The Manic Episodes

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 to Guardian UK, and she’s been published in Essence, Bust, and more. Her clients include The Daily Show’s Dulcé Sloan, The Walking Dead’s Pollyanna McIntosh, comedian Caleb Hearon, and of course, Mary Lambert, with a major recent highlight being dressing Dulcé for her guest appearance on Ru Paul’s Drag Race. She is based in LA and sometimes Palm Springs, and is committed to helping the fashion industry step up to contribute to creating a more ethical, equitable, and inclusive world. Also on the agenda: Mary and Wyatt are addicted to family vloggers on YouTube; Wyatt talks some trash about Jeopardy!; and poems by Caitlyn Siehl and Kiki Petrosino. 

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 abortion access regardless of legality. Amelia also serves on the board of directors of Abortion Care Network, which serves and represents independent abortion providers all over the country. Amelia lives in Seattle and loves talking about abortion, watching her friends succeed, and laughing at other people but not in a mean way. Amelia is a scorpio sun, pisces moon, and gemini rising, and she is so sad but really, truly, totally believes we are going to win. She’s @ameliamaris and SYA is @shoutyourabortion. 

Also on the agenda: Our new segment, Conservative Politician or Movie Villain?; getting hella smart and eating tiny peanut butter cups; and poems by Ruth Lepsen and I.S. Jones. 

For links to the resources Amelia mentions in this episode, head to our Patreon.

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, The Body in Its Seasons, is out now with Burning Eye Books. Outside the arts, Maz dabbles in knitting, baking and excessive swearing. You can follow them @mazhedgehog on Twitter & instagram. Also, expect a special guest appearances by Maz’s cat! 

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 improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in their various former workspaces. Now most of Annisha’s free time is spent pursuing equity, acting for justice, and building intersectional feminism across the Commonwealth in their role as Co-President of Mass NOW.

Also on the agenda: a rousing game of “Underrated/Overrated” and poems by Olivia Atwood, Maghan Baptiste, and Rick Barot. 

[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 is a two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and author of four collections of poetry, Pink Elephant, Into The Dark & Emptying Field, MAMMOTH and blud.  

In 2012, McKibbens founded the annual Pink Door Writing Retreat, open exclusively to non-men writers of color. McKibbens is a member of Latinas Unidas and co-curates the critically acclaimed reading series Poetry & Pie Night in upstate New York. 

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 The Alcohol Experiment: A 30-day, Alcohol-Free Challenge to Interrupt Your Habits and Help You Take Control.

Annie grew up outside Aspen, Colorado, in a one-room log cabin without running water or electricity. Having discovered a passion for marketing, Annie Grace earned a Masters of Science (Marketing) and dove into corporate life. As the youngest vice president in a multinational company at the age of 26, her drinking career began in earnest. At 35, in a global C-level marketing role, she was responsible for marketing in 28 countries; she was drinking almost two bottles of wine a night. Knowing she needed a change but unwilling to submit to a life of deprivation and stigma, Annie Grace embarked on a journey to painlessly gain control of alcohol -- for her that process resulted in no longer wanting to drink. Never happier, she left her executive role to write and shareThis Naked Mind with the world. In her free time, she loves to ski, travel (26 countries and counting), and enjoy her beautiful family. Annie Grace lives with her husband and three children in the Colorado mountains.

Also on the agenda: Movie reviews for movies Wyatt & Mary haven't seen, the best TV show in the history of the universe, and poems by Sharon Olds and Li-Young Lee. 

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 she is a certified badass in every way.  Leslie Yingling is an Associate Dean of Students and an Assistant Vice Chancellor in Student Affairs at the University of Arkansas, where she works on increasing equity, ease of college completion and a sense of community and belonging among minoritized students. She has also worked as a housekeeper, a teacher, a reporter and copyeditor, and a reluctant backup singer in her brother's rock band. She studied political science, journalism, and psychology as an undergraduate, earning at just the wrong time a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri and later a Ph.D. in public policy at the University of Arkansas. She believes that curiosity and learning can nurture generosity and justice. Her most salient felt identities are secular humanist, white woman, educator, parent, introvert, big sister, and friend. When she needs a time out, she spends time outside, with her family, or listening to two Steve Winwood songs repeatedly.

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 webcams, and poems by Wendell Berry and Ashley M. Jones. 

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 about fatness. Also on the agenda: The Manic Episodes hired a bunch of unpaid employees; Wyatt is hooked on the Civil War; and poems by Sylvia Plath and Reginald Dwayne Betts.

Instagram: @judmatz

Judith's Website

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 Absolution Hour and read poems by Jon Sands and Gabrielle Calvocoressi.