All Episodes

October 19, 2023 9 mins

Don't worry, Math Therapy isn't going anywhere ... but here's a fun bonus episode as we look back on an incredible 5th season!  It was a total success in every possible way, except one: for whatever reason, Vanessa lost the ability to simply say "goodbye" at the end of the interviews.

This hadn't been an issue in previous seasons but she somehow got very in her head about it, and when her producer David recently listened back to them he thought they were hilarious and had to be shared our listeners.

If you have any advice for how Vanessa can deal with her sudden onset "goodbye anxiety", you can hit her up as always on socials @themathguru - feel free to let her know what topics/guests we should consider for next season!

Thank you so much for listening - BYE! ;)

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
David Kochberg (00:00):
Hello, Math Therapy listeners! This is

(00:02):
David, Vanessa's producer, andbefore you skip this episode,
because I know you are notsubscribed to it to listen to
me, I could not resist puttingtogether a short bonus episode
to share with you.
So, Season 5 was a huge success,and I know everyone's back to
school, so if you missed any ofthe previous seasons, or you
need a little inspiration ormotivation right now, I
definitely recommend revisitingsome past episodes.

(00:25):
Now, I don't have to tell youthat Vanessa is a phenomenal
interviewer.
She's got such a natural talentfor putting guests at ease and
for diving right into complextopics.
However, there was one challengethat kept coming up this season.
Vanessa forgot how to saygoodbye.
This had never been an issue inthe early seasons of the

(00:47):
podcast, but I started to noticeit creep up a little in season
four.
And last season, it was totallyout of control, as you will soon
hear.
So, very quickly, all of ourinterviews are recorded
remotely, and they'll start withVanessa and the guest chatting a
little bit.
That way I can test out theaudio on both ends, and they can
get relaxed and comfortable witheach other before we begin
recording.

(01:07):
Then, in theory, at the end ofthe conversation, once Vanessa
has asked her famous final twoquestions and starts to wrap up,
she'll say something like,"Oh myGod, thank you so much for
coming on my podcast".
That's my Vanessa impression.
And then the guest will be like,"thanks for having me, that was
so much fun".
And then Vanessa would say bye,the guest says bye, and then
that would be the end of theinterview, but they would both

(01:29):
know that they'd be staying onafter the call to debrief.
They're just saying goodbye forthe podcast, they're not going
to say goodbye and hang up rightaway.
So that all seems very normal,right?
Well, she just couldn't do it.
Guest after guest, it actuallygot more and more awkward, and I
recently listened back to someof them and I thought they were
hilarious, so I just had toshare them with you because I

(01:50):
think you may too.
So without further ado, I giveyou what I consider to be my
personal crowning achievement inmy work on Math Therapy, a brief
bonus episode I like to call"TheAwkward Goodbye".

Vanessa Vakharia (02:05):
Okay.
Tell people where to find youand like what things to look you
up at.

Robert Kaplinsky (02:08):
Yeah.
So my website isrobertkaplinsky.com,
openmiddle.com Openmiddle onsocial media as well.
If you're interested, hit me up.

Vanessa Vakharia (02:17):
Okay, now we have to say goodbye.
Okay.
Bye Bye

Robert Kaplinsky (02:24):
Bye Vanessa.

Vanessa Vakharia (02:25):
Bye You have to say bye back.

Robert Kaplinsky (02:28):
Buh-bye

Vanessa Vakharia (02:31):
Oh my God.
I'm dead, if you could seeDavid's face right now.
I dunno!

David Kochberg (02:38):
Just, just say goodbye as if you're saying
goodbye to someone.

Vanessa Vakharia (02:42):
You know how you're always like, why do you
hang up so fast on the phone?

David Kochberg (02:46):
Yeah,

Vanessa Vakharia (02:46):
I think that's why I think I have a problem
with doing it.

David Kochberg (02:50):
Just pre, you're pretending you're, because
obviously you're not gonna hangup, but just like,

Vanessa Vakharia (02:54):
but it's weird, it's inauthentic.

David Kochberg (02:56):
Just role play.
Imagine you were just sayinggoodbye to him.

Vanessa Vakharia (02:58):
Okay, Robert.
Great talk.
All right, I'll talk to youlater.
Bye.

David Kochberg (03:01):
That's not what what you would do!

Vanessa Vakharia (03:02):
What do you mean that's not what I would do?
What would I do?

David Kochberg (03:04):
You did it so quickly!

Vanessa Vakharia (03:06):
But I do do it quickly.
You're always getting mad at mecause you're like, why'd you
hang up so fast?
Okay, we're done by the way.
What a treat.
Oh my God.
I'm so glad I was eating asandwich on the floor of that
hallway that one day.
This has been amazing.
Um, Bye.

David Kochberg (03:29):
What's wrong with you?

Liesl McConchie (03:32):
Okay.
That was pretty bad, Vanessa.
I'm sorry.
I'm with David on this one.
I'm sorry.

Vanessa Vakharia (03:36):
I feel like I, I don't know.
I don't.
It's so

Liesl McConchie (03:39):
Try that again.
Try that again.

David Kochberg (03:41):
Just be like, you say like, oh my God, this
has been so amazing.
Thank you so much for coming onthe podcast.

Vanessa Vakharia (03:46):
But I don't say the word"bye"?

David Kochberg (03:47):
You don't have to.

Vanessa Vakharia (03:48):
Fine.
Liesl, this has been absolutelyso amazing.
I'm truly honored.
Thank you so much for coming onmy podcast.

Liesl McConchie (03:54):
Thank you.
It's been such a pleasure.

David Kochberg (03:58):
That was a great improvement.
And then if you wanted to takeit a step further, then you
could simply say bye.

Vanessa Vakharia (04:05):
But think about it.
Watch this.
Liesl, thank you so much.
It's been amazing.
It's been an honor.
Thank you so much for coming onmy podcast.
Bye.

Liesl McConchie (04:13):
Oh

David Kochberg (04:13):
No, after she says thank you.

Vanessa Vakharia (04:14):
Oh, after she says thank you.

Liesl McConchie (04:15):
Yeah.
I got, yeah.
Let me, let, let me,

Vanessa Vakharia (04:17):
Okay.
Right.
Liesl, it has been so amazing.
It has been such an honor.
I'm such a huge fan.
Thank you so much for coming onmy podcast.

Liesl McConchie (04:23):
It's been an absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.

Vanessa Vakharia (04:26):
Bye.
I don't like it.
I don't like it.
It's weird! It's weird.

Liesl McConchie (04:34):
David, edit it.
Make it sound right.

Crystal Watson (04:36):
you can find me on Instagram crystalmwatson You
can find me atcrystalmwatson.com Um, or you
can find me out and about inCincinnati.
So if you see me on the streets,holler I'll, I'll say What's up.
I'm pretty, I'm, I'm a prettycool person.

Vanessa Vakharia (04:51):
You're so cool.
Okay.
has been the fucking best.
You are the best.
Loved every single minute ofthis, and I hope to see you in
the streets of Cincinnati orWink, wink, wink, wink, Canada,
maybe sometime soon?

Crystal Watson (05:05):
I'm on my way.
I'm on my way.

Vanessa Vakharia (05:11):
That's the end.
You don't need to say goodbyebecause the music will start
playing.
Oh my God, David is hanging hishead in his hands right now.

Crystal Watson (05:19):
Just say goodbye.

David Kochberg (05:22):
Thanks for coming on the podcast.

Vanessa Vakharia (05:23):
Thank you so much for coming on my pod

David Kochberg (05:25):
Wait until I finish talking and then say it.

Vanessa Vakharia (05:27):
Oh, Crystal, thank you so much for coming on
the pod.

Crystal Watson (05:31):
You're welcome.
Goodbye, adios, auf wiedersehen,all of the things.

Vanessa Vakharia (05:35):
Bye.
She did it for me.
She did it for me.
That helped.

David Kochberg (05:40):
I know.
That's the thing you have totrust the guest to help you with
the goodbye.

Vanessa Vakharia (05:44):
Great, and stay tuned.
Maybe we'll do episode two whereI live.
Read Dan Meyers's birth chart

Dan Meyer (05:50):
Bonus.
Bonus for, yeah, the subscribersbonus for the uh, Patreon

Vanessa Vakharia (05:55):
Okay, this has been amazing.
This is the part where I saygoodbye.

Dan Meyer (05:59):
Thank you.
So long.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:00):
Goodbye.
Don't actually go though.

Dan Meyer (06:03):
Cut.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:04):
Did I, look, I did it! I said, bye.

David Kochberg (06:07):
You did, but you still were kind of awkward about
it, but you, but it was good.
It was better.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:10):
This has been so fun.
I can't believe we did it.
I can't believe we met.
I can't believe we're bothCanadian.
I can't believe you used to be aprofessional paddler and
honestly, you're changing theworld.
This is so cool, and I thinkyou're great.

Peter Liljedahl (06:29):
Thanks, Vanessa.
I think you're great too, andI'm going to correct this great
egregious oversight of notfollowing you on Twitter.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:37):
Oh my God.
This is actually a huge deal.
Are we still recording?
Yes.
Okay.
This is a big moment.
This is a big moment for me.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
There.
I don't even have to say bye.
Right.
We can just end.

Peter Liljedahl (06:49):
Yeah, we can just end.

David Kochberg (06:50):
No you should still say goodbye.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:52):
David's gonna kill me.
Davids gonna kill

David Kochberg (06:54):
You should still end the, the interview session.

Vanessa Vakharia (06:56):
And on that note, Peter Liljedahl has
followed me on Twitter,everyone.
I don't know, I, have you?
Have you?
I'm gonna check.

Peter Liljedahl (07:03):
I will, I, I'll do it right now.

Vanessa Vakharia (07:05):
Bye.
Don't hang up.

Peter Liljedahl (07:08):
I won't hang up.

Vanessa Vakharia (07:11):
I thought you said I didn't have to officially
say bye cause I was so weird atit.
Um, um, um, um, okay.
Let's start, I guess.

Deborah Peart (07:23):
Sure.

Vanessa Vakharia (07:23):
Trying to think now if I wanna start like
this, I am gonna start.
We're just gonna start.
Hello.

Deborah Peart (07:27):
Ok.
Hi!

Vanessa Vakharia (07:28):
Hi.
Oh, and wait, I have to tell youthis because I have huge
insecurities about it.
At the end, I'm gonna say bye,but don't actually hang up and
like, David's alreadyeyerolling, I just am very
awkward about it.
I'm not gonna be awkward.
It's gonna be fine, but like,don't actually hang up at the
end.

Deborah Peart (07:43):
Yes, because then we talk afterwards and I, we can
say bye, but then stay.

Vanessa Vakharia (07:50):
That's what I mean.
Yeah.
And I just have a lot of goodbyeanxiety.
Like, like people have mathanxiety.
I have good, I have completionanxiety.
That sounds like something else.

David Kochberg (07:58):
You can practice a goodbye right now.

Vanessa Vakharia (07:59):
I'm not practicing a goodbye.

Deborah Peart (08:01):
Well, I typically expect that we're going stay on
to wrap up.
I promise I won't hang up!

Vanessa Vakharia (08:08):
Okay.
Great, great, great, great,great, great.
Okay.
Deborah we are here.
We have made it.
I, first of all, welcome to thepodcast.

Deborah Peart (08:17):
Thank you.
Glad to be here.

Vanessa Vakharia (08:20):
Okay, great.
Yeah, I have hello and goodbyeanxiety.
Okay, well next time you see me,I will be rocking the
rhinestones.
Thank you so much.
This was the best.
Thanks for being on the pod.

Deborah Peart (08:32):
Thanks for having me.
This was fun.

Vanessa Vakharia (08:37):
David's face right now if you could see David
he's just like

David Kochberg (08:40):
You just can't do it.

Vanessa Vakharia (08:43):
Uh, that was not bad.

David Kochberg (08:44):
It was not good!

Vanessa Vakharia (08:49):
Oh my god.

David Kochberg (08:50):
You just make it awkward.

Vanessa Vakharia (08:51):
I don't know man, I can't Okay Thank you so
much.
This has honestly been ahighlight of my entire life.
I'm not even saying that withhyperbole

Jo Boaler (09:00):
Thank you very much for having me.

David Kochberg (09:03):
Great.
That's great.
You can stop.

Vanessa Vakharia (09:05):
Yes, we did it.
Okay.
I've had a rough, I'm sorry.
I don't know how to say goodbye,but I'm getting better at it.
Good.
Just, I just, now I'm picturingwhen she says it that the music
will come up and that's makingit feel more natural to me.

David Kochberg (09:17):
Okay.
All right, that's it.
I hope that you found that asentertaining as I still do, and
I also hope that you willforgive my increasing
frustration with Vanessa overthe course of those recordings.
The wheels are in motion overhere for the next season of Math
Therapy, and in the meantime, asalways, you can reach Vanessa on
social media at TheMathGuru.
Feel free to offer any supportor advice in dealing with her

(09:40):
sudden onset goodbye anxiety.
You can also hit her up if thereare any specific topics that you
want her to explore next season.
As for me, all that's left tosay is, Goodbye.
Now that wasn't so hard, was it?
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

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

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.