Ep. 82 – with Molly Jong-Fast – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on January 31, 2020

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. Please LISTEN, and 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!

Molly Jong-Fast and Lisa Birnbach

Molly Jong-Fast has become one of the sharpest and most prolific wits in the resistance.  With her rapid responses to the Trumpocracy, she is a great source to follow – both in social media and in her journalism.  And what I admire so much about her, is her fearlessness.  Please listen to our conversation.

If I didn’t watch the Impeachment trial with my own eyes and ears I don’t think I could believe a single account of it.  The Democratic House managers laid out their arguments in a professorial, unemotional, logical fashion.  No name calling, no eye rolling.  And they had ample reason to engage in either of those juvenile behaviors.

The GOP senators, sitting in the chamber were playing with fidget spinners because their phones weren’t allowed in the room. And they were bored.  Bored of doing the work.  Bored of listening.  They’re the jury.  That’s they’re job, for which they have accrued a lifetime pension, healthcare, and benefits.  It is alleged that Rand Paul was making and sending paper airplanes to his brethren on his side of the aisle.

Is this okay with you?  It is not okay with me.

When the Republicans had the floor, they moved on from the crisis at hand and decided to impeach Vice President Biden and President Obama.

Lisa Birnbach and Molly Jong-Fast

If I didn’t know better, I’d say the GOP is filled with people who are still enraged that we had a [successful] black president.  None of Obama’s top advisors landed in jail, and he kept his Cabinet and Secretary of State.  The world held the United States in respect.  All this is galling to Mitch McConnell and his toadies.

This doesn’t even explain the Rudy Guiliani and Bill Barr problems. 

Molly Jong-Fast’s 5 Things:

1.  MSNBC

2.  The Daily Beast/The Atlantic (subscriptions)

3.  Olaplex

4.  Venti Lattes

5.  Enormous Portable Phone Batteries

More about Molly-Jong Fast

Editor-At-Large: Daily Beast

Contributor: The Atlantic

Contributor: The Bulwark

Contributor: Glamour

Twitter:  @MollyJongFast

Instagram: @MollyJongFast

Facebook:  @MollyJongFast

Lisa’s Five Things for the Week:

1.  Adam Schiff is the eloquent advocate we need.  His closing arguments will be memorialized in history books, in court rooms, and of course on mugs forever. The fact that Trump tries to diminish him with nicknames that 3rd graders would find stupid just adds to the Congressman’s gravitas.

2.  I am proud that the Democrats don’t engage in the same kind of personal attacks that Trump enjoys.  He’ll attack anyone’s looks or name, if they don’t kowtow to him. 

3.  Sole Meunière.  I didn’t know I could make a dish this elegant.  But I didn’t know it was so easy.  The most complicated part is finding a good fishmonger who sells fish caught in the wild. Butter, a little flour, salt, pepper, lemon, and parsley – the dish cooks in about 6 minutes and is fantastic.  I didn’t trust myself the first time, thought it was beginner’s luck, but I’ve made it since.  Each time delicate and wonderful.  Served with rice pilaf.

4.  Randy Rainbow.  Have you heard of him?  Or, how have you not heard of him?  Randy is a singer who has rewritten the American songbook to respond to Donald Trump.  He often superimposes himself into a video with Trump and then scolds the president in song. He’s hilarious, in my opinion.

5.  I try to listen to music every day.  Not just overhearing it in a car or subway or subway station.  I try to choose some music to listen to that elevates my mood.  It may seem like nothing or so obvious, but it helps.

The 5Things That Make Life Better podcast is recorded and produced at The Field in NYC

Ep. 81 – with Lucia Evans – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on January 24, 2020

NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. Please LISTEN, and 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!

Greetings, Earthlings!

We’ve tweaked the format of our podcast a bit, and consequently, I will do the same – for now – on the blog.  I welcome (and let’s face it, require) my guests’ individual lists.  It makes us all feel a little happier to realize that someone we respect or think we know in the public sphere really cares about “Wild Kingdom” reruns, or only goes to movie theaters where they have real butter for the popcorn….

However, I do feel like on the podcast my 5 things slowed us down and got in the way of my interview with honestly interesting people.  For now my five things will live on my blog, down below.

My guest this week is a lovely young woman, Lucia Evans, whose name I first noticed when I read about the legions of women who were “allegedly” harassed, assaulted, and raped by Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer.  Having known Weinstein in the 1990s I followed these stories particularly avidly.  I knew him to be angry, profane, slobby, bullying, and petty, but I had no idea that he was a sexual predator.   As a former young woman and the mother of two young women, I was glued to the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting of Ronan Farrow, Megan Twohey, and Jodi Kantor.   Who could be such a pig?  And who could get so many underlings to enable this behavior?  And for so many years? 

Lisa Birnbach and guest Lucia Evans

Lucia was notable for having her case picked up by the NY Police Department.  They brought her to the Manhattan D.A.’s office to begin a criminal proceeding against Harvey Weinstein.  They had decided, several years ago, that her account was the one they could best use to send him to jail.   Thanks to her courage and the fortitude of Ronan Farrow, we now know that all of Weinstein’s accusers as well as the more dogged journalists who pursued the stories were threatened and slandered by Weinstein’s high powered lawyers and high priced spies.  Each woman, whose life and trust had already been damaged by a sexual assailant, now had to see her reputation smeared in the press.  She had to endure being shamed on social media by paid trolls. 

If you didn’t already know that it was true, you might not even believe it.

Lucia spent the first morning of Harvey Weinstein’s long-awaited trial not in the courtroom but in our studio.  She is able to hold her head up high, and many days she can laugh and put that awful episode behind her.

Please listen to her story on this week’s podcast.

Thank you. 

Lucia Evans’ Five Things:

1.  Lacrima del Morro d’Alba wine

2.  Her dogs, Alfred and Georgia (who are her children)

3.  True crime - podcasts/shows/ID channel.

4.  Potato chips from around the world - the more uncommon the flavor, the better.

5.  Creative problem solving // working through a crisis // that feeling you get when you don’t know how it’s going to work but you just know it’s going to (e.g., writing) 

More about Lucia Evans:

An Award-Winning Brand Storyteller, #MeToo Silence Breaker, and Authenticity Advocate.

I am dedicated to helping individuals, brands, and businesses achieve their goals by expressing their unique narratives and Owning Their Truth.

Website:  https://luciaioevans.com/

Instagram:  @luciaioevans

Lisa’s Five Things:

1.  I’m getting much better at adapting recipes for the restrictions of my beloveds.  I made a super lamb stew without garlic or onion that won raves.  And a beef stew that was gluten-free.  Tonight I’ll be making a Bolognese sauce with Impossible Burger instead of beef.  I can almost not believe myself.

2.  The New York Times Cooking App.  It’s easy to use.  Choose the ingredients or the level of difficulty or the chef or the diet or the cuisine.  The app can send the shopping list to your phone too.  It’s fantastically user-friendly.

3.  Congressman Adam Schiff.  He patiently, doggedly, eloquently has laid out the case for impeachment – not with joy or smugness, but with gravity and clarity.   A shining example of clarity.

4.  Fairway Market.  There have been reports of its financial demise before, but this week the New York Post announced that this NY supermarket institution was shutting its doors forever, filing for bankruptcy.  (And not the “restructuring” chapter 11, but the “giving up” chapter.  Today I went to the Broadway branch of Fairway and was told that the news story was incorrect.  It’s not always fun to shop there, but Fairway has almost everything you could want.  (Not preserved lemons.)  It’s also kind of a very New York place – yes you could go to Whole Foods, or Westside Market, or Trader Joe’s, but Fairway is ours.   And that’s where I buy the coffee beans for my magnificent coffee.

5.  Wandering around last weekend with my #ExhibitC ™.  She works about 80 hours a week and spends her weekends mostly sleeping and doing laundry.  We hung out Sunday night alone and I had the best time with her.

Ep. 80 – with Joel Stein – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on January 17, 2020

Author Joel Stein

I probably am not the first to mention this, but have you noticed the weather?  I don’t mean this in a I-have-nothing-to-say-so-weather-talk-can-fill-the-gaps-way.  I mean, THE WEATHER!  After an unusually snow-free winter, the thermometer climbed up to 70 degrees on the East Coast over the weekend!  It was delightful but freaky.  Freaky the way the fires of Australia are burning ceaselessly.  Freaky the way Venice was underwater this fall.  Freaky that Puerto Rico is suffering from an earthquake just 2 years after a storm so severe that residents have not yet recovered what they lost.  I always think about Mother Nature being so much stronger than all bullies, despots, and tyrants.  It’s such a waste of time to be arguing about EVERY OTHER THING in the world when our planet is suffering so. 

But since this show is about good things, I am proud to have been able to have secured today’s guest, author and hugely funny guy Joel Stein to our podcast.  His new book is In Defense of Elitism, and let me get this out of the way.  Joel went to Stanford.  I want to say it before he does.

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 good things start here:

1.  I’m loving the olives I buy out of a vat that are marinated in lemon juice!  How do I love them?  Enough that I’ve returned to Zabar’s to buy them three or four times in as many weeks.  I’m noticing that lemon has become one of my very favorite flavors.  Lemon vinaigrette, lemon pepper as a frequent spice I reach for so many things.

2.  My wall calendar.  Yes, the date is always blinking on my iphone.  But I never pay attention to it there.  I also use a diary to mark down my appointments, as some of you know.   Some years I have kept an additional small letterpress calendar on my desk.  I like looking at the days in crisp black and white.  This year I’m using a Tiny Pricks Project wall calendar pinned to the bulletin board above my desk.  Featuring embroideries by Diana Weymar, a former guest on this podcast, the January textile is a vintage clock over which she has embroidered “I am a very stable genius.”  If you want one for yourself, you can find it at https://www.tinypricksproject.com/product/2020-tpp-calendar/

3.  It started to rain in Australia last week.  I’ve never been happier to see rain in my life.  The bush fires which had the country ablaze may have been impeded somewhat by the rains.  But so many animals were killed and hurt.  Let’s be grateful for the rain.  And let’s keep sending whatever we can spare to the various charities that are helping the animals, the people, the fire departments of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia.  Here is a list from USA Today.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/07/australia-fires-how-to-help-donate-victims-animals/2832145001/

4.  I have tried to avoid this thing that makes my life better because I don’t know if it really does make my life better.  It’s potato chips.  Should I be ashamed? Embarrassed?  Mortified? 

 5.  Life changer Alert!  USPS click-n-ship.  I had a fairly heavy package I needed to send to Exhibit B™, but the box would have gotten seriously heavy if I walked to my post office.  Not to mention the last time I was there I was sneered at by the postal worker.  I found out I could pay for and print a label for my priority boxed stuff, and that it could be picked up at my house for the same price as my lugging it 5 long blocks away.  No sneer!  No line!  No problem!

The 5 Things that make Joel Stein’s life better:

1.  Indoor Plumbing

2.  KIVA.org

3.  Wine Cellar

4.  Sonos (for classical music)

5.  Sous Vide machine

More about Joel Stein:

Website:  thejoelstein.com

Twitter:  @thejoelstein

Facebook:  @thejoelstein

Instagram:  @thejoelstein

In Defense of Elitism:  Why I’m Better Than You and You are Better Than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book

By Joel Stein

https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/joel-stein/in-defense-of-elitism/9781455591473/

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 79 – with Alaina Gassler – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on January 10, 2020

Alaina Gassler receiving the 2019 Samueli Foundation Prize presented at the Broadcom Masters Competition for her project, Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots.

I am happy that today’s guest in Episode 79 is our youngest guest by far.  She is Alaina Gassler, and she is the 14 year old inventor and winner of the 2019 Samueli Foundation Prize presented at the Broadcom MASTERS competition.  We were able to do our interview from her principal’s office before her Christmas vacation, and I know you will enjoy her enthusiasms and her accomplishments.

I’m in the studio for the first time in 2020.  And it feels …. just like 2019.  Same coffee table, same curtains, same high chairs.  It’s all the same, but I feel different.

You know the saying that “life is not a dress rehearsal”?  Of course it’s true, but in a way I’ve felt that 2019 was a dress rehearsal for this year, or at least a time of great preparation.   If you’re an American citizen, 2020 is a big year:  we have a hugely consequential election in November, but first we will witness a rarity in the public square:  the impeachment trial of a sitting first term president in an atmosphere of broken checks and balances.  We have Harvey Weinstein’s first criminal trials in New York, with a subsequent trial discussed in Los Angeles.  We may have a burgeoning world war.  We have a continent burning in the South Pacific. W Many of us are starting the year with new medical insurance.  And of course, there are new hair colors for the fascinating Kardashian family.  Oh what a glorious moment to be alive!

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 the five things that make life better.

1.  Life goes on.  The calendar makes for some interesting evaluations and aha! moments, but we are continuing our work, our journeys on the shoulders of those who came before.  And hopefully our exhibits ™ will do the same.

2.  As I poured myself a cup of coffee in a go cup today, I thought about how nice and convenient it is to walk down the street or sit in a car and drink coffee, tea, or tote a bottle of water.  The first Starbucks opened in Manhattan in 1994.  (I focus on this one because that is where I live.).  I was ordering coffee to go from coffee shops with paper cups festooned with Greek ruins on a blue background before that, but it wasn’t a “thing” to walk around with a cup of joe.  Now no one thinks twice about walking around with a thermos or water bottle, but it sure makes my life better.

Lisa with her brother Jon.

3.  Spending time with my brother Jon while marching against hatred and fear.   The march was organized over the weekend to protest the rise in hate crimes, particularly those based in anti-Semitism.  We were but two of more than 25,000 people of all religions who met downtown near City Hall, and marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of numbers.  Also I enjoyed spending the time with my brother.  (We were both tired and on the cusp of bailing, but ultimately went together.). There were many powerful moments of looking around and seeing people as far as the eye could see.  I’m glad we spoke up.

4.  I’m late to the party here, but I finally got around to reading the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.   The story of a young woman of privilege who wants to withdraw from the world through strong mixtures of sleeping pills, opiates, cough syrup, and other dangerous substances, it’s a compliment to Moshfegh how much we care about this damaged heroine.  She is unkind to others, self- destructive, mean, competitive, and in untold amount of pain.  And yet the book is howlingly funny.

5.  A great checkup this week.  What more do I need?

Here are the 5 Things that make Alaina Gassler’s life better (in her own words).

1. My School Community- Throughout my triumphs and defeats, my friends, teachers, and administrators have always been there for me.  They teach me new life skills every day, and always support me. They are what make me want to continue working hard for my goals.

2. Mentors- Mentors are what motivate me, inspire me, and teach me to be a better person.  My main mentors are my parents, who shaped me into who I am today. They encourage me to keep working, and help me understand what steps I must take in order to be successful. I wouldn’t have ever gotten near to achieving anything if it wasn’t for them.

3.  Creativity- Even though most people see me as a more science-oriented person, I have a huge creative side.  I love baking and crafting, which is evident through my family’s messy kitchen and craft room! Doing those things relieves all my stress and makes me really proud when I see the result of the piece I make.

4.  Clubs and extracurricular activities- A big part of my life right now is clubs and extracurricular activities.  I am currently in Girl Scouts, Academic competition, Distributed Educational Clubs of America (DECA), Yearbook, school musical/ plays, and Business Club (a student run club at my school).  I have learned so much from each and every one of these clubs/EA’s that will keep me going in the future. I love voluntarily being part of something that makes people’s lives better. I would love to point out that I have been a Girl Scout for a while now, and I just earned my silver award, which is the highest honor a cadette girl scout can receive.  I am now working towards my gold award, which is going to be such an accomplishment for me. I’m also currently partnering with a club from another school so I can participate in Dressember, which is an event where I wear a dress everyday in December to raise awareness of modern day slavery. It is really important to me and participating in something like this definitely makes life better because knowing that I am helping people and making a difference means more than anything.

5.  Friends- My friends are always so supportive in what I do, but in a different way than other people are.  They aren’t afraid to speak their mind, which I really value because their feedback makes me a better person.  They are some of the most unproblematic people ever, and I don’t do anything but smile and laugh when I am around them, which makes my life so much better.  Whether we are competing or collaborating, they are always there for me, and they add so much to my life as a whole.

More about Alaina and her award:

Alaina Gassler, 14-years-old, from West Grove, PA, has won the top place overall in the nation in the Broadcom MASTERS competition, the premier middle school competition. Alaina has won the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, a gift of Susan and Henry Samueli, Co-Founder of Broadcom Corporation and who demonstrated mastery of all STEM fields, and exemplifies how research, innovation and teamwork come together to impact our everyday lives. Alaina won for her project titled Improving Automobile Safety by Removing Blind Spots. Alaina built a prototype to reduce blind spots in a safe and efficient way. The solution she came up with uses a webcam mounted outside the passenger side A-pillar. The camera images are then displayed on the inside of the pillar so the driver can see them. Alaina used 3-D printing to make a special part so the projector’s image would focus properly at close range.

About the Broadcom MASTERS: The Broadcom MASTERS encourages middle school students to translate their personal interests into a passion for STEM by participation in science fairs, which inspires them to continue their studies throughout high school and college and enter STEM careers. In addition to being judged on their projects, the top 30 finalists competed in hands-on challenges that tested their abilities in STEM, critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration.

Society for Science & the Public. - Inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders.

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 78 – with Bruce Handy and Joe Queenan – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on January 3, 2020

Bruce Handy, Lisa Birnbach and Joe Queenan - contributors to The Peanuts Papers.

Welcome to the new year and a new decade!  Let’s dust ourselves off from the excitement of the moment, or maybe even the disappointment of New Year’s Eve (always severely overrated and underperforming) and begin “Drynuary” or don’t.  (I choose not to, as I abstained for the whole of January, 2019 and it didn’t change my life in any perceptible way.). Let’s check ourselves for bruises, and try to begin again. I suggest that we summon up our “better selves” and give our old resentments a swift kick in the rear. 

We know January first is just December 32nd, but the break exists and helps us organize time. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed your holidays.  I did.

Our guests today are two old pals of mine, Bruce Handy and Joe Queenan.  Both hilarious and thoughtful writers, our paths crossed at Spy Magazine, or at least Spy TV specials.  (What I miss most about Spy Magazine was not editing it, but reading it.  I’d often be shocked by the freedom the publication demonstrated about the usual pieties – and feel refreshed and amused and appalled, but mostly amused.  Make fun of rich and powerful people?  Sure, why not?) We will be chatting about the new peanuts anthology that we all contributed to, The Peanuts Reader. 

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 the 5 Things that made my life better this week.

 1.  Hubub.  I had many family and exhibit-adjacent people under foot for the big holiday week.   I cooked a lot, seemed to be grocery shopping constantly, and loaded and unloaded the dishwasher multiple times a day.  That’s okay.  I enjoyed having everyone here.  Speaking of underfoot, my son’s son, “Exhibit E” or “A.1” was nice enough to play hide and seek with me a lot.  Also he has developed a charming belly laugh.  He is moments away from accepting his Rhodes Scholarship.  Sorry for bragging.

2.  Bamba.  Not the socks; the Israeli peanut snack.  The first time I tried this food, I found it repellant.  Now I love it.  It has the consistency of a cheese puff but tastes like peanut butter.  It is just salty enough, and fairly addictive.  I buy bags at Fairway, but I’d laid off them for the last six months.  However, they were invented – as far as I know – as a snack for babies, and to protect new eaters from developing peanut allergies which have become so prevalent in the last 20 years.  Anyway, the baby loved them.  Also my son and daughter in law loved them.  They are good, honestly.

3. This column in the New York Times.

A thoughtful question by an anonymous 40 year old who clearly is looking hard at her life.  I found her willingness to be so candid (even while withholding her identity) impressive, and I appreciated the seriousness of the response.  You can say that someone asking this question, “How do I find Beauty and Meaning in my life?” is just very privileged and fortunate she is not asking, “How can I feed my children?” Or “how can I get over my partner’s drug addiction?” and yes, she is privileged.  But all our lives could be improved with meaning and beauty.  Years ago a friend reminded me to make time for beauty in my life – appreciating the skyline, say, or listening to music, or ducking into one of the thousands of galleries in New York to see a picture – and I’ve never forgotten his advice.  It helps.  It helps.

4. A feel good story about a community that learned ASL to accommodate a new young neighbor.  If this story didn’t reach your computer or phone within the last couple of weeks, here it is.  The best kind of story about strangers moving into our midst.

5.  A medical breakthrough reported in the Australian press has me hopeful.  It cites a vaccine that has been in development for more than 2 decades that has proven effective in reversing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and dementia in mice, and that human trials are set to begin by 2022.   

And now, Bruce Handy, author of Wild Things:  The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult, and Joe Queenan, author of the memoir Closing Time.  We all provided essays for The Peanuts Papers.

The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life - Edited by Andrew Blauner

Bruce Handy’s 5 Things:

1. Collaboration

2. New York City

3. California

4. Tony Bennett still being alive

5. Age (to a point)

Bruce Handy Twitter: @henryfingjames

Bruce Handy – Contributing Editor Vanity Fair - https://www.vanityfair.com/contributor/bruce-handy

Joe Queenan’s 5 Things:

1. Live classical music

2. The Philadelphia Eagles

3. France

4. Not having a job

5. My kids

Joe Queenan – Columnist – The Wall Street Journal - https://www.wsj.com/news/author/joe-queenan

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 77 – with Steve Levingston – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on December 27, 2019

The end of the year and decade draw near, and somehow I feel lucky to be alive. 

I don’t feel lucky every day – not by a longshot – but I know inside that I am.  I can’t believe that we can choose to be lucky; but I do think if we examine our lives with perspective, we will find the fortune we didn’t know we had.  Trust me:  there are so many times I’ve sobbed “why me?” when the accumulation of hurts, and woes, and slights gets overwhelming.   Just a couple of days ago I was thoroughly insulted and scolded by a nasty postal worker for no good reason – and I felt myself tumbling down, but it doesn’t mean the day is ruined.  I couldn’t let it.  We cannot let it. 

And about the holidays, there is so much pressure to fill every moment and enjoy it, and they often cannot live up to our own (and Hallmark’s) expectations.  Take some down time for yourself – alone if you can – to recalibrate.

On a cheerier note, our guest this week is author and editor Steve Levingston.  His new book, Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership reminds us not only that we once had a team in the White House that was respectful to one and all, believed in the power of connection, but that friendship and support are vital to leading a healthy and balanced life.  Also, #ThoseSmiles.

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 in 2019.

1.  Beef stew in the pressure cooker.  I did it!  I do not speak “instapot,” and I had moments of fear, but I did it and the stew cooked in 45 minutes.  Also, only one pan had to be cleaned.  That’s the good news.  I still have a lot to learn about this strange object that takes up so much room on my kitchen counter, but I’m willing to try.  Next week I’m going to try to make a lamb stew.  (Goals, right?)

2.  Amuses Bouches.  These are the “free hors d’oeuvres” that some restaurants, particularly high end restaurants serve before the meal.  I want to say here and now that I have never had an amuse bouche I haven’t liked.  Naturally it’s a moment for the chef to show off and make something tiny and perfect that will whet our appetites and make us order more.  It works!  Also, doesn’t free food just taste better?  Mais oui.

3.  Pockets.  How I love them.  A dress or skirt with pockets is so dreamy – a place for a Kleenex or a coat check or just hands that may not know where to go.  I know I’m not alone in this.  It’s ironic that sometimes I don’t open sewn up pockets or I’ll even get the cleaner to close up pockets if I think they make pants or a jacket look too bulky.  Once our dear old dog Henry smelled a pellet of a treat in the pocket of a pair of cotton Bermudas I had, and he ate the whole pocket – not great for his digestion, but how could I be mad at him?  Pockets – what’s not to love?

4.  My Exhibits’ ™ careers.  All of them are launched.  My three, my partner’s one, and their significant others’es.  No one handed them much in the way of help – if any.  They are being promoted and hired for their talents and their solid work ethics.   I am proud of how motivated and smart they are.  I watch them with fascination and awe.

5.  The Impeachment.  It is not a joyful “great thing” but a somber and responsible thing we must endure for the good of our democracy.  The impeachment is a time for statesmanship, not partisanship.  It’s a time to end the damage that has been wrought by a corrupt and depraved man and his feckless toadies.  It is time to prosecute him for his crimes and remind our fellow citizens that any shred of this behavior would have been considered unacceptable in every previous president in the history of our country.  If he had nothing to hide, why has he refused to share his tax returns, why has he refused to allow his senior staff testify?  It makes no sense.  Even as a Democrat I miss the concept of an honorable opponent.  I long to see the Republican party restored to its principles of small government and nice people.  This administration has forced some “very fine people on both sides” into their separate bubbles with their own narrative logic.  Trump wants to foment civil war at home and make deals with dictators abroad.  Trump must be impeached.   It is the only right thing to do.

Steve Levingston’s 5 Things

1. Archives

2. Indexes

(both of these first two things make historical research easier, compared with the research he did for "Barack and Joe" -- no archives, presidential libraries, etc. yet)

3. Squirrels

4. Cheers TV show

5. Two pens in his pocket

More about Steve Livingston

Barack and Joe: The Making of an Extraordinary Partnership

Twitter: @SteveLevingston

Website:  StevenLevingston.com

Facebook: @stevenlevingston

ARTICLES ABOUT STUTTERING

Joe Biden’s Stutter, and Mine - The Atlantic - Story by John Hendrickson

The Moment Every Adult Stutterer Dreads - The vice president spoke out. Others who stutter—including me—should do the same. - The Atlantic - Story by Eric R. Dinallo - Chairman of the board of the American Institute for Stuttering.

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 76 – with Peter Asher – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on December 20, 2019

I sometimes forget I have a Spotify account when I want to listen to music.  The good news is when I want to listen to music, the entire possible library is right here, with me wherever I am. The days of lying on my stomach next to the record player or stereo, reading the liner notes on the album cover, as well as studying and memorizing the lyrics are over, but the joy of listening to music is always with me.

My guest today probably has heard himself described as “legendary.”  It is Peter Asher, CBE. Formerly of Peter & Gordon, the pop duo of the 60s.  Having met Paul McCartney in the early 60s when he was dating Peter’s sister Jane, Peter’s story was intertwined with the cute Beatles.

McCartney wrote Peter and Gordon’s first hit (it went to #1 internationally), “A World Without Love,” but Asher became Apple Record’s first head of A&R.  He later discovered James Taylor, and managed him and Linda Ronstadt among many other artists, and become a heralded record producer as well.  You’ll love his stories.

By the time you hear this podcast, I will have two out of 3 exhibits home for the holidays, with the other and his family en route to me.   I long to have all my kiddoes here under our roof for a week or so. 

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!

My five great things this week:

1.  Having all our kids home and together.  I see it now through rose-colored glasses.  Even when a day or two isn’t perfect, or there’s been some disagreeableness – I just love knowing that they are here with me.  And the baby is the bonus!  I got such a kick out of buying baby food for my um son’s son.

2.  Last Friday we went to a dinner party at the house of a couple we just have started to know, and it was so much fun!  Jan and Alan planned a festive group, and not only did we stay till midnight (what?) but the food was out of this world.  It’s always such a surprise to have such a bracing evening with people you barely knew. 

3.  JoJo Rabbit.  Have you seen this odd but wonderful movie yet?  It’s made by the wonderful filmmaker Taika Waititi who wrote and directed Hunt for the Wilderpeople.  It’s a picaresque movie about a little German boy who lives with his mother during WWII in Germany, and he’s obsessed by the Nazis.  A sensitive child with an inquisitive mind, he misses his father – who is seemingly fighting in another country, and his older sister who died from influenza.  The boy, JoJo, conjures up an imaginary friend, who is Adloph Hitler, played as a petulant and immature bully by Waititi himself, a Jewish-Maori New Zealander.  I am still processing all the ways the movie made me feel, which tells me it breaks new ground and is worth seeing.

4.  Cleaning my office.  It’s a work in progress, but slowly I’m getting it organized.  Soon it will be a place of pride and a thing worthy of good writing.

5.  Last week, in a moment of discouragement – they just happen sometimes, without warning – I received a couple of letters from some of you who say they like this podcast.  I cannot tell you how much that means to me.  We all need validation or to be bolstered up when we aren’t feeling too confident.  When I get feedback from you listeners, I feel this is not some elaborate waste of time.

And now Mr. Peter Asher’s 5 things that make his life Better.

1.  Family
2.  Science
3.  Music
4.  Language
5.  Himself

For more about Peter Asher:

The Beatles from A to Zed: An Alphabetical Mystery Tour

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209580https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209580

Sirius XM Radio – The Beatles Channel - Peter Asher: From Me To You - https://www.siriusxm.com/thebeatles

Facebook:  @Peter-Asher

Websites: 

Peterashermusic.com

https://www.peterandgordonthesingles.com/#!home|mainPage

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 75 – with Lizz Winstead – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on December 13, 2019

Lisa Birnbach and Lizz Winstead

Friday the 13th. And it doesn’t scare me at all.

I don’t find myself frightened all that often. Nervous? That’s another story. I worry. Okay, I worry a lot. I worry about my loved ones. I worry about their health, and their relationships, and the health of their relationships. I worry about the planet and how we are depleting its resources. I worry about saying the wrong thing or worse, not having anything to say. Here’s what scares me: Stampeding crowds – commuters on crowded and slippery stairways, or aggressive shoppers elbowing one another. I am scared of some heights – mostly getting down from them. And, oh yes: The idea that Donald Trump might somehow win another term as president.

Our guest this week is one of the bravest people I know. It is the standup comedian and activist Lizz Winstead, who among other accomplishments co-created “The Daily Show” and Air America Radio. She is cofounder of Lady Parts Justice, now known as Abortion Access Front, and has dedicated the lion’s share of her stand up income to women’s reproductive freedom.

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!

Now for the five things that made my life better this week:

1. Cher. My friend Dan took me with him to see Cher at Madison Square Garden. I hadn’t realized her farewell tour was ongoing. (She joked that it wasn’t her first farewell tour and probably wouldn’t be her last.). She is 73 years old and still fits into those bodystockingy costumes that are her trademark. But there’s something about her strength: she is a feisty, smart, patriotic American – a native American at that. Whatever she wants to do, let’s let her do it.

2. Buying and wrapping presents. I love finding the perfect present for my friends and family. I work at it, and it gives me pleasure. Standing on line at the post office? Not so much.

3. Tom in “Succession.” It’s the actor Matthew Macfayden who plays the sacrificial son in law, Tom Wambsgans, married to terrifying heiress Siobhan Roy, played by Sarah Snook. Does he know he’s marrying a devil? Is Tom willing to give up his humanity to become a member of the Roy media dynasty? He tries so hard to be cool and thick-skinned, but at the same time shows us his vulnerabilities. (And in case you didn’t know, Macfayden is British and has played Mr. Darcy, at that!)

4. Linda Ronstadt. I have loved Linda Ronstadt’s voice when she was a young singer and I was a teenager. I have loved its mellowness and occasional huskiness. Now I admire her for being outspoken. She’s told us she suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, and she had been forthright about her views on politics. I am delighted that she has been heralded as a Kennedy Center Honoree, and consider her a cultural gift to us all.

5. Peter Asher’s live show, Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the 60’s and Beyond. I saw it last night and it captivated me. Besides being the Peter of Peter & Gordon, Asher was part of the British Invasion, and tells the story of how 60s pop became a means of change and waking up old norms. With archival footage and an easy give and take with the audience, it felt like Peter was walking us through the last few decades musically, and intimately. Go see it if you can! He’s in San Francisco on December 15th, and on tour throughout January. He’ll also be on our podcast next week.

Before Lizzo, there was Lizz!

Comedian and Activist Lizz Winstead

Lizz Winstead’s 5 Things:

1. Her dog (on Instagram: @Budderino_forever)

2. Her Minnesota roots.

3. Her family.

4. Her abortion

5. Her sense of humor (which allows her abortion to be #4).

Lizz Winstead and Lisa Birnbach

More about Lizz Winstead:

Twitter: @LizzWinstead

Instagram: @LizzWinstead

Facebook: @LizzWinstead

Abortion Access Front - Twitter: @AbortionFront

Website: Abortion Access Front

This Podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV.

Ep. 74 – with Danny Meyer – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on December 6, 2019

Lisa Birnbach and Danny Meyer

Welcome to Five Things that Make Life Better.  As we slither towards the end of 2019 – and head to the new 20s, I am pleased to welcome to the podcast restaurateur, cookbook author, entrepreneur, and a man who revolutionized restaurants in the 21st century, Danny Meyer.  He also is the man who invented Shake Shack. 

We just wrapped up Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is not just known for eating turkey and discussing our gratitude or trying to avoid Uncle Ray’s breath, it is notorious for being the time of year that families grate on our nerves.  They may not feel like good problems, but even if we don’t feel equally affectionate towards all our relatives and their friends when we gathered together last week for the big meal, it’s wonderful to have a family – even a small or weird one.  We get to live freely.  Our babies aren’t locked away in cages, and at some point there was a debate about cranberry sauce.  I’m #TeamJellied, in case you were wondering.

I was a guest this year, of my son Exhibit A and daughter-in-law, with an assist from Exhibit B.  They did an exceptional job.  (I confess I love a meal that’s mostly shades of brown and taupe.) And I wasn’t allowed to lift a finger.  I was spoiled.

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 before I relapse into a turkey tryptophan coma, let me give you my list of five things that made my life better this week: 

1.  Last week I attended the Miami Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country, now in its 36th year.  I had always wanted to see what it was all about, and it’s a prolonged street fair / book readings / panels / parties / signings, and so on.  I was there to interview some authors, which I enjoyed.  I loved the audiences.  They needed no invitation to participate in the conversations.

2.  One of my favorite aspects of Miami Book Fair was hanging out with numerous guests of our Five Things podcasts.  Though this show isn’t about writers only, it certainly is a great platform for writers, and it felt like we belonged there.

Here I am at the Fair with some of my previous guests - Adrienne Brodeur, Lori Gottlieb, E. Jean Carroll, and Chip Kidd.

3.  I took a jewelry making class and I had a fantastic time.  It was through some kind of cybermagic that I found a link to a small ring-making class on Instagram.  Caroline and Krys,  artists who work together as Icarus & Co. happened to have a pop-up shop/classroom on Elizabeth Street on the lower east side.  I was the only one who was enrolled that night.  Krys and Caroline make jewelry in Brooklyn and in Nantucket in the summers.  Separately they are photographers, ceramicists, illustrators, and stylists.  They print their designs on silk scarves.  The three of us laughed, and I learned how to carve a wax mold, which will eventually be cast in metal.  By the way, these women are available to bring their tools, their wax, and everything you could need to make gold or silver charms or rings.  If you have friends who are interested, they’ll bring the party to your house or office.

4.  Exhibit E’s first Thanksgiving.  He surely doesn’t know who I am (he cried when I first tried to hold him last week), but as he got used to me, he treated me to big, droolly smiles.  Droolly smiles are pretty, pretty good.

5.  The impeachment hearings.  They are not just for anti-Trumpers; they are for all Americans, to better understand what the framers of the Constitution intended when they created this most precious document.  Just because we were born here, or grew up here, we must not take our democracy for granted.

And now, I am excited to talk with Danny Meyer, creator of Shake Shack, Union Square Café, and an ever growing list of other fabulous restaurants.

Danny Meyer’s 5 Things: 

1. His family

2. Running/going to the gym

3. Navigating apps (like Waze)

4. Italy

5. Earning the Diamond Medallion on Delta  and Clear airport security.

More about Danny Meyer, Founder & CEO - Union Square Hospitality Group.

Website:  ushgnyc.com - https://www.ushgnyc.com/team_member/danny-meyer/

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

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

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

This podcast was recorded and produced in New York City by The Field TV

Ep. 73 – with Dale Atkins – Lisa Birnbach’s Five Things That Make Life Better on November 29, 2019

I just realized that we’re coming to the end of a decade.  Have you even considered that?  We’ve been the 20teens all this time and I never thought about it.  Since the turn of the millennium, everything has been like one continuous download of time. Decades, shmeckades.  We’re about to enter our Twenties.  One hundred years ago that meant the 1920s, or “the Roaring Twenties,” when flappers turned society on its head with their shortened hemlines, and modern hair bobs, doing the Charleston and waving their cigarette holders.

What will our 2020s be known as?  The burning 20s is my thought – given the fires in California and in Australia – and general the climate catastrophe, not to mention the flammable anger that seems to be the mood of our time.  This moment feels like a turning point, doesn’t it? 

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!

My guest this week is always a source of calm amidst these turbulent times.  It is the psychologist Dale Atkins, who you might know from her frequent appearances on the Today Show.  She has a newsletter you can subscribe to called “Sanity Savers.”  Her newest book, which she has written with social worker (and her niece) Amanda Salzhauer is The Kindness Advantage:  Cultivating Compassionate and Connected Children.

1.  “Parasite,” the new Korean movie which is both a modern fable and a psychological study.  Beautifully shot in what I assume is Seoul, Korean, in two homes – a spectacular modern mansion and a grim crowded and dark basement apartment at whose window, men always seem to want to pee – it is about class differences and how not every opportunity is one worth taking.  See it and tell me what you think of it.

2. Conversation with my friends.  After seeing the film, we had a fascinating conversation led by our friends Valerie and Rick.  We talked about how we each read, and how we get the most out of the books we choose to read.  Who finishes everything?  Who changes their mind if they don’t love a book?   Provocative questions and actually rather intimate.  Our reading habits are as personal in a way as a talk about religion or family.

3. I love when I dream about food.  I often have very complicated and strange dreams.  Sometimes there’s an episode having to do with dinner parties or breakfasts, and after I’ve awakened, I realize I didn’t really eat that whole lasagna and Sara Lee banana cake.  It’s filling, but without the calories.  In other words, a victory.

4. Vintage shrunken t-shirts.  I keep forgetting I’m a middle-aged woman when I’m shopping, especially online, and I love the look of a cute or ironic t-shirt under a pants suit, say, or under a cardigan.  The thing is, I have no vintage shrunken t-shirts in my possession and am not a cute young thing.  But I can keep the dream alive.  It doesn’t hurt anyone.

5. Last weekend my boyfriend and I transformed my messy office into an elegant library.  The project isn’t quite finished, but here’s the best part.  Most of the books in our library were in storage for the last four or five years.  I’ve missed my books.  There were some I didn’t even know I had.  I just keep walking over to the shelves and smiling at my titles.  Soon the new office will be organized (by me) and then we’ll have you all over.

My guest on the podcast this week is Dale Atkins, Ph.D. we talk about how there seems to be a cruelty epidemic these days and how kindness still counts.

The 5 Things that make Dale Atkins’ life better:

1.      Waking up everyday

2.      Being in nature

3.      Play with my dog

4.      My family and friends

5.      Doing things for other people / surprises

More about Dale Atkins

The Kindness Advantage: Cultivating Compassion and Connected Children – Everyday Ideas for Raising Kids Who Care

By Dale Atkins and Amanda Salzhauer

https://thekindnessadvantagebook.com/

Published by Simon & Schuster

Website:  daledoc.net - http://www.daledoc.net/

Website:  https://www.drdaleatkins.com/

Instagram @drdaleatkins

Facebook: @daleatkins

Twitter:  @drdaleatkins