Guest-appearing on a national podcast wasn’t on my bingo card, but here we are!
About a month ago, I received an email from the producer of Slate magazine’s Decoder Ring podcast about participating in an upcoming episode.
But there was a catch … I needed to include my (almost) 83-year-old mother.
For those who read this blog regularly or know my mother IRL, you know why this gave me pause. With her hearing loss, forgetfulness, and limited attention span, she’s not exactly an ideal interviewee.
But my mom is a good sport, as proven by her approval of my many less-than-flattering blog posts about her.
Over the years, I have lovingly poked fun of her hoarding tendencies, morning rituals, poor driving skills, and of course her love of Mallomars, to name just a few.
Interestingly, it was my first Mallomars post from 2022 that caught the show producer’s attention. Apparently, It’s Mallomar Season is a top search result for ‘Mallomar season’ on Google! Who knew?!
As the show producer explained, the November 5 episode would be a deep dive on all things fall — specifically, pumpkin spiced lattes (PSLs), colorful leaves, and … wait for it … Mallomars.
She loved that my mother was obsessed with these seasonal cookies and, after reading my blog, decided we both had to be on the show.
For me, this was an exciting professional opportunity.
For my mother, this was … confusing. She didn’t even know what a podcast was.
But as I said, Grace Dewey is a good sport. She’d also do anything for her kids (and grandkids), so she agreed.
To be honest, I had low expectations. We were sharing a mic after all, and because of my mom’s hearing aids, we couldn’t use the headphones.
Thankfully, the podcast host was professional and very patient. As delightful and welcoming as she was, she also made it fun.
There were definitely a few flubs along the way, and just as many giggles. Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of editing, we came out sounding okay.
Is a new mother-daughter podcast in our future? Probably not … I’m not sure we’d survive it. But maybe someday I’ll bring Midlife Moxie and Muscle to the airwaves, now that I have a professional microphone. I just have to get used to hearing my own voice first.
—LJDT
*Listen to the Cozy Autumn Mysteries episode of Decoder Ring episode here. Our part starts at 39:45, in case you want to skip ahead 😉
