This week, I want to tell you a story about a new phobia that was unlocked for me - a skink got into my house (not a skank - that would be a very judgmental phobia), and it has almost made me…unhinged. Let’s talk about it.

Here’s the second part of our roundup of spring books! Settle in and let’s talk about books 16-31 (even though I’m off by one number for the majority of the episode - but don’t worry, I figure it out at the end!)!

🎵 June is bustin’ out all oooooover 🎵 and it’s time for our roundup of books I read this spring. I feel like I’ve been on a good book streak for the past couple of months, and I can’t wait to share them with you! (And yes, there are some ghost stories. Because it’s me.)

This past weekend was Mother’s Day, and I thought it was a perfect time to continue our series on Aging Like Fine Grape Juice and having a good conversation with my mom, Alana Allen! I loved doing this so much, and as much as I thought I knew about my mom, she surprised me with stories I’d never heard (and isn’t that the way it always works with our parents?). She’s also a really smart lady, so I think she sprinkled in some great advice into this chat, too. And…The Beatles!

Oof. This was a hard episode to record. The Met Gala was this week, and once again, we are being bombarded with critiques of women’s bodies. Are they too fat? Too thin? On Ozempic? Did they get plastic surgery? Was it good plastic surgery? Was it bad? And so on and so on until - seemingly - the end of time. And guys? I’m sick of it. Why can’t we just stop talking about women’s bodies? So let’s talk about that.

Get the Kleenex ready guys - we’re doing a deep dive on the second half of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Dept. Anthology! And just trust me. We are going to feel everything. And we’ll (mostly) like it, because melancholy can be fun when it’s done well!

Love her or hate her, Taylor Swift is probably the biggest star in the world right now. And she has a new album with 31 songs on it (yes - 31!) Oh my word, all the feelings. And I do mean AAAAALL the feelings. Let’s do a deep dive on why we all have an opinion about this music and the woman behind the music - and warning - you might need a nap afterwards. To paraphrase our Millennial Poet Laureate, we love her, but it might be ruining our lives (but in a good way?).

Life is hard. And as much as I think Killers of the Flower Moon is an excellent piece of cinema, sometimes I don’t want to be reminded that people can be awful and everyone was sweaty in the 1930s because there were no air conditioners. Sometimes I want to be transported to a place that is totally and completely unlike my everyday reality. So let’s talk about movies that sweep us away and make us happy at the same time.

A few days ago, Catherine, Princess of Wales (or as we all call her, Princess Kate), announced that she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. The world was stunned, and most were rightly ashamed, since the conspiracy theories surrounding her public “disappearance” had reached fever pitch. And everyone was wrong. How did we get here? Why did we go after Kate and her family the way we did? How do we keep it from happening again? Let’s talk about it.

Spring is finally here! Trees are green again, flowers are blooming, and let’s just decide to ignore the pollen for a while. On this week’s episode, let’s talk about the little moments of joy that spring is…springing on us. I had to. And I’m not even sorry.