Content warning: This episode contains mentions of suicide attempts (they are not discussed in a detailed or graphic way, but they are mentioned briefly). Please take care while listening.

Author, educator, mental health advocate, and mom Leanne Toshiko Simpson joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a thoughtful and funny conversation about her chaos whirlwind life. Leanne talks about living with bipolar disorder, how having a kid can help you hate mornings less, the ways we're conditioned to shrink ourselves and not be "too much," the power of mad friendship, writing funny in her novel Never Been Better, and how if you can't laugh about your struggles, they're probably crushing you.

In the second half of the show, Emily and Leanne discuss their experiences with motherhood, including the rigid gender expectations surrounding how much a mom should do in the first year of their child's life, how important it is to have a partner who doesn't suck at sharing childcare responsibilities, and why it's actually a good thing to have diverse interests aside from just your kid.

Links:

1. Leanne's book, Never Been Better
2. Follow Leanne on Instagram
3. Leanne's website
4. Follow Emily on Instagram
5. Emily's website
6. "The Repressive, Authoritarian Soul of 'Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'" by Jia Tolentino

We are a proud member of the Lunchador Podcast Network. Our logo is by Tenderchomps Art.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Common Thread

Check out Common Thread on Lunchador! https://feeds.captivate.fm/common-threads-hardcore/

Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own Business

Check out Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own Business on Lunchador! https://feeds.captivate.fm/gettingrealwithbossy/

Content warning: this episode contains discussions of depression and suicidal ideation. Please take care when listening. The Trans Lifeline and 988 Lifeline are available if you need someone to talk to.

Chloe Corcoran joins host Emily Hessney Lynch to talk about the it's a lot-ness (and the hope and joy!) that's part of coming out, transitioning, and navigating daily life as a trans woman. We talk about her earliest memories of knowing she's a girl, how her competitive streak and sense of humor have carried her through her transition and hard times, and how living as her authentic self made her want to live.

In the second half of the episode, we explore how you really need to just trust trans people, the importance of mutual aid and how far $20 can go, pervasive loneliness, and awesome trans musicians.

Links:

1. To book Chloe as a speaker or find more of her work, check out her website.
2. Follow Chloe on Instagram.
3. Emily's website.
4. Emily's Instagram.
5. Want to support organizations helping trans folks? Check out: the Trans Wellness Center in LA, Rochester LGBTQ+ Together in Rochester, the Transgender Law Center, and find more awesome organizations in all 50 states here.
6. She's Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan

Mentioned in this episode:

Common Thread

Check out Common Thread on Lunchador! https://feeds.captivate.fm/common-threads-hardcore/

Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own Business

Check out Getting Real with Bossy: For Women Who Own Business on Lunchador! https://feeds.captivate.fm/gettingrealwithbossy/

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Toddlers love snacks. Adults love snacks. But do grownups love toddler snacks? We taste test 24 different snacks for little ones and share our analysis and hot takes! Host Emily Hessney Lynch is joined by Chris Lindstrom, producer of It's a Lot, host of Food About Town, and co-founder of the Lunchador Podcast Network, as well as her husband, Tim Lynch, owner of Tenderchomps Art.

In the first half, we try puffs, yogurt bites, and biscuits, and in the second half, we sample bars and 10 different purees & pouches! Among the brands we tried are: Target Good & Gather, Aldi, Little Spoon, Once Upon a Farm, Serenity Kids, Happy Baby Organics, and Little Bellies.

Fun links to explore:

• Listen to Chris's podcast, Food About Town
• Follow Chris on Instagram
• Check out Tim's art business
• Tim's Instagram
• Emily's business
• Emily's Instagram

We're a proud member of the Lunchador Podcast Network. Our logo was created by Tenderchomps Art.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Behind the Glass

Behind the Glass Gallery podcast is a monthly talk with the current month's BTG Roster. Artists are interviewed about their submissions and we dive deep into their process, inspiration and thought process centralized around their artwork in the Behind the Glass Gallery located in the heart of Downtown Rochester NY.

Murphys Rank The World

Meghan, Skye and Tim know you have a lot of choices in life. That's why they're undertaking the herculean task of ranking the world! Join the siblings Murphy as they rank everything from sandwiches to cryptids in their neverending quest to help you find the best. Find it where you get your podcasts!

In this follow-up episode, business owner and mom Kat Eddy returns to chat with host Emily Hessney Lynch about the reality of life with two under two. We play back some clips from our first interview about her expectations for two under two throughout this conversation; it's definitely worth listening to part 1 if you haven't yet, but you can totally listen to part 2 as a standalone episode!

We dive into Kat's experience with postpartum anxiety, crying at Wegmans (apparently now a theme on this podcast), getting formula through WIC, applying for government assistance for childcare, the sleep struggles of the newborn era, and the upsides of returning to work after having a baby.

Check out Kat's business, Katboocha, online (they ship nationwide) or on Railroad Street in Rochester! And find Emily on Instagram at @servemethesky.

This is a production of the Lunchador Podcast Network. Our logo was created by Tenderchomps Art.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Behind the Glass

Behind the Glass Gallery podcast is a monthly talk with the current month's BTG Roster. Artists are interviewed about their submissions and we dive deep into their process, inspiration and thought process centralized around their artwork in the Behind the Glass Gallery located in the heart of Downtown Rochester NY.

Murphys Rank The World

Meghan, Skye and Tim know you have a lot of choices in life. That's why they're undertaking the herculean task of ranking the world! Join the siblings Murphy as they rank everything from sandwiches to cryptids in their neverending quest to help you find the best. Find it where you get your podcasts!

Content warning: this episode contains discussion of infertility, miscarriage, and IVF. If those are sensitive topics for you, please take care while listening. If you'd like to skip that part, I recommend only listening to the first half of the episode, which ends around the 26 minute mark.

Eboni Jones Stewart, a librarian, professor, and bonus mom, joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a conversation about her path to becoming a stepmom (and why she rejects that term for herself), the complexities of navigating teens' smartphone use, and how Roblox is the absolute worst.

In the second half of the show, we talk about Eboni's experiences with infertility, miscarriage, and IVF. She shares some of the most unhelpful and infuriating advice she's received, what you can do for someone who has experienced loss, and what motivates her to keeps trying to have her own biological child despite all the hard parts of the journey so far.

Follow Eboni on Instagram at @misspearljones and find Emily at @servemethesky.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Murphys Rank The World

Meghan, Skye and Tim know you have a lot of choices in life. That's why they're undertaking the herculean task of ranking the world! Join the siblings Murphy as they rank everything from sandwiches to cryptids in their neverending quest to help you find the best. Find it where you get your podcasts!

Behind the Glass

Behind the Glass Gallery podcast is a monthly talk with the current month's BTG Roster. Artists are interviewed about their submissions and we dive deep into their process, inspiration and thought process centralized around their artwork in the Behind the Glass Gallery located in the heart of Downtown Rochester NY.

Author, podcaster, and sex & culture critic Ella Dawson joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a conversation about all the highs and lows of publishing your debut novel, the mental health impact of the post-publication adrenaline crash, and doing the work to process all those big feelings and keep moving forward. We also chat about Ella's podcast, Rebel Ever After, and the fun and fulfillment she's finding as she interviews other amazing, progressive romance authors.

In the second half of the episode, we dive into the world of social media and engage in some cathartic ranting about techno-optimists who don't realize the dangerous implications of their technologies, the rise of bad faith commenters, and some of the most egregious outrage algorithms. Ella also shares what she's learned about when to speak up and use her privilege and her platform, and when to shut up because the world doesn't need your voice right now.

For more of Ella and Emily's work, check out:

• Ella's Instagram
• Ella's debut novel, But How Are You, Really? in hardcover or ebook.
• Rebel Ever After podcast
• Ella's Patreon
• Emily's Instagram
• Serve Me the Sky Digital

This is a production of the Lunchador Podcast Network. Our logo was created by Tenderchomps Art.

Mentioned in this episode:

Murphys Rank The World

Meghan, Skye and Tim know you have a lot of choices in life. That's why they're undertaking the herculean task of ranking the world! Join the siblings Murphy as they rank everything from sandwiches to cryptids in their neverending quest to help you find the best. Find it where you get your podcasts!

Behind the Glass

Behind the Glass Gallery podcast is a monthly talk with the current month's BTG Roster. Artists are interviewed about their submissions and we dive deep into their process, inspiration and thought process centralized around their artwork in the Behind the Glass Gallery located in the heart of Downtown Rochester NY.

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Recorded LIVE in front of an audience during The 2025 Rochester Fringe Festival, Pauly joins a panel of fellow Lunchador podcasts Matt Austin & Chris Lindstrom (Lunchador Founders), Emily Hessney-Lynch (It's A Lot), and Mike Huntone (Punches & Popcorn) for a fun-filled hour of ranking banter.

Mentioned in this episode:

Punches & Popcorn

The masters of Couch Potato style Mike Huntone, Jason Bills, and Dr. Dominic D’Amore take a deep dive into the best and worst of martial arts films.

Food About Town

Food About Town hosted by Chris Lindstrom, focusing on restaurants, food and drink of all kinds, and whatever topics I want to cover! https://foodabouttown.captivate.fm/

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone.

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Note: This is part two of a special two-part crossover episode! You can listen to the episodes in whatever order you like. Make sure to check out part one, Pauly's interview with Emily about her journey as an entrepreneur, on The Pauly Guglielmo Show. The episode should be available for you to download right in the It's a Lot feed!

Content warning: this episode contains discussion of infertility, miscarriage, and IVF. If those are sensitive topics for you, please take care when listening. If you'd like to skip that part, it starts around the 27 minute mark and ends around 39 minutes.

Food entrepreneur, podcaster, and dad of two Pauly Guglielmo joins host Emily Hessney Lynch for a conversation about running a business while raising kids, paternity leave struggles, childhood trauma, how we're trying not to traumatize our own kids, and more. We also discuss his and his wife's experience with infertility, miscarriage, and IVF, and what that was like for him as a person and a partner.

Don't worry, this episode is not a downer! We also talk about the joys of parenthood, like going to Costco and Fringe Fest with your 6-year-old, buying them little toys just to make them smile, the pride you feel putting food on the table, and the fuck around find out parenting style.

Fact check: during the episode, Emily mentions that 1 in 8 pregnancies ends in miscarriage and notes that she'll fact check herself later. Per the Cleveland Clinic, about 15% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.

For more of Pauly and Emily's work, check out:

• Pauly's Instagram
• Guglielmo Sauce (or find it at Wegmans & other stores near you!)
• Craft Cannery
• Emily's Instagram
• Serve Me the Sky Digital

This is a production of the Lunchador Podcast Network. Our logo was created by Tenderchomps Art.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that Lifts Everyone

Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com