The Burnt Toast Podcast

You are listening to Burnt Toast. I'm Virginia Sole-Smith. Today my conversation is with Tracy Clark-Flory.

Tracy  is a journalist, essayist, and author of the new memoir My Mother's Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family's Fractured Past, which Kirkus calls "powerful," "deeply researched," "lyrically written," "trenchant," and "moving." She's also the author of Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey into the Heart of Desire, an NPR Best Book of the year. Tracy writes a weekly newsletter and co-hosts Dire Straights, a feminist podcast critiquing hetero love, sex, politics and culture. You can find more at tracyclarkflory.com.

Tracy joined me to chat about her new memoir My Mother’s Daughter, stigma around unwed motherhood, stigma and shame around women who like sex and how so often daughters don’t know their mothers’ lives, especially the parts having to do with love and sex.

🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈

Housekeeping note: We've changed things up a bit to solve some behind-the-scenes tech issues, so here's how to get your Burnt Toast fix:

FREE LISTENERS can find this episode on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or the podcast player of your choice.

PAID SUBSCRIBERS can listen right here on Patreon, or add your member-only feed to the podcast player of your choice.*

*Except Spotify: Paid episodes aren't syncing there right now, but we're working on it.

Paid subscribers also get transcripts, commenting privileges and our bonus (audio only!) Indulgence Gospel segment. This week Corinne and I are chatting about my laser hair removal journey. Don't miss out — join us here!

BUTTER & LINKS

Tracy's Butter: Sexual Pleasure for Dummies by Myisha Battle

Virginia's Butter: "Just hanging out with your friends and watching a really good movie you can all really discuss." (We watched Babygirl!)

One last thing! You will want to read My Mother’s Daughter after hearing this conversation. If you order it from my local independent bookstore, Split Rock Books, you can take 10% off if you have also ordered a copy of my book Fat Talk from them. Go to Split Rock Books and use the code "fat talk" at checkout.

Now here's Tracy.

EPISODE CREDITS
Co-hosts: Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.
Producer: Kim Baldwin.
Logo design: Deanna Lowe.
Theme Song: Farideh.
Video Editor: Elizabeth Ayiku
Audio Engineer: Tommy Harron
Follow us on social!
Virginia is on Instagram and Threads as @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.
Corinne is on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay and on Patreon at Big Undies.
Support the Me Little Me Foundation, a virtual food pantry supporting multiply marginalized folks recovering from eating disorders.
Thanks for listening and supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!

You're listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and today we're talking about DINNER!

⭐️ What we feel guilty about—and why dinner brings up such Big Feelings.

⭐️ Takeout and delivery. How often is too often? Virginia is asking for a friend.

⭐️ What we've been cooking and eating lately, including favorite recent recipes!

Housekeeping note: We've changed things up a bit to solve some behind-the-scenes tech issues, so here's how to get your Burnt Toast fix:

🎧FREE LISTENERS can find this episode on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or the podcast player of your choice.

🎧 PAID SUBSCRIBERS can listen on Patreon, or add your member-only feed to the podcast player of your choice.

⭐️Paid subscribers also get transcripts, commenting privileges, and our bonus (audio only!) Indulgence Gospel segment. ⭐️

This week we're answering a listener question about what to do when your partner loses weight on a GLP-1 but leaves you with the mental load of explaining weight loss to your kids and family. 

 

Don't miss out — join us here!

BUTTER & LINKS

Why I Had to Kill Family Dinner

Book Dinner

Is Giving Up Your Furniture a Diet?

The Couples Fighting Over Food Delivery Costs

The Yummy Toddler Food cookbook

 Julia Turshen's pickle dressing salad

Corinne's favorite Korean meatball recipe.

 taco salad

taverna salad

sticky miso salmon bowl

Corinne's Butter: a quilt pattern — and the finished quilt!!

Virginia's Butter: Joining a gym (sort of)

 

EPISODE CREDITS
Co-hosts: Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.
Producer: Kim Baldwin.
Logo design: Deanna Lowe.
Theme Song: Farideh.
Video Editor: Elizabeth Ayiku
Audio Engineer: Tommy Harron
Follow us on social!
Virginia is on Instagram and Threads as @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.
Corinne is on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay and on Patreon at Big Undies.
Support the Me Little Me Foundation, a virtual food pantry supporting multiply marginalized folks recovering from eating disorders.
Thanks for listening and supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! Today my conversation is with Jamilah Lemieux.

Jamilah is an award-winning writer, cultural critic, and leading voice in digital feminism, known for shaping online conversations around race, gender, and relationship. She writes the Care and Feeding Parenting Advice column for Slate, and her work has appeared in outlets like the Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and the Washington Post.

Jamilah is also the author of the brand new book, Black. Single. Mother. Real Life Tales of Longing and Belonging.

I've been a fan of Jamilah from Slate's Care and Feeding Parenting Podcast, where she was a longtime co-host. Today we get into who gets to call themselves a single mom, the kind of social life co-parenting lets you have, the importance of friends, and we ask: Is dating (especially for single moms) a diet?

Become a paid subscriber to comment, get episode transcripts, and hear Indulgence Gospel — our new bonus segment, running after every episode!

Corinne hops on to debrief with me about my conversation with Jamilah. Indulgence Gospel segments are audio-only so don't miss out! You can listen right here (tap "play" above) or add us to Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. 

Another great way to support Burnt Toast is to MAKE SURE you are following us for free in your podcast player! And if you have two more seconds, please leave us a rating and/or review! Just scroll down wherever you're listening and tap the stars, five of them please, and leave a little note about why you love Burnt Toast. Both of these things really help new listeners find conversations like these!

BUTTER

Jamilah: Old Wisconsin Yumbo honey brown sugar turkey sausage stick.

Virginia: Kin by Tayari Jones

EPISODE CREDITS
Co-hosts: Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.
Producer: Kim Baldwin.
Logo design: Deanna Lowe.
Theme Song: Farideh.
Video Editor: Elizabeth Ayiku
Audio Engineer: Tommy Harron
Follow us on social!
Virginia is on Instagram and Threads as @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.
Corinne is on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay and on Patreon at Big Undies.
Support the Me Little Me Foundation, a virtual food pantry supporting multiply marginalized folks recovering from eating disorders.
Thanks for listening and supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!

You're listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and today we're talking about PEPTIDES.

 

This new diet trend is the cursed love child of the protein bros and the RFK stans, and it's supposed to make you thin, tan, and maybe horny. What could go wrong?!

We're getting into:

⭐️ What the heck is a peptide? Why would one stack them?

⭐️ Clavicular, the 20-year-old looksmaxxer extraordinaire.

⭐️ Why Bro Science is exhausting and deliberately hard to fact-check. 

⭐️ Why are so many peptide fans... also anti-vax?

We also have a new Indulgence Gospel for you, with a few unfiltered life updates plus a rundown of what we've been reading!

To hear that bonus segment, read the transcript, and join us in the comments, you do need to be an Extra Butter subscriber.

Butter

Virginia: toe spreaders, Petra Fisher

Corinne: Instant Glow Serum

EPISODE CREDITS
Co-hosts: Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.
Producer: Kim Baldwin.
Logo design: Deanna Lowe.
Theme Song: Farideh.
Video Editor: Elizabeth Ayiku
Audio Engineer: Tommy Harron
Follow us on social!
Virginia is on Instagram and Threads as @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.
Corinne is on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay and on Patreon at Big Undies.
Support the Me Little Me Foundation, a virtual food pantry supporting multiply marginalized folks recovering from eating disorders.
Thanks for listening and supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Today my conversation is with Emma Copley Eisenberg.

Emma is the author of the nationally bestselling novel Housemates and the story collection Fat Swim. Her essays, literary criticism and reporting have appeared in The New Republic, Granta, and Esquire among others, and she writes the Substack newsletter Frump Feelings. She lives in Philadelphia.

Emma joined me to chat about her new short story collection Fat Swim, fat characters in fiction, what thin authors get wrong, why we’re over Jonathan Franzen and so much more.

And become a paid subscriber to get Indulgence Gospel — our new bonus segment, running after every episode!

Corinne is going to hop on to debrief this interview with me. We're talking about fat kids in fiction, our Default Outfits and MORE! Paid subscribers all get commenting privileges and a full episode transcript. JOIN US HERE. 

Photo by Kenzi Crash

EPISODE CREDITS
Co-hosts: Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.
Producer: Kim Baldwin.
Logo design: Deanna Lowe.
Theme Song: Farideh.
Video Editor: Elizabeth Ayiku
Audio Engineer: Tommy Harron
Follow us on social!
Virginia is on Instagram and Threads as @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.
Corinne is on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay and on Patreon at Big Undies.
Support the Me Little Me Foundation, a virtual food pantry supporting multiply marginalized folks recovering from eating disorders.
Thanks for listening and supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!