Lighten Up with Melanie Dale

Latest Episodes:

Lighten Up #123: Jennifer Fulwiler Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm kicking off a new series, "Lighten Up about Parenting," and let me tell you why I'm so excited. Not only do I have an awesome guest line-up for you throughout this 10-part series, but I'm putting myself in the hot seat and inviting 10 beta testers to share their honest thoughts about my upcoming book, Calm the H*ck Down. These beta testers hail from all over the country and they were given an assignment: read an early copy of my book, then come on the show and tell me what they thought. They volunteered to go first and kick the tires on this thing, you know, make sure the book works before you buy it. This is the most nervous I've ever been on my own show, because I had no idea what they'd say before they came on. So first up, today I'm chatting for a few minutes with Kelly from Minnesota about Calm the H*ck Down, and then stay tuned, because radio host and stand-up comedian Jennifer Fulwiler is joining me to talk about her new book, Your Blue Flame.

She's funny! She's smart! I had a blast talking with her about parenting, following her dreams, and her new book Your Blue Flame. We talk about expectations she had going into parenting, the one thing she does every night to calm down, and how her kids are making her laugh. She decided to become a stand-up comedian and worked hard and made it happen, and she has fantastic advice for us as we pursue what makes us come alive. We chat about how can we identify our own blue flame, how do we find time to pursue our blue flame, and then she gives us a peek behind the curtain about how she developed her comedy routine and booking her first comedy tour by herself. Talking with Jennifer is fascinating and inspiring, as well as hilarious, so listen in and lighten up

Free Pandemic Parenting ebook when you preorder Calm the H*ck Down!

Calm the H*ck Down comes out December 8, and if you preorder it now, you'll immediately receive my ebook, Pandemic Parenting: How to Calm Down When the World's Messed Up, available exclusively to those who preorder.

Links from the show:

Check out Jen's book, Your Blue Flame
Jen's new podcast
Catch up with Jen on Instagram

Lighten Up #122: Knox McCoy Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with Knox McCoy, swashbuckling co-host of The Popcast with Knox and Jamie and author of the new book, All Things Reconsidered.

As I'm trying to edit this podcast, my kids are literally screaming at the top of their lungs above me. I don't know what's happening. We are at DEFCON ONE right now. I can only assume we've been attacked by zombies and at this point, I kinda don't mind? Knox and I talk about our current apocalypse, trying to work at home with kids, is this really easier on introverts, dealing with sleeplessness, and soul diarrhea. What is soul diarrhea and how can we avoid catching it? You'll have to listen to the show. Knox also gives his apocalypse movie recommendations for both kids and adults.

Now above me someone is stomping around like an elephant. We may in fact have an elephant loose in the house. My first order of business after this social distancing is to trick out my office like a bomb shelter, with sound proofing and a month's supply of Doritos and bourbon.

I know there are a lot of horrible things happening in the world. People losing loved ones, losing jobs, and losing their minds at home with their kids. I don't know what your life is like now, if you're on the front lines battling this pandemic, serving your community as an essential worker, or just trying to do the right thing and stay home to flatten the curve, but wherever you are, I hope this puts a smile on your face, so listen in and lighten up!

Links from the show:

Connect with Knox on Instagram and Twitter
Check out Knox's new book, All Things Reconsidered

Lighten Up #121: Sophie Hudson Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

Today to wrap up our series Lighten Up about Pop Culture, I'm talking with Sophie Hudson, author of the new book Stand All the Way Up. The Miss America Pageant brought us together and today we're taking our love of show biz all the way to Broadway. We talk about shows from Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton to the Buffy musical and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. We cover which cast recordings we could perform flawlessly if called upon, as well as what shows have emotionally impacted us. I love talking to Sophie because she's one of the funniest people I know, but she also shares some insights about the theatre that are so beautiful and profound. Grab your tap shoes, warm up your jazz hands, listen in, and lighten up!

Links from the show:

Find Sophie on the interwebz
Sophie on Instagram
Sophie's new book, Stand All the Way Up
Anna and the Apocalypse

Lighten Up #120: Osheta Moore Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

We are in our "lighten up about pop culture" series and today I'm talking with my friend Osheta Moore, pastor and author of Shalom Sistas. She hosts the podcast Shalom Y'all and has a series called "Dear White Peacemakers," so after this, run don't walk to go check that out and subscribe. Today we're talking about our mutual love of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We talk favorite superheroes, favorite villains, favorite movies, and what TV shows have shaped us. Then, we chat honestly about when our favorites become problematic. Cosby, Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, R Kelly...Osheta brings her peacemaking wisdom to this space and really helps me grapple with some of the tension we all feel between our favorite shows and songs and the people who create them, so listen in and lighten up!

Links from the show:

The Hill on Which This Cosby Kid Is Willing to Die
Check out Osheta's book, Shalom Sistas
Dear White Peacemakers
Find Osheta on Instagram
Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology
Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase series
The Sandman series
H.P. Lovecraft

Lighten Up #119: Kendall Ashley Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

Today as part of our "lighten up about pop culture" series, I'm talking with my friend and freelance editor and writer Kendall Ashley about fandoms, from Nancy Drew and Harriet the Spy to Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm gonna go ahead and put it out there that Kendall and I are both huge nerds, and by that I mean we are so super cool and you should be jealous of our combined knowledge of monster lore and wizarding prowess. We get downright emotional about Star Wars. We talk about fans policing other fans, when writers makes choices we don't like, I'm looking at you Game of Thrones, breaking up with fandoms, how we're indoctrinating our kids into our fandoms...bingeing Supernatural, Firefly, movies that made us cry, and adult Dungeons & Dragons. We chat about our first fandoms that we ever really got into and when we first discovered we were big nerds. I regret that I didn't even get to my obsession with Doctor Who, but Kendall blew my mind, rendering me speechless, speechless I say, with her perspective on Hayden Christensen as emo teen Anakin Skywalker. Throw on your favorite cosplay, grab your Funko collection, listen in, and lighten up!

Links from the show:

Visit Kendall's site
Check her out on Twitter
Harriet the Spy
Nancy Drew
10 Ways Buffy Taught Me to Battle the Forces of Darkness

Lighten Up #118: Shawn Smucker Mar 24, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with novelist Shawn Smucker in our series "lighten up about pop culture," about the books that have shaped us and what's influencing us now. He shares some of his favorite books and authors and what music he listens to while writing, and you guys I got a total scoop. Shawn revealed the title of his next book and what it's about, for the first time ever, to me on this very podcast. However, an addendum to that: I'm going to pull back the curtain on this here podcastery a bit and tell you that because of scheduling wonkiness with some of the guests for this series, Shawn and I recorded this approximately 47 years ago but I'm just now releasing it. Which is why I would never make a good reporter, on account of my lack of timeliness. Hey guys I got a big scoop for you that I kept to myself! The good news is his next book comes out in June and is available for preorder, so go check it out, but first, listen in and lighten up!

Links from the Show

Shawn and Maile's podcast, The Stories Between Us
Shawn's latest: Light from Distant Stars
These Nameless Things
Shawn's YA books: The Day the Angels Fell and The Edge of Over There
Pachinko
Night Tiger
Children of Blood and Bone
Trail of Lightning
Good Omens
Empathy for the Devil

Lighten Up #117: Sarah Bragg Mar 17, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm kicking off a new series with my good friend Sarah Bragg, "lighten up about pop culture." To introduce this series, Sarah and I are unpacking some of our pop culture baggage from childhood, the scare tactics used on us from being raised in the 80s, the ooky danger of Dungeons and Dragons and evil Satan Smurfs. We talk Psalty the Singing Songbook, that devastating day when Amy Grant WENT SECULAR (gasp), and how we can relate to Lane on Gilmore Girls. (All in good fun, Mom and Dad. All in good fun.) Then we turn the tables on ourselves and talk about what we're protecting our own kids from and how we're trying to do things differently but also accidentally developed Sponge Bob phobia. Parenting is hard. Sarah is one of my very favorite people and we have a blast together, so listen in and lighten up!

Notes from the show:

Surviving Sarah podcast
Sarah on Instagram
In a Dark, Dark Room - the book with the story "The Green Ribbon" that turned me on to horror in second grade

Lighten Up #116: Kelly Minter Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with Kelly Minter, Bible teacher and author of the beautiful new cookbook, A Place at the Table. Years ago I went to a group for moms where we went through Kelly's study of the book of Nehemiah, which was about this guy who goes back to his hometown to lead his people to rebuild their security wall that had fallen down. It's this ancient Hebrew scripture about leading a big group project and all the challenges along the way. And anyway, at the end of each chapter of this really cool book about leadership, Kelly shared a recipe. And they were good recipes, and pretty easy to pull off. So when her new cookbook landed on my desk, I got excited and knew I wanted to have her on the show to wrap up our series on hospitality. We are going to talk charcuterie boards, potlucks, and how cooking is the hope for community. As a single woman, Kelly gives great insight about how couples with or without kids can be inclusive for our single friends, so listen in and lighten up!

Links from the show:

Lighten Up #115: Polly Conner Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Today I'm talking with Polly Conner, who is half of the team of wizards over at Thriving Home. Polly and Rachel have a new cookbook out, From Freezer to Cooker, and today Polly is on the show to help us feed our people and the people our people bring home. Polly kicks us off with a hilarious recipe fail, then she gives us a ton of ideas to help us lighten up about hospitality. We chat about her go-to things for feeding big groups of teens and tweens, what she buys in bulk, how freezing meals has revolutionized how she preps for dinner, and how she uses her Instant Pot for hands-free meals. After talking with Polly, I have so many new ideas for meal planning and prepping, and I'll have links to everything she shares in the show notes, so grab a snack, kick back, listen in, and lighten up.

Links from the show:

Polly made us a Lighten Up page with all the recipes and ideas from the show!
From Freezer to Table
From Freezer to Cooker
Polly's website, Thriving Home
Find Polly on Instagram

Lighten Up #114: Chantel Adams Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

I'm talking with my good friend Chantel Adams about practicing hospitality to our families. Chantel has four kids, some who are grown and some who are growing and she is chock full of practical, creative ways to show hospitality to the people we're raising. We chat about fun ideas for the family dinner table, how family time has changed as her kids have grown up, and our biggest struggles with showing hospitality to our kids. No matter how old your kids are, there's something for you in this episode, so listen in, and lighten up!

Links from the show:

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