Rich Text

Latest Episodes:

[PREVIEW] 'Love Is Blind France' Makes Bluntness Chic Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

One of the most fascinating things about watching different editions of “Love Is Blind,” is tracking the regionally-specific cultural differences.

In Denver, the U.S. season currently airing, we have biohacking and tech-enabled wellness clubs used as foreplay. In France, we have unfiltered bluntness. Who knew it was possible to start a relationship by telling a person that you simply don’t like how they look, and end up as the Golden Couple of the season? Paris truly is the city of love.

In this episode, we break down our high-level thoughts on France’s inaugural “Love Is Blind” season, from the pods all the way to the weddings. (So, to state the obvious, we get a little less granular than we usually do.) We discuss the French-specific cultural norms, the incredible fashion (we’d like to raid your closets, Kim and Tatiana), the equal opportunity bad behavior among the men and women, and the couples we really, really hope are still together come reunion day. Hope you enjoy! Xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Officially Resolved Its Love Triangle Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

The shippers can finally lay down their swords, because as we always knew they would, Team Bonrad has emerged victorious.

On Wednesday, the finale of hit teen romance show “The Summer I Turned Pretty” dropped. Fans got to watch Conrad show up in Paris and yearn for Belly all over the city. Their reunion culminates in a very steamy sex scene, a temporary freakout, and a rom-com-worthy chase-after-his-train reconciliation. Cut to an epilogue, where Belly and Conrad arrive at the Cousins beach house, just the two of them.

Meanwhile, our side characters also got their happy endings. Jeremiah connected with his former colleague Denise, Belly’s brother Steven and best friend Taylor are moving to California, and all of the parents seem to have reached a place of peace. Things are (mostly) neatly wrapped up — we do have a movie coming, so not *everything* could be clearly resolved — and the romance in the air of Cousins Beach remains.

And yet… there remain fundamental things about “The Summer I Turned Pretty” that we find a bit hard to swallow. In this episode, we discuss the underlying conservatism of TSITP, the wild Bonrad vs. Jelly shipping wars, the fandom’s allergy to delayed gratification, and why we loved Belly in Paris so much. Hope you enjoy! Xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'The Wrong Paris' Is Here For The Wrong Reasons Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

As professional reality dating show viewers, we were feverish with excitement to watch Netflix’s new rom-com “The Wrong Paris” (brought to you by the director of Lindsay Lohan vehicles “Irish Wish” and “Falling for Christmas).

“The Wrong Paris” stars Miranda Cosgrove as Dawn, a small-town diner waitress and artist from Texas who is, of course, Not Like Other Girls. She doesn’t even watch the huge reality franchise “The Honey Pot,” a show similar to “The Bachelor” but with enormous cash prizes — and a love or money twist at the end. But when she needs money and a plane ticket to Paris for so she can enroll at a French art school, her normie sister convinces her to audition for the newest season, which conveniently happens to be filming in Paris. Dawn gets cast and boards the plane hoping only to pocket the $20k appearance fee paid to each cast member and get eliminated. Unfortunately, it turns out that the plane is heading to Paris, Texas — and the lead has no intention of eliminating her. Hey, he just loves the chase!

This is a rom-com about a woman who tries to scam a reality show and instead falls in love with a man who tries to hold her hostage until he can turn her ‘no’ into a ‘yes.” It’s a rom-com about chintzy metalwork art and high-school-level art criticism. And above all, it’s a rom-com about a reality dating show so poorly produced that it’s hard to imagine how the editors will even string together a season, given that most of the important narrative developments either happen off-screen or are interrupted by producers mid-filming because they’re TOO dramatic.

Along the way, we get some very light parody of “The Bachelor” and “Bachelor”-adjacent shows and a very topical plot twist.

In this episode, we recap the whole movie, try not to get too distracted by the obvious production missteps of the “Honey Pot” crew, and laugh a lot. Maybe this wasn’t “The Wrong Paris” for us, after all! Hope you enjoy. xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] Saying Farewell To 'And Just Like That...' Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

The Women sat at their iced-coffee-covered desks, staring into the vast beyond of their computer screens. They couldn’t help but wonder… what did they just watch for the better part of 12 hours, on and off for the last handful of months?

The answer is, of course, the final season of “And Just Like That…” The “Sex and the City” sequel has been polarizing from the jump, generating more discourse than minutes of airtime. And after just three cringey, painful, glorious seasons, it has come to an end.

We admittedly had gotten pretty behind on “AJLT,” due to our Big Summer of reality dating shows. But now that it’s September, we decided that it was time to dedicate the hours to this essential project, binge-watch the episodes we had missed, and dive headfirst into the conversation.

In this episode, we discuss what this season actually got right (quite a bit!), the Aidan of it all, the abysmal series finale, and whether hatred for the show is truly just bound up in hatred of middle-aged women. We hope you enjoy! Xo

Further reading and listening on ‘AJLT’:

“Were Carrie Bradshaw and Her Friends the Last Nice Rich People on TV?,” Ginia Bellafante, NYTimes

“In ‘And Just Like That …’ a Craven Era Took Its Revenge on Youth and Hope and Fun,” Jennifer Weiner, NYTimes

“my (needless) AJLT season 4 pitches,” Samantha Irby, bitches gotta eat!

“‘And Just Like That…’ Is Over Too Soon,” Wesley Morris & Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Cannonball with Wesley Morris podcast

“Misreading Carrie Bradshaw,” Jackson McHenry, Vulture

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'Love Is Blind UK' S2 Reunion: Let Us Eat Cake Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

The “Love Is Blind” season 2 reunion landed on Sunday afternoon, and it landed with the force and spectacle of a grand piano pushed out of a tenth-story window. The proverbial ink had barely dried on our glowing recap of last week’s finale — the 10/10 perfect couples, the happy surprise of Billy and Ashleigh — when all our starry visions of marital bliss were extinguished. Well, not all. (There are one or two decent men left in the United Kingdom.) This reunion brought us shocking update after unsurprising-but-still-somehow-shocking update, some Emma Willis tears, and a performance of “you’re a liar” in two-part harmony.

In this episode, we discuss all the couples’ relationship updates, berate ourselves for giving men the benefit of the doubt, speculate about stiff upper lips and missing chips, wonder about spleen-forward parenting, and give one last enemies-to-friends ranking.

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'Love Is Blind UK' S2 Finale: Four Weddings & A Drag Show Aug 30, 2025

Show notes

The two-part “Love Is Blind UK” finale dropped this week, and despite the usual dull spots — wedding dress and suit shopping scenes that could have been a mood board, by-the-book stag and hen do activities, all the standard trimmings of a wedding day — we were rapt. This season ended as all the best seasons do: Some drama, some suspense, some swoony happy endings, and one woman walking away from marriage to a man who can’t quite see her as a full equal.

In this episode, we discuss the resurgence of strict gender roles and “being in our masculine/feminine” relationship frameworks, the slow-motion implosion of Bardha and Jed’s engagement, Billy’s doubts and Ashleigh’s heartbreaking determination to win him over, and the love stories that made our hearts skip a beat. We end with an enemies-to-friends ranking and rate our final four couples on whether they should stay together/date after the show. Hope you enjoy!

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'Are You My First?' Embraces The Virginity Fetish Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

“Are You My First?”, a reality dating show that dropped on Hulu last week, was clearly designed to be provocative. Well before it premiered, it drew controversy for its choice of hosts: reality and podcast personality Kaitlyn Bristowe shares the honor with Colton Underwood, a public figure most famous for being a virgin when he starred on “The Bachelor” and second-most famous for allegedly stalking the winner of his season. The show itself, which we have now watched in full, never ceases reminding viewers that its castmembers are virgins, and their lack of experience is frequently played for awkward laughs. Their full humanity, indeed any part of their identities outside of not having had sex, is not explored in any meaningful depth. From beginning to end, everything from the eliminations (“Virgin Sacrifices”) to the contestants themselves (consistently identified as “virgins” in their chyrons) are chastity-branded. But the idea of what virginity actually represents — both as a heteronormative, patriarchal social construct and as a core part of the castmembers’ identities — is never challenged or even explored.

Perhaps it’s unfair to expect a trashy reality show to dismantle the patriarchy (though some girls can dream!). But we were also disappointed with the show’s sheer entertainment quotient, which was simply not high enough. Almost no relationships of any real interest develop, and we barely get to know the people in those relationships outside of learning exactly why each of them hasn’t had sex yet. The series is glued together with unfunny and stiff narration from the hosts (especially Underwood), apparently recorded using tin cans and a ball of string. By the finale, we could barely interest ourselves enough to watch.

But that’s not to say there isn’t plenty to discuss! In this episode, we break down the choice to cast Colton Underwood and review the performances of the hosts, offer some critiques of the format and production, dig into some of the standout characters and love triangles, and unpack how the show presents virginity and what it suggests about the cultural and political moment we’re in. Hope you enjoy! xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'Love Is Blind UK' S2 E5-8: The Drama Heats Up Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

Last episode, we were wondering whether this season of “Love Is Blind UK” would be able to recapture the glory of the first. It all just seemed a little… dull. This week, we’re eating our words. We have besties! We have enemies! We have a genuinely riveting Pod Squad mixer!

In episodes 5-8, we watch the five engaged couples finish up their romantic vacation in Cyprus and head back to Manchester to move in together. They meet each other’s families, continue to build their physical and emotional connections, and grapple with the fallout of drama that occurs at a wider pod mixer. (Special shout out to Aanu for her “You’re a liiiiiiiiar” vocal stylings.)

Some couples hit the rocks this week. At the center of much of this drama are Katisha and Javen, who started off on slightly shaky terms after Katisha nearly picked someone else in the pods. But during this stretch of episodes it feels like Javen is just constantly looking for an out. Is that out Demola? Is it differing communication styles? Is it one of the other hot ladies in the Pod Squad? After some truly out-of-pocket behavior at the mixer, it was frankly a relief to see Megan level with her girl and allow Katisha to exit the relationship with her head held high on her own terms. Even more devastatingly, our Golden Couple-coded pair, Billy and Ashleigh, seem like they’re faltering during this stretch… all because Billy can’t handle six more months of Ashleigh working cabin crew.

But other couples we couldn’t quite get a read on in the pods started to soar! Kal & Sarover! Megan & Kieran! (Consider us officially swoony over these four.) We get into all of the drama and all of the romance in this week’s episode, and discuss how much all of our ratings and rankings have shifted around over the course of a week. Hope you enjoy! xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] 'Love Is Blind UK' S2 Takes Us Back Across The Pond Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

If anyone tries to tell you that reality television isn’t full of culture, tell them to watch the first drop of “Love Is Blind UK” season 2. Not only does it provide an American audience with a crash course in a wide array of British accents and terminology, but viewers can also learn about the grift of “human design” — and perhaps most importantly, “splenic awareness.”

The latter is thanks to Patrick, a man who (spoiler alert!) does not find lasting love in the pods, but does provide us with running commentary on the significance of his spleen. For the uninitiated, a few nuggets of wisdom from Patrick: (1) The spleen is more potent than the gut. (2) The spleen is the center of all intuition. (3) Therefore, the spleen’s inherent wisdom at any given moment simply *must* be followed. Is this all a crock of shit? Yes! Does it mean that Patrick makes for excellent TV? Also yes!

During the first drop of “LIB UK” episodes, we meet our 30 UK singles, see six couples form in the pods, and watch five of those couples get engaged and jet off to a romantic honeymoon in Cyprus. The season starts a little bit slow, which left us wondering if the sophomore run will be able to recreate the magic of the first season. But some tantalizing threads left dangling at the end of episode four make us hopeful for the episodes yet to come.

In this episode, we discuss it all: the two major love triangles, our predictions for the couples, the disappointing lack of villainy, whether Clayton was following his spleen on “Perfect Match,” and, of course, our friends-enemies scale.

We hope you enjoy! xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

[PREVIEW] The 'Love Island' Universe Is In Pieces Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

“Love Island” and “Love Island: Beyond the Villa” may have wrapped their latest seasons, but if anything the drama has only gotten more explosive — and unsettling — off-camera.

JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez, one of the “Love Island USA” season 6 runner-up couples, broke up abruptly at the end of last month, just hours after posting together at YouTuber David Dobrik’s birthday party. JaNa’s closest friends from the villa, Leah Kateb and Serena Page, quickly unfollowed him — and then, so did essentially everyone else associated with the show, from his male costars to Ariana Madix herself. Scandalous rumors swirled about what Kenny could have done to earn the ire of even his best bros. Cheating? Financial malfeasance? A secret child? But, as JaNa posted in a statement on her Instagram story last week, the truth was still more twisted.

Meanwhile, season 7 antiheroine Huda Mustafa has been seen stepping out with Netflix star Louis Russell (currently starring in “Perfect Match” season 3), and some notable unfollowings seemed to hint that “LIUSA” season 6 stars Leah, Serena, and JaNa might be upset by the relationship. Leah’s boyfriend from the show, Miguel Harichi, had a longstanding friendship with Louis, but has publicly distanced himself from the Netflix personality, as he and Leah have both hinted that they believe Louis is pursuing Huda for clout.

In this episode, we discuss how the JaNa and Kenny breakup unfolded and dig into the rumored reason for the breakup, based on public statements by JaNa and her friends. We also get into the perils of insincere men on reality dating shows, and how racism and misogynoir put Black women in particularly vulnerable positions when dating on TV. (In this conversation, we reference Taryn Finley’s excellent Refinery29 essay, “JaNa Craig’s Split Proves A Pattern & It’s Black Women Who Pay The Price." We also discuss the Huda and Louis relationship, the apparent rift it has caused among the “Love Island” and “Too Hot to Handle” crews, and the warped incentives of sudden fame and dating on TV.

We hope you enjoy! xo

Share Rich Text

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Further reading and listening on ‘AJLT’:

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected