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Giving Up"Weirdly ok"This is the way season four ends, not with a bang but with a "weirdly ok." Alex John and Youngmi discuss the emotions that are topping them this week before discussing the topic of memory. Consumption: Alex: Last of Us Finale Youngmi: "Bad Influence" JdB: Oreo Mega Stuff and Hostess Strawberry Cupcakes Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously.2025-05-3050 minGiving UpRestaurant Bodies As ObjectsOn this, the penultimate episode of season 4, the crew explores a listener-submitted question about an all-too common occurence in hospitality spaces: when customers feel entitled to comment on—and touch—workers' bodies. Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Youngmi: Boyfriend Forever Alex: Waitress the Musical JdB: Underworld and Robin Tran2025-05-2352 minGiving UpEcosystem ManagementIn what is sure to be a therapeutic episode for many, Youngmi, Alex, and John discuss their restaurant pet peeves! Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Alex: Brown and Friends JdB: Jurassic World Dominion Youngmi: My Big Fat G--y Wedding2025-05-0252 minGiving UpLet It RipThe aftershocks of Mic Noise Gate continue to reverberate as the crew tackles the very chill and uncontreversial topic of RELIGON. Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Alex: Parable of the Sower JdB: Mickey 17 Youngmi: Stop Kiss2025-04-2549 minGiving UpKnitter's ChestGiving Up returns for the second half of the fourth season with a new timeslot: Friday! This week's topic is ANGER. And speaking of anger, please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Alex: Katy Perry going to space JdB: The Last of Us Season 2 Youngmi: Dream Scenario2025-04-1851 minGiving UpStraight MehWe've given up! (For a week.) Welcome to the mid-season finale of Giving Up, where the crew takles such topics as John's iced tea-induced insomnia and the way that the changing media landscape has affected restaurants, particularly in the context of Youngmi starting a TikTok account for Mission Chinese Food. No episode next week. But as always, please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Alex: White Lotus JdB: Gummi Bears & C...2025-04-0352 minGiving UpThe Golden Age of RestaurantsThis week's top emotion segment features a harrowing tale of an almost-sucessful phishing attempt before the crew discusses the recent book review of two restaurant-centric memoirs. Then they tackle the topic of patrons stealing items from restaurants. Don't do it! Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: Alex - Adolescence JdB - Seinfeld Youngmi - Din Tai Fung (derogatory)2025-03-2655 minGiving UpBreasting BoobilyWith all the pieces in place, episode three finally debuts the show's new format in full. Starting with a mildly homoerotic Top Emotion segement before getting into the episode's main topic: DRUGS. The advice question has the crew tackling the nuanced etiquite for bringing children to "nice" restaurants. Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consumption: JdB - The Terminator Sequels Youngmi - Trader Joseon...2025-03-1952 minGiving UpWe Heart FlukemanLike the inexorable march of time, season 4 marches on as the crew talks about ~personal branding~ in the age of social media before tackling this epsiode's main topic: skin care, and how a lot of it is actually BS. Please send us your advice questions! And topic suggestions! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Consuming: Alex - The X-Files JdB - Survivor Season 48 Youngmi - Mint Tea2025-03-121h 01Giving Up"What's Severance?"We're baa~ack! At long last, the crew has dusted off their mics and re-learned how to make podcasts. Season 4 starts with a somewhat free-from episode where a new format for the season takes place in real time. We still want your advice questions, however! Send us a voice note via our IG profile, email them to givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously. Media: JdB: Severance Youngmi: Love is Blind Alex: The Pitt2025-03-0556 minGiving UpGiving Up Returns! ...For The FinaleAfter taking a few weeks off, the crew triumphantly returns to record the final episode of season 3. Starting off with a robust discussion of everyone's current gripes before adressing an advice question about nuerodivergence among restaurant workers. See you all in 2025 for season 4! Media: Youngmi - Cold Case Alex - Lost Children JdB - Somebody Somewhere2024-12-111h 04Giving UpWe're Still AliveThe first post-election episode discusses the aftermath of the most recent election before going into a more on-topic restaurant subject. Media: JdB - The Boyfriend Alex - Extremely American Youngmi - Right-Wing YouTube2024-11-1358 minGiving UpTis the (Election) SeasonThe crew comiserates about the upcoming election and Alex's recovery from Covid before diving into the Simu Liu Boba Tea controversy. The advice section discusses a common fear among the dining public. Media: Alex - Somebody Somewhere JdB - Angela Collier Youngmi - Escape at Dannemora Send us your advice questions! givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously.2024-10-301h 00Giving UpConfessions of a Sink VomiterThe tables have turned! This episode features confessions from John, Youngmi, and Alex about the times they were the embarrasing restaurant guests. Media: JdB - Ariana Grande's SNL Episode Youngmi - Love Is Blind (still) Alex - Random Guys on TikTok Send us your advice questions! givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously.2024-10-2353 minGiving UpWe Can Get Angry About CakeThe usual segments are largely abandoned in favor of a deep dive of the recent TikTok-based cake controversy where an amateur cake maker accused an NYC restaurant of pilfering uneaten cake. Media: Youngmi - Love Is Blind Alex - Mr. McMahon JdB - Interview with the Vampire Send us your advice questions! givingupthepod@gmail.com or send anonymously.2024-10-1656 minGiving UpSilent Generation PauseThe crew kicks off by trying to figure out who exactly the "Silent Generation" is that segues into a discussion of World War 2. The Thunderdome yields a discussion of Lana Del Rey's new husband and the advice section touches on a very niche concern of restaurant people: what the tipping etiquette is when invited in for a friends and family meal before a new restaurant opens. Media: Alex - Monsters JdB - Zelda Echoes of Wisdom Youngmi - The Message2024-10-0951 minGiving UpCustomization CultureThis episode starts with an exploration of self image and then John talks about how he's sad and mad about a tree. The Thunderdome make its triumphant return and features a discussion of Priya Krishna's article about drink customization which dovetails nicely to the advice question about getting into bartending and if bartending school is worth it. Media: Alex - In the Dark Youngmi - Sex and the City JdB - Tuesday 2024-09-2549 minGiving UpJust LieThe crew starts out talking about the humiliations of job interviews and then about how people talk about punctuality online. The Thunderdome is waived (gasp) in order to give proper time to an advice question about aging in the restaurant industry. Media: Alex - Civil War Youngmi - Uglies JdB - EUSEXUA2024-09-1846 minGiving UpThe Beach That Makes You OldThe crew somewhat flinches on their commitment to talking more about restaurants by spending the episode discussing aging, perimenipaus and ambivalently critiquing astrology. However, and advice question regrounds in the topic of reporting toxic behavior in the restaurant workplace. Media: JdB: Trap Alex: Animal Crossing Youngmi: The Deliverance 2024-09-1159 minGiving UpThunderingly GoodAnd we're back with season three! The crew's made a soft pivot towards content that reflects their restaurant-adjacient millenial identities. The Thunderdome leads to a conversation about outgoing New York Times restaurant critic Pete Well's farewell column. Media: Alex - Kevin Can F*ck Himself Youngmi - Love Island UK JdB - Drag Race Philippines2024-09-041h 03Giving UpSeason Two Finale ExtravaganzaEvery ten episodes a new seaon begins, apparently. On this, the last episode of season 2, the crew debates the RNC-related Grindr spike in Milwaukee, communal tables in restaurants and answers an advice question that has it all: dead mothers, intergenerational conflict, and restaurant etiquitte. Don't forget to send us your advice questions! DM us on instagram, email us givingupthepod@gmail.com, or send us a question anonymously. Media: John: Fringe Alex: Game of Thrones (still) Youngmi: Exhibit by R.O. Kwon2024-07-241h 01Giving UpI'm Glad I Didn't Go To Law SchoolJohn and Youngmi begin by recounting their witnessing of the deadly July 4h incident on the Lower East Side where a drunk driver drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people. The crew then discusses the pros and cons of social media-based mental health diagnoses before tackling an advice question about not ending up where you though you'd be. Media: Youngmi - A Quiet Place Part II John - Chain Gang All Stars Alex - Inside Out 22024-07-1753 minGiving UpIt's Giving FeedbackThe crew begins by discussing the dynamics of emotional expression as it relates to gender expectations and neuroatypicality. The topic of mid-life crises re-emerges before a Thunderdome focusing on how to best think about receiving critical feedback. The advice section takles the oset of adult financial concerns. [Sorry about the audio at the beginning! John's mic was turned off lol] Media: Alex: Game of Thrones Youngmi: America's Sweethearts John: Mad Max Fury Road2024-07-101h 07Giving UpDown-SoldThe crew kicks off with a discussion of what makes good service in restaurants and how long to hold on to anger. The chat dives even deeper into restaurant gripes in the Thunderdome. The advice question centers on parenting self-assured children. Media: John: The Boys Alex: Dallas Cowboys Documentary Youngmi: The Rachel Divide2024-07-0354 minGiving UpStudied Abroad (Derogatory)The episode kicks off with a discussion of life's struggles that transitions to a conversation about the crew's study abroad experiences. The advice segment centers around the question of entering into a relationship with someone who is possibly entering into a green card marriage. [Please note that this episode contains discussions and descriptions of intimate partner violence.] Media: John: Hannah Einbinder's Everything Must Go Alex: Tell Them You Love Me2024-06-2658 minGiving UpIntrusive Thought-CodedThe crew kicks off the episode with some musings on TikTok-related hydration misinformation before transitioning to a discussion of what to do as parents (not John) when a child's friends are being mean to them. The Thunderdome swirls around wealth culture and the advice segement further explores economic despair by answering a listener question about the best way to critique capitalism. Media: Alex - Hitler and the Nazis Youngmi - The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius John - The Acolyte2024-06-191h 04Giving UpGaslighting UpThe crew starts off hot and heavy with a spirited discussion of gaslighting before discussing millenial consumerism in the Thunderdome. Nether-region higene is the advice topic of the day. Media: Alex - Bridgerton and Andrew Scott Erotica Youngmi - Big Vape John - Final Fantasy VII (original)2024-06-121h 01Giving UpA Very Special EpisodeThis episode the crew sets aside formalities to address the difficult subject of pet death and the emotional landscape of considering creatures who's understanding of the world is so different from our own. Our advice section continues to orbit around ADHD and Autism, this time as it releates to creativity and artistic expression. Media: Alex - We're Here John - Furiosa Youngmi - Ashley Madison Documentary and The Iron Claw2024-06-0545 minGiving UpStop Trying To Make "West-Elm-ification" HappenSeason two is in full swing as the crew talks about what the best age to have kids is and the show experiences an unprecedented Thunderdome result. John fields an advice question about his recent autism screening. Our Media: Youngmi: Aaron Hernandez Documentary Alex: Stranger Things John: NJ Turnpike Signs2024-05-2952 minGiving UpDoing a Second Season for the BitWelcome to Giving Up Season Two! We arbitrarily took a break for a few weeks so we could come back with a slew of of innovations—including a listener advice section! Did you miss us? Our Media: Youngmi: The Roast of Tom Brady Alex: Physical 100 and Mary and George John: The Idea of You2024-05-221h 00Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 21: "Crying to Completion"On this, the final episode of Season 1, the crew explores the joys of clinging to petty grievances while the Thunderdome yields a deep dive into Alex's past. What We're Watching: John: Civil War Alex: It Youngmi: Rango2024-04-241h 10Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 20: "Generation Why"In this episode we yearn for a new name for our generation besides "millenial" and then try to tackle a tricky trademark issue. 2024-04-171h 17Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 19: "Giving Up Barbie"Yep, we finally talked about Barbie. What We're Looking At: John/Alex: 3 Body Problem Youngmi: It's Perfectly Normal2024-04-101h 13Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 18: "Neuroregular"The crew discusses the relative merits of negativity. The thunderdome yields an exploration of psychological inheritances. What We're Looking At: John: The Hidden Spring Youngmi: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Alex: Lost Patients 2024-04-0355 minGiving UpGiving Up - Episode 17: "The Not Having TV As A Child To Judging People For Using Twitter Pipeline"The crew discusses the moral implications of continuing to post to twitter and the Thunderdome orders a ham and cheese on a roll. 2024-03-271h 14Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 16: "Leaving the Routine Is Horrifying"The crew discusses if millenials were ever cool while also exploring the pros and cons of office life and wether or not American Psycho needs a girlboss reboot.2024-03-201h 06Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 15: "I Don't Get Mad"In a groundbreaking episode, Alex and John work though a mad-adjacent conversation about the core goal of the podcast and the balance between authenticity of topics and catering to an audience. The Thunderdome yields a discussion of how individuals navigate their sense of self within larger identity structures. 2024-03-131h 14Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 14: "Catcalling Works??"Youngmi triumphantly returns to talk about her cruise as it relates to the horrors of late-stage capitalism and the cheapness of commerical luxury. The crew also talk about dating as a teenager and wether or not it's normal to think that your loved ones are dead when you don't know where they are. 2024-03-0659 minGiving UpGiving Up - Episode 13: "A Liverpool Ten"In a first-and-most-likely-last episode of its kind, John and Alex record a Youngmi-free episode where they talk about social media platforms they never got into, Survivor, and the deeply disturbing novel Tender Is the Flesh.2024-02-281h 07Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 12: "It's a Valve Issue"This week the crew tackles a wide assortment of topics from Alex's defecatory struggles, Survivor, and what it means for aging millenials to enter their parental death era. 2024-02-211h 19Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 11: "RuPaul's Mid Race"In their triumphant return to the airwaves, the crew re-aquaints themselves with the structure of their own podcast as they tackle subjects like fine dining, cannibalism, and The Sex Talk. 2024-02-141h 25Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 10: "Putting the 'mid' in 'Mid-Season Finale'"On this momentous occasion, the tenth episode of Giving Up and the last episode before the holiday break, John, Youngmi, and Alex reflect on the past half season, share in their distrust of lakes, and finally dive into the Half Baked Harvest controversy that they've been threatening to talk about for months. The crew ends the season with a rousing Newlywed Game and by sharing their hopes for 2024. 2023-12-131h 14Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 9: "Your Abs Know What Quantum Computing Is"Returning after a two-week break in recording the crew catches up about Alex's trip to Mexico, Youngmi's son's pneumonia, and John's completely baseless feeling that Alex and Youngmi are mad at him because they stopped responding to the group text for five hours last Friday. The thunderdome yields a discussion of online fame.2023-12-061h 05Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 8: "In Korea, Pooping Is National Discourse"Sorry if you're seeing this twice! A draft of the episode went up on Sunday by mistake, but we're not mad at you for listening!!! In this episode the crew wonders why the discussion always comes back to defecation and Alex and Youngmi are horrified that John sometimes forgets to eat. The Thunderdome results in a discussion of how each generation has a different level of intimacy with technology. Just a heads up: this episode contains some discussion of disordered eating and intimate partner violence. 2023-11-291h 06Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 7: "Hunter Schafer Is Our Daughter"During a discussion of feeling one's age, the crew makes a collective realization that John and Alex are actually Hunter Schafer's parents. The discussion of age continues during The Thunderdome when the crew discusses age gaps in straight relationships. 2023-11-221h 11Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 6: "Aggressively Mid"The crew starts with a fullsome discussion of constipation and infant feces before consoling John about the demise of his non-alcoholic drink company. The Thunderdome finds John, Alex, and Youngmi diving into their pasts with surprising results. 2023-11-151h 00Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 5: "Hot Dogs Are Food!"The crew dissects the internalized misogyny and homphobia inherent in policing one's own speech patters and how to impugn someone's actions without coming off abelist. The results of The Thunderdome lead the crew to reflect on the relationship between restaurant working conditions and food media against the backdrop of Momofuku Ko's closure. 2023-11-081h 14Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 4: "Maybe the Real Squirrel Jerky Is the Friends We Made Along the Way"John laments his indifference towards his own birthday while Alex and Youngmi ponder how to raise oppression-aware children without making them insufferable perma-victims. The Thunderdome features a surprisingly magnanimous outcome and the crew wonders, finally, what trick-or-treating will look like after the apocalypse.2023-11-0151 minGiving UpGiving Up - Episode 3: "Why Don't You Have Any Eyes?"Without planning on it, Alex, John, and Youngmi end up recording a Halloween special. John tells the group what it's like to have sleep paralysis and Alex recounts the time she cast a spell on herself and accidentally burned her house down. Spooky season indeed. 2023-10-251h 06Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 2: "My Retirement Plan Is the Collapse of Society"This week the crew talks the futility of retirement plans, the challenge of actually getting your friends to come to your events, and the fraught politics of Mother's Day. They also add a new closing segment where each one shares the favorite thing they're looking at this week.2023-10-251h 13Giving UpGiving Up - Episode 1: "It's Giving Up"On the series premiere Alex, John, and Youngmi figure out the show format in real time. Starting with the segment "Are You Mad At Me?" they each take turns sharing why they think the world is mad at them this week before diving into the The Thunderdome, the heart of the show where each host pitches a topic and votes on what they'll discuss during the episode. 2023-10-251h 09
Hairy ButtholeThe Group ChatThis week, Youngmi brings on her chaotic daily group chat members: Alex Pemoulie and John deBary. They discuss the modern phenomenon of the group chat and why they think it plays such a huge role in the daily lives of everyone today. They talk about the origins of the rise of the popularity of the medium stemming from older forms of communication from Y2K chat interfaces like AIM, to ancient rituals of tribal gossip. John also talks about the sadness of turning 40 and Alex talks about talking shit!2023-08-3054 minHairy ButtholeI Can't Stop Thinking About My Baby Dying (Featuring Alex Pemoulie)In this episode, I talk to my friend Alex Pemoulie (Restaurant Worker's Community Foundation) about her infant son going through open heart surgery after finding out he was at high risk of losing his life to a heart defect. She discusses postpartum depression and how it manifested in her being obsessed with the death of her children and the irony of her child being found out later to have a possibly fatal heart defect. We also talk about how her grief showed up in a form of a psychotic break months before the procedure, so that by the time...2022-08-021h 19
Hairy ButtholeI Can't Stop Thinking About My Baby DyingCW: Death and illness in children. This week I talk to Alex Pemoulie about her baby going through open-heart surgery (he is fine). Alex and I met when her first child and my son were babies and got along because we were utterly traumatized by motherhood. We had a short-lived feminist mom podcast (one of approximately one trillion feminist mom podcasts that 'keep it real') called Just Moms and in this episode we do a round-up of everything we discussed back then. We cover SO MUCH ground, including how Alex's fear of her children dying led her to obsessively reading...2022-04-221h 19
Speaking BroadlyFor Failure's Sake: Alex PemoulieIs failure the best teacher? In this episode of Speaking Broadly, writer and Director of Finance at Sea Creatures Alex Pemoulie traces the arc of her relationship with failure. She shares her first perceived failures including dropping out of a semester abroad in Paris, cutting ties with the 'good girl' within, and staying too long with an abusive boyfriend. Pemoulie then embraces failure with ferocity while working at Momofuku with Dave Chang, who is master of the art of learning from mistakes. If you've ever doubted the power of taking responsibility for risky choices and their inconsistent outcomes, you...2020-08-0244 min
Amuse NewsEpisode 78: Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation""It was November 2016 and I was freaking the fuck out. A lifetime of undiagnosed mental illness, and a few traumatic events culminated on election night, and I was broken."" This is the origin story of the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation. As co-founder, John deBary writes, he was left stunned and with the ""recognition that those with privilege have a moral imperative to support marginalized people.""
He decided to start with what he knew. He reached out to Alex Pemoulié, a former colleague at Momofuku, and they began brainstorming ways for the restaurant community to brace for the n...2019-02-2852 min
All in the Industry ®Episode 17: Toklas SocietyEver since the ill-fated Gods of Food cover of Time Magazine, stories of women in food and the support networks have to come the forefront of the national food conversation. Today’s episode of All in the Industry features Sue Chen and Alex Pemoulie, the women behind The Toklas Socierty. The Toklas Society is a network of women in the hospitality industry. Through online content, meet-ups, speaker events, and workshops they create opportunities not just for networking, but also for inspiration, education, and personal and professional growth. Tune in and hear how they got started in the culinary world an...2014-04-3051 min