Stay ConnectedDeath is Hilarious is a podcast that talks about grief in a humorous, realistic, and death positive way with comedians and professionals in the grief space.
Tawny Platis, founder of Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation and comedy content creator, started the podcast after her husband, George, passed away in November of 2019. They had a comedy podcast together called The Dirty Bits, which can still be found on this feed.
Watch the show live on Instagram @thatdeathpod
This week Katie and Tawny talked about being a human first, how long is too long to grief, and what to do now to prepare yourself for eventual grief.
Every Tuesday at 9 am pacific/noon eastern, I chat with Katie Zicarelli, one of the support group facilitators at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation who also happens to be a licensed grief therapist AND a widow. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer your questions and talk about hot topics in the grief community . You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/dearkatie or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, this show is for education and entertainment purposes and is not a replacement for therapy.
Special thanks to Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
This week Tawny and Katie talked about what to do when people are uncomfortable with your grief humor, if it’s okay to make dead baby jokes, how to handle other peoples reactions to our grief, and the importance of setting boundaries.
Every Tuesday at 9 am pacific/noon eastern, I chat with Katie Zicarelli, one of the support group facilitators at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation who also happens to be a licensed grief therapist AND a widow. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer your questions and talk about hot topics in the grief community . You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/dearkatie or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, this show is for education and entertainment purposes and is not a replacement for therapy.
Special thanks to Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
This week Tawny and BC talk about the baby steps required about the mental preparation for dating after loss, working through the denial, and a few questions from the audience lead down a path of talking hauntings from our dead spouses!
Every Monday at 4 pm pacific/7 pm eastern, I chat with Brad Clark, one of the support group facilitators and the resident WidDad at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer questions about dating while grieving. You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/griefdating or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, Brad and I aren’t mental health professionals and this segment is not a replacement for therapy.
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious and DeathIsHilarious.com
I recently spoke with Andrea Entz, a fellow voice actor and one of my favorite comedians who also makes jokes about their dead loved ones. Andrea was kind enough to perform her grief set at our first comedy festival we hosted to raise money for the foundation and I was delighted to have her on the show.
This episode first premiered on Instagram live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod.
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level on Patreon.com/DeathIsHilarious. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone!
I recently spoke with Lori LoCicero for the podcast, the creator of the Death Deck, a lively party game that allows you to explore a topic we’re all obsessed with but often afraid to discuss. In this episode, we talk about using humor to cope, what inspired her to create the game, and play a few rounds together with listeners.
This episode is brought to you by the Death Deck, a lively party game that allows you to explore a topic we’re all obsessed with but often afraid to discuss. The Death Deck is made up of 112 cards with a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions that are guaranteed to spark lively discussion around the topic of death. You can play with partners to try and predict each other’s answers or all together in a group but no matter how you play, you’ll learn some new things about your friends, your family, and likely yourself.
Learn more and get your own deck at the deathdeck.com
This episode first premiered on Instagram live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can also watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content (like commercial free episodes) by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Every Tuesday at 9 am pacific/noon eastern, I (Tawny) chat with Katie Zicarelli, one of the support group facilitators at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation who also happens to be a licensed grief therapist AND a widow. Join us on Instagram Live @thatdeathpod where we answer your questions and talk about hot topics in the grief community . You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/dearkatie or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, this show is for education and entertainment purposes and is not a replacement for therapy.
You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can also watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content (like commercial free episodes) by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone.
Every Monday at 4 pm pacific/7 pm eastern, I (Tawny) chat with Brad Clark, one of the support group facilitators and the resident WidDad at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer questions about dating while grieving. You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/griefdating or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, Brad and I aren’t mental health professionals and this segment is not a replacement for therapy.
You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can also watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content (like commercial free episodes) by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone.
Every Tuesday at 9 am pacific/noon eastern, I (Tawny) chat with Katie Zicarelli, one of the support group facilitators at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation who also happens to be a licensed grief therapist AND a widow. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer your questions and talk about hot topics in the grief community . You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/dearkatie or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, this show is for education and entertainment purposes and is not a replacement for therapy.
You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can also watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content (like commercial free episodes) by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Bryan Ramsey, Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone.
Every Monday at 4 pm pacific/7 pm eastern, I (Tawny) chat with Brad Clark, one of the support group facilitators and the resident WidDad at Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation. Join us on Instagram Live where we answer questions about dating while grieving. You can submit your questions before the show on our website at Death is Hilarious.com/griefdating or ask them during the live broadcast. Just as a reminder, Brad and I aren’t mental health professionals and this segment is not a replacement for therapy.
You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod. You can also watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content (like commercial free episodes) by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone.
This week I spoke with author and clinical Psychologist Sherry Walling about her circus show in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month and her upcoming book Touching Two Worlds.
This episode first appeared on Instagram Live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod or by following me on TikTok @tawnyplatis, You can watch the video recording and ad free version of this episode and enjoy other bonus content by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Special thanks to Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation is a nonprofit 501c organization that aims to provide daily virtual grief peer support groups, mentorships, content, and resources for grieving people who respond to a humorous, realistic, and death positive approach, all at no cost.
This week I spoke with Steven Ho (@steveioe), a first generation Vietnamese-American who started sharing comedic yet brutally honest ER skits online, eventually becoming known as “that ER guy” and launching his own brand tied to that sentiment – MuFKR. Now, with over 13 million followers across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, Steven creates funny, real, and informative (with a hint of profanity) content related to the ER, providing transparency and comedic relief around a place people often dread. Everything he shares with his audience is through the lens of honest ER experiences, letting them in on the joke no matter how ridiculous, traumatic, or silly.
You’re listening to Death is Hilarious, the podcast that talks about using humor and jokes to cope with grief. I’m Tawny Platis, your host and founder of the nonprofit Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation- an organization that aims to provide daily virtual grief peer support groups, mentorships, content, and resources for grieving people who respond to a humerous, realistic, and death positive approach, all at no cost. Learn more about how you can access our services, or support our mission by volunteering or donating at deathishilarious.com
Special thanks to Jeff Jorgensen, Mary Jane Murphy, Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
This episode first appeared on Instagram Live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod or by following me on TikTok @tawnyplatis, You can watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content
by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
You’re listening to Death is Hilarious, the podcast that talks about using humor and jokes to cope with grief. I’m Tawny Platis, your host and founder of the nonprofit Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation- an organization that aims to provide daily virtual grief peer support groups, mentorships, content, and resources for grieving people who respond to a humerous, realistic, and death positive approach, all at no cost. Learn more about how you can access our services, or support our mission by volunteering or donating at deathishilarious.com
I recently spoke with Mary Jane Murphy, a comedian and widow who debuted her set of dead husband jokes during our first comedy show fundraiser for the Foundation- and I’m excited to be able to share that set with you today during this episode.
Mary Jane and I talked about what it’s like working as comedian when experiencing grief and when we both started making jokes about being widows
Special thanks to Nicole Cruz, Jeff Brower, Brian Jump, CJ Infantino, Lindsey C, Kevin McClowery, Cristina, Ruckus, Liz Moya, Sarah Long, and Trenton Bennet, our monthly donors at the $15 level. Your support helps us keep our services accessible for everyone. Learn how you too can support our mission by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
This episode first appeared on Instagram Live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod or by following me on TikTok @tawnyplatis. You can watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
I recently spoke with Barnie Duncan, a comedian from New Zealand, about his latest comedy special Bunny, in which he talks about missing both clubbing and his recently deceased mother. We talked about how grief can feel like waiting for the bass to drop, why we incorporate our grief into our comedy, and what our dead loved ones would think of our work.
This episode first appeared on Instagram Live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod or by following me on TikTok @tawnyplatis, You can watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Death is Hilarious is the podcast that talks about using humor and jokes to cope with grief and is hosted by Tawny Platis, founder of the nonprofit Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation- an organization that aims to provide daily virtual grief peer support groups, mentorships, content, and resources for grieving people who respond to a humerous, realistic, and death positive approach, all at no cost. Learn more about how you can access our services, or support our mission by volunteering or donating at deathishilarious.com
Several of you reached out after a diagnosis called Prolonged Grief Disorder was recently added to the DSM, so I got in touch with my friend, licensed clinical social worker, and peer support group facilitator at Death is Hilarious, Katie Zicarelli, to answer your questions and discuss her thoughts on the topic as a mental health professional and a widow. Find more of Katie's content on TikTok and Instagram @goodgriefbites
This episode first appeared on TikTok Live. You can watch future episodes of Death is Hilarious live by following us on Instagram @thatdeathpod or by following me on TikTok @tawnyplatis, You can watch the video recording of this episode and enjoy other bonus content by visiting Patreon.com/DeathisHilarious
Death is Hilarious, is the podcast that talks about using humor and jokes to cope with grief. I’m Tawny Platis, your host and founder of the nonprofit Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation- an organization that aims to provide daily virtual grief peer support groups, mentorships, content, and resources for grieving people who respond to a humerous, realistic, and death positive approach, all at no cost. Learn more about how you can access our services, or support our mission by volunteering or donating at deathishilarious.com
This past week, I interviewed widower and viral dark humor content creator Alex Tresner live on tiktok about how he’s been using the platform to make jokes about losing his wife to cancer and educating others on modern grieving. You can check out all of Alex’s content on tiktok by following him at @Alexandergrey327
But first, an update on Death is Hilarious
DeathIsHilarious.com
Today my guest is K. Krombie, author of "Death in New York" which details the history and culture of burials, undertakers, and execution.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/tawnyplatis, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is K. Krombie, author of "Death in New York" which details the history and culture of burials, undertakers, and execution.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/tawnyplatis, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Autumn Toelle-Jackson, the award winning author of Boldly into the Darkness: Living with Loss, Growing with Grief & Holding onto Happiness. She’s also the founder of Growing with Grief, a website that provides those who are grieving with a place to find community, resources, and help.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Two years ago today, on November 8, 2019 I walked out of my in-home office and into the kitchen to find my husband, George, dead on the floor.
It gets funny I promise.
In this episode, I reflect on being widowed for two years, where I am today, and the future of the podcast
Learn more at DeathIsHilarious.com
Today my guest is Bethany Harvey, author of Dipped in It, a book where she explores the unpredictable spiral of grief after unexpectedly losing her father and openly shares the heartbreaking, gritty and unexpectedly hilarious insights that surface.
In this episode:
How intending to write daily gratitude posts turned into being vulnerable, honest, and funny as opposed to relentlessly positive
Grief is not just being sad, we weave in and out of so many emotions
How humor is a part of grief and how often those who haven’t experienced loss can’t quite wrap their heads around that (it has to do with absurdity and relief)
Why we feel drawn to share on social media
Feeling guilty about not being anything but positive and grateful
Thinking about Coolio during the funeral
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Jennifer Lee Weaver, a Los Angeles based comic actress, producer, public speaker, and widow. After beating cancer, Jennifer’s mother passed away at the end of 2017 and then her wife passed away from cancer. She’s what I affectionately refer to as a “gold star widow.”
In this episode:
- How absurd grief and loss is, especially when so many losses hit you in a short amount of time
- Jennifer didn’t lean into comedy right away but has recently given herself permission to use humor to cope
- Not being able to relate to the idea of what widowhood is supposed to look like
- Being a multi-layered human, including when grieving
- Missing the stupid stuff like fighting with your spouse
- When people think grieving folks are “handling everything with grace”
- Assigning yourself meaning and purpose in a life that’s chaos
- All relationships end in tragedy- and still choosing to love despite that
- Not having just one person/soulmate/great love
- Atoms, string theory, multiple realities, and matter changing form
- Feeling like a badass
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Jenn Koiter- a storyteller with a background in education, nonprofit work, and technology who has taught at colleges and universities. Jenn is also the author of So Much of Everything, a book of poetry she created in order to process her complicated feelings of loss and grief that she experienced after her ex-boyfriend died from suicide.
In this episode:
- Jenn uses her dead ex-boyfriend’s yoga mat
- How grieving compares to dog obedience training
- Needing to be ok with people not understanding the humor around death
- Why people don’t understand using humor to cope with death and grief
- The complicated feelings around someone dying of suicide after breaking up with them
- How using humor to cope is often initially a part of someone’s personality and it’s magnified during trauma
- Having a religious funeral for someone who was an atheist
- How humor brings us together as mourners and connects us as a part of our grief
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Nadine Menashe, the creator behind the Varsity Grief Squad, one of my favorite accounts on Instagram and also where Nadine makes memes and merch about her dead mom.
We talked about:
- Nadine’s mom Svetlana was diagnosed with stage 4 breast, bone, and lung cancer in September 2019. That’s when the grief process started. When she passed away in October 2020, the humor came naturally. It was the only way she was able to communicate what she was feeling
- Processing grief and loss with funny memes
- Humor wasn’t always something Nadine used to cope with the hard stuff in life
- The moment that Nadine started really leaning into humor was at her mom’s funeral
- A lot of rabbis seem to have a great sense of humor around death
- The backlash that comes with using dark humor to cope
- Appreciating the view of death in Judaism
- Meeting a grieving person where they are
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com
Today my guest is Kathy Benjamin, author of the upcoming book, “It’s Your Funeral,” which aims to help demystify death, decrease your anxiety, and put the fun back in funeral. Every stage of the legacy planning process is considered, from a burial outfit to a funeral theme. Kathy’s writing has has received more than 100 million hits across some of the most popular humor and trivia websites in the world, including Mental Floss, Cracked, Grunge, The Smoking Jacket, and Uproxx. Kathy is also the author of Funerals to Die For.
We talked about:
- What how panic attacks led Kathy to start writing comically about death
- Using humor and learning everything about death gave her the ability to demystify dying
- Why death positivity eases anxiety around the topic and gives you more control
- Why we’re avoidant when it comes to death and dying
- Getting kids comfortable with death and seeing bodies
- How Victorians screwed us up when it comes to our relationship with death
- The many different ways we grieve and mourn our loved ones
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Mitzi Weiland, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and creator of the podcast Dead Funny Dead Serious.
In this episode:
- Mitzi was a bartender and artist before her mother was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer (her father and grandfather also passed away when she was 7). Then she started looking into volunteering at hospices and senior centers (bingo is ruthless) and started to school to be a geriatric mental health specialist.
- She then took a grief class and learned why she uses humor to deal with her grief (it was very eye opening).
- Mitzi was raised by a grieving mother and it was never addressed. She was using humor to deflect.
- Humor is absolutely a healthy coping mechanism- if it’s ONE of your tools.
- Every tool should be used in moderation. Netflix is great until you start watching it for 24 hours a day and stop going to work. Wine is a great tool until it's not.
- Using humor to deflect vs to cope is a fine and personal line
- Going to local comedy clubs and listening to comedians using the platform to process and cope with loss.
- Why we have so much death anxiety in American culture (we’re living longer so palliative and deathcare is actually a new concept)
- The new movement surrounding death positivity and how that’s not the space grieving people are in
- Grievers are shunned for sharing their feelings
- We hashtag and label everything so we put everything and everyone in a box. You can be happy, grieving, and angry all at the same time
- Grief groups are often filled with laughter
- Turning her mom’s ashes into a lawn gnome
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Leslie Gray Streeter, pop culture columnist, journalist, and author of Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title
We talked about:
- Leslie’s book Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title
- Making jokes about having to deal with the absurdities that come with your husband dying on your watch
- The performative “sad-face-head-tilt-sigh” some people give widows
- How some widows were able to take on 2020 in a very prepared way- isolation and having to do stuff we don’t want to do? Oh we got this. We go with the flow and have a sense of humor about it.
- Why we feel kind of smug as widows
- Do we have gallows humor or a desperate coping mechanism?
- Patton Oswalt’s bit about the Polish Woman of Doom (he’s a widower!)
- What has happened to us is absurd and absurdism is the foundation of comedy
- How widowers are often portrayed as hot and widows are portrayed as hags in media and other double standards (this is seen on the show The Bachelor)
- How widows are often accused of killing their husbands
- Being an authentic sarcastic and messy widow who eats french fries out of her purse.
- People who are defensive of our husbands… who didn’t know them
- The pushback we receive when we don’t react how people want us to react
- Sex and dating after being widowed
- People project their own fears of being forgotten onto widows who find love again
- How having deep relationships with our husbands primes us for wanting a deep connection again. Just because we want to love again passionately doesn’t mean we don’t love our husbands.
- Our husbands told us they wanted us to find love again if they passed away before we did
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Bryan Martin, aka Sea Lion Bryan, who is an animal care and training specialist, widower, and fantastic dancer who can be found on TikTok and Instagram @sealionbryan
We talked about:
- Being with his partner Clayton for four years. After Bryan’s dad passed away, four months later Clayton got a fungal infection and he had an adverse response to the medication that cause acute liver failure. He became Clayton’s caregiver for the following 8 months until he passed away.
- It wasn’t until 2020 when Bryan noticed how many people were grieving that he felt it was time to share with more people online.
- Clayton’s wild sense of humor, how it still informs Bryan’s own humor, and why dead husband jokes are funny
- Why Deadpool is the patron saint of widows
- Being ghosted on a date after being literally ghosted by your partner
- Widows laugh because the world is ridiculous
- The weird connotation widow/er has (it make it sound like we did it)
- If you’ve used comedy to cope in other areas of your life, you’ll probably use it to cope with grief too
- Using reverse psychology on the universe to get what you want
- The difference between positivity and toxic positivity (something Bryan has been accused of)
- The beauty of authenticity
- We don’t talk about preparing for death enough because of shame and fear
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Mandy Benoualid, the co-founder and editor of the death positive media site and resource TalkDeath, and co-host of the #TalkDeath video series. She is also the founder and President of the online memorial platform and virtual funeral service provider, Keeper, and works with the US Department of Veterans Affairs on the Veterans Legacy Memorial project, memorializing nearly 4 Million American Veterans. Mandy’s work has appeared in national and international publications, she has been a featured presenter at professional funeral and cemetery conferences and was recently featured as an industry innovator by American Funeral Director Magazine.
We talked about:
- Visiting grandma’s grave, it occurred to her how every person has a story in a cemetery that can’t be communicated on a headstone.
- How modern deathcare is changing the discussion around death (death positive)
- TalkDeath is a lot of 20-45 year olds who are gawky nerd girls who want to talk about death
- Green burial and how the demand for it has been skyrocketing
- Why sex and death are both taboo topics in western countries
- A funny story about sitting shiva when Mandy’s grandpa died
- Impromptu dancing and roasting grandpa (not literally) during the shiva
- The phrase “celebration of life” and why not everyone appreciates the phrase
- Using humor to shine a light as opposed to deflect
- How grieving becomes a part of your identity when you’ve experienced a traumatic loss
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Ben Wasserman, an alternative standup comedian based in New York who has performed in the Brooklyn Comedy Festival, Laughing Devil Festival, and the New York, Philly, and Burlington Fringe Festivals. His work has also appeared in Vice and Vulture but you may recognize him best from when he painted with his butt on MTV.
We chat about:
Ben’s dad passed away from stage 5 lung cancer about 12 hours before inauguration day in 2017
- Hosting a comedy show weeks after losing his dad while wearing a shirt that said “My dad died the day T*ump took office"
- How we can’t help but incorporate our grief into our performance
- Why loss is unfathomable until you experience it first hand
- The tendency people have to compare losses (spoiler-they aren’t comparable)
- Using comedy to cope and how it shouldn’t be a replacement for therapy
- Using humor to deflect vs cope with your problems
- Identifying the body (funny story)
- Being surprised at having the capacity to incorporate grief into comedy
- How h*rny grief makes people
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guests are Maria and Ammo from the podcast Philotimo Life, a podcast that aims to open up the conversation around death in order better come to terms with our own mortality, help us support those grieving, and to live a happier life.
In this episode we talk about:
How we as grievers shelter other people from the reality of our feelings
People think grief is contagious
What it’s like studying thanatology
Ammo gives insight into death in Punjabi culture
Generational trauma
Maria gives insight into her Greek-Canadian upbringing and how that influenced her views on death
Not being able to get life insurance as a terminally ill person
Being saddled with over $50k in debt as a widow
Why dark humor is so taboo in North America
Toxic positivity doesn’t allow us to feel anything but happiness
The monetization and exploitation of Pride Month
Just because something is “better” doesn’t mean it’s “good”
More on Philotimo Life:
Maria's mom died when she was two. From an early age, she realized that talking about death was a huge no-no because people got really weird about it. As a way to avoid uncomfortable situations, she hardly spoke about her mom– let alone the way the loss impacted her. As she got older, she began to ask herself, "Why aren't I talking about this? Why aren't we talking about it?" This is what led to Philotimo Life– a place that breathes life into the conversation around death.
As she was explaining it to Ammo, his response was one of the firsts that wasn't "that's kind of morbid." This led to him joining the project. His approach to the conversation around death was refreshing and helped shape Philotimo into what it is today.
Together, they want you to share your experiences around death with family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers, with the goal that we change our policies around bereavement, and how we educate people about life, death, dying, and grief. By opening up this dialogue, they help others embrace the reality that everybody dies, and that's ok!
https://www.philotimolife.com/about
@philotimolife on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Shohana Sharmin, a Bangladeshi-Canadian comedian, writer, theatre artist, and host of the podcast, “Finders Grievers.” Shohana is also the creator and a cast member of the critically acclaimed award-winning dark sketch comedy revue "Dead Parents Society."
Shohana lost her mom four years ago when she was just in her 20s and stopped by to talk with me about
-feeling like other comedians who had lost their parents in their 20s were the ones who understood her (as opposed to peers her own age)
- toxic positivity and being conditioned to be only happy, accepting sadness in order to avoid isolation
- how weird it is needing to go to the mall right after someone dies (can relate)
- the process behind writing sketches about death and grieving
- needing to be in an ok place so your audience isn’t concerned for you
- how comedy is not a replacement for therapy
- how we laugh the hardest at things we relate to
- how therapists always schedule sessions for Tuesday
- why we’re self-deprecating as comedians (it’s not because we’re confident)
- recognizing being lucky on the spectrum of support during loss
- and how universal death is (at some point, someone you love will die)
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
In this episode, I spoke with Lori Zaspel, a licensed social worker and co-founder of the Philly Death Doula Collective, which provides emotional, spiritual, and physical support at the end of life. Lori also works as a geriatric social worker, is studying EMDR, and creates really funny videos surrounding grief on TikTok under the handle @phillydeathdoula.
We talked about what drew Lori to taking an academic approach to grief, how she happily talks about the three societal taboos (death, sex, and money) with humor, why shaming and stigmatizing grievers is harmful, how grieving people are going to be shamed regardless of how they choose to cope and the only way to really win is to keep existing, how people judgements because of their own death anxiety, ghosting grievers, why we're told that it’s culturally inappropriate to talk about death and grief (partially because of the lack of control we have as humans), terror management theory (the higher your death anxiety the more likely you are to be conservative), being able to mark one’s grief process by the type of jokes one is making, funny grief stories about having a funeral for a kitten, and having the forethought to make a cast of your partner’s member before they die.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
In this episode, I sat down with comedian JC Coccoli, who you may recognize from shows like “A Comedian in Grief,” “Why” with Hannibal Buress, “Key and Peele,” “Chelsea Lately,” and “Last Comic Standing” to talk about
- losing her sister to an accidental fentanyl overdose at 34 years old while she was on tour and how difficult it was to write jokes
- how this was her first real brush with mortality and delving into meditation and sci-fi
- suffering from poor health during grief and how much luck has to do with survival
- what led her to create the special “A Comedian in Grief"
- why the stigma around comedians being unwell isn’t necessarily true and how comedians are philosophers in their own right
- how comedy helps us process the pain and the anger that comes along with grief
- taking opposite action
- the abandonment and secondary losses we experience from those who can’t handle our grief
- loving addicts without judgement
- driving around with Dan Levy (creator of Schitt’s Creek), listening to Sia and how he was there for her
- finding comfort in spirituality, living in the moment, and why we don’t talk about loss and grief.
JC will be performing at Kingfly in Pittsburgh PA at 8:00 pm June 11
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
In this episode, I spoke with Gracelyn Bateman, one half of Luna Peak, a foundation focused on creating books and products that elevate the stories of survivors in the grief and cancer communities, celebrate life, and give back.
Gracelyn can also be seen on the foundation’s Instagram account, Snapshots of Life After Loss, which showcases authentic and often humorous grief perspectives.
We chatted about the 5 year anniversary of when Gracelyn suddenly lost her dad, how she’s using her masters degree in sociology from Columbia to study the grief process, her professional opinion on using dark humor to cope, Luna Peak’s “The Grief Workbook” (a silly way to unpack your grief, reflective prompts funeral week bingo, loss word puzzle, and word search for condolences), how nerve wracking it was to step into the grief space, what it was like posting funny memes about grief on Instagram, the importance of representation and multiculturalism in grieving spaces, why we need to share our grief to open the door to broader conversations about coping mechanisms, how often grievers are silenced for laughing, surrounding yourself with people who understand, and the awkwardness of telling the cashier at REI your dad is dead.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
*If you're new to the show, this is a great place to start! *
I’ve been creating the podcast Death Is Hilarious for a year now. If you’re new to the podcast, It’s a show that explores how we as comedians and creatives use comedy and dark humor to cope with grief through storytelling and jokes. In some episodes, I interview other artists and entertainers - and in other episodes, my creative collaborator, Sam Peterson and I, read each other funny letters we’ve written about trauma and loss in what I call “comedy routines masquerading as correspondence.” All together, I’ve produced over 100 podcast episodes to date. So in honor of all of this and many other milestones I mention in the show, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite moments from the past 35 episodes that have given me hope, perspective, and laughter.
This episode features Michael Drane (professor at Antioch University and host of Unpopular Culture Podcast), stand-up comedians Glen Tickle ("Good Grief") and Rich Kiamco (Bravo’s "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," Netflix/Buzzfeed’s “Follow This,” and the Broadway Comedy Club), Actress and author Reagan J. Pasternak (HBO’s “Sharp Objects”, Syfy's “Wynonna Earp,” Netflix/HULU/HBO’s “Being Erica”, BET’s “Ms. Pat," and "Griffin's Heart: Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies - A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake"), Shyni (Lipstick Laundry Podcast), and Lisa Keefauver (MSW and host of the podcast "Grief is a Sneaky B!tch").
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jordon Ferber, stand-up comedian from New York who has performed at Carolines, the Gotham Comedy club, Madison Square Garden, and on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He’s also the creator of the podcast “Where’s The Grief?” where he interviews other comedians and creatives about the tragic losses they’ve experienced. Jordon and I talked about how he coped as a comedian when his brother passed away in a car accident at the age of 21, his work facilitating a siblings group with the Manhattan chapter of Compassionate Friends, what kind of cake his brother would have wanted at his funeral, and the kind of people who make jokes when grieving.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is Chris Calogero, a standup comedian from New Jersey who lives in Brooklyn and has been featured in the “NY Times,” “Funny or Die,” “Paste Magazine,” and “Good Morning America Day.” Chris is also the host of the podcast “Mourning Coffee,” where he interviews other comedians about their experiences with grief—how it affects their personal lives as well as their comedy.
We talk about Chris’ initial reaction of “I don’t know if I can ever do comedy again,” to doing a set with dark and heavy punchlines and discovering that stand-up just might be the way he is able to make his way through the grief, how comedians aren’t well, how the impulse to do comedy seems hard to break unless you decide to become embittered and entitled by it, needing the audience to know that you’re ok and won’t break down on stage, why we share about our grief publicly, how lonely grief makes you feel, toxic positivity, how getting laughs on stage is validating where relatability is concerned, then conversely when relatability doesn’t matter when it comes to quality, how we’re watching many of our fellow millennials turn into angry old boomers who hate the younger generation, how comedians dig in their heels when it comes to change, how 28 might as well be as old as 70, the intoxicating feeling of superiority, our favorite grief jokes, and how people think you aren’t allowed to experience joy while grieving.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
In this episode, I had the absolute privilege of speaking with Glen Tickle, standup comedian, writer, husband, father, and the creator of one of my favorite specials of all time, “Good Grief.”
We talked about what it’s like being in comedy while faced with loss, writing jokes about grief because it’s the only thing you want to talk about, learning how to play to the audience, Buckaroo Banzai, how 100 people can be in a room and if 99 are having a good time but 1 person isn’t, that’s the person a performer will focus on, how being unable to stop making jokes about uncomfortable topics isn’t new, when making jokes about tragedies doesn't go over well (like Gilbert Gottfried), how comedians can make jokes about their personal tragedies but not other people’s tragedies (like Tig Notaro), the incredibly dumb things people say to those in grief, how you should only say “let me know if you need anything at all” if you really mean it, how your kids prepare you for hecklers, how surprised Glen was to find others who used humor to cope, and how therapy is just a place to have your material reviewed.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
*Note: We had a little trouble connecting midway through the episode so you’ll notice a slight change in the audio at about the 15-minute mark. That’s showbiz, baby! *
In this episode, I (Tawny) chat with actress Reagan J. Pasternak (HBO’s “Sharp Objects”, Syfy's “Wynonna Earp,” Netflix/HULU/HBO’s “Being Erica”, BET’s “Ms. Pat”) and author of "Griffin's Heart: Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies - A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake."
As a widow and someone who is also co-dependent with their fur baby, I really appreciate what Reagan has done with her book!
Reagan and I chat about how animal grief is often trivialized (disenfranchised grief), the way love and loss is a mirror that reflects where you are, what inspired her to take this unique interactive approach to helping others memorialize and cope with the loss of their pet, how definitive death is, cognitive therapy and rewiring your thinking on grief, Reagan laughing uncontrollably at her mom’s funeral, controlling her potty mouth while writing her book, being a huge empath, the beautiful part of darkness, how trauma makes you funny, the shame associated with talking about grief and trauma, trying to balance authenticity and being an open book while taking others into consideration, being an entertainer and artist in grief, the tricky side of feeling exploitative, and we swap some of our funniest stories related to our traumas.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Today my guest is stand-up comedian Rich Kiamco who you may recognize from Bravo’s Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Netflix in the Buzzfeed’s “Follow This,” and the Broadway Comedy Club, just to name a few things from his impressive resume. Rich’s partner Sandy Gunar was diagnosed with covid on February 7th 2021 and passed away on March 16th, just 19 days ago from when we chatted.
We chatted about being afraid to fall in love with someone who might die in the future, being codependent with your partner, dating as a gay man before grindr on Edwina (“I’m ancient!”), having enough self-love and self-loathing to eat well, Dolph Lundgren (the Soviet boxer from Rocky), how Rich met Sandy (several times!) before they finally got together, how rebounding is like being on the Titanic, how past traumas prime you for widowhood, blaming yourself for your partner’s death, being descended from trauma survivors (Rich’s parents lived in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation during World War II), PTSD infused gratitude, incorporating grief into your comedy, using wit for self-preservation (particularly as a gay kid in high school), and doing comedy on zoom during covid.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast creator, host, and fellow widow Lisa Keefauver MSW (reimagininggrief.com) joins me to chat about what inspired the title of her show, what it means to “live from the neck up,” how the lonely and puritanical- Judeo-Christian-capitalist-suck it up-pull yourself up by your bootstraps way of grieving in the United States does everyone a severe disservice, way “good vibes only” is bs, welcoming in uncomfortable emotions, taking comedy seriously (we see the irony), creating tension by simply being the widow in the room, feeling pressured to not bring everyone down with your mood during grief, making sure you don’t stay locked into coping strategies, staying up all night watching comedy in order to deal with grief, our mutual love for John Stewart, the shitty things people say to try to “fix” your grief, getting hit on at my husband’s funeral, and “widow rules.” For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Stormy Gail is an artist who creates big mood and dark humor pieces of art like comics and pins that focus on skeletons, death, depression, and trauma and is also a
member of the Dead Parent Club. Find her work at stormygailart.com
In this episode, Stormy and I talked about caring for her terminally ill mother, feeling pressured to make others comfortable with how we deal with grief, the graphic images burned into our brains from being with the bodies of our loved ones, the judgement we get for coping publically and online by others who have not experienced grief, trauma, or loss, how our experiences influence our art, how people don’t view comedy as a legitimate art form, how trauma makes you funny, how much we love comedian Mimi Hayes, our therapists using us for our comedy, how creating art while caring for her mother in the ICU changed Stormy’s life, sluttery being hereditary, and why she draws skeletons instead of bunny rabbits (hint: it’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas’” fault).
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
My friend Michael from the Unpopular Culture Podcast joined me over the weekend to chat about why dark comedies don’t do well at the box office, why people are uncomfortable and judgemental when it comes to using dark humor to cope, the lack of empathy from others during grief, some of the worst things people say to grieving people (and what you should actually say), validation, the echo chambers of social media contributing to society’s lack of empathy, puritanical culture dictating the common response to grief in the United States, Dia de los Muertos, taboo expressions of grief, the origin of gallows humor, dialectical behavior therapy, and how Mad Max relates to grieving. Michael is a psychologist with a background in forensics and is currently a professor at Antioch University where he teaches classes such as Abnormal Psychology, Psycho-diagnostics & Treatment Planning, Psychopathology, Developmental Psychology, and Counseling Theory. For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Shyni from the Lipstick Laundry podcast joins me in this episode to comedically share about how she isn’t super fond of the word “widow,” how losing her husband gave her the courage to be open on her podcast, living in toxic heaven as a Cancer sign with an Aries, how cursing is a form of coping, what it’s like finally finding the other dark humor widows, being judged for grieving (no matter how you do it), what it’s like being widowed right before the pandemic, how the “here’s what you were doing a year ago” photo feature sucks for widows, being receptive to husband ghost sex, Jamaican widow traditions and rituals, wearing your dead spouse’s clothes, how losing a spouse is unlike any other loss, and Shiny asks Tawny about being grateful for not having a child as a widow. For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
I (Tawny) recently sat down to talk with Lisa & Lori, the creators of the Death Deck- which is a “lively” party game that lets you explore a topic we’re all obsessed with but often afraid to discuss.
In this lighter episode, we talk about how humor can help us deal with tough topics, Lori talks about how she found her sense of humor again after loss, and Lisa shares one of her favorite memories of her Grandma B (CW, I also briefly tell how I started using humor, which includes mentioning finding my husband's body and how that initially made me want to take my life).
Lori is a UCLA graduate who has not only worked in comedy but has held titles like director, producer, author... and widow. Lisa is a Hospice Social Worker who is passionate about helping people cope with illness, dying, and grief. The two met when Lori's husband Joe was taken to hospice after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After initially doing some grief work together, the two went on to create The Death Deck together! Check out the game here: https://thedeathdeck.com/
And if you’d like your own Death Deck, we’ll be giving one away on Instagram this week! Simply follow us at @thatdeathpod and leave a comment on the picture of the deck for your chance to win.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com.
In this episode, Tawny chatted with Marla Polk, author of Grief Survivor: A Love Story. Marla talks about how her dry humor helped her cope, how she preserves her energy during grief, and how she "adopted" a cat with striking similarities to her late husband.
Marla is a communications coach specializing in helping those in broken relationships heal through communication tools she developed as a mediator. She’s also the Managing Partner for Resolution Solutions, a conflict resolution consulting company, and the President of the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Abilene Palm House, an organization that mentors at-risk individuals and works specifically with women who have been survivors of violent crimes.
In this episode, I sat down to talk with fellow San Diegan and kindred spirit Michelle Miller, author of “Boys, Booze, and Bathroom Floors: Forty-Six Tales about the Collision of Suicide Grief and Dating,” a memoir that shares how she used dating to cope with her 29-year-old husband’s infidelity and suicide, as well as the sequel, “Vodka Soup For The Widowed Soul: Stories of Grief, Alcohol, Infidelity, Cursing, and Hope.” Michelle is also the creator of my very favorite account on Instagram that shares the DARKEST memes about widowhood.
We chat about how Michelle's story convinced me not to commit suicide, how trauma makes you funny, diving headfirst into sluttery to cope, being blamed and shamed for your spouse's death, losing most of your friends, the weird way that Americans grieve, and other light-hearted, fluffy widow topics.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com.
In this episode, Tawny sits down with Katie “The Foul Mouthed Widow” Pettigrew to chat about old acquaintances milking your spouse's death, connecting with other people who understand your specific grief, the un-fluffy side of widowhood, the difference between dark humor and DARK humor, wearing your wedding dress to your husband’s funeral, being guilted for the way we grieve, and celebrating your wins while still grieving your spouse. Enjoy Katie’s work by visiting foulmouthedwidow.com and following her on Instagram @foulmouthedwidow. To learn more about Death Is Hilarious, visit DeathIsHilarious.com To get in touch email DeathIsHilarious@gmail.com
In this episode, Tawny sat down to chat with comedian Roscoe Burnems about his groundbreaking special "Traumedy," how he started using comedy to cope with trauma, his clingy two-year-old, mourning Chadwick Boseman, moving past unhealthy coping mechanisms, grieving as a guy, and much more. Learn more about Roscoe at roscoeb.webs.com. Learn more about Death Is Hilarious at DeathIsHilarious.com. Get in touch with Tawny and Sami by emailing DeathIsHilarious@gmail.com
In this episode, Tawny sat down to chat with Mimi Hayes. Mimi Hayes is the author of "I'll Be OK, It's Just a Hole in My Head (A Memoir On Heartbreak and Head Trauma)."
She’s also a comedian, podcaster, and brain hemorrhage survivor. Mimi talks about dumping her trauma on other humans during stand-up, a nurse with the most abrupt bedside manner in the world, having a field day with a bleeding brain, using humor to avoid reality, fighting for her life, and how friends and family change during trauma.
“I have grown up with a permanent smile on my face. And then I had a brain hemorrhage. And I smiled some more. I smiled more because smiling makes you laugh. And when you laugh, you forget for a second that your brain is actually bleeding which makes absolutely no sense. Humor has always been and will always be my defense mechanism. I don't claim to know much, but I do know this: If you can survive a brain surgery with your sense of humor intact, it's a job well done.” - Mimi Hayes
Learn more about Mimi by visiting MimiHayes.com
For more information about Death Is Hilarious checkout DeathIsHilarious.com.
To get in touch email deathishilarious@gmail.com
Support the podcast by sharing the show with your friends!
In this episode, I (Tawny) chatted with Anita and Mel from the podcast Widow We Do Now?, the show that addresses topics related to grief, death, bereavement, and moving forward through the inescapable pitfalls of young widowhood. And it’s funny too! We talked about podcasting being a great platform for teaching and healing, learning from other people’s grief, normalizing the different ways we grieve and normalizing mental health through social media, and creating communities for people who feel like they have to grieve a certain way. You can listen to their show now on apple podcasts. For information about Death is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com
To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by becoming a patron, at patreon.com/deathishilarious. Thanks for listening!
Welcome to Death is Hilarious, the podcast where I chat with other survivors about how they’re using comedy to cope with loss and grief.
I’m your host, Tawny Platis, and in part two of this two part episode, I sat down to chat with Charity Pimentel-Hyams, author of The Widow’s Survival Guide, a book that gives practical and honest advice about living with children after the death of your spouse. We talked about making other people uncomfortable, dating after death, and our shared love of using dark humor to cope with the loss of our husbands. Find Charity and her book at livingafterdeath.com and you can follow her on instagram @thewidowssurvivalguide
For more information visit death is hilarious dot com. To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by simply sharing the show with your friends and if you’d like, you can become a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious. Thanks for listening!
In part one of this two-part episode, I sat down to chat with Charity Pimentel-Hyams, author of The Widow’s Survival Guide, a book that gives practical and honest advice about living with children after the death of your spouse. We talked about making other people uncomfortable, dating after death, and our shared love of using dark humor to cope with the loss of our husbands. Find Charity and her book at livingafterdeath.com and you can follow her on Instagram @thewidowssurvivalguide
For more information visit death is hilarious dot com. To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by simply sharing the show with your friends and if you’d like, you can become a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious. Thanks for listening!
Psst...hey lovebugs, it’s Tawny. A quick word before we get started today: George is currently on oxygen and the machine is pretty darn loud. We’re trying to find a way to work around that in regards to the podcast, so you may notice the audio quality is a little funky in this episode. We appreciate your patience as we make adjustments in regard to George’s diagnosis. Stick around for this episode’s “After Dark” segment for more details.
In This Episode:
As we tell this story, keep in mind that due to history largely being written and taught from a European perspective, the legitimacy of the so-called madness that Ibrahim became notorious for is still debated over by historians and biographers. As you know, these are always my favorite episodes to explore because it’s such a fun puzzle to try to solve.
"But by this time, Ibrahim was so paranoid after walking on eggshells for so many years that he thought it was a trap and Murad was still alive, like he was gonna pop out behind a column, like, “Got ya sucker!” and then slit his throat. So his mom and Grand Vizier are like, “No, really, he’s dead.”
And Ibrahim goes, “Let me see the body then.”
And they’re like, “Are you serious?”
And Ibrahim goes, “He just killed four of our siblings, yes I’m fucking serious. Show me the body.”
So he PERSONALLY examines his brothers corpse and after he’s finally convinced that the whole situation isn’t some giant ruse, he’s like, “Ok, I’ll take the job.”
During the early years of his reign, Ibrahim’s Grand Vizier is mostly calling the shots and he makes progress stabilizing the empire. "
If anything sounded goofy in this episode, it probably was! Don’t take my word for it - always do your own research and make sure what you’re reading is from a verified, reputable, and academic source.
Get in touch with us on our website at TawnyVoice.com/DirtyBits or by emailing Tawny@TawnyVoice.com. You can also hit us up on:
Twitter @thedirtybitspod or on Instagram @dirtybitspodcast or on Facebook in our group: The Dirty Bits Chat and Comedy
Special thanks to our Executive Producers and Podcasters at Patreon.com/DirtyBits for making the show possible. Without your support, the show wouldn’t exist.
Melisa N.
Sally M.
Shayla T.
Sadie Mae
Boozy Movies Podcast (a personal favorite of mine)
Canadian True Crime Podcast
PlayComics Podcast
Creative Zombie Studios
Dead Ladies Show Podcast
History Goes Bump Podcast
Southern Fried True Crime Podcast
The Exploress Podcast
Mysterious Circumstances Podcast
Pleasing Terrors Podcast
Sexy Pillows Podcast
The Minds of Madness Podcast
The Retro Cinema Podcast
True Crime Fan Club Podcast
Twisted Philly Podcast
The Limey and the Yank Podcast
And Voice of the Victim Podcast
After Dark:
Frida Kahlo episode
Next up on the Dirty Bits we’ll be talking about Frida Kahlo, as picked by our patrons on Patreon. For just $3 a month, you get to vote on the next episode subject, trading cards, behind the scenes sneak peeks, like outtakes and bloopers.
Questions:
Who is your favorite person from history?
How old are you guys?
What makes you choose some scandalous people from history and not others?
Where do you draw the line in comedy?
SIngle worst event in history?
Comedy recommendation - The Righteous Gemstones
Sources:
Peirce, Leslie Penn (1993). The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Studies in Middle Eastern History. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507673-8.
Gökbilgin, M. Tayyib (2012). Ibrāhīm. Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online.
Börekçi, Günhan. "Ibrahim I." Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Ed. Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Masters. New York: Facts on File, 2009
Lucienne Thys-Senocak, Ottoman Women Builders. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006
Coco, C.: Secrets of the harem, Philip Wilson, 1997
Zacks, R.: History laid bare (Love, sex, and perversity from the ancient Etruscans to Warren G. Harding), Harper Collins, 1994
Welcome to The Dirty Bits of History. I’m Tawny Platis, a professional voice actor, who gives a casual, and comedic southern Californian retelling of the sexy, scandalous, salacious, fierce, funny, and freaky bits of history your teacher probably left out. Stay tuned after the episode or take a peek at the show notes for The Dirty Bits After Dark: Catching Up With Tawny and George, our contact info, coming attractions, and a special thank you message to our producers. For commercial-free episodes, visit Patreon.com/DirtyBits. Now, enjoy the show.
If you aren’t familiar with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, they were writers and socialites who became the poster children of what we now call, “The Jazz Age.”
Scott seems to be best known for writing, “The Great Gatsby” and less well known for mercilessly plagiarizing his wife, Zelda. They’re both notorious for alcoholism, infidelity, mental illness, and just generally causing a scene in general during the 1920s and 30’s.
After nearly a century, why are we still so obsessed with the artists? What is it about Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald that has kept them relevant generation after generation?
The academic answer would be that we remain fascinated by the duality of narcissistic geniuses and reckless self-destruction. I personally find the answer to be that America has always loved to stop and gawk at a gnarly trainwreck. And the Fitzgeralds were the gnarliest of trainwrecks. Per usge, to better understand what’s going on here and get the full picture, we have to go back to the very beginning. And because she got the shit end of the stick for so long, I’m starting out with Zelda.
If anything sounded goofy in this episode, it probably was! Don’t take my word for it - always do your own research and make sure what you’re reading is from a verified, reputable, and academic source.
Sources:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2322760/The-Great-Gatsbys-heartbreaker-F-Scott-Fitzgeralds-fatal-obsession-love-inspiration.htmlDinitia Smith (September 8, 2003). "Love Notes Drenched in Moonlight; Hints of Future Novels in Letters To Fitzgerald". New York Times.http://boatagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-day-in-film-history-lois-moran.htmlMilford, Nancy (1970), Zelda: A Biography, New York: Harper & RowPrigozy, Ruth, ed. (2002), The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-62447-9Cline, Sally (2003), Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise, New York: Arcade Publishing, ISBN 1-55970-688-0The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People -By Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Sylvia Wallacehttps://rememberingwwi.villanova.edu/newspapers/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/01/magazine/how-crazy-was-zelda.htmlPike, Deborah (2017). The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8262-2104-9. Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph (2002), Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (2nd rev. ed.), Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 1-57003-455-9Lanahan, Dorothy. "Introduction." In Bryer & Barks 2002, p. Xxviihttps://www.salon.com/2001/08/25/fitzgerald_9/The Real F. Scott Fitzgerald: Thirty-Five Years Later - by Sheilah Graham(The Lost Summer: a personal memoir of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Tony Buttitta)
Music:
“Fig Leaf Times Two,” “Fuzzball Parade,” “Maple Leaf Rag,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Public Domain Recordings Courtesy of MusOpen: Rhapsody in Blue I&II, Bullets and Bayonets
His love for the ladies, particularly intelligent, young, beautiful ones, has been WELL documented. There were at least 13 women Benny-boy dated, er, at least... tried to date. This one is a surprisingly fun romp through flirty history.
In today’s episode, we’re taking it all the way back to 15th century France when Agnes Sorel, a lady in waiting from a family of minor nobility became the first officially recognized mistress to the king, inspired many artists of the time, most notably Jean Fouquet’s Virgo Lactan’s or the Nursing Virgin, and was the first woman to hashtag free the nipple.
In This Episode:
Our lives may (finally) be boring.
Favorite woman comedians?
Why is your show in the LGBTQ category in podcast directory?
Who’s Babbs? I see the name when you sign stuff.
Who is your favorite podcaster?
Game of Thrones finale? Yay or nay?
The Reverend Sylvester Graham was a hell, fire, and brimstone Presbyterian minister who combined Christianity and healthy living, successfully pioneering the way for all of the self-help guru, diet faddists who now grace our Instagram feeds.
The Questions:
What kind of porn do you watch?
What kind of music do you listen to?
What are your favorite podcasts?
What other movies, shows, podcasts etc. are like the Dirty Bits?
Why did the show take a break? And I thought you were doing more and longer episodes?
Do you have kids?
Are you Greek Orthodox?
A lot of people already know he was a pretty big important, controversial military and a lot of people already know he has a reputation for being into some weird sex shit. What you may not know is that he may have been the original fedora wearing self-proclaimed nice guy with a massive chip on his shoulder.
Mary Shelley’s name has been waiting patiently on my episode list for over a year now. I’ve been conflicted about telling her story. One of the reasons I love producing a show about history is due to the fact that everyone is long dead. Nobody can be embarrassed or offended by any sarcasm or sass which makes it much easier to riff on my subjects without much hesitation.
But Mary was different.
George's heart surgery went great! However, when he arrived back home, he was diagnosed with severe pneumonia. He has been in the hospital for two weeks and will be having surgery on Monday to remove the infected growths that were found on his right lung.
We give you an update on George's surgery and answer your questions from the anonymous suggestion/comment box thingy on our website.
I’m especially excited to tell Theodora of Byzantium’s story because it’s refreshingly victorious. She’s best known as one of the most influential and powerful Empresses of the Eastern Roman Empire who went from hooker to high roller to Eastern Orthodox Saint. A lot of what we know about Theodora comes from the Byzantine scholar, Procopius. In his work, he goes back and forth from absolutely gushing about her to depicting her as a power-mad horndog.
If you’re a woman who also likes women, you may recognize her as what is basically the official patron saint of lesbians.
Olympe de Gouges was a French playwright, political activist, godmother of modern feminism, and a woman who was so revolutionary, the revolution wasn’t ready for her.
Olympe de Gouges is the perfect poster child for the women’s movement and social justice. So why does it seem that so few people know who she is? And for those who do know her name, why is she remembered as a deceptive prostitute who wrote “The Declaration of the Rights of the Woman and the Female Citizen?”
The emperor is a lighter one to study because he’s from that time period where you get this blend of saints, mythology, and facts in glorious, gory, written detail. And they all weave together into a beautiful blend of supposition and tom fuckery.
This episode has everything- Nazis, a twisted Cinderella story, bratty pre-Instagram kids of the uber rich and famous, a disgraced prince, plane crashes, affairs galore, more rumors than facts, Mussolini, Winston Churchill, commies, a jewel heist….and that’s just scratching the surface.
It's our 50th episode! I'm so happy we've made it this far. Geeze....and we haven't even come (heh heh) close to covering all the dirty bits of history. This episode is George's personal favorite of the podcast's and I hope you enjoy it as much as he did. Cleopatra VII Philopator, more commonly known simply as Cleopatra, was the last, technically for realsies, ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt because her son was pharaoh for like half a second. But she was also so much more than that.
Lovebugs, this is a fun one. There are so many rumors and after 12 hours of research, I’ve barely scratched the surface of Eva Peron or Evita, as she’s often called.
Eva Peron was an actress, turned First Lady, turned activist, turned kind of saint. You’re going to hear the word “supposedly” A LOT in this episode. Like a lot a lot. Things are a little murky about her life, particularly before she married Juan Peron, the man who would become the 29th and 41st president of Argentina.
History. Edutainment. The Dirty Bits Podcast. You've been patiently waiting and now it's here. Season 3 of the Dirty Bits Podcast begins with a famous courtesan releasing her memoirs in the 1820s and calling out everyone she slept with in delightful detail, by name, if they hadn’t paid her ahead of time to omit the saucy details before publication.
Hey guys, it’s Tawny from the Dirty Bits here and heads up, this is unfortunately not a casual retelling of any sexy, scandalous, or salacious stories from history. This is just me talking. So if you’re just holding out for our latest episode, you can go ahead and skip this because it’s just an update for those of you who aren’t in our Facebook group, the Lovebug Brigade, and have been wondering what’s been going on while season 3 has yet to appear in your favorite podcatcher.
The Dirty Bits Podcast is performed by a professional voice actor who gives a casual -and hopefully, comical- Southern Californian retelling of the sexy, scandalous, and salacious stories from history your teacher probably left out.
Last time we checked in with Charlie, he got hit hard with a divorce settlement, one that may be the largest in history and his reputation was trashed because the public saw him as this cradle robbing sexual deviant who had even more dick in his personality than he did in his pants.
The cool stuff- she was a warrior, a brilliant military strategist, an adept diplomat and politician and a symbol against oppression.
She also had a harem with dozens of men she'd kill after she slept with them.
Last week on the Dirty Bits, we covered Charlie Chaplin’s family history. His mother may have been a prostitute to support herself and her children, his dad seemed like a drunken jerk, and overall, it was a super sad story.
Lovebugs, this dude has one of the gnarliest Cinderella Stories I’ve ever heard with a messed up family to boot. I didn’t know was just how far back all of the dirty bits, went....you know, the scandalous, salacious, and sexy stuff we cover.
Last week, we left a tired-of-everyone’s-bullshit Mae West at the end of her rope, with cinema and radio. She knew she was stupendous and she didn’t need Hollywood, so girl packed up all her jewels, boas, tight fitting dresses, and innuendos ... and headed for Vegas.
Last week we left off with Mae West having been incarcerated for her provocative plays and then she made a kinda stupid comment about being an early supporter of Women’s Lib... but not being a “bra burning feminist,” as she said.
Mae West was a writer, an actress,and a comedian, starting in vaudeville and thriving through the Wall Street crash where she first introduced what, was at the time, a unique concept- shocking the public as a career.
Florence Henderson was an extremely talented, versatile, and busy lady who had an incredibly difficult beginning that she absolutely refused to allow define her. I don’t toss around the word “inspirational” lightly but girl was inspirational as fuuuuuck.
Mae West is not only working herself to death, likely dealing with some daddy issues, and is feeling the pressures of being such a mega celebrity, there are some very public scandals of the most foul nature circulating around our poor little flapper girl.
Clara Bow was a tomboy, she was sexy, she was a flapper. She was the girl you had fun with and everyone liked but was a little too rough around the edges to bring home to mom.
She was an American actress who got her start in the silent film era of the 20’s and made the rare, successful transition to talkies by 1927.
That’s right, we’re opening up the vault to tell you the story of the first Paris Hilton, the original Kim Kardashian, the one, the only, Kitty Fisher.
Realizing that her career was fading faster than a kid who swallowed a Tide Pod, Hepburn took action to arrange a project that would launch her back into the limelight.
Katharine Hepburn was an American actress known for her fierce independence, spirited personality, and flawless hot roller hair-dos. A hipster of her time period, Hepburn wore trousers before it was cool or acceptable for women to do so. She epitomized the “modern woman” in the 20th century and will be remembered as a woman who helped change society’s expectations.
Clark Gable had a lot in common with Errol Flynn. He was simultaneously both THE shit and a piece of shit, earning the nickname “The King of Hollywood” while he managed to smack around and knock up his colleagues.
Jose Ramon Gil Samaniego, better known as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican actor who graced the stage, movie theater, and tv sets with his presence. He started out in silent film in 1917 and grew up to become 1920’s Jake Gyllenhaal.
We left off last week with Spency finally getting recognition in Hollywood while he was boozing it up and shacking up with a grip of women who weren’t his wife...
He was versatile and effortlessly talented. Tracy was nominated for nine academy awards out of the 75 he appeared in and was the winner of two for best actor. He was also a raging alcoholic, womanizer, pissy little hot head obsessed with death.
Errol Flynn is known best for his romantic, adventurous, ruffian type roles in his films. What he’s less well known for is being a skeevy creep who could have given Weinstein a run for his money.
Last week, we found out that while Greta Garbo never married, she was in plenty of relationships. This biographer Barry Paris wrote this book called, “Garbo” and he’s like, “Ok, there is so much gay shit about this woman. I’m pretty sure she dated Lilyan Tashman who was this super sexy blond, Ziegfeld girl and Greta could just not hang. "
Last week we learned about Greta Garbo’s lightning fast rise to fame. She was a huge, profitable star, and had just been wooed back into a contract with MGM when they allowed her to portray King Cristina on screen. After that, things started getting tough.
Greta Garbo wasn’t a name that was unfamiliar to me. I’ve been passionate about film and entertainment my entire life so I naturally knew about the famed ice queen who made the rare, successful transition from silent film to talkies.
We're kicking off the second season of the Dirty Bits with Scotty Bowers, the guy who got it on with everyone in Hollywood (ladies and gents) for almost 4 decades while playing matchmaker/pimp to the stars.
Hollywood has been rocked by horrific sex scandals in the last few years. Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and possibly others reminded everyone how the culture of Hollywood protects predators and erases truths. Things like Statutory rape, studio pressured abortions, murder, and other heinous acts are part of some of these long dead stars stories. This cannot go unmentioned, but it isn’t the focus of our podcast.
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins isn’t a name many would recognize, but his most famous song, “I Put a Spell on You” is now a Halloween staple in many homes across the U.S. He also may have fathered anywhere between 30 and 75 children.
Genghis Khan was the founder of the largest contiguous empire in history after his death. He practiced meritocracy, was religiously tolerant and unified the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. He’s also notorious for Dothraki like cruelty, is considered by many to be a ruler who was fond of genocide and may be the original ancestor to 0.5% of the entire world population.
His first name is derived from the Latin word meaning “faithful” which is pretty ironic when you’re accused of sleeping with 35,000 women over the course of your life.
Mao Zedong is easily one of the most controversial figures in history. His physician also released a book that claimed the chairman engaged in many (MANY) scandalous and salacious acts before his passing in 1976.
In the final episode of our mini series "Taking on the Tudors," we explore all the sexy secrets, rumors and intrigue surrounding the perhaps not so virginal Queen Elizabeth I of England.
King Henry V through King Henry VII didn’t seem to have particularly sexy reigns but they were the ancestors of one of history’s most notoriously scandalous and salacious monarchs, Henry VIII.
The Tudors. Most people, including myself, typically associate the family house with Henry the 8th of England, his daughter Elizabeth the I, and her sister, the infamous Bloody Mary.
xAs Einstein scholar John Stachel says, “Too much of an idol was made of Einstein. He’s not an idol—he’s a human, and that’s much more interesting." The physicist was quite the cad….guilty of numerous acts of hanky panky with a slew of ladies... including his cousin.
We’re taking it way back to ancient Rome, where every name is fun to say and much of the history is composed of hearsay, rumors and downright bullshit.
Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. One of the main players behind the Enlightenment in not only France, but all across Europe.But this is the Dirty Bits- so we’re more interested in the fact that he loved being spanked.
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born February 2, 1882. But he went by James Joyce. He’s also responsible for creating some of the smuttiest, porniest, scatalogical and ass fetish-y letters I’ve ever read.
The myth, the legend, the subject of plays, memes, and a French TV series. Julie d’Aubigny was basically Arya Stark with a little Miley Cyrus streak and some Ronda Rousey sprinkles on top.
His title was Philippe I, Duke of Orleans but as the younger brother of the king, he was known simply as Monsieur. He also had many, many boyfriends and frequently crossed dressed.
Oh Tesla. Tesla, Tesla, Tesla. Remembered by Elon Musk and 80’s hairbands, the Serbian American is an interesting topic for the Dirty Bits Podcast. The man was too brilliant for sex with any human on earth and fell in love with a pigeon.
Of course, he’s known for the “Schrodinger’s cat” thought experiment, but what you may not know, is Erwin Schrödinger was totally turned off by his wife and lived openly, raising children, in numerous polyamorous relationships throughout his life.
The mononymous Colette, a Nobel Prize winning French novelist, mime, actress, and author of the famous "Gigi" who could have given Mary Kay LeTourneau a run for her money.
We take a closer look at the political scandals from United States history, featuring James Buchanan, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower,William Campbell Preston Breckinridge, Richard Mentor Johnson and David I. Walsh.
Warren G. Harding is often considered one of the worst presidents in United States history....and possibly the dirtiest.
“My book was all about fucking,” she once said of her memoirs. So they weren't really secrets, which is partially the Schtick of The Dirty Bits Podcast. But that's only if you know who Peggy Guggenheim is in the first place….and since you millennials are too busy eating avocado toast instead of reading books, I'm going to educate you.
Jack Parsons was born in 1914 in Pasadena and was originally named after his father Marvel, until his wife caught him cheating with a prostitute…. and started calling him Jack instead. She also filed for divorce.
The creator of “The Little Mermaid” was a big, neurotic, painfully self aware, goofy looking man-child who obsessively tossed off and kept a careful record in his diary each time he did.
Maria Skłodowska, more commonly known by her French name as Marie Curie, is mostly known for her groundbreaking work in radioactivity and being a fierce bitch on wheels.
"Comstockery is the world's standing joke at the expense of the United States. Europe likes to hear of such things. It confirms the deep-seated conviction of the Old World that America is a provincial place, a second-rate country-town civilization after all."
John Wilmot, the poster boy for what was called “A rake”, which is short for rakehell, which is a synonym for "hellraiser” It was a term popular in the 1600’s that described a womanizing man with a penchant for debauchery. In other words, John was a libertine.
Catherine the Great had a string of affairs with handsome young men, was called sexually insatiable, a nymphomaniac and allegedly got it on with a stallion. While many urban legends and conflicting opinions from historians are tied to her name, what's so much fun about Catherine is that they actually stem from some real events.
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