Advertise on podcast: Alone At Lunch

This week we are joined by Cantor Laura Stein! Laura Stein is a cantor, licensed clinical social worker, and PhD candidate in the psychology of religion, blending spiritual care, mental health, and research on how to live a meaningful, whole life. Growing up knowing she was a lesbian gave her an outsider’s view of the world, and after experiencing abuse at her cantorial seminary, she turned from singing in pulpits to studying trauma, reclaiming one’s voice, and how personal healing and collective justice can drive change. She’s now writing a book that weaves that research with her story of overcoming spiritual harm. She stays connected to sacred Jewish music by officiating weddings and lifecycle events, work that landed her in Vogue and on a list of NYC’s Top 20 Wedding Officiants.  In this episode, Laura joins Carly and Emily to discuss her work as a cantor, social worker, and PhD researcher studying how justice is taught in clergy training. She reflects on how harm and silencing during her own seminary experience inspired her research and became part of a longer journey toward healing and reclaiming her voice. The conversation also explores queer identity, growing up in the 1990s, and how moments of loneliness can shape who we become.   Recommendations From This Episode: Kissing Girls on Shabbat The Jews of Summer Alone Kissing Girls On Shabbat with Dr. Sara Glass   Follow Laura: @cantorlaurastein Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Tanya Grant! Tanya Grant writes twisty thrillers packed with secrets, murder, and gossipy group dynamics. Her essays have appeared in Writer’s Digest and CrimeReads, and she’s spoken about creativity on various podcasts. Tanya lives in Seattle with her family and a herd of cute but messy guinea pigs. When she’s not writing or conducting highly suspicious web searches (for research!), you can find her gardening in her foxglove-filled yard or dreaming up her next plot twist over a cup of cinnamon tea. In this episode,Tanya Grant joins Carly and Emily to discuss her new psychological thriller, *A Beautiful Lie*—a queer story of obsession set in a Newport mansion, where intimacy, trust, and privilege shape the characters’ lives. She shares how her journey from romance writing to thrillers, her love of research, and her hyperfocus influenced the book, alongside reflections on her later-in-life ADHD diagnosis and the role of burnout in understanding herself. The conversation also explores handling reader feedback, motherhood, and taking risks.    Recommendations From This Episode: Count My Lies You   Follow Tanya: @tanyagrantbooks Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected]  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Cole Brauer! Cole Brauer is a record-breaking American professional sailor who finished second in the grueling 2023–2024 solo race around the world. Brauer and her work have been featured in The New York Times and on Today and CNN. A University of Hawai‘i graduate, she is a sought-after speaker for companies and organizations ranging from PJT to Kaiser Permanente, known for her candid storytelling and a philosophy of unvarnished grit. When she isn’t sharing her story on land, she is back on the water as a co-skipper for an IMOCA 60 team. In this episode, Cole Brauer shares her journey from sailing around the world to writing a book about her experiences, including the creative process behind designing fonts for accessibility and recording your own audiobook. She also addresses the importance of authenticity, gender identity, and resilience in pursuing one's passions. Recommendations From This Episode:  A Marriage At Sea Young Woman And The Sea Follow Cole: @colebraueroceanracing Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ellen O’Clover! Ellen O’Clover is the author of If Not You, The Heartbreak Hotel, and other stories for teens and adults. Her books have been selected for Book of the Month, appeared in outlets like NPR and Rolling Stone, and been nominated for multiple states' book awards. She lives in a little green house under a giant aspen tree near Boulder, Colorado, with her rocket scientist husband and two perfect bulldogs. In this episode, Ellen discusses her journey from copy writing to romance novels, the importance of authentic storytelling, and the themes of friendship, love, and self-doubt in her latest book 'If Not You.' She shares insights on writing for different age groups, her creative process, and her experiences balancing her career and personal life.   Recommendations From This Episode:  How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days Great Big Beautiful Life   Follow Ellen: @ellenoclover Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Maggie Gates! Maggie Gates is an author who writes raw, relatable romance novels packed full of heat and humor. Maggie calls North Carolina home. In her spare time, she enjoys daydreaming about her characters, jamming to country music, and eating all the barbecue and tacos she can find! Her e-reader is always within reach due to a love of small-town romances that borders on obsession. Make sure to check out her latest novel, Blue Jean Summer!  In this episode,  Maggie shares her journey from culinary school to becoming a successful romance novelist, discussing her writing process, character development, and the influence of her personal life on her books.   Recommendations From This Episode:  Sterling Point The Wrong Paris Follow Maggie: @authormaggiegates Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod  Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Marshall J Moore! Marshall J. Moore is the author of the Son of a Sailor cozy fantasy trilogy, the Rites of Resurrection epic fantasy trilogy, and over thirty published short stories. His story “Red Lanterns” won second place in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Short Story Contest. His latest novel, The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing is out 9/22/26.  Author Marshall J. Moore joins the show to talk about Henchperson's Guide to Unionizing, a cozy horror novel he describes as "Horrible Bosses meets What We Do in the Shadows," and how he uses character relationships to balance absurdity with real emotional weight around abuse, exploitation, and found community. He also  traces his path as a storyteller — from becoming a reader in first grade and loving Animorphs, to his theater background and disciplined 2,000-3,000-word daily writing practice. Recommendations From This Episode:  What We Do In the Shadows Dungeon Crawler Carl Follow Marshall: @marshalljmooreauthor Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Isabel Sterling! Isabel Sterling writes stories about queer love and resilience with a witty magical twist. She is the author of several YA and adult novels, including: These Witches Don’t Burn and With All My Haunted Heart. Connect with Isabel at www.IsabelSterling.com Author Isabel Sterling joins the show to talk about her new sapphic ghost story, With All My Haunted Heart, and how a childhood steeped in witchy books, tarot, and Practical Magic grew into the worlds she writes today. She dives into grounding magic in real practices like Reiki and tarot, discovering her queerness through writing, and the mindset tools — honed through her work as a life coach for authors — that got her through rejection, rewrites, and a canceled book contract. It's a conversation about joy, grief, and ambition coexisting, essential listening for anyone drawn to stories with heart, humor, and haunted energy. Recommendations From This Episode:  Hocus Pocus 2 Death Becomes Her Follow Isabel: @isa_sterling Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod   Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected]   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ally Zetterberg! Ally Zetterberg is a British-Swedish writer who grew up in rural Sweden before stumbling on a modeling career that took her all over the world. She somehow ended up in the South of France, where she now lives with three children, a dog, and a cat. She has a degree in psychology and is passionate about writing characters who feel real and who bring a complicated human experience to the page. In this episode, Ally discusses the journey that informed her creative work, from being discovered as a Swedish model at seventeen to her eventual move to the South of France. She reflects on why she gravitated away from short stories, how her studies in psychology helped her craft authentic characters, and the ways her global modeling career provided a unique perspective for writing nuanced, realistic women. Recommendations From This Episode:  Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model Game Night My Sister, The Serial Killer Follow Ally: @allyzetterbergauthor Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Ophira Eisenberg! Ophira Eisenberg is a Standup Comedian, Writer, and Podcast Host (NPR, CBS, CNN, The Moth, HBO, Comedy Central, iHeart) who headlines theaters and comedy venues across the world, tours regularly with the Moth Mainstage, and hosts the weekly parenting-comedy podcast Parenting is a Joke (Webby Finalist for Best Host). Her new comedy special, I Used to Be Nicer produced by Lewis Black/Stark Raving Black Productions is available now. She also hosted NPR’s trivia comedy show Ask Me Another for 9 years. Her breakout memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press) has been optioned for a television series, and her solo show Leaving A Mark: A Comedy About Scars won Women in the Arts & Media Award for Solo Show Scripts and just finished a successful European tour. She recently returned from the Just For Laughs festival where she performed her 3rd gala for CBC/Global Television. In this episode, we talk about stand-up, storytelling, and the experiences that shaped Ophira’s comedic voice, covering everything from performance anxiety to Jewish identity and parenthood. Ophira reflects on toggling between her stand-up persona and her public radio storytelling work, how growing up in Calgary shaped her outsider perspective, and why some audiences respond best to specificity and intelligence. The conversation also turns personal, digging into family silence and inherited trauma, and tracing her path from a single weekend comedy workshop to a full-fledged career. Recommendations From This Episode: Here All Along Empire Records Follow Ophira: @ophirae Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Natalie Moss! Natalie is the author of the adult psychological thriller, The Night Hunter. She is a Filipina-South African, born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and has gone on safaris since she was three years old. An Oxford graduate, Natalie has lived in seven countries, including the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, and Spain, and has now settled in London. She's an avid reader of thrillers and crime fiction, and is obsessed with solving the puzzle of a good mystery. In this episode, Natalie Moss shares the inspiration behind her debut psychological thriller, The Night Hunter. We discuss how her upbringing across various continents and her lifelong relationship with the Southern African wilderness informed the novel's setting and its exploration of identity and belonging. Natalie also reflects on her academic years at Oxford, her creative routine, and the balance of maintaining a career in economics while pursuing the craft of storytelling for the sheer love of the mystery. Recommendations From This Episode:  My Oxford Year https://www.natalie-moss.com/ Follow Natalie: @natmossauthor Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Isabelle Spotts! Isabelle Spotts is the writer and narrator of two award-winning audio dramas, Night Faces and Middle West. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, two children, and two black cats.​ Saint Delilah is her debut novel. In this episode, Isabelle shares how her childhood terror of horror films evolved into a creative passion, leading her to transform those early anxieties into compelling narratives. We also explore how her upbringing in rural Wisconsin influenced her work and why her dedication to the macabre serves as a means of addressing and overcoming personal fears. Recommendations From This Episode:  Hocus Pocus Are You Afraid Of The Dark? The Butcher Legacy Follow Isabelle: @isabellespotts Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Abbi Waxman. Abbi is a chocolate-loving, dog-loving woman, who lives in Los Angeles and lies down as much as possible. She worked in advertising for many years, which is how she learned to write fiction. She has three daughters, a dog, four cats, a snake and a pigeon. Deadly Does It is Abbi's eight novel, and her second mystery. In this episode, Abbi Waxman discusses her background, from growing up in Bath and moving between the UK, New York, and California to finding her way from advertising into novel writing. It also explores how her creative path was shaped by family, sobriety, and the changing publishing landscape, especially her shift into writing mysteries and the appeal of stories where order can be restored. Overall, it’s a candid, reflective episode about reinvention, creative persistence, and finding humor and meaning in a messy life. Recommendations From This Episode: SANDEMANs Tours The Bodyguard Follow Abbi: @abbiwaxman Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Jillian Laine. Jillian Laine is an author and journalist. She has written multiple children’s books and has worked as an acquisitions editor, book festival director, and literary award judge. She and her husband live with their pride of cats in the Great Lakes State. In this episode, Jillian shares how her fascination with Tudor history and powerful women inspired her writing, including her novel *Henry Tudor Must Die*. The conversation also explores her research process, representation in historical storytelling, and the way personal experiences shape creative work. Jillian also reflects on perseverance as a writer and the importance of staying curious, even when the path to publication is long. Recommendations From This Episode  Six - The Musical The Great Follow Jillian: @jillianlaineauthor Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Kerri Maher. Kerri is the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, All You Have To Do Is Call, The Kennedy Debutante, and The Girl in White Gloves. She lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts with her daughter and dog, but was born and raised in California where Summer of Love, her latest novel, is set. In this episode, Kerri shares how personal adversity—including hip dysplasia, sobriety, and cross-country moves—shaped her into a storyteller who explores identity, resilience, and change. She discusses her latest novel, Summer of Love, set against 1967 California's counterculture. Perfect for aspiring authors and anyone navigating the intersection of adversity and ambition, this episode proves your challenges can become your greatest source of inspiration. Recommendations From This Episode:  Malibu Rising Daisy Jones & The Six Follow Kerri: @kerrimaherwriter Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we are joined by Liza Tully. Liza Tully writes the Merritt & Blunt comedy mystery series, including The Forty Year Grudge, published in June 2026. She also writes dark suspense and literary fiction under the name Elisabeth Elo and Elisabeth Panttaja Brink, with novels published in six countries, a Book of the Month Club selection, and Indie Next Pick appearances. A Brown University graduate with a PhD in American Literature from Brandeis, she has worked as a children's magazine editor, tech project manager, and halfway house counselor. She lives in Boston with her husband and their dog, Fred. In this episode, Liza shares her journey from academic scholar to novelist, revealing how her deep study of heroines in American literature shaped her character development and storytelling across multiple pen names. In this episode, Liza opens up about her creative routines, the importance of daydreaming and unstructured time, and how themes of marriage, friendship, and self-discovery weave through her work.  Recommendation From This Episode:  Harriet The Spy  Lizzie McGuire Hacks Follow Liza: @lizatullywrites Follow Carly: @carlyjmontag Follow Emily: @thefunnywalsh Follow the podcast: @aloneatlunchpod Please rate and review the podcast! Spread the word! Tell your friends!  Email us: [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.