The Burnt Toast Podcast

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Today I’m chatting with Emma Copley Eisenberg . Emma is the author of the hybrid nonfiction book The Third Rainbow Girl , which was named a New York Times notable book and Editor’s Choice of 2020. She also writes Frump Feelings by Emma Copley Eisenberg . And Emma’s new novel, Housemates , just came out on Tuesday! Today we are going to talk...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your May Indulgence Gospel. And because it is Fat Swim Week, we are doing an entire swim-themed episode for you! We’ll get into: Can we reclaim the swim dress? (But do we want to?) Why is the Lands End swimsuit website SO bad? How to get sunscreen in impossible-to-reach spots? Why does Corinne hate flip...

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! It’s time for your May Extra Butter! Today we are talking about the bodies of Bridgerton . If you’re listening to this the day it drops, season three is out! We love the show. We love Nicola Coughlan. And we do not love the way the Internet talks about her body! To listen to the full episode and read the full transcript, you’ll need to join Extra Butter . E...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! Yes, even though it’s Tuesday! We’ve got a podcast episode for you today, even though it is not our normal Thursday podcast day, because I was so excited to be able to add this particular conversation to our May lineup. And it had to be in May because today we are talking about Your Fat Friend , the documentary about our beloved Aubrey Gordon , which I know so many...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith , Corinne Fay and Dacy Gillespie , and it’s time to wrap up the #UnflatteringToast Style Challenge! ICYMI: Dacy is an anti-diet, weight-inclusive personal stylist , who also writes unflattering . She helps clients examine the fashion rules they’ve been told to follow and unpack the origins of those messages, to let them go. She also helps...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Today I’m chatting with Annie Nardolilli and Louisa Hall, of the band Griefcat . Annie and Louisa are a duo that you can’t easily categorize or file into a neat little genre. They wear matching outfits, they create beautifully blended harmonies and write brilliant lyrics. Their new album Late Stage Capitalism , dropped April 19 and explores...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith, and today is the one year anniversary of my book Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture . It both feels like yesterday and an entire lifetime ago. I am so, so beyond proud of the ride this book has had so far. Fat Talk was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air , it was on Good Morning America , I was profiled in The Cut , and went on dozens o...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your April Indulgence Gospel. Virginia Which we are recording in the same room! Corinne It’s really weird. I’m really used to looking at my computer screen to see you. Virginia I’m not in there.  Corinne It’s confusing. Virginia To paint the picture for everyone: I came to New Mexico. It’s my kids’ sprin...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith , Corinne Fay and Dacy Gillespie . And we’re here today to launch the Unflattering x Burnt Toast Style Challenge! Dacy is an anti-diet, weight-inclusive personal stylist , who also writes unflattering . She helps clients examine the fashion rules they’ve been told to follow and unpack the origins of those messages, to let them go. She als...

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! It’s time for your April Extra Butter! This month we’re answering a thorny mix of listener questions: Do we ever get tempted to buy back into diet culture? Is weight-loss surgery (and meds) not “doing it the old-fashioned way?” And what should you say when your daughter’s pants don’t fit—and she hates all her other clothes? Both of these letters bring up a...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Today I’m chatting with Mary Mahoney , co-host of the Dolls of Our Lives podcast, co-author of Dolls Of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl , and author of Landline . Mary is a historian and cultural critic who loves thinking about the stories we tell about ourselves, and the meanings behind our pop culture attachments. Through her p...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your March Indulgence Gospel. We’re doing an old-fashioned listener question episode because those are really everyone’s favorite (at least they are our favorite!). So if you’ve ever wondered: How to talk to a kid who only cares about being beautiful ? Whether it’s okay to feed your children Paleo Waffle...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Today I’m chatting with Christyna Johnson ( @encougagingdietitian on Instagram and TikTok ). Christyna is a registered dietitian specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image work. She also talks a lot about the intersection of consumerism, diet culture and white supremacy — and that giant topic is what we’re getting i...

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! It’s time for your March Extra Butter. This month we’re answering a reader question about baggy, black clothes. Then Virginia takes Corinne down a rabbit hole to unpack the rainbow produce, and subtle food- and fat-shaming, of Kids Eat in Color . To listen to the full episode and read the full transcript, you’ll need to join Extra Butter , our premium subsc...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole-Smith and today my guest is my good friend Lyz Lenz. lyz is a journalist living in Iowa. She is the writer behind the newsletter Men Yell at Me and the New York Times bestselling (!!!) author of the brand new book This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life . In this brave, brilliant, impeccably researched book, Lyz offers u...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your January Indulgence Gospel. This month instead of the usual listener questions, we are doing a late winter / early spring books forecast where we’re going to tell you about a whole bunch of books we are very excited to be reading! All of these titles are available in a special Book Gospel section of...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! I’m Virginia Sole Smith. Today I am chatting with Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez, who you probably know from their beloved Food Heaven podcast. Jess and Wendy are nationally recognized registered dietitian, nutritionists, and certified diabetes care and education specialists. I’ve known them a long time and one thing I’ve really admired is how they’ve built this rea...

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! It’s time for your February Extra Butter. This month we’re unpacking content from Rosey Beeme, Brianne Huntsman, and other influencers who long identified as body positive, plus size fashion folks—and now are talking proudly about their intentional weight loss journeys. But it’s not a moral failing if you can’t wipe your own ass. CW: This episode includes s...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! This is the podcast about anti-fat bias, diet culture, parenting and health. I’m Virginia Sole Smith. Today I am chatting with Ash Brandin , a middle school teacher librarian better known as The Gamer Educator . Ash has over a decade of teaching experience, and uses their love of video games to connect with their students and enhance student learning in the classro...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay, and it’s time for your January Indulgence Gospel. Today, we’re getting into three big questions for you: Does sugar destroy your immune system? How do we stay hopeful when fat activism gets hard? What’s the deal with 1000 Hours Outside—is it good parenting, or is it diet culture? And we’re going to get into favorite books...

Welcome to a very special episode of Burnt Toast! We recorded this on December 3, at Seattle’s Town Hall , with an absolutely delightful crowd. This was the official end of the Fat Talk book tour, but I promise it’s not a regular book promo conversation. Because it’s Angela Garbes and me, talking about books sure, but also talking about bodies and big life transitions and other good stuff. Both of...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! This is the podcast about anti-fat bias, diet culture, parenting and health. I’m Virginia Sole Smith. Today I am chatting with author and feminist philosopher Kate Manne , about her new book Unshrinking: How To Face Fatphobia . Kate is also an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University and author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny and Entitled: How Ma...

Welcome to Indulgence Gospel After Dark! It’s time for your January Extra Butter episode. This month, we’re doing a few listener questions on how to find fat-friendly fitness spaces, how to deal with those coded “you look so great!” compliments, and how to tune out the mainstream media’s often relentless fatphobia (especially in January). To listen to the full episode and read the full transcript,...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! This is the podcast about anti-fat bias, diet culture, parenting and health. I’m Virginia Sole Smith. Since we’re on winter break this week, I picked one of my favorite episodes to rerun for you—and it’s a conversation that feels more relevant ( to my life , anyway!) than ever. Today we’re chatting with lyz about divorce in diet culture. This conversation was inspi...

You’re listening to Burnt Toast! Virginia This is the podcast about diet culture, anti-fat bias parenting and health. I’m Virginia Sole-Smith. Corinne And I’m Corinne Fay, I work on Burnt Toast and run @selltradeplus an Instagram account where you can buy and sell plus sized clothing. Virginia And we are here with your December Indulgence Gospel. We have so many good questions this month. We’re go...