5 Things with Lisa Birnbach

Abigail Tucker in her book, Mom Genes, explains how mothers’ brains are transformed during pregnancy. And as far as transformations go, this is the final episode of Five Things that Make Life Better. All 150 episodes are available at lisabirnbach.com as well as on apple podcasts, google play, stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio etc. Watch this space for more from Lisa Birnbach!Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things that make her life better: 1. The people involved with the Five Things Podcast, 2. Ellen Angell Sholk, founder of the Five Things That Make Life Better Facebook fan page, 3. My guests, 4. Customer service phone numbers that get you directly to a person, 5. CherriesAbigail Tucker’s 5 Things: 1. Escape to the Chateau, 2. Sea Buckthorn, 3. Tuff Girl Fitness, 4. The Global Babies Series, 5. Hot Vanilla

Senator Al Franken has returned to civilian life. He is a hands-on grandpa, a podcaster, a talker, and a policy wonk. When we met for breakfast recently -- duly separated by 6 feet -- he was interrupted constantly by supportive New Yorkers urging him to run for something, anything. He still wants to help Americans, by providing help for the needy or by providing a laugh or two. Does he want to talk about what happened to him? Not really. He is looking forwards, not backwards.Lisa Birnbach's Five things that make life better: 1) A kiss from her Grandexhibit ™, 2) Santa Barbara, 3. Recording her podcasts with her son, 4. Palm trees, 5. InspirationAl Franken's Five Things: 1. Friends, 2. Policy, 3. Laughing and Comedy, 4. Grandchildren, 5. His wife, Franny

You already know Kenneth Cole from his irreverent messaging, cool footwear, and from his longstanding, passionate support for HIV-Aids research. But now Kenneth is trying to help people find the courage to deal with their mental health issues, through the Mental Health Coalition, a group of resources that you can find online at TheMentalHealthCoalition.org both to share your stories, and find some help.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. HUGGING my family, 2. Trying new foods, 4. Caring friends, 4. Pavé the Way ™, 5. Elta sunscreen. Kenneth Cole’s 5 Things: My Family, 2. Meditation, 3. The formation of the Mental Health Coalition, 4a. Vaccine, 4b. The perfect mask, 5. Bacon.

Who is the cool jeweler on the block? It is Marla, whirlwind on Instagram. In real life she gave up a substantial career in Corporate America to make jewelry inspired by hardware -- tools and gizmos. Now she gives away charms to single moms and is raising money for the hurting restaurant business through a sterling silver chair.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. Communication, 2. My wonderful hair colorist, Angela Cosmai, 3. Everytown for Gun Safety, 4. Eating outdoors, 5. The vaccine.Marla Aaron’s 5 Things: 1. Cabbage, 2. Getting dressed every day, 3. A funny husband. 4. Writing it down--I keep notebooks--lots of notebooks, 5. Acceptance. For myself and everyone in my life. Acceptance is magic.

We may be two white women talking about this judicial moment, but the Minneapolis police brutality case was a crucible for everyone in this country, regardless of race. Is progress a victory? What about the hundreds of other police brutality cases from coast to coast? How will the national curriculum change and how will that change affect the thousands of microaggressions and misunderstandings which happen every day if you are Black in America? Jennifer Taub, author of Big Dirty Money, is a lively and thoughtful person with which to begin unpacking the facts from the noise.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things that make her life better: 1. The Derek Chauvin verdict, 2. Darnella Frazier, the 17 year old who used her cell phone to film the murder. 3. 85 MILLION Americans have been fully vaccinated, 4. Her new bifocal contact lenses, 5. This tableau vivantJennifer Taub’s 5 Things: 1. Coffee, 2. Her Puppy, 3. Poetry, 4. Friendship, 5. Sunlight.

Nancy Jo Sales is known for her ability to connect with “the youths” of America.Her new book, Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno, is a window into how the apps have taken over our lives both from interviews, and from being a subject of her own experimentation with the apps. In this week’s podcast interview, Lisa Birnbach discusses what Nancy Jo has learned, and what she thinks these apps are doing to society – and more importantly to our kids.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. Medical insurance, 2. The sourdough bread her friend Fred introduced her to at Winner in Brooklyn 3. Digital book tours, 4. An old leather coat she has in the back of her front hall closet, 5. New York City’s endless scaffolds.Nancy Jo Sales’s 5 Things: 1. Sake Bar Satsko, 2. Edibles, 3. Zazie, her daughter, 4. Sturdy Bookshelves, 5. Her treadmill.

In her illustrious career as a filmmaker, Liz Garbus has made films that make you think, and often, make you act. Her documentaries have earned countless awards, and she has added scripted films to her portfolio. Her newest movie, All In: The Fight for Democracy is of the moment. With Stacey Abrams as her guide, she shows us both historically and presently how entrenched voter suppression really is. See it on Amazon Prime now!Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things That Make Her Life Better: 1. President Biden, 2. French wine, 3. Watching my puppy play with other dogs on the street, 4. Lauren Zalaznick’s weekly newsletter, the LZ Sunday Paper , 5. Photo essay from the Washington Post about 82 year old La Verne Ford Wimberly of Tulsa, OK .Liz Garbus’s 5 Things: 1. Her family & dog, 2. Tana French mystery novels, 3. @darth on Twitter, 4. Ice House Pond, 5. Settlers of Catan .

The cards weren't stacked for writer/actor Annabelle Gurwitch when she divorced. If she sold her house, she would never be able to buy back into the real estate market, so she had to find a new way to earn. With trepidation, she began renting out a bedroom to strangers. As a funny, thoughtful, and woke writer, Annabelle writes about regaining her finances, her sexual mojo, and many other personal topics in her new book You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility.Annabelle Gurwitch’s 5 Things that make her life better:1. Young Jean Lee - Korean American playwright and her musical: We're Gonna Die, 2. Say My Name - the power of hearing your own name out loud, 3. Primo Levi's Quaestio de Centauris, 4. TikTok books that make you sob videos, 5.The Handshake.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things:1. Perspective, 2. Russian Doll, 3. Mark Bittman’s recipe for Creamy Vinaigrette, 4. Maya Rudolph, 5. Shtisel .

You know her from her major roles in meaty tv series, but Gloria Reuben is one of the most prominent women of color to lead an international environmental organization, the Waterkeeper Alliance. With 350 groups under its watch, the goal of the alliance is to provide clean water to the people who live within its purviews. How does this busy actress/writer/musician do it all? Water helps.Gloria Reuben’s 5 Things: 1. Swimming in the ocean, 2. Honest, deep, soulful and long-lasting friendships, 3. Playing the piano and singing, 4. A day when I watch the sunrise and the sunset, 5. A good hot soak in a deep tub, while sipping champagne. Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. Girl Scout troop 6000 2. Sunglasses, 3 Chef Emma LaPerruque videos on Food52.com, 4. Ruggable rugs, 5. Two Instagram accounts I like: T.L. Solein and Dennis Kardon

Guests Joey and Daniella Pantoliano talk frankly and with humor about their own struggles with mental health. The award-winning actor (The Soprano's, Memento, The Matrix) and his daughter, a filmmaker have just launched a new podcast, “No Kidding, Me Too” to fight the stigma of talking about emotional troubles of all kinds. Daniella’s Five Things: 1. Her family, 2. Her pandemic dog, David, 3. Her friends and boyfriend, 4. Nature, 5. Herself.Joey’s Five Things: 1. Coming face to face with his traumatic past, 2. Patient loved ones, who knew he was nuts way before he did, 3. Winter & Spring 4. Thank god I found the pony..., 5. Nancy, 6. That he survived long enough to give back.Lisa’s Five Things: 1. Her SECOND Vaccine, 2. A feeling of confidence, 3. The Biden/Harris administration 4. Her ability to work with her "exhibits", 5. Her memory

Meet Joyce White Vance, the MSNBC legal analyst, law professor, podcaster, and chicken raiser (among her many talents). You know her from tv where she uses her experience as a prosecutor to explain the consequences of the bad and very bad behavior we experienced for four years. An incredibly well-rounded person, the five things that make her life better are...Joyce Vance’s 5 Things: 1. Swedish baked goods, 2. Chickens, 3. Zoom drinks with girlfriends, 4. My German Shep, Bella, 5. Family meals.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. My mother’s caregivers, 2. Skincare and skincare bonding #EveLom and Augustinus Bader, 3. Dr. Jill Biden, 4. The tuna salad at Gentile’s Fine Food on Madison Avenue, NYC, 5. Pajamas.

Lisa Birnbach’s guest this week, Journalist Mark Harris, met the director Mike Nichols when he directed "Angels in America", the iconic play written by Harris' husband, Tony Kushner, for HBO. The Broadway and film director of "Barefoot in the Park," "The Graduate", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", "Carnal Knowledge", "Heartburn," "The Real Thing" and many others befriended the couple along the way, a friendship which endured until Nichols' death in 2014. The biography is exhaustive and filled with personal anecdotes and informative insights-- beyond Nichols and his body of work but also the life of the creative class from the 1950s through the present.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things that make her life better: 1. Our dog breeders, April and Sue, 2. Our dog trainer, Sam Schmidt, 3. Bulgarian Feta, 4. Dolly Parton, 5. The movie, “The Graduate”.The 5 Things that make life better for Mark Harris: 1. The Library of America, 2. The Criterion Channel, 3. Sheet-pan cooking, 4. Headspace (meditation website), 5. My Blu-ray player.

Lisa Birnbach chats with journalist Casey Schwartz, who was offered her first Adderall during her first semester in college. The concentration! The ability to focus became the best thing in her life; more appealing than hanging with her friends. Eventually Casey had to tackle what had become an addiction. She decided to interview scientists in the field of attention and distraction. While writing her book, Attention: A Love Story, Casey's father, legendary American music radio host Jonathan Schwartz was quickly suspended and then fired from his longtime station for #MeToo infractions. All of this is in Casey's story. But of course, she still found time to come up with the five things that makes her life better!Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. Airgami Masks, 2. Spelling Bee twitter, 3. Personalized stationery, 4. Parting my hair wherever I feel like it, 5. Merrick Garland.Casey Schwartz’s 5 (6) Things: 1. TACOS, 2. Watching my one year old take his first steps, 3, My weighted blanket, 4. Prospect Park (the only place I ever go), 5. My husband's ability to make me laugh no matter what. 6. Bonus: Heidi Cruz's leaked text chain.

Lisa Birnbach invites Norm Eisen to remind us why the nation may still survive despite the acquittal of Donald Trump after his second impeachment. Norm's background, intelligence, and optimism make him the perfect guest for this week. Also, did you know that Norm was a first-generation American who grew up in Los Angeles with a dad who owned a hamburger stand? His example is a successful American dream, and his life story has many great ironies and coincidences.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 things: 1. Her Uniqlo Heat-Tech pants, 2. The PupProtector™ Waterproof Throw Blanket, 3. The Brisket Sandwich at Orwasher’s Bakery, 4. A page on Facebook, called “I Grew Up in Old Manhattan” that indulges in some serious nostalgia, 5. The Covid Industrial Complex.Norm Eisen’s 5 Things: 1. His wife and daughter, 2. 7-11 robot barista, best $2.29 x-large latte in town. 3. Rock Creek Park hiking paths, 4. TheRealReal.com, 5. KN 95 mask.

Chris Frantz has it all — a great story, a wife he adores, and membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Drummer and co-founder of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, Frantz joins Lisa to discuss his new memoir. Travels with the Ramones, working and falling out with David Byrne, love, marijuana, and happiness with Tina Weymouth, and a recording studio in the Bahamas. Check out his book, REMAIN IN LOVE: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina.Chris Frantz's 5 Things: 1. My two beagles, Poppy and Kiki, 2. Tropical Islands, 3. Visiting Brittany in France, 4. Sailing, 5. Soul MusicLisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Representative Jamie Raskin, 2. a video that makes me smile, 3. Mom's 2nd Vaccine, 4. Meyer Lemons, 5. Shopping Local - SALT, Venice.

After watching Mary Trump speak out for months on tv, it was terrific to have a longer conversation with the author, a psychologist by training and the niece of the former president. Which is her favorite of his three wives (so far), why was the Trump homestead so toxic, and after all is said and done, is Donald intelligent? You won't want to miss this episode.Mary Trump's 5 Things that Make Her Life Better: 1. Her daughter Avary, 2. Art of all kinds, performing and fine, 3. The Sea, 4. Traveling, 5. All animals, especially her pets.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Being a grown up, 2. Earl Grey Tea, 3. My new pillow in the shape and image of my grandson, 4. Soup, 5. My Twitter Idols @sulliview and @JoyceWhiteVance

If you think the oath of office of the president is sacred, wait until you hear the true meaning of "conservancy of the Union" as explained by Lisa's guest this week - former FBI special agent - and now MSNBC contributor, Frank Figliuzzi. If the FBI has been compromised, what happens to what Frank calls the 7 C's he lays out in his new book, The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence? Frank Figliuzzi's 5 (actually 7) things that make his life better: 1. Code, 2. Conservancy, 3. Clarity, 4. Consequences, 5. Compassion, 6. Credibility, 7. ConsistencyLisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Sharpened knives, 2. Bernie Memes, 3, Dr. Anthony Fauci, 4. Food52 videos, 5. Charms as mementos

This podcast was created as a hedge against the bad news and vitriol from every Twitter-filled day of our former (yes I can say it!) FORMER president - so this is a very good day. There will be no guest today, just my meditation about the inauguration of president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris. It's a short episode, so this is a great opportunity to check out http://lisabirnbach.com/welcom and listen to some of the great conversations with past guests on this podcast.We've talked to so many writers, policy makers, and experts of all kinds. Everyone from Counter terrorist expert Malcolm Nance to novelist Meg Wolitzer. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and former Celebrity Apprentice staffer Noel Casler. Rabble rouser Molly Jong-Fast and comedian Jacqueline Novak. Actor Richard Kind and judicial editor Dahlia Lithwick. Fashion’s Tim Gunn and musician Peter Asher. Writer E. Jean Carroll and actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi and Chef Kwame Onwoache.In the meantime, here are the 5 Things that made made my life better this week:1) Inaugurating the 46th president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris. 2) Sheila, TNP (The new puppy). 3) The Lambchop chew toy. 4) Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. 5) Manners.

Comedian, Paul Ollinger takes Lisa Birnbach on a journey from Business School to Silicon Vally to Stand Up Comedy. What makes Mark Zuckerburg laugh you ask? Find out on this weeks podcast.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Impeachment 2.0., 2. My 90 year old progenitor got her first shot this past week, 3. Sheila the puppy, 4. App Drive & Listen, 5. Codenames the game. Paul Ollinger’s 5 Things: 1. Life Fitness Treadmill, 2. 5:00 a.m., 3. Brooklyn Brewery’s Special Effects Hoppy Amber, 4. King’s Hawaiian Buns, 5. Tom Petty and The HeartBreakers documentary Runnin’ Down a Dream.

In one of the most compelling and revealing interviews of this series, Lisa Birnbach hears from former "Celebrity Apprentice" staffer Noel Casler - NDA be damned - about the details inside Trump's inflated celebrity world. Noel confirms stories about sex, drugs, diapers, and Trump's bottomless ambitions for power. Wow ! Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things that make her life better: Sheila - the puppy, 2. Her new mattress, 3. Saying "I love you", 4. The Washington Press Corps., 5. A hot bath.Noel Casler's 5 Things that make his life better: 1. Sunshine, 2. Birds, 3. Guitars, 4. Books, 5. Neroli Oil

Lisa Birnbach unravels the secrets of Beethoven's love life with Patricia Morrisroe, author of The Woman in the Moonlight. Join us for this New Year's episode. Something to think about besides you know who.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Great customer service, 2. Satsuma oranges, 3. My new chair pillow, 4. My Aunt Yona, who turned 94 this past week, 4. Our youngest family member: Sheila Evelyn. She’s a 10 week old Cavapoo.Patricia Morrisroe’s 5 Things: 1. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony– Ode to Joy, 2. Dinner with my husband in front of a crackling fire, 3. Bringing up Baby, with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, 4. Gossiping with my sister, 5. Shakespeare in the Park .

Merry Christmas 2020. In November, Lisa Birnbach was invited to interview the incomparable author Joyce Carol Oates for the Covid challenged 2020 Miami Book Fair. This was their conversation. Unfortunately, this was not originally scheduled to air on 5 Things with Lisa - so even though we learn about Joyce's new book "Night. Sleep Death. The Stars." we didn't get to learn about the 5 things that make life better for her - but we bet that #1 would probably be her cats. Fortunately, for us, Lisa does share the 5 things that made her life better this week. Give it a listen.Lisa's 5 Things: 1. Other peoples Podcasts - like "Smartless", & "Nice White Parents", 2. Chocolate covered almonds, 3. The joy of a new Puppy, 4. Dr. Anthony Fauchi, 5. Stella Artois Cider.

Just in time for the holidays! Join Lisa Birnbach as she discusses Open Studio: Do-it-yourself art projects by Contemporary Artists. The new book and home art project book by Sharon Coplan Hurowitz & Amanda Benchley.Sharon and Amanda's 5 Things: 1. The Met (Metropolitan Art Museum), 2. Central Park, 3. Sant Ambroeus 4. The Public (Theatre in NYC), 5. Friendships.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. The Vaccine, 2. The Electoral College, 3. Dr. Jill Biden, 4. Clogs, 5. Creativity.

This week, Lisa Birnbach talks with psychiatrist Dr. Bandy X. Lee. She's the editor of the New York Times bestseller, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, and she has a warning about the mental health of Donald Trump. With all her worries about the country, she also has the optimism to identify the five things that make her life better.Dr. Bandy Lee’s 5 Things: 1. Rembrandts, 2. Bach’s Chaconne, 3. Meditation, 3. Human thriving, 5. Learning to cook with my 8-year-old nieceLisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Noodles, 2. Elective officials who are not capitulating to Trump, 3. Lifetime-Kentucky Fried Chicken mini-moving trailer. 4. Chanukah, 5. Elizabeth W. Hand Sanitizer Spray

You heard it here folks. Our guest, Lawrence O'Donnell from MSNBC's "The Last Word" promises our host, Lisa Birnbach, that Trumpism will surely die. Listen to find out why! They also talk about the Five Things that made their lives better this week.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. The United States Postal Service, 2. Reading glasses sprinkled around my apartment like bouquets of flowers, 3 My gift-giving skills, 4 HBO’s “The Undoing”, 5 Her measuring tape.Lawrence O’Donnell’s 5 Things: 1. Invention of the Teleprompter, 2. The cordless phone charger in his car, 3. Rudy Giuliani’s hair dye, 4. Air Conditioning, 5. COVID-19 Facemasks.

Happy Thanksgiving 2020. While there are so many crazy things going on in November 2020, there are still MANY things to be thankful for. There will be no guest this week, just you and me, the thing I'm most grateful for at this moment - my listeners. Of course I still have the 5 things that made my life better this week.Lisa's 5 Things: 1. Rachel Maddow, 2. A cadre of good people in the Senate who get less attention than their colleagues, 3. Peking Duck, 4. Watching live conversations on her computer, 5. Zingerman’s pimento cheese spread.

Chris Whipple, documentarian and author of Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency and The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future, joins Lisa Birnbach to talk about transitions - more specifically, White House presidential transitions. What could go wrong? Just in case they also talk about the 5 Things that make their lives better.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. The Queen’s Gambit, 2. Christopher Krebs, 3. Getting a medical appointment, 4. Return of Shtisel on Netflix and watching The Crown, 5. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s Inauguration January 20.Chris Whipple’s 5 Things: 1. Family, 2. Friends, 3. First Responders, 4. The Deep State, 5. The Crown .

Lisa Birnbach is joined by legal journalist, Sr. Editor at Slate, and podcaster Dahlia Lithwick to discuss the squirrelly goings-on at the DOJ and the White House. (Hint, they are supposed to be separate). Also an insider's look at SCOTUS - - Clarence Thomas as you never imagined him!Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. Joe Biden, 2. Kamala Harris, 3. The weather! 4. Tuna fish salad sandwiches, 5. Poll watchers, vote counters, Secretaries of state, and state election workers. Dahlia Lithwick’s 5 Things: 1. Voters, 2. Arbie our new kitten (named after RBG natch), 3. Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper, 4. My parents, 5. "Team Tyranny".

Lisa and investigative reporter Barry Levine get down to the nitty gritty in their conversation about Barry's new book The Spider: Inside The Criminal Web of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. There are new facts, details and explosive correlations between Epstein, Maxwell, and many high-powered and well-known figures. It's a must listen episode! But all is not lost, there are still the 5 Things that made their lives better this week.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things: 1. My Family, 2. My Health, 3. My Old Friends, 4. My New Friends! 5. The Resistance.Barry Levine’s 5 Things: 1.Watching the animated Peanuts Charlie Brown Halloween and Christmas shows with my daughter, 2. Starting every single day, no matter where I am, with a visit to Starbucks for a Trenta black iced tea 3. Drinking dirty martinis at an old writers bar in Manhattan with former newspaper colleagues and telling war stories, 4. Going to the annual antiquarian book fair every spring at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, 5. Pulling out a reporter’s notepad and simply putting pencil to paper in this high-tech world.

A woman and her camera. Lisa talks with documentary filmmaker, Alexandra Pelosi, about her new film American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself. A look at America at a granular level in the midst of a presidential election and Covid-19.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Voting, 2. Mom’s published humor article, 3. Decluttering, 4. Merino Wool, 5. Fake Melanias.Alexandra Pelosi’s 5 Things: 1. YouTube series - Johnny Harris and his wife Iz Harris, 2. Justin Bieber - Lonely, 3. NYC’s Washington Square Park and the people that frequent it and help make NYC a better place, 4. Dashwood Books and other small businesses that make NYC NYC, 5. Cheap box cake.

Lisa Birnbach talks with investigative reporter Joe Conason about his mentor, Wayne Barrett and what it takes (and what you can lose) to be a great investigator. Joe has written the intro to the new book called "Without Compromise: Wayne Barrett, and The Brave Journalism that First Exposed Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and the American Epidemic of Corruption" and you can tell from the conversation that Wayne was the real deal.The 5 Things that made Lisa Birnbach’s life better: 1. Madewell jeans, 2. The Vow – the documentary series on HBO 3. NY Times Spelling Bee Article 4. Rex Chapman and twitter connections, 5.Nancy PelosiJoe Conason’s 5 Things: 1. Proraso shaving cream, 2. CBD oil/balm for sleep and pain, 3. Avatar: The Last Airbender with my daughter Eleanor, 4. Sailing on Sunfish and Quest with my son Edward, 5. Instant Pot Duo

Let's hear it for young people. At age 23, Will Haskell is the youngest State Senator in Connecticut. Join Lisa Birnbach as she tries to discover what it is that compels a young man, or woman to work in the political system today - then hear about the five things made Will's and Lisa's life better this week.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Shipt, 2. Green plant for the kitchen, 3. Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris 4. Boom Again trivia game, 5. Dr. FauciSenator Will Haskell’s 5 Things: 1. Socks that match, 2. His campaign interns, 3. Homemade hard cider, 4. His brand new ring light, 5. His car - Subaru Forester.

Lisa talks with the lead prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, Andrew Weissmann, about his new book "Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation". Insider information, Robert Mueller, and the Mob! What else could you ask for beside the five things that make Andrew's and Lisa's lives better this week.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Journalism, 2. Artists online, 3. Facetiming with Le Bébé, 4. Cornmeal, 5. Hope.Andrew Weissmann’s 5 Things: 1. The FT weekend edition, 2. Carnegie Hall. 3. V&A Museum, 4. The Adirondacks, 5. The NY Subway5 Things That Make Life Better with Lisa Birnbach is produced in New York City by TheField. The team is Michael Porte, Shpresa Oruci, Kevin Watkins, Boco Haft, and Sam Haft.

MSNBC Commentator, ex-military, author, cryptologist and terrorism expert Malcolm Nance joins Lisa Birnbach for a wide ranging conversation about the international compromises caused by the Trump Administration. Even with that, they find time to discuss the 5 Things that make their lives better this week.Lisa’s 5 Things:1. Holidays online, 2. Being home in New York with a whole closet instead of 10 heavily-rotated pieces, 3. Peking Duck, 4. My mother, 5. PatriotismMalcolm Nance’s 5 Things:1. My wife’s grave stone at Washington Crossing national cemetery, 2. Radiant heated bathroom floors, 3. Shostakovich Jazz Suite waltz number two in Nero Wolfe TV Series, 4. “The bad wolf“ my 1985 Land Rover defender, 5. My French Foreign Legion issue Swiss Army knife.

This week Lisa talks with witty political protester, Claude Taylor. Claude has spent the last 3 years in an effort to defeat Trump. He has created the Mad Dog PAC to plant clever billboards around the country. He's also the co-creator of "Room Rater", a twitter account which rates the zoom backgrounds of pundits working from home.Claude Taylor's 5 Things: 1. His Kids. 2. His Dog, Pipper. 3. His Friends. 4. His Twitter Friends. 5. His Fiancé, Jessie.Lisa Birnbach's 5 Things: 1. Our monthlong California Vacation. 2. Socially distanced meals with friends. 3. Our Grandson (the baby). 4. My Birthday Celebration. 5. The Beach.

Lisa values her young friends. Lisa Birnbach's guest this week is Amelia Nierenberg, recent Yale graduate, the co-writer of the New York Times’ Coronavirus Schools Briefing newsletter. A member of the first class of New York Times fellows, she wrote on the Food Desk, and now continues on assignment for the Times.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Fruits and vegetables from one’s garden, 2. The Citizen App, 3. Vegan and Gluten Free bakeries, 4. Reading, 5. Science.Amelia Nierenberg’s 5 Things: 1. Crunchy Garlic with Chile Oil from H-Mart , 2. Negative Underwear's Sieve Non-Wire Bra, 3. Rapid turnaround Covid testing, 4. The movie Manto, 5. Spending the first half-hour or so reading and drinking tea and just letting myself wake up slowly and languidly.

Author Christopher Buckley joins Lisa Birnbach on a fun discussion about the current administration, satire, and his new novel, the satire titled "Make Russia Great Again". And of course they relish the 5 things that make their lives better.Lisa Birnbach’s 5 Things:1. Burgers Never Say Die, 2. Kismet restaurant, 3. Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, 4. An afternoon visit with another family in their house and back yard, 5. #ExhibitBabyChristopher Buckley’s 5 Things:1. Wife Katy, 2. Air conditioning, 3.Julian’s borscht soup, 4.Movie: Dr. Strangelove, 5. Pear’s Soap

Lisa Birnbach invites James Beard award winning Chef, Kwame Onwuachi, to discuss the future of Eating out, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. They also discuss what it means to be a black man, and a chef, in America - in these days of national reckoning and the Black Lives Matter movement, his book "Notes from a Young Black Chef" and to top it all off, they talk about the 5 things that make their lives better.

Author and commentator Kurt Andersen returns this week to talk about one of Lisa and Kurt's favorite subjects, Donald Trump. Kurt, whose SPY magazine dubbed Trump as the "short-fingered vulgarian, and Lisa, who was the first correspondent to visit Mar-Largo when Trump turned it into a club, are uniquely qualified to explore the shyster that has become President. Of course, when it's all over - there are always 5 things that make Lisa's life better.

Writer Kurt Andersen joins Lisa Birnbach to talk about his important new book "Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History" and how we got to where we are. Then of course - The 5 Things that make their lives better. Part 1 of 2 (listen next week to episode 112)

Lisa Birnbach and author Daphne Merkin have a frank talk about obsessive sex and love, and Daphne's new book "22 Minutes of Unconditional Love". Strangely enough neither sex nor love are one of Lisa's or Dahpne's 5 Things that make life better. Listen to find out why.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Her friend Shelley’s sour cherry pie, 2. Her mother’s 90th birthday dinner, 3. Her Exhibits™, 4. Not wearing high heels anytime soon, 5. Dr. Fauci. Daphne Merkin’s 5 (ok, 6) Things: 1. Discovering a great new book, 2. Lying in the sun by a pool or on the beach, 3. Listening to Patty Griffin, 4. That moment in writing when she is so absorbed, she forget about the time, 5. 5. Laughing hysterically about something with her daughter that only they'd get, 6. Breyer’s mint-chocolate cup ice cream.

Actress and creator Jamie Lee Curtis, and Lisa's own "Exhibit B", Writer Boco Haft, join Lisa Birnbach to talk about their new scripted podcast Letters From Camp. Hear how a long lost letter Boco wrote to Jamie from summer camp when she was 12, became the inspiration for their new family friendly podcast from Audible. And then - the 5 Things about summer camp that made their lives better.Lisa's 5 Things: 1. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - Center for Public Safety COVID-19 Newsletter. 2. A fresh plum, 3. Marigolds, 4. Receiving packages, 5. Dr. Anthony Fauci.Jamie Lee Curtis’s 5 Great Things About Camp: 1. Lanyards, 2. Trunks, 3. Bug juice, 4. Camp songs-The cat came back, 5. The camaraderie.Boco Haft’s 5 Great Things About Camp: 1. Campfire Songs, 2. Friendship Bracelets, 3. No parents, 4. Color War, 5. Camp Routine.

Harlem Chef JJ Johnson joins Lisa Birnbach in a far ranging conversation about being a Black Chef in America in 2020. Join their conversation about the joys of cooking, the beauty of rice (yes RICE!) and what it means to be a black Chef in the year of the Pandemic, his restaurant - FieldTrip, and his cookbook Between Harlem and Heaven.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. A great talk with Exhibit C, 2. Paying bills on time with checks, 3. No manicure in the time of Corona Virus, 4. No one is unreachable, 5. Ruth Bader GinsburgChef JJ Johnson’s 5 Things: 1. Family, 2. Real friends, 3. Good partners, 4. Focus, 5. Being true to yourself

If you watch film or television documentaries , you've seen one produced by Sheila Nevins, long time president of documentary film at HBO and this weeks guest on 5 Things That Make Life Better with Lisa Birnbach. Join Lisa and Sheila as the discuss Sheila's new book "You Don't Look Your Age... and Other Fairy Tales" and the five things that made their lives better this week. lisabirnbach.com/welcomeLisa’s 5 Things:1. Lloyd's Carrot Cake, 2. Method Antibacterial Spray, 3. Blue Light Cancelling Reading Glasses, 4. Competence, 5. Dr. Fauci Sheila Nevin’s 5 Things:1. Money in the bank, 2. My dog, 3. The tree outside my window (realizing nature has outsmarted me, 4. Eating cake without gaining weight, 5. Making people laugh / being outrageous in expressing the unexpressed - carefully, of course

Health expert Andy Slavitt joins Lisa Birnbach on a wide ranging conversation about Health Science, the Covid-19 pandemic, health insurance, and Andy's podcast (with his son Zach) "In The Bubble". Of course they also discuss the 5 Things that made their lives better this week.Lisa’s 5 Things:1. Sitting at my desk, 2. Frozen pastry crust, 3. Reading offline, 4. Throwing out dead pens, 5. Dr. Fauci and Science. Andy Slavitt’s 5 Things:1. A morning with nothing he has to do, 2. Friends who let him have their back and have mine, 3. When the dog rests his head in his lap, 4. When there are people who need him and he can help without doing a lot of work, 5. A great 80s pop song.

Kari Lizer - Comedy writer ('Will and Grace", "The new adventures of old Christine"), memoirist, and animal lover joins Lisa Birnbach for a far reaching conversation about kids, empty nests, and chickens. What ! Oh, and they talk about Kari's new book "Aren't you forgetting someone - Essays from my mid-life revenge" Of course they also talk about the 5 things that make their lives better.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Framing mementos and souvenirs, 2. Covid Skin, 3. Preppy Face Masks from Rowing Blazers, 4. Rosé Wine, 5. Dr. Fauci.Kari Lizer’s 5 Things: 1.Her dogs, 2. Always having a trip in the works, 3. Notebooks (and Uniball pens), 4. Saying No, 5. Ugly underwear.

If you're like Lisa, you suffer from Migraine. Guest filmmaker Susanna Styron joins Lisa Birnbach to discuss her new film "Out of my head - Migraine. It's not just a headache" and explain why this condition that affects nearly a billion people world wide remains so deeply misunderstood.Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Rhubarb 2. Going to the hair salon, 3. The Lincoln Project, 4. Shtisel, 5. Dr. Fauci.Susanna Styron’s 5 Things: 1. Coffee, 2. My daughter and her partner quarantining with me, 3. Heather Cox Richardson, 4. Large bodies of water, 5. Protest.

"Sweetbitter" author Stephanie Danler joins Lisa Birnbach to talk about her new Memoir "Stray", Surviving her early life. Family, Neglect, Love and Life, it's all so complicated! Lisa’s 5 things: 1. Family, 2. Extended family, 3. Early voting, 4. Her kitchen scale, 5. Cured of shopping via Instagram disease.Stephanie Danler’s 5 Things: 1. Poetry, 2. Meditation, 3. Marcella Hazan 4. Sequoia National Park, 5. Her Meyer lemon tree

Lisa talks to funnyman Alan Zweibel. He's written for Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal, and Gilda Radner among many others, and now he's written a new book LAUGH LINES: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier.Lisa’s 5 Things: Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. Structure, 2. Regularly scheduled Zoom and conference calls, 3. Writing and receiving mail, 4. Buying books from independent bookstores, 5. Supreme Court Decision Bostock v. Clayton CountyAlan Zweibel’s 5 Things: Alan Zweibel’s 5 Things: 1. His wife Robin, 2. Marx Brother movie, DUCK SOUP, 3. Nectarines, 4. Words, 5. Empty baseball fields.

Lisa speaks with photographer and director Jeff Vespa about his new film Voices of Parkland. With no distractions, the film allows survivors of the Parkland school shooting to express what they did and how they felt in that moment. February 14, 2018. (This interview was conducted in February 2020)Lisa’s 5 Things: 1. The Press, 2. Emotional Support, 3. Alan Arkin, 4. Farm To People, 5. Learning about being black.Jeff Vespa’s 5 Things: 1. Students and Families from Parkland, 2. Omakase Sushi, 3. Los Angeles Dodgers, 4. Great Artists: Marcel Duchamp, Eugene Atget, 5. Making art and telling stories.

In this special 100th episode, host Lisa Birnbach shares her thoughts on steps going forward after the killing of George Floyd.