Council Bluffs friends turn conversations into Wine Wisdom and Wit podcast

A friendship that began about 20 years ago has grown into a local podcast for two Council Bluffs area women who decided the conversations that kept them laughing for hours might be worth sharing with everyone else.

Lynette Peterson and Annette Bracker host “Wine, Wisdom and Wit,” using the names Net and Nettie on the show. The podcast combines a different wine with conversations about relationships, family, changing social habits and other parts of everyday life. Neither claims to be a wine expert, and that is largely the point. When asked whether they considered themselves aficionados, the answer came quickly. “Oh, no. Not close,” “We just like to drink it.”

The idea for the podcast existed for years before they finally began recording. Their friendship became much closer about five years ago as they started spending more time together and realized how easily one conversation could stretch into several hours. Their husbands eventually began encouraging them to turn those discussions into a show. “They watched us chatting all the time, and we can have a conversation for hours and laugh so much,” the pair explained.

The show has developed around the same type of conversations they were already having away from microphones. Sometimes a subject is planned in advance and researched, while other ideas come from something that happens during one of their regular get-togethers. If a conversation takes an interesting turn, it may end up on the running list of future episodes.

That difference in preparation is also part of what makes the partnership work. One of the hosts tends to research and plan topics carefully, while the other is more comfortable allowing the conversation to develop as it goes. They see those approaches as complementary rather than competing. “That’s where we are a really good balance for each other,” Lynette said. “I’m kind of an over-planner, and she’s kind of like, whatever. Let’s just do it.”

Episodes have included discussions about manners, friendships, saving money, family relationships and differences between generations. The pair said their own experiences as wives, mothers and working women provide much of the perspective they bring to those subjects. Humor is a major part of the program, but they also hope some of what they have learned over the years can help listeners dealing with similar situations. “Maybe we can spare some people some heartache that we’ve had through life, that we’ve learned from,” they said.

Public listings for “Wine, Wisdom and Wit” describe the program as conversations about both simple and complex challenges, and the show has expanded from its original audio format to include video episodes. The hosts have continued experimenting with subjects that range from lighthearted observations to topics requiring considerably more thought and research.

One subject they hope to explore in a future episode is homelessness. Lynette and Annette said they want to spend time talking directly with people experiencing homelessness rather than forming conclusions based only on what they have heard from others. Their goal is to understand how people reached that point and what types of assistance might actually make a difference. “You can’t help someone unless you know their story,” one of the hosts said. “You don’t really know what help they need until you understand what they’ve been through.”

That willingness to move between humor and more serious conversations has become part of the show. An episode may begin with a bottle of wine and observations about ordinary life before moving into relationships, aging or another subject the pair did not necessarily expect to discuss when they sat down.

The hosts said they do not want the size of the audience to become the reason they continue recording. The original attraction was simply spending time together, talking and laughing, and they want to keep that at the center of the podcast.

“Wine, Wisdom and Wit” is available through major podcast platforms, with video episodes also available through Spotify and YouTube. The show continues to add episodes as Net and Nettie work their way through a growing list of subjects that started, much like the podcast itself, with two friends sitting down and talking.