An Army of Normal Folks - Tanya Rae Piper: The Cake Lady (Pt 2)

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Tanya is a hairstylist who decided to bake some cakes for some firemen. And next thing you know, she’s baking over 450 cakes a year for firemen on their birthday! We cannot wait for you to meet “The Cake Lady”.   Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with An Army of Normal Folks, and we continue now with part two of our conversation with Tonya Rae Piper, right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the MeatEater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode, I'll be diving into some of the lesser-known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best-selling author and meat-eater

founder Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here and I'll say it seems like the Ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City

found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on, my body parts that looked exactly like my own. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York.

But reporting this series took us through the darkest corners of the internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deep fake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this? This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide.

I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 1978, Roger Caron's first book was published,

and he was unlike any first-time author Canada had ever seen. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. Had spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. He went from an ex-con to a literary darling almost overnight. He was instantly a celebrity. He was an adrenaline junkie, and he was the star of the show. Go-Boy is the gritty true story of how one man fought his way

out of some of the darkest places imaginable. I had a knife go in my stomach, puncture my spleen, break my ribs. I had my feps all in my hands. Only to find himself back where he started. Roger's saying this, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Rod.

From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to GoBoy on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her, until they didn't. I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real?

I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to deep cover The Truth About Sarah on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History, we're going where no podcast has ever gone before.

In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol. It's pretty simple. It sucks. My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it.

Everyone hates it. Except for me. Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so invariably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection, to the secret behind Thomas's English muffins, perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe? I'm coming for you.

You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So this first year, somebody's telling you, okay, it's November, pick a month. These are the three guys who have birthdays, three men or women who have birthdays in November. And you just start making cake. I just brought a cake and I dropped it off at the front desk. So probably six months in, one of the little volunteers says, Oh honey, my back is bothering me so much.

Could you just take that cake back to the kitchen for me? I don't want to walk. It was a ways from the front desk area back to the kitchen. I'm like, sure. So I took the cake, I dropped it off on the kitchen counter. I'm halfway down the hallway and literally surrounded by nine men in uniform. Hey, are you the cake lady?

Oh, you're kidding. They had no idea where it was coming from. No, I mean, and that's my, I mean, my license plate says cake lady. I am the cake lady. That's how you became cake lady. That's how, because of them. Are you the cake lady? Here, Tony you became cake lady. That's how because of them. Are you are they are you the cake lady?

Here, Tanya. Looking over here. But the logo. That is hilarious. I have it. I have a small one for you. The cake lady. I am the cake lady. You're like officially a cake lady with your own fireman sticker and everything. Yeah, I had one of my clients. I brought you one. Thank you. I love that. It says kindness breeds happiness. Jeremiah 291113. And it's like the crust that you see on the side of a fire truck. And instead of it having like department number or house number or engine number, it just has cake lady on it. And the Kitchen Aid mixer center of it is the kitchen mixer, which is hilarious. I love it. Alright, so they say, Hey, are you the

cake lady? You're surrounded by nine guys and he says, one of the guys goes, not that we mind we love what you All right, so they say hey, are you the cake lady? You're surrounded by nine guys and And he says one of the guys goes not that we mind we love what you're doing. But why are you doing it? That's a good question. I was gonna ask the same thing and Well, you can't say well God told me to because then they think you're crazy, right? So I said I like to bake what you guide what you guys do on a daily basis is amazing. And why not bake for you instead of the women that get mad at me when I bake for them at work? So that in my mind, that was why I was doing it. That kind of makes sense. But the thing is you're standing on your feet

all day doing hair. Then you go home and you're standing on your feet. And I know I've seen've seen that cake cannot be easy to make and it's really good. I mean how many hours I mean you're working your butt off doing this and then you got to deliver them I guess before work. So you work all day go home bake cakes all night wake up early deliver the cakes and then go to work. It's a lot. It is but I love every minute of it.

Why? So at the time, I just thought it was a fun thing to do. My my year was up, I finally got a routine to where I knew when the guys were working, I had I got the number to the station. I could actually talk to each individual. And now with the administration stuff, it was about 68 cakes a year, which cakes a year. That's like five. That is that's a little more than five a month.

There's yeah, it was. First year, the first year.. It was. First year. The first year. I did that, when my year was up, the guys go, hey, your year's up, what are you gonna do? And I said, no, I just got my system down. I mean, I have a routine. I'm really liking this, so no, I'm not gonna quit.

So, that went on for about six years. And then, there was a merger happening with Linwood Fire Department, and a department called District One. And District One and Linwood were merging, and it was going from my two Linwood stations and 68 firefighters to 15 stations and 350 firefighters, total. So now you gotta choose. Do I

that would say now you have to choose. So because I'm a hairdresser occasion there's some of the guys will come in and get a haircut and one of the guys, he's a battalion chief now and he was one of my Linwood guys and he goes, Tony Ray, you were the topic of conversation in our last meeting. Like, oh Lord, that does not sound good. He goes, yeah, when we merged, we were talking about if we're not at 15,

we're at station 15, we're not going to get cake anymore. I'm like, Divo, what are you talking about? Of course you'll get cake. I said, I don't care. He goes, no, you can't do that. That's too much. And I'm like, don't tell me what to do. I'll do whatever I want.

And I started thinking, I'm like, I just, I like to challenge myself. And I thought, this might be kind of fun to see. I thought the baking part is not gonna be a problem. I can do that. But the delivering, I wasn't sure how I was gonna do with the delivering before work. Can we get clear?

We're talking 315? 350 firefighters. Yeah, 16 stations, and yes, 350 firefighters. That was then. And when did this start? Six years ago. Okay. Now I've this start? Six years ago. Okay. Now I've been baking for 14 years.

I now bake for 16 stations, 450 firefighters, plus all the girls at work. And last year I made 598 things. That is insane. I'm slightly crazy. Yes. Yeah. So okay. What? That's a that's a what kind of cake did you cream that's a cookies and cream cake, which is on the table the rest of the area, which is a bun bun cake, bun cake, cream and cookie

icing, which is it's really, really good. I'm gonna stick my finger in it when this is over again. But what are the what kind of I mean, you know, I have made things I've never heard of before. Like a peanut butter de quah. What is cake? An eight layer Russian honey cake. Okay. You gotta explain these things. They're getting spoiled.

If these guys are now ordering up these kind of cakes from you, they are spoiled. So I have... I would be like, you get the cake. I'd be like the cake Nazi. You know, like the soup Nazi. You want soup, you get the soup. You want cake, you get this cake. I know, but that...

I mean, I would actually tell them, You get this cake. I mean I would actually tell them let them eat cake the cake I make That's that's takes the personalization away from it I'm of course being facetious It's just unbelievable that you're whatever they want whatever cake. It doesn't have to be cake I make cookies cheesecake pie you name and I make it If I've never if I've never made it before, I find a recipe or I like that one. A coconut cream pie. So now coconut cream pie, if it's a large station,

it comes in a nine by 13 pan because it's feeding nine men and I can't just take them a little pie because that wouldn't be enough. So I make it double in and make it big. Wow. So some of the stations have eight to nine. The majority of the stations are three man stations. Do you, before you deliver a first time cake,

like make a prototype and taste it before you send it to? I know half of them I've never tasted. I just hope it's okay. If I've never made it before, I'm like, hey, could you give me feedback and let me know if that was okay? Do these guys get there and like the guy's birthday or the lady's birthday who is for gets a piece and everybody else just devours it? Oh, yeah. Do you have the fattest group of fire people in the United States?

No. Because you're feeding them a cake a day. When I get there the guys are coming out of the gym. They're all sweaty and I'm like, oh you're feeding them a cake a day. When I get there, the guys are coming out of the gym, they're all sweaty and I'm like, oh, you're getting ready for cake. That's hilarious. Sorry, give me a hug. Sorry, I'm sweaty. I mean, it's okay. So you are now making about 600 cakes, pies, whatever, a year. Yeah, I mean, for firefighters for about just over 450,

I do one cake or cookies or something for the administration, there's about 50 in admin. So once a month, the admin gets something. When they had their own mechanics, once a month the mechanics would get something, because you know, they're all part of the the thing that fire service they all make it happen. You've been a hairdresser for so many years and I imagine you have a massive loyal following and make a great living doing it. There's some expense here and I mean, just a few months ago, eggs doubled. So there had to have been a lot of expense. I bet that was, I mean, it's a lot of money.

Oh, and I do a cookie of the month for the clients at the salon too. Of course you do. I do, yeah. Last month was scotch arouse because there was no eggs. What about the, I mean, it's gotta be expensive. Yeah. Honestly, Bill, I have no idea how much it cost me.

I don't wanna know. Because I'll probably have a heart attack. The thing is, when God tells you to do something, the means to make it happen always, always, I don't ever go without anything. I always have what I need. Do you get donated? Does anybody? Now now the union occasionally will give me money which is wonderful but not expected so I don't ever count on it. They hadn't given me money in about three

years and this last year they they gave me a check for $6,000 which was very helpful because I needed a new oven because mine was worn out. That's unbelievable that you make that many cakes and deliver that many cakes. I mean, this is a, you were taking care of an entire county full of fire people. Don't they have big, big kitchens in these firehouses? Oh yeah, I cook in them all the time. What how's that work? So in the beginning it was just cake. And then, you know, you get to, after this many years,

I've built relationships with a lot of these men and women that cake is just the catalyst. Cake, so much more than cake. So Thanksgiving every year, I choose one of the larger stations and I go in and I make the full Thanksgiving dinner for them so they can invite their families and be with their families at Thanksgiving.

I usually have about 20 to 25 people that come and I cook in their kitchens. They have amazing kitchens. You're telling me the guys that have to be on shift during Thanksgiving, you go and cook for them and their families so their families can come join them at work so their families are able to be together and have a genuine Thanksgiving dinner together. Yes.

Every Thanksgiving. That is- Except for COVID, they wouldn't let me go in. They didn't care, but the administration said, no, I couldn't go. So I had to- That is phenomenal. going. They didn't care, but the administration said, no, I couldn't. So I had to. That is phenomenal. You have to have an entire community of people that adore you. So I'll tell you a story after COVID. Our salon was closed down

for three months. And I came back to work and I don't do well being idle. So I, I told my boss, I said, Lindsay, just want you to know I'm never going to retire. I said, I I'm just going to die here. And she goes, please don't die. Like here. And I said, well, I have been told that if I collapse to call nine one one and say cake lady down And there'll be 18 trucks here to revise me And they're not kidding

Bill they said that he goes if anything ever happens you make sure you say cake lady down. I'm like There how are you gonna know know? They said anything that comes through a 911 call, it will come through their little pagers. So if, if somebody actually said cake lady down, it would come through the pager. They would know that there was a problem with me and they would all be there. And he was joking, but he goes, yeah, there's cake to be made. We'll make sure. He gotta make sure you're alive and kicking. So South County Fire is the name of the stations that I work, that I bake for.

They have a 76% success rate in all cardiac events, which is phenomenal, number one in the nation. So they say it's because they have such good morale because of cake. I'm pretty sure it's because of their training. It sounds like it's a part of just the entire culture altogether. We'll be right back. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck.

This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and bestselling author and meat eater founder, Stephen Rannella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the ice Age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come

to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on my body parts that looked exactly

like my own. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deepfake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this? This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than ever. front lines of a global battle against deep fake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this?

This is a story about technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levertown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 1978, Roger Caron's first book was published, and he was unlike any first-time author Canada had ever seen. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. I spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. He went from an ex-con to a literary darling almost overnight. He was instantly a celebrity. He was an adrenaline junkie and he was the star of the show.

Go Boy is the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. I had a knife go in my stomach, puncture my skin, break my ribs, I had my guts all in my hands. Only to find himself back where he started. Rodger's saying this, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Rodger. wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Rob. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to GoBoy on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero.

She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her, until they didn't. I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was dying.

This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying. Listen to deep cover, The Truth About Sarah, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History, we're going where no podcast has ever gone before.

In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol. It's pretty simple. It sucks. If my son watches Paw Patrol, I hate it. Everyone hates it, except for me.

Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so invariably loud. My son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it. Everyone hates it, except for me. Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so invariably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection, to the secret behind Thomas's English muffins, perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe?

I'm coming for you. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So, I read a story that you made a cake for somebody's birthday who happened to not be on shift and they came back and you asked them how they like their birthday cake and they said they didn't get any. So you made them another one. Yeah. What happened to the first one? The crew ate it. They're ruthless.

They're ruthless on the cake? So this is the stories that they tell. There can be a hundred dollar bill sitting on the cake. So this this is the stories that they tell. There can be $100 bill sitting on the counter for weeks, nobody will touch it. One of my boxes shows up and that's gone. The cake. Now it has that's why the the logo is important because there's a lot of people that will bring things to the fire station and the guys will go Yeah, we saw their kitchens. We just kind of put that in the garbage. In their kitchen and we're not gonna eat that. You once told what once told somebody that was interviewing you that when when a new firefighter or when it came up, some

firefighter told you that cake was the last thing they need. So that when I when I the merger first happened, I had one of my battalion chiefs from Linwood took me to all the other stations and introduced me as the cake as as a cake lead, let them know what I had been doing for Linwood and that so I wasn't some that's why I like to have a contact. So I'm just not some random person showing up with cake or calling up and say, Hey, you have a birthday coming. What do you want? And like, who's the crazy great lady, right? So Chief Vanderpool took me around to all the stations and we went to one station that was it's in a rougher area where they see lots of stuff.

Lots of stuff. And they're the also the ones that if anybody, anything shows up, they pretty much will not keep it in the kit. It will get tossed because I can't trust it. Unfortunately. So one of the guys looks at me and so the attitude there is it was a little bit painted, I guess. So one of the guys says cake last thing when you're on here is cake. He kind of walked away and I'm like, you need cake.

You need cake. Bless your heart. You need cake. Yeah. And you know what? We don't need cake. That is heart. You need cake. You need cake. Yeah. And you know what? We don't need cake. They need cake.

I go to that station now and I walk in the door and you know what I get? Cake lady! Yeah. That attitude is completely different. Because they needed cake. They needed cake. I go there a lot. I'm actually was there.

They invited me for dinner last week. Well, one of the guys needed the chief needed a haircut. So it's like, Hey, can you come and cut my hair? We'll make you dinner. Sure. Yeah. And I bring cake. So of course. Yeah. Although cake is very literal here. Also metaphor. Clearly, as talking to you, I'm starting to understand that cake is appreciation. Cake is love. Cake

is thanks. Cake is honoring. Cake is cake is so much more than cake. You think these firefighters families understand you know how many times I get messaged on Facebook or messenger from moms or wives or family members saying, thank you so much for taking care of my son? I wasn't there to do it. Because they're not, they're either, because they're at work, sorry, I didn't know how much,

what I do was gonna make a difference when I first started. So when I was just baking for Linwood, now I tell them all the time that they saved my life. And the majority, some of them know the whole story, the majority of them don't. So September of 2011 is when God told me to beg for firemen. The end of October, that same year, something happened that I can't tell you details but it turned our family upside down and because I had committed to making cake for firemen when when you When you have something that causes trauma in your life, our first response is to curl

up in a ball, wallow in self-pity, feel sorry for ourselves, and just give up. But because I made a commitment to make cake for firemen, I couldn't wallow in self pity. I couldn't feel sorry for myself. I couldn't just curl up in a ball and say, forget it. I don't want to deal with this because I was baking for firemen. So it gets you out of your own head. When you're doing something for someone else, can't feel sorry for yourself. A third thing we talk about all the time on the show is the massive $1 million payoff pitch when you actually commit on a long-term basis for the right reason to employing your passions

and disciplines and areas is you get a thousand times more out of it. Oh, so much. I mean, and they're they're like, Oh, it's too much. It's too much. I'm like, No, it's not. Because at that time, it's God knows what we need before we need it. And when he told me to bake cakes for firemen, I had no idea what the next few years were going to be. And if I hadn't have been doing that and I had that focus on something else, I couldn't, I wouldn't have had the strength that I needed to get through that tragedy and our family.

So many, I mean, I look back now and I'm like, there's so many things that fell into place and I'm like, oh, that's why that happened. I mean, I went through a divorce in 2009 that was devastating. I lost everything. I lost my home, my car. I had my two dogs, my clothes and a dresser. And I moved in with my parents at 50 years old. And I remember standing there and I had been proud.

And I mean, that's probably one of the biggest problems with my pride that I had done all of the things that I did not without God because I knew that he was the catalyst to everything. But I had done it without a husband. I had done it without a husband. I had done it on my own. And then because of being married and making choices that I knew better, left me financially destitute. So I had to file bankruptcy, lost everything. And I don't know if it's the same everywhere, but when you file bankruptcy in the state of Washington, you have to call consumer credit counseling and they're supposed to tell you how to get out of debt. Well, I did that. And the lady goes, Oh, honey, you have to call consumer credit counseling and they're supposed to tell you how to get out of debt.

Well, I did that. And the lady goes, Oh, honey, you just need to walk away. Can you just walk away and move in with your mom and your parents? And I'm like, really? You're supposed to help me get out of this. And she says, just walk away. And I'm like, so here I am 50 years old. I move in with my parents with my two dogs, my clothes.

I didn't have a car had to give the car up and bankruptcy to add nothing. And I was the one who were everybody lived with me. I was the one that took care of everyone. It was not easy for me to rely on someone else. Very humbling. So I remember being in the guest room of my parents house that was already furnished. So I didn't even have my own bed. And I remember standing there going, Okay, God, I'm going to choose to be content and where you've put me. And a year later, I started baking cakes. And I looked back and I owed

my parents a lot of money because of the divorce. And so to pay them back, my mom and I were at a family reunion and somebody said, well, how long are you going to stay with your parents? And I said, well, until I get them paid back, I said, but you know, I'm, I'm the girl, I'm the one that's going to eventually end up taking care of them. So I kind of like living with my mom. So who knows? Mom goes, well, we really like having her there, but she took the guest room. We don't have a guest room anymore. I said, Oh, well, we'll just build a guest room on the back of the house. And she goes, Oh, no, no, no. We do anything.

We're building a master suite. And I said, okay, fine. So we had started that the summer before I started baking and I built a 950 square foot addition on the back of the house. That was my mother's sanctuary. Her, it was all, it was for her. So, but when I look back at all this stuff, I'm like living with my mother. Well, my parents at the time, my dad's in a facility now, but I can look back and I have no regrets. My relationship with my mother, we're best friends. I mean, as you can see, I take her everywhere. Everything happens for a reason.

And if I hadn't listened to that voice about baking for firemen, that year would have been completely different. That time of transition would have been completely different. All that time of transition would have been completely different. When they merged, when the two companies merged and it went from 68 firemen to 350 firemen, my Facebook friends changed a lot too. And I realized that suicide and cancer are the two biggest causes of death and first responders. I had no idea that suicide was an issue. And I'm thinking, I remember

looking at a feed where two men from, not from my department, but in a close area that had committed suicide, firefighters that had committed suicide. And I'm thinking, but that they knew Jesus? So I'm sorry. I'm doing this because, number one, because God told me to, but because I know the morale of the station changes when

cake comes. The chiefs have called me and said, Hey, Tonya, the guys had a tough call. Can you bring cake? And it's not, it's not about bringing cake. It's because I am a comfortable person. I am like the mom. I'm the firefighter mom. They can talk to me, they'll open up with me. I talked to a chaplain that worked in a neighboring city that goes to our church and I said, okay, when they asked me to do this, what do I say to them? And he says, Tarn, you have to think of it as like a balloon that's about ready to pop. If you can just let a little bit of the air out and just give them a little bit of relief so they can go on to the next call. So I'll be sitting at the station tonight and they'll ask me for dinner and I'll sit and talk to them and say, okay, how do you deal with what you see on a regular basis? Well, dark humor and alcohol, Tonya. I'm like, well, how does that work for you? Well, it doesn't work.

And so the culture has changed a lot in the past five years to where they're recognizing what these men see on a regular basis. They have facilities now that they can go and they can get help for PTSD. And I can tell you story after story after story of where I've been in a position to where I can talk to someone and help them with stuff

that they've been going through. I talked to one of the guys and he says, you know, you think about people in the military. If they're actually in war and they're on the front lines, they'll do that for a year, four years, if, you know, or in the military for a certain amount of time. He goes, we do this day after day after day for years. They get over a hundred calls a day

in the area that I bake for. There's some stations that they're, I mean, non-stop. There was a call right after I started baking for the Linwood Fire Department, and it was four teenagers on graduation night that were out, and there was a semi truck was parked on the side of the road that had trailer hitch. They were drinking, they ran into that hitch, it decapitated the first two kids and killed the kids in the back seat instantly and my guys had to go to that. They have to see that all the time. During COVID, there was a lot of suicide, teenage suicide. These guys have to go and they have teenage kids. That was one of the calls that the chief called me. There was a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide and the medics that went to that call

had teenage kids and it's devastating to them. So when I... The cake is a catalyst. It's a catalyst to build relationships with them where I can call them up and say, hey I'm gonna come and make dinner for you guys tonight and just sit and talk. It's so much more than cake. So much more than cake. We'll be right back. The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network, hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores, and brought to you by Velvet Buck. This podcast looks at a West available nowhere else.

Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and bestselling author and meat eater founder Stephen Rinella. I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say, it seems like the ice age people that were here didn't have a real affinity for caves. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.

Listen to The American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts on my body parts that looked exactly like my own.

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deep fake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this? This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law

and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 1978, Roger Caron's first book was published, and he was unlike any first-time author Canada had ever seen.

Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. He spent 24 of those years in jail. 12 years in solitary. He went from an ex-con to a literary darling almost overnight. He was instantly a celebrity. He was an adrenaline junkie and he was the star of the show. Go-Boy is the gritty truth story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. I had a knife go in my stomach, puncture my screen, break my ribs, I had my fecks all in my hands.

Only to find himself back where he started. Rod, you're saying this, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one, Rob. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to GoBoy on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. She was a decorated veteran, a Marine who saved her comrades, a hero. She was stoic, modest, tough, someone who inspired people. Everyone thought they knew her, until they didn't.

I remember sitting on her couch and asking her, is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? I just couldn't wrap my head around what kind of person would do that to another person that was getting treatment, that was, you know, dying. This is a story all about trust and about a woman named Sarah Kavanaugh. I've always been told I'm a really good listener, right? And I maximized that while I was lying.

Listen to deep cover The Truth About Sarah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, Malcolm Gladwell here. On this season of Revisionist History. We're going where no podcast has ever gone before. In combination with my three-year-old, we defend the show that everyone else hates. I'm talking, of course, about Paw Patrol. There's some things that really piss me off when it comes to Paw Patrol. It's pretty simple. It sucks. If my son watches Paw Patrol. I hate it. Everyone hates it. Except for me.

Plus, we investigate everything from why American sirens are so unbearably loud, to the impact of face blindness on social connection, to the secret behind Thomas' English muffins with perfect nooks and crannies. And also, we go after Joe Rogan. Are you ready, Joe? I'm coming for you. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Revisionist History on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm sitting here listening to all of this. I want to, it's called a pullback.

I'm going to do a pullback on you. Ready? Yeah. It's a professional talk that I've learned recently and I make myself a little disgusted using the term, but it's a pull. Um, your dad, he did this, this whole life. Not as a fire off a fire or EMT, but he made the same calls. These guys made mean worse sometimes. Um, but the point is, you know, we got to hear from your mom, you know, that he kissed her

good night and goodbye every time and wouldn't even take out the garbage out kisser and that there was always this recollection that there was danger in what your father's professionals and only say all illustrate this point. It is clear you're making some little bright spot and an otherwise difficult day for many of these firefighters and EMTs. Also their families. You're not just affecting the firefighter. You're affecting the firefighter and the downhill side

who they also deal with some of the same trepidation and fear or at least little thoughts that you guys dealt with. And your father went off to work, they're dealing with when their love went off work. So your outreach to all these fire people is actually exponentially larger because these families know that even in the depths of it every once while at work, I love it's gonna get a smile on their face because of this crazy cake lady. Well, and then they get mad because the wives never get any. They're like, they never bring, please don't ever bring any home. Please don't add wives to the list.

You'll never get any sleep. No, I know that that's not well I do. I mean, like some of the guys, one of the guys, his wife has turned 50. And so I made her a for her birthday. I mean, it's unbelievable. There's never too there's, there's never not enough time for cake. I guess you don't even have a website or anything. You just do you. You say it

like it would be disastrous for you to have a website. For what to show what you're doing. I mean, I was fire. I post everything on on Facebook. Okay, how do people find you on Facebook? What do they do? Just my name, well Instagram is, I'm SCFcakelady. As SCF? South County Fire Cakelady. All right, and on.

I'm posting about her. And on Facebook is just your name, right? Yeah. Okay, is it with the middle or just your name, right? Yeah. Okay. Is it with the middle or just Tanya? I think it's Hinkson Piper because it was my maiden name and married name. Okay, all right.

Say it again. Tanya Rae Hinkson Piper. Which you can find on Facebook. Yeah. Otherwise known as the cake lady. From South County Fire, and there's a bunch of guys with you in the picture. Oh, that was my birthday.

They showed up at the salon with flowers. Tanya Ray has earned her name as the cake lady by baking and delivering birthday cakes for all of our firefighters at 14 stations throughout the year. Today, firefighters surprised her at work with flowers and wishes for a happy birthday coming up on Sunday. And it's a picture of a bunch of fire guys standing behind you at Zip-A-Whits or whatever

the place is called that you do it. Zuberin. Yeah, that one. And they're all just grinning like shishar cats. And there you are in the middle of them smiling happy as a lark. So the salon is kind of right in the middle of the territory. So because they whenever they get a call close to the salon, they just have to stop by and say hi and grab a cookie. That's hilarious. People listening here, go to Facebook and Instagram and check out what she does. And if you cannot be inspired to understand

that something as simple as making a cake can change an entire community's, when I say community, not the city, the community being the fire and EMT and first responder communities outlook. I love the metaphor. It's like a balloon full of air about to pop and you're not gonna extinguish the whole balloon

but if you just let a little pressure off that, just a little air out, that the stress on the bounds of that balloon aren't so strong. And metaphorically, folks who deal with what these first responders deal with, after a while that balloon gets really ready to pop. If you just let a little air out and a little air could be in blending an ear talking, but you know what, just smiling and getting your inner child self excited about a birthday

cake. Something as simple as that. Do you allow yourself to appreciate the difference you're making these folks loves? Oh, yeah. Good. Do you see yourself ever quitting? No, no, no, I will quit baking when I can't bake anymore. Just like I'll quit working when I can't work anymore. I love what I do in all aspects of it. My mom always says when people ask her, well, people ask me if I, if I, you know, who helps me. I'm like, my mom makes sure the kitchen is clean when I get home. That's it. That's it. Cause okay, Bill, our kitchen, It's a two but kitchen. You can't get any more than I mean, if you're back to back to kitchen, I got it. You're gonna run it. Yeah, it is. Or Yeah. And when they when

they see the size of my kitchen and what I do in that kitchen, they're like, really, do you have a double oven? No, I don't have room for it. All right. Here's the deal. This is a call out to people in the Seattle Edmonds, Washington area. You realize what this woman, this crazy cake lady, Tanya, is doing. It would only seem appropriate that one, somebody reached out to her through Facebook or Instagram

and maybe offered to buy a month's worth or a year worth of eggs. But the other thing is when you're making 600 cakes a year about is my guess, is that my math right? All right, that's an average of two a day. I would imagine a double oven would be helpful. So I went to, when I had to buy a new oven, we have a place called the Sonomish Recycle.

Yeah, that oven of yours got some miles on it. Well, the old one, yeah. I mean, it was her oven. Okay. Yeah, but I mean, it did pretty well. So when I went to go get a new one, I went to this recycle place and I brought him cookies, the owner, how to make friends and influence people.

Yeah, a box of cookies and a big smile. It was the second time I went in. And the first I had gotten one and it was not, it didn't work very well and it wasn't cooking evenly. So I took pictures and I said, his name's Dave. I said, Dave, this isn't working. He goes, Oh, well that's unacceptable. The cake lady can not have an oven that doesn't bake evenly.

And so he set me up with like a $5,000. It's a gas confection oven. I mean, I can have an app and turn it on from work if I need to. It's fancy, way fancier than the first one I had picked out, which was nice. But and I said, so that's fine. How much more? He goes, Oh, no. So I got a $5,000. Who's this guy? We got to plug his I don't know his last name. It's Dave at the homeless recycle scratch and dent place. I love that guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He I mean, he was awesome. And so for $1,900, I got a $5,000 brand new and had a little scratch on the side that nobody

sees. So perfect. Yeah, but it's one. Well, yeah, but it's a confection has three racks, I can I can bake three cakes at once different. Well, not three cakes, but I can do two cakes. And I can do like three trays of cookies at a time. And awesome. So yeah, anybody listen to me in Seattle, think of the good she's doing for the first responders out there, reach out to her by eggs by flour by more pans. She has her favorite spoon. She travels

with it. So don't worry about that. But something else, I you know, a little bit of support for you would be appropriate, I think, for what you're doing for everybody in your community. You're an inspiration. You're also hilarious to hang out with. I bet the fire people love it when you just flop down and hang out. Oh, yeah, we have a lot of fun I bet you do Alex you have anything to say to Tonya before we go. I'm good. How about you Tonya? Is there anything you think we've missed that you'd like to cover? Oh You want to see yeah, I want to see Tonya's got a

Fire department calendar not fire. It's fire trucks. Just so you don't think that I got a bunch of half naked firemen on my calendar. Oh, I see. It's not that kind of firemen. It's a firetruck. Yeah, so this now this is all my mother I am a tech tard. I do not do computers whatsoever. So this now this is all my mother. I am a tech tard. I do not do computers whatsoever. So I have a spreadsheet for every month. This is this month's fireman. Okay, this is 123456. 36. She totals it at the bottom. So I

know what I'm doing. so I know what I'm doing. This is a list, color-coded, of 36 people and their date of birth, their rank, and their shift. And can I read one of these people's names? Sure. Good. May 2nd. On May 6th, Tony Mace and Corey Dow, you're up.

One of you is in Plainfield and one of you is in- Oh, that's a different fire. Oh yeah, Plainfield fired. I kind of adopted them on top of the other. Of course you did, why wouldn't you? They're at the airport and they're all alone and lonely and so they don't get any love. Tony Pace at Plainfield and Corey Dowell at 10B on 5-6.

What are we cooking these people? So then I write it on the calendar. So this is- The non-necked fireman calendar with fire trucks rather than the neck and firemen. So Tony Mace is getting carrot cake on the seventh at Payne Field. All right, what's Corey Dowell getting?

Well, he hasn't responded yet. Oh, Corey. Wait, no, there he hasn't responded yet. Oh, Corey. Wait, no, there he is right there. German chocolate. Yeah, so that's my deliveries for that day and my deliveries for that day. That is unbelievable. That's just the beginning of this month.

I just started texting him for this month. But this is April. But this was last month. Holy smokes. Alex, you need to put this on, on, uh, social media. Hold it up too, Tanya. Yeah. Hold it up.

This is, this is the, that is unbelievable. Don't, don't move. We got, uh, we got blueberry crisp. We got red velvet coffee, cheesecake, ob lava cakes, strawberry cake, something monster. Monster cookies. Oh, monster cookies, salon cookies, chocolate, pecan banana cheesecake, holy crap. Uh, there's every kind of cake on earth.

And I don't know why you don't open a bakery, but I think you're gonna say- Cause then it wouldn't be any fun. Yep, yep, there we go. Cause that's, but I think you're gonna say. Cause then it wouldn't be any fun. Yep, there we go. Cause that's not about the money for you, is it? No. No.

It's awesome. Tanya, thanks for being in Memphis. This is a great story. I've loved telling your story and somebody in the Washington area reach out to this woman and help support her. She's doing amazing good for a lot of good people. We could reach out from anywhere. And all of you first responders that have to be listening to this on behalf of Tanya. Um, thank you for your service.

Thank you for what you do. And then the very, very most teal way. I hope you eat cake. Thanks a lot for being here. You're very welcome. Thank you. All right, let's eat some more cake. Thanks a lot for being here. You're very welcome. Thank you. All right, let's eat some more cake. And thank you for joining us this week.

If Tonya Ray Piper has inspired you in general, or better yet to take action by baking cakes for firemen or someone else in your community, or making a cake for your favorite podcast host so he can dive in with his fingers in his face only and oh my gosh that cake was good. Did you get any? I did but her intention was not for you to use your fingers. That's not why she brought it. It's the best way to eat cake. You dive in with your fingers and you just scruff it down your face you'll cure it anyway. If the cake's for yourself is what most listeners are thinking right now. Well that cake was for me wasn't it?

I mean the rest of us were going to have some too. Get your own podcast show and maybe someone cook you a cake. But that was my cake and I loved it. Thanks. It's awesome. So anyway, if Donnie Ray Piper has inspired you to do any of that or something else entirely, please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at bill at normalfolks.us and I promise I'll respond.

And if you're sending a cake, I'll give you my address. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with friends and on social, subscribe to the podcast, rate and review it. Join the army at normalfolks.us. Consider becoming a premium member there. All of these things that will help us grow, an Army of Normal Folks.

I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do what you can. Explore the dark truths of 7M Films and the Shekinah Church in the podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Don't miss the show's conclusion, including a two-part interview with former member Melanie Lee about escaping the so-called TikTok cult. It's like life and death. Yeah. Yeah.

And you don't know any better. You don't know you have that freedom because you've never had that freedom. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All episodes out now. Why is a soap opera western like Yellowstone so wildly successful?

The American West with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater podcast network. So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th, where we'll delve into stories of the West and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today. Listen to the American West with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked.

Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levertown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deep fake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's big take podcast. Find it on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company.

The podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next. In this episode, I'm joined by Angjali Sood, CEO of Tubi. We dive into the competitive world of streaming. What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core. There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person discover the right content,

the term that we always hear from our audience is that they feel seen. Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Sam Ahlens, and I've got a new podcast coming out called Go Boy, the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable. Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted. He spent 24 of those years in jail. But when Roger Caron picked up a pen and paper,

he went from an ex-con to a literary darling. From Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts, listen to Go Boy on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.