Spotify's Living & Learning with Reba McEntire podcast returned on Monday (Oct. 25) with episodes featuring Trisha Yearwood and actor Rex Linn.
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The Linn episode offers more insight into how the couple got to know each other during a pandemic.
"I sent you food during quarantine," Linn said in a season two trailer. "I was trying to figure out how to connect with you, other than us spending hours a day talking with one another — which was great."
We find out in the episode that this long-distance foodie-to-foodie exchange began with a notably good slice of pecan pie.
"It was pecan pie, it was lobster rolls, it was McConnell's ice cream from California," McEntire said. "So which was my favorite? They were all great but what was prolonged, we got to have it more often, was the McConnell's ice cream."
Talk of tater tots, sugar tots, ice cream, coffee and pecan pie aside, the main takeaway has to be the story of the common bond that progressed a friendship toward a romance.
"It was later on that I was texting you about Mama, we had just found out that she has bladder cancer and you said 'you just feel free to call me anytime you want to talk' and I just quit texting and we've been talking ever since," McEntire said.
McEntire paid forward kindness years before, inspiring Linn to be there in her time of need.
"In 1998, my mom passed away and the day that we buried her we went back to mom's house..my sister walks up and says 'you got a phone call' and I said 'now, right now?' And she said 'I think you probably want to take this,'" Linn explained. "So I went back in my old bedroom that I grew up in, sat on the bed and it was Reba. And she said 'I understand what you're going through today. I just wanted to talk to you.' We talked for about 25 minutes and I never forgot it. It was amazing and it was uplifting. It was really special and little did I know 20 years later, 21 years later, I'd be doing the same thing with her.. But I never forgot that. And that's why I said to you 'if you ever want to talk just give me a call.'"
Living & Learning with Reba McEntire, Season One
The first season reunited the Country Music Hall of Fame member with co-host Melissa Peterman, a fellow cast member from the sitcom Reba. The season two trailer doesn't mention Peterman, revealing that McEntire's now flying solo as a podcast host.
Two episodes of the 12-part first season debuted on Sept. 21, 2020. Episode one covers the topic of friendship and features actor Leslie Jordan and country star Lauren Alaina. For episode two, McEntire and Peterman discuss "Forging Your Path" with the superstar of superstars, Dolly Parton.
"We are all longtime fans of Reba's extraordinary music, her career and her razor sharp insights, and are certain that fans will absolutely love hearing a strong female icon like Reba share her advice and personal thoughts on all!," said Brittany Schaffer, head of artist and label marketing for Spotify Nashville, in 2020.
Other season one guests of the Oklahoma-born music legend and her podcast co-star included Jane Fonda, Untamed author Glennon Doyle, Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and Queer Eye's Karamo Brown.
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McEntire doesn't view her role as a podcaster as being all that different from her main gig.
"I've always been a storyteller — I've made a career out of story songs. A great podcast, just like a great country song, tells a story," McEntire said in 2020 (as quoted by The Boot). "So when Spotify asked if I would be interested in partnering with them to do this, I thought it was a great idea because it gave me a new way to continue being that storyteller."
