To kick off The Unspeakable's fourth season, comedian Maria Bamford joins Meghan for a conversation about many unspeakable topics. Maria's new book, Sure I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir Of Mental Illness And The Quest To Belong Anywhere is a rollicking homage to the power of groups. From 12-step meetings to game nights to dog parks, Maria loves gatherings of people. But she's also spent a lifetime struggling with mental health issues that make her anxious around people.

In this conversation, Maria talks with Meghan about financial survival in the creative economy (she made her first appearance on The Tonight Show while working as a receptionist at NBC), her love for Debtor's Anonymous and her fascination with money in general, what it's like to use dating apps when you're a celebrity, and much much much more.

Paying susbcribers to The Unspeakable With Meghn Daum on Substack get to hear Maria staying overtime to talk about being 53 years old, which is also how old Meghan is. They also talk about Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, "sexual anorexia," regular anorexia, eating rice cakes, and choosing not to have kids. Become a paying subscribers at https://meghandaum.substack.com/.

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Awarded Best Club Comic at the American Comedy Awards and Breakout Comedy Star at the Montreal Comedy Festival, Maria Bamford's critically acclaimed work includes her web series The Maria Bamford Show, Ask My Mom, and her Netflix series Lady Dynamite. Maria's writing has been featured in The New York Times, LA Weekly and The Onion. She played Debrie Bardeaux on Season 4 of Arrested Development and has contributed comedic voiceovers for such animations as Netflix's Big Mouth and BoJack Horseman, Cartoon Network's Adventure Time, PBS's Emmy-winning series Word Girl, Nickelodeon's Kung Fu Panda and Legend of Korra, and the international hit Talking Tom and Friends.

The Cult of Stand-Up Comedy