Food, flops and friendship, from the car to the patio.
Bonding Time is conversation between two friends, Amanda and Lou, recorded in cars, on a patio during a sleepover and on a walk around town. The talk moves easily from food and hosting mishaps to imposter syndrome, outgrowing old habits and the retreats the two are planning.
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Bonding Time is the sound of two friends picking up a conversation that plainly started long before anyone pressed record. Amanda and Lou are the pair at its heart, and these episodes find them in all kinds of places. One is recorded in a moving car, with driving directions folded in between questions. Another comes from a patio during a sleepover, after a drive, an appearance on their friend Candice's podcast and a dinner of Mediterranean orzo. A third is taped on a walk around town and closes with someone out of breath on a hill. Background noise is part of the texture, and in 'Beginners' they hope listeners can hear them over the traffic. Food is the thread. In 'Food in Three languages- Cousin Vinnie', a visiting 17-year-old cousin who was born in Utah, has lived in Italy and Japan and now lives in Seattle talks about bombolini rolled in sugar while still hot, tiramisu, limoncello and meringues dipped in chocolate. The conversation then compares eating abroad with eating in America. 'Disaster Dinners' goes after the fear that keeps people from hosting at all. The remedy is honesty: stories of their own belly flops, including a birthday barbecue during a strict gluten-free phase and a son's request for a rainbow cake. The talk does not stay on the plate. On the walk in 'Nourish - Amanda & Lou', the subject is consumption versus nourishment. On one side are belly laughs with friends and a chaotic game of wiffle ball with the kids. On the other is reaching for crackers or a drink to numb a restless feeling. 'Beginners' begins with a kitchen sink salad and turns to imposter syndrome, and to a phrase the two say they keep repeating to each other: nothing is wasted. Years of caring for children, odd jobs and someone who once taught them to cut an onion properly all count as experience. In 'Snakes & outgrowing', a birthday gift of earrings leads to the snake that has to shed its skin, because staying in the old one is the unhealthy choice. 'Road trip!' finds them driving up early to a cabin in Donnelly with food and swag, set on resting well instead of over-planning. Those plans keep coming up: retreats with hikes, bike rides and good food, a new Substack newsletter and an upcoming sale. The mood swings between silly and sincere, with a passing note of faith. A couple of conversations end with recommendations, from Pan's Labyrinth to a short, lighthearted TV series. For a first listen, the Cousin Vinnie episode is an easy way in: a car, a curious teenager and a great deal of dessert.
Made for: Suits a listener who enjoys easygoing talk between friends that drifts from recipes and hosting mishaps to self-doubt and personal growth, and who does not mind a little road noise.
What sets it apart: The conversations happen in cars, on patios, on walks and mid-cooking instead of in a studio, and food opens the way into frank talk about nourishment, failure and outgrowing old habits.
Storytelling, and great conversation.
A gluten-free rainbow cake tastes like Play-Doh, and you might invite people over anyway.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm car-ride conversation about food, memory, moving places, and a teenager's wide-ranging palate.
A car ride with 17-year-old Cousin Vinny opens into a warm conversation about how place can shape a young person's taste. Born in Utah and visiting from Seattle, Vinny looks back on living in Italy and Japan, where the food memories are vivid: bombolini, chocolate-dipped…
A warm, funny look at hosting fears, gluten-free cake, and gatherings that wobble despite everyone's best efforts.
Hosting anxiety turns into a comic endurance test as Amanda and her co-host trade stories about gatherings that nearly come undone. The standout mishap is Julian's birthday, where a gluten-free rainbow cake tastes like Play-Doh and a barbecue somehow leaves every guest with…
An intimate Oregon-summer conversation about imposter syndrome, faith, and the courage built through ordinary work.
The episode settles into the work that sits behind a fresh start: cooking for people, caring for children, taking odd jobs, and trusting that experience will matter later.
A warm walk-and-talk reflection on real nourishment inside ordinary family life.
Bonding Time frames a hot summer-night walk with a wakeful baby as a quiet test of what separates consumption from nourishment. Amanda and her co-host keep the idea grounded in family life: camping and playing at Willow Lake, wiffle ball with the kids, laughter in community,…
Deschooling as family liberation work.
Kitchen-table self-reliance, schooling, and homestead skills.
Daily TED and TEDx talks hosted by Elise Hu, spanning science, psychology, and creativity.
Pop culture, personal stakes, and room for a tangent.
In Bonding Time’s final episode, Pam says her first podcast listening experience eased the loneliness she felt at home with two young children.
Bonding Time follows Cousin Vinny, who is 17 and has lived in Utah, Italy, Japan, and Seattle while talking food during a drive home from Korean takeout.
A gluten-free rainbow cake turned into Play-Doh and cement-hard buns made Julian's birthday barbecue the episode's sharpest hosting story.
Bonding Time: Beginners follows Amanda and Cody as they describe amateurism during an Oregon summer filled with kids, cooking, and new work.
Amanda and Lou walk around their town on a hot summer night, talking about "consumption" versus "nourishment" and why being "full" is not the same thing as being nourished.
The hosts treat sleep as essential preparation, not an optional extra, before their Donnelly retreat.
On Bonding Time, Amanda and Lou connect snake shedding to the discomfort of outgrowing familiar roles, including the shift to life with a first baby.
Bonding Time's “Sensory memories/Dinner invite” links childhood sensory cues to present-day beauty, including a mint-scented field and a planned shared meal.
Two hosts discuss their feelings about the end of 2021 and hopes for 2022, reflecting on the blur of the pandemic years.
The hosts celebrate a birthday and graduation while introducing an emotional interview with a guest about her life.
Host interviews children's book author Charity Rios about her book 'My Heart's Garden' and her creative journey.
Two hosts discuss their past toxic behaviors in their marriage and reflect on personal growth.