The Manic Episodes

S4 E2: Codependency & Friendship

Mary kicks off the first full solo episode with an intimate exploration of codependency, friendship, desirability, and how the last few months have been since the separation. Back on the pod: lies, obsessions, and a poem by Marie Howe.  

S4 E1: New Beginnings, Kindnesses, and Nicola Salmon

Join Mary in the new season of the podcast as she hosts for the first time on her own. Wyatt and Mary interview Nicola Salmon about fat positive fertility, and Mary reads a poem by Aracelis Girmay. 

S3 E15: Mary & Wyatt Talk Israel & Palestine

Great news -- Mary & Wyatt still have a podcast! But a bunch of terrible things are happening in the world. Auntie M. & Papa W. settle in at the dining room table to catch up on the last couple...

S3 E14: Unions, Real Housewives, and Non-Binary 'Staches

Wyatt and Mary snuggle up on the couch for a conversation about everything from the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City to the cost of college and—surprise, surprise—complaining about Republicans. They also spend some time talking about the power of...

S3 E13: These Barbies Hit the Vape Pen

Mary and Wyatt pause Vanderpump Rules long enough to record the podcast. They talk about their obsession with this generation's greatest reality show and then move on to a discussion of their shifting relationship with substances... namely weed. They also...

S3 E12: Unhinged Family Hour with Wyatt's Cis-Brained Sister Joy

Come one, come all to the family hang of the century! Wyatt's sister Joy joins us for a rollercoaster of a conversation about mental health, politics, and gay stuff. Also on the agenda: Absolution Hour and poems by Bernadette Mayer...

S3 E11: Welcome to Our Crisis Garden

Wyatt and Mary sit down at the kitchen island ready to catch up on how they’ve been tending to their Crisis Gardens. Wyatt talks about dealing with mania and Mary talks about her difficulty sleeping. But the flowers are a-bloomin’,...

S3 E10: Manic Episodes Live at KU!

Mary and Wyatt perform  at the University of Kansas on Wednesday, April 12, 2023! Enjoy the whole recording, including some musical performances by Mary and Wyatt. Thanks so much to Meg for inviting us to campus, and thanks to everyone...

S3 E9: Let Freedom Ring, We Guess

Mary and Wyatt settle in for an impassioned conversation about American values and the role they play in shaping political discourse--and how they have been weaponized in the spate of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills across the country. Mary cries and Wyatt yells....

S3 E8: A Whale of a Discussion

Mary and Wyatt are back at the dining room table ready to chow down on a big plate of hot, steamy discussion about stand-up comedians, The Whale (spoiler alert: it boils Mary’s blood), and Wyatt’s latest YouTube rabbit hole.  Also...

S3 E7: Full-Body Goosebumps with Rebecca LoCicero

Mary and Wyatt are thrilled to share their interview with psychic medium Rebecca LoCicero. They settle in at Rebecca's home for a chat about spirituality, connection, the ethics of mediumship, and religious faith. Also on the agenda: ants, Movie Reviews...

S3 E6: The Dog Days of the Pod

Bringing back voicemails. Bringing back segments. Bringing back Mary and Wyatt and lots of talk about our pups. Your beloved hosts talk about grief, how to crawl out of a fog, and how to practice self-care after bombing a comedy...

S3 E5: Our Session with Psychic Medium Rebecca LoCicero

CW for this episode: Medical stuff & needles; suicide and self-harm; drug use Mary and Wyatt sit down for an goosebump-inducing hour-long session with psychic medium Rebecca LoCicero. Of course we cry a little; it's the Manic Episodes, after all....

S3 E4: POV: You're a Guest at Our Holiday Party

Mary and Wyatt say there's no such thing as too much holiday celebration and they WILL die on this hill. Join us for the highlights from our Patreon holiday party, some beautiful musical performances, and some old-school segments. Also on...

S3 E3: AI Art, Compulsive Lying, and Mating Dances

IT'S MANIC MONDAY, Y'ALL. Starting today, Mary and Wyatt are dropping new episodes on Mondays, and this one is a banger. Your dutiful hosts talk about the Lensa app, whether or not AI apps can generate pop songs, and whether...

S3 E2: The Hotline Era Begins

Mary and Wyatt are officially in their hotline era. It's y'all's turn to speak, and you took to this experiment like ducks to water. Your beloved hosts settle in for a chat about--what else?--dog parenting, sobriety, and trust. Call us,...

S3 E1: We're Married! Let's Get Weird!

We're back, baby, and we're more married than ever! Mary & Wyatt kick off Season 3 with a long chat about the wedding that brought your podcast hosts together in holy matrimony. They also complain, because what would an episode...

S2 E21: Checking In & The End of Season 2

S2 E20: Loving & Losing a Pet

It's a solo episode with Mary & Wyatt! We're touching base about a tough time... but of course, we have some fun, too. We talk about our top 5 favorite non-sexual physical sensations, Wyatt's new fitness obsession, and our wedding...

S2 E19: Making the Accordion Sexy Again with Jamie Maschler

Jamie Maschler joins Mary and Wyatt to talk about love, music, creativity, and a question that our listeners are always curious about: How is Lawrence Welk responsible for the public image problem that plagues the accordion? Jamie shares her memory...

S2 E18: Queer Art in the Age of Fuckery with Jacob Tobia

Wyatt kicks off this episode solo with a brief discussion of the last week, which has been absolutely bananas. Then, Mary and Wyatt are thrilled to welcome Jacob Tobia to the pod. Jacob (they/them) is an actor, writer, producer, and...

S2 E17: Ethical & Sustainable Fashion with Kat Eves

Mary and Wyatt are pleased as punch to welcome Kat Eves to the pod! Kat Eves is a plus size celebrity stylist dedicated to ethical and sustainable, size-inclusive fashion. Her red carpet styling has made the best-dressed lists from Vogue...

S2 E16: We Are Going to Win: Talking Abortion Access with Amelia Bonow

Mary and Wyatt are fired up because Amelia Bonow is on the pod and holy shit, she’s a force of nature. Amelia is the founding director of Shout Your Abortion, an organization working to normalize abortion and elevate paths to...

S2 E15: What Does Kindness Mean? with Maz Hedgehog

Mary and Wyatt welcome the brilliant and talented Maz Hedgehog to the pod, Maz is a writer, performer and all round thinking person working in the spaces between real and unreal, poetry and theatre, self and other. Their poetry collection,...

S2 E14: Reproductive Justice & Hope with Annisha Romney

Mary & Wyatt welcome the incredible Annisha Romney to the podcast to chat about reproductive justice, sex education, and activism. Annisha works in technology as a software consultant. They were recently drawn back to activism and organizing while working to...

S2 E13: Grief & Pleasure with Rachel McKibbens

[CONTENT WARNING: Death and illness; sexual abuse; suicide] We always say this, but this is one of our best episodes. We are thrilled to welcome Rachel McKibbens, a dear friend of ours and a blessing to the world. Rachel McKibbens...

S2 E12: Letting Go of Shame & Living Naked with Annie Grace

Oh my God oh my God oh my God Queen Annie is here! Mary & Wyatt are joined by the amazing Annie Grace, the author of This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life and...

S2 E11: Higher Ed, Hoedowns, and Hootenannies with Leslie Yingling

Mary & Wyatt are absolutely freaking out because the inimitable Leslie Yingling (she/her) is joining us on the pod. Leslie is one of Wyatt’s dearest friends in the whole world  (she’s getting ordained to officiate Mary and Wyatt’s wedding!) and...

S2 E10: Mary and Wyatt Check In

It’s a solo episode! Mary and Wyatt take a break from our amazing slate of guests to check in about how they’re holding up during a tumultuous couple of weeks. Also on the agenda: art made of candy, bald eagle...

S2 E9: Dismantling Diet Culture with Judith Matz

Wyatt and Mary snuggle into Wyatt's office to talk to anti-diet trailblazer Judith Matz (LCSW, author of The Diet Survivor's Handbook and creator of the Making Peace with Food card deck) about weight stigma, binge eating disorder, and common myths...

S2 E8: Healing from Religious Trauma with Andrea Randall

Content warning: Eating disorders; sexual assault. Mary and Wyatt take a break from wedding planning and their continued obsession with Meg Stalter to talk about church, scripture, and theology with author and religious scholar Andrea Randall. They also bring back...

S2 E7: The Art of Nothing Much with Kathryn Nicolai

Content warning for this episode: Eating disorders  Mary and Wyatt welcome the fabulous author, podcast host, and world-creator Kathryn Nicolai (she/her) to the podcast. Kathryn is the creator of the enormously successful podcast Nothing Much Happens and the author of...

S2 E6: Creators and Connectors with Hollis Wong-Wear

Mary and Wyatt are pleased as punch to welcome Hollis Wong-Wear to the pod. Hollis is a songwriter, musician, speaker, creative generator and community advocate who lives between Los Angeles and Seattle, WA. She is the lead vocalist of the...

S2 E5: Love Yourself... or Else with K Richardson

Mary and Wyatt are joined by their friend K Richardson (he/they), an out and proud Black Queer currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He is an organizer, facilitator, and racial equity educator. Before beginning his current role as Communications Manager at...

S2 E4: Style, Art, and Fat Queer Femme Bonding with Kim Selling

Mary and Wyatt are in Seattle with some bomb-ass new recording equipment, and they’re thrilled to welcome Kim Selling to the pod. Kim sent us two bios, and they’re too good not to include here: Kim’s pre-Covid professional bio: Kim...

S2 E3: Public Health & Harm Reduction with Nadia Schuessler

Mary and Wyatt are freaking out because they're so excited to welcome the inimitable Nadia Schuessler to the pod. Nadia is a social worker, public health advocate and community organizer. She cares deeply about harm reduction, integrated healthcare, trauma centered...

S2 E2: Housing, Activism, & Imagination with Trenda Loftin

Mary and Wyatt are elated to welcome Trenda Loftin to the pod. Black, queer, and polyamorous,  Trenda (she/her) has a variety of callings that she strives to weave together to work towards liberation.  She is a social justice consultant, theatre...

S2 E1: Radical Welcome with Andrew Sackett-Taylor

Mary and Wyatt kick off Season 2 with the usual spate of unhinged silliness and their very first guest, Andrew Sackett-Taylor. Andrew (he/him) works as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Transhealth Northampton, a healthcare start-up serving trans, non-binary, and gender...

Episode 67: Failure... & the End of Season 1!

Mary & Wyatt peel off their sweaty running clothes and settle in for a very real & vulnerable conversation about failure and some big changes coming to the pod. Mary talks about the trajectory of success in her career and...

Episode 66: Abortion

Mary and Wyatt settle in for a discussion about the recent Supreme Court ruling about the ultra-restrictive Texas abortion ban. What’s the path forward for reproductive justice? How do we help advocate for people left in the wake of this...

Episode 65: Greed

Mary and Wyatt perch on the couch for a chat about greed. From Adam Smith to Ayn Rand to Gordon Gecko, they talk about the evolution of attitudes toward wealth, accumulation, and capital. Also on the agenda: Mary’s Netflix show...

Episode 64: Consent and Bodily Autonomy

[Content warning: Sexual assault and childhood sexual assault] Mary and Wyatt snuggle up on the big yellow couch for a discussion of consent, bodily autonomy, and how banishing the gender binary could save us all. Also on the agenda: Georgie...

New Episode Delayed… Sorry, y’all!

Episode 63: Suicide

[Content Warning: Suicide and Self-Harm] Fresh from watching Anthony Bourdain’s biopic, Mary and Wyatt settle in on the big yellow couch for a long talk about suicide. They talk about mental illness, stigma, how suicide has touched their lives, and dig...

Episode 62: Accountability

Wyatt and Mary settle in for a conversation around accountability and how empathy and reflection are required when righting a wrong. They discuss the similarities between institutional and personal accountability and how it feels when someone recognizes your humanity. Also...

Episode 61: Survival

Mary and Wyatt pry themselves away from “Naked and Afraid” long enough to talk about survival. Mary talks about a scary experience she had while river rafting and how our brains protect us after we experience trauma. They talk about...

EpIsode 60: ADD

 Mary & Wyatt try to focus for long enough to talk about ADD/ADHD. They talk about the difficulties that adults face  when seeking diagnosis and treatment for ADHD, as well as whether or not the disorder is over diagnosed in...

Episode 59: Language

Mary and Wyatt snuggle up for a fascinating conversation about language. Wyatt discusses ideas about how language reflects and shapes reality, and how our political beliefs influence our attitudes toward language. They get into the nitty gritty of nerdy language...

Episode 58: Eating Disorders

[CW: Eating disorders] Mary and Wyatt grab big glasses of ice water and settle in for a discussion about eating disorders. Mary talks about what she’s learned about how restriction affects the brain, orthorexia, and how disordered eating robs us...

Episode 57: Rapid Cycling & Mixed Episodes

[CW: Suicide] Mary and Wyatt get into the nitty gritty of bipolar disorder: mixed episodes and rapid cycling, neither of which are as much fun as they sound. They also discuss their experiences with suicidal thoughts during depressive episodes, and...