Why would you hire a 12-year-old (most likely, girl) to babysit your child (and niece/nephew/neighbor)? We have NO idea, but The Coven (™) will attempt to answer with their varied babies raising babies experiences. From unfair accusations to uncomfortable discussions with drunk dads, we cover our adventures in babysitting (as well as the actual movie, Adventures in Babysitting, which, yikes?). Also, stay tuned for Meredith’s pie pie chart, more pie talk, Mr. Bulky’s, mall working horror stories ...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 61
It’s going to be a small, chill Thanksgiving this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the star of T-Day food. No, not turkey - we’re talking pie! Pie is (almost) universally beloved, but making your own from scratch is daunting to most people who aren’t accomplished home bakers. Thankfully, one of our hosts has some experience in that realm and has decided to pass her knowledge along. Ann (along with color commentator Bobby) is taking Christy, Hillary, and Meredith into the TSHE Kit...
Nov 23, 2020•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 60
Bobby, Ann and Meredith fire up the mics on a Thursday night to talk about life, lies and your Amazon buys. We’ve got awkward bathroom windows, accidental attempted insurance fraud, light at the end of the home-repair tunnel, dreams of repeating kindergarten, and for some reason a surprising number of pompoms. Also, our dentists are quite impressed with us, even if they’re (more than) a little rude about it. Be sure to check out MaskPGH for some cool masks made by a friend. Use code TSHE for 15%...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 59
You’ve been waiting for it (we’ve just been really really busy...)! It’s the return of the TSHE Moms Council! We’re rejoicing in this historic election as well as talking back to school nonsense/situations, a nanny soap opera, pod politics, supply drama, lies involving children, and much more. All that with maybe a touch of celebratory champagne! We (Hillary) couldn’t resist! Additionally, Hillary has a Covid scare (along with a lovely birthday wish), Christy returns to reality, and Phyllis gets...
Nov 09, 2020•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 58
#57: The Real Answer to These Problems is Very Boring I think we can agree that 2020 has been a rough year, and we’re all looking for something to help us feel better. Unfortunately, not all treatments are created equal -some are straight-up quackery- and that’s why we’ve formulated a clinical-strength episode devoted to the problematic “lifestyle brand” Goop. We discuss the allure of “health and wellness” practitioners-for-profit, how we should react to their dubious claims, and decide at what ...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 57
In honor of her birthday, Hillary leads Christy, Ann and Bobby through a list of 27 of her favorite things! Grab your favorite bike shorts, crop top and fanny pack, and settle in for a show we were extremely excited to record, and not just because it meant the rest of us could coast while Hillary did all of the work. Plus: An overdue Jamtracker™ update, more cracker talk, the battle to be America’s #1 Finger Hat, and so much more. TSHE Recommends Sense8 You’re Wrong About: The President's Physic...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 433
Is anybody feeling hungry? If you aren’t now, we guarantee you will be once you’ve listened to this show. Meredith, Ann, Bobby, and Hillary are slicing up some cheese, grabbing a jar of fig jam, and talking about crackers. From the platonic ideal of a Triscuit, to a “meat essence” salt bomb, to staples of our childhood, to what we serve when we’re being fancy, we’ve got thoughts about crackers. There’s a live taste test, disposable mini-plates, the Saltine Cracker Challenge , and some delicious ...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 55
Join the 3/4s Coven as we find ourselves walkin’ in Memphis with Tom Cruise (and his blousy shirts and back flips) and the Man in Black and try to do complex geometry to get John Glenn into space (and cry and marvel at Janelle Monae‘s beauty). That’s right! We’re back on our road trip and traveling through (what we're calling) Appalachia! We also celebrate the most important 10/7/10 birthday (and horrific accident), Hillary’s journey to freedom, and maybe do a tinnnnnnny bit of righteous indigna...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 54
With the general election less than a month away, Bobby, Meredith, Hillary and Christy look back on their first voting experiences, and their favorite politicians—all with liberal preaching kept to a minimum. Plus: magic erasable notebooks , cheap hand sanitizer dispensers , Lenny Kravitz’s abs , and so much more. TSHE Recommends Pen15 Bloodlines High Fidelity (the TV show) Connect with the show! This is your show, too. Feel free to drop us a line, send us a voice memo, or fax us a butt to let u...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 53
This week TSHE is pondering good vs evil and we’ve decided to make it personal. In that spirit, we’re bringing our various levels of knowledge to the topic of superheroes and supervillains and, more specifically, which ones do we think we are? Do some supervillains have a point? Why do comic characters have such terrible names? When should we “stick to hating Nazis?” In host news, Hillary is faced with a terrifying parental milestone. Meredith did her research in the most millennial way. Christy...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 52
It’s been a long year, and it’s not over yet. But, Bobby, Ann, Hillary and Christy are here to help make it at least a little better with an expanded magazine-style TSHE Recommends Fall Happiness Edition! From food and drink to books, games and TV shows, we are full of advice backed up by widely varying levels of expertise. One thing we know for certain: the country can be healed with pies. This episode also includes: RBG (may her memory be a blessing), an ’80s-style moving-in montage, and the m...
Sep 21, 2020•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 51
Join The Coven (™) as we take a walk down memory lane and remember all the things we thought we knew as children but turned out were mostly wrong (or weird)! What are the customs we thought were normal until we left the house? What odd thing did we grow up believing? How and why did our parents, families, and friends lead us astray? Why did the Wise family eat cake so strangely?? So many questions! Additionally, we discuss Hillary’s school year survival (maybe), Christy’s (in)ability to breathe,...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 50
It’s the official unofficial end of summer, so the TSHE crew is packing up all our white clothes and taking some time to reflect on the summer that wasn’t. From markets to fairs to family to foods, Christy, Meredith, Mike, and Ann sit down to look back on all the things we missed. But it’s not all sadness and regret, as we look forward to the coming fall and detour into discussions about potential YouTube fame, local elections, cheese on fish, superhero promotions, corncob preferences, and easy ...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 49
The end of summer typically means one thing in the Stick of Butter Studios: it’s time for the Minnesota State Fair! Unfortunately, the dumpster fire that is 2020 has destroyed everything that is beautiful, so the best we can do is to share what the Fair means to those of us who enthusiastically attend. Ann quickly realized she couldn’t possibly cram all her love for the Great Minnesota Get Together into a few sentences, so she dialed up a couple of special guests to reminisce over Fairs past and...
Sep 06, 2020•46 min
The THSE Summer Cinema Road Trip Spectacular rolls onto the Windy City as Bobby, Ann, Hillary and Mike discuss some beloved (and not-so-loved) Chicago movies. From “toxic jockulinity” and parade float lip-syncing to a one-armed man and Peter Gallagher’s eyebrows, this show is almost as big as Chicago’s shoulders, because that’s apparently a thing they say there. Also featured: Mike’s rebuttal to criticism of his speeding “system,” the humble beginnings of Hillary’s “fanny pack” collection, Ann’s...
Aug 31, 2020•2 hr 27 min•Ep. 48
Listen. We’re not perfect. We’ve done a few things over the years that we’re not proud of, and it’s time for a family meeting to discuss them. The ladies of TSHE have a few confessions to make that include dumb decisions, hidden character flaws, illegal substances, and shocking levels of deception. Hillary had some destructive impulses. Ann is not as generous a person as she wishes. Christy perpetrated Olive Garden fraud. And we’re printing up business cards for Meredith Van Harn, Professional L...
Aug 24, 2020•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 47
#46: The Rachel We’re taking a quick pit stop back at our homes to fill the food bowl, change out the water, take a walk and clean the litter box. Yes, we’re talking all things pets! Be it dog, cat, bunny we’re doing a check in on actual pets, theoretical pets, teen pets, celebrity pets, pet Instagrams, and everything in between! Laughs and tears! That’s what pets are all about. We also chat about Bobby’s big news, a little bit about Josh Duhamel and Danny Pinatauro and of course, The Rachel. St...
Aug 17, 2020•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 46
We’re back on the road for another edition of the TSHE Summer Road Trip Spectacular, and we’ve got a new batch of movies through which we’re exploring America from the COVID-free confines of our couches. Meredith, Mike, and Ann have a lot of brake pads to sell, so we’re hopping in our vintage convertible and heading through the – well, let’s just call it the Northern Rust Belt, okay? It’s simpler. There’s a heaping helping of Gen X cynicism, some misty-eyed Fifties idealism, another crop of prob...
Aug 10, 2020•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 45
We’re about to enter month 6 (!!!!!!!!) of quarantine, so your TSHE hosts decided to do a little check in. How are we feeling about everything? Hint - some are handling it better than others. But in slightly sunnier news, we discuss things that we hope stick around once (if) we return to normal. A silver linings plaguebook (™ Bobby), if you will? Mostly we realize that bras can go to hell! All this plus we highlight and praise (NOT roast) some of your fabulous Amazon purchases, talk about saving...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 44
Live from Breakout Room #5, Bobby and Mike make their triumphant return to the show to regale Ann with tales of their recent adventures on the open road, and Ann recounts how she was recently ambushed by a virtual attempt at forced networking. Plus, listeners’ RSVPs for a one-way trip to Mars, a TSHE Friend in the News ™, and pitching tips for Dr. Anthony Fauci. (Just kidding, Tony—you’re perfect the way you are.) TSHE recommends: Tim Wu’s The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empi...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 43
Okay TSHE, we've had a problem here... Your TSHE crew is pretty sick of the shenanigans down on earth, so Ann, Hillary, and Jeremy are blasting off and heading to space! To commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, we discuss why we love space, the insane scale of space and time, and, of course, some pop culture related to space. Space brings people together! Also, are we all meeting in Texas for the next eclipse? Let’s do it! Come for space and stay for some other scintillating...
Jul 20, 2020•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 42
The fearless TSHE Coven (™) has reconvened, and we’re trading the Sienna in for the American made Pacifica and journeying west to Detroit! Hop in with us on our occasional roadtrip spectacular as we discuss the (sometimes yikes yikes yikes) movies that make us think of Hitsville USA! Of course we also ask several probing questions: Why did white dudes hate disco so much? Why did John Cusack have to barge in on a radio show (and stand out of a girl’s window with a boombox and be such a jerk to wo...
Jul 13, 2020•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 41
The guys have wandered off on the vast open road, which means that the TSHE Coven is bringing some feminine energy to the show this week. We’ve got a real grab bag of our signature segments, which include the miscarriage of justice on a number of levels, some second-guessing of the American experiment, petty grievances that we just can’t let go, and a title in the Horny Corner that Hillary is almost too embarrassed to say out loud. Also, Hamilton talk (c’mon, you knew that was coming). Shameless...
Jul 05, 2020•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 40
TSHE is taking a pit stop on the occasional road trip series to talk...children’s television (on a Friday night, woo)! We discuss the wide swath of kid’s shows out there - from your educational programs to the television made for children to ask their parents to buy toys. GI Joe, Bill Nye, Peanuts, Muppet Babies, Winnie the Pooh, Yo Gabba Gabba, and much more. And yes, Hillary’s dad did indeed carry her to the couch to watch The Jetsons every morning. Also, Caillou SUCKS! Additionally, Jeremy gi...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 39
The van rolls on as Bobby, Ann, Hillary and Mike escape New York and explore something apparently called the Northeast Mid Atlantic. First, we take in a day in the life of a couple New Jersey Gen Xers. Then, we eat lightning and crap thunder. After that, we (spoiler alert) see dead people. And finally, we try and try to forget you girl / but it’s just so hard to do / every time you do that thing you do. Plus, Ann digs around in the guts of Wordpress for an overdue Jam Tracker™ update, Hillary is...
Jun 22, 2020•2 hr 2 min•Ep. 38
The TSHE Summer Road Trip Spectacular continues as we leave the sprinter van and head to New York City (as if we’re going to try to park in Manhattan!). First, we flash back to the forties to check out an iconic Carol Burnett performance in a movie that appeals to little girls everywhere. Then, we jump forward to the eighties, where we were “starting to let girls do stuff,” getting jobs in “computers,” finding surprisingly affordable housing, and modeling some truly awful fashion trends. Almost ...
Jun 14, 2020•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 37
The second time’s the charm as Bobby, Hillary, Mike, and Ann roll into Boston for the next leg of the TSHE Summer Road Trip Spectacular. After some (mercifully brief) mediocre attempts at the famous accent, we get down to business, discussing the crooked cops, cartoon villains, privileged-yet-resentful men, and therapists of varying quality that populate Boston’s movie universe. Along the way, we take a trip down the Ben Affleck Dental Rabbit Hole, wonder where all the women are, confess that we...
Jun 07, 2020•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 36
Through the travails of the world, our lives, and technology*, what was going to be another road trip show has morphed into a very special TSHE. This is a heavy one, y’all, but it seemed the right time to talk about 1) the sad, persisting state of our country and 2) some recent sadness in our personal lives. Lots of tears, but definitely a few laughs (or so we hope). Stay safe, wash your hands, hug who you are able to, let your voice be heard, and know that we love you very much! *A certain vete...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 35
Bobby, Meredith and Mike break out of isolation (emotionally, at least) and launch a new occasional series: The THSE Summer Cinema Road Trip Spectacular! From time to time in the coming months, we’ll visit regions of the country through the pandemic-friendly confines of our home TVs, iPads, VCRs, streaming services, or however else we watch movies these days. Kicking things off, an adventure through rural New England, a place we love despite shark attacks , crude bioexorcists , and, well, terrib...
May 25, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 34
#33: TSHE Olympics Part Deux: Going the (Social) Distance Like conjunctivitis on a Costas, TSHE is back for a second week of Olympics coverage and this time: We fix it. Join Mike, Meredith, Ann and Bobby for some quarantine-friendly events, many of which you can compete in at home! (And a few we hope you won’t.) Plus, your favorite Olympic events, dinner at Ariel’s Grotto, the latest reason Mike hates music, and the perfect Pandora charm for the covid-era lady in your life. Plus, a voicemail fro...
May 18, 2020•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 33
