Work From Bed Friday

Amy & Tommy's scrappy DIY podcast production catches up with them—this was the first episode in which they desperately needed an intern! At least to remind them of last episode's "cornerstones of romantic love." But do not fear! Here are all FOUR cornerstones of romantic love that have emerged over the last two episodes: Talk talk talking. Keep the channel OPEN. Treat the r...

What are the secrets to enduring romantic love? Amy & Tommy look for guidance from bell hooks in Chapter 10 of All About Love , but find little there. They offer up their own ideas though, and yearn for a long-term study along the lines of Magnificent Sex that survey people who self-identify as having magnificent romance. Great idea, right?  Thank goodness "Heated Rivalry" is showing...

Amy & Tommy had waaaaay too much to say about Episode 5 of Heated Rivalry. So much, in fact, that they had to make this monster episode into two parts: this episode focuses on Heated Rivalry (typically just the weekly Titillating Tidbit) and their discussion Chapter 10 of All About Love will drop as a separate episode next week. In the meantime, they giddily discuss the romance, the love, the...

Amy & Tommy's obsession with Ilya & Shane may be overshadowing their deep dive into All About Love by bell hooks. But they push on, overlaying this seminal text over the cultural reality of 2026. After all, love is love. And apparently, sex is sex. And always hot. Except when it's not. Listen to the end for a look into the Olympics and "Crotchgate." Heated Rivalry, Epis...

Who knew that watching hot hockey romances in Heated Rivalry would be a fitting companion for Chapter 8 of All About Love by bell hooks?? So many parallels! Also, some welcome spice for the deep dives into love and community. Amy & Tommy discuss the cultural primacy of the nuclear family and its erosion of our ability to love. It's not as contradictory as it seems: we place so much import...

It's another love sandwich: spicy analysis of the viral hockey lovestory/softporn series, "Heated Rivalry" on one slice, a reader lovenote on the other slice, and the meat?  Deep talk about Chapter 7 of All About Love by bell hooks: greed and the ways in which love cannot thrive or even exist in a world driven by greed. Whoa. Amy & Tommy knock the dated examples while being legi...

As our country navigates this this very difficult moment, the words of bell hooks resonate in their prescience. She understood the road that we were, and are traveling. How do we practice a love ethic as a society? How can we stand strong in a love ethic while disinformation, disregard for basic human rights, and a general lack of love abound?  It helps to talk about it. And also to watch a viral...

Tommy and Amy kick off Episode 6 of Season 2 with a tease: a quick peek into what they are reading and which books may make an upcoming episode!  After that Titillating Tidbit, they move on to the meat of the episode: Chapter 5 of All About Love by bell hooks. The discussion on spirituality and love take us from the woods of the Pacific Northwest to the Sombrero Galaxy. Come along for the ride!  A...

Amy & Tommy start with Portland’s stand up comedy scene and end with pubic hair. Sandwiched in between is a discussion of self love and self esteem. Also, they would like to contradict themselves—things ARE really bad in the world. Just get out there and love yourself, your people, and your community! Mentioned in this episode: All About Love: New Visions  by bell hooks Portland's Chill &...

Chapter 3 of All About Love by bell hooks is THE chapter that precipitated Amy and Tommy's famous "breakthrough" as detailed in Season 1, Episode 1. What do they think of it now? Listen for lots of opinions, a peek at a new tradition for New Year's Day, and some Miranda July-style crowdsourcing on hormone replacement therapy.  All About Love: New Visions  by bell hooks Radical...

Amy and Tommy dig into Chapter 2 of All About Love by bell hooks, following her discourse on justice and advocacy for the rights of children. It seems far from a theory of love, but perhaps that's the point. Whatever the case, Amy and Tommy gamely engage in a lively conversation about the chapter, flanked by a discussion of the holiday classic movie, Love Actually, and on the other end, pubic...

It turns out that Chapter 1 of All About Love by bell hooks brings up more questions than it answers: what actually IS cathexis? Do you have to have cathexis before you have/practice love? Are we throwing around the word love too cavalierly??  Lots to unpack here, but don't worry, we come back to our favorite topic (Does size matter?) in our "Let's Make it a Threesome" segment!...

Work From Bed Friday is proud to present Season 2! Fresh off the perimenopausal rollercoaster and sexual awakening of Miranda July's All Fours, Tommy & Amy begin their conversation of All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks. They begin with the preface and introduction and their storied history with this book. To spice up this season, they've added two new segments: The Titillating...

Amy & Tommy close out the premiere season of Work From Bed Friday with a review of "More: A Memoir of Open Marriage" by Molly Roden Winter. They disagree about Winter's motives, wonder about how on earth people have time for polyamory, and discuss the the cringe moments that pepper the whole book. It's the story of a one woman's evolution through dating apps and fairly...

A long lost Brady Bunch episode inspired a gifting tradition in the Borffmann household that has been going strong for 20 years! Instead of purchasing gifts for Christmas, Amy and Tommy and their two daughters exchange only three types of gifts: homemade items, found items,, and favors/acts of service. Not only does the tradition short-circuit the consumerism frenzy that typically dominates the se...

Amy & Tommy discuss Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, comparing it to American Psycho, singing the praises of speed control, and marveling at the prowess of a newly minted novelist.  BUT FIRST! They introduce a new segment called "The Tantalizing Tangent" (that's actually called "The Titillating Tangent")—a short addendum to a current hot topic. This week, of course, more on...

Amy and Tommy take on the age old question with their unique blend of honest conversation, questionable knowledge, reckless internet research, and a component new to them both: crowdsourcing! The discussion is spicy and thought-provoking. They don't uncover the answer to the question, but find that there are many possible answers. Perhaps as many answers as there are sizes of penises. Could i...

After bingeing Season 1 of Your Friends and Neighbors on the plane home from Rome, Amy & Tommy dive into analysis. Does extreme wealth change the story of marriage, sex, and connection? Is repressed rage the common denominator for all of us? Why does Jon Hamm look so good in a suit?  Also: watching raw and vigorous sex scenes on a personal airplane screen seems transgressive in itself. But whe...

Coming off of Miranda July's All Fours, Amy & Tommy record the first of a few season-ending bonus episodes...from Rome! It's a honeymoon that patiently waited 21 years to happen. In 2004, en route to a 5-week drive through the Sahara desert, the newlyweds were to use their gifted "buddy passes" (standby airline tickets from airlines employees) to first spend a more honeymoo...

Amy and Tommy finish their in-depth analysis of Miranda July’s All Fours. They discuss the final chapters, about which they have a lot of feelings . Aren’t we all over Davey by now? But maybe if Benson Boone played him in the movie…. Were these two chapters written after the fact to appease an editor who needed more closure? Or perhaps if was an attempt to distance the story from Miranda July’s ac...

Recording their first episode from their new bedroom in their very old (1896) new house, Amy and Tommy determine that Chapter 28 of Miranda July's All Fours should be the final chapter in the book. End it HERE.  But the actual editors of the book disagree. They leave them to their fantasies of ending up where they started, but brand new in that same place. The repetition of days, like the rep...

In an attempt to stay out of our character's foray into the deathfield while navigating the sounds of "progress" during some hard-core home repair, Amy & Tommy go off-piste. There's the story of the two kittens that kept Amy from breaking up with Tommy 24 years ago, the one about Tommy's nervous breakdown in West Africa, and various discussions about art and the physic...

Is it a better way to be married? Or a better way to divorce? Amy & Tommy discuss Chapter 26 of Miranda July's All Fours, in which a newly conceived idea of marriage leads to the mythical "breakthrough" but not as anyone ever imagined. The couple compares this fictional transformation to their own real life version with its very different outcome. The magic moment of menopause,...

It's a pretty good band name, amiright?? It's also a composite of Chapter 25 of Miranda July's All Fours, at least according to these two intrepid podcasters. Amy & Tommy use the chapter as a jumping off point for a discussion about the staying power of monogamy, the way that jealousy can act like gasoline on the spark of desire, and the non-primacy of marriage. Did Miranda July...

Is it an open marriage? Or co-habitation with girlfriends? Amy & Tommy discuss Chapter 24 of Miranda July's All Fours wherein kissing is invented and orgasms are water creatures. There's more, of course: how preparing for a first date is good advice for long term relationships, the way in which a flash of attraction that melts away should be available to all of us, and the pressure o...