#16: Bugs

This week, as we emerge from our pandemic social hibernation, Lisa and Aimee wonder what it means to be a good friend.  They are joined by H. Alan Scott, the subject of the forthcoming documentary Latter Day Jew and the co-host of “Out on the Lanai: A Golden Girls Podcast.” A veritable Golden Girls expert, H. Alan shares wisdom on friendship from the fictional Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia, and offers his perspective on the importance of friendships throughout the dramatic ups and downs of his own life, from coming out as gay in a conservative religious family, undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, and converting to Judaism.  Thank you for being a listener. This is the last episode of Season 1. We’ll be back with more Anxiously in Season 2. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee wonder why they have so much trouble forming good habits—and sticking to them—even when they know doing so will make them happier.  They are joined by Gretchen Rubin, host of the podcast “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” and author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Happiness Project. Gretchen explains her Four Tendencies framework—which posits that each of us fall into one of the following four categories: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels—and how understanding your personality profile can help you better incentivize wanted behaviors and habits for yourself.   Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee are anxious about bugs. Anxious when they see them, anxious when they think they see them, and anxious just thinking about them.  They are joined by Stephen Kimmey, who has been in the pest control business for 13 years. He gamely answers every question you’ve ever wanted to ask an exterminator, and helps Lisa and Aimee take control of their fear of bugs (or at least not let it control them).  Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee are anxious about their Jewish identity: wondering whether they know enough, if they are “Jewish enough,” and what that even means. They are joined by Rabbi Sari Laufer of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, who explains the many different ways that Judaism can be part of our modern lives, particularly for those of us who find ourselves seeking spirituality elsewhere, from meditation apps to the yoga studio. Rabbi Laufer also helps Lisa and Aimee understand that living Jewishly looks different to each person, and that trying to measure up to some external ideal of being “Jewish enough” isn’t a useful exercise.  Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, with Mother’s Day approaching, Lisa and Aimee consider their relationships with their mothers, and wonder whether they’ll ever outgrow their desire for their mothers’ approval.  They are joined by actress Tovah Feldshuh, who has played her share of Jewish mothers on stage and screen, and whose latest work is the memoir Lilyville: Mother, Daughter, and Other Roles I've Played. She tells Lisa and Aimee about her deeply complicated relationship with her mother Lily, how her lifelong quest for the validation she never got from her mother growing up fueled her career in the arts and, finally, how she and Lily became nearly inseparable towards the end of Lily’s life. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee are anxious about marriage. Specifically, the role anxiety plays in their own marriages. They are joined by their husbands, Liel and Daniel, who gamely describe how they approach the anxieties they married into, and how they try to either offset or balance out the stress level in their homes. Plus we find out what makes Liel and Daniel anxious themselves. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod. Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie. Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee are anxious about money — anxious to think about it, anxious to talk about it, and anxious to deal with bureaucratic realities of adulthood like taxes and paperwork.  They’re joined by Jean Chatzky, host of the podcast HerMoney and CEO of HerMoney.com, whose latest book is “Women with Money: The Judgment-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Less Stressed, Purposeful (and Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve.” She explains why women often feel less confident about money, and shares her tips for how we can all achieve a healthier (and less stressful) relationship with our finances.  Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod.    Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie.   Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee examine their complicated relationship with their bodies—how they can be both attuned enough to obsess over various aches and pains, while also feeling the disjointed distancing that societal expectations of beauty can create. They’re joined by illustrator Ariella Elovic, who runs @thecheekyblog and wrote and illustrated Cheeky: A Head to Toe Memoir. Ariella shares how she found body acceptance thanks to a tight-knit group of girlfriends at summer camp, and offers her honest and entertaining approach to loving your body, in all of its exquisite wonder and, occasionally, grossness. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod. Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie. Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee consider the years they spent freaking out about germs before the COVID pandemic had everyone stockpiling Purell, and how their behavior—and their rationalizations of it—has changed in the past year. They’re joined by A.J. Jacobs, who’s written about overcoming his own germaphobia, and who offers all sorts of insights into how we can all be less consumed by germs in our daily lives. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod. Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie. Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lisa and Aimee are finding that they’re always busy, always rushing, and often running out the door way too late. Could they be doing better when it comes to being productive, or are they just holding themselves to impossibly high standards? They’re joined by Zibby Owens, the majorly multi-tasking host of the podcast “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books” and editor of Moms Don’t Have Time to: A Quarantine Anthology. Zibby helps them embrace the overbooked nature of our lives today and offers a new way to think about tackling their to-do lists: task-stacking. Like the show? Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram @anxiouslypod and on Twitter @anxiouslypod. Our theme music is by Low Cut Connie. Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices