Are you a writer who hates spreadsheets? Are you a writer who loves spreadsheets? Are you a writer who doesn’t know what spreadsheets have to do with writing? Check out this video that marries four of my passions: Writing! Talking! Spreadsheets! Helping other writers!
If you want to know more about my love of spreadsheets, scroll down to hear me talking to other people about how much they love spreadsheets on my “There’s A Column For That!” podcast.
On this episode of There’s a Column for That! I talk to author, agent, and event planner Sarah Nicolas!
Author Sarah Nicolas (aka literary Agent Sarah N. Fisk) is also an event planner and recovering mechanical engineer. They are the host of the Queries, Qualms, & Quirks podcast.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Little Thieves
To Watch:
LIMINAL SUMMER PRE-LAUNCH PARTY
Find Sarah:
LinkTree
Twitter
Books By Sarah
This week on There’s a Column for That! I talk to author, influencer, and super human, Ashleigh Renard!
Ashleigh is a former figure skating coach and choreographer and recovering perfectionist. Her book, Swing, tells the story of how she renegotiated her relationship with herself and rehabbed a shabby marriage in the process. Find her on Instagram and see why she has built a committed mass following who tune in daily to hear her fresh, no-fuss advice on parenting and relationships.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
The Good Place
Schitt’s Creek
Ted Lasso
Brooklyn99
Writing Books:
Save The Cat
Find Ashleigh:
Ashleigh on Instagram
Sign-up for The Writers’ Bridge, free platform building zoom for writers
Get Ashleigh's book, Swing, and find out why it's helping 1000s of couples reimagine what's possible
This week on There’s a Column for That! I talk to Suzanne Reisman, a writer and non-profit professional. Suzanne is a friend who I was lucky enough to (safely) vacation with this summer and who I will be going on a (safe) writing retreat at the end of this month. It’s not easy to make friends as an adult in the middle of a pandemic, but luckily, here we are!
Suzanne Reisman loves running, reading, spreadsheets, eating, and watching TV. She lives in New York City.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
Ted Lasso
House Hunters International
Hawaii Life
Instant Hotel
To Listen:
Kiddush Book Club
Greeking Out
To Read:
Sara Paretsky - V.I. Warshawski series
Sue Grafton - Kinsey Milhone series
Kristen Lepionka - PI Roxane Weary series
Tracy Clark - Cass Raines series
Sandra Scoppettone - Lauren Laurano series
Mary Roach - Stiff
Tana French
Jefferson Bass - The Body Farm
The Sun Will Come Out by Joanne Levy
Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan
Find Suzanne on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/suzannereisman
https://twitter.com/JFolktales
Today, on our LAST episode of Season 1 of There’s a Column for That, I talk to the man who is responsible for it all, MICAH HART.
Micah Hart is the creator and host of Who Knows One?, the internet's finest quarantine-based Jewish Geography gameshow. [Ed Note: He also hates spreadsheets.]
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
Class Action Park
Search Party
To Check Out:
Our episode on Gantt Charts
Our episode with Rogue Shul/Real Time Strategy
Our episode with A Write Who Plots by Spreadsheet
My mom as "The Chosen One" on Who Knows One? (You can go to minute 44)
Writing Coaching By Me!
To Find Micah:
Who Knows One?
Facebook
Instagram
This week on There’s a Column for That! I talk to Ellie Klein Goldman and Caroline Dorn, the founders of Real Time Strategy (a consulting firm) and Rogue Shul (a Twitter account).
Ellie is a Midwesterner living in New England. Ellie is a Founding Partner at Real Time Strategy Group, a consulting company that supports and inspires synagogue staff to work efficiently and not sweat the small stuff. Ellie loves HGTV, Jewish Geography of all sorts but especially the Who Knows One variety and desperately wants a dog but definitely does not want to walk it in the winter.
Caroline is a Founding Partner at Real Time Strategy Group and half of the voice behind @RogueShul on Twitter. She is a leading voice in all things synagogue, ShulCloud, strategic management. Caroline loves live comedy, her cat Trexler, and an excellent cheese board.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
Who Know 1?
Ken Burn’s Hemmingway
To Listen:
I Pray You Put This Journal Away
To Find Caroline and Ellie’s Projects:
Real Time Strategy
Rogue Shul
This week on There’s a Column for That! I talk to Oliver Truong, an optimist with an MBA. It was a delightful conversation, and I learned a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Oliver is a Lancaster native with a varied career in politics, non-profits, and technology. When he's not recruiting people to run for office, he is practicing his new hobby of fencing.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
President Obama’s A Promised Land
Alexander Chee’s How To Write An Autobiographical Novel
To Use:
AirTable
SplitWise
Run for Office:
Emily’s List
Run for Something
The Collective PAC
LGBTQ Victory Fund
National Democratic Training Committee
To Watch:
Katie Couric’s Gender Revolution
This week on There’s a Column for That! I talk to a city council person who I USED TO BABYSIT FOR!
Lauren Schueler is passionate about all things civic engagement and channels that into her work in higher education and as a city councilor in Norman, Oklahoma. She enjoys lifting weights, having fun with friends and family, and relaxing at home with her two cats.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
The Third Rainbow Girl
The Fact of a Body
Negative Space
To Listen:
West Cork
My Favorite Murder
To Support Lauren and her students’ efforts:
Oklahoma Votes: Twitter // IG // FB
Women's Leadership Programs: Twitter // FB
Talk about combining all my loves?! This week I get to talk all things spreadsheets, college admissions, and Jewish Geography! ENJOY!
Dr. Jeff Levine is an expert on college presidents and their internal and external environments. Administratively, he is an experienced enrollment leader collaboratively working with cross-departmental teams to implement strategic plans. His loves include his wife, daughter, finding dive restaurants, and sushi.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Jeff’s Dissertation (seriously! read it!)
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
To Watch:
Who Knows One?
Find JPL:
Twitter
Happy Poetry Month!
Anyone who likes writing, reading, poetry, or espionage (lol!), will love this chat. Sadly we cut out all the stuff about pooping. (Sorry/Not sorry!)
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full length collections Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart (Riot in Your Throat) and Beautiful & Full of Monsters (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press). She is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
No Small Gift - Jennifer Franklin
Women and Other Monsters - Jess Zimmerman
Resources:
Get Your Shit Together
Find Courtney:
Insta
Twitter
Riot in Your Throat Press
Pre-Order Courtney’s new book (on sale through the end of April!) here.
I loved talking to Justin Scribner, Broadway stage manager, producer, playwright, poet, author, and spreadsheet enthusiast who currently teaches at Columbia University. His first collection of poetry and short stories, every grain of sand, was published in November 2020. If you like Broadway, New York City, and, of course, spreadsheets, you’re going to smile through this whole chat!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Every Grain of Sand by Justin Scriber
Belonging – Remembering ourselves home
Jamie’s Piece on HuffPost
To Donate:
Your Local Regional Theatre!!
Actor’s Fund
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Find Justin:
Instagram
Twitter
The Forest of Arden
Today I am talking to Jon Darby, farmer, forager, educator, and comic book store entrepreneur. Jon and I have known each other for ten years, but it was only recently I learned of his spreadsheet prowess. Our conversation covers wide ranging topics from witchy poultices to our mutual love of Billy Bragg.
Jonathan Darby is the owner/operator of the Wallicks Farm Project, Riverbend Foraging, and co-owner of Riverbend Comics. Jonathan is a farmer, wild foods enthusiast, and educator. He lives in York with his wife, Erin, their two children, and four cats.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Listen To:
The West Wing Weekly
Billy Bragg
To Read:
Jamie’s Piece about the The West Wing Weekly
Jamie’s Piece on HuffPost
To Eat:
Old Grumpy Mark’s Hot Sauce
Find Jon:
Riverbend Comics
Insta
Facebook
Riverbend Foraging
Insta
Facebook
Today I am talking to Malika Hook Muhammad, mother, doula, birth educator, and college administrator. We have so many overlapping passions, interests, and skill sets that I knew when we met in grad school we were either going to love… or really not love each other … luckily it was practically love at first sight!
Malika is a college administrator with GW University and a birth/postpartum doula in the DC Metro area. She is the mother of 1 super amazing child, whom she hopes will share her love of spreadsheets some day.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Lead From The Outside by Stacey Abrams
To Watch:
Call The Midwife
Find Malika:
TheDCDoula
On Insta
Today I am talking to my baby cousin, Rachel Smith. Rachel is a spreadsheet enthusiast who lives in Washington DC with her husband and dog. She enjoys yoga, crochet, condiments, and nested if-then statements. The first place she plans to go post-quar is Las Vegas. Her lucky number on the roulette table is 26.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Podcasts:
Recommended by Rachel:
Who? Weekly
The Indicator by Planet Money
The Daily
Freakonomics
Recommended by Jamie:
My Favorite Murder
Fresh Air
Small Town Dicks
The WVU Co-Ed Murders
Con Artists
To Read:
Recommend by Rachel:
WASTED PRETTY by Jamie Beth Cohen :-)
The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova
Recommended by Jamie:
Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich
To Watch:
Recommended by Jamie:
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath
Today I am talking to U.N. Programme Officer, cookbook author, and self-described Groomzilla, Fernando Flores. This conversation was recorded over Zoom while I sat in my bedroom in Lancaster, PA and Fernando was in Colombia (the country - not Columbia, PA, the town a mile away!)
Fernando grew up as a military brat, traveling across the Americas. He studied International Affairs at George Mason University and has been working for the United Nations for the last thirty-odd years. He is currently working with the UN Refugee Agency on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
The Queen’s Gambit
Suits
Find Fernando:
Cooking with the Saints Cookbook
United Nations Refugee Agency
Dinner, the night I met Michele in person on a soccer field in a rain storm!
Welcome to 2021 and a conversation with Michele Bacon. We talk writing, spreadsheets, and board games!
Michele is the author of Antipodes and Life Before, but writing books for children and teens is her side hustle. Her real work is helping people find their voices and tell their stories. Outside of words, she’s an avid tabletop gamer, passionate skier, and insatiable traveller.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
Knives Out
Clue
The Amazing Race
The Queen’s Gambit
To Read:
This is My America, Kim Johnson
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin
The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.K. Klune
Tana French
Sara Paretsky
To Play:
Gloomhaven
Field of Arles
Root
Tigris and Euphrates
We were here
Among Us
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
To Support:
Food Banks - Like Ballard Food Bank
Find Michele:
Twitter
Insta
Coach Bacon
I have had such a blast talking to some really cool people about spreadsheets this year! The idea was conceived while watching a Facebook game show about Jewish Geography, fleshed out on a hike near a creek with my family, and all the interviews have taken place over Zoom. I’d say all-in-all it was a very 2020 experience, but in the best possible way, not in the “oh this year is the worst,” kind of way. That said, we’re very much looking forward to 2021, some great new episodes, and most importantly, a vaccine!!!!
Catch up below on any episodes you may have missed and make sure to follow up on Twitter at Column_Pod. Posting schedule in the new year will be the 15th and the 30th of each month (and February 28th!).
Happy New Year!
S1E1 - Carolyn Hapeman — “A Somewhat Atypical CPA”
S1E2 - Kevin Ressler — “I Only Wear Bonnets on Weekends”
S1E3 - Emily and Adam Hosey — “Prenups and Weddings and Spreadsheets, Oh My!”
S1E4 - Stephanie King — “Spreadsheets - Save Time and Look Smart!”
S1E5 - Emily Popek — “Go Rogue With Spreadsheets”
S1E6 - Kathryn McBride — “JJ and KMay!"
S1E7 - Ilisa Nussbaum — Thanksgiving is Worth A Gantt Chart
S1E8 - Deesha Philyaw — The Secret Lives of Spreadsheets
Today, I’m talking to Kisha Patterson, a Pittsburgher, an architect, an artist and someone who truly loves spreadsheets as much as I do! I feel in that way, Kisha is my twin. She doesn’t take spreadsheets too seriously, but she can’t choose her favorite one. She uses them for words and numbers. She uses them for M&Ms. You’re going to love this meandering conversation and getting to know Kisha!
Kisha Patterson, NCARB, is currently in the process of starting Kisha Patterson Architect LLC, a small architecture firm dedicated to people-first and community-centered architecture in the Western Pennsylvania and Western New York regions. She believes that cities and development should happen for the people who use them, and in turn, allow each person to fully contribute and participate in their community. She uses historic preservation, environmental design, visual art, activism, and design justice principles to pursue this mission.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Watch:
Call The Midwife
To Support:
Open Covid Pledge
Read this touching piece by Kisha.
#freethevaccine
Find Kisha:
Architect
Etsy
Insta
Twitter
Ngoc and I had a great conversation in which she both divulges her Myers/Briggs type and refers to me as someone who is older and wiser… ;-) Can you guess my Myers/Briggs? Listen and see if you can figure it out!
Ngoc Bui is a fledgling adult, writer, and comedian who lives in Lancaster, PA. Her writing can be found mostly on the internet and has been described by Samantha Irby as "sad, but hilarious". You can follow her on twitter (@ngocbbuii) or subscribe to her newsletter (bobaqueen.substack.com) where she rants about romcoms, pop-culture, recent events... everything really!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Creative Independent
Comics to Follow:
Ayo Edibiri (@ayoedibiri)
Danielle Weisberg (@danielleweisber)
Brandon Follick (@follickacid)
Milly Tamarez (@millytamarez)
Marcia Belsky (@marciabelsky)
Kyle Harris (@kyleharris)
Jes Tom (@jestom)
Ben Wasserman (@benwasserman)
Caleb Hearon (@calebhearon)
Demi Adejuyigbe (@electrolemon)
Dulce Sloan (@dulcesloan)
Find Ngoc:
Substack
Twitter
Insta
Today on the show, we talk to the phenomenal writer, Deesha Philyaw. We talk Pittsburgh, we talk writing, we talk spreadsheets, and we talk horror movies! Guess which one os us implored people to “Be less confident!” and which one said, “If you had any thoughts that adults were running these governments…”
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES, was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction.
photo of Deesha by Vanessa German
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
To Read:
Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel Moniz (pre-order here)
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. (pre-order here)
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
The Standoff (my story about a teacher)
To Find Online:
TueNighters - A facebook groups for Gen-X women in midlife.
Find Deesha Philyaw:
Deesha’s Website
Deesha’s Twitter
Deesha’s FB Writer Page
