Pop Apologists — "Olive Oil & Blood (Best of Pop Apologists)"

PodcastOne | December 24, 2025
Hosts: Lauren and Chandler (sisters)

Episode Overview

This special episode is a "best of" replay from 2022, capturing the unfiltered sisterly banter on pop culture, failed startups, hilarious family vignettes, and the trials (and expense!) of homemade domesticity. Lauren and Chandler take listeners through the infamous "olive oil & blood" day, reflect on past business misadventures, riff on TV, discuss celebrity news, and commiserate over modern life's little indignities—all while keeping things witty, relatable, and peppered with notable quotes.

[01:31] Episode Introduction & Context

• Chandler gives context: This is a re-airing of a legendary 2022 episode, featuring her disastrous attempt at being a "domestic goddess" with a home-cooked meal for her husband, Kagan.
• Recounts her two business ventures—one failed (Fresh Homemade Cookies) and one ongoing (Retain Finance).
• The sisters are taking a holiday breather but promise new content next week.

[02:30] Sisters, Startups, and Self-Doubt

• Lauren jokes the podcast is now a business promo for Chandler's company, Retain Finance.
• Chandler muses about her "double life"—being both a finance professional and a trashy podcast host:
  "I'm honestly waiting for the world to collide when my actual clients listen to this podcast and I lose all credibility." (03:09)
• Lauren relays a heartfelt (if convoluted) compliment from their dad, praising Chandler’s early business polish and communication.
  • "He was just talking about how wonderful and how proud he was of you when you were like getting the business up off the ground..." (04:17)

[05:44] Coffee, Dread, & the "Will to Live"

• Lauren describes her spiritual resurrection each morning thanks to coffee:
  • "The will to live is starting to seep back into my veins... it's back right now." (04:44)
• Chandler paints a vivid caffeinated metaphor:
  • "As I sip coffee, it's almost like there's a horizon inside my brain... By the end of the caffeination, the sun is shining in my soul." (05:57)
• Lauren laments NYC winters and explains how coffee turns her existential dread into possibility—even inspiring (fleeting) ambitions like starting a business.

[07:19] Failed Startups: "Fresh Homemade Cookies"

• Chandler recounts her pandemic-era cookie delivery business, Fresh Homemade Cookies.
• The error? Confusing a hobby with a viable career:
  • "I made the critical error... I enjoy doing this thing for 30 minutes once every two months... so why don't I turn it into my full-time career...?" (08:34)
• Realizing harsh logistics:
  • Deliveries would require "500 a day, purchase 10 ovens...become Hermione Granger and be able to be a hundred places at once..." (10:38)
  • "With my current human manpower, my current car power and my current one oven... I can probably get to $9,000 a year." (11:32)
• Lauren memorializes the collapse:
  • "Thanks for bringing up fresh Homemade cookies, chapter 11." (12:14)

[12:47] Family Visit Tales: Parental Microaggressions in NYC

• Lauren shares stories from her parents' winter visit to New York:
  • Hosting outdoor meals in freezing weather due to their parents’ vaccine hesitancy.
  • Dad’s grumpy ice-breaker to Lauren’s boyfriend:
    • "It's pretty cold. Gonna be a fast dinner." (14:54)
  • Dad’s particular palate leads them to revisit a "medium good" Italian place twice in two days.
• Lauren worries the bad weather and logistical stress will deter future parental visits.
• Mom’s New York "microaggressions":
  • "So do you feel safe here?" and "Are the trash people on strike?" (21:53, 22:01)
• Mom gets flirted with repeatedly on the streets, charms strangers, and proves "dazzling and unjaded":
  • "She's just happy to be a person in the world... chatting with different people. She never seems exhausted by it." (24:30)

[25:25] TV Chat: "Yellowstone" — When Country Life Collides With Fantasy

• Lauren reviews Yellowstone:
  • Finds it both "the most watched show on television" and "60% cheesy."
  • Quotes a cringy cowboy line:
    • "Cowboys don't say goodbye. They say, see you later." (28:01)
  • She laments extended "farmercore" scenes (e.g., rodeos), shattering her cowboy fantasy.
• Both sisters admit they want their "cowboy" archetypes filtered through romance, not agricultural hobbies:
  • "I prefer my cowboys passionately in love... I don't want to see cowboy hobbies..." (31:09)

[31:55] Pop Culture Corner: David Foster & Katharine McPhee Controversy

• The sisters dissect David Foster’s Instagram post of Katharine McPhee post-baby, which triggered internet backlash.
• Chandler explains why the "what baby?" caption is so damaging:
  • "The goal of every woman... is having no mark of ever having actually been pregnant... That's just frankly damaging." (34:49)
• Lauren adds context about McPhee’s history with eating disorders and Foster’s reputation:
  • "He does not strike me as someone who has, like, a lot of love for women who've borne his children, because he clearly leaves them the minute they diminish in any way to him." (36:17)

[39:59] Quick Hit: Steve Lodge’s Engagement

• Noting Steve Lodge’s (ex of Vicki Gunvalson) engagement to a woman much younger (he’s 63; she's 37).
• Lampoons the proposal phrasing:
  • "Will you become Mrs. Steve Chavez Lodge?" (41:18)
• Declares it all “so gross,” predicting doom for these “pending divorces.”

[42:00] New Year's Resolutions: Dread, Domesticity, and Doubled Effort

• Lauren’s main resolution: Tame the "Sunday scaries."
  • "A quarter of my weekend is usually ruined by the dread of Monday..." (43:24)
• Chandler’s: Go “all in” on work and rekindle her domestic side by cooking at home again.

[46:52] The "Olive Oil and Blood" Story: A Domestic Drama

The Saga:

• Chandler attempts an elaborate grocery run in Puerto Rico, visiting five stores, racking up $300+ in expenses, only to have her artisan $27 olive oil shatter in a parking lot.
• In the chaos, she loses an AirPod (ultimately lost forever), falls on the oil-slicked asphalt, skins her knees, and rips her new Lululemon leggings.
• The Uber driver is baffled, and Chandler is left overheating, bleeding, and emotionally wrecked.
  • "Why is cooking, which is just part of life, so difficult? Why does life seem so hard? Why do you come home covered in blood and oil?" (52:46)
• She forges ahead to make dinner—despite lacking proper pans—nearly starts a fire, but ultimately the meal is a delicious, sweet bonding moment with Kagan.
  • "He was just so cute with me afterwards. And his love language is acts of service. I could tell he felt very, like, taken care of." (55:43)
  • Lauren: "I'm glad it all ended well because that's truly awful, and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy..." (55:55)

[56:03] Reflections: The Cost and Chaos of Cooking

• Lauren and Chandler lament the Herculean effort and expense of domestic life, especially in small city apartments.
  • "Life sucks, you guys. That's the theme of this episode, right?" (57:32)
• Both reaffirm: Real kitchens and Instacart are keys to effortless cooking—but for now, it's takeout and tortilla chips.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• "[On failed cookie startups] ...I can probably get to $9,000 a year." — Chandler (11:32)
• "As I sip coffee, the sun is shining in my soul." — Chandler (05:57)
• "I prefer my cowboys passionately in love... I don't want to see cowboy hobbies..." — Lauren (31:09)
• "The goal of every woman... is having no mark of ever having actually been pregnant..." — Chandler (34:49)
• "Why do you come home covered in blood and oil?" — Chandler (52:46)
• "Life sucks, you guys. That's the theme of this episode, right?" — Chandler (57:32)

Key Timestamps

• 01:31 — Chandler introduces episode context & businesses
• 07:19 — Fresh Homemade Cookies startup saga
• 12:47 — Family visit misadventures in NYC
• 25:25 — Yellowstone review and cowboy fantasy deconstruction
• 31:55 — David Foster & Katharine McPhee Instagram drama
• 39:59 — Steve Lodge’s engagement and OC man-hating analysis
• 42:00 — Sisters' 2022 resolutions
• 46:52 — "Olive Oil & Blood": Chandler’s epic quest to cook dinner
• 55:43 — The night ends well despite all

Tone & Style

The sisters’ trademark banter is irreverent, direct, and self-deprecating, full of pop culture references, wit, and vulnerability. The episode is a perfect window into their dynamic—equal parts therapy and comedy—with pop culture gossip and real-life chaos mixed together.

For New Listeners

This recap covers Chandler and Lauren’s best storytelling and pop culture riffing, distilling a packed episode into highlight-reel moments. You’ll get the core of the sisters’ relationship, their perspective on family, culture, womanhood, and why life feels (sometimes literally) slippery, expensive, and a little ridiculous—but also sweet.