Spann and Moak during a recent recording session. Image: Lunchbreak

Christina Spann and Edward Moak find humor in every situation, giving each other – and their listeners – a chance to experience the lighter side of life.

Longtime friends since their days at Mississippi College, Spann and Moak are the hosts of Lunch Break, a weekly podcast that started last November.

The unlikely duo applied to work at the same Jackson non-profit after their school days – unbeknownst to the other – where the hijinks kicked into high gear. 

In “very structured” cubicle life, inside jokes were a salve.  

“We would talk to each other through the cubicles, but loud enough to where we heard it and lost it,” Moak said.

“We both have similar senses of humor,” Spann said, and we would get in trouble together…”

Moak recounts chronicling their daily “too-long” lunch breaks on social media.

“We would post Instagram stories, getting into mischief, making noise about local restaurants,” he said of the impetus of their show idea. 

“People messaged us saying, ‘You’re a hoot! We want to go eat with you!’ Spann recalled. “So, we thought, ‘What if we just made a podcast where you could take us to lunch with you?’”

And the podcast was born.

No longer working together but “inseparable,” Lunch Break offers Spann and Moak the chance to rehash shared and separate experiences, pop culture – including reality TV and music – and local eateries.

“We keep it light,” Moak said. “You’re coming here not to think about stuff. We never want someone to say, ‘That episode was exhausting.'” 

The recorded “catch-up session” is their reminder to laugh. 

“It’s our bow on the week,” Moak said. “It’s like, let’s get one more good laugh out of this situation and let it go.”  

Spann is in college to be a counselor, while Moak works for furnishing and design retailer J.Allan’s. They still manage lunch together most days.

“I don’t do therapy, but I do this podcast,” Moak said, calling Spann his “free session.”

“If I’m upset, Edward is quick to tell a joke,” Spann said (Moak faux-quotes Maya Angelou – “We don’t go backward, we go forward.”)

Will the podcast ever end? 

“I want my funeral to be a podcast, Spann said. “We don’t see an end date. We don’t want it to end.”