In this episode, Dr. Waffle welcomes another guest interviewer, close friend (and baker and pianist extraordinaire) Maura Glennon. Dee and Mo discuss the pains and pleasures (and pains) of home ownership, dealing with repair people, the fear of being an asshole, some light politics, and the difficulties of building community.TAGS: Vancouver; Oxford, Mississippi; Carnegie Hall; Florence Pie BarSpoilers: The saga of 1616 Grant Street; the fate of Colin the Boiler RepairmanThanks for listening! ...
Dr. Waffle welcomes her first guest writer, Melissa Cole! In this episode, Melissa reads an essay about writing an essay that appeared in Newsweek and the blowback that ensued. She and Dr. Waffle discuss women’s bodily autonomy, the right to privacy, the public personas of authors, the writing process, and so much more!TAGS: Newsweek; Sandra Tsing Loh; Roe v Wade; Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization; SCOTUS; public education; SRAs; Dickens; horror filmsThe Haunted States of America, w...
Welcome to Season Three of Doctor Waffle & Friends! It’s a whole new recipe, containing 50% more Friends! Beginning with this episode, our new format will alternate episodes in which Dr. Waffle reads an essay and is interviewed by a Friend, and episodes in which a guest writer reads an essay and is interviewed by Dr. Waffle.In the first episode of the new season, Dee shares an essay about Jesus Christ Superstar, and is interviewed by her (spunky) bestie Trish Tilburg. Dee and Trish discus...
In this episode, Tania’s story cues us up to FINALLY talk about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and we share favorite moments, relationships, and themes. We also discuss watching TV with friends, TV you have to pay attention to, and people who talk during TV shows. And we say farewell to a friend of Dr. Waffle and make room for new friends. TAGS: Thirtysomething, The Bear, Dark, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffering the Vampire SlayerMajor spoilers for every aspect of Buffy the Va...
In this episode, Dee shares her lifelong obsession with candy bars, and she and Tania discuss the Great American Candy Bar Hierarchy, milk vs. dark chocolate, the dynamics of sharing dessert, judgmental waiters, recovered memory, and so much more.TAGS: Cadbury; Snickers; Zagnut; New Zealand; attachment theorySpoilers for Thelma and Louise and The Mill on the FlossTake the candy bar interiors quiz hereThanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share ...
In this episode, Tania reads an excerpt from her forthcoming book and she and Dee discuss stress about politics, political parties, political polarization, Canadian politics, Mississippi politics, and dislike of talking about politics.TAGS: Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided NationSpoilers for the 2016 U.S. Presidential electionFind out more about Facing the Fracture, including a link to pre-order, here.Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard,...
In this episode, Dee reflects on the nature of good and evil and she and Tania discuss serial killers, Prince, and elementary-school musicals.TAGS: serial killers; Serial; Undisclosed; S-Town; Civil War; Prince; Trader Joe’s; fava beans; Casebook of a Crime Psychiatrist; James Brussel; Malcolm Gladwell; Michael Hobbes; If Books Could Kill; Manichaeism; Buddhist causes and conditions; Sigmund Freud; “Mourning and Melancholia”; Purple Rain; “I Hate Emily Chase”; David SedarisSpoilers for Titani...
In this episode, Tania reads a love story, and we chat about limerence, COVID, FOMO, and keeping the spark alive.Tags: Love and Limerence by Dorothy Tennov; Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel; The Art of Gathering by Priya ParkerSpoilers for “Modern Family”Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share so more folks can find us.FOLLOW us @drwafflepod on Instagram, Twitter, and FacebookEMAIL us at DrWafflePod@gmail.comPODCAST WEBSITERead DEA...
In this episode, Deanna talks—a lot—about the The Music Man, and then she and Tania discuss musicals, con artistry, repressed sexuality, billiards vs. pool, Gilbert & Sullivan, Ikea furniture, and so much more.Tags: Meredith Willson, The Music Man, Pirates of Penzance, Lithuania, South ParkSpoilers for The Music Man, Breakfast at Tiffany’sDeanna says she still can’t remember what drum solo her father recorded on his prize record, but there is some archival evidence that he performed “The ...
In this episode, Tania shares a story that might be a poem, and we chat about bisexual haiku (#biku), The Big Lebowski, men’s vulnerability, the challenges marginalized people have recognizing their own privilege, and patriarchy.Tags: Eve Sedgwick; Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market; Battle of the SexesSpoilers for Forgetting Sarah MarshallThanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share so more folks can find us.FOLLOW us @drwafflepod on Instagram, Twit...
In this episode, Dee recalls* when she was the subject of a memory experiment, and we chat about trivia, game shows, Leonard Bernstein, feline song lyrics, and Tania’s crush on Alex Trebek. [*See what we did there?]TAGS: Jeopardy!; What’s My Line Spoilers for Episode #8004 of Jeopardy!Link to Tania’s uncle’s appearance on What’s My Line?Link to Rob’s appearance on Jeopardy!Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share so more folks can find ...
In this episode, Tania answers the age-old question, “Have you ever been married?” We talk about Jewish weddings, Vegas weddings, green card weddings, secret weddings, same-gender weddings, and David Sedaris.TAGS: The Essential Guide to Lesbian and Gay Weddings; J. L. Austin, How to Do Things with WordsSpoilers for “The Office”All about Mormon polygamous sects in British ColumbiaThanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share so more folks can find...
Welcome to Season Two of Doctor Waffle & Friends! (We completely, totally, 100% planned this season break for exactly right now.)In the first episode of the new season, Dee shares an essay about smoking, the South, and passive-aggression. Tania and Dee discuss Tania’s new book, extending grace to people we disagree with, getting back at people through writing, long Covid, Buddhism, the vagus nerve, gendered communication, and so much more! Dee confesses that she is not a very nice person....
It’s a podcast about a play about a soap opera! In this episode, we perform a memoir play Tania wrote about All My Children, and we discuss network TV, ancient technology, small communities, and so much more.TAGS: All My Children; Lee Press-On Nails; soap operas; DVDs; Michael E. Knight; Sarah Michelle Gellar; "Soap Dish"; the actors and writers strikeSpoilers for All My Children, Jane the VirginCheck out the All My Children family tree map here!Thanks for listening! If you liked what you hea...
In this episode, Dee tells a story about a homicidal camel that somehow ends up being about everything else—including Frankenstein, Chekhov, and hoagies—and we welcome our first guest!Spoilers for Frankenstein.Listen to Matt tell the camel story.TAGS: Karl Jung; shadow self; camels; murder; Mexico; Coca-Cola; Amoroso Bread Company; Philadelphia; Jacques Derrida; Anton Chekhov; Colonel Sanders; Frankenstein; Mary Shelley; Google; monkeysThanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please...
In this episode, we explore Tania’s spoiler phobia and discuss the challenges of being related to a memoirist, PowerPoint pedagogy, etiquette, and—as usual—Taylor Swift.Spoilers for the fact that a TV show exists, but only in the vaguest terms.TAGS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer; the Marvel Comic Universe; Taylor Swift; Hamilton.The David Sedaris essay Dee mentions, entitled “Repeat After Me.”This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus ...
Is everyone as neurotic as Deanna about throwing parties? Is anyone? In this episode Tania and Dee explore the philosophy of entertaining, generational etiquette differences, cartes de visite, karaoke, Buddhist ragers, and so much more.Spoilers for Mrs Dalloway, War and Peace, and Anna Karenina.TAGS: Parties; Gen X; Buddhism; karaoke; neuroticismOne of Dee’s favorite recipes for frozen (make-ahead) canapésThanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and s...
How does a middle-aged woman who has never heard a Taylor Swift song become a die-hard fan? In this episode, Tania recounts her transformation from Taylor novice to Swiftie. Also, Dee and Tania discuss their inability to write fiction, getting caught off guard by emotions, fan girling, their relationships with music, limerence, connections to podcasters, and of course, Taylor Swift.Info on adolescent brain developmentETA: Matt, who makes a cameo in this episode, has confirmed Dee's suspicions...
Deanna avenges herself on her elementary school nemesis, we discuss the difference between “stories” and “essays,” and we conclude that theater geeks are better than jocks.Listen to Dee sing the little-known intro to “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” and thus demonstrate why she never aspired to be a musical theater star.PLEASE NOTE: The name on the podcast title doesn't match the name used in the episode itself; Dee subsequently decided to change the perpetrator's name on all public post...
In this episode, Tania reads a story, we talk about fear of nature, and once again invoke Michelle Obama’s memoir. [Spoilers for Gone With the Wind]Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, subscribe, and share so more folks can find us.FOLLOW us @drwafflepod on Instagram, Twitter, and FacebookEMAIL us at DrWafflePod@gmail.comRead DEANNA’S ESSAYS at doctorwaffle.substack.comCheck out TANIA’S MANY ACTIVITIES at taniaisrael.comThis is a public episode. If you would...