A Few Things With Claire And Erica

What bras, tahini, and shaving cream do we swear by? WELL! You’ve come to the right place. Before we get into our Thingies winners: a discussion of the absolute insanity of sprinkles in 2021.    We want to hear from you! You can get us at @athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and 833-632-5463.   Some sprinkles context: a 2016 NYT funfetti article and the 2019 The Power of Sprinkles: A Cake Book by the Founder of Flour Shop.   Some sprinkles resources: Sweets Indeed Sprinklefetti (lightning bolts!), Supernatural (Field Day!), Fancy Sprinkles (Hey Jude—lolz!), Williams Sonoma Sprinkles, 1985, and Cakes by Kristi (Chips n' Guac Sprinkle Mix AND Poker Face) and Etsy just in general.    Round two Thingies winners!!! Negative Underwear non-wire bras (specifically in sieve mesh) and Chantelle underwire demi bras (read also: this rave from The Cut), Soom tahini (more on this podcast ep), Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody, RiseWell toothpaste, Gossamer CBD Dusk and Dawn (tune into this pod ep), Cremo shave cream, the

Something we’re quite sure of: what makes a good in-app workout instructor. Something we’re quite unsure about: what our thirties are meant to look like in this day ‘n age. Kayleen Schaefer has many, many thoughts on the latter. Tune in and then dig into her new book But You’re Still So Young (yes, incredible title).   The on-demand fitness instructors who leap over the ridiculously high bar we’ve set: Melissa Wood of Melissa Wood Health, Coach Chris Bennett of the Nike Run Club app (a previous podcast guest!), Adriene Mishler of Yoga with Adriene (see also: this NYT Mag profile and this Reductress post about Benji the dog), and Robin Arzon and Matty Maggiacomo of the Peloton app.   Read Kayleen Schaefer’s wonderful But You’re Still So Young! And if you haven’t already gobbled up Text Me When You Get Home, maybe it’s your next book-club pick?   A few of Kayleen’s “You May Also Like” recs: The New Better Off by Courtney E. Martin, Anne Helen Petersen’s Buzzfeed piece on burnout and her book Can’t Even, and Big

Breaking news: Erica is still not having kids—but she does have some fresh thoughts on the subject, especially as many of her pals tackle parenthood. And! If you’d like a shot before your chaser, let us tell you all about The Roommate, porny and praise-worthy.    Ooh, do we have so much more to share. If you want in on that, perhaps you’re interested in joining Secret Menu. If you need some STEAM, get yourself a copy of The Roommate by Rosie Dannan (and it’s spinoff The Intimacy Experiment, out in April).   Relevant having-kids eps of this very podcast: Our original “On Choosing—and Not Choosing—Motherhood” convo and Claire’s take on new mom life and motherhood, one year in.   The piece Erica wrote for Refinery29 about deciding not to have kids and the one Grace Atwood wrote for her site The Stripe.   The installment of Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter that we reference (so good in general, this newsletter).   Our DMs, inboxes, and voicemail boxes are open: @athingortwohq, podcast@athingortwohq.

If you’re not already a devotee of Julia Turshen and her cookbooks—her latest, Simply Julia, is out next week!—well, consider this your initiation into the fan club. We’re talking with her about “healthy” and “comfort”—loaded food words, for certain!—and because we’re geniuses who knew this topic would make us hungry, we’re starting things off with a snack taste test.   Ready for our chip chat? We’re chomping on Annie Chun’s Seaweed Crisps Go-Chu-Jang (perhaps with this miso dip), Beanfields Vegan Cracklins Chile Limón (not to be confused with Snacklins), and Lesser Evil Power Curls Fiery Hot (see also: its Paleo Puff cousin).   Julia Turshen’s cookbooks—collect ‘em all: Simply Julia (her new hit), Small Victories, Now & Again, and Feed the Resistance. She’s also co-written gems like In Bibi’s Kitchen, with Hawa Hassan, and The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook, with Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez.   Dive into her Equity at the Table database project and her Keep Calm and Cook On podcast, too.   A few of Julia’s fav

What a pleasure it is to bring you all Dr. Ben Michaelis, who we think of as ⅓ management coach, ⅓ therapist, and ⅓ couples counselor (at least in our case). We’ve been seeing this guy—together!—for five-ish years, and he’s helped us to navigate much in our lives, professional and personal. Speaking of navigating, we’re kicking-off the episode by answering an age-old question: “What sort of thank-you gift do I get my snake-sitter?!”    Oooh, boy, did we get a good gifting request: “Thank you for your friend who fed your pet snake weekly for 6 weeks. They like Phish.” Here’s where we landed: Fishman Donut Round Jigsaw Puzzle, Island Bamboo spoon sets and salt cellars, Na Nin incense cones, Boy Smells Kush candle, Debbie Carlos Curl Pipe (from Tetra), Edie Parker Flower stash case, Areaware Snake Block, Lorien Stern snake wall-hanging ceramic or plush snake sculpture (or bucket hat or hoodie), Ferm Living Mr. Snake cushion or fruiticana snake, Chen Chen and Kai Williams serpent lighter keychain, and Willa Heart

What an educational ep: Erica teaches Claire about Craigslist scams, and Claire schools Erica on the wild, wild world of baby registries. (Can you want a leopard-print carrier and not an infant??)   You want more? We got more! It’s called Secret Menu, friends, and signing up will get access to Claire’s baby-registry, er, motherload.   That cashier’s check Craigslist scam!! Vox has an excellent explainer “Why Cashier’s Checks Are Part of So Many Online Scams," and there’s a WalletHub guide to various cashier’s check scams and where to report them.   Consider donating to organizations like the National Diaper Bank Network or National Birth Equity Collaborative if you have the resources to be very persnickety about your baby registry.   Baby chairs and other places to put little people: BabyBjörn Bouncer (and its design-y comp: Betón Baby Bouncer), Charlie Crane Levo Rocker, Askr & Embla Sleep Pod (a prettier Dock-a-Tot), and Boppy with a custom cover (related: My Brest Friend).   Sleeping solutions: The Sno

The two of us think and talk a lot about ~the state of media~, and we figured it was about time we discussed it with a genuine expert. Enter stage left: the thoughtful and incredibly incisive Delia Cai, who writes the newsletter we always open Deez Links (and is a growth and trends editor at BuzzFeed by day—so clearly she’s on top of all the things.) We also figured it was ‘bout time to discuss Claire’s experience with Whole30, at least as it relates to their insurrection content.   You can find the Whole30 insurrection statement right over here (the Jan. 7 post).   The BuzzFeed article titled “The Small-Town America I Love Is The One I See At Football Games” that first led Erica to Delia (shout-out Dunlap High School—go eagles!).   You gotta, gotta sign for Delia’s newsletter Deez Links if you care about media (or good TikToks) at all. An adjacent, relevant newsletter: Today in Tabs.   For more on Substack, dive into Clio Chang’s “The Substackerati” piece for CJR (and its discussion of Patrice Peck’s Coronav

To answer the question of many a comedy-club promoter in Times Square: Yes, we do love to laugh. And one sure-fire way to get us howling is reading anything written by R. Eric Thomas—or chatting with the man himself, turns out. But up first: some toddler funny business.   A few toddler-relevant pieces of content: Bunheads by Misty Copeland, PBS’s Remarkable Rabbits, and No-Drama Discipline by Daniel J Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.   Please consume all the R. Eric Thomas you can! His memoir Here for It and the book he co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer about Maxine Waters, Reclaiming Her Time! His wonderful newsletter! All the past installments of his Elle.com column “Eric Reads the News!” (And stay tuned for much more, obviously.)   Some of Eric’s memorist icons: David Rakoff (Fraud specifically), David Sedaris (see also: this Hugh Hamrick profile), Samantha Irby, and John Paul Brammer and his forthcoming book Hola Papi.   What pop culture Eric’s consumed recently: Umbrella Academy, The Secret Lives of Chur

We are nothing if not (professional) enthusiasts, and we figured it was ‘bout time that we shared some products we think are best in category—from brow pencils to baby bouncers, dental floss to pasta. Join us for the Thingies! In the future, we hope our awards programming includes a red-carpet pre-show.   Give us that feedback—we know you have it. 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and/or @athingortwohq.    So many more recs available over at Secret Menu!    Welks!!!!! What Urban Dictionary and Mindy Kaling have to contribute.   The divisive Danny Meyer tweet about Häagen-Dazs vanilla. (Sir did write the book Setting the Table that we like a lot.)   The Grub Street bucatini shortage article by Rachel Handler—the sort of coverage HDVB deserves.   The inaugural Thingies winners!!! Hellman’s, Heinz, HDVB (duh, duh, duh). The Stutterheim raincoat. Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss. BabyBjörn bouncer. Marvy Uchida Le Pen. Uniqlo HeatTech (the regular and ultra-warm leggings, the turtlenecks). Sania’s Brow Bar pencil (a

Let’s talk about depression—how we feel when it comes on and how we deal. Let’s talk resources, from books to therapy platforms to IG follows, for anxiety, grief, bipolar disorder, and postpartum disorders. Let’s just talk about mental health more in general, right?   Secret Menu! It’s fun. See for yourself by subscribing over here.   The things that have warmed our hearts a smidge during all of our time at home: a remote-control light dimmer and a calamansi tree (see also: calamansi seltzer from Sanzo + cocktails from Zuzu).   Podcasts featuring two people talking that feel kinda like having company: Jam Session, Who? Weekly, Home Cooking, Bad on Paper, Still Processing, and Taking Hugh for Granted.   Not-new fiction that’s provided Erica with a genuine escape recently: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (1948), Mrs. Bridge by Evan Connell (1955), Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979), and Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983).   Mental-health resources! Some books: The Mindful Way Through Depression by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Let’s kick off 2021 with a true grab bag of an episode! Because who else will tell you allllll the things they’re making/eating with rice, why they’re fascinated by hospital go bag content, and how exactly they’ve been making money over the last year, all in one go??   New year, new thoughts to share? Hit us up at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and/or @athingortwohq.    Rice—it’s nice! Right now, we’re feeling sushi rice for everything, Chrissy Tiegen’s coconut rice, Vigo saffron yellow rice, and Samin Nosrat’s Persian-ish rice.   And 2020’s awards for most fascinating and entertaining hospital go bag reveals go to…@nelliediamond and @hannahbronfman!! Also: Here’s the vid that inspired Claire’s, which even has a sequel.    This Eberjey PJ jumpsuit (which we both love in just, like, regular life) is actually a worthy hospital go bag inclusion.    The affiliate networks we use (you know, if you run a business that’s thinking about these things!): ShopStyle Collective, RewardStyle, ShareASale, and Book

We’ve been following the career of Alisha Ramos since she was in college—so, um before she technically had a career. If you haven’t spotted her two businesses Girls’ Night In, a newsletter ‘n community for women who love to stay in, and Whiled, a line of cheery, artsy puzzles, everywhere you turn recently, then your pandemic experience has been very different from ours. But before we get into it all with her: Let us discuss how dumplings (the sweatpants of food?) became such a vibe.   DUMPLINGS. In handbag form from Simon Miller, Elleme, and Emily Levine. In cartoon form thanks to Wonton in a Million. As sculpture in porcelain by Stephanie H. Shih and felt by Dumpling Mart. As a light, an ornament, and, hey, a potsticker pipe.   Alisha Ramos is up to so very much—she’s the founder of Girls’ Night In and Whiled, and she’s a very committed Swiftie and gardener on IG.   Speaking of Swifties: a conspiracy rabbithole for you—feel free to search Swiftgron on Tumblr.   The still-very-relevant Stay Home, Take Care re

We’ve dedicated a helluva lot of our 2020 brain space to 1) the election and 2) romance novels. Who sits at the intersection of those two realms? American hero Stacey Abrams, who has written eight—eight!—of the latter under the name Selena Montgomery. We’re talking about one of them, Reckless, today. Another thing we’re getting into: books that aren’t technically for kids but that kids can take a lot from. A real page-turner of an ep!   Three adult books that influenced us growing up: Our Bodies, Ourselves,  Life’s 100 Photographs That Changed the World, and The Cake Bible.   Books we endorse having around the house for kids to have access to: Black Futures, Every Person in New York, The Macmillan Visual Dictionary, The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, Map: Exploring the World, The Man Behind the Maps, In the Company of Women, D C-T!, and Do It Yourself.    Do you need some Stacey Abrams / Selena Montgomery romance in your life? SURE YA DO. Read Reckless, its sequel Deception, and this very good recent

If, like us, you’ve been following Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham’s work for years ‘n years, you’re going to really relish digging into Black Futures, the sweeping anthology they created together. This week, we’re chatting with the duo about celebrating Blackness, developing a friendship over the course of a creative collaboration, and, um, mispronouncing words. Oh, and before they join us, we’re discussing why really big versions of things make good gifts.    You thought we were done with gift ideas? Heck no. 1) a 6- or 12-month gift sub to Secret Menu. 2) DONATIONS! 3) lots of something you know someone already loves. For us, we’re talking jumbo takes on Luxardo cherries, Maldon salt, Fruit Roll-Ups, Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore Conditioner, Ghirardelli brownie mix, Tate’s cookies, sriracha, that Kacey Musgraves x Boy Smells candle, and Red Boat fish sauce and salt.   Grab your copy of Black Futures (which, by the way: great gift). To keep up on Jenna and Kimberly’s book tour—and to feel very in-th

Welcome to Gift Guide Podcast, the Sequel: Presents Requested. (Can you tell we’re a little slap-happy after recording these eps?) If you haven’t tuned in for part one, here’s the deal: We’ve got lots of ideas from small businesses, many owned by women and BIPOC, (and none from Amazon)—and we have thoughts on organizations to donate to in someone’s honor, too. Are you ready for all the thoughts? Great, let’s get into it. Oh, and if you just can’t get enough, our 2019 installments are here and here.   BROTHERS!   21 year old brother who has a new passion/major every week. Techie, creative, loves pasta. Grossy Pelosi merch: This Too Shall Pasta or Live Laugh Lasagna Designy pasta book: The Silver Spoon or The Geometry of Pasta Memoirs of people who found/made their own way: Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, Just Kids by Patti Smith, and The Autobiography of Gucci Mane   Subscription to Courier magazine   Little brother, loves foreign affairs, about to graduate from college, very classic taste

You have gift questions, and we have gift answers! Welcome to part one of our second-annual gift guide, where you’ll find so much cool stuff from small businesses (many run by women and BIPOC!), no Amazon links (but you do you), and thoughts on orgs to donate to, too. Part two is coming next week, and last year’s still-relevant installments are here and here. Now, hope you’re prepared for an outrageously long episode recap...   PARENTS! My mom has requested “a new hobby” for Christmas which has sent me spinning. Any ideas? She’s very artsy and already gardens and writes fiction. Knitting hasn’t worked for her due to her arthritis, and she’s a lifelong hater of kitchen activities, most of the cute gifty hobby kits I’ve seen fall into those categories. Stumped!  Joone Creative air-dry ceramics tiles kit Rose Pearlman punch needle hoop kit The Crafter’s Box arm-knitting workshop Melanie Abrantes Japanese bowl-carving kit   Fic & non-fic books that will nudge my parents to the left without them realizing it

Here we are, asking the important questions, including “What’s it like to start a record label and run it for 20 years?” and “Who in their right mind decided to eat an artichoke for the first time?” Sam Valenti IV, behind the very compelling Ghostly International, has all the answers to our first query, and we don’t think we’ll ever really get to the heart (heh) of our second.   Best use of an Instant Pot: cookin’ artichokes.    Oddly enthusiastic endorsement: vintage Majorcan and Portuguese artichoke plates.   A couple good ways to put a can/jar of artichokes to good use: sardine pasta and back-pocket canned salad.    Dig into Sam Valenti’s Ghostly International—both the musical artists (including the label’s very first, Matthew Dear) and the products. Also, follow Ghostly’s playlists—their “At Work” one in particular.   A few Brooklyn record stores worthy of Sam’s fandom: Rough Trade, Academy Records, and Captured Tracks Shop.    When Sam’s looking to discover new music, he can always count on Buy Music Clu

Is this the beginning of one very strange holiday season to cap off one very strange year? It’s starting to feel like it, and we have some ~initial thoughts~ on how to wrap your head around gifts and a whole bunch o’ thoughts from Vanessa Price—who co-wrote the wonderful book Big Macs and Burgundy—on pairing wine with the things your actually eat, including the last of the leftover Halloween candy and whatever Thanksgiving dinner looks like in 2020.   For lots more holiday shopping thoughts ‘n ideas, sign up for Secret Menu.   Gift guide eps are coming up!! If there are people you want us to shop for, tell us everything about them at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, and @athingortwohq   Buy Big Macs and Burgundy, the book Vanessa Price co-wrote with our pal Adam Laukhuf. P.S., it also makes a great gift.   Vanessa’s column for New York mag that led to the book—including that first Sour Patch Kids installment and the very trying s’mores one.   Try Sakara for some truly delicious, plant-rich, ready-to-e

You can only comfort yourself with so many baked goods, it seems, but we’ve found a workaround: We’re putting them in our ears instead of our mouths. What a joy it was to sit down with Lani Halliday, who is making the best inclusive pastries around and unveiled her first physical outpost of Brutus Bakeshop during the pandemic. Yes: She’s very bold, and we’re very obsessed.   If you’re in NYC, grab Lani Halliday’s baked goods at Brutus Bakeshop in Crown Heights (and get some amazing New Mexican food from Eric See’s Ursula while you’re there!). If you’re anywhere else, buy her (vegan, GF, soy-free) miso chocolate chip cookies on the internet and keep your eyes peeled for her pop tarts and more, more, more.   More on the Independent Restaurant Coalition—um, 11 million people in the U.S. are independent restaurant employees!   Friends, KIT. You can get us at 833-632-5463 and @athingortwohq any ol’ time.   Find migraine relief online—and get 50% off your first month of medication—thanks to Cove. Shop our MoMA Desi

Yeah, so, it’s gonna be a real week, and if you’re interested in escaping the tweets, push alerts, and polling data for a few, we have some celeb gossip, book recs, and sweaters to cozy up to.   You can support us by 1) leaving a jazzy ol’ review 2) subscribing to Secret Menu. Wheeeeee.   We’re offering free ads to Black-owned businesses. Get in touch at podcast@athingortwohq.com.    The very best celeb gossip sources, if you ask us: E! News IG stories, Jam Session, Deux Moi, Gossip Time, The Shade Room, Who? Weekly, Bossip, and Just Jared Jr.    The couple Claire’s shipping: Harry Styles and Tracee Ellis Ross. This pic + this clip. Believe what you want. And just read The Idea of You already if you haven’t.   And, now for beliebing: Erica is intrigued with Justin and Hailey Bieber’s domestic life. This post and this post and a Facebook Watch thing called Baking with the Biebers. Somehow related: Levain Bakery cookies.   Two books that are distracting and immersive (but not light!): The Death of Vivek Oji by