52. It’s Our One-Year Anniversary Episode!

KIM: Hey, everybody! Welcome back to another Lost Ladies of Lit mini episode! I’m Kim Askew, here with my co-host and writing partner Amy Helmes, and Amy, we really should be busting out the cake and champagne for this week’s episode, because we’ve officially made it to our 52nd episode! How did that happen?

AMY: I don’t know! Yeah, you guys, it’s our one-year anniversary, and cake and champagne does sound good — but I’m also thinking maybe we should be toasting with a Dubonnais Cassis, remember that? It was the cocktail we were drinking in our very first episode — and it was also the drink preference of Mary, the heroine of Monica Dickens’ novel, Mariana.

KIM: Oh my god… I’m thinking back to recording that first episode. We were kind of hot messes, weren’t we?

AMY: Yeah. I remember, I guess I had read somewhere that it was best to record in a closet, so I was cramped up in my daughter Julia’s closet, sitting on the floor balancing the cocktail and my laptop and feeling like a complete idiot trying to sound interesting, but yet informed and casually clever. I was maybe trying too hard.

KIM: I feel like there was definitely some imposter syndrome going on. I definitely was feeling that I was like, “do we know what we’re doing? WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING?” 

AMY: Yeah, which, that notion was only confirmed for the second episode, because we basically wound up scrapping the whole thing and starting over from scratch when we realized how awful it was.

KIM: Yes, but just taking that first leap of faith was a huge victory. It’s all a process, and I think (at least I hope… okay, I know) we’ve improved over time, right? 

AMY: Yeah, I think so. I think we found our groove, but it was not without its record-scratch, laugh-out-loud moments along the way, you guys.

KIM: Right? I mean, that’s actually part of the reason we do it! We’ve had a lot of laughs, and we thought it would be fun to share with you guys some of the more hilarious outtakes over the past year. I think we’ve got a little montage here that Amy managed to put together. She’s amazing. Let’s roll it.

[montage plays]

KIM: Oh my god. Well, you can’t say we haven’t had fun, right? And also, by the way, I just want to note: we started this during the pandemic.

AMY: So yeah, we needed those laughs, man! We needed all the laughter we could get! So yeah, there’s so much more audio of us cracking up, most of which never makes it into the episodes… and okay, Kim, I’ve been saving this one for this episode. If we’re talking about anecdotes that made us laugh, I really think we have to mention the one from early on where you didn’t reveal until the very end of our recording that you’d been besieged during the course of conversation. Let’s roll that audio:

[recording plays]

KIM: If you didn’t quite follow that, I was dealing with a termite issue at my house around that time and so during the recording termites were literally falling out of the ceiling and landing on me! But I tried to play it really cool until the end, when I just couldn’t take it anymore.

AMY: We didn’t even have a guest on for that episode, so you could have, like, interrupted, I think.

KIM: I was being a professional! I took this very seriously, Amy!

AMY: “It’s raining termites! Hallelujah!” Yeah, there's also another episode.. It was during the World Series last summer. My whole family was upstairs cheering it on. I couldn’t not allow them to watch a World Series game, but we needed to record an episode. And then, so in the middle of our recording when the Dodgers hit a home run, there were screams, so we had to pause. 

KIM: I remember that, too. I mean, nothing stops us from the pod! There was that time that my dear neighbor next door decided to start legit sawing lumber during the middle of a recording! That was interesting. And loud. 

AMY: Yeah, it was like, “How are we going to make this work?” 

KIM: Yeah, “Let’s just keep going and see what happens.”

AMY: And we did. Somehow, miraculously, the sawing happened in between our talking so we were able to edit it out, which was great. But we’ve also had to cross fingers that babies stayed sleeping during our recordings (both yours, Kim, and those of our guests.) 

KIM: Yeah, and sometimes our guests’ “babies” are more vocal than others. Do you have that outtake I’m thinking of? 

AMY: Yeah, let’s roll it:

[recording plays]

KIM: That was a cameo from our interview with Dr. Melissa Homestead about Edith Lewis. Her basset hounds wanted in on the action, and they would not give up. 

AMY: They had some strong feelings about lost ladies! They wanted to get a word in edgewise! So, basically, to help with sound-proofing (I’m no longer in my daughter’s little tiny closet) but I did build a pillow-and-blanket fort in my home office so that it sort of dampens the echoes, and that often has mixed results. So, listeners, thank you for sticking with us through our occasional sound issues this year…

KIM: Yeah, I just want to say, Amy, thank you for being an incredible editor. (Amy edits our episodes, and she’s amazing and so patient.) And thank you, our listeners for your kind words and your five-star reviews -- it really gives us the motivation to keep churning out new episodes each week. I feel like we’re really getting to know so many of you, and that’s been one of the best parts about this project. 

AMY: Yeah, every time we hear from you, it really makes our week; we get so excited. Although, there’s one review that took our average from five stars down to 4.9, but it’s kind of awesome, so I’ve got to share it. One listener wrote: “Maybe it’s an age thing (I’m 70), but if I want to listen to a couple of adolescents giggling over the cool books they have just read, I’ll ride the crosstown bus.” [sings: “Forever young! I want to be forever young….”!!!] Thank you, Mildred, wherever you are! That makes me feel really good to be compared to an adolescent because I’m nowhere near that.

KIM: I sort of want to wear that one like a badge of honor. And by the way, I do still feel like I’m 14, so maybe she’s not all wrong, and I’m okay with that. But all right, so we’re thanking people right now, and I think we have to put our husbands, Eric (my husband) and Mike (Amy’s husband) at the tippy-top of that list. 

AMY: 100 percent. You guys (I know they listen — my husband listens, which is amazing, because he’s not anything like any kind of English major that would be super into this, but he listens to every single episode. He’s so supportive. They both are.). And if they’re not on child-care duty while we’re recording, then they’re tip-toeing around the house like cat burglars trying not to make a sound. We totally adore you guys for it, thank you so much.

KIM: Yeah, I just want to say Eric, oftentimes, is out in the backyard. Literally, the backyard, until I remember that we’re doing and call him back in. Sometimes I forget! Anyway, since you mentioned kids, too, I’m remembering, Amy, how great it was to have Julia be our guest. She read Nathalia Crane’s poetry last December, and I love it..

AMY: Oh my gosh, she’s growing up so fast, but at the same time, she’s still got that squeaky little kid voice that just melts me. So let’s just roll a snippet of that cuteness.

[recording plays]

AMY: Isn’t she the cutest?

KIM: Yeah, completely.

AMY: And also, considering my son, Jack, is the world’s pickiest eater, he made a valiant effort for episode 33. He had to sample some of the recipes I cooked from Peg Bracken’s I Hate to Cook Book. Now we just have to figure out some way, Kim, to get your Cleo on the mic, right?

KIM: Yeah, totally. I would love that… I’m thinking we could do a Lost Lady picture book at some point. I mean, there’s got to be, you know, some “lost” version of things like Goodnight, Moon, or something. 

AMY: Yeah, so Cleo would be our youngest guest to date… we have to get her in here. But I mean, speaking of guests — I know we say this all the time to each other, but I am so completely in awe of all of the scholars and writers and critics who have swung by the podcast to help enlighten us this year.

KIM: Yeah, we need a whole hour to gush over them all, but yes, I’m kind of on a natural high when we get to speak with them, and it’s beyond anything I ever expected. But I do think we should give a special shout-out to our VERY FIRST guest (if you’re listening to this) Dr. Anne Boyd Rioux… She graciously accepted our invitation to come on the podcast without knowing much about us. This was BEFORE we launched, so she was coming in blind, not knowing whether we were even competent or (to quote Mildred) a couple of giggling adolescents. But she was amazing!

AMY: Yeah, she was so lovely, and she really put us at ease and that helped set the tone for every interview that followed, I think. Anne, thank you again! 

KIM: Yeah, I mean.. And also, I just want to add just the incredible thought that our guests have put into every conversation is what, I feel, makes this podcast really special. So again, thank you to ALL of our incredible guests. I pinch myself every day knowing how lucky we are to get to have a weekly gabfest with some of the most intelligent minds around. We’ve met some wonderful people and made some amazing connections, too. It’s basically been a dream. I really do have to pinch myself.

AMY: And let’s not forget we’ve also gotten to “meet,” in a sense, all of these incredible women authors that we’d never heard of and had never read before. It truly has been like discovering buried treasure. And we’ve really lucked out with all the books we’ve chosen, right? I mean, basically, there’s not been one book that we haven’t loved pretty much. I was expecting maybe there’d be a dud here and there, but so far, no! And ever since we started this project, we just keep finding more and more writers to add to our list, including ones suggested by you, our listeners, which is great.

KIM: Yeah, we literally have a list with hundreds of future authors to tackle, and that’s not hyperbole — we really do. It’s almost shocking (it is shocking, honestly) to realize just how many forgotten women writers are out there, and we’re excited (and it means a lot to both of us) to keep introducing them to you. 

AMY: And we’ve also got some exciting extras in the works for you all as we head into our second year. So not to be too mysterious, but we will be revealing a little bit more about that in the months to come. 

KIM: I know; I’m so excited for that. But first things first; we’ve got another guest coming our way next week. Writer Sara Seltzer (who is also executive editor at Lilith magazine and a longtime online friend of ours -- years and years) joins us for a discussion of Emma Wolf and her 1892 novel called Other Things Being Equal. It’s an interfaith love story set in San Francisco. It was incredibly popular and Emma Wolf was very well-thought-of in her day, so it’s very much worth your time to listen to this one.

AMY: And everybody… just, thanks for tuning in, again. We had a blast this year, and we hope that you guys continue to come along on the ride with us. We’ll see you next week!

KIM: Yes, we love you guys. Our theme song was written and performed by Jennie Malone and our logo was designed by Harriet Grant. Lost Ladies of Lit is produced by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes.