At My Kitchen Table

Welcome to Wednesday, Teabags!  Today, I’m joined at my kitchen table by Olivia Zortman, who dives into what it's like for her to work through reconciling her religion with her identity. Growing up as a queer kid in an inclusive Christian denomination, only to have her own church separate because it believes homosexuality to be a sin impacted both family relationships and the community she&ap...

Teabags, buckle up!  Jason Hill, CJ McDermott, and Robbie Meixner return to my kitchen table today to talk about the importance of male friendships.  Bonding over ninja turtles, a complicated neighbor, and the CoGos on Virginia Avenue, these three love each other deeply even if no one remembers exactly how Jason & CJ met.  They chat about how they show up for each other, why it's easy to...

You know we love a deep dive into the things that drive people to serve, particularly in government.  This week, Dylan Altemara joins me at my kitchen table to discuss how is own personal experiences led him to get involved.  Dylan gets candid about how his own health, two major medical events in his family, navigating insurance claims, filing for medical bankruptcy, and living with housing insecu...

Happy Wednesday, Teabags!  For those of you who have followed me on socials for a long time or who have read my blog, you’ll know my guest as Kid 1.  My oldest, Braeden, joins me at my kitchen table this week to have a yap about what life is like with “Irish twins.” Plenty of people experience having kids close in age, but Braeden talks about the challenges and joys that come with parenting kids w...

Taking a seat at my kitchen table this week is Jonathan Slade, a college professor, documentarian, and the creator / reporter / photographer of the hyperlocal newspaper, The Mason-Dixon Surveyor. I was really excited to sit down with Jonathan and dive into the impetus for him to start the paper and the logistics of what it takes to bring good writing and news to his small community.  Jonathan also...

Teabags, it’s time to post up with the guest who quite possibly has the coolest name on the planet! Blaze LaBoon pulls up a chair at my kitchen table today to talk about how sports has been so foundational in her life.  She also chats about the origin of her name, wtf it means to be a stoop kid, her jobs with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, and her hopes to one day transition to playing pickl...

Every once in a while, I’ll have a topic idea that I’ll float by a potential guest because it’s something I’m curious about and want new perspectives.  And sometimes the lesson I learn is that the universe doesn’t care what I want, and instead it gives me a gift. Today I welcome my niece, Melia Myers, to my kitchen table.  My goal was to have a yap about the changes in how we market colleges and t...

Teabags, pull up a seat and join me in welcoming Ali Collier back to my kitchen table!  A few of you reached out after Ali’s episode early in the year to let me know that you’d like to hear more about Mini Baja, a topic that came up randomly during our first episode.  Today, Ali obliges us and dives into the life lessons she learned from her time on RIT’s Mini Baja team.  In addition to Mini Baja,...

Welcome to Wednesday, teabags!  The absolutely delightful Monica Cwynar pulls up a seat at my kitchen table to talk about her path to becoming a social worker and clinical therapist.  But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, as she highlights some of the many things she’s done in her life that make her call herself the “Forrest Gump of Pittsburgh.” Monica chats about the orgy that is this allergy s...

Teabags, this episode has me locked in on all things music as I welcome Robbie Meixner to my kitchen table to shoot the shit about music and art being the throughline of life.  Robbie also talks about cool cobra drum pedals, why making art for money sucks, friendships rooted in a mutual love of ninja turtles, and how concerts are a connection of souls. During our yap, Robbie and I go back to our M...

Welcome to Wednesday, Teabags!  The At My Kitchen Table team finally met the demands of Andrew Mandzy’s team (green M&Ms only) to make podcast magic happen.  Andrew joins me today to talk about what it took for a risk averse Jersey boy to leave his corporate job this year and pursue something new, and to explore his Ukrainian roots and bicultural upbringing. He also chats about other stuff – l...

She's back at the kitchen table (which is also technically her kitchen table, too)!  This week, Kenzie Shaak returns for what started out as a yap about over-the-top parent behaviors, but unraveled into topics like the impact of social media on player image, how parents probably do way too much for their kids, the many referees called Jerry, instituting a hell week, and four good things about...

Welcome to today’s delicious episode where Veronica Molitor, Owner & Chief Executive Chocolatier of Umber Chocolates, pulls up a chair at my kitchen table to talk about how she started her own chocolate business, despite being the one member of her family who didn’t really care for chocolate! Veronica also chats about being from Texas but loving the snow and cold, the benefits of having the gi...

Teabags, I’m so excited for this week’s guest because I have so much respect for librarians.  They are, in my opinion, the final level adults in the room.  Today at my kitchen table I'm joined by Suzy Waldo, who is a librarian, among many other things. Suzy is the city kid to my suburban kid, and joins me to talk about the evolution of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, her days a bike messenger, and...

Hey everyone!  I had this fun idea and my guest was game. This week on At My Kitchen Table, I joined Hadley Haas at her kitchen table to have a get-to-know-you discussion with her. Hadley is deeply devoted to her family, she’s a fierce advocate, a friend, a hands-on community builder, and an activist. And, oh yeah, she's running for the PA State House of Representatives for District 44. We ge...

It’s Wednesday, so we're heading to the kitchen!  At my kitchen table this week is Heather Capezio.  I knew Heather in the way back of middle and high school, and while we haven’t seen each other much IRL, we’ve stayed connected through socials. Today, Heather talks about tapping into her creativity, starting her own business, and ultimately leaving her corporate job.  But she chats about a l...

It's another wild Wednesday as I'm joined at my kitchen table by Steven Janofsky. Steven is my former co-worker who became a close friend of the family.  He tends to be relatively private, so when he said he’d come have a yap on the podcast, I thought he'd have some pretty strict guardrails.  He surprised the hell out of me by keeping nothing back.  He talks about things like his AD...

Welcome to At My Kitchen Table where I’m joined this week by my friend and Snap-streak partner in crime, Annette Reitano!  Annette is a creative in her core and she nurtures that part of herself both professionally and personally.  She joins me to talk about the importance of creativity and allowing yourself space to play in managing your body's stress response.  She also chats about how her...

It's been a half a year, you guys!  Week 26 of connecting with people and bringing their stories to you.  So I took a pause to talk about the path to the pod, how we got here to week 26 of a passion project, and what's coming up next for At My Kitchen Table.  I also mention how I loathe the sound of my own voice, my takeaways from a bar meeting with Jason & CJ, and my regular listene...

We’re flying high with Michelle Sedlak at my kitchen table this week!  Michelle is a flight attendant and she joins me to talk about all things air travel.  We dive into a bunch of topics, though, including the many jobs she had before the flight attendant gig, her passenger pet peeves (they mostly involve people who do not listen), how a girls trip with 10 ladies on one catamaran inspired her to...

Amy Becker, the best thing to come from my time at the University of Pittsburgh aside from my husband, sits down at my kitchen table today.  She talks about how our friendship shouldn't have worked, how becoming a parent helped her navigate her own parent-child trauma bonds, learning how to be a duck, and giving herself permission to stop giving a fuck.  We giggle a lot in this episode becaus...

Today I sit down with Heather Papiernik to talk about some of the things she did to find her people after relocating to the Pittsburgh area.  Heather grew up in Youngstown, OH, living in her hometown for about 40 years before she moved away.  Turns out, it can be difficult to get close to people who have known each other for most of their lives.  As she talks about some of the ways she put herself...

Kayla Rennie pulls up a chair at my kitchen table this week, bringing a lot of energy and humor to her story about her son, Samson, and his early diagnosis of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).  In simplest terms, ALD is caused by a genetic mutation that causes an accumulation of very long chain fatty acids which can then affect the brain, spinal cord, and adrenal cortex. We get into the science of it al...

Hey, hey everyone! I am joined at my kitchen table this week by my bonus son, Ian Stone, and my actual son, Patrick Shaak to chat about loneliness.  When we noodled on topics, this one kept coming back around for me as I think it needs to be discussed with the demographic most typically affected (depending on which definition of "male loneliness" you're using). These two are bffs si...

At my kitchen table this week is my former co-worker, current friend, and fellow GenXer, Tim.  Tim joins me to discuss his journey to an OCD diagnosis. I took AMKT on the road and recorded with Tim in Connecticut during the holidays for our annual "therapy session" with other former co-workers.  We chat about our shared love of music, the imminence of annihilation we experienced as kids...