Jenny Slate

Office Ladies

Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey welcome comedian and author Jenny Slate to discuss her recent creative endeavors and career milestones. The

Key takeaways

• Jenny Slate's new animated film, 'Forgotten Island', explores themes of friendship transitions and adulthood.
• Slate discusses her book 'Life Form', which captures her personal journey from singlehood through motherhood.

Main topics

• Home Organization
• Forgotten Island Movie

Notable quotes

I don't really understand putting a potato peeler with blades because I feel like it's just sort of a general utensil.

Conclusion

A heartwarming celebration of multi-hyphenate talent and the enduring

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:04) I'm Jenna Fisher. And I'm Angela Kinsey. We were on The Office together. And we're best friends. And now we're doing the ultimate Office Lovers podcast just Speaker 6 (0:12) for you. Each week, we will dive deeper into the world of The Office with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes details, and lots of BFF stories. We're The Office Lady 6.0. Speaker 6 (0:25) Hi, everybody. Hi there. You guys, we have a super talented, hilarious woman on the podcast today. We're really excited because we're big fans. It's Jenny Slate. Jenny Slate. Ah, she's a brilliant comedian, actor, writer, New York Times bestselling author, and now a podcaster too with her show, I Need You Guys. And you might know her from her work in film and TV. I loved her as Mona Lisa on Parks and Rec. So much. So good. She also co-created Marcel the Shell with shoes, which I loved. There was all of these short films and a book series. And she got nominated for an Academy Award for the movie version. Okay. So that's how I became a fan of hers. So I was trying not to geek out when I was talking to her. I Speaker 5 (1:11) know. I mean, I was the same. I remember discovering Jenny from watching the movie Obvious Child that she starred in with one of our The Office alumni, Jake Lacey. And in our interview, she talks about that film being a really pivotal moment in her career. But everyone, she is also an incredible voice actress. She has voiced characters in movies like The Lorax, Zootopia, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets. The Lego Batman movie Speaker 6 (1:40) and Bob's Burgers. Yeah. And now she has a new animated movie in theaters right now from DreamWorks Animation called Forgotten Island. I am so excited about this Speaker 5 (1:49) movie. We're going to talk about it. But if that isn't enough, Jenny Slate is also an author, and we have a really great conversation with her about her new book, Life Form, and also a book called Notes to New Mothers. We end up getting in a really thoughtful conversation about motherhood. But hey, let's get to it. Yeah. This is our conversation with Jenny Slate. Speaker 3 (2:14) Hello, ladies. Oh, lady podcast. Thank you. How many people come on this show and are like freaking out that they get to talk to you in the way that I am? Oh, Speaker 6 (2:26) that's very nice. I don't ever feel that because we just think we're just, you know, two kind of dorky gals that like to hang out. So thank you for saying that. We're so thrilled to meet you. We're such big fans. I Speaker 5 (2:36) really am a big fan of yours. This Speaker 6 (2:38) is so nice. Speaker 5 (2:39) I've always hoped that at one of these many sort of like industry events that I would maybe cross paths with you and I never have, but I really am just, I admire Speaker 3 (2:50) you so much. And so this is exciting. Same here. Your work has brought me so much joy. And again, like, I wonder, I'm like, did everybody just say the same things? Because you're just... so significant to such a large group of people. But truly, this is a freaking trip, man. Well, Speaker 6 (3:09) we can't wait to talk to you. And we kick off our show with a chit chat suggestion from an Office Ladies Speaker 4 (3:14) fan. And we have Speaker 6 (3:16) one today Speaker 4 (3:16) from Haley H. Let's hear from her. Hi, Office Ladies, a longtime listener here, big fan of the podcast. I have a chit chat question for you. My husband and I just celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. We bought our home just a couple months before we got married, so we've been nesting here for just over a year now. And when we moved in, I had the honor and privilege of deciding where all of the items in our kitchen belonged and found their home in place. It was a wonderful task that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to do. however, has caused some points of contention between my husband and I in terms of where some items truly belong. An example of this has to do with the potato peeler. Now, I place items based on function. So the potato peeler for me goes in what I call the kitchen gadget or utility drawer. This drawer houses items such as some measuring cups, my immersion blender. It has my lemon squeezer to squeeze out the lemon juice and other various items as such. Kitchen utilities. Well, my husband likes to organize items based on, I guess, the material that they're made out of. And because a potato peeler has a blade, he likes to put it in the cutlery drawer where we house some of our knives. And every time I see it put there, I just have to take a deep breath and I move it just slightly back into the kitchen utility drawer. And so my question for you all is, what are some items in your house where it is a hill that you will die on in terms of where they are properly stored and organized in your home? Whether it's another item in your kitchen or perhaps a different place inside your house, what are some items that is a strong hill for you? And perhaps maybe you've been challenged by either a spouse or a child in terms of where that item truly belongs. If I get a Jenna rant out of this, that is a huge cherry on top as I love hearing those from her. But I'm just looking forward to hearing your answers here. All right. Take care. Love you. Bye. Speaker 5 (5:44) That was such a detailed, thoughtful question. Very thorough. Yeah, I understand it. It did make my blood boil several times. So you are correct. It brought some things up for me personally, but I'll let you guys go first. Speaker 6 (5:59) I mean, Jenny, you're our guest. You get to go. How do you feel about where things are placed in the kitchen? Speaker 3 (6:05) Or home. Our home. Yeah, we can open this up. First of all, I really understand the predicament and the ongoing back and forth. And I'm the person that I love unpacking as well. And I love moving. I know some people think that's like freakish, but I really enjoy it. And I unpacked our whole kitchen when my family moved last fall. And... I get insecure about feeling controlling, but I cook every day. I cook a lot. I've been asked by family members to bake less because apparently there's too many things. And I kind of feel like, I don't know. It's like if the person who unpacked it and placed it there kind of feels like that should sort of be where it lies. But the other thing I'll say is like... I don't really understand putting a potato peeler with blades because I feel like it's just sort of a general utensil. I would just put it with the can opener is what I would say. Like utility, like she was saying. Yeah. Yeah. But I also don't really, I mean, this isn't a criticism of Haley, but I put all the baking things in one place, but that's because I really need them to be separate because I use them a lot. But you know what mine is for me? It's the screen door, which I know is not necessarily an object or item that you might think of, but it's like. I need that to be shut and it's not getting shut. Yeah. It's crazy to me. I don't understand why you would leave it open when the whole point of it is to shut it so that you don't get bugs in the house. Yeah. It Speaker 6 (7:32) kills me. I love that. I mean, here's the thing. Jenna knows this. Jenny, I am not the cook in my house. My husband's a baker and a chef. So, and he bakes a ton. So he has his baking area. The kitchen really makes sense to him. It's like, you know, that scene in Good Will Hunting where there's all the equations on the chalkboard and he's like, I just see it. I just see it. Like that's how Josh is about the kitchen. I'm like, I don't get it. I don't understand why the seasoning needs to go here. And he's like, how can you not? So I'm probably the wrong person to ask this question. Cause I'll just be like, if. If you want the forks to go there and that's important for you, the forks will go there, damn it. But for me, it's, he doesn't shut a single cabinet. You gotta shut those. No cabinets. No, Speaker 4 (8:17) I'm Speaker 6 (8:17) like, I just walked through like Vanna White. I'm just shutting things all day. I'm like, why? The dishwasher this morning, he just left it open. He left it open. I'm like, I'm gonna, someone's Speaker 3 (8:27) gonna like. fall and like chip a tooth. It's like, there's a ghost. That's how it feels to me when the cabinets are open. It's like a ghost came in and they were like, I just need you to know I'm still here. And so Speaker 6 (8:38) they left like a cabinet open. Speaker 5 (8:40) Shut it, man. Just shut it already. All right, Jenna, what about Speaker 6 (8:45) you? Speaker 5 (8:45) Okay. I know what mine is. So in our kitchen by our back door, we have It's called the junk drawer, but I don't like it to be called that because to me, it is our highly organized miscellaneous drawer. And so I need three things to be in this drawer. And my husband and I only agree about one Speaker 3 (9:07) of them. Speaker 5 (9:08) And this is the sort of thing, like when I open this drawer and one of my items, one of my three essentials is not in the drawer. I have to take deep breaths and like remind myself that he's a good man and he does so many wonderful things and he loves me very much so that I don't, you know, go off. Here's what I need in that drawer. I need band-aids. Because it's the first step. Like if you're outside and you skin a knee, this is as soon as you walk in the house, this is the closest drawer to that skinned knee. So I need band-aids in there. We agree on this. Band-aids live there. Here are the other two things I need in there. I need a measuring tape. My husband thinks the measuring tape goes in the garage. The garage is not attached to our house. It's far. It's too far. I like to measure things. I measure things more often than maybe you would think. I'm constantly wondering like, oh, could we put this picture here or could we move a chair here? And I measure. I'm a pre-measure. I don't just move stuff. So I need my measuring tape there. I Speaker 6 (10:12) didn't know any of this about her, Jenny. We've been friends a long time. I didn't know Band-Aids and measuring tape go in the same drawer. Okay, go. The Speaker 5 (10:18) other thing that I need in there is packing tape. Again, my husband is always putting the measuring tape and the packing tape out in the garage. But you know what he puts in the drawer? This is the thing where I feel like I look at him and I'm like, I don't know who you are. I don't understand you. He has like... seven different screwdrivers and two- They don't go in the garage? Two needle nose pliers. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Two needle nose pliers. I just cleaned out the drawer again and I said, babe, do we need both needle nose pliers in here? Like, when's the last time you were like, oh, I need some needle nose pliers and I need them quick. I need them to be really close, like in the kitchen. I mean, when did you use these last? Speaker 3 (10:59) And doubled. Why did he have one in each hand? Speaker 5 (11:02) Exactly. They're the same size. One wasn't tinier than the other. And all the screwdrivers, I said similarly, like how many of these screwdrivers are we using on a weekly basis? Zero. Yeah. Speaker 3 (11:13) I think that tools Speaker 5 (11:14) can be out in the garage, but the packing tape that I use on almost every other day and the measuring tape, because I love to measure. And the band-aids, we need those in the drawer. I want to throw this out there Speaker 3 (11:27) to you. Speaker 5 (11:27) I'm Haley. Haley and I get along. Speaker 3 (11:29) Yeah, I mean, this is so funny how this question like really fired me up. I really want the things in my kitchen to stay where they are. I just want them to stay right where they are, especially the sponge. That's Speaker 5 (11:41) the Speaker 3 (11:41) other one. Is your sponge Speaker 5 (11:42) moving Speaker 3 (11:42) around? It's moving around. It's not getting squeezed out. I hate it when people leave it in the sink. I'm like, no, Speaker 6 (11:49) don't do that. Wait, always our sound engineer, Sam, and our producer, Matt, weigh in on this too. So Sam, what do you got? Speaker 1 (11:57) Nothing. I'm completely malleable. Move me. Sam. Wow. Mi casa, su casa. Yeah. I'm Speaker 5 (12:05) not attached to where things live. Okay. All right. Sounds healthy. It does. Speaker 6 (12:10) It sounds really Zen. Matt Beagle. I Speaker 2 (12:13) grew up in a house where we put. cups and glasses in a drawer. And people think that's really weird, but it's just what I'm used to. So I like cups in a drawer, but that's unpopular, I think. Speaker 3 (12:24) Cups in a drawer is surprising because you don't think they're going to be there. Sometimes