The Manic Episodes

Mary & Wyatt snuggle up, bust open the books, and talk about money & finances. They talk about historical racial inequality and its affect on the disproportionate accumulation of wealth in white communities. They then shift to talking about their own personal histories with finances. They also talk about spending & credit card debt, the looming specter of student loans, and how to manage money in a relationship. Also on the agenda: a new, ridiculous, headache-inducing segment called Read My Lips; we lose control of our dogs; and poems by Patrick Rosal and Tracy K. Smith. 

Mary & Wyatt settle in for a conversation about social media.  They talk about the effects of social media on our relationships and mental health, and the nature of debate in our age of constant connectivity. They even disagree with each other! Also on the agenda: the Dillo Dairy corporation is in deep trouble, Mindhunter, and poems by Ross Gay and Major Jackson. 

[CW: Suicide; self-harm]

Mary & Wyatt, freshly clean and dry from a camping trip, talk all about mania: symptoms of manic episodes, how to "baby-proof your house" when it comes to mania, and how they've each recovered from manic episodes in the past. Also on the agenda: why Wyatt hates brushing their teeth, dogs that bark like wind chimes, Teddy Roosevelt's obsession with killing animals, and poems by Major Jackson and Ashlee Haze. 

Live from the woods of New Hampshire, it's a camping edition of the pod! Mary & Wyatt swat some very persistent bugs while talking about cultural appropriation. Mary discusses the role of cultural appropriation in the history of American music and why it's so important to emulate musical styles with intention and integrity. Wyatt talks about Eminem a whole bunch. Also on the agenda: Gay or Straight?, Jeffrey Epstein, and bugs. So many bugs. 

Mary and Wyatt get suited up in head-to-toe Spandex and talk about the benefits of exercise, their personal histories with physical activity, and middle school gym class horror stories. They also talk about the relationship between exercise and mental health, and how to get a workout in if you feel like crap. Also on the agenda: the continuing saga of Dillo Dairy, the Manic Fam Singles Club, and poems by Angel Nafis and Malcolm Tariq. 

Mary & Wyatt grab a couple of mugs of joe and talk about cancel culture. After discussing some recent and not-so-recent instances of public callouts, they dig in to the complicated issues around free speech and online censorship. Also on the agenda: Mary reviews Game of Thrones, which she has never watched; animal reunion videos; skillet cornbread; and poems by Martha Ronk and Mindy Nettifee. 

Mary & Wyatt crack open a bottle of sparkling apple cider and talk about the new Netflix documentary "Disclosure" and how brilliantly it tackles issues around trans representation in TV and film. They talk about positive, accurate media representation for marginalized people and why it matters, especially for people of color, queer people, and people with mental illness. Also on the agenda: the health of Mary & Wyatt's houseplants (spoiler alert: it's not great), a fast food feast, a bakery run by cats, prose by Mahogany Browne, and poems by Jericho Brown and Terrance Hayes. 

It's Wyatt's 36th birthday! Mary & Wyatt snuggle up and chat about intersectionality and how we can bring joy into shared struggles and in the quest for liberation. Also on the agenda: the greatest public speaker of our generation, a police force made up of cats, Mary breaks her reading slump, and poems by Lucille Clifton and Sarah Kay. 

Wyatt drinks some healthy green juice instead of Diet Coke and sits down with Mary to talk about J.K. Rowling’s TERFism cloaked as “gender critical” ideology, inclusion in the LGBTQ community, and how we can best be allies to trans people. Also on the agenda: rollercoasters for snails, ranking the best desserts (Mary doesn’t know what cookie cake is), and poems by Ryka Aoki de la Cruz and J. Jennifer Espinoza.