Not Right Now

Not Right Now

By Important, Not ImportantSociety & CultureParentingKids & Family
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Not Right Now episodes

  • How Low Is Your Bar For Childcare?

    This week, Quinn and Claire are diving into the ever-evolving world of childcare, from the brutal economics of quality care to the desperate measures parents take just to keep working.

    They explore how childcare standards change from first kid (extensive vetting) to third kid (you haven't murdered recently), the impossible summer camp lottery system, and why sometimes a random college student willing to be a "play robot" is an essential worker.

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    Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

    Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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    Follow us:

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    • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

    • Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

    • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

    • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

    • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

    • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

      Mentioned in this episode:

      Get Readwise

      Get Mill

      1 hr 7 min
    • Why Does Disney Always Kill the Moms?

      This week, Claire and Quinn welcome screenwriter and director Chris Winterbauer (Moonshot, What Went Wrong podcast) to chat about movies!

      They cover what they let their kids watch, what they force them to watch, and which movies scarred them for life. Featuring passionate defenses of Dumb and Dumber, the death of Hollywood Video, hot takes on Space Balls and Star Wars, taking kids to the movie theatre, and why the Simpsons is basically Sesame Street compared to YouTube.

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      Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

      Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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      Links:

      • Listen to the What Went Wrong podcast https://www.whatwentwrongpod.com/

      Follow us:

      • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

      • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

      • Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

      • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

      • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

      • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

      • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

      • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

        Mentioned in this episode:

        Get Mill

        Get Reader

        Get Mill

        1 hr 29 min
      • We're Gonna Be the Woke Family

        This week, Claire and Quinn ask: How do you raise charitable, empathetic kids when you can barely manage getting them to put their dishes in the sink? Topics include when your anti-gun household meets the school rummage sale Nerf gun haul, teaching empathy vs. performative wokeness, the privilege and burden of school parent organizations, why showing up to volunteer isn't always helpful (and when it is), and a list of some of the most effective charities out there.

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        Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

        Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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        Links:

        • Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation https://www.alexslemonade.org/

        • Give Directly https://www.givedirectly.org/

        • Against Malaria Foundation https://www.againstmalaria.com/

        • Donors Choose https://www.donorschoose.org/

        • Food Forward https://foodforward.org/

        • The 19th https://19thnews.org/

        • ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/

        • Capital B https://capitalbnews.org/

        • The Markup https://themarkup.org/

        • Hot Bread Kitchen https://hotbreadkitchen.org/

        • Hollywood Food Coalition https://hofoco.org/

        • Feed My Starving Children https://www.fmsc.org/

        • Connections for the Homeless https://www.connect2home.org/

        • Follow us:

          • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

          • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

          • Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

          • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

          • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

          • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

          • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

          • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

            Mentioned in this episode:

            Get Mill

            Get Reader

            Get Mill

            1 hr 8 min
          • That's $15 Worth of Raspberries

            This week Claire and Quinn welcome their first guest, Lindsey Stanberry, founder of The Purse and former editor at Fortune.

            Together they explore how to teach kids about money in 2025 -- from birthday party gift overload to teaching financial literacy when you can barely manage your own finances.

            We cover tales of $80 silent action mishaps, pricey raspberry juice experiments, and why nobody wants to be their kid's personal banker.

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            Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

            Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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            Links:

            • Greenlight debit card for kids https://greenlight.com/

            • Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You're Not) by Beth Kobliner

            • The Purse by Lindsey Stanberry https://thepurse.substack.com/

            • Follow us:

              • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

              • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

              • Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

              • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

              • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

              • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

              • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

              • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                Mentioned in this episode:

                Join beehiiv

                Get Mill

                Get Mill

                1 hr 19 min
              • Sleep Will Never Be The Same

                Parenting and sleep deprivation.

                From military-precise sleep training schedules to the anxiety spiral of a child who won't sleep, they share their brutally honest experiences with getting children (and themselves) to bed. Featuring tales of nine (yes, nine) pillow sleep systems, headbanging toddlers, and why separate bedrooms might save your marriage.

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                Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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                Links:

                • Hatch alarm clocks

                • Bed Jet cooling/heating system

                • Feals sleep gummies

                • Sleep mediation machines for kids

                • Merlin sleep suit

                • Follow us:

                  • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                  • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                  • Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

                  • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                  • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                  • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                  • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                  • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                    Mentioned in this episode:

                    Get Mill

                    55 min
                  • Parenting Is Humbling (And I Hate Being Humbled)

                    This week, we talk about the humbling experience of parenthood and how reality shatters expectations.

                    We cover:

                    • The gap between pre-parenting fantasies (museum trips and Christmas traditions) versus post-kid realities (barbecue chip crumbs in the car)

                    • Why buying your postpartum wife lingerie is a terrible idea

                    • How having children affects relationships and identities

                    • Parenting might not be what you imagined, but finding humor in the chaos makes it all a little more manageable, even when you're the parent bringing yogurt-covered raisin snacks to baseball that no child actually wants (at least you tried!)

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                      Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                      Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

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                      Links:

                      • Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America by Rachel Louise Moran

                      Follow us:

                      • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                      • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                      • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                      • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                      • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                      • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                      • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                        Mentioned in this episode:

                        Get Mill

                        Get Readwise

                        1 hr 5 min
                      • Q&A: Questions We're Not Qualified to Answer (But We'll Try Anyway)

                        In our first bonus Q&A episode, Quinn and Claire tackle listener questions with their signature blend of honesty, humor, and zero judgment.

                        Topics covered:

                        • Making parent friends: Is it a real connection or just shared misery? What makes friendship work during the parenting years, the importance of finding your parenting community, and why it's okay if some friendships are just "for the season"

                        • Supporting a child with ADHD: Quinn and Claire share personal experiences with ADHD in their families, including medication journeys, therapy challenges, and finding support at school

                        • NOTE: Future Q&A and bonus episodes will be for Important Members and paid subscribers of Evil Witches only! Upgrade to get them directly into your feed.

                          Try a free 30 day free trial of the Important Membership here: https://www.importantnotimportant.com/upgrade.

                          -----------

                          Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                          Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

                          -----------

                          Links:

                          • New York Times article on ADHD https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/magazine/adhd-medication-treatment-research.html

                          • Teacher intro email template https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Crw0HoibRpSt8kBGmYIAjLRGFf38Pq0pXpedZg9R_c/edit?tab=t.0

                          • Follow us:

                            • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                            • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                            • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                            • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                            • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                            • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                            • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                              Mentioned in this episode:

                              Get Mill

                              44 min
                            • It's Not A Vacation, It's A Family Trip

                              This week, Quinn and Claire dive into traveling with kids.

                              They share personal stories about family trips from their own childhoods and with their children now, covering everything from dealing with jetlag to bathroom emergencies at 30,000 feet.

                              Also discussed: the myth of "vacation" with children (let's just call it a "family trip"), tips and tricks for making travel less hellish, how to make travel more meaningful, the necessity of getting occasional breaks from your kids, and as always, the importance of lower expectations.

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                              Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                              Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

                              -----------

                              Links:

                              • 3D Rendering of historical Mexico City

                              • Patagonia Black Hole Bags

                              • Sound machine for kids

                              • NUUN hydration tablets

                              • Follow us:

                                • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                                • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                                • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                                • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                                • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                                • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                                • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                                  Mentioned in this episode:

                                  Get Mill

                                  Get Mill

                                  1 hr 14 min
                                • Understimulated or Overscheduled

                                  This week, Claire and Quinn dig into the minefield of youth sports: understimulated kids who are getting on everyone's nerves vs. overscheduled families who have no time to breathe, the horrors of early-season kid-pitch baseball, the importance (or not) of having "hustle", and what is the point of kids sports, anyways?

                                  -----------

                                  Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                                  Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

                                  -----------

                                  Follow us:

                                  • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                                  • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                                  • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                                  • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                                  • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                                  • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                                  • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                                    Mentioned in this episode:

                                    Get Mill

                                    Get Mill

                                    1 hr 4 min
                                  • Recycling Isn't Real, But Your Kid's Plastic Hoard Is

                                    This week, Claire and Quinn lament on the endless influx of STUFF that children seem to magically manifest in your home. From mysterious bouncy balls to apple juice containers full of sand to fantasies of cleansing fires, they explore the anxiety and dread created by attempting to manage the unmanageable (spoiler alert: yeah, recycling isn't real. Have a great day!)

                                    -----------

                                    Have feedback or questions? Send a message to [email protected]

                                    Get all of our episodes at notrightnow.show

                                    -----------

                                    Follow us:

                                    • Subscribe to Quinn's newsletter at importantnotimportant.com

                                    • Subscribe to Claire's newsletter at https://www.evilwitches.com/

                                    • Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notrightnowpodcast/

                                    • Subscribe to our YouTube channel

                                    • Produced and edited by Willow Beck

                                    • Music by Tim Blane: timblane.com

                                    • Advertise with us: importantnotimportant.com/c/sponsors

                                      Mentioned in this episode:

                                      Get Mill

                                      Get Reader

                                      1 hr 7 min

                                    About Not Right Now

                                    From the publisher's feed

                                    Not Right Now is a podcast for parents navigating the impossible task of raising kids while *gestures wildly at everything*. Join Quinn Emmett (Important Not Important) and Claire Zulkey (Evil…

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