Podcast Summary: "What To Hang On Your Walls and a Surprising Taste Test"

Podcast: Don’t Listen To Us with Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody
Episode Date: December 17, 2025
Host: Lemonada Media
Featuring: Mandy Patinkin, Kathryn Grody, Gideon Grody Patinkin

Episode Overview

This episode finds Mandy, Kathryn, and their son Gideon riffing on everything from interior decor and family memorabilia to intergenerational definitions of hard times. The trio responds to listener questions about what to hang on your walls as new homeowners, muse on embracing failure, and end up in a hilariously gross taste test of dog treats. Throughout, the warmth and chaos of this family dynamic deliver both wisdom and laugh-out-loud moments.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Casual Cool Mandy & Family Banter

• [00:46] Gideon invites Mandy to “act” as “casual cool Mandy” to see if he can express himself without getting intense.
• Lighthearted moments as Mandy pretends to channel Harpo Marx by being silent.
• This episode maintains its usual playful, irreverent tone, with many family side conversations, digressions about their dog Becky, and affectionate ribbing.

Quote:

"I'd like to invite you into a role I call casual cool Mandy...just to see if that's a mode you can find."
— Gideon (00:46)

2. Pop Culture Blind Spots & Empathy for Child Stars

• [03:11] The family discusses their detachment from current pop culture, referencing Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and a newfound empathy for Miley Cyrus after seeing an interview.
• Kathryn reflects on the harsh world of child stardom:

“I have empathy for any baby that is thrown out into that media world. I think it's a hell realm...” (03:48)

3. Listener Question: What to Hang on Your Walls?

• [06:01] Benjamin from Minneapolis asks what Mandy and Kathryn first hung up in their home.
• Kathryn remembers wedding photos, an antique toy cubby, and a photograph she loved but Mandy didn’t.
• Mandy prefers not to fill up walls too quickly, advocating for "negative space."
• The family humorously debates whether they have more or less negative space now than before.
• Discussion of meaningful keepsakes like Gideon’s bar mitzvah invitation.

Quotes:

“It’s nice to just not just fill up your walls immediately. Just enjoy that. You're gonna make this home together and see what happens.”
— Kathryn (07:51)

“I like Mom’s way of decorating a house. It's very personal.”
— Mandy (12:26)

• The family recalls allowing Gideon to create a mural on his bedroom wall, which Mandy calls "mom's best creative idea."
• Kathryn offers a design tip from the 70s: high-gloss white walls with natural wood floors catch candlelight beautifully (16:49).

4. Home Chaos Stories

• [12:56] Gideon recalls visiting a messy home where a telephone number was spray-painted on the wall—demonstrating creative (if unconventional) ways people “decorate.”

5. Embracing Failure

• [20:04] Listener Heather shares her perspective: “None of those failures are failures, they've shaped me into who I am.”
• Kathryn and the family discuss Samuel Beckett’s “Fail again, fail better.”

“Try again, fail again, fail better.” — Kathryn & Gideon (21:09)

• They reflect that failure can be a privilege, especially in creative work, and isn't always as forgiving for people in other circumstances or marginalized communities (21:32).

Quotes:

“Every time you fail. It's a real gift. Just say thank you, Jesus.”
— Mandy (21:25)

"You don't learn anything from your successes...but your difficult things...they teach you everything you're ever gonna know."
— Mandy (32:00)

• Stories are shared about childhood camp experiences and family support through hardships.

6. Handling Hard Things

• [27:47] Listener Ciara’s advice: “Hard never gets better. Our challenges in life are never going to get easier. We just learn to handle them better.”
• The hosts reflect that aging or experience doesn’t shield one from difficulty, but gives better coping tools.

Quotes:

“I really love that idea of hard doesn’t disappear. You just handle hard better.”
— Kathryn (29:07)

• Mandy brings up the importance of “tools and phrases from wise people,” and shares his habit of writing these down to keep in his wallet (31:56).

• The family discusses learning new roles as grandparents and in-laws, and the ongoing learning curve of setting boundaries (33:16).

• Suleika Jaouad’s advice is quoted:

  "Live every day as though it was your first." (34:17)
  — a twist on the usual "live every day as if it's your last," encouraging childlike wonder.

• Kathryn recalls the Sandy Hook parent who responded to "I can't imagine" with "Imagine" at an anti-gun violence rally, urging empathy and awareness (31:07).

7. Dog Treat Taste Test & Humorous Antics

• [18:44] The ongoing saga of their dog Becky getting distracted is interrupted by a debate:

  • Has anyone tasted the dog treats?
  • Gideon tastes one (at the very end), shocking his parents:

    "It tastes like a dog...That could probably cause brain illness."
    — Gideon & Kathryn (36:35–36:48)

• Light chaos ensues with the dog treat taste test as Kathryn protests and Mandy jokes.

8. Wrap-up and Card Trick

• [35:12] The episode ends with Gideon's attempt at a radio card trick, plenty of banter, and a heartfelt invitation to listeners to send in more stories, advice, or questions.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Home Decoration:

  "It's nice to just not just fill up your walls immediately..." — Kathryn (07:51)

• On Failure:

  “Try again, fail again, fail better.” — Beckett quote recited by Kathryn and Gideon (21:09)

  "Every time you fail. It's a real gift. Just say thank you, Jesus." — Mandy (21:25)

• On Handling Hard:

  "Hard never gets better. Our challenges ... never get easier. We just learn to handle them better." — Ciara (28:17)

  "You don't recover from losing a child ... you get on with it the best you can." — Mandy (30:17)

• On Living Each Day:

  "Live every day as though it's your first." — Suleika (quoted by Gideon) (34:33)

• On Family Transparency:

  “I really loved being in a household where I was welcome to do that.” — Gideon on talking about sex openly in the family (16:23)

• On Taste Testing Dog Treats:

  "It tastes like a dog...That could probably cause brain illness." — Gideon, Kathryn (36:35–36:48)

Episode Timeline & Timestamps

• 00:46 – Introduction of “casual cool Mandy”; family banter
• 03:11 – Pop culture, empathy for Miley Cyrus
• 06:01 – Listener question: home decorations and first items hung
• 12:56 – Story about the spray-painted phone number
• 14:03 – Gideon’s childhood mural
• 20:04 – Heather’s advice on failure
• 21:09 – Beckett’s “Fail again, fail better”
• 27:47 – Ciara’s advice: learning to handle hard things better
• 31:07 – Kathryn recounts Sandy Hook "Imagine" moment
• 34:33 – “Live every day as though it's your first” (Suleika Jaouad's advice)
• 35:12 – Gideon's “radio card trick”
• 36:35 – Gideon tastes a dog treat to Kathryn's horror

Final Thoughts

The heart of this episode is about embracing life's challenges—whether that’s picking your first wall art, redefining failure, or learning to “handle hard better.” It’s full of warmth, practical wisdom, and the type of offbeat humor that could only come from years of deep family connection.

Listeners walk away with a sense that wisdom comes not from having all the answers, but from being willing to question, laugh, and grow—often together.

For more questions, stories, or advice, listeners are encouraged to write in or leave voicemails.