Episode Overview

Podcast: The Nightly
Episode: Let's Circle Back w/ Franchesca Ramsey
Date: March 3, 2026
Theme: A cozy late-night slumber party with pop culture conversation, playful games, and relatable talk about decompressing before bed. Special guest Franchesca Ramsey joins hosts Kristen and KP for games like "Kiss, Marry, Kill" and warm discussions about work, communication, and style.
Tone: Warm, funny, relatable, gentle

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bedtime Decompression & Routines

• Kristen introduces Franchesca Ramsey as "the very hilarious, the very wonderful" (00:34), and asks about her bedtime routine.
• Franchesca shares her evolving efforts:

  "I'm trying to be better about like really decompressing. I'm one of those unfortunate workaholics. ...I've gotten really into like drinking a CBD tea before bed... they're really calming." (01:17)

• Discussion about the challenges of building healthy routines, including the surprising length of proper tooth-brushing:

  "I have a toothbrush that like buzzes after 30 seconds. So you like do each quadrant. And I didn't know that's why it was buzzing." – Francesca (02:12)

2. Gentle Productivity before Sleep

• KP mentions that folding clothes at night has become an accidental relaxation "hack":

  "Because I kind of like folding clothes... that's been kind of nice. I almost might have accidentally hacked myself into some decompression." (03:14)

• Agreement on the soothing power of combining simple chores with listening to podcasts as part of winding down.

Slumber Party Games: "Kiss, Marry, Kill" Edition

A. "Corporate Speak" Edition (04:33)

Options: "Let's circle back", "Let's put a pin in it", "Let's take this offline"

• Franchesca:

  • Marry: "Let's circle back":

    "Circle back. Is my Mary." (05:29)

  • Kiss: "Take it offline":

    "Which I usually don't say. I just actually take it offline." (05:35)

  • Kill: "Put a pin in it": Finds it noncommittal.

• Kristen:

  • Marry: "Let's circle back":

    "I say it, and I say it sincerely, even though it's embarrassing." (08:14)

  • Kiss: "Put a pin in it" is disliked for its avoidance.
  • Kill: "Let's take this offline":

    "Let's take it offline to me says I'm going to say stuff... that maybe you do wish you had a record of later." (06:30)

• KP:

  • Marry: "Put a pin in it":

    "Because let's put a pin in it means we're not dealing with this anymore, which I love." (08:39)

Memorable Moment

• The group jokes about how "take it offline" can sound aggressive:

  "It sounds like, yeah, do you want to take this outside? It does." – KP (07:38)

B. "Reply Timing" Edition (09:45)

Options: Reply immediately, wait three hours, never reply

• Franchesca:

  • Marry: Wait three hours
  • Kiss: Reply immediately
  • Kill: Never reply

    "I'm a wait three hours kind of girl. ...Never respond, kill. I think that's so. That's so rude." (10:05)
    "I miss the days when people would use the subject line to like tell you if you needed to reply urgently." (11:26)

• KP:

  • Marry: Wait three hours:

    "That's my Mary, that's usually my time frame... I just don't think everyone needs to be in contact with me 24 hours a day." (10:43)

• Kristen:

  • Marry: Reply immediately:

    "I like it when people reply immediately to me. Just, if you're in there, get back to me." (12:23)

  • Kiss: Wait three hours
  • Kill: Never reply (but admits guilt)

    "Email. I'm very embarrassed to say there are a lot of unread, unreplied to emails in my inbox." (11:56)

Memorable Moment

• KP on slow replies:

  "[My] love language: full of bumps." (13:25)

C. "Decor Style" Edition (13:50)

Options: Cottagecore, Mid-century Modern, Modern Farmhouse

• Franchesca:

  • Marry: Mid-century modern ("very much my vibe")
  • Kill: Cottagecore
  • Kiss: (unenthusiastically) Modern farmhouse

    "I always joke that my apartment looks like a kid's target threw up because there's just color everywhere." (20:09)

• Kristen:

  • Marry: Mid-century modern
  • Kill: Cottagecore – doesn’t mix well
  • Kiss: Modern farmhouse (can blend with mid-century)

    "Industrial farmhouse can work with mid century modern sometimes." (15:25)

• KP:

  • Claims unique style: "I'm one of a kind." (16:38)
  • Growing appreciation for Spanish mission style: "dark wood, terracotta, like a lot of candles."

Notable Quotes and Observations

• On Cottagecore:

  "I only think of like mushrooms and moss when I think of [Cottagecore]." – KP (17:04) "You didn't paint this all the way...that's how I think of cottagecore. Like, you kind of did patchy painting on it, and now it's seafoam green instead of its natural wood." – Kristen (17:04)

• Mid-century Modern Furniture Wars:

  "I really think my ex husband was colorblind because, like, he loved like brown and I'd be like...A brown couch is just like not fun." – Franchesca (19:40)

• Red Leather Recliner Horror:

  "His sticking point was a red recliner. Like a leather. A red leather recliner." – KP (20:48)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Corporate Speak:
  "Let's take this offline to me says I'm going to say stuff that maybe you do wish you had a record of later." – Kristen (06:30)
• On Replying to Messages:
  "I miss the days when people would use the subject line to like tell you if you needed to reply urgently. Like to say urgent reply or... please, really maximize that subject line, please." – Franchesca (11:26)
• On Interior Styles:
  "I always joke that my apartment looks like a kid's target threw up because there's just color everywhere." – Franchesca (20:09) "I can't be doing cogs and top hats in my house. I have to keep it chill." – KP, on industrial decor (15:59)
• On Partners with "Terrible" Style:
  "I just had more furniture. So when we moved in together, I was like, this is convenient that I just sort of get to lead the way on this. But his sticking point was a red recliner...But now he's no more. And so is the chair. Sorry." – KP (20:16–20:49)

Special Segment: Shout-out & Goodnight

Franchesca plugs her podcast:

"I have a podcast with my best friend called Let Me Fix it, and it's a very constructive look at things that are happening in the world and in pop culture and in the news. ...we pitch how we would fix the problems of the world." (21:26)

Goodnight, Flex!

• Francesca gives a heartfelt goodnight to her dog:

  "...my Brussels Griffin, Pug. Flex... he's come a long way as my rescue pup. But he wasn't very nice when I first got him, and now he is a lover dog. But he still has a little bit of gruffness in his heart." (22:12, 22:48)

• Kristen on Brussels Griffons:

  "I don't want to rank all the dogs out there, but I will say Brussels Griffon. Is in my top five in the cutest dog categories, in my opinion." (23:12)

Timestamps for Segment Highlights

• Bedtime Routines: 01:00–03:00
• Kiss, Marry, Kill: Corporate Speak: 04:33–09:36
• Kiss, Marry, Kill: Reply Timing: 09:45–13:39
• Kiss, Marry, Kill: Decor Style: 13:50–21:04
• Relationship Style/Partner Furniture Stories: 19:04–21:04
• Plug for Let Me Fix It Podcast & Goodnight to Flex: 21:26–23:31

Summary

This slumber party episode with Francesca Ramsey is a pop-culture-heavy, relatable, and laughter-filled nightcap. The trio swap bedtime routines, playfully debate "Kiss, Marry, Kill" over work phrases, emails, and home decor, and trade stories of exes with tragically bad taste in sofas and recliners. The tone is unpretentious and welcoming—full of gentle confessions, hot takes on pastel furniture, and, above all, found-family vibes.

End your day with their best advice: decompress, make time for your own weird tastes, and never settle for a red leather recliner. Goodnight!