Hosted by Em Schulz and Christine Schiefer, "And That's Why We Drink" is an award-winning comedy podcast, where the paranormal and true-crime meet. Launched in February 2017, each new episode is a deep dive into whatever paranormal and true crime stories the hosts are obsessing over that week. The podcast has over 200 million lifetime downloads, and is consistently ranked in the top 20 on the comedy podcast charts. The podcast is the winner of multiple Webby, People's Choice Podcast, Signal, W3, and Davey Awards. Em and Christine have been touring the show since 2018 -- with their latest live tour, “On The Rocks,” selling out across North America.
In March 2022, Christine and Em launched a new podcast in partnership with Parcast called Rituals -- a Spotify Original from Parcast -- where each week the two hosts summon accounts of mystical objects, perverse events, and people who had an appetite for the occult.
In May 2022, Em and Christine released their first book together called A Haunted Road Atlas -- which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list. The book is an interactive guide to the hosts’ favorite spooky and sinister sites throughout the U.S. The book is jam-packed with illustrations, fun facts, travel tips and includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes, hauntings, and supernatural sightings.
Growing up in a small and haunted Virginia town, Em developed an affinity for sweet tea and ghost stories, so it’s no surprise that a podcast about the dead would be firmly planted in Em’s path. Before launching the podcast, Em held job titles such as professional clown, kite salesman, boat carpenter, segway expert, berry farmer, Hollywood prop maker, and paranormal investigator. In college, Em worked at Chipotle just to learn the recipe for their corn salsa and then quit. Another time, Em was offered a PhD in neuroscience but decided the smartest career move would be to move to Los Angeles with no money and no set plan.
Em is a member of The Ghost Club, the Society of Psychical Research (SPR), the American Society of Psychical Research (ASPR), the Parapsychological Association, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Through “And That’s Why We Drink,'' Em has covered over 200 cases, including hauntings, alien abductions, cryptids, legends, conspiracies, and historical figures in the paranormal world. Whether they’re explaining demonic portals, the belief that Obama was recruited into a time travel program on Mars, Houdini’s undercover army exposing mediums, or a possessed talking mongoose, Em drinks a milkshake each episode to celebrate getting through another week of research. When Em isn’t drinking milkshakes, they are either preparing for their tiny house build, watching Back to the Future II, or actively not sharing food.
Originally hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Christine spent the 1990s doing all the things normal American kids do, like devouring Stephen King novels, attempting late-night séances, and analyzing her elementary school classmates for signs of the homicidal triad. Despite her somewhat macabre interests, Christine decided to pursue TV writing and moved to LA in 2015, where she found instant success as a part-time dog-walker.
After working as a Lyft driver, coffee-fetcher, and even private investigator, Christine ultimately landed her dream job as a Nickelodeon writer alongside her soulmate, Squidward Tentacles. In an attempt to create more of her own content, Christine teamed up with Em in 2017 to create “And That’s Why We Drink.” Christine also co-hosts the podcast “Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet” alongside her younger brother Alex. Named by Spotify as one of the “best new podcasts of 2019,” the show features one-star reviews read in the most dramatic fashion.
When she’s not writing or podcasting, Christine can typically be found wandering the cereal aisle of the grocery store, talking to her dog, or injuring herself in a beginner yoga class. As far as her passions go, she is equally fond of budget wine and the stories that make her drink it. Christine currently resides near Cincinnati with her husband, daughter, dog and two cats.
