most of her 5 things take place there.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

But now it’s time for my five things.  And away we go.

1.  I had my high school reunion last Saturday.  Here’s a funny thing.  I only attended my school, Riverdale Country School for 3 years.  I loved it all, (except for a few months in which I was framed and then shunned for a misdeed not committed by me).   After nine years at the small all-girls school I had attended (average grade size: 19), Riverdale seemed all American, big (average grade size: 90), sporty, and smart. When, every five years we reconvene, I feel nothing but magnanimous towards all.  Also I feel like a 16 year old.

2.  Electric tea kettle. Why did I wait so long to invest in this kitchen gadget?  I hated the shrill shriek of the old stove top kettle when the water boiled, and I never liked how hot the counter top became. This thing is silent and fast. 

3.  New friends.  Don’t hassle me for liking new friends too.  I remember what I always say about old friends; they really knew you when you were forming.  (I have to say I really enjoyed hearing my high school classmates reminisce about my parents, and I about theirs.  No replacing that ever.)  But unlike the olden days, it’s harder to find people you feel close to as adults.  Would we make friends with our childhood pals if we had only met them as grownups?  Hard to say.  New friends you make on new terms.  It’s rarer to meet a person whose life will dovetail with yours – with so much history and baggage and yet, it can happen.  That’s fun too.

4.  Multiple pairs of reading glasses at home.  I have some that are custom made, and others of varying quality that range from drugstore to Eyebobs and everything in between.  I’ve recently given two pairs away to friends, which makes me feel benevolent.

5.The Peanuts Papers, an anthology about Charlie Brown and his friends and frenemies that is being published this week.I contributed an essay to it, and I’m very pleased to be in such good company as Ann Patchett, Chris Ware, Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Franzen, George Saunders, and so on.I’ll be devoting a future episode to it.You can read an excerpt from my piece here, as it was abridged for Shondaland.com.

Adrienne Brodeur’s 5 Things:

1. Sunrise over Nauset Harbor

2. A cup of strong coffee

3. Beach combing for sea glass

4. Whale songs

5. Sleeping outside (starry sky, a bonus)

More about Adrienne Brodeur

WILD GAME:  My Mother, Her Lover, and Me - By Adrienne Brodeur - https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Wild-Game/9781328519030

Website:  Adrienne Brodeur - https://www.adriennebrodeur.com/

Twitter: @adrienneBrodeur - https://twitter.com/adriennebrodeur

Instagram:   @adriennebrodeur - https://www.instagram.com/adriennebrodeur/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/adrienne.brodeur

Five Things That Make Life Better with Lisa Birnbach is produced at TheField

www.thefieldtv.com

Ep. 67 – with Lauren Acampora – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on October 18, 2019

Lisa Birnbach with Lauren Acampora in the podcast studio - at The Field

Hi Friends.  Is the world driving you mad?  Do you think you’re developing nervous tics every time you hear your phone ding?  Are you developing nervous tics if you don’t hear your phone ring or if it’s your office mate’s phone?  Do you want to hibernate for the next year and half?  Do you wonder if you should eat meat or plant based burgers?  Do you feel hamstrung by indecision and stress?  Then join me, and consider figuring out what small things make your life better.  It helps reset your day.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

It is with pleasure that I introduce you to today’s guest, Lauren Acampora, the novelist whose book The Paper Wasp was published a few months ago. And though her protagonist is likable, she goes dark. Very dark. Nevertheless, Lauren’s Five Things are full of light and pleasures, like the joy of living in a small town. It’s all below. Keep reading!

Now on to my 5 things that made my life better this week:

1.  Wonder of wonders, I finally performed kind of a standup comedy routine.  It wasn’t a comedy routine, exactly.  It was more of a storytelling thingie, and it made me nervous and distracted for weeks!  Now it’s over, and I couldn’t be more relieved.   For years and years people have encouraged me to take the stage and try it.  I prefer to be less emphatic “joke teller,” and a more relaxed funny person.  But when Sydney LeBlanc who curates the Uptown Storytelling program at the New York Society Library approached me out of the blue last year, I finally decided to go rogue and say yes.  I told nobody about it.  If I were going to bomb I was going to bomb quietly, under the radar.  Anyway, it went very well, and got me thinking about polishing my piece for another turn.

2.  Hadestown.  Across town, on another scale altogether you can see a fantastic version of Eurydice and Orpheus and Persephone’s myth in this Tony award winning show.  I don’t want to say “I knew it” but I knew it when I saw this show in a much earlier version off Broadway at the New York Theater Workshop, a great incubator of theater.  I’d been urged to see it’s bigger Broadway version, and I’m glad I did.  Highly recommended.

3.  Sweater Weather.  It’s come much, much earlier than it did the last few years, but cool days are okay with me as long as the sun is out.  I don’t think I need any new sweaters or coats or jackets this year.  Hope I hold to that.

4.  May I be the last one here to extol long walks?  Over the long weekend I took a long walk – and I’m going to go further and call it a hike – so sue me – with my friend Maria.  She said what we said on the road stays on the road, so I cannot reveal any of the brilliant ideas we developed.  But we got our 10,000 steps done and more so. 

5.  I want to say a special call-out to Congresswoman Nita Lowey.  Nita Lowey has served in the US Congress, representing New York’s Westchester County since 1989. In 2001–2002, Lowey served as the first female chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  She is the chair of the House Appropriations Committee.  Mrs. Lowey just announced a few days ago that she will not run for reelection.  She’s been a dynamic and passionate leader in the House and I salute her service.

Author Lauren Acampora

Lauren Acampora’s 5 Things

1.  AirBnB

2.  Rescue dogs (especially hers)

3.  Those little supermarket shopping carts

4.  Non-fiction audiobooks in the car

5.  Her small town and its library

 LINKS:

Amanda Chantal Bacon -Moon Juice: https://moonjuice.com/pages/our-story

More about Lauren Acampora:

Twitter:  @LaurenAcampora — https://twitter.com/laurenacampora?lang=en

 Lauren’s Website:  LaurenAcampora.com — http://www.laurenacampora.com/

Grove Atlantic Press — https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-paper-wasp/

Ep. 66 – with Sarah Milov – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on October 11, 2019

Today’s guest is historian Sarah Milov, the author of a fascinating new book about the history of the cigarette and its role in shaping American commerce and polity.

I find it’s a little hard to go to sleep at night during this particularly chaotic moment in history.  New information, breaking news, news alerts – my phone dings me at all hours, not once but at least twice (I get messages from the Washington Post and the New York Times in twos.). It’s hard to keep up.  Sometimes sleep seems pointless.  It’s not that I think I need to know everything immediately because I can do something about it.  I don’t have those delusions.  Sometimes I find myself missing pieces of stories, and then have a harder time catching up.  Complicating all of this is that news only is extruded through partisan filters.  I know it.  You know it.  And we’re being told not to believe what we see or hear.  These are crazy times, but we will plough through.  Right?

We have to locate our true selves and our true norths, and try not to get too swept up in the events of the day/hour even though we are paying attention.  We can try to avoid the news, but realistically I just won’t be doing that.  I like to know.  Like Chauncey Gardner, in “Being There”,  I like to know.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To listen, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It’s the ONLY WAY get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

This week I appreciate my five things even more than usual.

1.  Learning to write a little more personally.  I have resisted the trend to write memoir and until recently haven’t had this itch to scratch.  However, I’ve been dipping my toes through this blog, and it’s not always horrible, and I don’t feel I’m giving too much away.

2.  Dresses.  I find myself becoming more attracted to wearing dresses.  Yes, I throw on jeans most days of the week, but a dress is so easy.  No figuring out what goes with what, what shoes go with that, and so on. 

3.  My very verbal #Exhibits ™.  They know how to express themselves, which is a great gift.  Each has a distinctive voice, both in their written and spoken expressions.  It’s been noticed that talk has been somewhat competitive in my family of origin.  For worse (not really better) I may have passed that along to my spawn.

4.  Malbec.  A lovely “spicy” red wine, mostly – or only – grown in Argentina.  Good for  watching the news at night, or over a big juicy Impossible Burger.

5.  Nancy Pelosi. Our Speaker of the House.  What a cool leader, and by cool I mean calm, in control, and focused.  I have a lot of faith in her. 

 Sarah Milov’s 5 Things:

1.  Daycare

2.  New Mexico

3.  My students

4.  Archivists and librarians

5.  Getting dropped off rather than driving

Here are some links to learn more about SARAH MILOV

THE CIGARETTE:  A POLITICAL HISTORY - Harvard University Press - (Pub date:  October 2, 2019) - https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674241213&content=bios

Sarah Milov at the University of Virginia https://history.virginia.edu/people/profile/sem9dw 

Twitter:  @allofmilov - https://twitter.com/allofmilov

Article about Sarah Milov - https://www.thelily.com/a-female-historian-wrote-a-book-two-male-historians-went-on-npr-to-talk-about-it-they-never-mentioned-her-name/

Ep. 65 – with Norm Ornstein – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on October 4, 2019

Happy October, friends and neighbors and near and far away –

 I guess it really is fall, the 90 degrees my thermometer showing notwithstanding.  Because the climate is a damaged thing, outside doesn’t feel like it’s “supposed to” feel.  What does a fall day feel like?  Or a Spring day?

If I’ve told you this before, I apologize, but when I was growing up, there were four distinct seasons in the mid-Atlantic region.  Spring was a WHOLE SEASON; not a day or a week.  I’m serious!  Would I lie to you?  I owned a garment called a “spring coat.”  Because sometimes it was very blustery and you just needed more than a sweater.  (I grew up in the olden days, before jean jackets, and quilted jackets were stylish.). I also had a heavy winter coat.  Which meant wool.  (Parkas, in the 60s and 70s were for skiing and snow sports only.). Don’t @  at me.  I didn’t make the rules. 

Wherever you live or wherever you are while you’re reading or listening to these thoughts, if I sound sermony – and I don’t mean to – it’s because I have just celebrated the Jewish new year, and I am full of some wise words I’ve heard.  Happy New Year to all those who observe.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To LISTEN, please SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It helps get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar - American Enterprise Institute

This week’s guest is someone I’ve long admired.Norm Ornstein is a long time expert and pundit known to anyone who consumes news on television and in print.As the scholar in residence at the American Enterprise Institute, an essentially conservative think tank, he’s studied the way our government was intended to work, and is not afraid to call people and institutions out, regardless of party or orientation.He is the co-author (along with Thomas Mann) of It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.

Now on to my five great things for the first week of year 5780.

1.  After hearing a wonderful sermon about the environment and sustainability from a rabbi whose mother is a long time lawyer for the EPA, I want to thank my friend Diane, and my partner’s daughter Izzy for being the people who patiently remind their friends to be extra conscientious.  Using reusable glass bottles instead of plastic, being smart about the dishwasher, and so on.  I appreciate you two, even if it doesn’t always seem I do.

2.  A shout out to my longtime partner, Michael, for being the kind fellow he is.  Never have I felt as supported or known.  I hope he feels the same from me.

3.  The art of conversation.  I know it is an important feature of my life, but it feels like it needs to be reiterated:  R U Coming? is not a conversation, nor is K.  We have come to rely on texts as a painless and static free way of connecting, but it’s not really connection.  In person is the very best way.  Your eyes, your body language, your words….  It seems practically intimate. As my friend Susan Bird says, face to face conversation has become a luxury. But it’s something we’re missing.

4. This Venn Diagram says it all to me vis a vis my current earnings.  I am kidding, but I spend most of my life choosing projects based on how interesting they are, not based on what income they will generate.  It seems that resonates with a lot of my friends.  (To be clear, I have nothing whatsoever against earning a living.)

5. Using the good china and flatware.  I usually keep them wrapped up in their felt pajamas.  In fact I put them back already into their hibernation, but I exhumed them for our holiday dinner, and they made our table so much prettier.  I think they made the food taste better.  It’s lovely and fortunate to have nice things, but I’m resolving to use them more often.  They do not serve any purpose when they are stored.

Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar - American Enterprise Institute

NORM’S 5 THINGS 

1.  Twitter – for three reasons:  One, it is cathartic. He can rail against the horrors and get reaction from a lot of people, instead of yelling at the television or the wall; two; he has made a lot of great friends on the medium; and three, he can learn a lot from them.

2.  His foundation work on debate. The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation His late son was a national champion high school debater. For five years, he has funded a summer debate camp for public school kids in the DC area—this summer, two weeks, with almost 200 kids, mostly Title 1 schools, from 5th grade through high school. Teaching life skills. Very rewarding.

3.  His foundation work on mental health. He is doing a documentary on a remarkable judge in Miami-Dade County who has transformed the way the criminal justice system deals with people with serious mental illness, saving lives and saving money at the same time. It will air on PBS in April 2020.

4.  His son Danny’s startup. Bundlertv.com, with its guide, makes it easy for him to find whatever TV show or movie he wants to see and get to it immediately. No more searching on cable, which drives him nuts!

5.Red wine. Good red wine, from the US, Australia, Italy, France, Argentina. Or a lot of other places!

NORM ORNSTEIN

Resident Scholar – American Enterprise Institute — https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/

 Contributing Editor, The Atlantic — https://www.theatlantic.com/author/norman-ornstein/

Twitter:  @NormOrnstein

The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation — http://mornstein.org/

BOOKS:

One Nation After Trump: A Guide For the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported

By E.J. Dionne, Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-nation-after-trump-ej-dionne-jr/1126191318

It’s Even Worse Than It Looks:  How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism

By Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/thomas-e-mann/its-even-worse-than-it-looks/9780465096206/

Podcast produced in New York City by The FieldTV

Ep. 64 – with Diana Weymar – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on September 27, 2019

One thing I think we can agree on:  we are well into 2019.  It’s been a blink of an eye, hasn’t it?  A blink of an eye with a stye, with pink eye, an eye that’s got a torn retina, and is puffy from crying, but still just a blink.  Oh I kid.  All is well.

Lisa Birnbach with Tiny Pricks Project creator and curator, Diana Weymar

But if you’re feeling helpless and unsatisfied, let’s talk about doing something with your hands instead of your brain.  Focusing on cooking, or mending something, or baking – something like this might even be a therapeutic way to get out of your head.

I saw a photograph a year or two ago on FB that showed a sampler that said…. “I’m so angry, I stitched this just so I could stab something 3,000 times!”

I loved it. 

Now I’m one of the thousands of strangers who have submitted an embroidery to this week’s guest, Diana Weymar, founder of Tiny Pricks Project.

As you will hear, she tired of reading the out of control tweets of a certain American leader, and couldn’t get his lies out of her head.  So she started a kind of resistance practice (for herself at first) which was to make textiles with his quotes.  And you’ll hear more about it in this week’s conversation.

It’s time for me to list the five things that made my life better this week, but first a reminder to subscribe to the podcast - if you’re a listener.

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To LISTEN, please SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It helps get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!

 My 5 Things:

1.  I had lunch with my friend Janie, whom I hadn’t seen in too many months.  Here’s what happened that was so shocking.  I asked her if she wanted to have lunch by text.  She said yes and said which day.  In 2 more texts we had our restaurant, our time, and we met.  It seemed so simple compared to most social transactions.  And we had a good long talk.  And some good food.  It’s so great when you don’t have to plan and cancel and reschedule and cancel…. Life happens though, to me as much as it does to others.

2.  This dance video, of movie musicals set to “Uptown Funk”.  The editing is impeccable, and what moves!  I practically felt the endorphins myself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

3.  This statement by former Federal Prosecutors, many of whom served in Republican administrations.   Published on Medium.com, it is open to be signed by other former prosecutors, should they want to.  At press time there were 1027 signatures. https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1

4.  Greta Thunberg, Greta Thunberg, Greta Thunberg.  The passionate pro climate protection crusader at 16 years of age puts a mirror in front of all of us and we feel embarrassed for not taking enough action to protect the world in which we live.  As she herself said, she should be in school instead of having to take on this fight for the planet.  How dare we depend on the young to do our work?  (Much like the gun control issue, now in the hands of the youth while our doddering legislators greedily take NRA money and point of view as if they had no choice in the matter.)

5.  I’ve eaten at a lot of my favorite restaurants this last week – it was filled with birthdays, including my own.  Palma, Mishiguene, The Mark, Belle Harlem, Rotisserie Georgette, Red Farm – when I see them all listed there, I feel like a pig.  Someone has to say it, let it be me.  My favorite morsels:  the tagliatelle with lamb, the baba ghanouj, slow-cooked salmon, the fried chicken and waffles, the roast chicken, and the pastrami spring rolls.  What a week!  All I can say, before I waddle out of the studio is, the austerity kicks in now.  Salad till Thanksgiving.

This week’s guest, Diana Weymar, of the Tiny Pricks Project, had an idea that at first felt small and personal, but she has had to grow into a kind of spokesperson in its service as it got bigger.IT is a growing collection of hand embroidered, sewn, and needlepointed textiles, with content provided by Donald Trump.The first exhibit, at Lingua Franca on Bleecker Street in NYC is coming down this last weekend in September.Another huge grouping of Tiny Pricks is at Speedwell Projects in Portland, ME until November 3rd.

Diana Weymar

Diana’s 5 Things: 

1.  My childhood in the wilderness because I know how to be alone and how to play with my imagination and because growing up without electricity or plumbing makes you less fussy and more resilient 

2.  My children because they challenge, question, and push me to be a better listener and have more empathy, they have my back by sharing with me what I can do better, do differently. They're like the old men in the Muppets in the balcony, always offering a joke or a quip to help me focus on what I'm doing on and off stage. They also point out the silly things I do and my poorly-formed arguments. 

3.  My friends who make things for me: the year I lived in Maine a friend in Princeton knit a blanket for me and sent it to me for Valentine’s Day. 

4.  Instagram because without it Tiny Pricks would not exist.

5.  Watching animals: our yard in Victoria BC is often filled with deer, herons, raccoons, rabbits, the neighborhood cat, the other night I opened our front door into a quarter acre of "unlandscaped space" and our dog stared straight into the darks with her ears up. I turned on the porch life and 10' away, facing us, was a huge deer with antlers. The three of us stood there for more than a minute just staring at each other. Animals remind me that there is other work to do and other ways to live. 

Follow Diana here:

Website:  https://tinypricksproject.com/ 

NYC Tiny Pricks Project location - https://linguafranca.nyc/collections/tiny-pricks-project

Instagram:  @tinypricksproject @dianaweymar @linguafrancanyc @speedwellprojects

Twitter: @tinypricks

Ep. 63 – with Lisa Taddeo – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on September 20, 2019

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!

Author Lisa Taddeo

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.

Lisa Taddeo and Lisa Birnbach (L-R) in The FieldTV studio

Follow Lisa Taddeo at:

Lisa Taddeo.com

THREE WOMEN - By Lisa Taddeo (Pub date: 7/9/19)

Twitter:  @LisaDTaddeo

Instagram:  @LisaDTaddeo

Instagram:  @threewomen_book

Instagram:  @avidreaderpress