Ilana Glazer Talks THC Drinks, Motherhood & Unlearning '90s Food Trauma

0:00Hi, I'm Jo Saltz, editorial director of Delish, and welcome to Snacks, the show where we talk to your favorite stars about their favorite snack obsessions. Today, our guest is the star of the defining comedy of the 2010s Broad City, but she's also an incredible stand-up comedian, actor, and a fierce mom. Please welcome Ilana Glazer. And we'll be right back.

0:26Ilana Glazer:This episode is brought to you by Fandango. People say fans are too distracted these days. But the truth is, when a great movie hits the screen, you show up. You stay glued, invested, part of the story. And without fans like you, there'd be no cinema magic, no shared moments. So head to Fandango.com to get tickets, stream, or rent or buy top movies and series. Fandango loves fans. I want to actually go back to the beginning because I also feel really strongly about like the tri-state area and like food and the way we experienced food as a kid so you're a long island you're a long island girl correct oh through and through where did you layer where um it's cool it's a small town calledst james uh stuff the county north shore yep you know east long island but not quite the forks got 40 minutes from riverhead uh before it starts splitting into north fork and hamptons or whatever yeah um which i didn't go to until i was like 28 um and so close and yet so far and then um the district is called smith town that's the that's the bigger district because everybody knows the smith haven mall oh the smith haven mall i do know it and i've also spent time in um in the north fork so i do love and oh north fork obsessed gorgeous what is that place that's got the really good pies that everybody's obsessed with briar mere yep briar so ryan here ryan here strawberry cream pie best in the world did you grow up in a house with good food is my question honestly no my parents both worked and i like was made ilio's pizza and a toaster before my mom went to work and my dad was already at work continuing to be at work um mozzarella sticks it was not until literally it was not until later you're saying that like it's a bad thing i'm like that ilio's and mozzarella sticks i'm like that's the dream I could fully house Anilia's Pizza right now at 1141 a.m.

2:27But it wasn't when I think of good food, I feel I think of what happened later as my parents started like making more food and getting like getting into, you know, more. I don't even want to like name some trend, just like more true, natural human food. Yes. A veggie and a rice and a, you know what I mean? Like they just weren't like they were just overwhelmed, I think, when I was younger. I'm like glad I was like still in the house when they were like switching over into this mode because that really feels like care. I mean, I think when we look back, we think of like meals gathered around the table are probably like the meaningful emotional moments.

3:07But I remember my parents never had Elio's. I know that sounds so dumb, but I was just like, I just wanted to have a cool food house. Were your friends into the food that your parents had in your house? No. It's so funny also. Like, I'm 38. And, like, this idea that 80s and 90s kids have of what's cool is rooted in capitalism. 100%. Literally makes zero sense. 100%. Has no bearing on coolness. I mean, I know what you mean. And it's nuts. Like, my best friend, Eden, had a snack house. And, oh, my God. What is Eden's house? Tell me, Peter. Holy shit. Junior mints and Reese's cups and Cheez-Its and Pop-Tarts.

3:53The skinniest, most nervous Jewish people you can imagine. Like, I'm like, who the f*** is eating this? Just me when I hang out and we watch SpongeBob? Or we're coming up from the basement grabbing snacks? Am I the only person eating this food here? Or is this the only food you're eating? But it still wasn't a cool food house. I think when people had gushers, that was cool because what is cool in the 90s is abusive. You know, it's so I remember the shame of my friends being like, there's nothing to eat here. And I'm like, I'm just like, where that is it? That's so rude. First of all, your friends are rude.

4:32I mean, you're so right about the capitalism. But like, I know my parents really got into, oh, my God, so embarrassing. like when like the the olestra chips oh lestra oh my god it was like those they were like fat free chips that were like giving everybody diarrhea i'd love to look at the correlation of like cancer rates and 90s fat-free products like what is this nonsense and we bought into it so hard and we were children by the way being like i should probably eat fat free because i'm probably fat. I know. It's so sad, you know, to like look back and just, it's sad. And there's like a lot of hope for me to be like, oh my gosh, within our lifetime, we like came to this consciousness that it's like, no, just eat foods that are actual food.

5:17I do find it so heartwarming that you think so fondly of those like real dinner moments, because I would say too, like, I see now that I am a parent, how important that is. And like, and we don't even like try to make at a thing about sitting down together for dinner every night we just do you have a four-year-old like how do you feel like how what is well how are you as a mom are you a fun snack mom okay as a mom i like i'm um quelling constantly i can't even stand how much i love it i like kind of can't stand it pork dumpling that's what she is right now she's she is a pork dumpling it's just like dude like talking about food like delish and I'm like it's it's it's taking a lot in me to not nibble on you right now my dog I'm a little four and a half year old doggy dog I'm obsessed um and you know what I feel like I actually you know Michelle Buteau yeah a little comedian and actor and writer and showrunner and producer um and stand up on tour right now buy your tickets anyway Anyway, she's one of my closest friends and one of her amazing friends, this woman, Jess, who has two, just two very sweet and gentle boys, young kids.

6:37She, like, was telling me once, like, just talking about her philosophy. This was a few years ago and my daughter was, like, two at this time. And she was like, I don't, like, police their snacks. I want them to have no issues with any food. Yes. And that was, and then, but a teacher spoke up about something and she had to talk to the teacher being like, no, like you don't talk about my kids' food. And the fierce protective energy that Jess, Michelle Buteau's friend, had around her children being able to eat whatever really influenced me, deeply impacted me. So if my daughter wants snacks, I'm not like, it's close to dinner time.

7:13Sometimes I am if I'm literally making dinner and I'm like, girl, like about to be, and then you can have dessert after. This morning, honestly, she baked brownies yesterday with her best friend. And we love to, my husband and I love to create sort of like a narrative around things. So she does too. So now she was like, mommy, I'd love a sunrise snack. She like branded a sunrise snack. And I was like, what the is this going to be? And we get downstairs and she's like, like brownie. And I was like, you know what? You can wake up and have a brownie. But speaking of like good foods, you can look at name and know what ingredients are in them because they are the ingredient.

7:56She eats asparagus and broccoli every day. Strong food, we call it. Speaking of narrative and branding, that was a container for her. Strong food. Not good and bad, but like this is stronger food and then this is weaker food. It doesn't have like fruits have vitamins. I really want her to not judge the way she eats, take pleasure in food. And I know that that will ultimately, in the long run, lead her to make strong and healthy choices, ultimately. I can't agree with you more. And I do feel like the real issue, and not even to go back to my childhood, although if you need me to pay for this therapy session, I'm happy to do it.

8:36Like, let's just get it. First of all, my show is called It's Open with Alana Cozzers. I am super open and I love therapy. So let's just talk about it. I'm eating it up. So tell me about it. But I do think that is what you were describing before, that like that us growing up in houses where we felt like we needed to be watched all the time or that we or there was a lot of restriction. It is that weird, you know, relationship that we end up with food later. I remember going to college and being like, wait, I can buy a bag of ruffles of like cheddar and sour cream ruffles and just like eat the whole thing.

9:12it's fun but then it's also like your naughty little thing i would honestly like binge we'd go nuts it also like extends beyond food that relationship it's such a basic foundational thing that like your relationship with your food really um changes next to your relationship with a lot of things in your life yeah absolutely so you launched a cbd cbd bread fridge that i'm just like fascinated by well so i didn't launch it i am partnering with can which is thc and cbd it's a product I love it's it sits before me I actually genuinely love this product and when they were reaching out to artists to see if people would want to partner I've never done anything like this I'm an investor I invested in the company which like by the way doesn't need my investment but I was like I want to be a part of this like through and through because this is a product I use regularly.

10:09Honestly, every day that I can, if I don't have like too much work, I, I do every day. I honestly actually, maybe I do like most days when my workday ends and it's bedtime, I'll pick back up work after my daughter goes to sleep. But like for that time, I actually like pop open a can and I'm just relaxed. The low dosage is my thing. It's two milligrams THC, four milligrams CBD, which I really, I like, and I feel like I feel it. It's very little, very little. That's how I want it. There's also a five milligram that I like, but anywhere between two and five milligrams, five is my absolute max, but it's just, it's relaxing.

10:51I'm drinking a lot less alcohol these days. I have a, like a whole bit in my last standup special, Human Magic on Hulu make sure you get it get it where Hulu is offered love it love you some Hulu great get it where Hulu is offered but um uh oh but I have this whole bit in Human Magic about how weed helps get me on baby level when I like was writing this hour she was still a baby and you know it chills me out and I'm like dude I totally feel yeah you know and like it's still true at four and a half years old like it's it's still true and it's not like um I don't know it just like get it it's a nice way to just pivot my vibe of the day my vote mode off of work into like dinner bath and bedtime and it's just not too harsh it's not harsh at all it is soft and gentle and i think i've been reflecting so much in my work about being a mom that i think it made sense when i was like i want to be a part of this yeah but um like they've already been selling to moms like they they told me that like this is a product for moms especially millennial moms but um i i made this video with them that's on my instagram so apologies if anybody is hearing this redundantly nobody is anyway um but like it's really a three quadrant product as can says because it's for everybody except children like you know for a quadrant product it's like a family whatever but like older folks are using can gen z is using can because they are also like lower on alcohol these days and um millennials are definitely um drinking their their weed and like not so much alcohol in fact the alcohol companies are like trying to lobby to limit weed drinks because their their sales are genuinely being boned okay i'm gonna go there i do think that like the you know the the normalization of mental health and therapy is making people need to drink away their problems less and i think that's like why we're here to being like, I just, all I need is two little milligrams.

12:55Like nobody needs to go out and black out anymore. Yes. You know? Yes. At all. It also like, I think too, there's something to me about, you know, you were saying binging before, like it was like the taking so much, right? Because like. Literally. Understand that like sometimes all you need is like a little bit, like I just need a little Lexapro in the morning. Yep. and like i was in cymbalta for 13 years and like thank god for it there would be no broad city without cymbalta you know like for for sure and like to think about we're like kind of laughing and connecting the dots about fat free and the snack wells whatever it's like you know i think in um in college it was kind of like now i'm away from home i need to forget everything that's what that like binge drinking and binge smoking was i need to forget everything but when you say like just a little nibble Alexa bro it's like not only feel everything but it's like I actually want to I do want to remember this stuff we just are like a you know we're like a um we don't understand anything but extremes I do feel really strongly about understanding mental health I've always felt like the problems I've had in the past that were like anxiety based or you know depression based it wasn't that I didn't want to feel that stuff it's that I wanted to to calm it enough so that I could do the work.

14:13It's like, I don't need to be like blacked out. I just like need to like get rid of the layer that I know I'm like creating in my head. Totally. And we'll be right back.

14:28When I'm touring stand up, I, I'm not drinking a drop and it's not because I, um, am consciously doing it. My body cannot prop, cannot spend those resources on alcohol. That would be such a waste. Well, I feel the same way now, too, you know, because we shoot so much. And I'm like, if I drink tonight, I'm going to look like shit tomorrow. Right. Fully. Or whatever. I'm just – but it's so funny. I want to talk about touring really fast because, you know, we've had multiple stand-up comedians on this show. And people don't think about the physical toll being up on that stage, like the mental toll of having to remember all that information.

15:05like is that what your experience is i think since mental health has become part of the mainstream discourse things have changed and this last tour that became the special human magic on hulu disney plus um that was my wherever you find your hulu i've got to find the right wherever you hulu is where you should hulu do this yeah hulu it up special Hulu Alana. That tour was my my biggest yet. Fifty two shows in 48 cities. And because I have a little kiddo, I only did two times. It was actually like incredible, Joanna. I was like, LOL was stand up made for moms because I could schedule it two nights a week.

15:45I would do two nights a week, come home and be with my kid and the third week, skip and be home. So so it actually took a year to do it that long. But it was wonderful. um but being that it was my like it felt almost like my first tour but it was actually like my fifth across my um across my career but that was like the first time I was like I get it I took everything so seriously the working out the food I I know the like levels I can't actually be too full before I go on stage but then after I get off stage I need protein and like complex carbs I need them even like just thinking about the show your show being about snacks like there's a joy to snacking and there's a um just like we were talking about with our kiddos like there's a there's a freedom to snacking um and i would say like when i snack on tour it's it is like thoughtful of like nuts yes mix and like salted nuts obsessed with pickles i need salt um that's like on my rider dill pickle chips have been on my rider but now i'm like i think i need i love dill pickle chips but then i'm going home with a giant bag of dill pickle chips every week two of them and i'm like this is nuts actually what i need is pickles actual pickles um pickles are i think top-notch snack maybe i would say i would argue maybe the best dill pickles are like maybe the best snack and are you like what's your name girl what's your dill pickle like what are where are you half sour like are you like what's your i love half and full half is like eleganza gorgeous a scorpion pickle.

17:19I'm like, this is a delicacy and we're like serving it in delis. I guess that is related. But I'm like, this is like an elevated food that we're pretending is like whatever. Just like, yeah, slap a pickle on it. I'm like, this is gorgeous and deserves reverence. But full dill or full garlic, I'm fully down with too. I love it. So I will tell you, make it your assignment. It's an investment in like time and cleanliness. But like, and I'm not getting paid to say this, but Cheetos just came out with a, are you a hot, do you like spicy? Yes. Okay. I'm literally going to send you a bag. We're going to send you a bag of, it is Flamin' Hot Cheeto Dill Pickle Cheetos.

18:10Oh my God. I can't. it's like like you're obsessed i'm um they're hot like like they're no joking around this is christ dude but they are just like lab this is you go i'm just like wow who came up with that and like where have you been my whole life so much is wrong with the world our resources need to be complete the the way that we distribute resources needs to be destroyed and rebuilt so much without question with human rights at the center except flame and hot dill pickle cheetos yes is one thing that's right with the way the world i just feel i feel what you're saying is so right that i'm just like thank you and i've never even had them you probably could have cured a number of ills and or like helped with more social justice but also thank you for this thank Thank you for your service.

19:02You know, snacks are joy. And like human rights, like there needs to be joy in a picture. A hundred percent. Wait, I want to I do want to you. You mentioned Broad City. Tell me about craft services on on Broad City. Wait, actually, Joanna, I'm like I'm a billboard for myself today. You have to watch me and Abby's episode of It's Open. OK. Because we are dying laughing about the trauma of fat free childhoods and how that manifested into disordered eating that was like kind of healthy when it comes to we became obsessed with speaking of snacks turkey jerky and nut nicks and we were like we're i was like we're gonna get so skinny we gotta be careful and abby was like we don't like we we don't and i was like copy that um so we got so obsessed with snacks because also like in comedy writers room especially comedy writers rooms and the like days of yore when everybody was like no offense but like i think comedy was so shit on especially women in comedy were so shit on that they were like i wear a t-shirt and i'm a trash bag because it was a way to actually protect yourself from the toxic uh literally dangerous toxicity of the male-centric comedy world yeah um so it's like we were like you know in the in the ingratiated culture of like comedy rooms people were like chocolate like have a peanut filled pretzels and we're like get out of here you know so we were like we'll solve this with pounds of perky jerky anyway um crap you never look at the sodium count right like you're just like you can't believe the sodium in jerky like you can't believe it i just refuse to look at it i have low blood pressure so like i need it you need sodium oh okay yeah yeah yeah i get it yeah of course you're like i'm i run so i need as much sodium as possible if i had high blood pressure i'd really have a philosophical dilemma of how i was going to treat my body but p.s but turkey you're here is so it's like it's it's such a it is such a snapshot of a of a moment continue yes and it's like very like um whatever our our answer to soylent to tech bros soylent we were like we're having turkey jerky girl so so anyway the craft services so we were we were also like guys we literally can't have snickers all the time all day available to us and literally joanna they're like in the unions like the crew demands snicker bars like literally candy and and like they just and it's also like god bless you like this is what's it's a get it the crew especially in new york city works so hard we are nomadic tribes most of the time they want Snickers and Kit Kats it really satisfies what do they say?

21:47Snickers, you know, it really satisfies it does, but then Abby and I had to be like you know, we like really liked the crafty people and we were like we have to see you at the beginning of the day when you're setting up the truck at the end of the day and nowhere in between because we gotta stay away my dog, and again, this is just like with stand up, this is not just like how I'm gonna look or this or that or like snack walls or whatever, it was also because it's like I'm gonna crash, if I eat what I want to eat on this crafty truck i'm dead and same with lunch it's like a bowl of pasta bowl of this so we um our our uh crafty was good but we were we were focused on like nutmeg was it wild though i mean i i can't imagine experiencing something like that for the first time though where it's just like i don't know why i'm so obsessed with it i guess it's because i've never had any experience like it where you're like you go to work and suddenly i mean i guess that's delish now it's sort of like that where we have a test kitchen and they're cooking all day and you don't know what's going to come out of there it's it's a light but also i can't imagine going into work where it's just like oh whatever i want to eat is like kind of available to me any at any given moment of any moment of the day it's strange and speaking of how resource or resources are organized like tv and film is so strange in that way and it's like a set of its own because you're like why do we have all the snacks we'd ever want here like that's that's not even like that doesn't makes sense.

23:08Yeah. Yeah. And like just end the day earlier. You know what I mean? But like, that's so funny that you're in that situation and like created it for yourself. Well, well, I mean, to be honest with you, it's like, you know, we're testing recipes all day. And actually, you know, I will say, and maybe this was your experience too. Like, I think our, one of our biggest joys here in our food director, Rob, like kind of started this whole thing where they have family meal every day, you know? So every day at lunch, they like make, Like, you know, someone's in the test kitchen, like they're all testing recipes, but then someone's in the test kitchen, like making the meal for everybody so that they can all sit down together in the middle of the day and like take a break.

23:46So sweet. Yeah, whatever. And it's like so nice. It's so like what you were saying before about family where it's like it's nice for everybody to come together and, you know, and just have a moment to reflect and chill and get in rough. And, you know, and I mean, it's really fun to work here when you're in the city, when you're in New York. You have to come visit us. It's so fun. but are you in LA now? I'd love to. Hell no. I'm in Brooklyn. Oh you're in Brooklyn. So like wait so what's your going to the east coast? I'll go up and down. I'll live in from Nova Scotia to the Bahamas. This is my longitude.

24:19I get it. I get it but I want to know too. My producer's laughing at me. She's like what LA? What are you talking about? Like Joe look at one second of notes that I wrote for you literally. Oh it's so good. I mean also I just dive in. I'm just like we gotta laugh. We got to laugh about it. We got to laugh. Wait, so what's your, what's, okay, before I let you go, because you've been incredibly gracious with your time. What's your, tell me about your. Yeah, after you were incredibly gracious, because I was late. Okay. No, you were like three seconds late, Maxima, and I was still like figuring out how to turn on a computer.

24:48And Joe, you thought I was in Hollywood. I know. I'm so embarrassed. I just like, I saw like the CBD drinks on a piano and I just like was thinking. I know. It's a good set. It's a good set we have here. It's open. Wait, tell me your. Go ahead. No, go ahead. You say. Oh, where's the studio? Oh, we're in New York. We're on 57th Street. No, I know. Oh, cool. Midtown. West or East? Yeah, Midtown. Midtown West. Right off of Columbus Circle. Oh, yeah. I'll be there. Come visit. And literally anytime. We would try to have you. And we're so excited. Be careful what you wish for. There will only be not one snack well here.

25:24Yeah, not one. Full fat. Full fat. We only do full fat. Thank you. Lester, I think, might have been outlawed. I think it might be illegal now. So, you know, that's okay. Definitely. That's actually, if I have another kid, I'm going to name them Alestra. Alestra? I just, I don't even know if I can say it on a podcast about snacks, but literally, I think the joke, everybody who knows what Alestra is knows that what it literally said on the bag. Alana, this is not a joke. Please. And now that I know your age, I know that I'm much older than you, so I can say, like, this probably, you might just not know that this was the real thing, but, like, on the bag it said may cause anal leakage.

26:01and this was like i'm legitimately not joking i'm not joking like and that was like a thing like if that were on right now that would be the tiktok trend and all tiktok trends right like everybody was talking about it it was like on the bag in the supermarket that's that's how i feel about the news that's what i think they'll like the trigger warning for 100 percent they called If you watch this program, especially if it's Fox, it may cause any leakage. Just like Alestra. Can we tell what happened to Alestra? That's the Alestra of television news. How do I follow up anal leakage? We're finding out.

26:44You tell me there will be no cuts in this episode. No cuts. Sarita doesn't know what to do. My producer has no idea what to do with me right now. We're being naughty. We're being fun. Everybody's going to love it. Okay, wait. Top five Brooklyn eats. Top five Brooklyn places to eat. Tell me right now. your favorite places okay peaches classic which is you need to tell my audience what peaches is okay so this is a black owned restaurant that is like franchised within the neighborhood and it's like southern cooking and good ass seafood too and which one's your location there's two good um i've been to both i love them both okay um he chose okay uh il pinguino in like sexy i'm going there for my anniversary with my husband on wednesday what are you celebrating and which um our 2017 married a one nine nine years of marriage i'm not great at math but i got it 14 years of being together amazing um el pinguino um owned by the husband of a very funny stand-up comedian emmy blotnick i love celestine this uh just gorgeous like upscale um restaurant on the water in dumbo so nice and while i'm shouting them out it's like same area it's like almost redundant but i have to say um uh chaconis in dumbo is so i'm like am i in am i a mob boss like i go there and i'm like that's why i'm there so often they kind of know me and I'm like, I'm in the mob pretty much.

28:21Very good. Do you have a table? I just want you to have a table. I just, any table outside is my vibe. Oh, God. It's so sexy and fun. You have a bakery? You have a bakery in Brooklyn you like? Shout out to Otway Bakery. Oh, okay. Otway. Yep. Sam Safer, the owner of Otway Bakery and Restaurant. She is a baddie who has been holding it down for years in her neighborhood, About Way Bakery, and killing it. And love a woman-owned business. I love the way you talk about food and local and community. I just think it's so important for us to think. I mean, I will talk about, like, Elio's Pizza all day, but I do love your close-knit relationship to food in the community.

29:08I really do. I love New York. I love the people, and I'm so, I don't take a moment for granted that I get to live here before I let you go. Best corner store candy? Oh, uh, cherry sour straws. Cherry sour straws, interesting. Go-to deli order? Bacon and cheese on a Kaiser roll. Ooh, okay. Late night, late night eat. What are you eating late?

29:37Uh, cereal. Two bowls of? In immediate rapid succession with oat milk. Right now it's Three Wishes with honey. Oh, Three Wishes. You're going to love the chocolate. Oof. Was it always Three Wishes? What was your cereal growing up? I don't know. Like, kind of, like, not fake healthy shit, but like Kashi and. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Puffins or whatever. I love Kashi. I used to love one called Cracklin Oat Bran, which was like. Oh, f*** yeah. Cracklin Oat Bran. It's almost like you're crunching so hard your, like, head is in a different plane. It's like broken up granola bars. Like, it just seems like a bowl of granola bars.

30:18Like, it's crazy. It wasn't good for you, but it was, like, really delicious. Okay. Long Island beach snack. I mean, tuna sandwich, egg salad sandwich with chips and fresh fruit. My mom packs a mean beach lunch. I honestly, this is so crazy. When I, like, wake up in the middle of the night due to anxiety or hormones, who knows, um i recently have been thinking about robert moses beach is like the big beach on the south shore i've been fantasizing remembering their french fry warmer machines and it's not only because the fries were like i mean they weren't even good but they were comforting but the warmer yeah i'm thinking of robert moses french fries i feel like people always have like a visceral sort of like romantic relationship with like french fries of youth and at robert was just they were not sometimes always cooked they were like terrible you can like eat half of them but it's like i miss it i want it now sitting on the beach eating french fries is there anything better honestly oh my god the snack you hide from your kid do you hide anything because you want it more to yourself oh my god she's a chocoholic no i i had it because she'll ask for more and more and more and honestly because of our parenting style we'll give her more but it's like at a certain point we're like baby yeah so like pop the chips we have some jeer or deli chocolate chips right now in a high up cabinet but they're so good and i eat them too why don't people eat chocolate chips and snacks more that is such a sad assignment um this has been a total delight you've been a dream for me as well join us off i have even just the way that you talk about snacks i love your moral compass i appreciate it my husband why don't people eat chocolate on the He's going to be like, that's so good.

32:02It's very sweet. He's going to be like, oh, Joe, like I'm such a snack mess. Honestly, I really try to be good, but I'm just like all over the place. It's great. It's joyful. And it's like gentle and generous to yourself. I love it. Oh, well, you've been a delight. I'm going to show up at your studio first thing some morning. Well, I do have our tightness. I have to send you the dill pickle Flamin' Hot Cheetos. You're going to make sure you get those. And then you have to come stop by and visit us to have you. Can't wait. Thanks so much for joining us today. Please make sure you follow at Saks podcast and make sure you like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

32:38We'll see you next time.