This is the 150th week of my experimental podcast that was only supposed to be a trial balloon for a few months. Our outro says, “Every Friday, if she remembers,” because it was that kind of informal vibe that got me here in the first place. Little did I know I would be compelled to produce a(n optimistic) podcast for almost three years. I never skipped a week, even if I couldn’t book a guest, or someone dropped out. I felt it was a calling to come up with the damn list – even when the world was crying out in pain over a disease that claimed so many lives, even when our country seemed poised for another civil war.
Five things – five measly things -- don’t seem like much. That short list was a vehicle, you could say, for my own mental health.
An interview podcast wasn’t a revolutionary idea, though when I heard the crazily popular Joe Rogan do an interview, I knew I was a better interviewer. I at least cared more about my guests than he did, and I didn’t want a platform to use to show off my wealth or manliness. (Because you all know about my manliness, right?) This program was about the guest and it was also about us knitting together a dialogue about surviving through a difficult time. Those four years were dark. We didn’t know who we could trust and if our government was poised for good or for ill. And as we all know, it was it ill.
In 2017 we civilians couldn’t have seen this pandemic on the horizon, but the rot that set in was mind-blowing. By 2018 it was this podcast or hiding under my comforter. And little by little we grew, garnering interesting and well-known guests who would be prized on any platform, let alone a humble podcast. The Lockdown helped podcasts, as we all know by now. Especially by procuring authors who were denied their proper book tours. They in their multitudinous visions had so much to say and so many fascinating ideas: Applying the FBI code to one’s own life, downsizing to be a humanitarian, the mental disease that corrupted the Trumps, how even the shrewdest among us could still be blindsided in search of love, the wealth and culture gaps that were actually fomented by liberal journalists, the obsolescence of men, and so on. All the shows exist on in our archives that you’ll be able to access on my website, lisabirnbach.com.
This is the end of that chapter, but of course the beginning of the next one. I hope to take you all with me – wherever I happen to land. And you can always find me on Twitter, Instagram, and at my website. If I really miss the exercise I will continue to blog or perhaps do a 5 things list there. Let me know if that interests you.
But for now, let me introduce this weeks guest, and the five things that make my life better. (Actually they are numbers 746-750, if you’re counting.) (I was.)
To WATCH it on YOUTUBE where you’ll see the full unedited interview - Click HERE.
Lisa Birnbach and Abigail Tucker
My guest this week is Abigail Tucker. science writer and mother of four (4) count ‘em 4 children, has studied how moms’ brains are transformed forever. She’s written a new book “Mom Genes: Inside the new science of our maternal instinct”.
She’s smart, she’s sassy - and she knows what makes a mother tick. You’re going to enjoy this conversation as much as I did !
1. (#746): The people involved with the Five Things Podcast, particularly Shpresa Oruci and Michael Porte. They kept me on it when my confidence was flagging.
2. (#747) The fans of Five Things. In addition to Ellen Angell Sholk founder of the Five Things That Make Life Better Facebook fan page, there are others of you who’ve let me know how much they enjoy this portable entertainment/comfort. I do hope I am not letting you down.
3. (#748). My guests. Quite an impressive list, if you ask me. I don’t want to brag so please consult the pod’n’blog tab on my website – lisabirnbach.com to see our V.I.P. list.
4. (#749) Customer service phone numbers that get you directly to a person. I sound my age – or my mother’s – but I trust a stranger more than I trust voice mails and prompts. I don’t mean to go all Zappo’s on you – I don’t need a three hour conversation about Asics sneakers and the virtues of DHL vs. FedEx – but a real human voice – even if you know the call is routed through another continent to someone who is not remotely named Kevin no matter what he says provides at the least the allusion that your issue will be solved.
5. (#750) Cherries. It’s that time of the year, and the first cherries are the best. Because we had to wait for them. Because we couldn’t conjure them up in the winter. Because a tiny red pellet is such a vibrant burst of flavor.
Abigail Tucker’s 5 Things:
5. Hot Vanilla
More About Abigail Tucker
MOM GENES: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct published by Gallery Books.
The 5 Things That Make Life Better podcast is recorded and produced at The Field in NYC. My team is Shpresa Oruci, Michael Porte, Sam Haft and Boco Haft.