Shows / Relatively Ordinary
Relatively Ordinary
From global headlines to neighborhood happenings to the dinner table — we make sense of the world by talking it through together. Relatively Ordinary is a podcast where Karl and Betsy, a married couple raising kids and building a life together, explore current events and cultural issues with humor, humanity, and a perspective grounded in their everyday lives.
Episodes
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 37: "Use It Or Lose It"
In the Quick Bite we figure out why clutter sends Betsy over the edge while Karl only melts down when everyone needs something at once. Then Betsy brings a…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 36: "Old Enough to Remember"
Fresh off a marathon relay (and almost $5K raised for the iCan Bike camp), Betsy and Karl take on a topic that's hard to believe is a quarter-century old…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 35: "Another Trip Around the Sun"
One year, 35 episodes, and (conveniently) one night before our actual 19th wedding anniversary — so we're marking both. Betsy puts Karl through a "Who Said…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 34: “The Big Ball of Hopes & Dreams”
Is there one non-negotiable thing a partner has to provide — the kind of thing where nothing else makes up for its absence? Karl digs into the actual research…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 33: "Splitting the Difference”
Fresh off a Jersey Shore tan and a field hockey redemption tour, Betsy and Karl dig into the thing that makes every relationship, workplace, and government…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 32: "True Colors"
This week Karl and Betsy take on the fight over Pride flags happening in towns across the country — prompted by a recent local flag controversy, the death of…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 31: “Legos, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Happy Birthday America! This one opens with a toilet installation and closes with Betsy and Karl threatening revolution via the musket in the family room…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 30: “No Time Like the Presence”
After a two-and-a-half-week hiatus (and several legitimate excuses), Betsy and Karl dig into presence — why we're so bad at it, whether mindfulness is a luxury…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 29: "Lessons from a Marriage"
Betsy brings a topic ripped straight from Maine headlines — the Graham Platner Senate race and the media's gleeful dissection of his marriage — and uses it to…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 28: "The Talk"
It's time for The Talk — not the birds and the bees, but the whole messy American relationship with sex. On the table: why Americans are so uniquely bad at…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 27: "Hacked Off"
It's Mother's Day, our butts are finally comfortable, and Karl is in his "I Love Hot Moms" shirt, as nature intended. After swapping signs of spring (daffodils…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 26: “Past Our Prime Time”
Could Karl go a full week without making Betsy mad if $10,000 were on the line? He gives it about 14 minutes. From there, the conversation turns to something…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 25: "Man Up"
What did you want to be when you grew up? Betsy had Broadway in her sights; Karl was aiming for astronaut-paleontologist-baseball player (a reasonable combo)…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 24: "Blind Faith"
Religion is having a weird moment in America — loudly invoked, quietly ignored, and occasionally weaponized by people who've clearly never finished the book. A…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 23: "The Friendship Recession"
If you could host a dinner party with any five people, living or dead, who's making the cut? We work through our lists (Jesus gets a seat, Kid Rock does not)…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 22: "Love and Chores"
We start off this week with comfort food for the soul, showing our potential prowess for a future edition of 'The Newlywed Game' by correctly guessing each…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 21: “The Buck Stops… Somewhere”
Spring has sprung in Maine — which means Mud Season, daylight savings hangover, and big questions about who's actually going to clean up the mess. In this…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 20: “Anti-Social Network”
In Episode 20 we recap the best of the Olympics: two gold medals in hockey for the U.S.A., the unbelievable comeback of Federica Brignione, and the joy of…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 19: "America, WTF?"
It took 19 episodes, but we finally broke our “no angry political rants” promise to ourselves. There was no other way to tackle WTF is going on in the U.S.A…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 18: “Richer or Poorer”
It’s Super Bowl Sunday and we’ve got a date with destiny, so this is a quick one! Stay tuned for game predictions that probably won’t age well, a(nother) trip…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 17: "Getting Higher Ed"
Join us for a “pants optional” episode where we delve into the pros and cons of the changing landscape of higher education. We discuss the costs and benefits…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 16: "Back to Nature"
When nature calls, we answer. We talk about the benefits of being in nature, how it impacts our lives and how to get more of it. Also, Karl gives the world’s…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 15: “Stirring The Melting Pot”
We ring in the new year tanned and full of optimism after a reinvigorating family vacation. We open up with the questions we SHOULD have asked before we got…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 14: "Desirable Difficulties"
We're in the Christmas spirit for another episode of Relatively Ordinary! We talk New Years resolutions and why its so difficult to help your spouse start the…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 13: "Why We Play The Game”
Betsy tees Karl up to hit one out of the park this week with a game-winning episode about competition and sports. We take a few warmup shots by pretending…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 12: “The Inevitable March of Technology”
We all love the technology that gives us driving directions, helps us with homework, saves time with grocery shopping and makes our poop magically disappear…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 11: "Artificially Intelligent, Naturally Confused”
We spend our latest “crappy date night” pontificating on the wild, weird world of AI. We explore topics of ethics, policy, science, Reddit, and what Karl named…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 10: “Home, $weet Home”
In our milestone 10th episode we agree that the only thing we’d add to our “three months to live” bucket list is to become outspoken jerks. Then, after…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 9: "Burnout Junkies"
This week we talk about our old friend burnout. We share our personal tales of burnout, how to recognize when burnout is pending, and how to prevent going down…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 8: “Girls Will Be Women”
In this episode we’re putting the yin back in your yang. Karl appeals to Betsy's sense of "equality" by letting her hog the mic and preach about what it means…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 7: “Ready or Not…”
In our latest episode we talk about when the time is right to put a bun in the oven, reflecting on our experience of starting a family and how that decision…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 6: "The Picture of Health"
This week we’re talking healthcare, insurance and what it means to be healthy (hint: it may or may not involve putting peanut butter on Girl Scout cookies). We…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 5: “It’s a man’s world?”
This week we’re discussing when we discovered that we weren’t going to be superstars, the yin and the yang, and the challenges of growing up young and male in…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 4: "A Renewed Hope”
We’ve got a short, sweet, and hopefully hopeful episode for you today. We delve a bit into our origin stories and talk about why we don’t think we’re…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 3: "Trust But Verify"
We're back at it for our third episode and proud to say we're at least 25% less "s***show" than last week. In this week's installment we talk about what…
- Relatively Ordinary
Ep. 2: “The Anatomy of Joy”
Coming to you from Relatively Ordinary's state of the art recording studio, in this episode we bring the joy. We cover such important topics as how to…
Relatively OrdinaryEp. 1: "Tough Conversations"
In our very first conversation we have a conversation about ... conversations! Topics include "whose bud is this?" and how to talk about difficult news with…