When Alyssa Mastromonaco was Deputy Chief of Staff in the Obama Administration, there was a point in time when she was averaging two hours of sleep per night. After a doctor’s visit confirmed she was exceedingly sleep deprived, she decided it was time to leave the White House after working for President Obama for nearly 10 years. Sam asks Alyssa what it was like to go from that high-stakes environment to watching HGTV all day, what made her decide that she’s never wearing Spanx again, and how she got deep into the world of jam making. 
 
Follow Alyssa Mastromonaco @AlyssaMastro44 on Twitter and @mastro175 on Instagram.
 
Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and Twitter. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
 
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
 
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stay in the White House or Binge HGTV? (with Alyssa Mastromonaco)

We make a lot of choices, every single day. Some explode, some implode, most we barely remember. Each week on Choice Words, Samantha Bee sits down with people she admires to examine the biggest choices they’ve made in their lives and the ripple effects those decisions have had. What’s a story a journalist took a chance on that changed history? A vote that a politician never should have cast? A song lyric a musician came up with in the shower that made them instantly famous? 

Sam’s made a lot of choices, too. She may have to interview herself about starting this podcast.
 

Comedy

When actor David Duchovny was teaching his daughter to ride a bike, he made the questionable choice of taking her to the top of a grassy hill at Pepperdine University in Malibu and pointing her straight downhill toward Highway 1. Luckily she learned (quickly) how to brake, but he realized not all of his ideas are good ones. In fact, some are failures. Sam asks David how to view failure through a positive lens, why it’s so hard for Americans to admit defeat, and why Yale is still waiting for him to teach a Kierkegaard graduate class.
Follow David Duchovny @davidduchovny on Instagram.
Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kierkegaard or Californication? (with David Duchovny)

When actor Kerry Washington’s parents told her a massive family secret five years ago, it shook her entire world. And despite being an extremely private person, Kerry decided to reveal this shocking information in her memoir, “Thicker Than Water.” In one of our favorite episodes from the vault, Sam and Kerry discuss how learning this truth helped Kerry know herself for the first time in her life and what made her want to share her story with the world. Plus, how Kerry feels about people’s inability to differentiate her from Olivia Pope and why Kerry was known as “the condom lady” in high school.
Follow Kerry Washington @kerrywashington on Instagram and X.
Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Choices We Made: Family Secrets or Big Reveal? (with Kerry Washington)

When actor Rob Delaney’s two-and-a-half-year-old son Henry died, Rob decided to share his family’s experience with Henry’s illness and death with the world. What emerged was the deeply personal memoir, “A Heart That Works.” In this best-of episode from 2023, Sam asks Rob about how his approach to his career shifted after Henry passed away, a seemingly small choice he made at a recovery meeting that ultimately changed the trajectory of his life, and his thoughts on the platform formerly known as Twitter going off the rails.
Follow Rob Delaney @robdelaney on X and Instagram.
Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Choices We Made: Express Your Grief or Keep It In? (with Rob Delaney)

When Rosie O’Donnell chose to step away from her talk show after six successful seasons, her actor friends thought she was out of her mind. In one of our favorite episodes from the vault, Sam asks Rosie what went into that professional choice as well as a personal one: celebrating her 50th by adopting a baby. Rosie relives moments like drunk-dialing Oprah, fighting with Eileen Fisher, and uttering a sentence that’s never been said in Hollywood.
Follow Rosie O’Donnell @Rosie on TikTok, Instagram, and X.
Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Choices We Made: Baby or Facelift? (with Rosie O'Donnell)

Sam wants to introduce you to another great show from Lemonada Media. Last Day is about the moments that change us fundamentally and forever. Each week, host and Lemonada co-founder Stephanie Wittels Wachs sits down with a new guest to explore happy/sad stories of survival, resilience, and transformation.
In this episode, Stephanie speaks with Christine Blasey Ford, whose life changed forever when she raised her hand in the U.S. Senate chamber and vowed to tell nothing but the truth about being sexually assaulted by then-nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. From that moment on, Christine’s life was forever changed, exposing her to vicious hate and shaking the deeply rooted respect for government that had motivated her to come forward in the first place. Now, almost six years later, she shares how, even though many things got harder for her after her testimony, if she had the choice to do it all again, she would. Follow Last Day to never miss an episode: https://lemonadamedia.com/show/lastday/.
If you have a story about a moment that changed you, share it with the Last Day team! Head to bit.ly/lastdaystories to fill out the confidential Google form.
Stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.
Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors
To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stay in the White House or Binge HGTV? (with Alyssa Mastromonaco)

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