Why Doesn't Oprah Like Your Book?

In this episode, former Iowa congresswoman Abby Finkenauer gives Sunshine her first post-election interview. They talk about the inauguration and cookies and the Magic 8 ball has an important predictions about Iowa's Red state status.

In this episode of Rad Ladies, Lyz and Sunshine talk to Elon Green and his eight-year-old son Patty*, about being a kid with a writer parent, ideas for writing, Oprah, and changes to the podcast. Come for the cute voices, stay for the sick burns. Also, everyone forces me to confess my favorite sibling. The podcast will be public from now on, because my kid is very persuasive. Sorry about the delay. Our production engineer (ME!) broke her wrist. Thank you to Scott Holmes for the music. Also, pre-order Elon’s book!!

In this second episode of Rad Ladies, Sunshine and I talk to Dr. Maeve Callan, who is a professor of world religions at Simpson College. We asked her about her work on witches and, of course, Harry Potter. Thanks to ZapSplat for the witch cackle sound effect and Scott Holmes for the kickin’ theme song. Also, a HUGE thank you to Nithya Subramanian, an incredible data journalist, who is a fan of the podcast and digitized our logo for us. Nithya has her own newsletter on the visual construction of imagery.

This podcast is the brainchild of my human child — my 9-year-old daughter. Despite the fact that she says in the podcast this is my idea, it’s really both of ours. Hers because she thought of it, and me because I made it happen. In the podcast, we are calling her “Sunshine” to ensure her digital privacy. Because while she is fine with us using her name, how much can a 9-year-old consent to her name being used in a digital space? Also, I love you all, but some of you are actual monsters. I’ve called her Sunshine since she was a tiny baby, because of her sunny personality. I’ve always been impressed with how she’s never afraid to talk to anyone about anything. And it’s incredible to see the human she’s becoming. I’m so proud of her. Plus, her questions were tough! For our first episode, she interviewed Lyz Lenz (that’s me!) about parenting during a pandemic, a devastating natural disaster, and a book launch. You can read about that here. Plus, there’s a special guest appearance from a small brother and his Magic 8-Ball.