Hello friends! And mom.
Feels good to be Substacking it up after a bit of a break. I honestly haven’t felt inspired to write or attempt to be creative in a little bit now. That could be because the world is on fire and things like podcasting or writing (in what feels like my own personal journal) seem pretty insignificant…and really, all of it is in many ways. But I finally decided that I needed to do it for myself to feel-you know-human again. Even if it’s just a form of therapy for me.
The one thing I decided-after realizing the world may end soon-is to be more intentional, more curated with my creative endeavors.
This past month, I’ve published three fantastic interviews that I’m incredibly proud of (the one attached is with Bing Chen from Gold House). Each guest was someone I would go to dinner with and I felt we were both equally grateful to be having the conversation.
Anything less than that is just a waste of everyone’s time.
I started off this year unplugged and traveling for quite a bit, a pretty epic start to what has been a f*&^ed up 2025 so far.
Took the kids to India, skiing in Tahoe, NYC crew in Mexico City, The Grammys, The Super Bowl, family weekend in Cabo. It was all much needed and each weekend was so special.
Me, Finneas, Hubby- Finneas loved my t-shirt so I offered to give it to him for the Grammy Awards. He still hasn’t called.
Since my creative juices have started up churning again, I’m finally excited about this years podcasting projects and started this month off by going to the 5th annual Ambie Awards (presented by The Podcast Academy) in Chicago last week.
What a fantastic few days recognizing some really impressive voices in our country, all in a city that I fell in love with years ago.
I’ve been on the Board of The Podcast Academy for three years now and have attended the last three Ambie awards. These awards seem to be getting bigger and better every year and I’m so, so proud of our team.
Look, we all realize it's easy to make fun of our industry since everyone and their mother has a freakin’ podcast. I mean you can’t walk 10 feet without running into someone talking about a podcast they launched.
But that is why these awards honoring those whose works are ACTUALLY breaking through and making an impact are so needed.
As are the jokes about how cool we all are.
I had the honor of presenting this year’s Governors Award to the one and only Ira Glass (This American Life). I went in for the hug, he did not.
While I was nervously pacing backstage, Ronan Farrow sat down near me and I had a solid 3 minutes to chat with him about the state of journalism. I’ve admired his work for a long time and getting the chance to have a one-on-one was surreal. His insight into our media culture is admirable and the little time we had to talk about the current state of affairs has me ramped up.
Feeling that energy again.
Our phenomenal host, Tig Nataro, called out all of us audio nerds in the most epic way and it was all just SO DAMN GOOD. I never knew how much I loved her till last week. Her delivery-dry, flat, matter-of-fact. She often stood there in silence between jokes and let the audience stew in their uncomfortable feelings towards her very blunt and very honest commentary.
I was dying.
And then there was my real fangirl moment…when I realized that Duckie (aka Jon Cryer) was a podcast fanatic.
Jon Cryer, someone who I’ve been watching since I was 10, dreaming about going to the prom with the perfect date. Jon Cryer, someone who made it ok to be weird. Jon Cryer, someone who made me realize that the Duckie’s of the world usually end up winning.
He was right.
At the end of all, I realized how awesome it was working with The Podcast Academy team. A team from all backgrounds, from all parts of the world, all with different stories and all with different ways of thinking.
It’s an organization that I knew I loved but now, more than ever, I am also really grateful to be part of.
I will of course end this Museletter with a song…
This is in honor of Jon Cryer, the man who was part of some of the best soundtracks in movie history ever.
I could not be more proud to have grown up in the 80s, a decade that produced some of the most epic music, the best coming-of-age movies, and of course, the greatest one-liners…
'I just wanna let them know that they didn't break me'.’- Andie to Duckie
Share this post