Handsome Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Sara Bareilles asks about ripe bananas
Date: March 3, 2026
Hosts: Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, Mae Martin
Special Guest: Sara Bareilles
Theme: Fielding Sara Bareilles’ philosophical banana dilemma—do you eat the perfectly ripe one or the too-ripe one first?—and exploring life updates, stand-up touring, and fruit-related confessions, all with the trio's signature comedic warmth.

Episode Overview

This episode of "Handsome" features Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin delving into life updates, showbiz anecdotes, and, most importantly, a surprisingly existential listener question sent in by the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles: When you have two bananas, one perfectly ripe and one slightly overripe, which do you eat first? The hosts approach this with typical wit, digressions, and heartfelt tangents about health, family, pets, and the awkward joy of being "seen" as a comedian.

Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Pet Updates & Life's Emotional Rollercoaster

[03:08–07:23]

• Tig shares about her cat Fluff's cancer diagnosis, treatment journey, and the family’s reactions.
  • "Our little kitty, Fluff, has cancer…But the good news is we have her on steroids and she’s up and walking around again and eating food, and then she starts chemo." – Tig, [03:08]
  • The group shares supportive, vulnerable reflections on the love and heartbreak that comes with pets.
• Fortune relates with her own anticipatory grief around pets
  • "I used to think about Biggie dying and cry, and he’s still alive, and I’m like, what am I doing?" – Fortune, [07:02]
  • All agree: loving pets, even with the inevitable sadness, is worth it.

2. Family & Health: Fortune’s Mom’s Milestones

[08:22–10:13]

• Fortune updates on her mom Ginger’s 80th birthday and her cancer treatment.
• A lighthearted detour about birthday strippers quickly veers into jokes about party plans.
  • "I'll hire a stripper… Do you want male or female or both?" – Fortune, [10:21]
  • Tig: "I think I prefer a male stripper… that's hilarious. Look at your body jiggling around, dude." [10:36]

3. Touring Life, Rituals, and Stand-Up Anxieties

[13:31–15:00], [25:02–26:05]

• Mae describes preparations (and anxieties) for their upcoming US tour – bus routines, lack of showers, bringing a pillow and eye mask, and recruiting Tig as an opener.
  • "I'm only doing two weeks at a time…I'm worried about, like, my routines…no shower on the bus, so you got to shower at the venue." – Mae, [14:13]
• Group explores their love/hate relationship with watching themselves on screen.
  • "I have a hard time watching myself do stand-up." – Mae, [22:49]
  • Tig: "I'm not like, I don’t want to watch my stand-up." [23:12]
• Meditative moment: Tig & Fortune create a makeshift guided relaxation for Mae’s tour.
  • "You've just been on stage. You crushed. You also have gas." [27:01–27:07]

4. The Banana Dilemma (Sara Bareilles’ Question)

[31:14] Main Question Presented

• Sara Bareilles sends in the episode’s central quandary:
  • "You have two bananas. One banana is perfectly ripe. The other banana is a little bit too ripe. Do you eat the perfect banana or do you eat the banana that's a little bit too ripe so as not to waste the too ripe banana, knowing that by the time you're hungry for another banana, the likelihood is that the second banana will also be too ripe." – Sara Bareilles, [31:45]

Hosts’ Responses

[32:38–38:13]

• Mae: Prefers slightly green bananas, finds brown-speckled ones only fit for baking.
  • "If it's even slightly brown…that’s for baking…banana bread or something." [33:06]
• Tig shares a banana fact:
  • "If a banana has a hint of green and is speckled, then it has been unnaturally and mechanically ripened." [33:16]
• Fortune admits to a texture aversion, prefers apples (with peanut butter).
• All three prefer the perfectly ripe banana, then freeze or bake the too-ripe one if needed.

Fruit Facts & Weird Habits

• Mae: "If you take a bite of the peel of the banana and then…of the fruit…then it tastes like a tomato." [34:11]
• Chat on banana consumption mechanics (top vs. bottom peel), thoughts on peanut butter as fruit’s best friend.

The “Deeper Meaning”?

• Is it wasteful to eat the perfect one? Should we force ourselves to endure the less pleasant to avoid waste?
  • "Does that say something about…is this a deep…?" – Fortune, [37:58]
  • Mae: "No, I’m eating the perfectly ripe one." [37:56]
• Group realizes: for the first time, they all agree.

5. Sara Bareilles Reveals Her Own Banana Approach

[48:58]

• "I eat the too ripe banana because I’m too lazy to make banana bread. And I don’t like to waste." – Sara Bareilles, [48:58]
• Hosts are both admiring and lightly shamed:
  • Tig: "She’s better than us." [49:08]
  • Fortune: "Yeah, she is better than us." [49:10]

6. Bananas and Sex Jokes – Mae’s Surprise

[42:11–43:03]

• Mae: Wonders why bananas aren’t a bigger deal in sexual innuendo, compared to eggplants emoji-wise—leads to much goofing and mock horror about “what Allstate wants” from their sponsored content.

7. Digression: Oil Wrestling & Clothing Choices

[44:05–46:23]

• Discussion of queer oil wrestling events and what they'd wear (bathing suits vs. nudity).
  • "I feel like you guys would pull my… I wouldn’t because I wouldn’t want that done to me!" – Fortune & Tig, [45:09–45:15]

8. Memorable, Random Moments

• “Hot tub, tits out” – recurring callback from earlier episodes, now a running joke with fans. [46:16–46:44]
• Tig’s sons call her “dude,” and she’s bemused:
  • "They’re just at that age…guys, you have to put your shoes on, dude." [51:04]

Notable Quotes

• Tig, on Fluff’s illness: "To have lived this life and not known precious little fluff’s face, no way. No way. It’s worth it." [08:09]
• Mae, on banana preferences: "If it’s even slightly brown…that’s for baking." [33:06]
• Tig, fun fact: "If a banana has a hint of green and is speckled, then it has been unnaturally and mechanically ripened." [33:16]
• Sarah Bareilles: "I eat the too ripe banana because I’m too lazy to make banana bread. And I don’t like to waste." [48:58]
• Mae, imagining being “seen” as a comedian: "Imagine telling your teen self you’re not even gonna watch that movie." [22:01]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:08–07:23] – Tig’s cat Fluff’s health update & pet conversations
• [08:22–10:13] – Fortune on her mother’s birthday and cancer journey
• [13:31–15:00] – Mae’s upcoming tour and the realities of touring
• [22:49–24:13] – Challenges of watching oneself do stand-up
• [31:45–34:57] – Sara Bareilles poses the banana dilemma; hosts’ immediate reactions
• [37:45–38:13] – All three realize they're united in their banana beliefs
• [44:05–46:23] – Oil wrestling tangent & “hot tub, tits out” callback
• [48:58] – Sara Bareilles’ personal banana philosophy
• [51:04–51:10] – Tig’s sons calling her “dude”
• [54:45–56:45] – Hosts share their upcoming tour dates and promote live shows

Overall Tone & Style

Warm, irreverent, candid, and consistently playful. Even when discussing serious topics like cancer, the hosts keep the conversation rooted in empathy and humor. Their banter moves effortlessly from deep reflections to gleeful digressions about food, sex jokes, and the trials of modern adulthood. The tone is inclusive, relaxed, and punctuated with running inside jokes.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode perfectly encapsulates what makes “Handsome” such a fan favorite: friendship, vulnerability, offbeat musings, and a willingness to take the mundane—like ripening bananas—and use it as a lens to discuss what matters and what’s hilarious about being human. Sara Bareilles’ banana dilemma became a low-stakes but revealing debate, and along the way listeners get pet stories, confessions about personal routines, and the inside scoop on the hosts' touring (and wrestling) lives.

TL;DR:
Given two bananas—one perfect, one almost too ripe—the hosts’ verdict is unanimous: eat the perfect one, use the other for baking or freeze it (unless you’re Sara Bareilles, who’ll eat the overripe one out of principle). Along the way, expect laughter, life, and a celebration of what makes their friendship so charming.

Memorable Closing:
"Keep it handsome!"