Love is a Softball Field - podcast cover

Love is a Softball Field

Annie Krabbenschmidt, Maddie Rosswww.loveisasoftballfield.com
Maddie and Annie are 20-something high school meat-hearts (this is a term we made up for platonic best friends whose relationship blossomed while sharing ham and cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers and other meats). In a cruel twist of fate, they now reside in Los Angeles and New York respectively, with no choice but to catch up for one hour every week and broadcast it to the general public. Annie is a former comedy writer turned Masters of Public Policy student turned begrudging comedy writer, while Maddie is a musician turned poor person. Oh, and they're both gay gay gay. Check in with us weekly as we catch up about Annie's romantic solitude and Maddie's stable and fulfilling relationship.

Episodes

5.4 White Complicity

It was a tough decision on how to move forward today - we are a white-centered podcast by virtue of having two white hosts. However, we have always been a podcast that has been trying to move our communities forward in social justice and so today we're trying to do our part in that. This is a surface level introduction to understanding white supremacy and its ongoing presence in this country and our (my, your, our) lives. We have been complicit by virtue of our whiteness. We have been benefiting...

Jun 02, 20201 hr 5 minEp 4Transcript available on Metacast

5.2 I'm Ben Schmidt, Damn it!

In this EPIC conclusion to our EPIC two episode arc premiering this EPIC season, these two pals just keep talking like they always do. Annie’s rate of crying is at least THREE TIMES BIGGER than last week’s episode. In fact she just snuffles her way through this whole episode, but she also turns a lot of corners in her ability to stand up for herself and assert her boundaries. We are all proud of Ann Krabb as she becomes a real Ben Schmidt. Meanwhile. Maddie blissfully discusses her desirability ...

May 19, 20201 hr 2 minEp 2Transcript available on Metacast

5.1 Six Feet Apart

Season five opens with a brand new feature of LSF - Annie is an official (albeit temporary) resident of Los Angeles, fulfilling Maddie’s decade long dream of controlling Annie’s life. These two chia pets, growing and changing in the wind, are both the same and not: Annie’s been recently heartbroken and Maddie has suitors, but their attitudes and reactions to their scenarios are new and different. You know, like chia pets. Yeah. The metaphor definitely works. On this episode we catch up on what’s...

May 12, 202059 minEp 1Transcript available on Metacast

4.15 Adult Sleepover

Maddie and Annie spend the week in perfect domestic bliss together. There was a homemade ravioli, an explosive mess from Annie’s suitcase, and two viewings of Booksmart in 20 hours. Maddie and Annie worked HARD on their various professional endeavors and then had some well-deserved wind-down time with weed mints. After spending the night together, our two heroines immediately jump on Tinder for some high speed confidence boosting.

Feb 18, 20201 hr 6 minEp 15Transcript available on Metacast

4.14 Tough Love

In this episode, two young women make contact with each other, and with what’s her name Foster. Maddie finally announces that she won’t be running for president. Annie talks at length about her book, and it’s a little bit like, “Enough already. I’ll buy a copy if you stop talking about it.” And that’s how the book became a bestseller.

Feb 11, 20201 hr 4 minEp 14Transcript available on Metacast

4.13 One for the Road

In what is by far the silliest and least professional episode of this otherwise super serious series, Maddie and Annie record the rare hour they get to spend together in this world. Annie - 26, good build, dazzling green eyes, drives a stick shift - selflessly picks her best friend up from the airport at 11:30 pm (oh yes, ladies, she's single). As the night turns to morning, Annie and Maddie go deeper and deeper…into the heart of Novato. The many audio issues during this recording do not explain...

Jan 28, 202056 minEp 13Transcript available on Metacast

4.12 Brace Yourself

Look they can’t all be winners. This episode has no unifying theme, the prospects for a coherent description are bleak. This episode was just as weird for us to record as it probably was for you to listen to. Maddie realizes with one single glance in the mirror that she is undesirable, ogre-like, and definitely needs braces. How sad that she lived with the delusion that this wasn’t true for the last 27 years and 2 months. Glad we didn’t have to be the ones to tell her though. Meanwhile, Annie re...

Jan 14, 20201 hr 10 minEp 12Transcript available on Metacast

4.11 Gals and G(u)ynos

This episode has more surprises more frequent than Maddie’s mucusy Bronchitis coughs. We begin with an unexpected appearance from Dr. Claire (she/her), who’s seen a lot of vaginas for a straight woman. Amid doctor talk Annie is forced to say the word clitoris out loud. Maddie coughs up the last of her heartbreak as she prepares for the new year with some inspiring fitness goals. Annie oversells how many sexual partners she has had; this probably caused the sudden uptick in her unearned confidenc...

Jan 07, 20201 hr 5 minEp 11Transcript available on Metacast

4.10 Happy Holidays Everybody!

Maddie and Annie do some deep digging on their tinder profiles and the ultimate conclusion is that we’ll both be making out with hot dogs this year. Maddie humble brags about her modeling career and Annie takes it upon herself to check Maddie’s ego. In the last episode of 2019, Maddie sends Annie off to her family wth a directive to wear her new Timberlands no matter how much her family bullies her. Meanwhile, cuffing season with Maddie’s family will leave her one of 9 people without a partner. ...

Dec 17, 20191 hr 6 minEp 10Transcript available on Metacast

4.9 The Brave Little Grilled Cheese

Maddie and her therapist get creative with their vulnerability exercises which results in a Grilled Cheese from the Great Beyond. Meanwhile, Annie recaps a night at Tofu Tofu, named twice because one Tofu wanted a friend. In the grand scheme of things, we’re all single soy products looking for our fellow single soy products; we’re all pieces of bread looking to adhere ourselves to another piece of a bread with a gooey, cheesy bond between us.

Dec 10, 20191 hr 3 minEp 9Transcript available on Metacast

4.8 Just Another Semantic Monday

I wish it was Friday - my have a big ol’ cry day. Annie and Maddie do some deep healing as Maddie tries to figure out how to stop being the selfless Mother Teresa that she is. She’s off to a good start as she plays with a dog instead of listening to ANYTHING Annie says on this episode. As Annie speaks into the void about her ~emotional problems,~ Maddie chimes in only to go over Annie’s language use with a fine tooth comb. This is how we brush through the messy rats’ nests of our lives; that and...

Dec 03, 20191 hr 6 minEp 8Transcript available on Metacast

4.7 The Lesbian Standoff

A cultural inquiry into the patriarchal structures that perpetuate the most disastrous of all romantic scenarios, aka The Lesbian Standoff. For the first time in four years, Maddie pays attention to the hard-won insights Annie has into being a single gay. For the first time in four years, Annie flushes the toilet on the podcast. It all started with an Adele CD, the world’s ugliest photo, and that pool party that you couldn’t invite Janis Ian to because there would be girls there in their bikinis...

Nov 26, 20191 hr 5 minEp 7Transcript available on Metacast

4.6 Annie's Confession

Annie and Maddie stumble over their words in an obvious come down from the high of last week’s special guest, Miranda. It’s Maddie’s 27th birthday and we’re doing everything we can to show her how much we love her, including writing her a 5,000 word essay about how much we love her. We talk about friendship and unconditional love, and Annie’s face catches on lit.er.al. fire as we uncover the truth about a high school relationship. Is this a classic lesbian standoff? Will Annie and Maddie ever hu...

Nov 19, 20191 hr 1 minEp 6Transcript available on Metacast

4.5 Such a Miranda

And then I thought to myself, what if gender is a construct? What if sex is just something the medical community is trying to hold up on a pedestal and force on people at birth? What if this saga in the West Village should be called Gender Identity and the City? What if that’s enough? Annie Krabbshaw and Samaddie Jones check in with their friend Miranda (they/them) to talk queerness, gender, coming out and more. Miranda is a gift to all that get to call them a friend, and an even greater force i...

Nov 12, 20191 hr 5 minEp 5Transcript available on Metacast

4.4 This is the Story of a Girl, part 2

…who shamelessly plugs herself at every opportunity, but is having a hard time getting a word in because her best friend can’t stop talking about a breakup that happened a whole four WEEKS ago. In this episode, watch as the beta gay tries to outmaneuver the alpha for air time - bragging about book length, reminiscing about glory days, and - oops, the alpha’s mom walked in to dominate the air waves in a well-deserved cameo. Game, set, match.

Nov 07, 201945 minEp 4Transcript available on Metacast

4.3 This is the Story of a Girl, part 1

...who cried a river and recorded it for a wide audience. Our wonderful friend Maddie is still reeling in the aftermath of her breakup but she still finds a way to find gratitude, experience joy, and alienate all of our listeners by calling them homophobic (find out what you can do to convince her otherwise!). She’s doing so great, and is showering alone now, much to Annie’s great relief.

Nov 04, 201955 minEp 3Transcript available on Metacast

4.2 The Big One

You’re used to hearing Annie ruminate on the women that done her wrong, but you, we, the world, are simply not prepared for the end of Maddie’s partnership. Annie and Maddie convene in California on the Krabbenschmidt sectional, exactly the same place where Maddie found Annie, crying over HER first heartbreak just 4 years ago. This is a whole new world for the LSF duo, reminding us that we are all, always, starting over; but this episode reminds us that through it all, Annie and Maddie love each...

Oct 11, 20191 hr 4 minEp 2Transcript available on Metacast

4.1 Broken Record

Well, friends, Annie and Maddie are back to their usual antics. If it sounds like you’ve heard this episode before, it’s probably because life is a series of stops and starts, and we’re only in our twenties and we have no idea how to be functional humans. Maddie is back from the tour of a lifetime, and Annie is back from her brief time as a normal adult. There will be tales of music, art, self-loathing, and, you know it, heartbreak. Discovering the secret to balanced living is the designated sto...

Oct 09, 201946 minEp 1Transcript available on Metacast

3.15 Tour de Breakup

We end this season almost exactly as we began - talking tours and break ups. Maddie is set to embark on another month long journey opening for KT Tunstall, and she only has a mild case of neurotic fatalism. Meanwhile, Annie is FINE with her break up(s). She’s right back where she’s most comfortable - alone and proud. After starting this season with a dream of writing a book and wearing a suit, Annie ends this season right when her suit is ready and her book editor says, “we made the right choice...

Apr 30, 20191 hr 5 minEp 15Transcript available on Metacast

3.14 Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Fan to Write Reviews

Maddie and Annie essentially went viral this week when a young listener shouted out LSF at the Los Angeles Book Fair. The dynamic duo is slowly making a dent on closing that estimated listeners gap that falls anywhere between 8 and 4000. Maddie finishes the music video to end all music videos that will bring any polly pocket pop lover to tears. Annie gets a positive performance review from her therapist. She’s doing fine.

Apr 16, 20191 hr 2 minEp 14Transcript available on Metacast

3.13 The TV Killed the Radio Star's Ego

Doing! Maddie tries to flex her softball muscles during a music video shoot and it looks like all those years of watching Dottie “Queen of Diamonds” Hinson did nothing for her. While baseball stardom is not something that lives inside Maddie, the inevitable future in which she is a professional musician is. I swear it’s not just Annie’s mom goggles. Annie bounces back after her break up and has a whole slew of dates lined up. Dates, in this case, meaning her deadlines for essays, not humans.

Apr 09, 20191 hr 6 minEp 13Transcript available on Metacast

3.12 Brave & Interesting

It’s April Fool’s and life is a sick prank. Annie suffers some setbacks in her personal life, but in this episode she shows some of the most inspiring vulnerability I’ve ever witnessed, making me prouder than ever to know her. I (Maddie - hi guys, it’s me!) respond eloquently by using the two most back-handed and offensive adjectives one can use to a friend in pain — I called her “so brave and interesting”. Am I doing this description thing right? Seriously, I feel so lucky to partner with Annie...

Apr 02, 20191 hr 2 minEp 12Transcript available on Metacast

3.11 Talking about Talking about Talking about it

If you love Mother Blobbin you’ll love our special guest this week, Mother Blobbin. Robin earned this nickname for all the times she took young people under her wing. Whether she was forcing freshmen to go out and binge drink, or bringing them fast food and vomit receptacles the next morning, or, you know, driving around Durham with Annie for 6 hours a night while Annie tried to come out of the closet, Robin is grade A one of a kind.

Mar 19, 20191 hr 1 minEp 11Transcript available on Metacast

3.10 Chirpin'

Maddie tests out “The Bumble” and wants to know why anyone would want to peruse the “bottom feeders” that use apps. The distance between Annie and Maddie ensures that Annie won’t smack Maddie in the head for her ignorance on swiping left and right. Even though Maddie is happy in her relationship of five years (she has a girlfriend, a second girlfriend, and a father who brings her tea in bed), she wants more. Maddie wants a book club. Annie is using this description to distract from the story of ...

Mar 12, 20191 hr 1 minEp 10Transcript available on Metacast

3.9 Eleven Inches

Sorry dudes, we’re two ladies who are prepared to cut the length out of our lives. Maddie hates when her friends make reckless styling decisions, and now she’s disappointed in her favorite friend of all: herself. Panic sets in as she gets eleven inches of her hair chopped off, and she does her first ever mirror monologue asking herself “Am I Ugly?” One has to wonder why we do this show as an audio only project. Meanwhile, Annie gets fitted for a stylin’ suit and worries about her own desirabilit...

Feb 26, 20191 hr 3 minEp 9Transcript available on Metacast

3.8 Couple's Trip 2020

While the political landscape is uncertain in 2020, one thing that Maddie is betting all her money on is a couple’s vacation next winter. Never mind that it’s only been one date. Let’s hope that Maddie’s enthusiasm doesn’t scare any of Annie’s potential love interests away! Kamala may be running, but so is every girl that Annie brings home to Maddie. Let’s also hope that she thinks this is a different Annie Krabbenschmidt!

Feb 19, 201954 minEp 8Transcript available on Metacast

3.7 Maddie Ross is a Fugly SL*T

I heard her hair is insured to be fabulous by a wonderful greek orthodox hairdresser in Los Angeles. This week, Maddie grapples with ordering people around a photoshoot, Scheck throws a fit because she thought her girlfriend was going to look more like Regina George, and Annie silently munches on cacio e pepe to watch the drama unfold. You know what they say, always a second girlfriend never a girlfriend.

Feb 12, 20191 hr 3 minEp 7Transcript available on Metacast

3.6 An LSF Joint

“Listen to your instincts,” our acting teachers tell us. “Walk around like a dinosaur, airplane that frat boy, ask the hip hemp lady about how to smoke a jizzy joint.” Don’t do any of that (especially not that last thing - it’s called a doob, Michael). Defund the arts. Burn it all down with your bright blue Bic lighter. Annie dives into a classic 40 degree summer day on a New York fire escape just as Maddie pledges to quit La Vie Boheme. This is the next chapter of two troll sisters overcoming t...

Feb 05, 20191 hr 4 minEp 6Transcript available on Metacast