Podcrushed Episode Summary

Podcast: Your Next Listen (Lemonada Media & Simon & Schuster Audio)
Episode: Author Tembi Locke on Podcrushed
Date: November 3, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features best-selling author, actor, and producer Tembi Locke, known for her memoir "From Scratch" (adapted into a Netflix series) and her newest audiobook, "Someday Now." The Podcrushed hosts (Penn Badgley, Nava Kavilan, and Sophie Ansari) guide Locke through childhood memories, the process of memoir-writing, creative family legacies, themes of transformation, spirituality, and the emotional nuances of midlife and blended families. Locke’s warmth and insight illuminate a conversation deeply rooted in personal story, creativity, and the endless possibilities of “re-nesting” after loss and change.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Childhood & Middle School: Change, Code Switching, and Creativity

• Major Upheaval: Locke recounts moving between multiple middle schools and dealing with parental remarriage.
  • “So 12, my dad remarried, I was changing schools. So I went to three different middle schools.” (03:56)
• Identity Formation: Navigating shifting social and family spheres, Locke coped by journaling and “code switching”—not only culturally, but adapting between schools and households through dress and activities.
  • “One day I’m gonna be preppy, the next day I’m gonna be punky… I was just really in an emergence and kind of at sea.” (04:22)
• Books as Anchor: Books and theater became a grounding force, nurturing her love of stories—an early precursor to her writing career.

2. Family, Sisterhood, and the Role of Mentors

• Bond with Sister Attica: The chaos of moving cemented Locke’s relationship with her sister, who became “ride or die” and creative collaborator.
  • “We really became each other’s kind of ride or die. Because we were the only constant in each other's day to day.” (06:33)
• Grandmother’s Influence: A former teacher, she fostered creativity and discipline, balancing structured play with freedom and championing the case for boredom and independent exploration.
  • “She gave us like guardrails, but also free rein.” (08:24)
• The Importance of Boredom: Locke advocates the value of “being with oneself without stimuli,” linking it to creativity and self-worth.
  • “Learning to be with oneself without stimuli… giving someone a paintbrush and a canvas or a pen and paper… It has value and it’s worth documenting.” (11:39)

3. The Art of Noticing: Seeds of a Memoirist

• Journaling & Observation: Locke always tracked details, emotions, and moments—even before realizing she would be a memoirist.
  • “I can see that there were all of these ways in my life where I was paying very close attention to detail… that is our job as actors… as memoirists, all of that raw material… become[s] the raw material that we shape and we craft into narrative.” (12:58)
• Photography & Physical Mementos: A tactile connection to memory—the pre-digital version of building an identity scrapbook.

4. Middle School Memories: First Love, Heartbreak & Awkwardness

• Locke describes herself as a “girl who crushed hard,” with a first crush in kindergarten and a middle school heartbreak that still stings.
  • “My first heartbreak was liking someone thinking we were going steady… only to find out he was taking someone else to the dance.” (17:14)
• Fashion Fails: She meticulously planned “matchy matchy” outfits and once wore garish eyeshadow to match her socks and collar for a school photo—now an emblematic cringe memory.
  • “I basically walked out of the house looking like color blocks.” (17:52)

5. Career Trajectory: From Journeyman Actor to Acclaimed Author

• Journey in Acting: Acting was Locke’s first love and initial professional pursuit.
  • “I began my career as what they call a journeyman actor… enough to pay the rent, keep the lights on.” (20:59)
• Career Interruption & Shift to Writing: When her late husband Saro became ill, Locke turned to writing as an outlet and eventually as healing.
  • “In that void, in that slowing down, I missed… what do I do if there’s no director and no set and no scripts, no costume? …That’s when I started taking writing classes.” (22:05)
• From Scratch: Encouraged by her sister Attica, she compiled her writings into her first memoir.
  • “If you don’t write it, I’m not going to speak to you.” (24:12)

6. Netflix Adaptation: Vulnerability, Widespread Resonance, and Saro’s Presence

• The shock and honor of seeing her most personal story become a globally shared series.
  • “I spent a lot of time… surrendering to the big, unbelievable, magical, once in a lifetime, never shall it pass this way again type situation that it was.” (25:56)
• Locke felt her late husband’s spirit as a “co-writer,” especially in moments that required courage and heart.
  • “I needed to anchor in to write our story… I needed to grab hold of all the parts of him that still remained alive for me.” (30:54)

7. Spirituality, Sicily, and the Power of Place

• Sicily’s natural beauty acts as a spiritual conduit for Locke—a place where nature’s elements fuse and invite reflection.
  • “There is something beautifully naturally spiritual about Sicily… when I get there, I breathe a little deeper.” (32:19)
• Connects the resonance of certain geographies with her own core creative attributes.

8. On Memoir & Audiobook Innovation

• “Someday Now” as an immersive audio-first memoir, interweaving narrative with authentic Sicilian sounds (language, sea, Vespas, etc.).
  • “I chose to record the island… bring the listener with me… so that the place comes alive to you the way it comes alive for me.” (38:27)

9. Parallel Awkwardness: Adolescence and Middle Age

• Locke observes the symmetry between the hormonal, emotional turmoil of adolescence and the changes (and potential) of midlife:
  • “Some days, middle age brought the same emotional awkwardness I had felt in middle school, just with bills and a stiff back.” (40:21)
  • “In adolescence, you’re kind of imagining who you might be. In midlife, you’re reimagining who you might be.” (41:31)
• Advocates for “re-nesting”—seeing midlife as a fertile, generative season rather than a decline.

10. Ritual, Tradition, and Healing

• Details the importance of creating new rituals and traditions, especially for healing after loss and forging new paths in blended families.
  • “Ritual gave us anchors… it made us agents in the thing that we wanted to create.” (48:31)
• Encourages listeners to intentionally create and maintain rituals, however small, to foster resilience and joy.

11. Blended Families and Welcoming New Love

• On bringing a new partner (Robert) into the family after loss: prioritize consistency, patience, and intentionality—especially for children.
  • “Any perceived inconsistency can be perceived as another potential loss, which then can be an impediment to getting close.” (52:05)
• The importance of listening, honest conversations, and (if needed) professional support.

12. Advice to Her 12-Year-Old Self

• “You’re gonna have so much fun. You will have fun. And just don’t forget that.” (54:55)
• A poignant reminder to keep joy at the center, despite upheaval and growing pains.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the value of boredom:
  “Learning to be with oneself without stimuli… giving someone a paintbrush and a canvas or a pen and paper… your experience is real and it’s also worth… documenting.” — Tembi Locke (11:39)
• On writing poignant memoir:
  “As a memoirist… all of that raw material of… intimate, lived experience then become[s] the raw material that we shape and… craft into narrative.” — Tembi Locke (12:58)
• On transforming “empty nesting”:
  “I rebuked defining my life by a negative… and I really wanted to do the reframe and call it re nesting, not empty nesting.” — Tembi Locke (44:28)
• On spirituality in Sicily:
  “When I get there, I breathe a little deeper. My shoulders relax just a little bit, and I say, what is that? I think some of it is the natural element. And I think there's a lot of…you can connect to spirit easily in a place like Sicily.” — Tembi Locke (32:19)
• On the universality of grief and new beginnings:
  “It is very normal to have an experience of some level of grief…something new is coming, but you don't know what that thing is yet.” — Tembi Locke (45:54)

Important Timestamps

• Childhood changes & family background: 03:43–06:33
• Bond with sister & creative influence: 06:18–08:24
• Role of boredom & creativity: 10:52–12:40
• Seeds of a memoirist (journal/photography): 12:58–14:45
• First love & heartbreak: 15:06–17:14
• Awkward fashion memory: 17:43–18:54
• Acting career beginnings: 20:49–22:02
• Turning to writing after husband’s illness: 22:05–25:27
• Seeing “From Scratch” on Netflix: 25:56–30:54
• Spirituality & the power of Sicily: 31:35–36:22
• Audiobook “Someday Now” & sound design: 38:12–40:21
• Symmetry: adolescence & midlife: 40:21–43:36
• Rituals, tradition, healing after loss: 48:12–51:00
• Blended family advice: 52:05–54:44
• Advice to her 12-year-old self: 54:44–55:51

Tone and Takeaways

Locke’s voice is luminous, honest, and wise, laced with humor and vulnerability. She reflects deeply on change, grief, and transformation, but always anchors to hope, agency, and creativity. Her “re-nesting” philosophy provides an inspiring model for meeting life's transitions with intention, resilience, and joy.

Recommendation:
“Someday Now” is not only a memoir about adapting to change and rediscovering oneself, but also an accessible, immersive listening experience. As Tembi Locke puts it, regardless of upheaval or heartbreak, “You’re gonna have so much fun…don’t forget that.”