The Lighter Side with Jay

Stephanie Wittels Wachs, despite her best efforts at being disgruntled, remains aggressively delightful. She and I discuss parenting in quarantine, 90 Day Fiance, and her incomprehensible (to herself) decision to get a puppy during a pandemic. We bitched, we laughed, we figured out Ozark (no spoilers)

Stephanie is the author of "Everything is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss" , an AMAZING book about the loss of her brother, Harris. She is also the host of Last Day, a truly remarkable deep-dive into the Opioid Crisis in America, produced by Lemonada Media, of which she is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer.

For reference, you can her Stephanie's first appearance on the show,  here

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DJ Brown is the General Manager of Anejo, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in Hell's Kitchen in NYC. Obviously, his job, and the business itself, are in a state of uncertainty as a result of COVID-19.

We talk about what it was like when the restaurants in NYC started to close down, as well as catch up on our (somewhat sordid) history.

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Music by Steve Kupp and Remember Jones 

Ray DeJohn and I are eerily similar. Our names are one letter apart, our mental health issues are near identical, and our mothers both passed away suddenly at an early age. We talked about it.

We also talked about how Ray, Director of Marketing for a Lifestyle Hotel in Austin, Texas, had to lay off his entire sales team before being laid off himself when the country was swept by COVID-19.

Ray is my Pisan, and I loved our talk.

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Music by Steve Kupp and Remember Jones

Melissa is a Pharmacy Tech at a Massachusetts location of a national chain. Pharmacy techs tend to take a lot of crap from customers under normal circumstances, so you can imagine what it is like when tensions are high. 

We talked about all of that, as well as her love of Harry Potter and murder podcasts (like me)

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***THERE WERE SOME AUDIO ISSUES WITH YESTERDAY'S SHOW. PLEASE DELETE AND RE-DOWNLOAD***

*if this episode sounds "off" please delete and redownload!*

Andrea is a nurse in the COVID-19 wing of her hospital in Utah. The wing has been converted from Telemetry, which is a "watch and wait" situation, to COVID-19, which is decidedly not. Though this isn't exactly what she signed up for, Andrea is doing her job each and every day, even in the face of protestors in her state. 

Utah hasn't been hit as hard as some other states, but the anxiety that comes along with waiting for, and trying to prevent, a surge in cases, has certainly weighed on Andrea. 

But, we had a great talk, managed to get in some laughs, and I learned a whole bunch I did not know before. 

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Amy Dresner returns to the Lighter Side to talk about dealing with recovery during the COVID-19 outbreak. She wrote the phenomenal "My Fair Junkie" which you should read. (I recommend the audio book.)

She's just as badass as ever, and I always love speaking to her. Enjoy the episode and please spread the word about the show. 

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Gerry Rosenthal plays in many bands. He is also the voice of the main character " Jimmy Hopkins" in the classic video game, "Bully". He has been in some movies and on some tv shows. But, most importantly, he is a genuinely good guy, a SUPREMELY talented musician, and a truly kindred spirit.

We talked about what the live music landscape is like right now (hint: it doesn't exist), how he has coped with the loss of his younger brother Hank to the opioid crisis, and he regaled me with tales of meeting my idol, Ben Folds. He also played a few tunes.

Check out all of Gerry's music here.

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Tiffany Ann is a Hospice Administrator in Flint, Michigan. Yes, that Flint, Michigan. Where the water is still not pure, and the protests against stay at home orders really began.

We talked about the difficulty of running a hospice during this outbreak, as well as the anxieties that come with living in a state where the Governor is having to make some very unpopular decisions. We laughed too. Like we do.

Please share. Please review. Please let me know if you would like to talk.

Music by Val Emmich

Two years ago, Jenny Bee and I had bariatric surgery within two days of each other. We have lost a combined 320 lbs. She has been on the show at least 6 times. She is the Robin to my Howard.

This time, Jenny is here to discuss her role as a Medicare Director in the age of COVID-19. She's stressed, but she's hanging in and doing the job of helping our most vulnerable citizens be as safe as they can be.

Please continue to listen and spread the word.

Music by Steve Kupp and Remember Jones

You may know Parvesh Cheena from the criminally underrated Outsourced, or from Crazy Ex Girlfriend, or from one of the many other roles he has performed/voices he has provided.  What you probably don't know is how amazingly intelligent, thoughtful, and just generally chill he is. This conversation was like a badly needed Xanax, and I know you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Check out Parvesh and the rest of the cast of Outsourced performing a live read of the pilot episode of the show in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the show's launch.

Music by Steve Kupp and Remember Jones