By Josh Gondelman — 03 Nov 2025

#156. Pep Talk Speed Round (Food Bank Donation Edition)

Me and my tambouqueen.

Hi everyone,

This month marks three years of That's Marvelous which blows my mind. I started this newsletter as a repository for stray thoughts and bits and anecdotes while I was between jobs (I'd just wrapped up my punch-up gig on Mrs. Maisel), and to let people know what I was up to on my own. I even scheduled publication for Monday mornings so I could keep up the newsletter in the event that I ended up back in an office job. In the past 156 weeks, the entertainment industry has changed so much, and I've been mostly a freestanding entity who dips in and out of little projects here and there. It's been a lot of fun, and a little hectic, and I'm glad to have had this publication through that time to keep track of everything, even just for my own archives. I am not a good journaler, and I still do too much thinking "Oh, I'll remember it!" instead of taking down interesting moments in a notebook.

So, thanks for being here. I'm excited to keep pep talking and trash talking with you all. And, if you enjoy this newsletter regularly please do consider subscribing. You can do it for free, or you can pay me money for it. You get the same benefits (this newsletter, delivered to your inbox weekly) either way, but one kind of subscription helps me pay for my Ghost account and seltzer supply.

Me and Maris dressed as Oasis in bucket hats in front of Maris's bookshelf. She has a tambourine on her head, Liam Gallagher style. — We were innit to winnit.

After taking a few Halloweens off from couples costuming, Maris and I went out into the world last weekend dressed as Oasis, although many people guessed (while visibly wincing) that I was wearing a racially inadvisable Run-D.M.C. outfit. Is Oasis the Run-DMC of white people? I do not know, but I will assert that they are because it's funny to me to say it. I feel a little steadier making that assertion after an older Black man on the subway saw my plaid track suit and said: "I have got to get that outfit for myself!" So between that and the purity of intent in my heart, I believe I've beaten any stray cultural appropriation allegations.

On social media, I saw a lot of people dressed up as Aunt Gladys from Weapons and many people in (no offense) quarter-ass-to-half-ass Louvre heist outfits. On the street in my neighborhood I saw a guy in a big inflatable squid costume (although it's possible he was just preparing to stand up to ICE, should they show their faces...err...masks in Brooklyn). I also crossed paths with a little kid, eight or so years old, in a Boston Bruins hockey jersey, which was cute if low-effort. Then I saw that he was carrying a toy golf club, and I realized he was trick-or-treating as Happy Gilmore, which delighted me. I don't know if the kids are alright, but I do know they're alright with me.

I was also fascinated by what felt like an uptick in Addams Family couples costumes. My friends Jaya and Mattie dressed as Gomez and Morticia. As did Padma Lakshmi and her chef friend Melissa King. Speaking of Padma, her new cookbook is out tomorrow! It's based on her great tv show Taste the Nation. I got taste a couple of the recipes from Padma and Melissa's new books, and they were both great, unsurprisingly. To prepare for her book launch event (tonight!), Padma stopped by my/Alison Leiby's show at Union Hall on Friday night to tell some jokes! This has been the Halloween Costume Roundup/Padma Lakshmi Career Update for the week. (Cannot imagine this will become a recurring segment within the newsletter.)

Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and me onstage for a Wait Wait recording. — Accidental boys night at the Studebaker Theater.

In other onstage news, I zipped out to Chicago for the most recent Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! episode. Great pal and great comedian Emmy Blotnick's flight was cancelled on account of terrible weather in New York, so it was an all-dude panel by accident. Although we did get to talk to celebrity guest Julia Fox, who told us about all the car and bike accidents that men have gotten into while staring at her (formerly much bigger, her words not mine) butt. As always, it was so much fun working with the other panelists and the whole Wait Wait team. I realized that last weekend marked my six-year anniversary of being a regular panelist on the show, which feels completely baffling to me. I'm so grateful to be a little part of this beloved institution, and I can't believe it's been > half a decade!

(On my first ever episode, the guest was Gloria Steinem, and we did NOT talk about her butt causing car accidents. In fact, I think I was too nervous to say pretty much anything to her out loud!)

In other last week news: The first of two Circle Round episodes I recorded at Symphony Hall in Boston last month is available for your listening. I loooove doing these recordings, and it's so fun to help make things that friends (and strangers) can enjoy with their kids! I think the other episode will be out later this week! But maybe it will be a little later than that. I'll let you know when it happens. Unclear why I'm even speculating, to be honest.

Actors and musicians onstage at Symphony Hall in Boston after performing two new Circle Round episodes. — The audience was leaving because the show had ended, OKAY? Photo by: Hilary Scott/BSO

Last bits of business: I hopped on the Jeopardy podcast that my friends Emily Heller and John Cullen host and did badly but not embarrassingly badly. (It's for their Patreon.) And I watched the pilot of Welcome to Derry (fascinating but too gory for my taste) for Extra Hot Great!

And!!! I've got a few more headlining dates through the end of the year! I'd love to see you there!

11/23: The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis (one of my favorite rooms I got to play on my tour in 2022, so psyched to be back)

12/28: The Crocodile in Seattle (the biggest venue I've ever headlined there...please get tickets)

12/30-12/31: Helium in Portland (come on the 30th to hear less managing partiers and more jokes, but there will be plenty of jokes on New Year's Eve too!)

Plus the first two weeks of December I'll be all over the place with Aimee Mann and Ted Leo's Christmas Variety Show tour. But I'm not doing much standup on those. Mostly goofing around!

Also THIS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY I'm doing a couple of New York Comedy Festival shows! More details below, but on one (Saturday afternoon) I'm judging arguments over one-star reviews at Caveat, and on Sunday I'm doing standup opening for Going Down with Ella Yurman at Second City!

More dates to come next year! Let me know if there's a place you'd like to see me tell jokes, and I'll try to make that happen!!!

PEP TALK SPEED ROUND (FOOD BANK DONATION EDITION)

Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to use the allocated contingency funds to pay out SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) benefits during the government shutdown. Trump's ghouls had announced that they'd planned to (illegally) stop distributing benefits on November 1st because they are pond scum and don't care if the majority of their constituents (never mind anyone else) live or die. Hopefully people start to receive these benefits ASAP, but in the meantime (and on top of that funding) lots of folks have been pulling together to help feed people in need of food.

My pal Eva runs an operation to provide hot meals to people in LA (more info available upon request). My buddy Em put together a list of resources in New York City for people who need them or want to help out. Because it seems like donating money instead of dry goods to food banks is the way to go, I made a little contribution to City Harvest. And on Thursday I said that I'd give a mini pep talk to anyone who donated to a local/regional/national food bank and sent me the receipt. Lots of folks said they'd had donations set up already (great!) and many more made donations without requesting a pep talk at all. Below are the quick pep talks for those who donated and requested. Keep taking care of each other!

And, as long as we're here, I know a chunk of readers live in New York City, and I imagine many of you are already fairly politically aligned. But I did want to say that this mayoral election has nurtured my optimism that things can get better and not just consistently worse. One of the three candidates is a vigilante cartoon character. Another is a corrupt creep. On the other hand, Zohran Mamdani has run an energetic and inspiring campaign based on the idea that people should be able to afford to live safely (including from the fascism of our current federal administration) in New York City, and that's a message I can get behind. So much of the criticism of Zohran and his campaign has been astonishingly racist, and I hope people see through the despicable Islamophobic fearmongering and make a thoughtful and proactive decision tomorrow on election day!

Okay...here go the mini pep talks!

I could use some help with my tremendous anxiety over the NJ governor’s race. (Of course, by Monday it will almost have taken care of itself anyway, one way or the other.)

Election anxiety is extremely real. And, after a certain amount of canvassing or phone banking (two activities that may also cause a little anxiety), there's nothing you can do to tip the scales except for committing voter fraud (jkjkjk). One small consolation is that the Trump agenda is proving wildly unpopular once again, and politicians clinging to him/it are like people in a shipwreck tying themselves to the boat's anchor in a misguided attempt to stay afloat. Most people want good things for themselves and their neighbors and even total strangers. Fingers crossed for a good result. Please do not actually commit stress voter fraud.

I’m very tired. On Halloween.

This reply is a little late as well, but I trust that you made it through this situation smoothly. Either you pushed past your tiredness to celebrate, or you stayed in and relaxed. Regardless, you made a good choice! Going out = fun. Staying in = rest. There is such a thing as running yourself ragged. There's no such thing as a FOMO-proof life. I bet every year there are people at the Oscars who feel guilty for missing a friend's birthday dinner that night. There will be other Halloweens (Hallowsween?), and if you are itching to dress in costume another time, I'm sure you can find a plausible excuse before 10/31/26 rolls around. Purim? The Super Bowl? This is not for me to decide for you.

I enrolled in grad school yesterday, and I’m raring to get started, but classes don’t start 'til January. They haven’t even posted what the texts will be, so I have nowhere to put this energy!

You will get to dive into your studies soon enough!!! In the meantime, use your human zoomies (aka humies) for good. Get a jump on holiday shopping. Volunteer. Try, Frankenstein-style, to develop a scientific practice that spits in God's eye. Actually read Frankenstein or any other book that's been collecting cobwebs on your shelf. You may never have this pocket of time and reservoir of energy again. You'll be up to your eyeballs in Stuff You've Gotta Do soon. Have fun Doing Whatever for a bit.

I donated to my local food bank but the receipt never showed up in my email. So maybe my small problem is I'm missing emails.

Honestly, this sounds like kind of a blessing. Not even in disguise. Just a straight up street clothes mitzvah. Probably you'll miss a few crucial messages (maybe they are going to spam?) but most likely anyone who needs to reach you will text or call. My advice, not that you asked, is to bask in your unreachability. It's like you've got a picky assistant screening your emails, and you don't even have to worry what they're saying about you behind your back.

My local library is closed for renovations till spring! What am I supposed to do all winter? 😩😩 (tone: melodramatic)

Get to know a slightly less local library! If you can, splurge at a local independent bookstore! Do a book swap with friends! Does your library have an active Libby account during renovations? Use that! You will not go bookless until spring! I know this is true! There are books all around us for those with the eyes to see (or the ears to hear audiobooks).

My small problem is trivial in light of (waves arms): the seat-backs in our SUV broke & won’t fold flat. We can no longer transport large items or big loads of stuff.

This sounds so annoying!!! That's why you have an SUV: For transporting big things or many, many little things at once!!! This MUST be fixable! You will get back to easily toting suitcases or lounge chairs! OR at the very least you will realize you don't move big stuff around that often and will downsize to a more sensible vehicle. But probably there's somebody who can fix your car. That's its own whole job. I think it's called "car-un-messerupper."

I start a new job on Monday (!) and my Imposter Syndrome is raging!

This is a not uncommon That's Marvelous issue, and I will give my usual reply: So many absolute dummies are running so many of the world's largest institutions, and they have absolutely no idea that they're the problem. Is this a big picture positive development? No. It is driving us ever apocalypse-ward.

But in this very narrow instance (you feeling unqualified for a position), the knowledge that clods with weather-beaten Nerf footballs full of rainwater for brains are THRIVING and never questioning their own acuity is especially relevant. Just by wanting to do a good job and worrying you might not, you are a thousand lightyears ahead.

Also, unless you did a breathtaking amount of subterfuge during the interview process, your new employers probably know what to expect from you and believe you to be up for this impending series of tasks. And if you did get the job through wholesale deceit, well...keep up the wicked work I guess!

My small problem is remembering to call my doctor to get a new rx that insurance rejected.

You can do this because you want to stay alive/healthy and you deserve it. It has become meme-wisdom that calling someone on the phone is the most harrowing experience a person can undertake. According to conventional wisdom, being on hold is akin to experiencing all the tribulations of every member of the Fellowship of the Ring at once.

Well, guess what? Phone. calls are fine. Yes, they're annoying. But if you put it on your calendar and do it instead of dreading what?...the experience of doing dishes while listening to hold music, you'll be through it in no time. Well, probably not no time. Almost definitely way more time than you'd hope. But there are worse fates to suffer. You never even have to meet Gollum when you're dealing with most customer service answering machine menus.

(That said, if someone ran for office on the platform of every company needs to have a person and not a robot answer the phone, they would win any election in an unprecedented landslide.)

I could really use a pep talk to get me through all my grading before finals.

Similar to the above pep talk requester, you will do the thing you need to do and then it will be over. Time doesn't heal all wounds (and it takes care of even fewer injuries without intervention). It's like saying "heat cooks all food." Yeah, but how much heat? And also you still have to like...assemble the ingredients and put the food in the oven. But you've got effort and ability, and those things plus time do tend to square away most tasks. Not doing this task will for sure not help. Even with time. But you've got this...because nobody else does.

My little problem is that after a lifetime of being really successful in my career (the go-to person for solving all sorts of problems), I've spent the last 2 and a half years working for someone who only criticizes, never tells you that you're doing a good job at anything. It's pretty demoralizing.

This is, as far as morale goes, even worse and more annoying than the busted SUV seat from earlier.

We are told that we shouldn't derive our sense of self from work, but that's a tricky mandate to uphold when we have to spend so much time doing jobs. I get not deriving one's identity from sleep, even though it takes up a similar percentage of the day. We all do it basically the same way, and it's not something to feel pride or shame in being good or bad at. But it's wild that we live in a society that's set up for most of us to have to work for a wide swath of our waking hours, and then to be told that that's not who we are.

Maybe, though, what people mean (or should mean) is that we can't attach our concept of who we are to how good other people think we are at our jobs. If you take pride in doing something well, that's your right, and some jerk who's too insecure to say "Sick job on the presentation, big doggenstein!" (sorry, I haven't worked in an office for a while) shouldn't have the privilege of making an impact on the way you perceive yourself.

You are good at what you do no matter what one loser in immediate proximity says or, equally relevant, doesn't say. It's not ALL of who you are, but it's enough that you should be allowed to revel in your accomplishments, regardless of the presence of a revel-proof colleague. And of course there are always other jobs or other facets of your life to enjoy. But really and truly, screw this jerk!

PICK-ME-UP SONG OF THE WEEK:
Rhymefest - "Devil's Pie"

With Wait Wait's longtime scorekeeper and announcer Bill Kurtis taking a little time off lately, the show has brought in Chicago hip hop artist (and school board member) Che "Rhymefest" Smith as a guest announcer. Working with Che/Rhymefest last week was a fun excuse to revisit his full length album Blue Collar which I bought on CD when it came out in 2006.

Listening to Blue Collar now I'm blown away by how sonically rich and sample-heavy the tracks are. There's an interpolation of "Build Me Up Buttercup" warbled by the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. Another song ("Fever") samples "Fever" by La Lupe. "Devil's Pie" nods at the D'Angelo (R.I.P.) song by the same name, but producer Mark Ronson also flips "Someday" by The Strokes into a beat that really thumps. It's worth a listen to hear how these different sources are combined to form something new and unique. And also for Rhymefest's non-specific but extremely sincere exhortations for various members of George W. Bush's administration to eat shit. "Devil's Pie" is also contains the perfect Rhymefest lyric about being "ahead of my time but behind on my rent" which has been lodged in my head for roughly two decades. Anyway, I said none of this to Che in person, but I do plan to email him to say how nice it was to get to work together!!!

Also, there's a new album by newsletter favorites Camp Trash out this week that is very much worth your time!