Comedian Ray Romano once noted that "having children is like living in a frat house — nobody sleeps, everything's broken, and there's a lot of throwing up."
As just about everyone listening to this right now knows, being a parent is one of the hardest things you'll ever do. Sure, it's also the most wonderful, joyous, meaningful thing you'll ever do—but it's no cakewalk.
That's why it really is so important to be able to look at the craziness of raising kids—yes, including the vomit everywhere—and somehow find the humor in it all.
That's the superpower of my guest today, James Breakwell. James is a professional comedy writer and self-described "amateur parent" of four girls, aged 8 and under. His parenting humor twitter account @XplodingUnicorn boasts over 1 million followers. Because of the way the social media world works, you may or may not recognize that account name, but I guarantee you've seen his writings if you're on social media.
James's online writing, most commonly taking the form of conversations between himself and one of his kids, deftly brings to life the innocence and absurdity of living in a house with tiny people whose understanding of the world is tenuous at best. But he does it in a way that I really appreciate and that makes him stand out from so many other parenting humorists—by respecting and marveling at his kids along the way.
He is the author of three books, including Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child, and his newest book—How to Save Your Child from Ostrich Attacks, Accidental Time Travel, and Anything Else that Might Happen on an Average Tuesday.
This was a conversation that I really think you're going to enjoy. If you do, and you want to share this episode by sharing the link drstevesilvestro.com/108 , neither James nor I will be offended!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com