SAY MORE podcast cover art

SAY MORE

ByOlivia Gatwood & Melissa Lozada-Oliva
88 episodes

Podcast Summary

Dive into "SAY MORE," a captivating podcast hosted by the dynamic duo Olivia Gatwood and Melissa Lozada-Oliva, both celebrated writers and performers with a flair for the absurdly relatable. In each episode, they tackle life's quirks and dilemmas with a refreshing blend of humor and vulnerability. Unpacking topics like their personal journeys into adulthood at the age of 32, they candidly discuss everything from the realities of aging to the unexpected chaos of modern life, including listener stories like Brian's ongoing bedbug saga and the haunting tale of "The One That Got." What sets "SAY MORE" apart is its unique ability to transform mundane experiences into profound conversations, inviting listeners to share in the laughter and introspection. With an impressive roster of guests and a commitment to exploring the questions that often go unasked, this podcast is a delightful escape that encourages you to embrace the chaos and say more about what truly matters.

#1

EP. 91 - MOTHERHOOD IS THAT YOU?

Meli & Olivia talk about their shriveled up eggs at the historic age of 32, and imagine what it look like to be mothers.

2024-06-1950mins
#2

EP. 89 - THE TRAUMA PLOT

a few listener emails including: an update on brian's bedbug saga and a story about The One That Got Away. then, m&o chat about trauma as a vehicle for storytelling: when it's overdone, when it's helpful, when it's actually Too Vulnerable To Be Shared. the prison journalism project is mentioned on this episode! check them out here:

2024-06-041hr 8mins
#3

EP. 88 *bonus episode teaser* GAB HOUR

To listen to the rest of the episode, subscribe to patreon.com/saymorepodcast. the gals gab about whatever is on their mind including: lucy letby, RFK Jr. (one of these people is honest and it isn't RFK), and listener emails about a sweet karmic loop and finding love amidst the prison system.

2024-05-2810mins
#4

EP. 87 - DO WE EVEN LIKE WRITING?

M & O read an update from The Brian Bedbug Saga and an email from a listener about breeding kinks and chosen single parenthood. Then, they talk about the existential crises they experience each month around their careers, relevancy, creativity, productivity, and other shit that seems very Not Possible to Deal With when you're about to get your period.

2024-05-2057mins
#5

EP. 85 - WRITING ABOUT GRIEF w/ AMY LIN

We were overjoyed to talk with Amy Lin, author of the new memoir, HERE AFTER, which details her relationship with her late husband and his sudden passing, the singular experience of young windowhood, and how grief is a language in which we we all eventually become fluent.

2024-04-291hr 7mins
#6

EP. 84 - *bonus episode* - CANDELARIA & PICK ME GIRLS

Listen to the full episode on Patreon. It's here! Well, mostly. Here is a partial recording of our conversation at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, where we celebrated Melissa's novel Candelaria and talked about the caucasity of spin classes, abuelas surviving the apocalypse, and how archaeologists are similar to writers, among other things. The weird part is that the conversation cuts off once we start talking about an earthquake. SO. We spend the second half of the episode unpacking how internalized misogyny makes us label women as pick me's!

2024-04-225mins
#7

EP. 83 - FATHERHOOD w/ LUCAS MANN

We chat with author Lucas Mann about his most recent collection of essays, ATTACHMENTS, which unpacks the tender, scary, and hilarious experience of contemporary fatherhood. We talk about the impossible image of the Perfect Leftist Father, and the Lack of Personal Space when raising a child.

2024-04-151hr 21mins
#8

EP. 82 - *bonus episode* - WRITING ABOUT SEX

TEASER. we help a listener through a tough friendship/roommate breakup and talk about how we go about writing about SEX. are u trying to turn your readers on or just show them something about the characters? are sex scenes meant to move the plot forward or are they just a fun break? we also discover we might be prudes.

2024-04-085mins

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#9

EP. 81 - TRAD WIVES w/ GABY DEL VALLE

the gals talk to trad-wife expert, gaby del valle, who has done extensive reporting on the women bringing old school homesteading onto the main feed.

2024-04-011hr 22mins
#10

EP. 80 - *bonus episode* - FROM POETRY TO FICTION

Melissa & Olivia keep getting asked: what is it like to go from poetry to fiction. They talk about it! Also, listeners share a story about their end-of-times pastor grandpa and also ask: is it possible to escape writing commercial and institutional poetry? Only on patreon :)

2024-03-254mins
#11

EP. 79 - WRITING ABOUT FOOD

We talk through a few listener emails about surviving your mid-twenties, surviving with a UTI on Survivor, and surviving a boss who keeps showing up to work with hickeys. After that, we talk about being hungry. Writing about food, eating while writing, forgetting to eat because we are writing, soylent (????), and why food is such an important detail when it comes to storytelling.

2024-03-181hr 12mins
#12

EP. 78 - *bonus episode* - A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF SLAM POETRY

head over to patreon.com/saymorepodcast to listen to the full episode! we got to sit down in real life with one of our closest friends & favorite writers, hieu minh nguyen. together, we got nostalgic about our wild (we were so corny) days of competing in poetry slam and how the artform influenced our professional lives as writers today (we are just really good at self-promotion).

2024-03-1210mins
#13

EP. 77 - LOVE IS BLIND & POV

back with another HOME RUN. this week, the gal pals chat about their favorite high-brow television show, love is blind, as well as the infinite ways Point of View can change a story. if this were a dissertation, they would make clearer how these two themes are related, but you get it. right?

2024-03-041hr 11mins
#14

EP. 75: ROMANCE - A PROBE

In honor of Melissa's favorite holiday, we are talking about love. We spoke with Puloma Ghosh, author of Mouth, about tropes in the romance genre, fan-fiction, and why women turn to romance in times of need. Order Puloma's short story collection wherever books are sold!

2024-02-191hr 4mins
#15

EP. 73 - AUTOFICTION & THE SELFHOOD PLOT

it's the new season of SAY MORE! thank you for waiting literally two years. this week, we are discussing the genre of autofiction — where it started, who's doing it, and our personal journey to adulthood aka choosing not to share every single thing about our private life in a nonfictional space. for next week's bonus episode, subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/saymorepodcast, where you can also gain access our montly newsletter. we're so glad to be back xx

2024-02-051hr 13mins
#16

EP. 72 - ROCKSTARS, MISTRESSES, SURROGATES, THE MONARCHY

pop culture is truly losing it

2022-10-071hr 0mins
#17

EP. 71 - WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT ROE V. WADE w/ PAIGE GREEN

The gals welcome former guest Paige Green—nurse, doula, star—to talk about the dismal state of reproductive rights in America and how to generally deal.

2022-09-2150mins
#18

EP. 70 - ORIGIN STORIES

M&O, together at last, talk about how they met the most important people in their lives.

2022-03-191hr 3mins
#19

EP. 69 - ORGASMS APLENTY

M&O talk (humbly) all things related to cumming: the different genres orgasm, the lack thereof, and why you can't trust your life decisions if you're having good sex.

2022-01-2854mins
#20

EP. 68 - AN ODE TO OUR TWENTIES

As Melissa and Olivia depart the tragic & exhilarating decade of their twenties, they reminisce on the years they spent being whores in punk houses, sexless in relationships, and a sudden burst of hyper-visibility.

2022-01-181hr 3mins
#21

EP. 67 - MORTALITY w/ ANDREA GIBSON

Olivia & Melissa go from complete chaos to total enlightenment in a conversation with renowned poet Andrea Gibson about mortality, the industry of death, the afterlife, and their new book YOU BETTER BE LIGHTING.

2021-12-101hr 14mins
#22

EP. 66 - Voyeurism & Sensitive Men

Olivia & Melissa briefly revisit the theory that Rooney mined their lives, wonder if voyeurism is always sexual, & if they've reached the end of the era of sensitive men.

2021-10-1549mins
#23

EP. 65 - OUR LIVES, MINED

O & M talk about the possibility that their lives have been used as fodder for a bestselling novel. Are they self-involved? Or are they right?

2021-08-2747mins

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#24

EP. 64 - RETROACTIVE JEALOUSY & OTHER TERRIBLE FEELINGS

M&O talk about how trauma can make relationships a nightmare but also how you can get better.

2021-06-201hr 7mins
#25

EP. 63 - ARE WE SMART?

Melissa & Olivia question whether or not they are smart. Which maybe means they aren't?

2021-04-0851mins
#26

Ep. 62: The Oversharing Industrial Complex

Melissa and Olivia talk about what it means when celebrities make money off their wounds and the intentions behind oversharing on the internet. They also go into the nuances of being an abolitionist and what it means to publish former abusers.

2021-02-161hr 26mins
#27

EP. 61 - BAD TV & TOUGH LOVE "PARENTING"

Melissa & Olivia try to justify their love of melodramatic television & also are in complete denial about their traumatic childhoods.

2021-01-131hr 4mins
#28

EP. 60 - ALTERNATE UNIVERSES

Melissa & Olivia talk about what could have been.

2020-12-2457mins
#29

EP. 59 - NORMIE CULTURE

Olivia & Melissa ponder Instagram script font, barnhouse lifestyle bloggers, women who dream of pumpkin patches, and embroidered towels.

2020-11-011hr 11mins
#30

Say More 9.23.20 RECUT

As in, media. Not food. Media is our food. We feed on the faux-intimate lives of people we do not know.

2020-10-0657mins
#31

EP. 57 - BEING PERFORMATIVE & CAPITALISM

M & O are back, chatting about whether or not they have personalities & what it means to exist inside of a society fueled by consumerism & class warfare :)

2020-08-071hr 14mins
#32

EP. 56 - CANCEL CULTURE

Meli & Oli chat about Twitter, accountability, & what it means to be cancelled while working towards restorative justice.

2020-07-0252mins
#33

EP. 55 - THE FOREMOTHERS OF PRISON ABOLITION

Melissa & Olivia talk extensively about the lives & work of Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and Mariame Kaba.

2020-06-171hr 5mins
#34

EP. 54 - PRISON ABOLITION FOR DUMMIES

Melissa & Olivia answer the five most common questions when talking about abolishing the police & prison.

2020-06-0356mins
#35

EP. 53 - RUNNING IS MY BOYFRIEND w/ JOSEFINA OLIVA

We talk to Melissa's mom about falling in love with running after her divorce & how, committing to something for three months & then moving onto the next challenge, makes it your boyfriend.

2020-05-2740mins
#36

EP. 52 - NORMAL PEOPLE & SEX ON SCREEN

O & M talk Normal People and performative sex.

2020-05-201hr 12mins
#37

EP. 51 - WHAT WE WANNA BE WHEN WE GROW UP

Melissa & Olivia talk about The Self and what becomes of it.

2020-05-1358mins
#38

EP. 50 - NIHILISM vs. PESSIMISM vs. OPTIMISM vs. ?????

Melissa & Olivia have a little chat about whether they have hope themselves, the world, and the people inside it.

2020-05-0755mins
#39

EP. 49 - GROUNDHOG DAY

Melissa & Olivia recount what it is they do every single fucking day.

2020-05-0243mins
#40

EP. 48 - WE RAN OUT OF IDEAS

so we just talked shit.

2020-04-2355mins
#41

EP. 47 - WHAT THE FUCK IS COVID-19 w/ JILL GATWOOD

Olivia & Melissa interview Jill Gatwood AKA Olivia's mom who, yes, she still calls mommy. Old habits die hard. She's an epidemiologist so she knows a lot of stuff that's valuable right now.

2020-04-151hr 7mins
#42

EP. 46 - THE QUESTIONS WE HATE

Melissa and Olivia answer the questions that started this podcast in the first place: the questions they never want to answer but keep getting asked. But this time, they answer them beautifully and realize that maybe they weren't so bad after all. Does this sound like the summary of a YA novel?

2020-04-081hr 6mins
#43

EP. 45 - HOUSEPLANTS & ROMANTIC COMEDIES

Melissa & Olivia chat about inheriting a green thumb & letting it bloom in the quarantine, as well as why romantic comedies are, perhaps, the most reliable genre of art throughout history.

2020-04-0157mins
#44

EP. 44 - SOLITUDE HACKS & ELIZABETH WARREN

Melissa interviews Olivia about the fact that she was already social distancing & Olivia asks Melissa about her tumultuous relationship with Lizzy.

2020-03-261hr 4mins
#45

EP. 43 - HOMETOWNS

Olivia asks Melissa about her hometown (her mother's kitchen) and Melissa asks Olivia about her's (a desert filled with rusty refrigerators).

2020-03-191hr 21mins
#46

EP. 42 - THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA w/ JOSHUA MCELROY

Melissa & Olivia interview an Australian they met at Sundance, who is on a journey across America for the first time.

2020-03-1140mins
#47

EP. 41 - AMERICAN DIRT, REPRESENTATION & TECH BROS

SEASON 2 STARTS NOW. Melissa & Olivia see each other for the first time in sixteen years - Olivia asks Melissa about the critically not-acclaimed novel American Dirt & the whiteness of the publishing industry, Melissa asks Olivia about the secret world of Tech Bros and that time she partied with Mark Zuckerberg.

2020-03-0456mins
#48

EP. 40 - BEING A YOUNG POP STAR, GOING INDIE & WHY IS LANA DEL REY DATING A COP? w/ SHAMIR

Melissa & Olivia chat with Shamir, a musician/icon based out of Philly, who had a taste of arenas and the world of mass produced pop music & chose his mental health instead.

2019-12-1948mins
#49

EP. 39 - AMAZON, NO MUSIC FOR ICE & BULLYING JEFF BEZOS w/ SADIE DUPUIS

Sadie Dupuis, poet, multi-instrumentalist, and lead vocalist of Speedy Ortiz, stops by the pod to talk to Olivia & Melissa about starting NO MUSIC FOR ICE, an initiative to keep music out of the hands of corporate monsters and ultimately, bully Jeff Bezos for the rest of his stupid life.

2019-12-1245mins
#50

Episode 38: DISCWOMAN, Appropriation & the world of techno w/ Frankie Hutchinson

Olivia & Melissa talk to Frankie Hutchinson of Discwoman, one of the co-founders of a talent agency for electronic music. They also talk about how much they loved Carmen Maria Machado's new book, Melissa's obsession with a Greek Myth, & how Olivia got slammed by a surfboard.

2019-12-0548mins

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