Happy anniversary, self-cardigans! Kate and Doree celebrate Forever35’s fifth anniversary by hearing from listeners about their favorite pod moments through the years.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Forever35 X Balance Bound collaboration

• Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filtr

• Episode 119: It’s Never Too late with Madeleine Albright

• Episode 150: Don’t Text Me Back with Stephanie Wittels Wachs

• Bringing Down The Duke by Evie Dunmore

• Red White and Blue by Casey McQuiston

• For Better For Worse by Jenni Roussell

• Lady Derring Takes a Lover: The Palace of Rogues by Julie Anne Long

• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy

• Starfish by Lisa Fipps

• Token Black Girl by Danielle Prescod

• Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu

• Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother by Peggy O'Donnell Heffington 

• Swipe Up For More!: Inside the Unfiltered Lives of Influencers by Stephanie McNeal

• Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman 

• Mystery To Me Subscription Box

• Libro.FM

• Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini

• This Will Only Hurt A Little by Busy Philipps

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama

• Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison

• Spare by Prince Harry

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To leave a voicemail or text for a future episode, reach them at 781-591-0390. You can also email the podcast at forever35podcast@gmail.com.

Visit forever35podcast.com for links to everything they mention on the show or shopmyshelf.us/forever35.

Follow the podcast on Instagram (@Forever35Podcast) and join the Forever35 Facebook Group (Password: Serums). 

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Transcript

Kate: Hello and welcome to Forever35, a podcast about the things we do to take care of ourselves. I'm Kate Spencer. 

Doree: And I am Doree Shafrir. 

Kate: And we are not experts. 

Doree: No. We're two friends who like to talk a lot about serums, 

Kate: And this is a mini episode where we hear from you, we share your comments and your thoughts, and we answer your questions to the best of our ability. 

Doree: But please do remember, we are not experts. We're podcast hosts and we always encourage you to seek support first and foremost, from a medical and or mental health professional as needed. 

Kate: If you want to talk to us, you can text us or leave us a voicemail at (781) 591-0390, or you can email us or send us a voice memo at Forever35podcast@gmail.com. 

Doree: You can visit our website Forever35podcast.com. For links to everything we mentioned on the show, follow us on Instagram @Forever35podcast and join the Forever35 Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/Forever35podcast. The password there is serums. You can sign up for our newsletter at Forever35 podcast.com/newsletter and shop all the products that we love, that we talk about on the show at shopmy.us/forever35. 

Kate: Today we're doing things a little differently because we are toasting the five anniversary. 

Doree: Ourselves? 

Kate: Yeah, we're toasting ourselves. 

Doree: Yay. 

Kate: And everyone who's ever worked on or been interviewed on or written or called or what have you into this podcast, because we don't have the exact date down, but this is technically the five year anniversary. January, 2018 is when we started this podcast. So this is the, 

Doree: wow. 

Kate: Five years of doing this show. Any reflections Doree, anything you look back on with pride? 

Doree: Well, I mean, I look back on the whole podcast with pride, honestly, the fact that we've been doing this for five years and you know, we still like each other. 

Kate: Thank God, 

Doree: I don't want to speak for you, but 

Kate: What if I used this time to disagree, actually Doree. 

Doree: I mean, look, I would respect that sort of. No, but I guess I always hoped that the podcast would find an audience and resonate with listeners. But I have, I've, I've just been consistently blown away by our listeners and our community and how they show up for us and they show up for each other. It's just very cool. And so yeah, we wanted to just celebrate that. What about you, Kate? 

Kate: Well, the other day I spent a lot of time on my phone trying to figure out how to go back five years longer even into our text messages to screenshot the exact moment I initiated conversation about doing this podcast and I found it. 

Doree: You did? 

Kate: Yes. And it's so funny to read it now because I feel like our initial conversation is exactly what we did and do, honestly, kind of eerie. I wrote to you and I said, do you feel like starting a podcast about skincare? I keep thinking about what I'd want a podcast about. And you wrote with you or in general? I have also been thinking about starting another podcast and then I wrote, it's basically how to live a chill as fuck middle-aged existence. And then I said with me, and in all caps you wrote? Yes. Yes, Kate. And then I said, skincare, cool clothes. And you wrote, I want to do this and we can get all our cool funny friends to come on. And I said, like a lifestyle podcast. Isn't that wild? And then you went on to say, yes, I'm all in. I have equipment like blah, blah, blah. We need a good, you said, what will we call it? And I wrote, we need a good pun. And you said Yes, and my suggestion was Nancy Myers and Friends, which is not very good. But then there was another conversation where I took a screenshot of this, and I think this was still in this first day where we're excitedly texting and I said something about how we were talking about embracing middle age and you said maybe the emphasis should be on wellness and self-care, et cetera. And then you wrote, I'm about to go to bed because I'm a thousand years old, but I will keep thinking about this. So there you have it. 

Doree: Wow. 

Kate: The moment it all started. 

Doree: Wow, that really brings me back. And you know what that's actually like. That's really cool. We set out to do something and we literally spoke it into existence. 

Kate: Its wild. I also do want to point out that you made a great suggestion of a name called Wrinkles in Time, which still makes me chuckle. 

Doree: Oh, that is a good name. That's a pretty good name. I did not remember that. 

Kate: Wrinkles in time. Yeah, I know it's 

Doree: Wrinkles in time. 

Kate: It is wild to me. We were like, I don't. Also like why did I want to start a podcast about skincare? I don't know, but I did and I knew exactly who to ask. 

Doree: Yes. 

Kate: And here we are. And here we are. 

Doree: Here we are. That's the wild thing. Here we are. 

Kate: That is the wild thing through a fucking pandemic. That's the other, I think. Yes, the wildest thing, which we'll talk about as we kind of hear from some listeners today. 

Doree: Yes. 

Kate: Today we're just going to be, look, it's a little self-indulgent, but we're just going to be reflecting on this podcast today. 

Doree: Just bear with us. 

Kate: Yeah. You know what? Thank you for listening to us for all these years and thank you for listening to this episode specifically today. Doree, before we hear from some listeners, we should announce that we are hosting a special event to celebrate this fifth year of doing Forever35. 

Doree: Yeah, I'm so excited about this. We are going to be doing a live virtual event on February 22nd. It's a Wednesday. We'll be selling tickets at the link in the show notes and tickets are going to be discounted for the first 48 hours, first two days. So if you buy your tickets before I guess midnight Sunday you can get them for $7.50. The regular price will be $10. 

Kate: I just want to say we do fully expect this to be what happened when people went to get Taylor Swift tickets, so just be prepared. 

Doree: Yea, if the website crashes. Just be patient and tweet about it maybe. 

Kate: Yeah, tweet about it. We'll hold a hearing in Congress. We're very excited. We haven't gotten to do a lot of live events, whether virtual or in real life, so this is still all very new and exciting for us, but it'll be a great way for us to all kind of connect and be together. It should be very interactive and we may have a few extra surprises up our sleeves. We'll see. We'll, how big our sleeves are. 

Doree: I mean, I'm planning wearing a shirt with pretty big sleeves. 

Kate: Like some bell, some big bell sleeves. 

Doree: Yeah, big bells. 

Kate: Yeah. Doree's going to have books under those sleeves, 

Doree: Just you wait. Yeah, so get your tickets. We'll see you on the 22nd. We'll talk to you before that, but 

Kate: Link in the show notes. 

Doree: Link in the show notes. 

Kate: I say, 

Doree: Yeah. All right. Now let's hear from some of our listeners. Kate, should we start with this text? 

Kate: Yeah. This was really sweet. I already warned you. I'm probably going to cry recording this episode, so let's see if that happens. 

Doree: Okay. Happy fifth anniversary. Just want to say thank you and I am so grateful for the community you created in April, 2022. My six month old daughter was diagnosed with infant botulism, which is extremely rare. It was terrifying. We were in the hospital for 23 days thanks to some wonderful scientists at the California Infant Botulism program. There is a treatment. Allison got right away and is now a healthy and happy 14 month old. The Forever35 parenting subgroup was incredible. Helping me through her illness and hospital stay. Other parents checked up on me and her, and even now comment on how happy they are to see her thriving. Thank you for the wonderful podcast that keeps me company throughout the week, and thank you to the incredible community for helping to pick me up when I was at my lowest. Love you all so much. 

Kate: Aw, I'm so glad. Alison's doing well. 

Doree: Me too. And I also remember this when this person posted initially in the Forever35 parents Facebook group, and it was really amazing to see the way that the community really rallied around her in a really meaningful way, 

Kate: And I feel like what has blown me away about this podcast is we started a podcast, but everybody who listened and then created all these communities and or have been there for other, listen, that's all you. Yeah. We just made a podcast. That's that I think is what has blown me away is the way people have come together in via connecting just through the show. It's been so moving and just even creating the Facebook subgroups and monitoring them and trusting those spaces. 

Doree: Yeah, 

Kate: That's amazing. I'm a member of some of the Facebook subgroups just as a mem. I'm just there to also be in those spaces. 

Doree: Same 

Kate: same. 

Doree: Yeah, 

Kate: That's all you. It's so amazing. That's incredible. 

Doree: Its very, very cool. 

Kate: Here's another text we got on one of your recent episodes. I believe you asked listeners to share some of their favorite moments from the podcast. I could really write a whole essay on this, but I'll try to keep it short. I was diagnosed with a serious chronic illness in 2019, all while having a baby and moving home to, excuse me, moving home to say it was a hellish nightmare, would be putting it mildly. I was mainly bed and housebound for two plus years. I found your podcast during that time and it brought me so much comfort, companionship, and happiness. I've learned so much from both of you about compassion and kindness and even learned some very valuable tips for how to let others help me during my illness. I'm very thankfully improving as time goes by and getting back into the world. I feel like I have so much new knowledge from the podcast that I will bring it into this next chapter of my life. Thank you so much for the work that you do. PS funniest laugh out loud moment, Kate getting her sports bra caught on the horn of a saddle on vacation. 

Doree: Oh my gosh, I've forgotten about that. 

Kate: I haven't, and I just want to say that I'm so glad that I have the space to share when these things happened to me and that knowing that this listener was out there and that made them laugh, especially during a time when they were dealing with such a challenge, really makes it all worth it. But if you haven't heard the episode where I went on a trail ride with my family on vacation and I tried to show off as a horse girl and got off the horse on my own and my sports rack got stuck on the horn of the saddle and it pulled up my shirt and my bra and I fleshed my boobs to everybody. Well, 

Doree: I mean, it's kind of reminiscent of the meet cute in your book, Kate. 

Kate: It kind of is. I hadn't even thought about that. Oh my God. Wow. I hadn't even thought about that. 

Doree: You needed was a hot cowboy to 

Kate: Oh, the instructors were all handsome souls on horses. 

Doree: You know what I'm saying? 

Kate: Yep, yep. I do. that unfortunately that I didn't have a romantic moment. It was just utter humiliation and then I couldn't get it down. Pulling a sports bra over big boobs is very hard. It's not an elegant thing. It's like a 

Doree: No, no, no, it's not. 

Kate: You've got to shove them up. Yeah. 

Doree: Alright. Should we hear a voicemail? 

Kate: Yes, please. 

Voicemail: Hi, Kate and Doree longtime listener and multiple time caller. I I'm so excited for you guys. Congratulations on five years of this podcast. This podcast has changed, done all kinds of things. Doree you said to call in if it's changed your life? I feel like your podcast probably has in multiple ways for me but the thing that came to mind is it's been so cool to listen to y'all sort of move through some diet culture stuff and sort of be more reflective about it on the podcast, and it's been a huge shift for me too in the last five years, and I think a lot of that has come from listening to y'all do things like, I remember recently re-listing to an old episode where y'all were talking about the whole30 diet and Kate, you talked a lot about your relationship to exercise and it seems like you're both in a really different place now, and I think that that's probably helped so many listeners maybe more than you realize, but I had a baby this last year and I think that my relationship with weight and my body through all of that would've been really different unfor and more fucked up if I hadn't listened to you guys process that stuff for five years. So thank you for that. Big deal. Okay. Yeah. Congratulations on five years. Yay. 

Doree: Oh, 

Kate: Do you know what this made me think of? When we created the original description, the show notes of the podcast that you go goes in whatever podcast app you find us in, so this is a show about dotdotdot and in the kind of description we mention the whole30, and I remember, yes, after a year or year and a half, you and I had a conversation and we about, we don't want to have this in the description anymore. This isn't what we actually want to focus on, and so we took it out. I remember it was a conversation, so I appreciate this listener noticing this journey that we've both been on. 

Doree: Yeah. Yeah, totally. I mean, I've definitely come a long way I think with regards to diet, culture, et cetera. 

Kate: Yeah. Yeah. I mean it feel constantly ongoing. 

Doree: A lot of other things 

Kate: Yeah, totally. Yeah. 

Doree: Thank you for recognizing that listener. 

Kate: Well, one thing that hasn't changed is that you and I love to abbreviate words and here's a text to take us out to the break. This person wrote, I have been listening since day one and I think about Doree saying, we are B after a sponsor break multiple times per week, and chuckle to myself an all time great Doree-ism. 

Doree: Oh my gosh. 

Kate: That's you really practicing one of the tenets of Longhorn improv, which is yes, and ending things, so if someone says, will BRB? You yes-and-ed it by saying, and we B 

Doree: It's just because I'm a natural improv or Kate, I mean 

Kate: I was going to genuinely say. 

Doree: You are in the presence of improv. 

Kate: I was going to genuinely say, Doree, that you have very good comedic, a sense of comedy and comedic timing, I think. 

Doree: Oh, Wow. Thank you. Oh, I do. I appreciate that from an actual improviser. 

Kate: Oh, you're welcome. Takes one to know one. I 

Doree: Say it does mean a lot. This made me think of actually is how you never really know the things that are going to kind of hit, not when I said we are B, I was like, oh, this is going to be something that someone thinks about multiple times a week. Yeah, exactly. I mean, sometimes there are things where you're like, oh my God, yes. But then other times people just seize on things and that That's also one of, I think one of the fun things about podcasting and also one of the scary things in a way, because you're like, oh, this random thing that I just said off the cuff on a podcast is now emblazoned on a t-shirt. 

Kate: That's your life. That is your life. 

Doree: This is my life, everyone. 

Kate: Yeah. I mean. What is, I think really interesting about the format of podcasting is that it is kind of a reciprocal relationship, even though the concept of it is one-sided, like we make content and someone listens, but it actually is not. There's a back and forth I think, and yes, 

Doree: This 

Kate: Kind of communication and feedback or people taking things and running with it or hearing something and disagreeing and offering a different perspective. That's what I think makes the format of podcasting so specifically unique and special. Why I like doing it. 

Doree: Totally. All right, Kate, let us take a little break. All right, and when we come back, we'll have more accolades for ourselves. Yes. 

Kate: Just more ego centering, emails and texts. 

Doree: All right. We'll be right B 

We are B 

Kate: Dedicated to that listener. 

Doree: How was that? 

Kate: That was great. 

Doree: Thank you. 

Kate: Very affirming, very confident. 

Doree: Thank you. Thanks. We got a text that says, hi, friends. A couple of podcast highlights for me in response to your five year anniversary request One when June, Diane was on and talked about Charlotte Tiller's flawless filter. I was moved to try it, and it has changed my life and become a holy Grow product two. Y'all interviewed Madeline Albright, my head exploded. So amazing. Congrats on five years. 

Kate: Two of you know what, I think this email really captures the breath of the conversations that we have here on this show. 

Doree: Yes, totally. 

Kate: Because both of these things are important. I loved talking to June and I also became a Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter advocate ambassador. I love that stuff. I use it all the time. And two, we did interview fucking Secretary of State Madeline Albright. May she rest in peace and power. 

Doree: Yeah. I mean, that's the other thing too. It's like, oh, we interviewed her and then she died a couple years later. 

Kate: I know. She was so incredible, and I did that interview. That was during Covid lockdown, the early days. I think it was like May, 2020, and I did that in my closet sitting on, put my computer on a laundry basket and sat on some pillows in the closet because there was nowhere for me to go. I had two kids doing Zoom school, Anthony working from home, a dog barking, and I had to interview Madeline Albright from a closet. Just sometimes you look at this and you're like, this is the most absurd job. What the fuck am I doing? She didn't seem to mind. Also, didn't her fax machine go off in the middle of the interview? Do I remember that correctly? 

Doree: Yeah, something happened. Well, we were originally going to interview her in LA because she was coming here for a book event. 

Kate: Thats right. Maybe this was not March. 

Doree: I think it was March. 

Kate: Okay, sorry. 

Doree: Yeah, March. Yeah. I don't think it was, I think it was March because I think her book event was scheduled, I want to say March 20th or something, and then it was like, oh, nope, that's not happening. Yeah. Look, I think what is clear is you and I contain multitudes and our listeners contain multitudes, 

Kate: Which I feel like owning that has been a really important part of doing this podcast for me, and I actually think we just did an interview earlier today with a guest who kind of talked about this. We get to own these things. There's nothing, all these vast interests and practices, theres no shame, right? 

Doree: Totally. Totally. 

Kate: Well, Doree, we received an email that really, this is a moment I remember so deeply this conversation that we had. Do you want to read this one? This is kind of specifically about something that you said on the pod. 

Doree: Yes. Dear Cat Andora, happy fifth anniversary. I wanted to let you know how one episode back in 2018 touched me. It was when Doree was waiting for the results of her last round of VF. She was feeling pretty discouraged, but she said something about how she might not have kids and that life would be fine. I was in a similar boat at the time trying for several years. My fertility doctor had just told us that we had less than a 1% chance of conceiving, and I was feeling a lot of despair, and when I heard Doree say that life would be fine, it struck me that that was true. Life would be fine. It wouldn't be how I had imagined it. There would be grief, but I would be fine. Soon after that, I told my husband that I was ready to quit trying and I wanted to move on with a child-free life. He wanted to try for a few more months, and lo and behold, I did get pregnant and my son was born a few weeks before Henry was born, but Doree's comment really did help me make peace with the fact that life would be fine with kids or without, there would be some grief either way, but that overall I would be fine and make the most of it. 

Kate: Aww, that's so nice. 

Doree: I love that. Thank you for sharing that. I don't remember that specific conversation, but I remember the sentiment and kind of just feeling that and sort of picturing my life as it might look, a way that was different from what I had kind of previously envisioned, and that was actually a good mental exercise for me. 

Kate: I can remember that conversation. I don't know why it's so kind of burned in my brain, but it was powerful to hear because I think that's something, and I think this listener kind of captures it. There will be grief either way, right? Yeah. There will be joy either way. I just think that's such a life truth that is sometimes hard for me to wrap my head around. 

Doree: Totally. 

Kate: Well, here's a message from another listener. Okay. They write, this is a story, actually, multiple vignettes about the lovely community you've created over the past five years. This is me, Kate editorializing. I just want to note that you all created it, but okay, let me Thank you. I'll take an ounce of credit. In 2019, I went through a breakup with a partner I lived with. I had to move and turned to the Forever35 Facebook community, specifically the Chicago group. Shout out turtlenecks. I told my story and a realtor immediately reached out, said, I got you, and took me out to look at new places the very next day, we remained friends who bonded over this podcast to this day. In the aftermath of same breakup, I bonded with two other women in the Forever35 dating community who also posted that they were going through breakups. We formed a group chat and leaned on each other for months as we navigated the breakups feelings about our exes and dating again. It was lovely to have people outside of my IRL network who were not sick of hearing about my sadness and could relate. Finally, I joined a cookbook club through the Chicago subgroup, made up of people in my general neighborhood all passionate about cooking. We held monthly dinners until the pandemic. Since then, a few of members of that club have become my very close friends. Heres to making new friends in your thirties. This sounds like a lot, but it's very much true. I wouldn't have the beautiful life I have today without the support of the community that grew out of your podcast, and this listener even included a photo of them with some of the friends they had made from this via this show. 

Doree: Oh my gosh. This is beautiful and amazing. 

Kate: Yeah. This also made me want to move to Chicago. 

Doree: It's too cold. Kate 

Kate: Okay. All right. Well, that's done 

Doree: But yeah, Chicago's very cool, like vibe wise. 

Kate: Alright, let's share another voicemail before we take another break. 

Voicemail: Hi Kat and Dor, my name is Catlin. I just had pause to pod, as we say in New Jersey when you asked for retrospectives of the last five years of these past five years, I've been listening since the beginning of the show. They have been really hard for me. My brother overdosed in 2018 and he survived, but he was living in a nursing home, got Covid in 2020 and ended up passing away. We were very close. I also had a three month old at the time and I think this podcast made me really start taking self care seriously. I remember during one of the hardest days, I somehow managed to pack a lush bath bomb when I went down to see him in the hospital and in the hotel I that I made myself get in the bath and take that time for myself and then I think it clicked for me. Self care is a serious practice, and I just appreciate you both. My favorite guest was Samantha Irby. I would love for you to have her back on again and I think my guest would be one of the ladies from the last day podcast. Look at addiction, gun Violence. We need to destigmatize folks who use drugs to cope with trauma and destigmatize getting treatment for it. Just want to put my brother's name out into the universe. Carl he always encouraged me to take care of myself too and thank you so much. Love you guys. I'm looking forward to five more years. 

Doree: Oh my goodness. 

Kate: Take a moment to honor Carl. 

Doree: Yeah, 

Kate: Thank you for sharing his name with us and such a powerful message. Self-care is a serious practice. 

Doree: Yeah, 

Kate: Yeah, it is. 

Doree: Didn't we have one of the hosts of Last Day on? Didn't we have Stephanie on? 

Kate: We did have Stephanie, 

Doree: Yeah. Okay. That's what I thought. 

Kate: Stephanie Whittles Walks has been on the podcast, so listener, You might want to go back and check it out. Episode 150. We got to talk to Stephanie, who's amazing. 

Doree: She's really cool. Oh, wow. Thank you for sharing that. All right, Kate, let's take another B. 

Kate: All right. we will BRB 

Doree: Alright, everyone. We are a B with an email. Listen, I got to just just run this joke into the ground. 

Kate: Look, lean into it. That's what that book is about. 

Doree: Thank you. It is right? 

Kate: Right? Yeah. That's why that book was written. 

Doree: Hi, Kate and Doree. I started listening to the pod in January, 2018, right after graduating from college. Over the last four years, I started my first real job, lived on my own, moved in with my boyfriend, got engaged, got married, switched jobs, survived a pandemic, and now I'm pregnant with our first child. Wow. And I can honestly say that it feels like this podcast and specifically the two of you have been through it all with me, just a few of the ways you've had an influence on my life. I started a daily yoga routine in 2018 with yoga with Adrian after hearing her channel recommended here several times. I am now so much more physically fit than ever before in my life. I'm so much more conscious about what and how I say things, whether it's asking someone if they're looking for solutions to their problems or just want me to listen, or being better about not assuming pronouns or realizing that commenting on other people's bodies is none of my business. I am always trying to be more aware about how my words affect those around me. I set weekly intentions inspired by you two and feel like I'm more in control of what I'm doing with my time. I can't even count how many pod groups I'm in, but I know that I've received countless insights from other listeners on how to invest money coping with difficult family members, updating my resume, et cetera. And lastly, I have a skincare routine. Now it's basic, but it works for me. And most importantly, I haven't had a sunburn since starting this podcast and understanding just how important sunscreen really is. Thank you so much for bringing us all comfort, joy and laughter over all these years. Truly don't know what I would do without your podcast in my life other than just continuously re-listened to old episodes I currently do with Schitt's Creek, A Person After Your Own Heart, Kate. 

Kate: I love. I mean I've watched Schitts Creek now five or six times all the way through. 

Doree: Wow. 

Kate: And I actually have a new show that I have turned to a new comfort watch. I'll share it on an upcoming episode, but a new comfort watch I've started. 

Doree: You know what? This actually reminds me of something that I have been meaning to tell you what for two weeks. 

Kate: Oh my God. 

Doree: Which is that when I was in San Diego with my parents, I watched, I rewatched the first season of The Other Two with my mom. 

Kate: Oh God. The best show. Oh, 

Doree: Now, a couple. 

Kate: Now I might need to rewatch. 

Doree: A couple of things were over, went over her head, and it's also a little bit more kind of sexually graphic than I had remembered, and we didn't even get to the Butthole episode, but it's so funny. She was laughing so hard. It's It's so good. So I keep meaning to tell you that because you were the one who turned me onto that show in the first place. 

Kate: I would be remiss not to note that that show was created by two old friends of mine, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. I've known Sarah since she was fresh out of college, working at College Schumer, and they went on to become head writers of center co-head writers of Stein Live. They're just like two comedic geniuses and very nice people. Very funny. Very nice. All right. Here's a voicemail about something that we created during the Pandemic. 

Voicemail: Hey, Kat and Dor, I'm listening to the episode where you ask for moments for your anniversary episode 248. and I think a ton of people will say this, so maybe I'm a broken record, but what really stands out for me is the Pandemic and the Here for You podcast that you guys did it was really such an authentic beacon of joy in such a dark time and it really quickly became part of my daily habit. I was in a job or a job where I only worked at home for maybe, I dunno, four or five weeks, but it made such a big difference. And to have that kind of collective place where people were going and there was joy and optimism and ideas, and it just really stands out to me as a really special thing. I mean, I think you did it for what, six, eight weeks? But it definitely made a difference in my life, and I'm sure it made a difference in others as well. So that was my little moment I wanted to share. I'm sure I have a million more, but anyways, thank you so much for all you do. Love you guys. You are the best. Bye. 

Doree: Aww. 

Kate: That was a time. 

Doree: That really was a time. Oh boy. 

Kate: That was wild. 

Doree: That was a time. Yeah. I had a lot of fun doing here for you. And actually I felt like it was one of the things that kept me kind of sane in those early days of the pandemic when things felt so scary. And at least I knew that every day Kate and I would be recording a podcast. 

Kate: I mean, we started that podcast on March 21st. We went into 

Doree: We started it really quickly. 

Kate: We had about a week of being at home, and then we were like, what do we do? We we'll start a daily podcast. You were like, I'll edit. I'll edit it and produce it. And so there we were recording a podcast every freaking day, except on the weekends we didn't record on the weekends. 

Doree: Yeah, we did not do weekends. 

Kate: We took ourselves weekends off. That was a real blur, and it's kind of one of the only consistent memories. I'm actually glad we did it because I haven't gone back and listened because I still have so much trauma around that time. But I'm kind of glad we have that documenting for ourselves just so I can go back and listen to what the fuck I was feeling. 

Doree: Totally. 

Kate: In March and April of 2020, I think we did it for Yes, this listener's. Right. I think we kind of ended it at the be maybe the end of May, beginning of June. But it was really rewarding and I'm so grateful people followed along for that because that was a very lonely, hard time. 

Doree: That was really hard. Well, all right, Kate, do you want to one? 

Kate: Sure. One final email. This listener also wrote and said they wanted to wish us a happy five year anniversary to say, you got me through. The scary first part of the pandemic is an understatement. Some days it was all I could do to get to your Daily pod. That plus a walk around my block kept me sane. Thank you. Will you consider doing an update on what you are reading? By the way, loved reading both of your books over the past year or so. Kate, especially interested in some steamy romance pics if helpful. I loved bringing down the Duke and Red White and Royal Blue, so I thought it would be fun to end with kind of a what are we reading now? And I'm happy to tell this listener's, couple listener, have you read for Butter or Worse by friend of the pod? Erin La Rosa? Erin. Erin is a steam machine. 

Doree: It's so funny because I worked with Erin at Buzzfeed 

Kate: I know 

Doree: For years, and it's really fun to see her evolving into this romance writer. 

Kate: Yeah, her book's great. Talia Hebert, who actually we've had on the pod, her books are very steamy. Seems like you might a little historical. I have Sarah McClean has a new book out that I haven't read yet, but Julianne Long had kind of a fun Oh, Palace of Rogues. I really liked her Palace of Rogues series about this boarding house run by women. That's a fun one. Yeah. I'll try to think of more. I mean, again, I'm blurbing a lot of books right now, so I'm reading and I'll tell you what else I'm reading but I'm currently blurbing a lot of romance books, so I don't have any current recs that are available. My most recent reads are the audio book of I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, which I liked a lot. I would love to have her on the pod. And then I read, this is really sweet. My daughter Eleanor asked me to read a book. She will recommend books to me sometimes. She's my 12 year old. And so she recommended this really wonderful book called Starfish by Lisa Phipps. It's a middle grade novel that's written in prose, and it's about a fat girl who's being body shamed and bullied both at school and at home, and it's really, really lovely. It was a really good read. I'm really glad I read it. So I read that. And then I'm currently listening to the audiobook of Token Black Girl by Danielle Prescott, Which is really good. Another dream guest for the pod, also putting that out there and then everything else. And then of course, taking charge of your ADHD is my other kind of ongoing audiobook when I'm on a walk and everything else are books I'm blurbing. How about you? What are you reading, Doree? 

Doree: Okay, So I also blurbing a bunch of books lately. I didn't blurb any books for a while, and then all of a sudden all these blurb requests came in, which I am always very flattered to get blurb requests. 

Kate: Me Too. 

Doree: So I just Blurbed Flawless by Elise Who, which is coming out in May. I think we're going to have her on the pod. It's an amazing book about Korean, South Korean beauty culture. 

Kate: I'm so excited to read that book. 

Doree: It's really good. I also just blurbed another book called Without Children. The author's name is Peggy Odonal Heffington, and it's kind of a history of women who didn't have children and how the choice to have children or not, how that has evolved and changed over the centuries. 

Kate: That sounds really interesting. 

Doree: It's really interesting. I think it'll be interesting for people who have kids to read it who don't have kids. So that is another book. And then I just got a request to blurb a book that I'm also really excited about, which is Stephanie McNeil's new book called Swipe Up for More. 

Kate: Ooh, I follow her on Instagram. She's a great follow 

Doree: About influencers. So, and then of course, books of people that we interview on the pod. And then I'm also reading the manuscript, sorry, these are all books that no one can buy right now. But I'm also reading the manuscript of my friend Alyssa Susman's new book Once More with Feeling, which is just delicious and delightful. 

Kate: I've read it. It's really good. We've got so many good books coming out this year. 

Doree: So many book, good books coming out. And the other thing that I just want to say is my good friend Kate Spencer got me a mystery book, subscription box for Christmas for the holidays from a bookstore in Wisconsin called Mystery To Me. And they emailed me to get my preferences of what kind of books I wanted and what I've read. And as I was filling out the form and I texted this to Kate, I was like, oh my God, I've read so many mystery books. 

Kate: Yeah. Is there anything you haven't read? 

Doree: I mean, there has to be, but I was just listening that I was like, I've read all of Tana French, I've read all, it was just like, I've read all of these, I've read all of these, I've read all of these, didn't love these love. It was just like, oh, I, there's a lot that I have that I have read, and there's also a lot of books that I haven't read that I haven't read for a reason, whether it's because they're too violent or whatever. So I'm really curious to see what they end up sending me. But I will of course report back. And then the last thing I want to say is I want to put this out there. I, and Kate, you already know this. I was recently, I was just looking at our bank statement because I'm trying to be better about money, and I noticed a charge on there from libro.fm and I was like, oh, I must, my Libro FM membership must still be active. I remembered signing up for it, but it was because there was one specific book that I wanted to listen to on audiobook, and then I went to my Libro FM account and I was like, oh, I have 24 credits, which is 24 books because one, a book is one credit. So I've been paying for this membership for two years, and I love Libro.fm. I love the concept, but I don't listen to it. I don't really listen books. 

Kate: You're not an audiobook person. 

Doree: But now I have 24 audiobook credits. Oh my gosh. So I need some audiobook recommendations. I know people say that celebrity memoirs are a good sort of gateway into audiobooks. 

Kate: I do a ton on audio. I love because most people narrate them themselves. 

Doree: They read them 

Kate: It's so good. 

Doree: Yeah. So I would love recommendations for great audiobooks, celebrity memoirs or not for someone who's not super into audiobooks. 

Kate: Have you done Leah Remini's book? 

Doree: No. I've read it, but I not listened to it. 

Kate: Oh, you've already read it. 

Doree: That's the thing. There's a bunch of celebrity memoirs that I think would actually be great on audiobook. Leah Reminis being one of them. Holly Madison's being another one that I've heard is great on audiobook. 

Kate: I thought Busy Phillips is good. 

Doree: Oh Yeah. Busy Phillips is good. I haven't read that actually. 

Kate: It's good. I read it. I mean, I loved Jeanette's. I listened to Jeanette's audiobook and I loved it, and I'm really liking Danielles, so those are two, two right there. 

Doree: Okay, great. 

Kate: Maybe like a president. I did Barack Obama's most recent book on audiobook. 

Doree: Oh, okay. President 

Kate: Or a historical read. I like a historical read on audiobook. 

Doree: Okay. 

Kate: I know you just went back and did all of Jane Austin, but I also just, well, I'm also doing classics on audiobook. I've downloaded a bunch of classics. 

Doree: Oh, that's interesting. 

Kate: Just to hear them in a new way. Anyway. Yeah, 

Doree: I guess those would like a hundred percent depend on the narrator. And actually, now that you mention it, do you remember when Phoebe Judge started doing Phoebe reads a mystery? 

Kate: Yes. 

Doree: At the beginning of the pandemic? That was, yes. When she was basically just doing an audio book. She was reading. 

Kate: I forgot about that. 

Doree: Yeah, she was reading classics, serialized. So every episode was like a chapter of She did the Woman in White. It might still be going. I stopped listening, but I mean, I listened to a few of those, so it's not like I can't listen to audiobooks. I don't know. Maybe they need to be like 

Kate: Doree 

Doree: Maybe I need to pretend their podcast. 

Kate: No, the perfect one I just pre-ordered. Speaking of Libro.fm, Prince Harry's new audiobook Spare. Oh, I mean, that's going to be a must listen. 

Doree: Okay. That's a good idea. I mean, I have other thoughts about that, but I bet that will be a good audiobook listen, you're right. Yeah. 

Kate: Just for the audiobook itself here it is. 

Doree: Okay. Thank you everyone. Thank you, Kate. Sorry to hijack the conversation. 

Kate: You did not. 

Doree: This was really fun. Thank you. To our listeners, thank you to Sammy and Sami, also. 

Kate: Oh my gosh. And everyone who has helped us create this podcast and created the community around it. We're so grateful to all of you. 

Doree: Yeah, it's amazing. 

Kate: All right. Well, listen, we talk a lot about gratitude on the show. I hope you can hear and feel and sense how grateful we are for all of your support and listens and downloads and messages, feedback, friendship. Thank you very much. 

Doree: All right. Bye everyone.