“What do you need to borrow?” Rudnick asks 29-year-old Murstein, who’s looking to spice up her all-white, bubble-hem dress.

“I need a cute bag,” says Murstein. From her closet, fashion-savvy Rudnick produces a few options before the two settle on a petite, summery Fendi. “We have always been extremely close through every stage of my life,” Murstein says. “Grandma has always been giving me her opinion and dressing me up.”

Such fashion interactions are a regular occurrence on the duo’s “Excuse My Grandma” Instagram and TikTok accounts, which hover at around a half-million followers each. They also produce a podcast of the same name, launched in 2021. There, grandmother and granddaughter discuss fashion and pop culture, dating and interpersonal relationships, etiquette and nostalgia.

“I knew the conversations I had with my Grandma Gail were funny and relatable,” Murstein says. “I wasn’t seeing intergenerational conversations like ours in the media at the time.”

The podcast idea was born during the pandemic, when Murstein, of New York City, went to live with her grandparents and work remotely from Palm Beach, Florida. “Our conversations, especially about dating, were really hilarious and insightful, and I knew they were something special,” she says.

One time, Murstein was venting to Rudnick about a guy she was seeing who had suddenly gone quiet. “I was rereading old texts, trying to figure out what I did wrong. Gail just looked at me and said, ‘He’s not interested.’ ”

Murstein adds, “One of Gail’s most viral rules that has stuck with me is: ‘Life gets better when you make yourself unavailable to any love you have to chase.’ Documenting our relationship made me appreciate how much wisdom my grandma really has.”

That sense of unfiltered advice led to the podcast name. “I wanted a name that really captured her vibe—always saying exactly what’s on her mind,” Murstein says. “I eventually came to Excuse My Grandma. It’s my way of giving a little playful heads-up or wink before she tells it like it is.”

Murstein and Rudnick have been tight since Murstein was a baby. The whole family then lived on the same New York block. It was Rudnick’s first foray into grandparenting. “It was exciting to share her with my daughter and son-in-law,” Rudnick recalls. “I walked her carriage. I helped her with her history homework. We enjoyed our close relationship.”

Fast-forward almost three decades, and Murstein has been the one teaching Rudnick a thing or two.

“I never even knew what a podcast was, to tell you the truth,” Rudnick says. “And I certainly didn’t know about TikTok and social media.”

Still, creating Excuse My Grandma has been a welcome learning experience and lifestyle change for Rudnick, a lifelong homemaker.

“Kimberly got me to work,” she says. “All of a sudden, I was working full-time four days a week and leaving my friends behind. So many of my friends were envious of my ability to go with my grandchild and do all the things we are doing.” And now, so many other people want Rudnick’s advice that the two have started a podcast segment called “Ask Grandma Anything,” with queries ranging from whether a woman should keep hooking up with her child’s father even though they haven’t been together for three years (no: “When things are over, they’re over”) to whether it’s an appropriate fashion choice to wear socks with sandals (hard no: “It’s ugly”). Although Murstein and Rudnick are the stars of the show, their family offers support behind the scenes. “My mom finds it funny,” Murstein says. “When Grandma and I are doing our videos, she is often dancing in the background, and you can hear her voice. At some point, hopefully soon, we will involve our family a little bit more.”

“Some of them are camera-shy,” says Rudnick. “They get nervous.”

In the end, both women stress the importance and rewards that bloom from cultivating intergenerational relationships, which can sometimes be difficult in today’s digital age.

“If you have older relatives or mentors, you can have conversations like we do,” Murstein says.

One tip she offers: Spend time looking through old photo albums; conversations will emerge. “You can start small by asking how Grandma and Grandpa met, or what their biggest mistakes were, or what they knew at your age. Don’t be afraid to be curious.”

Technology can aid communication too. “Young people and older people today have phones and iPads and computers,” says Rudnick, “and they can see each other via those instruments. You just have to take the time and a little bit of effort, perhaps once a week, to touch base with each other and see how everything is going in their lives.

Because of the podcast and social media accounts, Rudnick knows what’s going on in her granddaughter’s life. And she loves this project. “This has given me an excuse to be with her much more than most grandparents are with their grandchildren,” she says. “I’ve always said to people, ‘You have to really work at it, because it doesn’t happen naturally. You have to make the effort, and once you do, you’ll reap the rewards your whole life.’ ”