Landline

This week on Landline: The Last Real Conversation, therapist Devon Grant joins me to tackle one of life’s biggest questions:

Should your life partner be your best friend, your soulmate, your emotional support tiger… or just someone who politely pretends your pants never needed bleaching?

We talk:– Shitting your pants and spiraling into relationship dread– Why Nick & Nora and Calvin & Hobbes should not be your marriage counselors– The difference between codependency and community– Islands, metaphors, C.S. Lewis, and gender role whiplash– How one girl ruined Chuck E. Cheese forever

Perfect for:

* People who think they want their partner to be everything

* People who used to think that, and now just want their own bathroom

* Anyone wondering if it's normal to need a full emotional debrief after a bodily function

👂 Listen now, reflect later, email your therapist eventually.

🎧 Episode 15: "Should Your Partner Be Everything?" is streaming now.🛎️ Call in for next week’s show or leave a voicemail: (615) 212-5437✉️ Submit a story or advice anytime here.📬 Subscribe for more mess, metaphors, and meaning at thelandlineshow.substack.com

What starts with a forged off-campus pass can lead to a whole lot more than curly fries.

On this week’s episode of Landline, we’re talking about petty theft—the crimes we commit for the principle of the thing, the family loopholes we inherited, and the weird morality that comes with getting away with it.

🚨 What’s Inside This Episode:

* I started an underground forgery ring in high school (because I was mad at the Dean)

* My uncle outsmarted the repo man using a dealership parking lot

* I taught my 7-year-old cousin how to run from the cops

* The Snapple I stole... and the cap that called me out

* Why radical honesty in sobriety is still the hardest part of recovery

🎧 Why This Episode Matters

This isn’t just about stealing. It’s about what the small stuff reveals—about justice, survival, shame, family, and freedom.

Sometimes petty theft is just bad behavior.Sometimes, it’s spiritual protest.

And sometimes it’s your first taste of how the world works—and how to bend it without breaking it.

Now that I’m sober, I don’t break rules anymore. I just find tiny rebellions that keep my soul intact.

Things like:

* Oversharing about my digestive issues with zero shame

* Asking inappropriate questions at inappropriate times

* Leaving a room when someone’s annoying—and maybe telling them why

* Never being held hostage by a bad story again

It’s not theft.But it is freedom.

▶️ Watch or Listen Now

If you’ve ever stolen a pen, a snack, or a little slice of justice—this one’s for you.

🗞️ Subscribe to get weekly episodes and stories straight to your inbox.💌 Share this post with someone who thinks rules are more like suggestions.🌲 And remember: Run to the woods.

—Inga

If I were watching my own show, I would've unsubscribed weeks ago. But here you are, and here I am, fighting through tech mishaps, email overload, and the existential migraine of being online. Welcome back to Landline—your weekly reminder that chaos is a feature, not a bug.

This week’s episode is loosely, emotionally, and spiritually about Empire Records, migraines, trade wars, and the miracle of found family. It's Rex Manning Day, people. A made-up holiday from a cult ‘90s movie that I’ve now made into my personal North Star. Why? Because we mustn’t dwell. Not today. Not on Rex Manning Day.

Also: there are now Landline mugs. They’re real, they’re fabulous, and they make me feel like the show exists outside my living room. You can buy one. I take mine everywhere. It’s basically my cohost now, since the actual cohost Claire called in from her couch while dog-sitting and maybe dating? This episode relied a lot on voicemail transcription, so I’m choosing my own adventure here.

We also got into how giving up sugar made me question my will to live, how you can make any day your own Rex Manning Day (Finally Showered Day? Got-out-of-bed Day?), and how joy is weirdly still an option—even in 2025, even on Substack, even with the state of eggs.

Bonus: I talk about growing up with Ethan Embry (yes, that Ethan), and how realizing your childhood friend is famous makes you question everything—including whether or not you’ve ever mattered. (Spoiler: I have, but only slightly.)

Anyway, if you’re still reading this, you deserve a mug and possibly a nap. Listen to the full episode now, call in at 615-212-5437, and remember: we mustn’t dwell. Not today. Not on Rex Manning Day.

By the way, this is the link to the shirt I’m wearing. It’s awesome.

Join me for my next live video in the app

UPDATE! Landline is now 100% free. The Frequency has been retired, but subscribers still get access to exclusive pitch consult discounts and other perks. For details, check out this post. I kept the original post below for nostalgia.

Original post

What is a Pitch Deck? And Why Filmmakers Keep Getting It Wrong

Filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers—if you want to sell your movie or TV show, you need a pitch deck. But not just any deck—a compelling, visual sales document that grabs attention and makes execs, producers, and financiers say, "I have to read this script."

In this episode of Landline, I’m breaking down:

* ✅ What a pitch deck is (and isn’t)

* ✅ How to build one that actually works

* ✅ Why most people make the same five mistakes every time

* ✅ The essential elements your deck MUST have

Pitch decks aren’t book reports. They’re not PowerPoint presentations about your fishing trip. They’re movie trailers for your script—irresistible invitations, not homework assignments.

If you’ve ever wondered how to pitch a TV show or sell a screenplay, this AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode is for you. No gatekeeping, no fluff—just the real talk you wish you got from your successful Hollywood friends.

📞 If you missed the show and have questions you wanna ask, don’t worry! That’s why I started The Frequency.

🎥 Watch the full episode now.

This week on Landline, we tackled a humbling but hilarious topic: The moment you realized you weren’t cool. My lovely co-host Claire and I dove deep into our personal archives of social humiliation, from toe socks in Christian school to dressing like a 38-year-old career woman in ninth grade (while still rocking braces).

Episode Highlights:

* We’re in a New Space! We recorded this episode in Nashville’s Public Access Studio (NECAT) new mini studio/shoe closet, and yes, we had a live studio audience! Two whole people. That’s right—Landline is leveling up.

* Gluten-Free Bribes: I brought cookies for the audience. Claire struggled to open them.

* Toe Socks & Fashion Crimes: Claire recounted wearing rainbow knee-high toe socks in middle school with an intensity usually reserved for cult leaders and marathon runners. Bonus: Her older brother begged her to stop. The same brother who came up with the name of the show.

* Dental Picks at Sundance: One of the more humiliating memories for Inga.

* The Wednesday Night Shift: Big announcement—we’re moving to Wednesday nights at 7 PM! Turns out, people have jobs on Fridays at 3 PM. Who knew?

* Petitioning Substack: We want Landline to be the first great Substack talk show, but right now, we need them to give us RTMP streaming permissions so we can run this thing properly. Substack, if you're reading this, help me help you.

Call to Action:

* WATCH the episode (seriously, it’s a good one).

* SUBSCRIBE to Landline for more episodes, stories, and questionable life choices.

* CALL IN: (615) 212-5437 to share your own stories. The phone lines are always open.

See you next Wednesday at 7 PM! And if you also wore toe socks in middle school… let’s bring them back, my friend.

This week’s Landline episode is live, and somehow, it’s both deeply insightful and mildly concerning. We covered:

* Is “letting go” the moral high road or just a reality check?

* The foolproof way to correct misinformation on social media. (Just kidding. That’s impossible. But we talked about it anyway.)

* My ongoing struggle to sound like a film expert while understanding movies at the level of “that one was confusing.”

* How my complete confusion about ASMR somehow turned into viral clickbait gold.

Also—big news! Starting next week, I’ll be doing exclusive livestreams right here on Substack. More chances for you to call in, share a story, or just witness me slowly unravel in real time. Details soon.

For now, watch the new episode. It’s free, it’s unfiltered, and 90% of listeners report feeling 12% more interesting after watching.*

See you next week,Inga

*Not scientifically proven, but this is the internet—where facts are more of a suggestion, right?

You don’t need an app to tell you this: Something’s missing. Hanging out used to be simple. You walked outside, and your friends were just there. No group texts, no parental logistics, no debates over which screen had the least amount of doomscrolling. Just kids, a street, and time to kill.

This week on Landline, we talked about how we lost the art of the neighborhood hang—and how we can get it back. Because somewhere between hyper-scheduled childhoods, social media addiction, and grown adults helicopter-parenting themselves, we forgot how to just show up.

Remember when games of capture the flag lasted for days? When dads played backyard sports like overgrown children? When no one cared about “aesthetic” because nobody was documenting anything? Those weren’t just childhood memories—they were the last real moments before algorithms took over our free time.

Meanwhile, in the so-called real world, things are somehow both wildly chaotic and mind-numbingly predictable. Society can’t decide whether to riot or refresh their feed.

But here’s the good news: You can still tap into real conversation. Landline is live every Friday at 3 PM Central, answering calls and playing voicemails from people like you—people with stories, questions, and unsolicited advice that just might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.

This week we covered it all: from wondering whether Benadryl is a gateway drug to callers suggesting underground prisons.

So call in live. Leave a voicemail anytime. Let’s bring back the kind of conversation that doesn’t need an agenda—or a WiFi signal—to mean something.

This week, we dove into one of the most paralyzing fears of modern life—making mistakes.

We’ve all been there. You say the wrong thing, take the wrong stance, or just exist online long enough, and suddenly, you’re on trial in the court of public opinion. The fear of messing up has turned real conversation into a minefield. But is that fear keeping us from actually learning?

In this episode of Landline, we explore:🔹 Why admitting mistakes feels riskier than ever🔹 How social media has warped interpersonal communication🔹 The tension between standing firm and being open to change🔹 The courage it takes to learn and grow in public🔹 The difference between changing your mind and “rebranding”

🎧 Listen now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts📺 Watch on YouTube📞 Call in live Fridays at 3 PM CT or leave a voicemail anytime

The Big Takeaways:

* The fear of making mistakes is stifling real conversation.

* Social media rewards performance over genuine communication.

* Changing your mind is often mistaken for “rebranding.”

* Standing for something isn’t about being right—it’s about seeking truth.

* Grace and understanding are essential for meaningful discourse.

✨ This episode is all about reclaiming the ability to think out loud, to be wrong, to learn, and to talk like a human being instead of an algorithm-friendly persona.

Subscribe to Landline on Substack for exclusive stories, behind-the-scenes insights, and bonus content you won’t find anywhere else. This isn’t just a podcast—it’s a movement for real conversations in a world that desperately needs them.

Hit SubscribeBecause the last real conversation isn’t happening in your feed—it’s happening here.

This episode of Landline is basically the Nixon Tapes—massive technical failures, missing chunks of conversation, and an editing job that feels like a cover-up. But honestly, that’s perfect for a discussion about why messy, unfiltered things are better.We dive into the glorious chaos of 80s movies—back when Eddie Murphy was actually funny, every blockbuster had at least one unnecessary topless scene, and Saturday morning cartoons emotionally scarred an entire generation. But more importantly—why did we trade all that raw, ridiculous fun for today’s sanitized, focus-grouped, algorithm-approved content?In this episode:🎬 The era of wild, unfiltered, inappropriate movies.😂 How Eddie Murphy, Kurt Russell, and 80s comedians got away with murder.🍒 Why there were so many random boobs in 80s cinema.😱 The 80s cartoons that gave millennials trust issues.📞 Why we need messy conversations and real places again.This one barely made it to air, so watch it before it vanishes like 18 minutes of tape in 1973. And don’t forget—call in next week to have your voice on the show!#80sMovies#EddieMurphy#FerrisBueller#Nostalgia#podcast#tvshow#callinshow#talkshowvibes