Giggling on the Just A Spoonful podcast

 

 

You know when you have a crush on someone and somehow you magic your life so your worlds collide and you do something together? Well that hadn't happened to me until I was asked to be on the Just a Spoonful podcast with Kaitlyn Plyley earlier in the year. I had SUCH a giddy crush on this podcast. I remember listening to all of the previous episodes the week I discovered the podcast. I loved the interviews with chronically ill and disabled guests. And I love the theme song, which is often stuck in my head for hours after listening. But my biggest crush was on Kaitlyn's accent! (I now realise I'm on the verge of being one of those micro-aggressors who can't get past how amazing she sounds - but I swear I see Kaitlyn's big, creative brain too!) And so can you imagine my excitement when I got to talk to her on the podcast for real?!

Listen to the podcast here:

Unlike the miserable eventuation of many of my crushes, Kaitlyn and I became BFFs immediately when we started talking. I KNEW we would get along. She is so nice and funny and smart and accomplished. What I didn't know is she is as big a Savage Garden fan as I am. Friends, you're in for a treat. 

We talk about the awful film Me Before You (I had not watched it yet) and the concept of Cripping up, oppression Olympics, the guilt I feel when I'm not able to work, and how hard it can be to prove ourselves because of our disability. And then there's a whole heap of NOT talking about disability, which I really like. Here's a quote: 

"There's that pressure, you know, because I've been given an opportunity to work, been given a lot of opportunities, [that] I have to perform at 120%. I do most of my writing in bed, because I have to conserve that energy ... My priorities go, my skin and then my day job, because they have to." 

I must warn you - not to put you off, because I hope you'll stick around - this podcast goes a little like this: Hello. Giggle. I GUSH OVER HER ACCENT. SHE GUSHES OVER MY DRESSES. More giggle. Disability talk. Giggle. Pop culture. Giggle giggle. OMG YOU DO LOOK LIKE JUSTIN BIEBER! Giggle giggle giggle. Disability talk. Serious stuff. Giggle. OMFG WHY DIDN'T WE TALK ABOUT SAVAGE GARDEN FOR THE WHOLE EPISODE?! I really mean that. Giggle. Savage Garden song. 

Kaitlyn and I met IRL in Melbourne a few months after recording the podcast. She understands the need to bring a blanket to other people's houses because of likely coldness and soreness. We are yet to start our own Savage Garden Gigglers podcast, but that's a good idea, right?!

 

All the links:

Follow Kaitlyn on Twitter and Facebook. Visit her website. 

Subscribe to Just a Spoomful on the website and iTunes. 

The podcast artwork is by Erin Michelle. And the song is called Sleepless - it is by Anna O. 

Did this post help you, make you laugh or think? Please consider buying me a drink.

My chat on The Osher Günsberg Podcast

(Image from Osher Gunsberg's Instagram)

A little over a month ago, I was interviewed by Osher Günsberg for his podcast. He's the host of The Bachelor. I love his podcast - he's podcast royalty to me, so this day was A Big Deal. In person, he's very funny, very welcoming and a good listener. 

I turned up at his hotel feeling really awful. Sore, a bit shaky, and as I told him, if it wasn't for how long this interview took to set up, I would have called in sick. He immediately saw I was cold and offered me a blankie. 

He is a pro interviewer, making me feel at ease from the start and asking really tough questions. There were a few minutes where I was quite uncomfortable when he probed me about my relationship with social media. I'd never been asked to think about it in that way. It was good to think about this stuff, and reflect on how I deal with people who are difficult to deal with on social media. 

Of course I talked a lot about appearance diversity and the importance of media representation, which I think he really got. I said to him that I really admire how he has taken control of his mental health story rather than the media telling it for him, and that is what I aim to do, too. 

You can listen to our chat on iTunes or via the stream from his website. 

I watched Osher (Andrew) Gunsberg on Channel V from when I was a teen. And a little of Australian Idol. Now he hosts The Bachelor, which I don't watch (apart from three episodes). And then when he released his podcast three years ago, I started listening to him again. I've listened to most episodes from the start and often tell him what I think on Twitter. His guests always give me something to think about, even when I'm not into what they do or agree with their views. And he gives a lot of himself on the podcast too. As we discussed after the recording, I often wonder how he is doing week to week, because he's so open about his mental health. 

At the end of our chat, I said I was feeling a little better, he said it was the magic hotel blankie. 

 

I pitched myself to him earlier this year. It took ten months and several emails to get to our chat for the podcast! The moral of all this is, if you like what someone is doing and want to collaborate with them, just ask. Doesn't matter if they're a media superstar, or if you've grown up watching them on tv. If you like what they do and want to work with them in some way, tell them their work means something and ask if you can be involved. They might say yes! 

We also had a little chat for my podcast - listen to that here. 

Thanks for having me, Osher!

Launching our podcast - Refreshments Provided

Jason and I launched our podcast four weeks ago and I haven't blogged about it yet. Sorry. I was overseas. Anyway, here it is! It's called Refreshements Provided and it's an irreverent chat, mostly based on food, but we talk about what we've been watching, reading and doing too.

You can listen for free on iTunes and Soundcloud.

Jason and I are huge podcast fans, and have been talking about starting a podcast of our own for about a year now. We've done quite a bit of planning, and it's come together well. It's been a lot of fun   recording each episode. Really it's just a recording of two friends having a chat. It's really nice to talk about light hearted stuff rather than activism. I giggle a lot. When we are more practiced, we will invite some guests.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Read our show notes here.

If you have listened to it, please leave us a review on iTunes. And if you have any ideas for topics or guests, let us know on the socials.

We hope you enjoy listening to the podcast as much as we've enjoyed making it.

Big thanks to Jason for doing all of the grunt work while I've been overseas.

My first podcast appearance - Tale Teller

Last week I was invited by a twitter friend, Philippe Perez, to be a guest on his Tale Teller podcast. Phillipe works on community radio (3CR and SBS) and is studying journalism. We've been tweeting for a couple of years now.

Tale Teller is about storytellers of all sorts. I was honoured to be asked. This was the first time I'd met Philippe and we got along really well.We had dinner, drinks and saw some street art. This one is by Ruskidd and is in Napier St Fitzroy.

We chatted about my blogging journey, the tools I use to blog, the places it's taken me, and advice I have for bloggers (JUST START AND KEEP GOING, I say!!). Some of the stuff I said on the podcast is tongue in cheek - please don't think I am that egotistical! Also, a couple of people have said that I don't sound like they imagined - apparently I sound 12 years old!

Doing the podcast was a lot of fun, and I'd like to do more on a regular basis. Thanks for having me Philippe!

You can listen to the podcast here.

It should be on iTunes soon.

I hope you enjoy listening and get some blogging advice from the podcast.