Meet Ellie Dvorkin Dunn Julia Granacki | Co-hosts and co-producers of Circling the Drain Podcast

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellie Dvorkin Dunn Julia Granacki and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellie Dvorkin Dunn, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
We met in college while getting our degrees in theatre and we bonded when we were caught in a high speed car chase where we were nearly shot. (At least that’s how we remember it. It was Florida, after all.) We have stayed close friends ever since, and as we have aged, our bond has deepened to include discussions about all of the bizarre changes happening to our bodies. As we commiserated and laughed, we joked that this would make great material for a podcast. But what to call it?

A friend, in her 30’s at the time, was listing her ailments to a male physician who clearly had a terrible bedside manner, because he responded to her complaints by shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive fashion and saying something like, “I don’t know what to tell you. From now on, you’re basically just circling the drain!”

We have been laughing at the audacity of this tone-deaf interaction ever since, and when we decided to start this podcast about the plight of the aging woman, we chose to reclaim and repurpose the phrase in the spirit of humor.

Every human on the planet is circling the drain from the moment we are born. The question is, how slowly and gracefully can we spiral? And can we minimize the discomfort while we whirl?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Our podcast is unique in that it covers a niche topic that still manages to be universal, because whether you identify as female, trans or gender-expansive, if you were born with a uterus, menopause is unavoidable.

We take a deep dive into the sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, and always bewildering issues of hormonal changes that take place in midlife. Through honest accounts, thoughtful interviews, and group panel discussions, our mission is to make you chuckle, make you nod your head in recognition, and hopefully make some scientific progress!

We are most proud that, at the start of this adventure, neither of us knew anything about podcasting. We taught ourselves the necessary recording, editing, producing, social media, marketing and other skills associated with making a podcast. It was worth it!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Given that we are based in the New York City area, do you want us to answer this question? We can give our NYC answers but not sure that is helpful to you!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to shout out all of the women and gender-expansive people, doctors, influencers, innovators, celebrities and organizations who are using their platforms to spotlight the conversation around perimenopause and menopause.

Website: https://www.circlingthedrainpodcast.com/

Instagram: @circlingdrainpodcast

Twitter: @circlingdrainp1

Facebook: @circlingdrainpodcast

Other: https://linktr.ee/circlingthedrainpodcast

Image Credits
Original logo by Joshua Dunn, Digital version by Noah Diamond Photos by Michael Granacki and Emily Lambert