You're listening to Burnt Toast! We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay.

Today our conversation is with Kim Baldwin, the newest member of the Burnt Toast team.

Kim is the former digital editor for the Nashville Scene. Her culture writing can be found in places like the Nashville Scene, Parnassus Books’ Musings and on her Substack. Kim has interviewed folks like Sarah Sherman, Trixie Mattel, John Waters, Samantha Irby and Tess Holliday.

Originally a blogger, Kim started The Blonde Mule in 2006 and later turned her popular interview series “These My Bitches” into a podcast called Ladyland. Kim writes a weekly newsletter about books and pop culture, teaches social media classes and is a frequent conversation partner for author events in Nashville.

If you enjoy this conversation, a paid subscription is the best way to support our work!
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Episode 233 Transcript

Virginia

We have a very fun episode for you today. We are introducing to all the Burnt Toasties, many of whom may already know and love her, our new podcast producer Kim Baldwin. 

Kim

Hi, hi, hi. 

Virginia

We are really happy you're here. Kim is doing a lot of things to improve our workflow. Yesterday she taught Corinne and me how to use Slack. Corinne, I think you already knew how to use Slack, but I sure did not. So that was exciting.

Kim is joining us not just to teach us Slack, but to help with podcast production and make everything run more smoothly and efficiently. We are really grateful to her and thought it would be fun to do an episode where you get to know her.

Kim  

I'm excited to be on the Burnt Toast team, and excited to be here today despite harrowing conditions. 

Virginia

Truly harrowing.

Kim

I'm coming to you live from a public library because my home does not have water or internet.

Virginia  

Yes, Kim is surviving the Nashville ice apocalypse, where, what 130,000 people have been displaced?

Kim

230,000.

Virginia

230,000 people have been displaced. So she has been heroically working on
Burnt Toast while literally being out of her home, back in her home, but now working from the library. Yay, public libraries! We love you.

Let's dive in. Corinne, why don't we take turns asking our questions?

Corinne  

My first question is, what is your fat radicalization story? How did you get interested in body liberation work?

Kim  

When I turned 40 I had to get a biometric screening for health insurance because over 40, you have to qualify for insurance. It was a really stigmatizing appointment. In hindsight, it was traumatic. My therapist was like, Enough. You have to go see someone now. 

That was 2018. I started working with an anti-diet registered dietitian. I thought I was going for one or two appointments, just for someone to say, "It's fine, you're all good." It became evident I had a disordered relationship, primarily with exercise, but also with eating. I went into what I now call recovery. It wasn't called that in real-time. It was just a chill, "Well, why don't you come see me every week for a while?"

So I did that. I worked with Katherine Fowler, a non-diet, registered dietitian nutritionist here in Nashville. She's great. I knew nothing before her. She introduced me to anti-diet and Health at Every Size. She gave me a bunch of resources, one of which was Christy Harrison and Food Psych. I went whole hog. I listened to the back catalog of Food Psych, I read a bunch of books. I think Christy's first book came out around that time. It was so radical to me to think, Hold on, I can be fat, or, Hold on, I don't have to exercise this much. I was an Iron Man, so I was at that level of exercise.

Virginia  

Oh wow. Oh gosh, that's aggressive.

Kim  

When you exercise that much, for me, restrictive eating is just part of it. They really do go hand in hand. You control your food to try to control your outcomes and races and stuff.

That's a long answer: back in 2018 I started working with registered dietitian, and she blew my mind and saved my life.

Virginia  

That's amazing. Yay, registered dietitians who do that work! Also, yay, Food Psych! That was a great podcast. Corinne, wasn't it one of your entry points, too? I feel like we've talked about this.

Corinne  

Yeah. I was a regular listener.

Virginia  

Just hearing people's stories over and over. The way Christy structured that was so healing and valuable for so many people.

I've always been a fan of your culture writing. You always have amazing book recs, movie recs. Your newsletter The Blonde Mule is definitely one of my go to's for like, Ooh, what culture am I missing out on? Kim will know. So I would love to know who are some of your fat culture inspirations, icons, or just people you really love in that space?

Kim  

For sure Aubrey Gordon. She was an original, and back then, she was anonymous. Her Instagram posts back in the day - she still sometimes reposts those old ones in her stories. She still means so much to me. I learned about her early on. 

And then, of course, Lindy West. I had read Shrill, and because I worked at an alt-weekly, she also worked at The Stranger in Seattle, which is their alt-weekly, and we had similar jobs, so I looked up to her. She had this great essay in The Stranger where she came out as fat. In real time, I wasn't there yet, but when I got into recovery and started learning, I realized how ahead of her time - ahead of all of us - she was. 

And then, Virginia, you and people I found through Food Psych and through Christy. Back then we were all still using social media with wild abandon. You could learn about people through Instagram stories. Christy Harrison would repost all these people to her Instagram stories and I would click through and follow who she reposted. She'd repost something of yours, or, I can't even remember all the people back then. Oh, Ragen Chastain. I've been reading her stuff this whole time. I hope everyone reads her and knows what amazing work she's doing in this space. I can't get a sense of how many people know how much she's doing.

Virginia  

She does such deep dives into the research. She really is someone who is taking the time to take apart scientific papers, look at the methodology, look a what bias went into the research. I have learned so much from Ragen. I started following her back in probably the early 2000s when she was writing about being a fat dancer. I remember I interviewed her for a woman's magazine.

Kim

Oh right. I forgot about that, her original handle.

Virginia

Dances With Fat. Oh, you're making me nostalgic for this time. Now everyone's like, Body positivity is dead, and it was never really good, but there were these really good folks doing great work in the mix. 

Kim  

There was an organic way to find, I don't want to say community in the way we say it now, but I didn't know anybody in real life going through what I was going through, or who was learning what I was learning. All I had, truly, was Food Psych. So if someone was on Food Psych, I would look them up. I would follow them. And then that reposting thing, that's how I found so many people.

Virginia  

Yeah, it's so true.

Corinne  

Kim, where does the name The Blonde Mule come from? 

Kim  

Oh, this question.

Corinne

If you want to skip it ...

Kim

It brings up a lot of embarrassment. I should address it. 

Virginia

It's time. Kim, it's time. I don't know the backstory.

Kim

In 2006 I started a personal blog on blogspot because everyone was doing it. Back then it was the thing to have a cutesy name. No one used their government name online back then. Your email wasn't your name, your blog - none of that was your name. I'm a Taurus and I am actually stubborn, so "the mule" was kind of a nickname. There was this formula of a physical descriptor plus a nickname. All my friends had a version of this. I thought, Oh, I'll just do the blonde mule. I'll change it later, nobody cares. No one followed me. 

Then I had to buy my domain name and get handles on social media sites. So 2006 to 2026, how many years is that? Is that 20 years? So unfortunately, I'm locked in. Because now I own that name. I don't love it because I wish I hadn't self identified with my hair color. Especially because it's blonde and that means a lot of things that don't align with my values. Also, during the pandemic, I quit coloring my hair and so I'm not really blonde anymore.

Virginia  

A blonde-ish mule.

Corinne  

I would consider you blonde. 

Virginia  

I still would consider you blonde. 

Corinne

Also Virginia, aren't you also a Taurus?

Virginia

I am also a Taurus. I am also pretty stubborn.

Corinne

This is an earth sign podcast. I'm a Capricorn.

Kim

John, my husband, is a Capricorn.

Virginia  

I don't know what that means. 

Kim

We're very compatible.

Corinne  

Yes, I also have a Taurus Moon.

Virginia  

Sure. I've been meaning to get one of those. I don't understand astrology.

But I do relate to picking a name and sticking with it because now you're stuck with it. In many ways that is the backstory of Burnt Toast. So relatable. I named it on a whim. People are always like, What's that about? And I'm like, I mean, not a lot. But it is what it is. 

The Blonde Mule is sticky. It sticks with you.

Kim  

There are people who make me feel better. One is Samantha Irby because she is still bitches gotta eat. She also is from, like, 2006. There are a few of us that are locked in. What are you going to do? I literally bought this name.

Virginia  

I'm stuck with it. You might as well own it, for sure. 

Another part of your work life is that you work at the famous Parnassus Books, owned by best-selling author and icon Ann Patchett. I am a former bookstore girl. I love bookstores. Most authors, we love bookstores. So I really love talking about bookstores. I want to know, what's the most fun part of bookstore life? Also, does this bookstore have any pets?

Kim  

The bookstore has so many pets. We have shop dogs. Ann famously has a dog, Nemo. He appears in most of the videos. Before Nemo she had a cute little guy named Sparky, who I loved so much. There's a back office staff and they almost all have dogs and bring their dogs to work. 

Virginia

Love this. 

Kim

There's one bookseller who has a dog, but she's on maternity leave, so we're a little bit short on dogs that are out on the floor, but in the back office, it's dog central. 

This is my second time working there. I worked there in 2019. I've mostly been self-employed and worked from home for a really long time. My mood was starting to get dark and my therapist suggested it would be nice to have some socialization and to leave my house one or two days a week. I was friendly with Parnassus, so I asked, "Is this a thing?" And they were excited, so they hired me to be a part-time bookseller back in 2019. Then the pandemic hit and they closed for a long time and it just didn't make sense anymore. 

I went and did a whole other job for a few years and left that job last year and went back to the bookstore. Same thing. I still work from home and I work at the bookstore one or two days a week.

I do actually love a million things about it, but my favorite thing this round is everyone I work with is 24 years old, give or take. I love them so much. It is so invigorating to be around a whole staff of 24 year olds. They all love their parents. They have really good parents. They're mostly queer, which makes it extra nice that none of their parents were bad. Their parents are super accepting. They're all really smart and they're all funny. The things that are funny to them are so strange. There are all these long running jokes about, like, which Muppet are you? That's a fun thing for Gen Z.

Virginia  

That sounds delightful. I mean, I think bookstore people are just the best people and the most charming weirdos. And I love hearing that 24 year olds love their parents. Because even though my oldest kid is 12, and we have a ways to go, fingers crossed we'll get there.

Kim  

Yeah. Our generation, not so much.

Virginia  

It's not a given. Let's put it that way. It's not a given.

We're going to do a lightning round of fun, goofy questions so we can all get to know you better. Corinne, why don't you kick it off?

Corinne  

All right, first question. Tell us about your pets.

Kim  

Ooh, I have two official pets. I have two cats. They came in at different times. They're both street cats. One is Nomi. He's kind of a Siamese cat. The other one is your regular striped street cat. His name is Benny.

Virginia

And you have an owl in your backyard. 

Kim

I have an owl. I live in the country, so we have deer, turkey, owls, hawks, a skunk and a lot of snakes.

Virginia  

Nice.

Favorite hobbies? I know from Instagram you are into collage making and you are into puzzles and I'm here for both of them.

Kim  

Yes, you are part of my puzzle journey. I knew that you got that table and you were doing them, and I thought, Ooh, that seems relaxing. We moved into this house last year, and I thought, Who am I going to be in the country? I'm going to be someone who does puzzles, and I'm going to get a puzzle table. And I did.

Virginia  

It's so relaxing. The best.

Kim  

The collage thing is new. I went to a divorce party and we were doing blackout poetry collages. I had never heard of any of this. I had the time of my life and my friend was like, You can just do this at home. And so now I do.

Virginia  

Corinne was nodding because Corinne is cooler and of course she knows what black out poetry collages are. I do not. 

Corinne

I think you do, as well. 

Virginia

Is it like what Kate Baer writes? Like blacked out words? Okay, that is cool. I love that.

Corinne  

Kim, tell us your favorite comfort food or snacks.

Kim  

I've needed a lot of comfort this week. My go-to is chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. You do need carbs when you're this stressed out because your body's trying to slow you down and get you to rest and sleep. So there's been a lot of tendies in my life.

Corinne  

Are these from a specific restaurant? Or the freezer section?

Kim  

This week they're from a grocery store. There's a proliferation of chicken stuff here - the Nashville hot chicken. Truly, everywhere you go, there's hot chicken and there's tenders. The driving force of Nashville is chicken tenders.

Corinne

Sounds like heaven.

Virginia

Burnt Toast retreat in Nashville?? We just eat chicken tenders for three days? Start planning it now. That sounds great. 

Favorite thing you wore recently, and what makes it your favorite?

Kim  

Let's talk about jeans. I don't know what we're supposed to be wearing anymore. I am still comfortable in skinny jeans.

Virginia

It's okay. This is a jeans safe space.

Kim

I'm locked and loaded in those high-rise, skinny jeans. But that is not what we're supposed to be wearing anymore.

Virginia  

They're real mad at us for still wanting to wear them.

Kim  

Let me tell you what the people I work with wear. It looks like I work with the Insane Clown Posse. They are wearing jeans so big and baggy it blows my mind. So I thought, Let me try. I bought a pair of - everything comes from Big Undies - I bought these Old Navy barrel jeans and I feel nuts in them. But I wore them to work and everyone was like, That's what you're supposed to look like! I've never been more uncomfortable in my life than when I wear these jeans. 

Corinne  

You realize you're going to have to send us photos, right? We're going to be texting your co-workers to take secret photos of you. 

Kim

Oh, my God.

Virginia  

We're going to need a photo.

Kim  

I went to a museum recently and wore those Old Navy barrel jeans - light wash, I will add - very uncomfortable.

Virginia  

You went right into the deep end of that swimming pool.

Kim  

I went in. And then I have this Universal Standard shirtdress. They have them in white and black. It's just a button up, floor length thing. I wore that, obviously unbuttoned from the waist down, and then I have those Crocs Dylan platform clogs.

Corinne  

My God, this is very chic outfit. 

Kim

I have the ones that are like clown shoes.

Corinne

They're platform Crocs.

Kim  

I wore that to the museum and I think it's the coolest I've ever looked, but it's the most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life.

Virginia  

So cool though.

Corinne  

Dying to see it. 

Kim

It's my only outfit. Everything else is workout clothes.

Virginia  

You have one outfit. You're set. 

I mean, jeans are a whole conversation. That silhouette and changing from how we've been programmed, I feel you. But even wearing something where you're like, I know this is cool, but it feels so different from what I like. The way the trends have changed. I do feel like that is one of the oddest things about getting older - suddenly realizing the clothes are so unfamiliar. Corinne is the baby of the podcast, so she might not be able to relate to that.

Corinne  

Kim, how old are you?

Kim

I'm 49. I turn 50 this year.

Virginia  

Ooh, exciting. When's your birthday? 

Kim

It’s a whole thing. I'm working through it.

Corinne  

Wait, what if you guys have the same birthday?

Kim  

I'm May 20.

Virginia

I'm April 30.

Kim

Oh, you're an April Taurus.

Virginia  

And that means a thing?

I feel that it is a whole thing about clothes. You're just like, It's making less and less sense. I'm trying, but I don't know.

Kim  

It's hard. I think we're just supposed to feel stupid.

Corinne  

Well, not to change the subject, but how do you feel about brownies? Are you an edge, corner or center of the pan person? 

Kim

Center. I can't deal with the edges.

Virginia  

Same. 

Kim

It needs to all be the same texture.

Virginia  

You've got to pair up with your edge people so that you can get the brownies you want.

Corinne  

Following up that groundbreaking question, peanut butter in the fridge or pantry?

Kim  

Pantry. I didn't know anyone put it in the fridge. But during the storm, we stayed at a hotel for eight days, and then we moved into someone's empty house, and they had their peanut butter in the fridge. I was like, are we supposed to be doing this?

Virginia  

Yes, that's what the Lord intended. I am.

Corinne  

I am also a fridge peanut butter person.

Kim

Are you supposed to?

Virginia  

Not from a food safety perspective, but it spiritually feels correct to me. It feels like it should be cold. I threw this in here because it was a recent poll on Burnt Toast and the people were against me on this. 

Corinne

Oh, wow. 

Virginia

When my boyfriend moved in, he was like, Why is the peanut butter in the fridge? What's happening? You're insane. And I was like, well, let's check with the public, assuming that my Burnt Toasties would rally around me. Instead they were all like, What are you doing? 

Corinne  

The only open stuff in my pantry is crackers and cookies. Open stuff goes in the fridge. 

Virginia

If it has a lid, it needs to be cold.

Kim

But what about hot sauce?

Corinne

Fridge.

Virginia  

Yeah, in the fridge.

Kim

We do, too. But I have started to think i'm not supposed to because, at restaurants, it's just on the table. 

Corinne

This is true. 

Virginia  

You have a good point. I'm not saying it's correct, but I'm saying it's correct. 

Another favorite Burnt Toast question that a reader submitted that we think is very fun to ask people is, which liquids would you want shooting out of your fingers? If you could have fingers that shoot liquids.

Corinne  

Each finger can be a separate liquid.

Virginia  

But also, if you don't want to think of five, it's fine. If you're like, I just want a Coke finger. That's all I need.

Corinne  

It could also be a liquid that's not something you drink.

Kim  

Like what?

Corinne

Gasoline. That's my new best answer. I would want gas to be able to shoot out of my finger.

Kim  

I did just had to buy a generator. I hope this episode doesn't give me PTSD when I listen to it in a month and remember how traumatized I am from the storm. I'll be like, Why did I keep mentioning generators and hotels?

Ok, I think it would be iced coffee, like a cold brew; Pamplemousse La Croix; honestly, orange juice. Love orange juice. Love an acid. That's it. Those are my three. I'm not a soft drink person.

Corinne  

Well, are you an electrolyte person?

Kim  

Oh, my God. I've been dying to talk to you about this. No, they're fake science, Corinne.

Corinne  

Well, fake science works for me.

Kim

No, I'm not. I used to be.

Corinne  

Talk to me when you come to high elevation.

Kim  

You know what? Honestly, that's fair. I have been in your part of the country a lot the last few years. We have to go to L.A. a few times a year. During COVID we couldn't fly, so we started driving, and now we are obsessed with driving cross-country.

Corinne  

Oh, wow. We really should talk.

Kim  

I didn't know you yet, but the last time we were in Albuquerque I told Virginia I wanted your phone number to ask you where to get a breakfast burrito. 

Corinne

Oh, my God! Yeah, you should have!

Virginia  

Corinne always has that intel.

Kim  

But no, the high altitude, that's legit.

Virginia  

I'm excited to have another electrolyte skeptic in the podcast. That's going to be helpful for me.

Virginia  

The beverage I will never be needing less of is Diet Coke. Are you pro or con Diet Coke, and if you are not pro Diet Coke, what do you drink?

Kim  

I'm pro Diet Coke, especially with pizza. I drink one on the days I'm at the bookstore. I just need one halfway through to keep going. I do love Diet Coke. I just wake up and drink coffee. That's typically it for the day, but if I'm out to eat or if I'm at work, I drink a Diet Coke. 

Virginia

Yeah, it's a nice little treat.

Corinne  

I just learned that there's a difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

Virginia  

Obviously! There's a huge difference!

Corinne

But what is it? No one can really articulate it.

Virginia

The taste.

Corinne  

But why are they making two zero calorie Cokes?

Virginia  

Diet culture.

Kim  

I think it's gender. I think they think women want Diet Coke and men do not.

Virginia  

Men are drinking a manly Coke Zero? That doesn’t sound more masculine.

Corinne  

But what is the difference? Is it different sweeteners?

Virginia  

I am Googling it to get to the bottom of this. "Coke Zero aims to replicate the classic Coke taste using a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium." Diet Coke uses only aspartame.

Corinne  

So it is the sweeteners. They both have caffeine?

Virginia  

They both have caffeine. They both are calorie-free and sugar-free. Diet Coke is where you want to go for that pure aspartame hit, which is what I'm looking for. 

Corinne  

Speaking of Diet Coke, any other diet-y foods or habits that you've reclaimed?

Kim  

Recently, I've started eating Uncrustables, which I hadn't had for a long time. When I was doing Iron Man training, that was what you'd take on a long bike ride. So I've associated that with needing to refuel during workouts. But I've started eating them again.

Virginia  

They're so good. A great purse snack. I like to have one for errand running.

Kim  

I've also started doing that. I just throw them in there. They're great because the purse thaws it out.

Virginia  

Yes, exactly. I put it between my sunglasses case and my wallet. It gets nice and toasty.

Kim  

And honestly? Yogurt. I quit eating yogurt for a long time, but it turns out you can have yogurt for fun.

Corinne

Yogurt is good.

Virginia  

Especially if you can have the full fat yogurt.

Kim

Oh, my God. Game changer. I bought it on accident because they were out of the one I buy. I was like, Oh, it never occurred to me to switch.

Virginia  

The one thing RFK, Jr. and I agree on is full fat yogurt. The one overlap in our otherwise completely disparate Venn diagram circles.

Kim

That disgusting, broken clock of a man.

Virginia  

Any diet-y foods or habits that you'll never touch again that you're like, Nope, that ship has sailed?

Kim  

Turkey bacon and turkey sausage. 

Virginia

Let that go. Just, why?

Kim

I'm just going to eat pork if I'm going to eat pork. Oh, Lean Cuisine. Never bringing that back. All kinds of snacks. I could never eat a pretzel again for the rest of my life.

Corinne  

Oh, wow. I love pretzels.

Kim  

Or unbuttered popcorn. All those zero point foods.

Virginia  

The ones that I hear people fully reclaim are cottage cheese, but again, pivoting to full fat cottage cheese. Rice cakes surprisingly have a lot of devotees. That's one where I'm like, No thanks. People like the crunch. I don't know.

Kim  

The exercise stuff I remember more. All of that has just gone away. 

Corinne  

Never going to do another Iron Man? 

Kim

No, I am not. I just take little walks.

Virginia  

So much better.

Corinne  

Do you have any current favorite TV shows?

Kim  

Oh, my God. My favorite topic is television!

I am watching The Wire for the first time. I watched season one and I'm obsessed with it. I'm going to start season two as soon as I have internet in my house again.

I am a middle-aged white woman, so I love RuPaul's Drag Race. I am its main demographic. I'm watching that right now. There's a new season. And I'm watching The Pitt.

Virginia  

I can't watch The Pitt because of medical trauma, but I do think I would like it. I need a website that gives me spoilers, so I can pick and choose which episodes, then I can do it.

Corinne  

Our last question is what are you reading right now?

Kim  

Ooh, I'm reading Lindy West's next memoir that's about to come out in March. It's called Adult Braces.

Virginia  

🎉 Spoiler, but Kim did get Lindy to come on the pod soon. So get excited, folks!

Kim  

I've read all of her books. I think this is her fourth book and second memoir. Man, it's blowing me away. I love her writing, and this is beyond anything she's written before, not to disparage her other books, but this is a whole new level of vulnerability. It's so good. I'm reading Heated Rivalry, also. 

Corinne

Oh, fun!

Virginia  

I have both of those on tap to start as soon as I finish what I'm reading right now. I can't wait to read Lindy, and I can't wait to read the Heated Rivalry books, which I ordered from your friend's bookstore, Tropes & Trifles. 

Kim  

That's awesome. My friend Lauren owns that bookstore. She's great. Her bookstore is great.

Virginia  

It felt like a really good way to support Minnesota, and also my own need for more gay hockey after Corinne got me into Heated Rivalry.

Corinne  

Finally! It took so long. 

Virginia  

It did. People were so mad.

Kim

It took longer than it needed to.

Virginia

I know. I just missed it somehow. And then I was like, Okay, I'm here. I get it.

Kim  

I'm in a romance group chat. One of the people in the group chat is Lauren, who owns Tropes & Trifles. The first episode hit HBO, the group chat lit up. They all just said, "All of you, watch it now."

Virginia  

Like, just stop what you’re doing.

Kim

We have to talk about this collectively. So I watched it in real time. It was a mandate.

Corinne

Amazing.

Virginia

Delightful.

🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈

Butter

Virginia  

Well, this was so fun. I'm glad we got to chat with you more. Before we wrap up, of course, we have to get you to give us some butter. What do you have for us?

(Editor's note: my mind went blank, so we skipped to Corinne and then came back to me.)

Corinne  

I'm going to recommend a book that I'm reading right now and really enjoying. It's called Long Bright River, and it's by Liz Moore, who wrote God Of the Woods that a lot of people read last year. I've been listening to the audiobook version and it's great. It's kind of a detective/crime situation, but there's a lot of twists and turns, and finding out things about the main character that you didn't know at the beginning. I'm really enjoying it. I'm also not quite done, so if something crazy happens at the end, don't blame me. I think I have only an hour left, so I feel pretty confident recommending it.

Kim

Do you know it's a TV show, too?

Corinne  

Oh no, I didn't, but that makes so much sense. I was listening to it and thinking it would make a great show. What is the show?

Kim  

Same name. It has Amanda Seyfried in it.

Virginia

Oh, I love her.

Kim

It's a great cast. It's actually a great show.

Corinne  

I'll have to check that out.

Virginia  

I love that book. Kim, do you want to go next?

Kim  

My butter is boba. I somehow had never had it even though there are great places all over Nashville that have it. But back to chicken tenders, near the place I live now, there's a little strip mall and it has a chicken tenders restaurant and a boba place. They're the only two things there. I went over there and they were so nice. They had me taste a bunch of stuff and they made me an iced coffee boba with a brown sugar top off. I'm obsessed with it. Anytime I'm there - it's actually across the street from where I am right now. Will I get one today? Yes, I will.

Virginia  

I think you need one after our morning.

Kim  

Why did I wait so long for boba? It's so fun and delicious.

Virginia  

I have to confess, I don't think I've ever had it.

Corinne  

This reminds me that there's an amazing TikTok of some guy trying boba for the first time.

Virginia  

I will endorse an item of clothing. It's fast fashion, which we know makes for a problematic butter, but I know I'm going to stand by this one because it is the third time I've bought this cardigan. It is the pranayama wrap from Athleta. I wear the 2x. It's roomy on me, but it only goes up to 3x. It's not a super size inclusive brand, but Corinne just said she doesn't care.

Corinne  

I never said that. I feel like a wrap is a flexibly sized item of clothing.

Virginia  

I agree. Athleta is a brand that frequently makes me mad because Old Navy is making plus sizes. You're the same company. The same as with Gap!

I am at the point in winter where my perimenopausal self is cold and hot at the same time, and I can't wear my sweaters because I'm so sweaty. It's a real thing. You just get to a point where your sweaters are too warm, but it's still cold, and what are you going to wear?

I've been getting more into the sweatshirt space, but even some of them are too heavy. This wrap is a really good one. It's lightweight, but it's warm, and it comes in different colors. I got this purplish-blue color on sale and I'm living in it.

My butter is a layer that you can actually be warm, but not die in.

Corinne

Amazing.

Kim

I support that.

Virginia  

Thank you, but I do acknowledge that it is not a great brand, and I would like them to make larger sizes.

Kim, this was a delight! Tell folks where they can follow you, at your website and the name you don't like.

Kim  

The Blonde Mule everywhere is me. As I mentioned, I bought that name.

Virginia  

She owns it.

Kim 

It’s easy to find me. TheBlondeMule.com is my newsletter where I write about books and pop culture. When I've got the bandwidth, I write essays. And then @TheBlondeMule on all the platforms.

Virginia  

You'll also find her in the Burnt Toast comments and Big Undies comments. And know that she is working a lot of magic behind the scenes here. You'll probably hear from her more every now and then, as well. 

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The Burnt Toast Podcast is hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay. You can follow Virginia on Instagram at @v_solesmith and on Bluesky at @virginiasolesmith.bsky.social. You can follow Corinne on Instagram at @selfiefay, on Bluesky at @corinnefay.bsky.social and on Patreon at Big Undies.

This podcast is produced by Kim Baldwin. You can follow Kim at @theblondemule on all platforms and subscribe to her newsletter at The Blonde Mule.

The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.

Our theme music is by Farideh.

Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.

Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism!