Episode 149: Meet Your New Favorite News Journalist, Alicia Menendez

We’re (gladly) diving back into the Miffy-verse, talking cover songs and fortune cookies, and asking the question: How did Google search lose its luster??

As expected, the @miffydances Instagram account is perfection. 

Cover songs—having a moment! Beyond the epic “Fast Car” moment with Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs, 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P.”, by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band in Anatomy of a Fall, the Kelly Clarkson effect aka Kellyoke, Pedal Steel Noah, Boygenius doing “Cowboy Take Me Away,” Leon Bridges performing Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” T Pain’s On Top of the Covers album, the Like a Version YouTube show, and Norma Fraser doing Sheryl Crow’s “First Cut is the Deepest.”

The high five being 47 years old feels, stay with us, kind of like this tweet. Related: High Five by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri is an excellent children’s book by the duo who brought you Dragons Love Tacos.

Fortune cookie–related things include Coming Soon’s nickel-plated version, Chefanie’s giant ones,  and a recipe from Red House Spice.

On the dismal state of internet searching, “The Tragedy of Google Search” by Charlie Warzel for The Atlantic. Other search engines out there: DuckDuckGo, Startpage, and Perplexity, seen in Laura Reilly’s installment of the Why Is This Interesting? newsletter.

Favorite covers, favorite fortunes? You just let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva. 

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Before we get to Thingies with Emily Sundberg, we have an order of business to attend to: ) Our semi-finalists for listener names are here! Thingiemabobs, Loony Twonies, Thingles, and, a late entry, Two Timers. We’ll need you to cast your vote on Instagram, clearly. 

If you don’t already know Emily Sundberg’s work, please subscribe to the “hottest business newsletter” Feed Me and read her iconic stories like “Welcome to the Shoppy Shop” and the “hot girl drink whole milk” piece for New York mag. 

“You may also like” newsletters: Casey Lewis’s After School, Lauren Sherman’s Puck Line Sheet, and Chris Black and James Ellis’s Public Announcement.

Emily’s Thingies include FIT Center for Continuing Education classes, The New York Times and New York magazine archives, making hot sauce, pickles (some of note include Hot Girl Pickles and Grillo’s) neighborhood field trips, poker, and treating your shower like a room. Other loves: Fara Homidi’s lip compact and Soft Services Theraplush.

Share your Thingies with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva. 

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We’re thinking big and talking miniatures, reading and listening to a book simultaneously, right-size restaurant empires, the comeback of color analysis, and a stellar Father’s Day gift for all the planners out there. 

A new-favorite mini restaurant empire: Mason Hereford’s New Orleans spots Turkey and the Wolf,  Molly’s Rise and Shine, and Hungry Eyes (see also: his wonderful cookbook, written with JJ Goode). Some other faves: Ann Kim’s in Minneapolis, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne’s in L.A., Nancy Silverton’s (also) in L.A., Marc Vetri’s in Philly, and the Hart’s/Cervo’s/The Fly trifecta in NYC.

More on color analysis via Calin Van Paris’s story for Vogue. Related: Kibbe types, c/o The Concept Wardrobe and Vox. 

So much on miniatures! The Guardian article “‘A place where millennials can own a home’: why doll’s houses are having a big moment” by Nicole Cooley, Shrunk magazine, DWR’s Vitra miniatures collection and Champagne Chair Contest, Yuta Segawa’s vases, Tatsuya Tanaka, and the (40th anniversary!) Marc Jacobs show. 

We’re seeing bitsy charms on all sorts of things, including Susan Alexandra Tiny Joys Lucky Charms, Haricot Vert “Dear Diary” Charming Bag, Mother Denim Lucky Charms Beanie, and Hello Adrienne Bite Size Dangles. And let’s pleeease not forget Mini Brand magnets. 

Share your favorite small restaurant empires, color analysis thoughts, fave minis, and more via 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or our Geneva. 

Get your chocolate fix with Charles Chocolates—15% off your first purchase with the code ATHING15.

YAY.

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Giddyup! This week we’re talking about an essential Thingie, being forthcoming with one’s universe, the squashissance, cowboy love stories (real and fictional), and, as usual, a whole lot more.

Big Thingie Energy: a good vet, specifically cat ‘n bunny caretakers at Catnip & Carrots. 

Having a moment? Squash. Some recipes we love include Aacorn Squash with Coconut Custard from Kristen Kish for Food & Wine, Soy Glazed Kabocha Squash with Japanese Sesame Seasoning from Season with Spice, Delicata Squash Agrodolce from Athena Calderone for PureWow, and Roasted Honey Nut Squash and Chickpeas With Hot Honey from Melissa Clark for NYT. 

GRWM audiobooks we’re into include Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (< who you probably know from her poem “Good Bones” and/or her essay “My Marriage Was Never the Same After That.”). 

We love cowboy love! Get into Lyla Sage’s Rebel Blue Ranch series, starting with Done and Dusted and the upcoming Swift and Saddled. Related: the rodeo, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, and Bella Hadid’s cowboyfriend. 

We love easy crafts! Including decorating these 99¢ frames, rolling beeswax candles, doing fruit and veggie prints (maybe at RecCreate Collective in BK?), and collage journaling like Martina Calvi. Also, we endorse Target’s Spritz line of party decorations (balloon arch + gold fringe, hello). 

We are deep in the Grossy Universe. Do you want any context on the people in our ‘verse? Ask away at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, @athingortwohq, or even our Geneva. 

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Di-hards, Clairericas, ATOTs, Thingles, actual listener name TBA: It's time to dive even deeper into Rivians lore, share the case for sleeping in socks, and add a new one for hand warmers. Also, it’s feeling like the tong discussion on this podcast is just beginning…

Listen to the How I Built This ep with the founder of Rivian; read the WSJ story “‘If You Sleep in Socks You’re a Psychopath.’ Health Tip Kicks Up Controversy.”

Ocoopa hand-warmers—have we tried? Or Zippo’s?

What should we call ATOT fans? Now’s your chance to let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and bring the debate to our Geneva (either the app or the browser version!).

Hire for that role with Indeed and get a $75 sponsored job credit when you use our link.

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May we ask a question? Are you a Framebridge groupie yet? We’re partnering with the fantastic company on this glorious ep—and an event at their Park Slope store from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, with 15% off! Which is all to say: If you’re not already hooked, you’re about to be. Behold, CEO Susan Tynan’s Thingies, your family-photo anxieties, and how what we’re hanging on our walls offers a lens into ~the culture~.

Susan’s Thingies include egg rolls in a bowl, Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA, Pomela Casa mugs, the Marrakesh frame from Framebridge, Caroline’s Cakes 7-Layer Cakes, and the Spoonful of Comfort Thinking of You Package. 

The Framebridge gallery wall sets = a stroke of genius.

If you’re commissioning illustrations for future framing, we love the work of Julie Houts and Olivia de Recat.

What are your framing conundrums? How have you taken ownership over your own bday happiness? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and chat it up about anything at all in our Geneva!

Come join us for the easiest, most stylish framing at Framebridge Park Slope this Sat., 2/3, from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. and get 15% off (a very rare discount!). 

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We’ve got some hot topics like celebrity activism and when to share pregnancy news—and even hotter topics like verbal leashes, sleeping with socks on, and weird terminology for just wearing your damn clothes.

New nym alert!!! Good Inside by Becky Kennedy brings us MGI: most generous interpretation. 

Claire’s IG exchange with Nancy Meyers in this Instagram post confirms that there are, in fact, Vicente Foods bags in The Holiday (and that N.M. is the greatest). 

The thing having a moment this week: Rivians and their mascot, Gary the Gear Guard.

Two things we’re happy about being “in” in 2024 include outfit-repeating and going to the movies. Shoutout to this @flwrchldtweets tweet and Dwight Garner’s Grub Street Diet. 

Dog people: Is a verbal leash (not the yet-to-be-written spinoff to Best in Show) a thing? Please let us know at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and chat it up about anything at all in our Geneva!

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Let’s talk Thingies with Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a writer and editor who covers feminism, politics, culture, fashion, racial justice, and existential dating dilemmas—in short, so much we want to read. She’s the editorial director of The Meteor, the co-editor of the best-selling anthology Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance and Revolution in Trump’s America, and the author of Outdated: Why Dating is Ruining Your Love Life and (forthcoming!!) The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning. Yes, consider this the you-hear-it-here-first pre-order nudge.

Samhita’s Thingies include Ranavat hair oil, wearing her partner’s class ring, Care Touch lens wipes, Jolly Rancher Chews, a poem by Hala Alyan, and Megan Thee Stallion’s bodyodyody. 

The phrase “Oh, I’m JV” is brought to us by Sara Petersen’s Substack In Pursuit of Clean Countertops, and we have a bonus Thingie: the memoir installments of Kim France’s Substack! 

What areas are you happily JV in? Share with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq—and chat it up about anything at all in our Geneva!

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Let’s dive into some Hellmann’s drama, TSwift x Wordsworth, and lots more re: the secret life of girls (thank you to Wired for the Notes App *respect*!!!).

To know Prof. Stephanie Burt is to love Prof. Stephanie Burt—this NYT  interview about her Harvard Taylor Swift class will get you there. A fave on the syllabus: Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff.

It’s pintxo season (we say!). Woldy Kusina shows us how it’s done, and Despaña is a great ingredient source. (Also: RIP the Prune Chicago Matchbox Bloody Mary.)

Indoor/Outdoor Boyfriends brought to you buy Ella Risbridger’s You Get In Love And Then newsletter. (Have you read her book Midnight Chicken?) 

Did you know Hellmann’s mayonnaise is known as something else entirely in parts of the West? Share your thoughts on this revelation at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq, and chat it up about anything at all in  our Geneva!

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We’re wise enough to know it’s about time to revisit this wisdom episode from the vault. We share our feelings about feeling our age and some excellent advice we caught about living with a little longing—and we very much would like to hear if this one hits differently the second time around.  

Some readings that impacted how we’ve been navigating aging include Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, Casey Johnston’s Swole Woman program, Cheryl Wischover’s “What Changed When I Started Lifting Weights” in the Gloria newsletter, and Kayleen Schaefer’s “How 50 Pushups A Day Helped Me Cope In An Uncertain World” for Elle. 

If you have thoughts on longing or musings about aging share them with us at 833-632-5463, podcast@athingortwohq.com, or @athingortwohq. And try out a Secret Menu membership for more recommendations.

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