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Esther Povitsky
This message is for the community of Los Angeles. It's to alert you that I will be doing a last minute stand UP Show Thursday, March 13, 8pm at the Comedy Store in the Belly Room. And you can get tickets at the link below or the link above, but the Comedy Store website as well. And I'll see you there. It's gonna sell out very fast. Thursday, March 13, 8:00pm Special guests. You guys, we have a guest that we have been trying to get since we started this show. She's been one of our most requested guests. She's my friend. Okay. I've known her for a long time and she has a brand new special that's out today on Amazon called A Different Animal. And it's probably her like 400th special at this point. Please welcome Eliza Schlesinger.
Eliza Schlesinger
Very excited to be here.
Esther Povitsky
Okay, there's a lot. First of all, I need to know, what is it like having a second baby?
Eliza Schlesinger
Are you thinking about it?
Esther Povitsky
I'm thinking a lot of things. I'm thinking one and done is beautiful. And I'm also thinking about other things.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah. Is your audience the kind of audience that wants to know this? Because I'm at a place in my career where, like, it's very. It's 50. 50.
Esther Povitsky
What do you mean?
Eliza Schlesinger
Well, you get like younger girls that are like, nobody wants to hear about your baby. You get men who never want to think about a baby.
Esther Povitsky
We get everybody. And don't even, don't even go there.
Unknown
No, no.
Eliza Schlesinger
Because I want to tailor my answer to it.
Esther Povitsky
No, no.
Eliza Schlesinger
It' I often forget about my son. That's the real answer. And I know it's like, oh, my God, they're such.
Esther Povitsky
They're beautiful.
Eliza Schlesinger
Blessings from God. I talk about Sierra and I'm like, and Ethan, of course, who I also wanted and had. He is. I mean, we have nannies and so he's often just like tucked away. This isn't like British style where it's like children should be seen, not heard. But like, he's just so taken care of. And of course I see him and kiss him. But like at the beginning, like a day would go by where I'd like, see him in a hallway.
Esther Povitsky
I love you. You are. This is like the most refreshing mother.
Eliza Schlesinger
Having two nannies is so refreshing. But it's true.
Esther Povitsky
Being so honest and open about it because I do feel like most people pretend that they're full time moms. And I'm like, I just left your house. You have four nannies.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, here's the truth. Here's the truth. If anybody is not losing their mind, it's because they have helped.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
And I think people that have help, it's still very difficult. Like, my heart breaks in half when I have to leave my daughter. I love being home for her.
Esther Povitsky
Just your daughter.
Eliza Schlesinger
There you go again. There we go again. Yes. But you miss, you know, your children, and having both of them is so much fun. The truth is, when they're little, like, they don't come online until around, like, 10 months. And prior to that, it's just this, like, potato.
Esther Povitsky
What does it mean, though, when they come online? Like, they start, like, knowing you.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, he knows his name. He can't really. He doesn't, you know, like, girls are faster than boys. But, like, when Sierra was that age, like, she was almost walking. She was cruising around. Like, you were really engaging with her. She knew her name. She could snap. Like, she could do, like, little tricks and little tricks. Like, little monkey tricks. And he's getting there. But before that, like, it's boring.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Nobody wants to say that, you know, but I, like, breastfeeding is boring, and it's hard. And some women, like, this is all consuming, and this is everything, and it's wasn't that for me. And so I know how fun it gets. So I'm just, like, waiting for him to get through this, like, first year before so we can, like, you're like a dad. Yeah. I want someone I can throw that ball around with. I've just had so much fun with Sierra, so I can't wait till Ethan has, like, really joined the team.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, this is so funny. Wait, okay. Did you. Were you ever, like, it might just be one for us or.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm one of those women who, in the back of my mind, I was always like, yeah, one day you'll get married and. And you'll have two kids, because you were one of two kids. And you'll do it a little bit later in life. Because that was normalized to me. Because my mom was not like an old mom, but she was older. She didn't have me in her 20s. She had me, I think, at, like, 34. So that was a normal thing for me.
Esther Povitsky
I love that. For me, it wasn't so much my mom, but my dad was 44, and so I really wanted to be like my dad, and I was like, I'll do it then. Which was a little delusional. But 44, it's tough.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's a tough choice.
Esther Povitsky
That was gonna be pushing it.
Eliza Schlesinger
He's like, here's the difference between men and women.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, I had to. Would have to learn that the hard way. Ye. I feel similar. Like, early was never on the table for me. Like, early baby.
Eliza Schlesinger
I mean, it depends on the life. I mean, look, it's always the wrong time or the right time, depending on how you want to look at it. And I worked really hard in my 20s and 30s to establish myself in this business. And it's not even so much about, like, doing the things I set out to do, but just exploring life.
Esther Povitsky
Okay, you know what I'm experiencing? Do you have this at all? Like, I hope you don't, because I need to. Not I need to shake this. But at least the very, like, first six months postpartum, I had all this regret of not like, having a baby earlier and, like, hating myself and like, wishing I was. Wishing I was that person that was like, oh, in my 20s. I knew in LA, if you have.
Eliza Schlesinger
A child in your 20s, something either went wrong or like, your parents had a ton of money and you were like, I'll just do this. Like, you, like, you're not. It's not something that you see a lot in Hollywood.
Esther Povitsky
Think of as Sofia Richie right now.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's like, yeah, okay, Yep, you had the time, you had the money. And it's great to, you know, have tons of money and have. And if you want to be a mom, that's great. But if you are, if you are the one making all the money and you don't come from parents who can establish you in Hollywood and you have to like, these careers take like 20 years to, like, foment, like, you've got to like, ferment. They take a long time to, like, get going. And so it wasn't like, oh, my God, I don't. Of course we'd all like to meet the perfect person and figure that out. But it was never like a rejection of. It was just like, yeah, I'm. I'm doing standup, I'm on the road, I'm writing movies, I'm trying to act, I'm trying to do stuff. And then. And I just knew, I just always knew, like, it would come around.
Esther Povitsky
That's cool. And how is it then going from like, being this, like, hard working hustler, career driven person to, like, being a mom?
Eliza Schlesinger
You don't lose it. It does.
Esther Povitsky
Are you sure?
Eliza Schlesinger
How does it go from being like, relevant and thin to like, whatever is sitting here.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, look at who snuck in. And you have never found me to be more creepy.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, she's growling the dog's growling.
Esther Povitsky
That was so scary. Cuz she. Look at her. Come on in.
Eliza Schlesinger
Do you have Bell's palsy?
Unknown
I do.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, my God. Wait, hold on. Just stop. She has Bell's palsy. Don't growl at her. Hunter Hill, who opened, opens for me.
Unknown
Open.
Eliza Schlesinger
He's alive. He got Bell's palsy. Really?
Unknown
From mine.
Eliza Schlesinger
He talks about it. I don't know. He just got it and he went away. I gave him a line of my movie and we were all set to film and he, like, showed up. He was like, this is my face. And I was like, we'll just do a voiceover.
Unknown
Yeah, that's sort of where I was in the beginning. Just like, drooling everywhere.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, have you guys never met?
Unknown
No.
Esther Povitsky
Okay. How have you never been?
Eliza Schlesinger
On meeting, I stopped admitting to people, especially women in comedy, if I don't know them. Because people get so angry at me in particular, really, if I do. Oh, my God. And I'm just like, I'm sorry. I meet like 50 people a night. Like, I'm out at club people, they get very angry. They feel very.
Unknown
That's unreasonable.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's unhinged. Unreasonable. But I don't feel like I don't know you, so I don't know your mental health state. So when you walked in, I was just like, I'm just gonna pretend like we've met.
Unknown
No, no.
Eliza Schlesinger
And if she wants to tell me otherwise, then that's.
Unknown
I would never be offended by that. Oh, my God, that's so silly. I think that's because I rarely went to the Comedy store in the 10 years I dated Bobby.
Eliza Schlesinger
So she was asking me. She's like, don't you know she dated Bobby? And. Because Esther was asking me. And like, there's a lot of people, There's a lot of girls floating around. So many.
Esther Povitsky
There are so many. And the girls do change a lot, to be fair.
Unknown
Yeah, it's a. It's a fast turnover. I get it. But also, like, I just. I hated it there. I never.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's a vibe. It's like. It's like, is anyone else. Does anyone else want to have a sleepover at the Addams Family house? And you're not the only one to say that it is my home. But most comics find it to be, like, an unsettling place.
Esther Povitsky
But why have you not. Because when I think of, like, the original, like, Comedy Store class crew, it's like, you and Bobby are in that. How have you not been on Tiger Belly?
Eliza Schlesinger
I have no idea. I'm asking me, but I don't know.
Unknown
I mean, I have no idea either, because I know you and Bobby. I think we may. Yeah, that's crazy to me.
Esther Povitsky
Should I call him and ask him?
Unknown
Call him.
Eliza Schlesinger
I was gonna give you some, like, weird.
Unknown
No, he's gonna. I already know it. She hates me. She hates me is what he's gonna say.
Eliza Schlesinger
I think male comics get really intimidated by me, and I'm just like, oh, I've never said. I have one. I have one comic that stopped speaking to me, and then he called me. He's like, do you want to do my show? I feel like you don't like me. I'm like, you stopped, bro. You stopped talking to me. Like, you walk in, and they just, like, won't. And I'm just like, I don't know. I feel like I'm pretty cool with everyone.
Unknown
I feel like Bobby is the type to create, like, those stories.
Esther Povitsky
Okay, I'm here with Eliza Schlesinger, and I was just wondering, how has she never been on Tiger Belly?
Eliza Schlesinger
I don't know. How is that possible?
Esther Povitsky
Yeah. Is there something there that we don't know?
Eliza Schlesinger
No, no, no, no. I want her on it. I don't know. I just. I don't know. I. I.
Esther Povitsky
Is it. Do you have a crush on her?
Eliza Schlesinger
I think she's attractive. I. I don't. I don't have a crush on her.
Unknown
I mean, she's her friend, you know?
Esther Povitsky
Okay.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah.
Esther Povitsky
Okay.
Eliza Schlesinger
Thanks, Bobby. Oh, I mean, she heard me just now. Esther did that. This is all. This is why you don't like Esther.
Esther Povitsky
I said, I'm with Eliza. How did you not know that she was listening?
Eliza Schlesinger
I didn't know she was, but now that I do, I'm a little blushing.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, so you do have a crush on her.
Eliza Schlesinger
This is making me so anxious.
Esther Povitsky
All right, okay, we'll. We'll see you later.
Eliza Schlesinger
I see Bobby, like, five times a week, by the way. Like, I bring this man up. We see each other in the green room. Like, I think. I don't think. I don't think. I do a lot of podcasts.
Esther Povitsky
You don't. That's why when you said yes, I was like, wait, you guys. What's going on?
Eliza Schlesinger
You. Okay? Let's. Let's look at these receipts. You often will ask me, you'll be like, you want to do my podcast tomorrow? Can you come today? And I'm like, no. Like, I work. Like, I can't. Like, I have, like, a functioning schedule, but you asked me with plenty of time that's true. And so I always like, it's a cool request, so. But I can't. It's rarely, you know, it's like, we're going to get a pedicure. No.
Esther Povitsky
I'm so glad that you're here because. Do you remember that you did my. My original podcast, like 10 years ago, we talked about Yankee candles.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, my God. No, but that sounds like me. Yeah, it sounds like something I would have been very into.
Unknown
What is the new candle these days? What is the candle outside of, like, was that place on Larchmont, the 150 candle?
Esther Povitsky
What is that?
Eliza Schlesinger
Is that like, what brand is the brand? Yeah, I think there's too many now. Like, what's it? Voluspa.
Unknown
Yeah. Volume spa.
Eliza Schlesinger
Volume spa.
Unknown
Is it Volume Spa? Voluspa.
Eliza Schlesinger
I don't know. I think they both sound weird. Volume Spa sounds like a head.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like sound bath.
Esther Povitsky
I like 1990 X, which is brand new. That's the. I think that's the new cool day.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, you just want a clean burn. Oh, you know what's a great one? I'll give them a shout out. Dev Candle company. They make my candles that I sell on tour and their candles come in gorgeous cement planters.
Unknown
Oh, my God.
Esther Povitsky
I like a reusable. Like, let's. Let's keep this going.
Eliza Schlesinger
I like the idea of a reusable one. And then I'm like, I can't get this wax out. I want.
Unknown
Were you just in Tokyo?
Eliza Schlesinger
I was.
Unknown
How was it? Was that your first time?
Eliza Schlesinger
No.
Unknown
Or do you always go?
Eliza Schlesinger
I always go.
Unknown
Are you a repeat Japan?
Eliza Schlesinger
I always go to Tokyo. You guys have to go. I hope someone tunes in just there. Yeah, like, arigato. I was doing USO shows in Okinawa.
Unknown
I want to go to Okinawa so bad.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's awesome. It would be. Okinawa is the best way to describe it. If Japan had won World War II, this is what Hawaii would look like. It's the Japanese Hawaii because it is an island. Yeah.
Unknown
It is a blue zone.
Eliza Schlesinger
You could go either way.
Unknown
I'm half Japanese.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah, you look part something.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, you could tell the eyes.
Eliza Schlesinger
I wouldn't have guessed Japanese, but you're. You're definitely not a white person.
Esther Povitsky
Really?
Unknown
Thank you so much.
Eliza Schlesinger
You're welcome. That will go far in Hollywood. She just has. She just has, like a look.
Esther Povitsky
I've never picked up on that. I'm impressed with your ability.
Eliza Schlesinger
I think when you're Jewish, you kind of always like looking around, like, who among. Who's.
Esther Povitsky
I'm Jewish.
Eliza Schlesinger
Who's different. I know. I know you are, but I'm always looking. I walked in the room. When I'm on Zoom Calls, I kind of clock. You're just always like, who, like me?
Esther Povitsky
Who will the Nazis take when they.
Eliza Schlesinger
Come for me, who looks more Jewish than me? But, yeah, it's. Okinawa is incredible. And so we did military shows. I do a lot of USO shows. And then you can't go there and not go to Tokyo, so.
Unknown
Right, right. No, Okinawa is a dream. Just because I. I dive a lot. Like, I free dive. And I spearfish. And Okinawa, they have those little, like, eyelets around.
Eliza Schlesinger
Says that. What you're saying that, like, I'm like, I go Pilates, I do yoga, spearfish, I dive. Yeah. That would be the part of the world where you could, like, do that stuff.
Unknown
Yeah, I. I live part time in Hawaii and stuff, but Okinawa has always been the one place where I'm like.
Eliza Schlesinger
Are you a Hawaiian?
Unknown
Is Hawaiian?
Eliza Schlesinger
Because you sounded a little Hawaiian just then.
Unknown
I'm Filipino. That's what.
Eliza Schlesinger
Okay. That's what I'm thinking.
Unknown
Well, you are good. It's island. Something you picked up on the island.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm sensing something tropical.
Esther Povitsky
Do me. Do me.
Eliza Schlesinger
You're Jewish and your name's Esther, so there goes that. I'm just endlessly fascinated. And we're not allowed to talk about it anymore because you get canceled. But, like, I'm. And I love guessing.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
If you give me your last name where you're from. And I, I. It's just like a passion, but also.
Unknown
Maybe bring it back. Is it. I mean, is it that terrible? I mean, if you know some. I don't know. I don't know.
Esther Povitsky
I don't think it's bad, though, because I. My thing is, I never was guessing, but I always ask. I always want to know. And then I've, like, Then I hear. It's like, people get upset. They're like, white people always ask me what? And I'm like, fuck.
Eliza Schlesinger
But, you know, you can fire back. You can be like, I'm Jewish. It's different.
Esther Povitsky
Nobody cares about that.
Eliza Schlesinger
Turns out they do a lot. I think it's in the way that you ask.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
If you told me your last name. And I guess, you know, especially if you guess a small. Like a country that most people don't guess, like, how did you know? And you're like, oh. Then it opens up to me being like, oh, I used to visit there, or my partner's from there, or it creates a dialogue versus me being like, yeah, but where are you really?
Unknown
Yeah, exactly.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's not what you ask. True.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Where's your family from? Or where's your last name from?
Unknown
Yeah, like, if someone was like, oh, I'm from Eritrea.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah.
Unknown
Oh, so cool. The smallest country in, like, Aritzia.
Eliza Schlesinger
Get a discount.
Unknown
Aritzia.
Eliza Schlesinger
Me? Like a manager's discount Noise. That thing too. When someone says it and you have no context for it. Like when you're drunk in an Uber and they say like, I'm from Moldova and you're like, dope. Like, I don't. What do I do with that?
Unknown
The creepiest one is I don't answer that question for a specific type of person, which is usually like, if I can sense a passport, bro. And if it's somebody who like, exoticizes either a Filipino woman and they can sense my accent a little bit, they're just foaming at the mouth, waiting to be like, jollibee.
Esther Povitsky
Jollibee.
Unknown
Or like Lumpia or something that like, kind of connects them to absolutely whatever bride they once had from the Philippines.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, my God, whatever. Underage bride.
Unknown
Exactly.
Eliza Schlesinger
And then it's duty free.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah. I. I will say not being a person of color at all and being Jewish, like, I am dying for someone to be like, you're Jewish? Oh, my God, I love Regala. Or like one of our, like, okay things.
Unknown
Does that never happen, ever?
Eliza Schlesinger
We eat. Everyone's like, you get like, jews are like, I love Chinese food. I am dying for Chinese people to be like, we love matzo ball soup and we never get it.
Esther Povitsky
Do you like Jewish food?
Eliza Schlesinger
What? Ashkenazi, like, European Jewish food. Yeah, I think we have some bangers.
Esther Povitsky
Like what, though?
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, like matzo ball soup.
Unknown
That is a banger.
Eliza Schlesinger
Basically. Chicken soup. I mean, everybody's got the chicken, but chicken noodles, like, that's ours. Okay, we can just squash this. You want to protest about something? It should be that black and white cookie that's Jewish.
Esther Povitsky
I always think New York, but I guess it's the same thing.
Eliza Schlesinger
Tell me the difference. Yeah, I feel like those are the big two.
Esther Povitsky
Those like bagel and lock bagels.
Eliza Schlesinger
Bagels are.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, that's true. I love bagels, but lox groat scares me.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm like, that's fine if you're not. But like, those are like, those are hits. Like, those are like, indisputable. Everyone loves those. And then everything else, it's kind of like you eat it, cuz it's the food. Like, my mom likes chopped liver. I'm not gonna eat really. See, I would never. But I feel like Filipinos are much more holistic and, like, the. Like, the food that you will eat, like, maybe it's like, a little less, I don't know, Americanized. Like.
Unknown
Yeah, I think we just, like, consume every part of the animal. Like, you utilize all because you're part Asian.
Eliza Schlesinger
And, like, Asians do not play.
Unknown
No, we have games for, like, the fish. Eyeballs first. Now you learned. Yeah, you've learned eyeballs first. But even, like, street food, if it's like, chicken feet, we call it Adidas. And what do you mean? Because it's the feet of the chicken. You're like, do you want Adidas?
Esther Povitsky
Why is it called Adidas?
Unknown
Because running shoes, feet.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, my God.
Eliza Schlesinger
And that was, like, a word being interpreted. You're like, nope, it's after the shoe.
Unknown
Chicken head is called, like, Walkman. It's just. You just have your.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, because you're on your Walkman.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
How 80s. That's so funny. Not even Discman.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, did you know that you were, like, doing a whole life hack here by marrying a chef?
Eliza Schlesinger
No, I. Food is not important. I'm saying this like a Filipino woman. It's not important to me in the way it is to a lot of people. I. It was important what I eat. Of course I want to eat well and be healthy. But, like, you're talking to someone who, if my husband is not around, like, I will eat a bag of carrots and, like, three bowls of cereal. I don't get comfort. Like, everybody has things that they like to eat, but when I'm sad, I don't have, like, my mom's meatloaf, and I don't have. It's just not the comfort for me. I would stress, eat something, but I met him, and he always makes fun of me. And I don't know, when I met him, he's like, I want to make you pasta. And I was like, okay. Like, I don't love pasta. I know my girl card will get revoked. I don't love pasta. But he's like, okay, what kind of pasta do you want? I was like, I don't know. Can you do, like, spaghetti marinara with, like, a chicken breast on it? And so he made it. Right? So no one here is saying anything, which makes me feel better.
Unknown
Yeah, I was about to. Sorry.
Eliza Schlesinger
Okay.
Esther Povitsky
What. What were you about to say?
Unknown
The chicken breast.
Eliza Schlesinger
Okay.
Unknown
Really? Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Well, no, but. Okay, good.
Unknown
Because just because I'm not a breast girl, like, I have a dark meat breast over pasta is like, just.
Eliza Schlesinger
You Know, So I never thought about it. And, like, months later, like, we're in love. I don't know if this is before. After we got engaged, he was like, I didn't want to say anything because I, you know, I really liked you. And it's different now. Really liked you. And he's like, that's a trash order. And I was like, what do you mean? He goes, like, adding a protein to your pasta is like a very, like, suburban corporate restaurant. Like, add a protein. And I'm from Dallas. Like, we have a ton of, like, Carrabba's family grill. Like, I grew up going to, like, restaurant and corporate restaurants, and so it was very normal to me to, like, add a protein. And I was like, that's how you get your protein. I need to eat chicken.
Esther Povitsky
Okay, so this is where I'm on your side. Pasta is, like, not a main course. They say it's a side in America.
Eliza Schlesinger
I think Italians would disagree.
Esther Povitsky
I don't know.
Unknown
Because I think with pasta as a side.
Eliza Schlesinger
Think about it just is pasta aside, it's not.
Esther Povitsky
It's just a starch. There is not a protein. Like, what. What would he. How would he have amended your order? That's what I'm.
Eliza Schlesinger
I think you just do, like, a beautif. Delicate pasta. Or there's just different pasta dishes. There's chicken parmesan, but that's definitely not what I ordered. And that is, like, an American Italian thing. Yeah, But I was like, yeah, I'm from, like, I'm from, like, the biggest suburb ever. Of course I'm gonna add a protein for 5.99 under my pasta. So he makes our food.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, now I have to ask the most important question so far is, what cereal do you eat when you eat three bowls in one sitting?
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, it's so. Like, this sounds like I have an eating disorder, and I don't. But it's like a healthy, like, no sugar. Like, healthy O's. Like, it's just like, a pure grain, zero sugar, but. And I put, like, berries in it. It's not about the cereal. It's about what is available that I don't have to cook.
Unknown
Right.
Eliza Schlesinger
That I don't have to clean up. Like, it's a big deal.
Unknown
It's like a girl. It's girl dinner.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's. If there's, like, feral girl dinner.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, I just. I don't want to clean up the dish.
Esther Povitsky
I was going to say just because cereal is my. In eating disorder school, we call it a red light food. Like, where you can't control yourself around it.
Eliza Schlesinger
What cereal is it like? Golden Grahams, for sure. I'm gonna go, sure.
Esther Povitsky
But for me, literally, Raisin Bran. Like, Raisin Bran is.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's so good. Thank you. Because there's sugar on it.
Esther Povitsky
Yes. It's covered in sugar.
Eliza Schlesinger
Two scoops.
Esther Povitsky
And it's, like, so crunchy and satisfying.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's the. I will tell you, when I travel, which is often in international lounges, they'll have, like, a sad American section. And there's always, like, first of all, we drink so much milk. When you ask for milk, there was like, yes. Like, in Japan, they're like, here you go. I'm like, oh, no, honey. Like, I need milk. Like, bring out that cow. Like, the amount of dairy we consume. And I need. And we'll have it on the buffet. Like, they had it in Okinawa. And there's, like, a little thing of milk. I'm like, is there any in the back? Like, I need. I need to saturate it. But there's always bran flakes, and it's my. It is a comfort food for me when I travel internationally to, like, eat them in a lounge.
Esther Povitsky
It's so good. And I bet that makes you sick to hear that she's, like, internationally traveling, eating bran flakes in the.
Eliza Schlesinger
In the lounge on the American side.
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, I. I think if you have a nostalgia for it, fine. I didn't grow up eating cereal, but, like, I grew up eating like, that. You wouldn't, like, like, always fish for breakfast.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, yeah.
Unknown
Which is. You have trouble with that.
Eliza Schlesinger
Americans have trouble with that In Japan, they do it.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
I could get into it in another country. I did. I do when I travel. But around day five, like, we went to Thailand, and obviously, it's incredible food, but everything is wet when you eat Thai food. It's wet. The noodles are wet. There's curries. There's not like a dry. Like. But they don't do, like, a lot of bread.
Esther Povitsky
I've never heard anyone complain about food not being dry enough.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's not a complaint. It is just something that I'm. I'm noting that their cuisine tends to be wet. And about day five, after going north, Thailand, whatever, eating everything in an airport, I was like, I need to get a fried chicken sandwich from McDonald's. Like, I needed the crunch and the dry and the bread, just because it's what you're used to.
Unknown
One thing I do is any country that I visit, I always go to a McDonald's because their menu is so different. Everywhere you go, like in the Philippines, they will serve you rice with stuff.
Esther Povitsky
The Applebee's in Tokyo was the best salad I've ever had in my life.
Eliza Schlesinger
What are you doing? Was it at the gig? Is that why you.
Esther Povitsky
There was no gig involved.
Eliza Schlesinger
You were just there?
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
You went to an Applebee's?
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Unknown
Were you. This is when you were on a wheelchair all around Tokyo?
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, I was in a wheelchair. I broke my toe the day before we left, and I couldn't walk.
Eliza Schlesinger
I feel like that's an accommodating place.
Esther Povitsky
It's not.
Unknown
It's not.
Esther Povitsky
Well, like, getting on and off the subways was pretty hard, I guess.
Eliza Schlesinger
Accommodating in that I think people would be kind. In America, we're accommodating because people will get sued if they don't have, like, ADA compliant things. But I don't know. I don't know why you went to an Applebee's.
Esther Povitsky
It was good, though.
Eliza Schlesinger
But why'd you go?
Esther Povitsky
We were at the airport.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's different. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I had the most exotic. Not exotic. Excuse me. I had the most elegant experience traveling from Tokyo to the Okinawa airport. The little terminal we flew out of in Haneda had, like, the nicest little ramen shop, and there was a bookstore. And it was just so calm. It wasn't like people screaming about check bag fees and, like a shake shack. Like, it was just. I was like, wahlberg, I'm gonna make it.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, it's in all the airports now.
Unknown
I was just in Tokyo a couple months ago. And did I tell you this how I walked up this shrine early one morning. I thought I was being extra ambitious. I went on a two hour walk, probably like a thousand steps, came back and went to the bathroom.
Esther Povitsky
Okay.
Unknown
Into the shower, washed my butt, and realized that I had not even just a hemorrhoid, like a anal prolapse from walking up the stairs. Did I not tell you this? The sweetest little pharmacy? Because I panicked. I was like, oh, my God, my asshole's on the ground.
Eliza Schlesinger
And typical American.
Unknown
Typical American. And I went in and I was like, oh, my God, how do I explain to this woman?
Esther Povitsky
Wait, so did your butt. The inside of your butt came out?
Unknown
Yes, at first I was like, oh, this is just a hemorrhoid. I can push it back up. No, but it was like. It was longer than that. It was like a little intestine. Yeah, my intestines are. And so I went into this little pharmacy and there's like, hundred Year old lady who had inherited this pharmacy, this compounding pharmacy from like, her, her grandfather.
Eliza Schlesinger
This is what she has to deal with.
Unknown
And she looked me in the face and I swear I didn't even have to tell her. She was like, basically, I got you. She gave me this little tube of something, and I have never seen even so much of a. A, an inch of a hemorrhoid since then. It crawled right my. Crawled right back up and I never saw it again.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, my God.
Eliza Schlesinger
Sumi Musten fell out. Like, as long as you are polite. Like, they're down.
Unknown
Exactly.
Eliza Schlesinger
Play by their rules, they're down. That's amazing.
Unknown
I know. And I brought tubes back.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah. Yeah.
Unknown
Because I was like, oh, everyone's got to have this in their purse.
Esther Povitsky
Well, I'll be waiting for mine for next Christmas.
Eliza Schlesinger
I have stocking ass cream injector.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, I really. Okay. Before you were here, I was like, I asked Eliza what it's like having two kids, and she said, she forgets that she has the second one, which is kind of the most beautiful. Like, I'm. I want to talk more about you being like, here's.
Eliza Schlesinger
Let me just say this. What's so terrifying is in the word. Obviously. I really applaud how open you are about your asshole.
Unknown
Thank you.
Eliza Schlesinger
Every woman has the line that they draw on certain things. I find that there is. It's difficult to discuss being a mom. It's not difficult. I mean, I'm a comedian. I can talk about it. People are just so ready to be angry at you for whatever choices you make. And I'm so steadfast in my choices. So it's not that I feel insecure. It's that I don't want to hear from a comment section why that's wrong, or, oh, she's got help. Oh, she must be a bit. She must, like, people just want. It doesn't matter what you do as a mom. People will think you're doing it wrong.
Esther Povitsky
I'm ready to fire how real that is and how I feel that. And I'm never able to articulate it, but it is like anything I want to share about being a mom. Then I go, wait, well, then that's going to. These people be mad about that or like, even, like a positive thing. And it's like, well, you. You're. I don't know, just everything.
Eliza Schlesinger
And it's not even about, like, as comedians. It's not even about, oh, I'm embarrassed. It's about now I have to deal with this unnecessary bad vibe. And If I do see that comment, or now, oh, I'm not. I was a fan, now I'm not. And I'm gonna let her know. Or guys that are like, disgust that you did it. And it, it's not about hurting my feelings. It's about me being like, where the fuck do you get off thinking your opinion on the way I am parenting my child and being vulnerable and open about it fucking counts. It doesn't. And so when I had my children, like, I made it a point to always to not make it look like I'm doing this on my own. Like, I have help. It's help that I paid for with a career that I built. But, like, we have two nannies and our kids are great because of those two nannies.
Unknown
By the way, I told Esther this today, America is the only place where you are somehow shamed for having help. Like, I grew up with a nanny for me, a nanny for my sister, everyone having live in nannies. That's how every other country outside of America works. It's a whole village. And there's.
Eliza Schlesinger
We don't like childcare and we don't like mothers.
Unknown
You don't. The whole country shits on mothers. Like, literally. It's. This is, this is the country. If you want to feel isolated, if you want to feel depressed, if you want to feel just horrible about motherhood, this is the place to be.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah, we have, we have so much freedom. We're drowning in our freedom. I really want to start talking about this on stage. Like, the genuine ire toward mothers. And it's not just from like, even down to the term, like milf. What is that? So to me, MILF suggests even though she is a mother and therefore her vagina might be weird, I still would let her fuck me. Like, that's why it's cringy. So because otherwise you're just like, I'm still a woman. And you still would. And so you get that if you're a girl who doesn't have kids, chances are, and I don't blame you. You don't really want to hear about kids if you can't have kids. You don't want to hear about some woman's kids. If you're child free choice, you feel shamed. So then there's. People have to have another layer to that. And so but this all gets directed at women. And we are not the orchestrators of this. Like, we are just merely having our children in no receipt ever have I ever told a woman what to do with her body or what was wrong. But the anger gets directed at moms because we are the ones who deign to spend time outwardly parenting and showing what we're doing. So it's all out there. You don't make fun of dads because people don't want to come for men, because then, you know, you might. Your school might get shot up or something. But it's true. It's always an easier target to shit on women or make fun of that celebrity mom, because we talk about these things. So I refuse to be shamed for anything. But I also am very aware that, like, as a woman, whatever choices you make, you're gonna get shit on. And as a mom, you're gonna lose people. You're gonna lose fans that don't want to hear about it.
Esther Povitsky
It's so true.
Eliza Schlesinger
And then the women that do have kids are like, well, she. She eats bran, which goes in the bloodstream. Like, the fuck do you know?
Esther Povitsky
I have to say, a lot of. A lot of the shame, for me, like, it's coming from within, which obviously is like, a reflection of the culture. But I feel so much shame that I do need help. And, like, what do you feel shame about? Okay, I'll tell you. Because I think about my sister and my mom, and I think about how they didn't have nannies or babysitters.
Eliza Schlesinger
They didn't have help.
Esther Povitsky
Exactly. I go, I'm struggling. Well, they did it. Why can't I do it? So we. Because we had some help three days a week. I had someone coming part time, and she. We ended up losing her. She, like, got a job with her son. No. No. So we killed her.
Unknown
He lost her to the post office.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah. She got a job working with her son. We're very happy.
Eliza Schlesinger
She got a government job. She gets benefits. She gets, like, Martin Luther King day off.
Esther Povitsky
I'm happy for her. I miss her. It's, like, been the most. The mother wound is getting me because I'm like. I love her so much.
Eliza Schlesinger
She doesn't think about you, just so you know.
Unknown
I know.
Esther Povitsky
I can tell.
Eliza Schlesinger
These nannies are just, like, peace.
Esther Povitsky
And the attachment is 80 grand a year. Somewhere else is so deep. Anyway, so then we haven't had anyone and guys like, I'm. It's not easy to do it on your own.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's the hardest job in the world. That's why it's the hardest job in the world. And it's so unrelatable. And that's why there's no empathy. Because until you do it, you cannot begin to fathom how spiritually, physically, physically, physically taxing, mentally, emotionally, and what it does to you. And it's not about. Because you were asking me about like ambition before. It doesn't take away your ambition, but you are tired and it like refocuses things. It's not like all the things that I wanted aren't important, but it's important to see my daughter.
Unknown
You just don't have, like, it's disposable energy. It's not, it's not available. Like you just don't have. And also, by the way, Esther, the fact that you think that just because your mom or your sister white knuckled motherhood doesn't mean like, you should be a martyr to that at all.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, are they gonna come and like come for that child at 2am when they're crying? Like, who does it help if you're extra exhausted? Like, there's no mother of the year award. Yeah, it's like, spend the money.
Esther Povitsky
No, no one is judging me except myself.
Eliza Schlesinger
But can I, can I say something that's actually not true? What you are, what is resonating with you is the comment section of our lives in the wake of, I guess, the Internet being established. But in the last few years and in this swing of people having to be overly sensitive. What you are talking about and what I am talking about is this collective conscience of people shaming you. People, small people who are nothing but angry and jealous. Their voice is being elevated. So you're hearing like, you don't actually feel bad. What you feel bad about is that someone who has nothing would make you, would deign to make you feel bad about it. That's what it is.
Esther Povitsky
Interesting.
Eliza Schlesinger
We've all been subjected to this. This like somebody who's sitting there with their thumbs on their toilet that hates you for being pretty, which you are. And you have to get over it.
Esther Povitsky
Oh my gosh.
Eliza Schlesinger
I've always said this. I'm like, Esther, like, wishes she's were uglier.
Unknown
I know, right?
Eliza Schlesinger
Isn't that interesting? Like, no, like, you're just a pretty girl. Not just, but you are pretty. It's all the have nots that are always angry at women in particular who dare to try. And so they're sitting there with no child, or they're sitting there with no help wishing they had these things. And they're mad at you for what? Because they feel bad, right?
Esther Povitsky
And it's like, be mad at Kylie.
Eliza Schlesinger
Jenner, she'll never hear you. Be mad at Gavin Newsom. Be mad at like, Your mayor. Be mad at like, things that you can change. Be mad at your like local elected officials. Not some celebrity who's out of touch and not. And I guess that's you. Your celebrities out of touch.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, totally. Wait. It is so refreshing though to hear this because it's like you, you had your babies and you weren't like, I have to be only a mother. Like, I have gone through this whole like self hatred thing of that and I'm coming out of it. But it's interesting. Like you don't, you're not, you didn't have that problem.
Eliza Schlesinger
I don't know, I mean, you say only a mother and like it is so complex and hard and earth shattering. And I really, I get why women are like, I do just want to stay at home.
Esther Povitsky
Well, did you go through an earth shattering moment after you had your first.
Eliza Schlesinger
No, it's been a transformation. It's been me every single day trying to reconcile and like put together. Like, who am I now? I'm still like funny and I'm still like driven. But like the way that your heart expands when you have this child and the fact that I'm like, I'd really like to be there when she wakes up for her nap, which prior to having a child, I'm like, who cares? They're napping. But like, and, and the fact that like I really care about family events now in a way that I never did. Like, you're talking to a girl who like graduated college, like moved to la, never went home. And it's just, you start to understand all the things your mother was always talking about. And I've just been like, it's like a face melting realization. Like all the fears that you have and all of the truth and this coincides with. You guys are younger than me, but like as we start to age. We went out the other night, we went to a Lunar New Year party.
Unknown
Fun.
Eliza Schlesinger
Sorry. She'll look at you. And it was great. I was like, all I ever want to do is be invited to like an Indian wedding or like someone's Indian.
Unknown
Weddings really are a thing though. I was so exhausted. I was in New York, York for seven days and I was like, when is this gonna, gonna end?
Eliza Schlesinger
Did you go to the, the famous one? No, no, regular one. Wait.
Unknown
But the regular one also. They'll still shut down streets in New York and the, the groom, the groom is riding on an elephant and things are being. And it's, it's, it's a whole thing. We don't love the elephant we don't love the elephant. I was really sad. I was just like. I was literally like, it's okay.
Esther Povitsky
Cover.
Unknown
Put ear muffs on the elephant. It's loud.
Esther Povitsky
Do you get to be a princess when you get invited? Like, did you get to dress up like an Indian?
Unknown
Of course.
Eliza Schlesinger
Well, I was also part.
Unknown
I was a bridal party. Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh my God, that sounds amazing. I gotta get. I gotta get an Indian friend that's young enough that she's getting married. That's what I need. So applications are being taken now, but I went to that. The point is I went to this party and it was in on Beechwood. And so we decided. We had my daughter Sierra with us. This was the other night and we decided to just grab some dinner on the way home. Went to this Thai place, it doesn't matter. Went to this Thai place on Hollywood Boulevard and we're driving through Beachwood and It was like 6:30 at night and I was having these flashbacks of like going out on the east side and like how in another life not that long ago, like this is where we would have ubered to and gotten a drink and I would have met up with some friends and this is the time of night where like you're still getting ready. Maybe you're about to go work out and then take your nap and then get ready. And how. This is where we used to get fucking blasted and just be fucked up and go out. And I'm like, instead it's 6:30 and I'm making sure my daughter eats enough of her chicken and rice at this restaurant where everyone there was totally on a sober date. Like, you're not eating 6:30 dinner on a Saturday in Hollywood. Unless you're like. And I was just like, wow. And I'm like in an oversized coat and like making sure her seatbelt's on. I was like, the party is over. Like we're out in the party section of la, but we're just having a very sober dinner of like chicken broth. Like it's over. Like there's no more. There's no more fun painkillers to take. Like it's over.
Esther Povitsky
But couldn't it not be over? Like, couldn't you still do those things?
Eliza Schlesinger
Right?
Esther Povitsky
Like, but you don't want to. Yeah, you don't want to.
Eliza Schlesinger
I mean, I don't know about you, but like, I mean I spent so much of my career talking about like going out and vodka sodas and party goblins and like I'm good for a drink and then it doesn't feel great anymore. And it sucks because I would love that.
Unknown
Do you think that also maybe because you didn't have kids very, very young, and you sort of did burn some rubber.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah.
Unknown
And so by the time, like, even for you, Esther, mid-30s, had a kid, well, you didn't go out to clubs either. You wasted your youth.
Esther Povitsky
I did. I think. Well, okay, you had a TV show.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm just saying it's not like you were like. And I was just, you know, working at the library, just dreaming. Big library. Like, it's.
Esther Povitsky
You were. You were working. I definitely, though, feel like the party's over. And. And even though I didn't party traditionally, there is still a big. The party's over, like, cloud hanging over me.
Unknown
But is it a. I'm glad the party's over.
Esther Povitsky
It's a little bit of both because I. So I was a huge pothead for like, the two years before I had my baby. And I. The whole pregnancy, I'm telling you, day and day, day in, day out, I can't wait to have weed again. I can't wait to have weed again. Like, I was desperate.
Unknown
Even when you were pregnant, you were.
Esther Povitsky
Saying the whole pregnancy. And then I had the baby. And then I was like, oh, I'm good.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's right.
Esther Povitsky
And for so many reasons. Like, one, I was like, I'm good. And then I was like, I have. I can't be. Not of sound mind. Like, I'm taking care of this kid. And then another point was someone was like, oh, well, then, like, you'll be wanting to be high while you're with your kid, like, looking forward to that later. So I'm like, all these reasons. I just stopped and to me, that's a little bit of like, the party's over. I don't know. There's a lot of ways the party's over, though.
Unknown
It's.
Esther Povitsky
I mean, you can't just get on a flight.
Eliza Schlesinger
You have to consider this other person. I mean, look, there's other ways to party. At least there are more adult ways. Like, we went to a New Year's Eve wedding and it was the way that you party now as an adult. I, like, booked a town car. I wore a full length wool coat. I got my hair and makeup done. There were girls there with, like, cracked heels and, like, jackets that said, like, Lakers on them. Like, there were girls in, like, Columbus, like patagonias, like, late 20s, like, as you would, because you don't have, like, the nice things. And we were in bed by 11 like, there was an open bar. Like, who wants shots? I'm like, definitely not me. And I'm not dancing because I'm wearing Spanx. And it was just like, oh, mom and dad have come to this wedding. Like, it's a different kind of party.
Esther Povitsky
That's true. And you, like, you can't be out past 11 because, like, you're. Your alarm clock is not gonna. Your baby's not gonna not wake up at that time.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, again, the nanny is there. Someone just came in and handed all of us a banana. And I thought it was, like, now it's time for a blowjob corner. But you guys were just having some potassium. Like, I thought this.
Unknown
Thank you. It is potassium.
Esther Povitsky
That is why.
Eliza Schlesinger
Which we don't really know what that does for me.
Unknown
Cause I have a heart arrhythmia.
Esther Povitsky
She's so cool.
Unknown
I'm coconut water and banana queen.
Eliza Schlesinger
That feels very Filipino. That feels like your mom was like, have a coconut water. Okay.
Unknown
Honestly, if you're having, like, any type of big emotions, have a banana is basically the answer.
Eliza Schlesinger
You know what? I agree. I believe you. Because I saw a meme one time that was, like, I was upset. My mom told me to have a banana and sit outside.
Unknown
Exactly.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's true.
Unknown
No, it does help. I swear to God.
Esther Povitsky
You know what my mom always did was accuse me of being tired.
Unknown
And.
Esther Povitsky
And now that I have a baby, I'm like, oh, she just thought I was a baby. Still, like, now. I don't know, like. Because when you have a baby, you're like, oh, they're tired.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, you mean, like, you have an attitude? And she's like, you're tired? Yeah, my mom does that for. She'll be like, you need to eat something. But not too much. When I was pregnant with Ethan, I was so excited to drink Pet Nats because it's. Sometimes it's natural wine, but, like, little bubbles. So not a champagne, but just, like, little bubbles, and it's fruity, and they're sweet. And I had the baby, and we went to Mexico City, like, literally, like, three months after I had him. And I was, like, pumping all through. I'm like, we're gonna. I drank it. I look great. We came home, and we went to a. Like, a natural wine bar, and I ordered a bunch of it. And the next day, I was like, I'm done. Like, I thought I could just pick back up. Yeah, like, you wanted that weed so bad. I was like, I want this little bubbly wine. And I just was like, I'm Good.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, the desperation to return to what I once was was so strong. And then you come out on the other side. You're like, there's. That's not there anymore. That person's gone.
Eliza Schlesinger
My podcast co host gets mad because I eat in a microphone, but I agree it's not there.
Esther Povitsky
You seem like you did not lose your identity at all. And you're like, just good. But is that just because you're, like, far out from starting this journey?
Eliza Schlesinger
I think having help. I mean, look, I had really horrible postpartum depression after having Ethan. My husband says I had it after Sierra, but I really don't remember. Like, I cannot account for who I've been the last two and a half years of my life. Like, I say things and they're like, well, this is what you asked for on the schedule. I'll be like, I have no record of that, even though that is my email. I don't know. And sometimes it's so bad. And because it feels so. Because it is so real, you don't know that that's what that is because you're just feeling so bad.
Unknown
What did it look like for you?
Eliza Schlesinger
A lot of it was tied to. I mean, it's not gonna be relatable for everyone. And people might turn off after this, but, like, October 7th for any. For most Jewish people was just an absolute horrific discovery. Of all the people that you loved and supported that you thought wouldn't hate you, like, turning around, being like, oh, you hate me so much for things that I am not in control of. And then making a choice to be a person who stood up for what I thought was rational thinking and doing it. I've always been the one that does that. And so I'm sitting there pregnant, and then postpartum, responding to people citing facts like, this has never been an emotional me being like. And I feel like this would be like, here are the facts about this. You cannot beat up Jews in other countries because you don't agree with, like, just things. And it took a doctor, like, a therapist being like, you are taking in a lot spiritually, when you are just, like, an open wound. And because I'm such a fighter and because I build everything from scratch, it didn't occur to me that perhaps while breastfeeding your newborn child, that is not the time to be fielding, like, Nazi propaganda. Because I was like, well, I have to do this, because if I don't this, I can't not. And that was really hard to just, like, process that.
Esther Povitsky
And you're so Right. That you don't. When you're going through it, you don't know that you're going through it, and that sucks.
Eliza Schlesinger
And breastfeeding felt really, really horrible for me.
Unknown
Were you. Did you have a dmer d m E R?
Eliza Schlesinger
What is that?
Unknown
Where it's like, instead of euphoria, that. Yes, you have the opposite. You feel the dread and depression and almost like this separation from self for a lot of women. Like, it's like a sadness you feel when you breastfeed or pump.
Eliza Schlesinger
I guess it wasn't sad. It was a genuine, like, I'm not a depressed person. I don't have depression. I think I'd be. I feel like it would make me, like, a lot cooler if I had all these things, but I don't.
Esther Povitsky
And I think that also make you not as good.
Eliza Schlesinger
I think it gets glamorized in Hollywood. I do think people, like, they wear their issues, and I'm like, there's. There's more to life than just, like, identifying with an issue.
Esther Povitsky
You're so right, though. It does get glamorized. And I used to glamorize sadness, and then I feel like I experienced real sadness. I was like, don't.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's exactly right.
Esther Povitsky
Don't do this.
Eliza Schlesinger
I felt it. I felt true depression. And I actually called a few of my friends who I was always like, you're a little. You're a little annoying. And then I realized, no, no, they're not knowing. They're depressed. And I called her, and I was like, if this is what you feel, like if how I'm feeling right now is how you feel all the time, I am so sorry that I secretly called you annoying behind your back that one time you were late. It also created this empathy of, like, if this is the heaviness that you carry. And there's a lot of people in my life that have that. I got it. I get it now. But I would. I would breastfeed, and you're supposed to experience this. Like, oh, I'm connecting. And it would make me so anxious, I would pump, and I would just store it for later, because the hack is pump a bunch. And even though it'll, like, really hurt your boobs, leave it in the fridge. Give it to the night nurse. She'll feed the baby. You don't have to wake up with the baby. And so I would just pump, but actual pumping made me feel I couldn't eat or drink or really have a conversation while I was doing it because it made me so anxious. And I would, like, watch TV and I would be like, you don't hate that actor or this show. You don't hate these things that you're reading. You are. You have to wait 15 minutes and then you'll be fine.
Unknown
That's definitely DMER.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's that.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
I have to tell myself, like, no, you don't actually feel this way. You're not actually angry.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
You just need to wait.
Unknown
It can even look like women feeling like they have to vomit. Like they're so.
Eliza Schlesinger
I felt nauseous.
Unknown
Yeah. Not.
Eliza Schlesinger
Couldn't eat during it. Funny after, like, even water was, like, really difficult. And it would just be me, like, you gotta get over it. And then I was just like, what am I doing this for? No one cares. My baby's healthy. I did it the best I could. I pumped. And then I was like, rationally, this is clearly a brain chemistry thing. That's any form of depression. This is our hormones and our. I was like, you are messing with it multiple times a day. So multiple times a day, someone's like, taking all the liquids and chemicals in my brain and shaking it. And I was like, this can't be good long term. So I just stopped.
Unknown
That makes total sense.
Eliza Schlesinger
I mean, in case you. Anyone out there feels that they need to do it for some weird trad wife reason.
Unknown
I think that there is a lot of pressure around that. I think there is a lot of pressure to just like, constantly breastfeed or do what's right or be a martyr to motherhood. But it's like, I think, like, I. I don't know then who said this or what researcher, but they said, like, the true. The true marker or like, indicator that your child is going to be like, a successful, like, human being is to see not their dad happy, but their mom happy. Specifically the mom. And I'm like, oh, that makes sense because I think I grew up to be a very, like, anxious and truly depressed teenager, young kid all the way to adulthood because I couldn't remember a single time where I looked at my mom and she was enjoying herself.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's awful.
Unknown
And I was like, wait, I don't. My mom. My mom doesn't smile. She's constantly stressed, she's pressed, and I can't. I don't have a single memory of that.
Eliza Schlesinger
I would believe that because we take so much from them, to be fair. And I never felt like anyone would judge me. I like to very much be there for women to be like. Like, anytime I see a mom, I'm like, whatever you're doing is enough and perfect, because nobody cares. At the end of the day, nobody is actually. Like, if you turn off Instagram, like, no one's watching. No one's watching what you're doing unless you post it.
Esther Povitsky
The other thing I think is, like, if you're out there trying to be the perfect mom and raise the perfect child, like, good luck. Cause guess what? Your kid is a human. And we're all bad. We're all messed up in a way that's different from that one and this one. Like, there's no perfect formula.
Eliza Schlesinger
No, but that's the thing. It's like, no one's expecting there to be it, but it is. The society wants us to spend all of our time, mental resources, and money trying to attain a version of perfection, even if it's just the way that you look or the way that you mother. And while you are doing this, while you are trying to get to this perfect version that doesn't exist, they are doing things like taking away our rights to our bodies while we are pitting women against each other. Because this is all a female discussion when it comes to, like, moms and who's momming. Men are not in that discussion. It's just women shaming other moms and women and weighing in. And while we are distracted by fighting each other over things that ultimately do not matter because there is no award for who breastfed best or anything like that, Horrible things are happening. Your rights are getting taken away. Your mom wins.
Esther Povitsky
No, she just breastfed me until I was three and a half.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, well, that's a choice that she made.
Unknown
But you're so right, because I got. Got totally sucked into to all of that. Because when I. I've had. When I was at Bobby. I had two abortions when I was a Bobby. And because I was so public about that, it seeped into my mind that I no longer deserve to be a mother ever.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's crazy.
Unknown
You know what I mean? Like, it was such a. A huge guilt that I carried around being like, oh, Like, I cannot. I can't even. I can't even say that I want to be a mom anymore. So I would constantly, constantly say on podcasts, I want to kill my bloodline. I don't want to have kids. I don't want to do any of that because I had somehow convinced myself I didn't deserve it, because that's sort of. I was told what a horrible thing I did.
Esther Povitsky
You got infected by, like, that comics.
Eliza Schlesinger
Male comics. That's like a male comic vibe. And they're like, yeah, bloodline. Yeah. Just like Japanese bloodline, British lords. I, I mean, I'm super pro choice. I had an abortion. I don't feel bad about it. I don't ever think about, like, what would that baby look like?
Esther Povitsky
I'm like, I feel the same way with my miscarriage. Although it did.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm sorry you felt that way, though.
Unknown
Yeah. Pretty shitty. No, thank you.
Eliza Schlesinger
That is a shitty thing to feel.
Esther Povitsky
I feel very strongly that, like, it's not a baby till it's a baby. I don't know.
Eliza Schlesinger
I mean, Yeah, I, I, we could get into, like, what's a heartbeat? Like, we could get into it.
Esther Povitsky
I'm like, that wasn't a baby.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, that miscarriage is brutal.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, it was. It was horrible.
Eliza Schlesinger
I mean, I've had one, and it's, it's, it's the expectation, and you're all excited, and then you get. And then it happens, and then you. I felt dumb. I felt dumb for being like, I'm like, how long was it not viable? And I was still walking around like my baby. But then it, like, one day you wake up and, like, you don't even remember.
Esther Povitsky
Most of it was yours before Sierra. Wow.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah. This might be indelicate, but, like, my husband was out of town. I called him. I was obviously upset. I found out at the doctor's office, like, it was, it was brutal. But I called him and he flew home. And on his way home, he picked up orange wine and sushi because it's like, well, since you may as well.
Esther Povitsky
Aww, that's so sweet.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, there's always. There's always food. I suppose there's always food.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, okay, subject change. But I have a question. Like, because you're sort of like the face of. You're the elder Millennial, right? Special on Netflix.
Eliza Schlesinger
That is mine.
Esther Povitsky
Gen Z has, like, really risen lately. Like, in the culture. Like, I'm curious, yours.
Eliza Schlesinger
They got older. Let's call it what it is. They're getting old.
Esther Povitsky
Your take on them. Because I am sort of over here, like a Gen Z wannabe in some ways, although less so lately. But, like, is there anything that the Gen Z's are doing that you're like, oh, I'm into that. Or do you hate them? Like, what's your take?
Eliza Schlesinger
Nothing will make you look older quicker than saying you hate young people. Because that's ridiculous. I mean, my new special, which is out today on Amazon. It opens with a monologue I wrote about millennials versus Gen Z. What I put it Online. I come from a generation of comedy that does not put their comedy online. And then like over the last few years, that's kind of changed. So I put this on there and it went viral and it got did a little. So I was like, well, let's just put it in the special in like it's polished form.
Unknown
Sorry, I don't know if we're recording it thing in my neck. And I got this new mattress. I'm just feeling so much better.
Esther Povitsky
Was it a Helix mattress?
Unknown
Are you guys sponsored by Helix?
Esther Povitsky
Yeah. Wait, why?
Unknown
Every room in my home is a Helix. I literally gift people Helix mattresses.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah.
Unknown
That's amazing. Wow.
Here's what I love about Helix too. You can buy their core collection, but then you can upgrade. Yeah, right. And get a little to the Lux, but then you can upgrade even more to the Elite.
That must be new. See, I'm still using the Lux and I can't even imagine what the Elite is because I'm getting the biggest on the. On the Luxe.
Esther Povitsky
Well, guess what? There's a special offer.
Unknown
Oh, this is the March Madness sale.
Esther Povitsky
It's the March Madness sale. And you can get 2010 off, right? 20% off.
Unknown
No, no, no, no. I'm saying for the March Madness sale. 20% was a while ago.
Esther Povitsky
No, you get it again now.
Unknown
Do you still get the 10 day money back guarantee?
100.
It's a. It is. It's 100 day. So you're telling me I could try out this mattress literally for three months and if I don't like it, they'll just pick it up from my place.
Esther Povitsky
All you have to do is go to helix sleep.com/trash Tuesday for 20% off. That's helixsleep.com Trash Tuesday for 20%.
Unknown
I'm a bit conflicted because on one hand I want to say I wouldn't sleep on this deal, but the other hand, I'd say it's the only deal to sleep on. That's helixsleep.com trashtuesday for 20% off. Go on, take their sleep quiz. Are you a back sleeper, a side sleeper, a warm, a cold? Whatever it is that you're sleeping, you'll be doing just that. We spend one third of our life on a bed. Why not invest in a Helix?
Esther Povitsky
Me and Kalila spend 3/3 of our life on a bed. Helixsleep.com TrashTuesday we'll see you there.
Unknown
If you're a bedrotter, this is the mattress.
Esther Povitsky
This show is sponsored by Better Help Boy.
Unknown
Let me Tell you something about therapy.
Yeah.
Indispensable part of my life. What about you, Rick?
I didn't even know what questions to ask until I was in therapy and I realized, oh, here are some patterns of things that I now could ask about. For example, like, I used to not get good sleep and I used to think it was anxiety, but it turns out I was sleeping on the wrong mattress, wrong ad.
Esther Povitsky
I actually learned from my therapist that I have ocd. Something I never would have known if I didn't actually take the time to go to therapy. Which is why BetterHelp is so important. And I know you seem to have been doing a lot of work in therapy.
E
You gotta. And to be honest with you, for all those people out there, I'm speaking to some of these Irish folk that just live with the depression. And you don't want to talk to anybody about it. You just want to go into the woods when you're hurt. Trust me, when you ask somebody that you don't know that is qualified to help you with this and just say a question like, I'm not happy. Better help will help it.
Unknown
Now, let's say you don't like the therapist you're matched up with. How much does it cost?
Esther Povitsky
It's free. You can get a new one.
Unknown
You get a new therapist whenever you want. Well, I'll tell you something. If you go to sleep, if you go to betterhelp.com trashtuesday, you probably get 5% off your first month.
Esther Povitsky
You actually get 10% off your first month, Rick.
Unknown
Oh, God, Am I reading that right? You're telling me not only do they match you with a clinical licensed therapist, not only do you get to have your questions answered, not only do you get to find out what questions you should even be asking, and you get to do it from the comfort of your home. And you get 10% off your first month. And if you don't like who you're working with before, you can work with somebody else. Now that is a deal. I wouldn't sleep on.
Esther Povitsky
Rick. Your well being is worth it. Visit betterhelp.comtrashtuesday today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.comtrashtuesday did you know that we have some news about a friend of ours?
Unknown
What happened?
Esther Povitsky
You know Bill Burr? Oh, yeah, you know him? That guy? Yeah, you know Bill, that funny guy.
Unknown
He had a special come out a little bit. That was the last one and there's no more.
Esther Povitsky
Which is no, no, no, No, I have huge news. Bill Burr.
Unknown
You're putting out that old special again?
Esther Povitsky
No, no, no, even better. New special, March 14th on Hulu.
E
Really?
Unknown
Bill Burr is coming to Hulu March 14th? Wait a minute. March 14th? Isn't that PI Day?
It is PI day.
Esther Povitsky
It is PI Day.
Unknown
Well, get yourself a slice of pie and sleep on this. Bill Burr has a new special on Hulu, and I say he's one of the greatest. Pardon my words. He's the greatest. Now, ladies and gentlemen, legendary comic icon Bill Burr is coming to Hulu on March 14 with his new hilarious stand up.
Esther Povitsky
Hilarious.
Unknown
Hilarious. Get it right, Rick.
E
Hilarious. Because it's on Hulu and it's called.
Esther Povitsky
Bill Burr Drop Dead Years, which is an amazing title already funny. You guys can get Bill's provocative, unfiltered and honest point of view on everything from marriage and parenthood to dating advice and dropping Dead. Oh, I love that. With his signature raw wit and sharp commentary, Bill fearlessly pushes boundaries and you know the rest. It's Bill freaking Br. He's so funny. Go watch his special, his new standup Special on Hulu March 14 and get.
Unknown
Yourself a slice of pie. I would not sleep on that strawberry rhubarb.
Esther Povitsky
If you're smart, that makes you. No, it doesn't, Bill.
Unknown
Bur March 14th is a laxative.
Esther Povitsky
Shut the up. It helps.
E
And to be honest with you, just so you know, none of that will be in Bill Burr special, but it comes out March 14th and it is hilarious. So give it a watch. March 14th, 13th.
Esther Povitsky
Bill Burr, drop Dead Years.
Eliza Schlesinger
One thing I do like about Gen Z, I'm always impressed by the content. They make sense of humor wise. Like there is a broader sense of humor with Gen Z in terms of editing and timing and videos. And like I feel like such a loser, like laying there at night. I'm just like, he was taking a. And he moved him. The pumpkin's man. Like just. I think their love, their taste in comedy is at a higher level than millennials. Millennial comedy was at that age at that time. And it might just be because more of them have access to share it because of the Internet, but just the perspective or the creativity in a lot of these things, a lot of it is garbage. But like, I don't know, I'm always. I'm always happy to laugh at something genuinely so I appreciate that.
Esther Povitsky
I agree with you. And I actually am surprised to hear like a comedian admit to that. Cause I feel like most comics are like all this online. It's like, no, it's actually so funny.
Unknown
It is so funny. It's so good.
Eliza Schlesinger
But it either hits or it doesn't. Like, you either get editing and you get timing. And I've seen videos that don't like, that's something you either get or you don't. And the creativity is always impressive to me. Like the. From the perspective of whatever. The grapefruit not being eaten in your. In your refrigerator. I sound so old right now. Or the perspective of something other than the first. First person narrative is always interesting. Or the way that they splice stuff together and it becomes a style. And there are all the, there's the innovators and these imitators, but I always think that's cool. Am I thrilled at you guys co opting, like, everything Y2K and acting like you were there while also minimizing 911? Not really. And I can tell you, as someone who lived through it, like, it was all pretty ugly back then. And I don't know why you'd want to bring back a lot of that stuff now.
Unknown
What do you guys think of, like, pimple patches or like, their idea of putting out there the flaws? Because I feel like millennials always try to hide.
Eliza Schlesinger
I can respect that.
Esther Povitsky
I like that too.
Unknown
Can I just say one thing about Gen Z? I love how open they are about her piece.
Eliza Schlesinger
They won't love that in 10 years when it's cool, not cool to talk about it and you're trying to like, run for senator.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, are they? I haven't. They are.
Unknown
They're open about all of it. You know this shit that we were just like, so hush hush. We were even hush hush about HPV once upon a time. Like, I remember being like, oh, my God, that's it. My, my sex life is over. I have hpv. But no, everyone I know, everyone, everyone has it. But that's what I'm saying. Like now they're just so open and chill about it.
Esther Povitsky
That's so cool. Yeah, because don't you remember a time where people were like, like, oh, she has herpes, he has herpes. Like, it was like this, like, like evil.
Eliza Schlesinger
I, I envy the body positivity because it's something that we could have benefited so much more from. Like, and it does seem like young people were like, nope, we're doing this. They're not letting fashion dictate it. They seem like a very depressed and anxious generation. But I'm glad that there is acceptance within. It does. We don't have to hear the story now. Like, and I'm gay. And no one liked me. And it's like, actually, if you're straight, you're probably gonna have a harder time. And the bot, like, I sometimes, like, I do a double take. I'm like, oh, that model is not real thin. We're so conditioned to see it. These are very normal people. No, you don't want to see normal people as supermodels. You don't. You want. I mean, that's what a supermodel is. But most people are not real thin. So seeing a girl who's a little bit bigger, like, that's a valid thing. You deserve to move through this world in the skin you're in, not being told that you're worthless. And a piece of that sounds good. So I, I think that that's cool. And you see a lot of girls that just sort of embrace that and they're not doing it ironically. They're not like, and I'm ugly and isn't this funny? Like, they're like, no, I kind of like my body. Part of that is being younger. I think when you're younger, at the end of the day, like, it's still like you're. You're still young. Like, your skin is still young. Like, it's a little bit more socially acceptable. But I like that for them. I like how open they are.
Esther Povitsky
I remember when I was in college, I remember this phone call with my sister where I was like, well, obviously I can't get a boyfriend right now. And she's like, why? And I was like, cuz I'm fat. And she was like, fat people can have boyfriends. Wait. Okay, you know what came up recently, which I feel like you'll be into. Do you remember when the word conceited was weaponized against us as women? Like we were. This came up on the podcast. Like, if you were a girl who like, had it all and there was nothing to hate about, you people could just. It's like the Salem witch trial. Like, they could just be like, well, she's conceited.
Unknown
Or if you had even an ounce of confidence, if you showed that you liked yourself or oh, I.
Eliza Schlesinger
When I was starting comedy, I got cocky and I was like, what's cocky about the fact that I sold out these shows and I made it, but it's reserved for women and the Internet. So this, when you're talking about when that happened, this is before the Internet, like, was baked into, like, everything that we do. The Internet is dumb. And the Internet is largely younger people who are dumb and they learn a word every Once in a while. And a lot of it is like psychotherapy stuff like gaslighting.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
And it's always frustrating when the Internet rediscovers a word that like you've been using forever. And then all of a sudden if that's so conceited, feels like a sort of group think thing and they're like, well then this is what we'll say. And nobody really. It's like this harmful label that's just like a catch all but like it's usually does more harm than good.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
When the Internet learns a word because then it gets applied to everything.
Unknown
I might be wrong about this, but I was talking to Rosebud Baker and I will say about the millennials, the older millennials is. I think a lot of great dads are coming out of our gener.
Eliza Schlesinger
Time will tell, really.
Unknown
And I am worried about the Gen Z, the young men, only because I follow Professor Scott Galloway. But I do worry about the younger boys there. But I feel like, I don't know, I think that there are a lot of good dads coming out of our group.
Esther Povitsky
Gen Z, when you hear about what their taste is in men, it's like, oh, they're gonna end it for all of us. Like they like, if you ask a Gen Z what their type is of a guy, they'll be like, I like a guy that looks like he eats cigarettes. And it's like, okay, maybe like climate change is coming on time. Like, like we're not gonna make it.
Unknown
I think, I think men are. They're kind of going towards more of the feminine.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like it's a fad. Yeah, sorry, I don't mean to cut you off.
Unknown
What?
Eliza Schlesinger
It's a fad.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Which I only say that because it always swings. We see our politics swing one way and then the other and then you see like it is no coincidence that just as Dr. Donald Trump becomes our commander in chief, all of a sudden trad wives are a thing. And then what will happen is we'll swing so far that way as we did these last several years with like being liberal, being shoved down everyone's throats in a way. And then it starts to swing. So each and then we kind of never get back to center. But the that look. Then all of a sudden girls are gonna get tired of that. And then it's like, well, everyone's kind of feminized now. Let's all put on the Carhartt jackets and become this. And by that time then they'll be older. I mean, if I think about what I found attractive, like, at the turn of the last century. Right. Like, I wanted a phrase. I know. You're like churn butter trying to sound.
Esther Povitsky
So old, like you're 90.
Eliza Schlesinger
The older I sound, the more people will, like, believe. She knows. But like a guy in, like, a studded belt, probably from Hot Topic, that was wearing, like, an ironic T shirt.
Esther Povitsky
You liked that?
Eliza Schlesinger
I had one. Eliza, I am so much older than you.
Esther Povitsky
You're not.
Eliza Schlesinger
It was so cool.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, my.
Unknown
I feel like that's fully swung back. That's.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Ironically, they'll never know. Go to a casualty show. And I also think it's the tales. Oldest time that the current generation looks at the younger ones and they're like, oh, my God. Like, you can see it quoted, like, back to, like, Grecian times. Like. Like Aristotle being like, this new generation.
Unknown
I don't know.
Eliza Schlesinger
And so it's their job to annoy us because they'll have their turn feeling old one day. And my daughter will be there to laugh at you. Yeah. Your. Your turn is coming.
Esther Povitsky
Our kids. Gen Alpha?
Eliza Schlesinger
I think so.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
How old is your child?
Esther Povitsky
She's 10 months.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, so she's the same age as my son.
Esther Povitsky
Wait. Yeah. Wait, how old is he? You don't know?
Eliza Schlesinger
He's 11 months. He. His birthday is the day after my birthday, and My birthday is February 22nd.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, my gosh. My. We're both. Me and my daughter, both born in March. She's. I'm in the beginning, she's at the end. Yeah. Because I remember I saw you the night before you gave birth, which was also psychotic.
Eliza Schlesinger
At the Ice House.
Esther Povitsky
No, at the Comedy Stor.
Eliza Schlesinger
I did both.
Unknown
Right.
Eliza Schlesinger
Because it was a planned. I was in a. I was gonna get induced. So I was like, well, I'm not just gonna. I'm not going into labor, so I may as well work.
Esther Povitsky
It's so funny because the five nights leading up to my induction, I just sat in bed drinking boba, like, upset and scared, like.
Eliza Schlesinger
Cause you hadn't done it before.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, that's true.
Eliza Schlesinger
I had done it. And I was like, I know exactly what I will put up with and what I won't. I want to get out of here. What it was. I knew what I was signing up for, so I was like, let's like, shorten the duration of this entire experience. So it just worked.
Esther Povitsky
That's so crazy. The night before, she was just, like, doing sets.
Unknown
Esther, you were working, like, three days. We were filming and recording.
Esther Povitsky
I don't know. I wasn't like, out at night. The night.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's the night that's tripping you out. That I was out at night when I should have been resting and breathing. The second time, I was just laying in bed, and I was just, like, so bored. And they give you the drug, and you're like. And we're watching Tokyo Vice, which was, like, my comfort show.
Unknown
Wait, I watched that?
Eliza Schlesinger
It's so good.
Unknown
It's so good.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's so good.
Unknown
Sleeper. Have you seen it?
Esther Povitsky
No. Should I?
Eliza Schlesinger
Ansel Elgort should have gotten everything for this.
Unknown
He speaks Japanese.
Eliza Schlesinger
He speaks Japanese in it.
Unknown
He learned Japanese.
Esther Povitsky
I will say that I saw him at a party, and he was speaking Japanese, and I was like, whoa, that guy. That's why he knows what's up.
Eliza Schlesinger
He did.
Unknown
And I don't think he previously knew.
Esther Povitsky
No, he learned it.
Unknown
He learned it for.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah, for the show. Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
I texted my best friend. I was like, I'm waiting to give birth. Like, let's text. And she was like, I need to talk to you about gun control. And I was like, okay. And I was just like, it's not, like, the chillest topic. And then I was, like, in labor for literally, like, a minute and a half. It was like, two pushes.
Unknown
Oh, my God.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, have you guys watched Severance by chance?
Unknown
Love it, but haven't gotten to the second season. Waiting. I know you burned through it.
Eliza Schlesinger
You have to watch the recap. Otherwise, because you will not remember anything.
Unknown
Honestly, that show is so emblazoned in my mind. I love it so much. And the cliffhanger at the end, like, like, had me in a chokehold. So even though, yes, I'm gonna watch all of it. I obsessed with a show. So I'm waiting till, like, I have the brain power to watch it, because right now, I'm, like, fully depleted.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's. It's a thinker. And it's so good that I read for season two and it was forever because they took such a break in between, obviously, so long. I usually. If I read for something and I don't get it, I'm like, well, fuck you forever. And I don't care who got my part. I still can't wait to watch it.
Esther Povitsky
Wait, okay, follow up question. Did you. Were you able? Because I tried watching Severance like, two years ago, and I have to admit, this is not proud. A proud moment. I was like, I don't get it. And I turned it off and all that. There's just a man walking in a hallway. This is so boring. But Then I asked Dave, I'm like, what's the premise? And then once I knew the premise, I was able to. So, like, I kind of needed. I. Dave was like, well, yeah, you're just like.
Unknown
But I think that's why I loved it, because I didn't know the premise. I went in blind. Someone said, you have to watch the show. So I did stuff. And then the payoff was so big.
Eliza Schlesinger
Well, I'm waiting for that big payoff. I'm waiting to see what Kir is all about. Like, I'm waiting to see, like, what are they doing right? Work. I hope it's not like a Lost, where you're just like, what are you.
Unknown
One of those people, though? Because have you heard of, like, raw dogging a movie or raw dogging a show where you don't know anything about it? You just see something, you watch it. You don't look anybody up after. You don't. And you just go to bed after you watch. After you watch a movie, you go to bed. You don't.
Esther Povitsky
You do that.
Eliza Schlesinger
I do that. My husband's a. I would call him a cinephile. And he'll be like, trust me, you're gonna like it. I'll be like, okay, I'll. I will watch commercials. I will watch basketball games and just stare at the. In arena feed of, like, local entertainers. Like, I'm a TV kid, so, like, I'll watch it. Even if it's.
Esther Povitsky
I'll just watch without, like, having to scroll your phone.
Unknown
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
If I put it in the other room, then I don't miss it.
Unknown
If I see even, like, a familiar face. Where is that person from? And then I have to look it up.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah.
Unknown
And see what else they've been on. Do you do that?
Esther Povitsky
I do that. But I recently. Recently did. Actually, I'm realizing I did Raw Dog, a movie because Dave, it was a porn. He was like, do you want to watch this movie? And I'm like, what is about? He's like, how about I tell you nothing, because I always want to know what I'm getting into. But then I, I, you know, you can be like. So I was like, okay, fine, let's do it. And it was this movie called Between Two Temples. Have you heard of it? It was like looking at you. Because it's a Jewish movie.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, I think of something else. I think I saw the title and I thought it was something else.
Esther Povitsky
But anyways, I did Raw Dog, a movie, and I actually thoroughly enjoyed it.
Unknown
Which one?
Esther Povitsky
The Between Two Temples.
Unknown
Oh, yes.
Esther Povitsky
Which I'm assuming you've never heard.
Unknown
I've never heard of it.
Esther Povitsky
You should raw dog it today. Okay, I will get your husband or your boyfriend, whatever.
Unknown
I think the problem is I just options paralysis. If I go on a streamer and then I see the little blurb or the synopsis, it's I can then it it my whole experience up. And then I spent two hours just sifting through single thing.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's the entertainment my husband and I. It's just looking at the trailer for each thing. And then I just watch a rerun of Shark Tank.
Unknown
Oh my God. Same all day long.
Eliza Schlesinger
I love Shark Tank.
Esther Povitsky
It's so good.
Eliza Schlesinger
Okay, but. Okay, maybe you'll get this, maybe you won't. And it's funny because this morning I said this to my husband and I was like. But I feel like no one would get this. When you YouTube TV Shark Tank if you record it right. 2020 comes on after Shark Tank on ABC. So you watch Shark Tank, it'll be like coming up next week on Shark Tank. And then it has like the cute little trailer of like where two moms. We have cupcakes. This is a plastic thing. And then it cuts to the intro of 2020. So it goes from like next week on Shark Tank. Coming up, a bride found dismembered. A husband nowhere to be found. Were the children involved. And like the tonal shift is just so aggressive from like a must have like thing to clean your screens to like a mom found missing in her own tub. Hands missing.
Unknown
I have a follow up question really.
Esther Povitsky
Quickly on the raw Dogging.
Unknown
So if you watch something and you.
Esther Povitsky
Don'T know what happened or what the.
Unknown
End was, you can't. You're not allowed to Reddit. Go on Reddit or nothing. Nothing. Or what did it mean? How did you know? Nothing. It's just you go to bed.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, see, I. I'm fighting you on that. I think raw dogging should mean you go into it knowing nothing.
Eliza Schlesinger
Yeah. It doesn't have to be complete 360 raw dog.
Unknown
No, you, your questions go unanswered. Why would you to eternity. Eternity, Eternity. You just say, okay. And then you come up with your own ideas about what you think the ending means. And I need to be told that.
Eliza Schlesinger
And also, I can't be like, I've decided that's Tom Cruise. They're like, that's Scarlett Johansson. No, I've decided that this was a small budget indie, not Mission Impossible. But raw dogging is going into it. And the duration for during. Sorry for the duration of the film doing nothing, but after. I don't think there's a term for that. I don't think raw dog extends beyond the credits.
Unknown
I think we should try extending it beyond credits and just taking in the experience and then just.
Esther Povitsky
Just going.
Eliza Schlesinger
People that runs marathons.
Unknown
No, but I am one of those people that has recently just. I don't do GPS anymore. Or if I get lost, I get lost. It's just. It's where it's gonna take me if.
Esther Povitsky
You don't show up at our next recording. Understood? Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Not understood, because you should know how to get here by now.
Unknown
Marathons.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's so funny, because that just seemed like such a regular. Like, if you missed the meaning, you're not going back for it. It's over. And I'm like, she's. She's in control of something. Are you, like, one of those, like, big puzzle people?
Unknown
No. I said no.
Eliza Schlesinger
But I spearfish, so that's weird.
Unknown
I do spearfish. If you guys want lobster. Well, the oceans are now, but my lobster season is shot. I can't get anyone lobster.
Esther Povitsky
Usually die from the wife. Yeah.
Unknown
Just finding lobster. Goodbye. No one's getting it this season.
Esther Povitsky
I've actually never had lobster, so I'm good.
Unknown
What.
Esther Povitsky
What the just happened?
Unknown
Esther, what is wrong with you?
Esther Povitsky
I'm very new to seafood. Okay.
Unknown
And you're not even allergic to shellfish.
Eliza Schlesinger
You're not even.
Esther Povitsky
No, I'm not sure why. I think it's, like, from being, like, Jewish funerals my whole childhood, and they're being, like, locks sitting out and me being so grossed out.
Eliza Schlesinger
Why are you so upset at locks? Don't look at the two Asians.
Unknown
Look at me.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's like smoked locks. Like, this is, like, one of the few things that, like, we have that other people want to eat.
Esther Povitsky
Okay, but fish and, like, a cream product.
Eliza Schlesinger
Listen to me.
Esther Povitsky
Weird.
Eliza Schlesinger
It is. It's weird. And normally I don't enjoy fish and dairy, but this one works because there is lemon. So the lemon, you need the acid. If you're gonna. It's about the balance, the fat and the protein and the acid, you need the lemon.
Esther Povitsky
Okay?
Eliza Schlesinger
And it's smoked locks.
Esther Povitsky
People are always like. Other Jewish people will be like, oh, we gotta go to Russian Daughters. I'm like, yeah, of course. But you get.
Eliza Schlesinger
Would you do smoked whitefish?
Esther Povitsky
No.
Eliza Schlesinger
Oh, it's cooked.
Unknown
What?
Esther Povitsky
It's not about raw. I like sushi.
Unknown
Okay, but you've never even had lobster when you eat sushi, like a lobster roll.
Esther Povitsky
I would Try lobster. I just. Seafood is. I'm coming around the bend to it late in life. Like, this is like, I'm in my 30s, so I'm slowly discovering it. Like, I'll do sushi. I'll do cooked salmon.
Unknown
Why are you weird about types of fish too?
Esther Povitsky
Like, would you want you to feel bad?
Eliza Schlesinger
So just making faces to see what happens. But I don't really have a horse in this race. Is it a texture thing or is it because it's from the sea?
Unknown
I would.
Esther Povitsky
I was also raised by like someone who didn't like fish. And so I think that's a factor. Like, we just had like meatloaf and like baked chicken and broccoli, chicken casserole.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like, we.
Esther Povitsky
I didn't have like a diverse palette growing up.
Eliza Schlesinger
That's okay.
Esther Povitsky
Did you not?
Eliza Schlesinger
Not really. But my husband always talks about like, it's. You don't normally like the thing. If you have the best version of something, you'll. You'll. You might like it. Oh, like people like, I hate Brussels sprouts. It's like, well, they're actually delicious if not steamed and like shoved down your throat as a child. So if you do get fish, I would just encourage you to go somewhere where they prepare it well and it's good ingredients so you can get like, you can really know what it tastes like versus like beer battered lobster and you won't even taste it right. Make sure you have a freshly speared.
Unknown
Tiny lobster is very sweet meat.
Esther Povitsky
Okay.
Unknown
Compared to like main lobster. It's different.
Eliza Schlesinger
It's different. And when you go for sushi, you know, go to a place where you can like. Actually I am not Japanese or a few a food purist. But like, I do get sad when I go for sushi and it's like a rainbow roll. I'm like, why are we even bothering?
Unknown
Sam?
Esther Povitsky
Wait, really?
Eliza Schlesinger
Like tuna with yellow tail?
Unknown
With.
Eliza Schlesinger
What are we eating here?
Unknown
I want to, I want to taste a fish. I want to taste the fish. I would say go to Studio City. Go to the joint and start there. They dry age a lot of their fish.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, that's right. Okay.
Eliza Schlesinger
And she's so not going. She's like, oh, cool.
Unknown
I really think this is a place where this before you might actually enjoy more than just salmon. They have the oring salmon there, but they have other kinds.
Eliza Schlesinger
Can I say something about salmon? What? This. I don't. This is gonna. My husband does a lot of food research. He's also, he's a cookbook author. We do a lot of, like, talks about, like, sustainability in our house and aqua farming. Like, all these things that I had no context for over the last. Until the last few years. But there are so many fish in the ocean, and we only eat about five types. And so it is crazy that salmon is literally on every single menu and every single restaurant, and there's no reason for it. So, like, one of the best things you can do for the ocean, aside from spearing your own fish, is to eat alternative types of fish that are.
Unknown
Local and especially invasives. Yeah. Like, when I spear fish, if I'm in Hawaii with my partner, we spear a lot of this fish called ta'ape and tuau, and they're snapper, but they were brought in. They. They weren't. When something. Basically, they're invasive to. To the reef, and they destroy the reef. So we shoot them a lot. We also shoot what we call, like, a peacock grouper. And the. Did you say grouper? Sorry, I almost died. I choked.
Eliza Schlesinger
You made it sound so tagalog.
Unknown
A peacock grouper.
Eliza Schlesinger
Peacock grouper.
Unknown
And yeah, it's really. I mean, that we don't eat because it carries a lot, like, cigatera. How about the other stuff? Like, have at it. I think in Florida, they kill all the lionfish there because, again, it's invasive.
Eliza Schlesinger
That was a Shark Tank episode. They were trying to, like, get people to eat lionfish because it's invasive urchin, which you're probably not gonna eat that. But people always eat salmon and, like, haddock and, like, pike, and there's so many other types of white fish.
Esther Povitsky
For example, what would your husband say to eat for fish?
Eliza Schlesinger
Look, not everybody can go to the farmer's market, but he does. I don't think I'm gonna be eating anything caught off the coast of California for a while just because of these fires. But, like, he normally goes to this fisherman who, like, goes to Santa Barbara that morning, and they catch stuff and they bring it. And it's also about, like, eating other cuts, like a collar or just. Just so people know this, like, just other cuts of meat versus just like, a salmon fillet. The other thing that he always talks about is one of the most sustainable things you can do is eat, like, bivalves, like scallops and things like that, because these things clean the ocean. Yeah.
Unknown
And you can just harvest them, get them off of Malibu, go to the beach and get them yourself. Not right now. Not right now. Yeah, but typically, like, there's, like, the months of the year they can have, like, domoic acid. So they Tell you not to pick them. Like after May.
Eliza Schlesinger
You are obviously more familiar with like fish harvesting.
Unknown
But I love what you're saying because it's true. Like, in the coast of California, you can get yourself white sea bass, calico bass, sand, all so many different types of issues. Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
Sheephead and eat. Sorry, you're like, you're like, I'm just gonna try salmon. We're like, here's the sustainable practices. Eating fish caught in the United States is one of the more sustainable things you can do. I think that people. This is so not this what this podcast is about.
Esther Povitsky
That actually is what I think people.
Eliza Schlesinger
People think like, oh, I got my shrimp from Mexico or from Thailand. If you are eating u. S. Caught fish. We actually have some of the best regulations around these things. And also think about it. Your fish is traveling from. From closer. So there's less carbon emissions for that.
Unknown
Or it's like, right.
Eliza Schlesinger
You know, less freezing and stuff like that. So eating as locally as possible.
Esther Povitsky
But weren't we just saying it's toxic here now?
Unknown
Yeah, yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
But it could just be us caught versus getting it from another country.
Unknown
And also like mahi mahi. You can catch that off of California yellowtail.
Esther Povitsky
I love a good mahi mahi from the cheesecake factory. It's a really good meal for me.
Unknown
I want to ask you to ask your husband right now. There's this thing going around that a lot of the calamari we eat is actually pig butt and pink anus.
Eliza Schlesinger
I heard that. Do you want me to ask him? Because he'll know.
Unknown
Yeah, okay. And I. This American life had this whole thing about it, but I. It wasn't conclusive. And now I need to know if I've been eating.
Eliza Schlesinger
Like you would know. I think it would say on the bag. I don't think that they could actually.
Unknown
But apparently because the consistency of calamari is similar to the rings of the pig butthole.
Esther Povitsky
Is this like how it's not true California rolls?
Eliza Schlesinger
It would be so much pig buttholes.
Unknown
But there are a lot of pig.
Eliza Schlesinger
But there are.
Esther Povitsky
Oh, my God, he's so cool.
Eliza Schlesinger
He's so cool. And then like, I teach him stuff about like tinted moisturizer and like how I'm feeling and like stand up.
Esther Povitsky
Difference between a good crowd and an okay crowd.
Unknown
We that. That honestly, everything he was saying about fish I'm super interested in. Just because it's like, like I really. This is something that I. I feel like no one actually talks about or knows. I mean, California water is like, there's so much good fish here. Even what he said, like vermilion, like rockfish, or like cabazon, all is good. I can't.
Eliza Schlesinger
Even if you are able to go to a farmer's market or if you're able to pick something else and obviously depends on where it's coming from. But even as I say like farmer's market, and I don't mean to like get into something as is wrapping up, but like just talking about earlier, like the shame that you felt when you were talking about like having help and then you know, because your mom didn't. Even as I say farmer's market, what I hear is like, not everyone can afford it. Like you're up on your and it's just like, no. But everybody can afford to make better choices in general. Everybody. I don't care if you only have three minutes a day. I don't care if you're on a budget. Like, there are options. And I think in our efforts to make sure that we offend no one, you end up saying nothing. Like, I know there's nothing elitist about saying, I go to a farmer's market. I don't go. My husband goes.
Esther Povitsky
I'm sleeping.
Eliza Schlesinger
I'm sleeping because I worked the night before. But like, you're allowed. I'm not saying like, all your food has to be vegan, it sustainable and vertically farmed in your house with your own farmer. But like, there are small choices that we can all make to impact the greater good.
Esther Povitsky
I like that. I think it's so true. Like we end up saying nothing. I. I feel like the last 10 years I've had no personality because I've been like, afraid of you don't want to get canceled. Yeah. Or just like upset people.
Eliza Schlesinger
And you know what? That's also cuz you're a woman. Men don't care. Like, all your friends that have their podcast, they say like vile things and like, like it's fine, but it's easier to call a woman to task because we love to burn women. They didn't burn witches, they burned women. And we love to do it now. And so.
Esther Povitsky
And on that note, on that note.
Eliza Schlesinger
Watch my new special.
Esther Povitsky
Eliza has a new special on Amazon called A Different Animal and she also has a podcast called Ask Eliza.
Eliza Schlesinger
Thank you so much. I was gonna forget.
Esther Povitsky
I know you were asking if you.
Eliza Schlesinger
Want more of these hot takes about sustainable farming.
Esther Povitsky
She also has a son in case she forgets that again.
Eliza Schlesinger
Ethan.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah.
Eliza Schlesinger
He's gigantic.
Esther Povitsky
Eliza, thank you so much for being here. This was so much fun. Please come back. Every day, all the time.
Eliza Schlesinger
Thank you for inviting me. This was great. Thank you for the banana.
Esther Povitsky
Yeah. We'll see you guys next week with a brand new episode. Shout out to our golden slugs. Chrysanta and Thomas, thank you for your extra support.
Podcast Summary: Trash Tuesday w/ Esther Povitsky & Khalyla Kuhn
Episode: Iliza Shlesinger is a Different Animal
Release Date: March 11, 2025
The episode kicks off with Esther Povitsky announcing a last-minute stand-up show at the Comedy Store, featuring special guest Iliza Shlesinger, who debuts her new Amazon special, A Different Animal. Iliza’s appearance is highly anticipated, given her extensive experience in comedy.
Quote:
Esther Povitsky [00:00]:
“This is probably her like 400th special at this point. Please welcome Eliza Schlesinger.”
The conversation swiftly moves to the challenges and realizations Iliza faces as a mother of two. Iliza discusses the practicalities of managing two children with the help of nannies, emphasizing the emotional toll and the constant balancing act between career and parenting.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [02:15]:
“If anybody is not losing their mind, it's because they have help.”
Iliza candidly shares her preference for having help, debunking the myth of the "supermom" who manages everything solo. She highlights the emotional struggles, such as missing her children’s presence and the monotony before they become more interactive.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [02:21]:
“My heart breaks in half when I have to leave my daughter. I love being home for her.”
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around societal expectations and the pervasive shame directed at mothers, especially in America. Iliza and Esther delve into how mothers are often criticized regardless of their parenting choices, whether they choose to stay home or rely on external help.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [26:54]:
“It's all out there. You don't make fun of dads because people don't want to come for men… it's always an easier target to shit on women or make fun of that celebrity mom.”
They explore the toxic culture that scrutinizes and shames mothers for their decisions, leading to feelings of isolation and inadequacy.
Iliza bravely opens up about her experiences with postpartum depression, a topic that remains stigmatized. She describes the overwhelming emotions and the difficulty in recognizing and addressing her mental health needs during this period.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [30:13]:
“It's the hardest job in the world… spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally… what it does to you.”
Iliza emphasizes the importance of acknowledging mental health struggles and the lack of empathy from society towards mothers dealing with these challenges.
The hosts and Iliza discuss the evolving dynamics between Millennials and Gen Z, particularly in the realms of comedy and societal attitudes. Iliza shares her appreciation for Gen Z’s humor and openness, contrasting it with the sometimes rigid expectations faced by Millennials.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [57:23]:
“There is a broader sense of humor with Gen Z in terms of editing and timing and videos… their taste in comedy is at a higher level than millennials.”
They touch upon how generational shifts influence cultural norms and the reception of comedy across different age groups.
A lively segment focuses on sustainable farming and responsible seafood consumption. Iliza and Esther engage in a spirited discussion about the importance of choosing sustainable fish options to protect ocean ecosystems.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [75:11]:
“One of the most sustainable things you can do is eat, like, bivalves, like scallops and things like that, because these things clean the ocean.”
They advocate for supporting local fisheries and selecting invasive species like lionfish to help maintain ecological balance.
The conversation shifts to the significance of therapy and mental health support. Esther and Iliza promote services like BetterHelp, emphasizing the accessibility and benefits of seeking professional help.
Quote:
Esther Povitsky [53:56]:
“BetterHelp is so important… when you ask somebody that you don't know that is qualified to help you with this and just say a question like, I'm not happy. BetterHelp will help it.”
They discuss personal experiences with therapy, highlighting its role in overcoming mental health challenges and fostering self-awareness.
As the episode draws to a close, Iliza shares her insights on personal growth and self-acceptance. She encourages mothers to embrace their choices and reject societal pressures, advocating for a supportive and understanding community.
Quote:
Iliza Schlesinger [47:35]:
“It’s so important to see my daughter… Like, your son… just having love."
Esther echoes these sentiments, reinforcing the episode's overarching theme of authenticity and resilience in motherhood.
Conclusion
This episode of Trash Tuesday offers a heartfelt and candid exploration of motherhood, societal pressures, mental health, and generational shifts. Through engaging dialogue and personal anecdotes, Esther Povitsky, Khalyla Kuhn, and guest Iliza Shlesinger provide valuable insights and support for listeners navigating similar challenges.
For more engaging discussions and wild takes, tune in every Tuesday to Trash Tuesday. Follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.