We’re a year into Covid and in Vermont we’re almost into the last stretch of winter and I’ve been thinking a lot about married people, or people partnered with other people living in houses and apartments day after night for days and months and now a year. I wonder what goes on in those houses and what they talk about and how they get on day after day, night after night. I found a young couple willing to talk with me about how they’re doing. They live in an old farmhouse in central Vermont that they’re renovating…
(((Note: This is not ‘real’. Some people get really mad if they don’t know in advance. So here I am to say it’s not real. Not ENTIRELY real. I mean there’s a lot here that is real. But not all of it.)))
Credits
- Thank you Jesse and Serena for excellent cocktails and your insights about condiments
- Thank you Brian Clark for your music. And your beautiful woodwork.
- Thank you Tobin Anderson for your constant help
- A link to Jesse’s work.
Here are some pictures of Jesse and Serena and their awesome house in Plainfield:
Just like a carpenter to have tools and a shop-vac in the living space. I thought I was the only one. Great episode Erica!
Erica this cracked me up big time…I mean gut wrenching laughter. Thank you for brightening up a pretty glum afternoon.
PS…can we get the cocktail recipe?!?!?!?
Actually, yes. I’ll ask Jesse.
……that bowl with the ‘crusty-i-don’t-know-what-it is-that-you-eat-in-the-day-when-i’m-not-around’ ….if i am ever to be married, i will put that on my registry list!
oh my god me too. Number one on my registry…
BEFORE the salad spinner even!
That is a tough call, but I think I’m with you. Crusty bowl before salad spinner.
Jesus F Christ. I hate them and love them so much. This show is exactly what I needed right NOW. God save us all.
I’m new to your show. And this totally got me. I had no idea that it was an act. Halfway through I had to pause and go tell my husband that I loved him.
That is hilarious bc Jesse and Serena had to stop in the middle of the interview and hug each other.
Ok. I was going to say “ way to break up a marriage Erica,” and “don’t become a therapist,” until the end when you said that was fiction or a kind of fiction? Anyway it was super hilarious like Problems, so I encourage you to do more radio verite drama!
I seem to be in the minority in these comments, but I was pretty unhappy to have been tricked into believing this was a true story. I don’t understand why a typically nonfiction show would make an episode and portray it as true all along, only revealing at the end that it was not. It was a betrayal of the trust you’ve built with me as a listener. A seed of doubt has been planted for future episodes. Instead of just being able to immerse myself in the episode, I will be wondering if there’s a gotcha coming up.
Lori, I’m sorry you felt this way. It was an admittedly strong choice. In fact I had a line about satire in the intro and I took it out in the middle of the night after launching the show. I wanted people to feel a little confused, and I hoped that by the time they were bickering about condiments that listeners would start to wonder. I myself like confusion in radio periodically. I think there’s too little of it anymore. But I also entirely understand your upset. I’m sorry you felt that way.
I think experiments like this are interesting but must also admit I was kinda bummed, mostly because hearing a couple with a self-described great relationship then bickering over a bunch of bullshit made me feel more positive about my own relationship, which has been damaged by the Covid lifestyle. I liked the idea that you can have dumb conflicts and real issues and still feel like you have the best relationship in the world. So hearing that this was fiction was a bit saddening.
That’s such an interesting reaction. One of the reasons I didn’t say it was fiction at the top is because there IS so much truth in it. In fact I’d prefer not to call it truth OR fiction. It’s something else. I wanted people to have the chance to listen to it and feel surprised and appalled and also sympathetic or maybe a little of all of the above. Anyway. Thank you for writing in Jessica. It was a really interesting reaction. E
Loved this episodes. This is my favorite type of episode on your show, keep them coming!
Ben you are in very limited company, but I’m so GLAD you like these shows. They make some people very angry…but I really love occasionally making shows that exist somewhere between truth and fiction. I think it’s interesting. I KNOW that it jumps from what I usually do, and maybe that’s disorienting for some…but disorientation isn’t all bad. Thank you for writing in. E
I am so entertained!!!!!!
oh, i love potatoes!
simple boiled potato with just a tiny bit of salt.
This is the most perfect comment for this show ever.
I stopped listening partway through because I felt so emotionally confused.
I’m in a wonderful marriage and we’re both a bit strained by the pandemic, naturally. I really connected with the things Jesse and Serena were saying at the beginning. I saw your note about it not being ‘real,’ but I didn’t know how that would present… so even though I had a heads-up, it was disappointing that the real Jesse and Serena were taken away just when I wanted to get to know them.
Overall I love your podcast, though. <3