We can’t wait to talk about the Oscars!  And we’re just as excited to talk about a recent Code Switch episode about race and friendship.  We break down the kinds of friends we had growing up and now, how intentional those decisions are, and how we experience interracial friendships as adults. Then, a super-fun top five: Ways we’re turning into our parents. The transformation has begun, y’all. Resistance is futile.

“Ask Code Switch: What About Your Friends?” Code Switch, January 22, 2020

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The whole world has changed since our last episode. We discuss the death of Kobe Bryant and what he meant to our communities, and Liz gives a nod to her childhood friend Jason Polan, who died the day after Kobe.  Then we move to a bright spot of the last few weeks: Chris got to see Hamilton (!!!), so we can finally talk about it -- whether it lived up to the hype, the parts that moved us, and why it the show feels so revolutionary.  Plus, in honor of the Oscars, we share our top five Oscar moments.  For better and for worse, these lists already need to be revised because Sunday’s telecast provided so many good moments!  We can't wait to talk about them in our next episode.

"Jason Polan, Fast-Drawing Artist of the Offbeat, Dies at 37," The New York Times, January 27, 2020

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Chris is thinking about baseball’s sign-stealing scandal, while Liz is verklempt after getting a glimpse of her brother’s life in DC. Then, we talk about side hustles - the pros and cons of having projects to work on after work, piecing together a professional life with multiple jobs, and making room for rest in the midst of all of it. Plus, the top five dining experiences of our lives. Who knew that a Burger King in Budapest and a basement food court in LA could ever taste so good?

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Chris is still reeling from a visit to a California cannabis dispensary, while Liz can’t get over Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio’s interview on the WTF Podcast. Speaking of Brad and Leo, the Golden Globes happened! We break down the moments we loved, the things about award shows that make no sense, and why we love celebrity culture (all the time for Liz, some of the time for Chris). Plus, the top five things we want to see happen in the 2020s. One of us is putting their faith in Elon Musk to save us all.

"Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio," WTF with Marc Maron, January 6, 2020

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Impeachment catches Chris's attention, and Liz revels in the food trends that defined the 2010s. Then we reflect on what the decade meant for each of us -- where we were when it started and where we are now, the central conflicts we had to navigate -- and what we hope the next one will be about. And to celebrate all the delicious gifts of the 2010s, we wrap them up with a retrospective top five: pop culture that defined the decade for us.  We hope you relished it as much as we did, and we can't wait to talk about everything the next one brings!

"8 Ways Restaurants Have Changed in the Past Decade," The New York Times, December 17, 2019

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Liz reflects on the end of Kamala Harris’s run for president, while Chris embarks on his first man-date. Then, in honor of the holiday season and all the big dinners that come with it, we talk about contentious family conversations: navigating them with our families and in-laws, how the addition of partners and children can change the dynamics, and setting boundaries when your parents have (literally) no language for them.  Plus, the top five millennial stereotypes we embody.  (We do have a podcast, so… there’s one.)

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It’s our first in-person episode! We talk about Chris’s weekend in Ann Arbor for the Michigan-Ohio State game and Liz’s last hurrah with football. Then, we get into a topic that isn’t discussed often enough: making friends in your thirties. Why is it so hard? What makes it so different from making friends in your twenties? How do we get over the hurdles and make these friendships happen? Plus, in honor of the big game, the top five sports moments of our lifetimes. We laugh, we cry, and we remember that sports are magic, and sports are never just about sports.

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Liz wonders if she’s reached the final straw with football, and Chris raves about Parasite and Boon Jong-ho. Then, a discussion about the end of journalism as we know it, most recently evidenced by the gutting of Sports Illustrated and Deadspin, morphs into a conversation about how to mitigate our complicity in a capitalist system. We close with the top five things we can’t believe are still around in 2019. Once you start asking "How is this still a thing?", it's hard to stop.

"Inside Football's Campaign to Save the Game," The New York Times, November 7, 2019

"The NFL Has A Painkiller Crisis That It Never Wants To Go Away," Deadspin, September 12, 2019

"A Lineman Became a Doctor, but Dementia Made Him Retire. He's Only 42," The New York Times, October 28, 2019

"The Ham-Handed, Money-Driven Mangling of Sports Illustrated and Deadspin," The New Yorker, November 3, 2019

"I Was Fired From Deadspin for Refusing to 'Stick to Sports,'" The New York Times, November 11, 2019

"How Internet Trolls And Online Extremists Are 'Hijacking' American Politics," Fresh Air, November 12, 2019

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Both of us are thinking about recent episodes of Fresh Air - Chris, an interview with the writer with whom Prince collaborated on his memoir; Liz, a discussion about the cost of rebuilding coastal real estate in the face of climate change. Then we get into another topic we can’t reasonably cover in 20 minutes: our relationships with our parents, now that we’re in our thirties. What do we talk about with them, with and without grandkids in the picture? Does the pressure stop after we meet the usual thirtysomething milestones? How have these relationships evolved since our younger days? Plus, our top five celebrity crushes - lists that were harder to make, and more self-revealing, than we anticipated.

"Prince's Co-Writer Reflects On Posthumous Memoir," Fresh Air, October 28, 2019

"Climate Change & The Cost of Coastal Real Estate," Fresh Air, October 17, 2019

"Going Home With Ocean Vuong," The Atlantic, June 4, 2019

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Liz binges on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, while Chris reflects on the geopolitical rift between the US and China opened by… the general manager of a basketball team. Then we get to some real talk about couples and money: Does everyone merge their assets when they get married? Who should pay for the first date when culture and feminism give us different answers? Will we ever be free of our anxiety about picking up the check? Plus, the easiest top five lists we’ve ever made: pet peeves. Talking about the most irritating things has never been so fun.

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