Help Wanted

The hilarious Rebecca Westerkom joins Valerie and Reggie to talk about ridiculous and not-so-ridiculous things we fear: flyovers, fires, firefighters, zip lines, chips and queso, and leaving your children parentless because you both flew on a plane that ended up crashing, among other things. Plus Reggie's annoyed when her treadmill territory is threatened and Valerie has a spiritual experience at Trader Joe's and then tells everyone about it. Sponsored by Facebook's photos of you from 5 years ago (when you peaked!).

Help Wanted talks with renaissance woman and experienced volunteer about her different volunteering experiences, picking organizations and activities that fit, questions to ask yourself before you start volunteering, avoiding compassion fatigue, and meeting men in the produce section of the grocery store. Ryan has been involved with the community for years: teaching English as a second language, building houses with Habitat for Humanity, handing out mail at a homeless shelter, reading for the blind, and more. Regina celebrates her home-a-versary, Valerie tells an incredibly long story about stealing a chair from a volunteer. Plus, a dissection of the Blue Man Group, Pepto Bismal fandom, and being done with America. This episode is sponsored by Getting Dragged Away (a not uncommon thing that happens if you live in the USA).

Aaron Salinas joins Help Wanted to talk about complicated family dynamics, how he found out his father is gay, and how he has found acceptance around his dad's homosexuality, even while his dad hasn't yet come out to him. Plus The Cracker Barrel and Reggie and Valerie are both exhausted from binge watching Orange is the New Black. This episode is sponsored by the British pronunciation of the word "schedule."

Tom Booker once did a commercial with Melania Trump. He knows bad times. Yet in spite of that, he's a pretty positive person. He joins Help wanted to talk about staying positive even when things suck. The comedian, theater owner, name dropper, and president of Austin also discloses his morning meditation routine, the motives behind his positive social media posts, a story of being invited to perform in a pornographic movie, and his collection of parked domains. Valerie booked a trip to Copenhagen, and Regina's going to Vegas. Sponsored by avocado tattoos.

Bubbalicious bubble gum doesn't exist anymore and white chocolate candy is taking over the world, and Valerie blames Trump. Regina is discombobulated, down and out, but couch and 5king it. When Valerie and Regina were 16, they were sneaking out past curfew (shhhhh, don't tell their parents) but these days teenagers are saving the world. At least that's what Maddy and Eleanor, two ambitious high school students are doing. They and their friends helped Texas Senator draft legislation to make it requirement that Texas students learn about human trafficking. Human trafficking is a big problem; 313,000 people in Texas are trafficked each year, and 79,000 of them are young people every year. It's a topic that isn't talked about much in the media and Maddy and Eleanor are working to bring this topic to light. We also find out how these two young women feel about feminism. This episode is sponsored by: capers, the salty snack that's perfect to eat when you're on an actual caper.

Help Wanted will see you next week with an episode on human trafficking.

Help Wanted talks about toxic patterns in mother daughter relationships, famous tv moms, and giving moms a break. Plus, Valerie's pro Greg Kinnear, and Reggie doesn't know what to think of him. Reggie thinks matchy matchy Sears family photos are definitely a white person thing, and Valerie is still carrying around Tiny Pies weight and wants an emcee gig at the Buda Weiner Dog races. This episode sponsored by Clark's Middle Management Shoes.

Comedian Jennifer Dorsey joins Help Wanted to talk about all the stupid things women apologize for and why it's so hard to apologize when you're actually wrong. Jennifer is also filled with fun facts about the Irish famine, Little Women, and the origin of margarine (rate your favorite: Parkay? Country Crock? Fleishman's?). This episode is sponsored by Twix Fix: one Twix won't solve everything but two Twix can fix anything!

Actor and comedian Brittany Flurry (The Naked Feminist, Team Teamwork Productions) talks with Help Wanted about oversharing, and how we might be prone to doing it because we're more and more disconnected as a society. What's authentic and what's A LOT? Does it matter if the thing shared is sad and gloomy or entertaining? How do we discern what's enough and what's too much? Reading the room and asking yourself "is this helpful?" are a couple of ways to think about what we're sharing and when. How do we respond on social media when someone's breaking down or TMIing every post. Ultimately sharing might be caring.Plus how to buy a car and why is everyone we went to high school with selling Rodan + Fields mascara? Sponsored by Accidental Run in w/Your Ex!

Do you have a problem with gossip? It might not even be a problem. Because we like finding loopholes for trash talking, Help Wanted found research to support that gossip can be healthy for forming social bonds. Some folks even believe that Neanderthals gossiped and that fire, grooming, and hunting and gathering all provided venues for the chatty cave people of yore to comment on Becki's messy hair and Dylan's bitchy attitude. We also contemplate differences between caramel, butterscotch, and toffee. Reggie is not a fan of Paula Abdul, but loves a PayDay and a hollow chocolate Santa Claus, while Valerie's fave candy is a PB Reese's egg. This episode sponsored by Magic 8 Balls, when coin flipping isn't an option because of your poor hand-eye coordination and when eeney miney mo won't work because of its racial slurs, try the Magic 8 Ball!.