How To Do Everything

The only good thing to happen in the fall of 2024 was the triumphant return of this finely produced, clever, surprising, and hilarious podcast. Where the most random questions are thoroughly and absurdly fielded.

Love you, but…Ann-Margaret was NOT in the original cast of “Bye Bye Birdie”. She was in the film version, but Susan Watson originated the role of Kim MacAfee on Broadway.

At first, I thought the show sounded really stupid. After listening to a couple episodes, I realize that the guys have fantastic comic timing and I can't stop chuckling. I love how relatively nonsensical topics are turned into curiously serious, but still nonsensical stories. I look forward to your show as much as I do "wait wait."

This podcast invariably makes me smile. A quirky and fun break from the stereotypically heavy NPR style.

TL;DR: I did not expect mocking of wheelchair users on an NPR podcast, and saying they’re “scamming” the airlines is ignorant, incorrect, and unnecessarily hostile. I’m sharing the email I sent them: I can't put into words how completely disappointed and disgusted I am with your reporting on "miracle flights". I've been a flight attendant for almost a decade, so I'm familiar with what is called "Jetway Jesus" on most airlines. It's a gross and ignorant term, and you should be ashamed of presenting this mindset on your show without thought or comment. If even one person one your staff had thought critically about this reporting, they would realize that standing through security (upwards of an hour in many airports!) THEN walking all the way to a gate is exhausting for many people without visible disabilities. However, in many airports, getting from the plane to the pickup area is at best ten minutes of effort. OF COURSE people don't wait to wait for a wheelchair- which are awful at almost every US airport- I've waited 30+ minutes for one wheelchair. As flight attendants, we cannot leave the plane if there is still a passenger on board- yes, this includes going to the gate where the radio to contact a wheelchair attendant is. Our pilots can- like the one you interviewed- but they often just leave us. This prevailing "they don't REALLY need a wheelchair" attitude perpetuates this. "They'll get up eventually" is a phrase I've heard multiple times. Perhaps next time you hear about something that affects disabled people, you should look for someone with some compassion to interview. I would love to ask this pilot how someone needing a wheelchair "scams" the airline- airlines don't pay the wheelchair personnel, the airport does. Traveling while disabled is AWFUL. You think able-bodied people hate travel? Try being disabled and doing the same things. In addition to the supreme amount of effort it takes to just be there, they have to deal with horrible attitudes like this, treating them like they're (quote from your own podcast!) "scamming the airlines" by using the very basic, very bad resource available to them. By reporting this in such an awful way, y'all have single handedly set back the cause of disabled people to everyone who listens to your podcast, as well as every single person those people spread this hateful mindset to. You need to apologize. You need to say- on the very next episode- that this reporting was not okay. You need to be better for disabled people. And at the very least, when you fail to do all that- you need to learn some compassion. We are all temporarily abled.

Whilst this podcast has a solid/positive premise, their unexpected, and off-topic, venturing into so-called culture war issues, takes focus away from their original goal. In the midst of discussing the history and pronunciation of the word pecan, these guys digressed into a discussion of how they had “harmed” people by using the words “you guys”. These two guys then discussed how they were sorry for ever using those two words and called upon listeners to go on a “fast”. The wrapped it up by bringing in another guest/co-worker to discuss how her high school had somehow banned the use of the term. An alternative podcast for NPR listeners who wish to be informed, and not have to deal with culture war topics, would be You’re Saying it Wrong.