Happy To Be Here

Host Greta Johnsen talks with T Kira Madden, whose novel Whidbey is the GRETAGRAM Book Club selection for May. (TW: Child sexual abuse.)

Whidbey is told from the points of view of three women who are all connected to Calvin, a sexual precator: Mary Beth, his mother, and Birdie and Linzie, who victims who approach their trauma in very different ways. 

T Kira talks about the book’s enticing opening scene, the ways that victimhood can be exploited, and whether she considers writing fiction to be cathartic. 

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Tile art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks with Roxana Jullapat, head baker and co-owner at the Los Angeles restaurant Friends & Family. Her new cookbook is Morning Baker: Recipes and Rituals for Breakfast and Beyond.

In 2019, she wrote Mother Grains: Recipes for the Grain Revolution, a thorough compendium of heritage grains and everything they have to offer. 

Roxana says the new cookbook is just as devoted to whole grains, but it’s a little more joyful. “There’s a lot more spontaneity,” she said. “It truly is a reflection of what we make at Friends & Family, and what it means to be a grain head.”

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Show art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks to author Rufi Thrope, whose novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles was just adapted into a series on Apple TV+.

The show’s cast is stacked -- it stars Elle Fanning as Margo, a young woman who becomes pregnant after an affair with her college professor. She decides to keep the baby, much to the chagrin of her own single mom Shyanne, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Margo’s absentee former pro wrestler dad, Jinx, is played by Nick Offerman.  

Rufi and Greta talk about the magic of seeing a novel in a whole new dimension, what Rufi is working on next, and the utter absurdity of living with the cuddly monster known as the Bull Terrier.  

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Show art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greta’s guest today will be familiar to longtime Nerdette listeners -- her name is Kate Schatz, and she’s an activist and author. She co-wrote Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book with W Kamau Bell, and she’s the author of Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide.

Now, she’s back with her first novel for adults! Where the Girls Were takes place in the Bay Area in 1968. It’s about Baker, a teenager whose future is bright -- until she meets a boy, and has sex with that boy, and gets pregnant. 

Baker ends up at a “home for wayward girls,” a residence program where young pregnant women would be hidden from society until they gave birth. Their babies would be put up for adoption and the girls were expected to return home as if nothing ever happened. 

“This is a book about choice and reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy and how truly complicated and nuanced it all is,” Kate says. 

Kate talks with Greta about why she set the book in ‘68, the sneaky nefariousness of the word “unfit,” and where she finds comfort during tumultuous times. 

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Show art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An unimportant investigation into the difference between cupcakes and muffins with Bon Appetit test kitchen editor Shilpa Uscocovic.

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Tile art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For this deep-dive discussion of Tayari Jones’ novel Kin, host Greta Johnsen talks with Traci Thomas, who hosts The Stacks podcast. 

They talk about the exquisite pleasure of reading a book that does exactly what it sets out to do, the beauty of female friendship, and the different ways the main characters are mothered despite the absence of their actual mothers. 

Warning: this is a spoilery conversation! If you haven’t read the book yet, go listen to Greta’s spoiler-free conversation with Tayari. 

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Tile art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greta Johnsen and Kristen Meinzer discuss the finale of My So-Called Life -- “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities”  -- with Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes and Ronald Young, Jr., who hosts Weight for It. 

They talk about the centrality of Angela and Rayanne’s friendship, the power of Patty’s nostalgia trip, and how the episode works as both a season and series finale. 

Plus, Greta and Kristen talk to Winnie Holzman, the creator of My So-Called Life. about how fulfilling it is to hear stories about the show’s impact even though it aired more than 30 years ago. She reflects on one of the main throughlines of her career: wanting to work on creatively inspiring teams.

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Co-host: Kristen Meinzer

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composer: Andrew M. Edwards

Tile art: Lou Lovisek

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today’s MSCL rewatch episode, Greta Johnsen and Kristen Meinzer discuss My So-Called Life episodes 17 and 18 -- “Betrayal” and “Weekend”  -- with Soraya Roberts, a culture writer and contributing writer at Defector who wrote the the book In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life.

They talk about THE BEYRAYAL, whether Jordan actually loved Angela, and what Brian’s deal is.

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Co-host: Kristen Meinzer

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composer: Andrew M. Edwards

Tile art: Lou Lovisek

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Greta Johnsen and Kristen Meinzer discuss My So-Called Life episodes 15 and 16 -- “So-Called Angels” and “Resolutions”  -- with Jenn White, the host of the NPR show 1A.

They talk about the ups and downs of what Jenn (somewhat facetiously) calls “a very special episode of My So-Called Life,” the devastation and sweetness of Ricky’s story, and the fact that Sharon is “just a nice, middle-class suburban girl who’s horny,” as Kristen put it.

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Co-host: Kristen Meinzer

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composer: Andrew M. Edwards

Tile art: Lou Lovisek

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Host Greta Johnsen talks to Tayari Jones. Her novel Kin is the GRETAGRAM book club selection for March. It’s about two girls grow up in the 50’s in Alabama. They each lost their mothers in different ways, and those absences shape the trajectories of both of their lives. 

Tayari and Greta talk about the power of deep, abiding friendship, the importance of asking for help, and how Tayari stumbled upon writing historical fiction.

UPCOMING BOOK CLUB BOOKS:

April: Vigil, George Saunders

May: Whidbey, T Kira Madden

June: Dear Monica Lewinsky, Julia Langbein

July: Canon, Paige Lewis

SHOW CREDITS

Creator and host: Greta Johnsen

Senior Producer: Ben Goldberg

Composers: Ross Bellenoit and Jeremy Thal

Show art: Mac Maclean

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.