Hello, My Mom is Dead with Molly McGlynn

The day before Mother's Day - is this our Superbowl?? I am so excited to have a very special today - seventeen-year-old singer/songwriter Tina LaRosa. I was connected to Tina through Experience Camps which is a national, no-cost program for grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. Tina's mom Theresa died when she was twelve and through discovering her love of music, she's been able to make a name for herself and stay connected to her music-loving mom. Age ain't nothin' but a number and whew, I learned so much from Tina and feel deeply inspired by her wisdom, creativity and spirit.

Follow Tina and her music (linked on her website).

Here's a link to her incredible "Mom's Song" that I play at the end of the episode. Also, check out the fantastic site GRIEF SUCKS (an Experience Camps initiative).

SAMANTHA IRBY IS HERE! Samantha Irby is truly one of the greatest living comedic writers and if you haven’t read her work, I implore you. I love her work so much, I even gave it to my therapist. The funniest people often have had the greatest losses and Samantha is no exception having lost both of her parents amongst other tragedies which she so poignantly and hilariously writes about. Samantha’s books include We Are Never Meeting in Real Life; Meaty; New Year, Same Trash; Wow, No Thank You; and Quietly Hostile and has been on the NYT Best Sellers list multiple times. Additionally, she has written episodes of Shrill, Sex and The City and Tuca & Bertie and writes the brilliant Bitches Gotta Eat.

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Buy Quietly Hostile, Irby's latest book

Subscribe to bitchesgottaeat

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School of THOT (train your body and mind with Stasia Patwell)

⁠I've been MIA with some big life stuff, but I'm back and ready to get back into GRIEF (lol). Maya Lin Sugarman is a writer, director, host and yoga instructor living in LA. I reached out to Maya after I binged her podcast THE MAGNIFENT JERK which was on a ton of best-of lists in 2023 including The New Yorker and Vulture - no big deal.⁠ We talk about Etsy urns, being micromanaged in our mom's kitchens and complicated thoughts on marriage and motherhood.

⁠Check out Maya's gorgeous website⁠ and her critically acclaimed banger of a podcast THE MAGNIFICENT JERK.

I'm back after a little break! I felt like there was way too much collective suffering and grief happening and it felt right to take a pause. However, I know that this time of year can be a doozie for us, so I wanted to drop this banger episode with the incredible author, speaker, entrepreneur and former Obama White House appointee, Marisa Renee Lee. TW: this episode does discuss infertility and pregnancy loss, so do listen with care.

You can buy Marisa's book GRIEF IS LOVE here and follow her on Instagram.

You can also read her essay "I Lost My Mom 12 Years Ago. And No, I'll Never ‘Get Over’ It" in Glamour, where I first discovered the power and beauty of her words.

This episode is a MUST LISTEN!!! My conversation with Saifa (he/him/his) will stay with me for a very long time. We talk about Saifa’s mom Athel (Lisa in the street) and about intersex bodies, beauty, race, the reversal of the parent/child relationship in the death process, sources of joy, food (I learn what "bubble and squeak" is?!), The Thong Song, Steve McQueen & the horniness of Swiffers. Saifa is brilliant, philosophical, spiritual, generous and hilarious. 

BIO:

Sean Saifa Wall (he/him/his) is a Black queer intersex activist and rising scholar. Currently, he is a Marie Skłowdoska-Curie fellow at the University of Huddersfield in England examining the erasure of intersex people from social policy in Ireland and England.

Links from episode!

Every Body trailer! Is available to watch but I shall not promote streamers right now!

36 Revolutions of Change - Saifa's TedX talk

It's been a minute, but it's worth it! Today I have Maresa Pullman on the podcast talking about her *fascinating* mom Barbara. I met Maresa because she is the Head of Development for Film & TV at Janelle Monae's production company Wondaland and they are Executive Producers on my latest feature Fitting In (formerly Bloody Hell). Maresa is a New Yorker through and through and she speaks with such wit, humour and candor. This is a conversation you don't want to miss!

Remember to subscribe, like or even better, send this episode to a friend...or enemy?

KIMRIE LEWIS IS IN MY HOUSE! I had the absolutely privilege of directing Kimrie on NBC's Kenan where she played Mika, a TV news producer, WHICH IS WHAT HER MOM CAROL DID IN REAL LIFE?! We talk about being a new mom and grief, buying thongs with your mom and what Kimrie learned about ambition and tenacity through her trailblazing mom, Carol.

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Kimrie Lewis is an actor-writer-director hailing from South Central, Los Angeles. She can be seen on NBC's Kenan and ABC's Single Parents. She has also directed two short films, the most recent being Fake It Till You Make It, which premiered at the LA Shorts International Festival. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a fellow of the Sundance Institute Writing Program. You can follow Kimrie at KIMRIE LEWIS on Instagram.

Writer/Director Steve Basilone is on the pod today to talk about getting through his own illness, a public divorce and his mom Joyce's death all in one hellish life gauntlet. Steve is so witty, funny and articulate and should absolutely record audio books. Steve is cool as hell and I'm so glad I was able to have this conversation.

Basilone has been writing for film and television since graduating from Emerson in ‘03.  In 2007 he sold his first spec feature with Benderspink.  Since then, Steve has written and produced more than 200 episodes of television, working for shows like Happy Endings, Community and The Goldbergs.  In 2015, he co-wrote a feature for Focus Films, and in 2017 Basilone co-wrote the sequel to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito classic, Twins.  In 2021, Basilone’s feature directorial debut, Long Weekend, opened nationwide through Sony Pictures.  Currently Basilone is working on getting his sophomore feature off the ground, while he works on pilots for both Fox and MGM. 

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Find Steve here!

Watch his feature film Long Weekend!

Follow Hello, My Mom is Dead.

The first man on the pod!! Cause their moms die too. Michael is a writer, producer and actor (bio below!). He shared one of the best stories about his parents origin stories that maybe I have ever heard?! Michael is so full of humour, joy and love. His mom Didi sounds like the baddest bitch and I was so happy to hear about this extraordinary woman.

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Michael is a writer, producer and actor from Montreal. He is best known for playing Terence in all 5 seasons of Kim's Convenience (CBC/Netflix). Proudly of Middle Eastern and Greek descent, he aims to tell diverse and challenging stories. As a playwright, Michael's plays have been produced in Toronto, Montreal and New York and he won the Best Play award for his first play I do, I guess at The Riant Theatre in NYC. He co-produced his first feature film The Toll (Lionsgate), an official selection of SXSW 2020, that is currently available on Roku. His psychological thriller series Something Undone (CBC Gem) won the Jury's Choice Award at SXSW and the Best Short Series Award at Series Mania in France. You can catch Michael playing Finbar in the film All My Puny Sorrows (adapted from the acclaimed novel by Mirriam Toews).

Michael's Globe & Mail article.

Something Undone - CBC Gem

Michael's Instagram

Maria Randazzo is your new best friend. Or at least Molly wants her to be hers. New York based, Cleveland born Maria Randazzo is a WGA Award nominated-writer, comedian, and actor. She is currently a staff writer on the Emmy-nominated Apple Original series The Problem with Jon Stewart. She's also a contributor for Reductress, and you can catch her doing sketch, improv, stand-up, and drag king performances around New York City (His name is Sal MarscarBone and he's horny for sandwiches). She spent several years in Chicago being cold and performing sketch and improv at The Second City, the iO Theater, and The Annoyance. She's also written and performed two solo sketch shows, "Lady of Solitude" and "I Don't Know About Her" and climate change pending, will retire in Miami.

We talk about our mom's death, wearing a bold lip to a funeral, matching cardigan and short sets from Limited Too, how Ricky Martin was the Pedro Pascal of Molly's generation and the Beyonce movie Dreamgirls and why it reminds Molly of her mother's funeral!

Find Maria at:

instagram: @mariafreakingrandazzo

https://www.mariarandazzo.com/