The Britney Episode 2: Britney And More (w/ Matt & Bowen)
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- Bo, listen, vacation, it's something you gotta get right. - I have never agreed with you more. And I've had so many wonderful trips with you in the past. I remember one of our fantastic Airbnb trips upstate. We got this four bedroom Airbnb, little cabin,

We had like a whole acre to waltz around in. It was so much fun and a gorgeous kitchen, remember? I do remember. That ended up being an iconic trip. But why is Airbnb better than a hotel? First of all, more space. Second, more bathrooms because sharing a bathroom, I know it's not our favorite thing to do. Also, more common area spaces to hang out together. Airbnbs can have things like a private movie room or game room. Doing an Airbnb may also get you access to a better location. Airbnb, it's just for you and me. Fee!

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Hey everybody, it's Matt, and I'm very excited to let you know that my debut album, Have You Heard of Christmas, is out Friday, November 3rd. Stream it everywhere and anywhere you do that, and order the vinyl online now. I've also got new merch and tickets to my tour at www.mattrogersofficial.com.

I'm starting with six shows at the Soho Theater in London from November 13th through 18th. And then I'm all over the states and Toronto. Starting December 1st in Philly and wrapping up December 23rd in New York City. Again, check out www.mattrogersofficial.com for all the new music, merch, and tour info. Very exciting. It's officially Christmas. And now...

My gift to you, a podcast. Look, Matt. Oh, I see. Wow. Wow.

Bowen, look over there. Wow, is that culture? Yes. Las Culturistas. Ding dong, Las Culturistas calling. I've had acts of violence committed in my own home. I knocked over with reckless abandon a glass of water. I didn't offer to pour you a new glass. You didn't. Would you like one? Because you said something as you... What did I say? How was that water? Do you remember what you said? You drank that water that I poured you earlier and you said...

this is the best water I've ever drank. Oh, I said this is the best water I've ever drank. So is that a new Brita? No, I've had that for many, many moments. Now, do you clean it a lot? Do you let it... I clean it a lot. I get really scared about mold. I get really diligent about it. Because you know, one time I really got sick from my own Brita filter. Do you think it was the mold? Oh, 100% because I actually was under the impression and this is sort of

#HowIB, but I thought that because it was a Brita, you didn't have to clean it. No, girl. Well, clearly no. My own body was telling me that over months.

I became weaker. I became a shell of myself. - From the Brita, "Isn't it crazy how everything in this world needs to be cleaned?" - Mm-hmm. - There is not a single thing-- - Bitch. - Bitch. - That is so macro what you said. - You need to-- - Everything in this world needs to be cleaned. - I mean, on so many levels that statement should resonate.

But I think you have to wipe every single thing you own. It is so much more important than you ever know. There was years of my life I was living in squalor, squalor, my own filth. You could compare it to Grey Gardens, but it was like an unseen Grey Gardens atmosphere. What was going on in my apartments for years because I just didn't know how to change filters. I just didn't. And I'm talking about both Brita and air filters.

Yes. I'm talking about filters in every sense. Oh, good luck getting me to change the air filters on anything. My mother will be texting me every five and a half months. You know, it's almost time to change the filters. How do our parents keep track of this shit? I don't get it. I feel like you and I have both. I'm not going to use this word in the gerund. We've both become adults. What is in the gerund? I was not going to say adulting. Okay, okay, okay. So what's a gerund? Like an I-N-G word.

Oh, seriously? Yes, yes, yes. So a gerund is just anything that ends in ing? Basically. Holy shit. What did you think it meant? I thought gerund meant a type of word. Like, it's a popular gerund that is used. Like a cultural gerund. That's true.

I don't think it is, not by the way you're looking. A gerund is a type of word. Yes, but I thought it meant like, like a gerund would be like a type of noun or something. Gerund, a form that is derived from a verb, but that functions as a noun in English ending I-N-G. Asking in, do you mind my asking you? That's a gerund. A gerund is a noun verb, basically. Got it. It's used as a noun, but it's verbified. It's a verbed way of- Thank you for letting, gerund, me know.

Right? Thank you for your letting me know. Does that make sense? Well, that doesn't make any sense at all. Thank you for instructing me on these matters. Instructing, Jaren. Well, not in that use because it's just a verb. You need to use it as a noun. Thank you for you instructing me. Thank you for your instructing me. Does that make sense? In instructing me? You've done something. You've really done something right there.

I don't think I'm going to get it. And you know what's crazy is we were on a Google Doc yesterday. I was just going to say. And the authority with which Matt commands...

the mechanical things on a document. I thought I was like very like persnickety and I'm not saying you're persnickety, but I'm saying you have the eye for it in a way that is very powerful. And you know what else is happening right now? You're saying powerful and you're not saying correct because I guarantee there's some things I do with punctuation. No. And you gently let me know about this because I was saying there are some

Occasion. No, I actually think you're right. But yeah, so what I was saying was there are occasions when you're, say, typing out a sentence where a quoted word or a section of words, the comma punctuation should be either in some cases within the quotations, in some cases it's out. And I think that it's difficult for me to explain what I mean by that. I know what you mean, but try to explain and I'll support you. It's OK. So say this was the sentence.

Britney Spears took to task. In her book. In her book. Oh, sorry, sorry. Wait, here's it in a sentence. Britney Spears was one of the Mouseketeers. I don't think this is going to work. Here's an example. In Britney's book, she says, quote, Jamie Lynn lied to me, comma, end quote, quote,

before she went on to accuse her father, Jamie Spears. Like, does that make sense? Like the quote, the comma is in, is in the quotation. I think we may be in the weeds. But then the comma is out of the quotation. If it's Britney Spears' book, quote, the woman in me, end quote, comma. Yes. No, because the book would not be in quotations because it will be italicized because it's a,

Okay, so what you have to know, everyone, is that we were on a Google Doc together, and I think I really know what I'm talking about when it comes to punctuation. Yes, you do. And while that's not coming across here, because I don't know my words, but I do know my heart in this particular... You don't know your words, but you do know your mechanics. My mechanics. When I'm typing out, it's a different beast than when I'm speaking. When I'm speaking, I feel like it is some sort of swamp of words. Can I say...

When you are typing or when you are guiding a typing session, you have the authority. Something happens where you become the queen. Something happens when I become the queen when someone is typing. You know what I really should do? You know what Sudi would say? Why don't you just type?

And I really probably should just start just typing. Instead of being like, I think the apostrophe goes over here. I think the colon here. No, that's a semicolon. What we need is a colon. I think I should just type. Because then, like, I wouldn't feel like I was patronizing. This is a very specific conversation that we're having. But I think a lot of people can relate to this because I don't find moments like that to be micromanaging. I don't mean to be. I just want punctuation to be clear and correct. Also,

I don't mind being micromanaged. I really don't. I really don't. Unless the person's wrong. Unless the person's wrong. And I'm like, but then I hopefully in a very respectful way say, I disagree. Yeah. Or maybe not. But if it's for like a common goal of like, let's get the mechanics, the punctuation right on this document. Yeah.

I'll be like, tell me what to do. Yeah, but I guess I'd rather just take it then and correct it than say to someone over their soldier. Because there's something vulnerable about when you expose the fact that maybe you don't know how to spell things or like you don't know how to use punctuation or like, I don't know. Like, I never want to. I don't know why. What is this therapy? I don't want anyone to think I don't have a control over the written word.

Why not? I don't know. You're such a talented writer. You don't have to prove it to anybody. I think that, and maybe you can relate to this, when I was younger, one of the things I could control was that I was good at types of school and English was one of them and writing was one of them. Yes. And I was like, don't tell me that I'm wrong on this because I know I'm right. Wow. Wow.

And I had very little control over like other things. Like I was absolutely. And more often than not, you were right. I don't throw this around. Tell me. I was the only student my senior year of high school to get 100 on the Regents, which was the big test in English and a five on AP comp and a five on AP lit. I was the only one.

And so I thought if I know something, it's this. And here's the thing. You think about those accomplishments and you scoff because you- I don't scoff! I'm so proud of you. No, and I thank you, sister. But inside, you know that you were one of those standardized girls. No, but that means nothing. I say that I'm a standardized girl now because I'm like, it really says nothing about the person. And this is a critique on modern educational systems. I think that that's so far what this episode has been.

1,000%. Yeah. Our schools have failed us. Matt and I are both products of the public schools. Which we support. Which we support, but on some level... We feel failed. We feel... You know, we were talking the other day. I was in a group. We were talking about like...

just how you learned things in high school. Yes. Tell me if this rings true for you. Would a teacher ever go to like the whiteboard or whatever and just put something up there and you'd have to just take down notes copiously and you would never actually be instructed about a certain topic, but he would just take down notes. Oh, yeah. And that's

the teachers would say repetition is the key to learning. So they wouldn't teach. They would just put notes up on the board. You would take the notes down again and again and again and again and again to the point where at the end of the year or whenever you had a test, it was essentially muscle memory of the answers. 1000%. Yeah.

And it's repetition is not the key to learning. And actually this is a perfect story. An example about when a teacher fully, we could all tell she did not give a shit, but she was one of those teachers who was like, listen to what I say, because it's always right. And we really hated her for it. Yeah. I forget her name, but this was the seventh grade. We had a crazy year in the seventh grade. Our middle school decided to give us two English classes.

We had a composition. All the distinction, composition. Composition and reading. Uh-huh. So for the composition class, this teacher would put down, she was like in her early 30s, didn't want to do it, didn't want to be there, was above the job, hated us, like she sucked, bad vibes. But she would put on a transparency, like a list of vocabulary words, right? Mm-hmm.

And then there's the word chicanery. C-H-I-C-A-N-E-R-Y, chicanery. My girl is the spelling freak. Because if I knew something, it was how to spell. Well, keep listening. Okay. We go, Miss Williamson, whatever her name was, how do you pronounce that word? And she goes, stumped. And like, there's a heavy silence as this room full of

14 year old eager students eager students wanting to learn eager students ready to learn ravenous for knowledge ravenous for knowledge but we we had all turned on her like months ago y'all were stinkers but we weren't stinkers okay i take it back we weren't stinkers we were actually like wanting to learn and then we were like miss williamson how do you pronounce that word she looks at it pregnant pause chicken air chicken air chicken air and then all of us burst out laughing and

laughed at this fucking woman. Wait, I already forgot how you really say it. Chicanery. Chicanery? Chicanery is better. I'm with my girl. Which is beautiful because... I'm on my girl's team. There's no... Like, that is the definition... That's the definition of chicanery is pronouncing it chickenary. Is this seventh grade teacher who talked down her students all year long. Oh, my God. Embarrassing, eating fucking shit, beefing it in front of us with this word. What she's supposed to do...

all this laughs at her and we were like that can't be how you say it she kind of chuckled and was clearly embarrassed and then looked it up later but chicken Harry chicken Harry

That is too good. You know what, though? At least there was a moment right there where there could be the release of, girl, that's not right. And also, fuck you a little bit. Yes. Because sometimes, I remember this happened to me and my family when we were actually in New York. We came for Christmas. Okay. And we were in Macy's. Yes. Yes.

And I wish I could go back and tell this woman who treated my mother some kind of way that she was wrong because she made my mom feel bad. And my dad was upset. No. So what happened was...

My mom, we come in from Long Island. It's me and my dad, my mom, my sister. I'm probably 11. Okay. Chelsea's age. Tender age. So we had just seen like a show or something. We maybe shopped at Macy's. Like it was crowded, bustling holiday. Like maybe this girl behind the counter at Donna Karan was, maybe she was tired or something. It was the holidays. So my mom hits the scene at Macy's and she wants to try some perfumes. Yes. So she goes up to the girl at the counter.

And she says, do you have Donna Karan? And my mom says, Karan. Which I thought was Karan as well in the beginning. Common mistake. She also has a regional accent. Yes. Donna Karan. This woman turned her face to my mother and she said, you mean Donna Karan?

And my family was frozen and my dad, I could feel steamed. And she was like, yeah, that one, that one. And she was like, we actually, I have to, you know, and the conversation ended and my dad didn't say anything, but we left. And she was like, my dad was like, I didn't like the way she corrected you snooty. Like it was not right. Come to find out. It's Donna Karan.

So my mom was actually closer. She wasn't right. Koran was not the way you say it. But Donna Karan. And when this woman was like, you mean Donna Koran? Like, ew.

- I wanna go back in time, get me the DeLorean now. - Get the DeLorean girl, we're going back. - I have to go back to- - 2001. - Macy's. - 2001 Macy's? - 2001 Macy's, oh shit. - What do you mean? No, was this after September 11th or before? - I mean, if it was Christmas, hun. - But then no, you would've been- - It was three months after September, December. - You would've been 12. - Look, I'm not dating it necessarily exactly. - Okay, okay, okay. - I'm not pinpointing it in time. I'm saying the energy was I was 11. Does that make sense? It's like the question of the Big Mac.

This is the question, though. We'll get back to the Big Mac. Okay. If the DeLorean was taking you to December, November, whatever, 2001... Mm-hmm.

Your only responsibility is to go to that woman and say it's pronounced Karen. I would make two stops. If I could go back in time on the DeLorean, I would make two stops. One, I would go back to your high school and your high school theater teacher that was treating you badly and interrogating you. I would actually get in her face and I would scare her. I would like scare her in a parking lot.

She was fearless. She was fearless? Well, I don't know. Well, not until I'm done with her because I'm going to scare the woman. I'm going to go back in time and I'm going to honk a horn at her or something and I'm going to frighten her and I'm going to say, Bowen Yang stays unscathed. Because I got to get her. She has hers coming.

then I would go back in time and I would tell this woman, I would say, I would go up behind this woman and I would say, hi, I just want to let you know, it's Donna Karen, idiot. And then I would disappear. Don't treat people like that. That is, oh, I would go back in time in my DeLorean and I would use it. If I had to correct two things, I'd be nasty to those women.

I'd be mean and nasty to those women. This is my question. If it was November 2000, do you tell people what's happening in nine months? I don't know if I can answer this question because that's a very big topic. It's a huge topic. But did you know that YouTube all of a sudden for no reason has been showing me 9-11 footage?

Does that ever happen to you? It's happened to me. And then I fall down the hole. And then I, for like at least a few weeks, I keep getting 9-11 stuff. It's so bizarre. All of a sudden, I think I watched one video, which was because I couldn't believe this existed. It was the YouTube video was live footage of Regis and Kelly show during 9-11.

And I was like, there's no way. Lo and behold. They weren't even on. No. Yes, they were. They were on when the second tower was hit. At like nine in the morning? Honey, that's when they go on. I thought they were on at like 11. No, sweetie. Sweetie. Regis and Kelly. Well, really, Regis is still departed. Now Kelly and Walker are on at 9 a.m. And they've been on at 9 a.m. I know that seems early, but that's sort of what morning TV will do to you. Start early.

Bo, listen, vacation, it's something you got to get right. You can't roll the dice. You have to make sure that it's all together. Everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation. Can you agree? I have never agreed with you more. And I've

so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb. If you're planning a trip on Airbnb, try a guest favorite.

the most loved homes on Airbnb. The guest favorites are a collection of some of Airbnb's most loved homes based on reviews and reliability. But why is Airbnb better than a hotel? First of all, more space. Great for a trip with a lot of people and allows you to be closer to friends and family when traveling together. Second, more bathrooms because sharing a bathroom, I know it's not our favorite thing to do. Also, more common area spaces to hang out together. No more feeling crammed in one person's hotel room for the pre-party. Airbnbs can have things like a

Hey, everyone. We here at Lost Culture East just love Philanthropy.

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My pay credit limits range from $20 to $500. $2 fee to get funds instantly. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Fees apply at out-of-network ATMs. Girl, we can announce, we can talk now. We can announce. We can announce that my girl, first of all, Oh. Have you heard of Christmas is out this Friday? Oh, yeah. November 3rd. Featuring Bowen Yang on the track Rockefeller Santa. Very, very honored and privileged. One of my professional peaks. You and Side A.

I'm on side A. I am side A. You're track six. Oh my God, I'm on the vinyl. You are. Also featuring Vincent and Leland. And Moon as we know. And Moon as we know. But Matt will be on Kelly Clarkson on Thursday. I'll be on Kelly.

This is you going on Kelly. You're friends now. This is a new era. I don't feel that nervous to go on. Because can I tell you something? Not to center myself, but when I went on last week, it was like my old friend. Yeah, right. Exactly. It wasn't even that, but she was just like, hey, you. Yeah. And then she will say, she said, my Las Culturistas interview was...

the piece of press for the chemistry press cycle that got the most impact. Oh my God. More people have gone up to her about our interview with her than anything else she did on chemistry. She said that? She said that to me. Oh, I can't wait to talk to her about it. You have to talk to her about that. I'm just so excited that that went so well and that she feels that way and she looks back on it positively. But yeah, I'm going to see her Thursday. You were on, isn't that funny? Our friend Kelly. Our friend Kelly. Wait, as a Lily lawyer.

You have to give her recommendations for New York. She wants new recs. Oh, I actually like, I am an arsenal of information for her. Well, I guess I don't really know like. What she likes to do. Right. I guess like that would be a question I'd have to ask her. It's like, what do you want from the city? She's a single girl now. That's what I was thinking. I was peek behind the curtain. I was doing my pre-interview earlier and we got to talking about like dating in New York. And I was like, oh, that's like something I guess I could connect with her over. Like she's a single lady in New York.

She looking good. She's got a new stylist on payroll. She's like really feels excited and happy. There's a special Kelly energy in the air. And you know, I've been hitting the streets myself. I've been seeing a man here and there. Okay, lucky fellas. I've been playing the field.

I love to hear that. Speaking of women and pop. Yes, we must. I mean, there's no way we don't talk about this. No, I think that, well, it's allegedly the best-selling memoir of all time. And this is Britney Spears' The Woman in Me. Of course, The Woman in Me is italicized, it being the title of a book. It being the title of a book. We're holding a hard copy in our hands. We are indeed, but we can confirm our method of consumption was audiobook.

And Miss Michelle Williams must win some series of accolades for that. It's the Grammy for sure for her. Yes. Oh, 1000%. Can I say she just became a serious EGOT contender. Michelle's performance in this is really good. You really feel like it's coming from Britney. 1000%. It's a channeling moment. It fully channels her. And I will say like, this is a total compliment. Like the writing is so...

So beautifully simple. It's very clear. It's clear. It's almost instructional about the ways in which she suffered. 1,000%. There's no mistaking it. There's no interpreting it a certain way. There's no reading between the lines. But the way Michelle reads it is so...

so like watery is not the right word for it but it just it just kind of flows so beautifully and it's powerful like water it flows like water it's delicate like water i don't know i'm a bruce lee bag i love it like something that i can pull from what you're saying is that there is a beautiful intention that feels very like natural to her what she's saying is almost it's like

You really, this voice, it's almost as if she went through it because she really gets Britney's sense of humor. She really throws out the turn of phrases very naturally. This was directed by Thomas Kail, by the way. If you don't know, that's Michelle Williams' partner who directed Hamilton, and he directed the Sweeney Todd revival, and this is a really talented theater artist, and you can tell this was an intimate relationship

piece that was really worked on like almost between three people like him, Michelle, and then Brittany. And then in terms of like the way that the material is laid out, it almost needs that like patience in reading it. Yes. Because the truth is a lot of this is so horrible that

It's like if it were to be indulged in by the person who went through it, I don't even know if she could have permanence on this. It's almost better because she might want to throw a lot of this away or like rush through this or get nervous. It's a whole thing and I'm dressed like that. Yeah. Wow. Who knew? Who knew? And just like that would be prescient in that way. I just did such a word salad, but like... No, no, no. Michelle inhabits Britney in such a... I just called her performance watery. What do you mean? I'm in the word salad. But Michelle...

I was so struck by the moment she chose to dial it back, dial it up. When they get to the part where she shaves her head, there's such a shift in the performance where Michelle and Thomas both know to give this the most gravity there can be. This was one of her lowest moments ever.

where she was denied access to her own children when they were only like a year or less. And God, like that whole moment, the way that that is narrated, the way it's written is phenomenal. What I love too is like, she doesn't let anyone off the hook, but she also gives context for what, she's kind. She's very kind. She actually does something here, which is she gives the backstory of the way her father grew up. And I think something that's,

a compliment to her kindness and the fact that she really actually gave her family some humanity here is that she illustrated the cycle of abuse. You know what I mean? Like, her grandfather was very, very abusive to her father, who, because of that, was, you know, nasty to her mother. Her mother did not have it easy. Her mother was, you know, very, very complicit in Brittany's treatment and, like,

cruel in her own right, but she goes out of her way to explain why these people might have treated her this way. And what I thought was the really

if there's anything beautiful to come out of this, it's that at least Brittany's children seem happy and taken care of. You know what I mean? At least the cycle of abuse seems to have been broken because it seems like she has happy children. And that is something that I left the book with, which was, this is someone who, by all intents and purposes, could have...

become a monster in her own right. And she says that, you know, she wasn't perfect. There were times she was weird. There were times she made mistakes, but she's got happy kids. And it seems like to this day, that's what she cares about the most. And that almost feels like reason for the book existing. Well, and the kids are now like 17, 16. Yeah, they're older. They're older now. You know, when she describes like lockdown or whatever, and then just like,

being together, I was like, well, at least there's that. Like, at least... And even that was the conservatorship, technically. But it was, like, the kids showing her, like, what they painted or, like, the music or whatever that they would, like, play. And it's just...

It's so difficult to close out a book like this, a memoir like this, and end it on a hopeful note. Right. Because it is one of the great American tragedies, period. Totally. But the thing is, like, I almost feel like in ending the book, she would want us to think less of her as a tragedy and more as, like, someone who, even though we might not get it, and we might as...

people that are looking at the phones, like see what she's posting and think how sad, like she at least takes ownership and accountability over what we might deem as like weird or crazy because even if it's not anything we would post or we would do, at least it's autonomy. Yes. Well, no, she explains in a way that like changed my whole perspective on it where like I was one of those people who in recent months or whatever has been like, oh, Brittany's really doing the knife dance, whatever.

But like, I think she says specifically, like people might think I'm being strange when I post these videos of myself just posing in clothes. But like, if you think about it, I've had my body. I've been photographed my entire life by other people and evaluated by other people. Like this is me.

actually feeling really sexy and pretty and nice and like wanting to show people the way that I want to. Yeah. And honestly, like even if she doesn't quote unquote like the way she looks like that's always been for other people anyway. Like it's like it's been really interesting literally hearing from her the stuff about, you know, when she famously like shaved her head. It's like,

She literally turned herself into a monster because that's what the gaze of society and the male gaze had done to her. They were like, she was like, you know what? I understand this is why you're looking. So I'm going to make myself unattractive to you. And then she did so. And even her own family was treating her like she was the way she looked, which to them was disgusting. I mean, yeah, like it is deeply kind to her family. The way she even like,

includes her mother in... And obviously, like, Jean Spears was affected by Jamie's alcoholism in a very direct way. But, like, the way that, like, Britney would write about her and her mom having to, like,

withstand these nights where her dad would just be on a rampage like that is terrifying or not Jean Spears I'm sorry Lynn Spears Lynn Spears her mom sorry Jean is the grandmother but the way that they all they be naming each other after each other it's crazy the Jamie the Lynn the Jamie Lynn that shit listen I started talking and I started to get a little bit Kentwood Kentwood Kentwood honey Kentwood I said Brentwood we got Jamie Lynn and Jamie Lynn

Party of three. Britney's at home. Slaving away on the VMAs. But like the way that Britney writes about Jamie Lynn, like...

behaving in these kind of incompassionate ways, for lack of a better word. That's also very generous, I think. Here's the thing. It feels like this is so weird, but she has nothing to lose. So this is all her honest account. And therefore, it's just like taking it at face value. I don't know what it was, but there was a couple moments where I was listening to this and

And I was just so furious. - Oh, me too. - Because I just feel like had the public, because I understand the public is complicit in a lot of this, and I really do.

But had we actually had an understanding of what her reality was, that she couldn't pick out what food she wanted to eat, that she had to write down when she was going to the bathroom, that she was forced to have a pain. Forget about the conservatorship. That abortion, she was, I'm sorry, but forced to endure. My shoulders were in my ears. And I was just like, God, I just wish that it was made clear this person was suffering. Like, because you have to imagine that

we all would have been like, hey, stop. But also, would we have? I don't know. It's like one of those times. It's hard when you have a journalist, and I'm sorry to bring her into this, when you have a journalist like Diane Sawyer, like one of the top journalists in this country interviewing her and literally asking her, what did you do to him? Yeah. Like that says it all. It's like, you must have done something to upset this amazing boy that America loves. And...

We don't care if you're going to burst out into tears in the next two seconds. Like, I didn't, the whole thing being in her own house, like on her couch, when she describes that couch that she still has, and like that couch was like her sanctuary in her house in New York, I think, or was it LA? It doesn't matter. But that felt so, that's a detail that like really drives home how invasive that specific interview was, where like Jamie Spears, the dad being like,

You're doing this interview. No one's heard from you. You're doing this interview. And then fully is blindsided and then is humiliated. And I guess what makes it even worse is I think I didn't realize just how devastated and heartbroken she was by that relationship. For some reason, the reveal that they had lived together was a surprise to me, that they lived together in Orlando. So understanding just how badly she was doing and she truly had like...

a heartbreak related full blown depression. Like she describes not being able to get out of bed or eat and like, you know, every day was a struggle. And then for her, you have to think like it's almost been a plan from the beginning on her father's part to just keep this girl as fucking weak as possible so he could control her every move so he could control her every dollar. Otherwise, why would you make your daughter do that? Why would you want to break her? That's, I guess,

The really tough thing is it's just what makes a parent capable of wanting to break your child? Like what makes a parent capable of that? Yeah. I don't get it. And look, we have talked about how she like gives some lineage to like his trauma or whatever. But like I was at various points, I was like,

No, it really is like, how dare you, Mr. Spears? You had me fooled. How dare you? You had me fooled. Death. And then you too, Mr. Spears. Death to all of them. It's hard not to agree. Sometimes you are like death to all of them. And here's the thing. Actually, though, this is interesting because I was thinking to myself, like, so this book comes out. Obviously, Justin Timberlake is getting absolutely dragged.

My thing is like... He's turned his comments off. Yeah. I don't even know if he's like... I don't think he's ever trying again, guys. I mean, like, I think he's a rap...

And I was thinking to myself, like, how much forgiveness is he due? And I think the answer is he is due forgiveness because- As long as Brittany says so. I mean, that's what she says. But the fact is, like, she also has to tell her story. I think it's really important that we hear this. And I think it's one of those things where it's like, even if in the years past, and I don't know this, and I don't ever really hear anything about Justin anyway, like-

even if in the years past he's totally changed, this story has to get fucking told. 1,000%. And it's rough to see because, of course, the internet reads something and then it's just a full-on... I can't even imagine what's going on in the minds of people that are in this book. Right. Imagine being Christina Aguilera and you're barely mentioned. The two lines about her in this are, I could tell she was pretty messed up.

Oh no, but messed up as in like she was drunk. Yeah. But like, I mean, just like there was me and a girl named Christina Aguilera. Christina Aguilera did some weird shit with Justin on the cover of a magazine. I thought that was weird. Christina Aguilera seems very comfortable on television. And one time I saw Christina Aguilera at a party and she was messed up. That's so interesting. I thought that the mentions of Christina were like, okay, like we've acknowledged that like she was in the circle or whatever. Not in the circle, but she was like,

had made appearances or whatever throughout the years. I thought it was fine. I thought it was, you know what? I just thought it was funny that she was like glazed over. I'm sure she doesn't care. I'm sure she's thankful. Yes, yes, yes. But Justin has to be feeling some type of way and it's like, yeah. But for years, your karma was, it was such a bent thing.

thing like he was flying high for such a long time and the fact is he caused a lot of harm and she needs to be able to tell her story because of what was taken from her 1000% I mean my blood went cold when when she describes kissing him for the first time and they were young and a Janet Jackson song was playing in the background you missed that part I guess I didn't yeah it was like when they were in the Mickey Mouse Club and he was her first kiss

And a Janet Jackson song was played. Like, that is out of a fucking movie. It's haunted. It's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Any second, we're going to drop. That gives me the heebie-jeebies for sure. And then, yeah, you bring up the Janet thing too, and it's just like, you know what? Take a break, dude. Like, you've gotten away with murder. I think, you don't think he's going to try again? I think, like, isn't the whole NSYNC thing still happening? Like, they're going to, like,

boo who cares does anyone care no one cares I think no one cares they can't even go on hot ones and like make any noise you know what I'm saying babe I watch every hot ones I did not watch the hot ones I've watched the Cardi B one probably six times oh that's a good one I have not watched the NSYNC hot ones and I won't be I don't want to watch them try hot wings here's the thing when NSYNC goes on hot ones it becomes these dudes trying hot wings and

When Cardi B goes on Hot Ones, it becomes Cardi B on Hot Ones. Well, it's just, there's something so dissonant and scary about like this new thing, Hot Ones, trying to bend itself to like, I guess, give a tiny two second platform to these five guys who like we were all obsessed with back in the day. Sure.

But like, we're literally a flash in the pan. Like, as soon as it was done, it was done, done, done. But Boo, it's like what we say, like, after every 10, 15 years, like, rotate out. No more fame. No more fame. Just like, get new famous people after 10, 15 years because guess what? You become fucking dated and you become not helpful. And I also want to say this. Before we got on the mic, Bowen and I got

And I'm not saying anyone's names and I would never do this, but we got information that a certain actor is gay. And I'm just like, have we learned nothing? Can I say this? I think everyone in Hollywood is gay except Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck is the only straight man in Hollywood. The rest of you, including us, are gay. And I feel like the fact that you don't say it is weak shit.

Just say it. And it's not even just say it like everyone has to come out with their sexuality. It's not like that. It's just like people that are actively playing in our face with these sham marriages. Yes. You are a problem. Yes. Don't say anything at all or be real, but don't play in our face. Don't come out with a fake relationship. Ugh.

And also, you know what? You guys know who I'm talking about. Like, I'll never say it, but intrinsically, even if it's not the person I'm thinking of, you know who I'm talking about. You know. And it might not even be the person that you are actually talking about. Whoever it is to you, you know who I'm talking about. And you're right. And,

You're right, and they are playing in your face. 1,000%. You're all gay except Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck, I think that you definitely are straight, dude. I think you are nailing Jennifer Lopez. I actually applaud you guys for how straight you are. No, that's... Yeah, they are 1,000%. They are so straight. I'm like, they are so straight. Him powering up on his Duncan, going home to his absolutely stunning wife.

And she says, babe, fuck me again like you did this morning. He says, yes, Jennifer Lopez, I will. And they never have a problem. That's beautiful. I celebrate every part of that. That is something that I cannot turn my nose at that.

Do you know what I mean? And the rest of them are getting it in too, but they're getting it in with each other. Yes. And they're queers and it will be fine. And it almost feels like we came out and we did it and we have to have this thing of like, oh, they're gay actors. Meanwhile, they're all gay. They're just liars and we're not. They just never had to play assistants. Exactly. That's it.

They have to live with some amount of torture, though. I would never want to be them. I would never want to be. And this is the thing is like, I'm not even angry at them. I'm frustrated with them and I'm frustrated with the system because I think they are unhappy for no fucking reason. Exactly. For no fucking reason. I am. Can I be honesty zone? Honesty zone? Sure. Of course, no one should come out of the closet until it's safe and they feel empowered to do so. And maybe I say this to someone who was kind of dragged out of the closet.

But I'm like, we can promise you with almost full certainty that like, you'll just be happier. A hundred percent. You know what? I'm not willing to go so far as to generalize for everybody, but like, that's just how I feel about the whole thing in general. It doesn't matter if you're an A-list star. As long as, the second you feel safe and that your fears are actually, you realize that your fears about it are irrational, just do it. I think that they think that they...

maybe they're the kind of person that thinks this actually is what's going to make me happy. And maybe it does. You know what I mean? Maybe it's fine for them to be like playing off a certain image to the world so they can succeed or like certain like images of what is successful and masculine can be upheld. I get that. And I want to be like, they'll be so much happier. No, maybe they are the kind of person that this actually fulfills them. And I don't really want to know those people and I don't really want to like be one of those people, but

It could just be that this works for them. And that makes me feel crazy. That's why when we had our 92nd Street Y, I was like, it's so weird to be in an industry and want to succeed in an industry of so much, so many problems with, you know? What are you trying to uphold? Masculinity? There is no real version of that. The version of masculinity and the weird, like the index of masculinity in the year 2023 is like,

Joe Rogan. It's never going to be an A-list actor anymore. Right, exactly. I feel like the bubbles burst on that. So when you are in full makeup and were to believe that you're actually married to

X, Y, Z actress. It's like, dude, it just is kind of pathetic. And again, I understand. I get it because like a lot of these people are like, I mean, even in our generation, I feel like there's people that still like struggle with this. And I feel like I'm coming down hard on the, and I'm trying to like for comedic effect to be like, LOL, fuck these guys. Like I get it. I'm just saying we get it. It's frustrating to see that image preemptively.

projected out into America and the world because it's just like, that's not healthy. Like, no one thinks it's healthy. No. No one's like, good job. Keep it up. Yeah. And this is going to actually connect my thoughts to the Bravo thing that came out. I just hate

when we pretend this industry is not what it is. You know what I mean? It's not honest. It's not something where images aren't distorted. I just feel like... Your image gets distorted in any medium. There is a refractive index to any single means of transmission, period. You get distorted on Instagram. Yeah. On your own social media. It's like there's something exploitative about any broadcasting channel. 100%.

Bo, listen, vacation, it's something you got to get right. You can't roll the dice. You have to make sure that it's all together. Everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation. Can you agree? I have never agreed with you more. And I've

so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb. If you're planning a trip on Airbnb, try a guest favorite.

the most loved homes on Airbnb. The guest favorites are a collection of some of Airbnb's most loved homes based on reviews and reliability. But why is Airbnb better than a hotel? First of all, more space. Great for a trip with a lot of people and allows you to be closer to friends and family when traveling together. Second, more bathrooms because sharing a bathroom, I know it's not our favorite thing to do. Also, more common area spaces to hang out together. No more feeling crammed in one person's hotel room for the pre-party. Airbnbs can have things like a

Hey, everyone. We here at Lost Culture East just love Philanthropy.

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And so I was reading this article, and for those of you who may not know, I was reading this article in Vanity Fair, which we had been told was coming. For full disclosure, I have not read it yet. You have not read it? Okay, so basically, it's Bethany Frankel's big swing at Bravo. And it's basically broken into three parts. One is Bethany, one is Leah, and one is Ebony K. Williams. And I actually think the article has a lot of interesting things to say.

And to hear the perspective of Ebony K. Williams, I think is important. I've read the big takeaways about Ebony's whole journey with Bravo and it's really upsetting. Right. And so basically, I think that there should have been a completely separate article, which was this story, because there's something to say here. And I think that, by the way, Ebony K. Williams in this article is quoted as saying, fuck Bethany Frankel. Like she...

I think is probably going to be disappointed or maybe not disappointed. Maybe she's just used to this shit, but it will be disappointing for me if I were Ebony and I had told my story and what I experienced and I was in the Vanity Fair piece and it was the fucking Bethany Frankel housewives playbook.

inside baseball engineered puff piece for her, which by the way is written by an admitted fan of the franchise. And I'm going to assume it's New York because only New York housewives went on record for this.

But basically, it's like Ebony has real things to say about the way that the situation with Ramona's racism went down, about the way it was communicated, about the fact that Ramona still has a job on Ultimate Girls Trip. And I think that there's a lot in that story, which is important and should be heard. And it includes a black female producer saying that she experienced Ramona using the N-word not at her, but around her.

And it's very frustrating the fact that Ramona is still working there for these people. There's something really important there. And I think it diminishes that story to have it couched with these accounts by Bethany and Leah. Bethany, which seems very baldly personal against Andy Cohen. I feel that she...

for some reason has like a personal vendetta against him and like it really feels that way and it reeks of that because there's nothing really to be said about her experience outside of her saying that it's her penance to do this now, which feels convenient.

And then Leah, who I like personally, I've talked to Leah before, but she just seems like someone who should not have been on reality television and was not well suited to that medium. She admittedly relapsed right before she started filming and told the producers that it was fine that she was drinking and that when alcohol was around, she...

participated in it. And she basically had that, a continued relapse on television. And then when it finally ended, what she's saying is like the viewers and the producers felt she was more boring and they didn't have as much use for her. Meanwhile, it's like we see these housewives go on sober journeys all the time on these shows.

I really started reading it with the intent to like keep checking myself. I was like, I know I'm a fan of this show. I'm going to try to go in with an open mind and see if there's anything these women have to really say. I'm sorry, but where is the misconduct in Bethany and Leah's stories? I'm not seeing it. Well, what was like the union angle on the

To be honest with you, it's kind of unclear. It's like, and that's what I mean when I say it feels like it's more personal because it's like, there's not really in the article, this like spelling out of ways in which they want things to change. There's no like collective action there because I mean, obviously you and I are per union, but anytime I've read things about what Bethany's trying to accomplish, I go,

I'm not connecting to like, what about like collective power and bargaining, like play in to this whole Bravo world. I have never bought about Bethany Frankel that her next act is like champion of the people. I've just never bought that about her. Like, I don't, I think maybe that's what she thinks will work for her or what she thinks that we want to see from her. But like, I've just never bought that.

there was anything in the stuff that she does that wasn't personally motivated. I just don't. I think that she's a stunt queen. I think she wanted this out before BravoCon and before all these premieres this week because Bravo's having a big week right now. And I think that there's a lot of eyes on reality because scripted has come to a standstill and she knows she can get a lot of attention for this. But she's not really saying anything because they try to frame...

Like, for example, when they go on vacation and the house is stocked with alcohol, they try to frame that like the producers and Andy Cohen are somehow plying these women with alcohol. I'm sorry, but like, that's what a vacation is. You go to the house and there's alcohol there. You then make your decisions about how you behave and what you can handle. If you cannot be in control of those decisions, you're

Not only should you not be in that environment, but you certainly shouldn't be televised in that environment. These women need better lawyers and better people around them to help them make decisions if they are not equipped to be in these circumstances. Was there anything in the article about how there was pressure from producers to get them to drink? There's these vague allusions to like, Leah talks about how Andy, I suppose, asked

did you have a relapse on camera? And she said, no, I relapsed shortly before. And then she claims that he looked disappointed.

And I'm thinking, okay, the assumption here is that he looked disappointed because you didn't relapse on camera. Is it possible he's disappointed that you relapsed at all? It's just these very vague, open-ended assertions in the article and no real statement of misconduct outside of the ebony stuff, which I think sucks because...

The Ebony stuff holds something. There's something there. Yeah, yeah. Whereas, like, there's no there there with the Bethany thing. The way this is being gone about, I'm sorry I'm using the passive voice here, but, like, Bethany's involvement in this is complicated because it can only be perceived as personal against Andy. Yeah, I think that's true. I don't know. And there's nothing wrong with that in terms of, like, a union effort, but it's just, like...

I, as a reader of this piece in the future, I'll have to parse that out and separate that from this narrative that's already been worked into the medium that is reality television, which is...

platformed on Bravo, which is like, that's the delivery system. And so it's like, well, how do we fix that system while also trying to make this better for like, let's get so tangled up. And I think the reason that that's also true is because it's also become part of this other macro thing in our culture, which is capital T, capital P, the takedown piece. You know what I mean? It's like, I know if this was going to come out

And I, like I said, I started reading this being like, let's see, is there something harmful about this? Because if there is, we should know.

And what I'm seeing when I read the piece is, yeah, alcoholism is really rough. It is tough. It is a disease. It's tough. But I almost feel like, where is the piece about the NFL and the fact that how that is like alcohol culture and like, you know, if you macro zoom out and you look at that, like you could take it apart. Where is the piece about like any part of this business that like is actually fucked up? We're not discussing this in terms of like,

oh, like these shouldn't exist. Like they should have done a better job. Like they didn't do what they set out to do. We're just saying that like it diminishes the impact overall. And it makes it hard for us as an audience, as a readership to like have an expectation for like what should happen next. Right. Because the way that Bethany is like posed on the cover of Vanity Fair. You're like, is this an Oscar campaign? Saying nothing. I'm like this episode,

actually takes the wind out of other pieces, sales and other journalists who actually have things to say about people who are actually in trouble in places in this business.

And when the journalism is this soft and this shitty, it makes it harder for people who really need voices heard to be heard. Because if I'm to read this piece, then there's a lot going on in the ebony aspect. And there's just not enough. And I really, I think it's frustrating. Because it's like, it to me reeks. It's so playbook to have this come out before BravoCon. And it's just, I just... Well, and then that's it too. She doesn't pass the smell test to me at all.

It's like these deadlines are probably, they're not helping. You know what I mean? It's like they needed this to go out before Brabacon, which meant that like,

it was maybe underreported, underresearched, or something. Yeah. Or like under-evaluated on an editorial level where they go, what are we trying to say here? Right, right. Yeah. Because it did seem confused to me at the end. It also felt confusing to me for them to admittedly say the writer of the piece was a fan of the show. That's a huge red flag. Right. Mm-hmm. Right. Like, it just feels like that doesn't feel objective to me. And shouldn't that be the point? Mm-hmm.

I feel like Bradley Jackson in episode one of The Morning Show. Exactly. Or I feel like Alex Levy, to be honest, like, well, why are you the story? Let's talk TSTV1989. Okay, let's do it. Are you scared? I'm not scared. I actually think there's a pretty general consensus about TSTV1989. Which is? Which is...

There's some confusion about the vault tracks. One. To me, personally, I've only given them one listen. Yeah. Wow. And everything except Slut, I'm like, this was written for Midnight's. You think so? 1000%. I think that you could be right about that. I think that if it was written back then, I think it's certainly produced in a very Midnight's-y way. Sure, sure. Then I will grant that. I think I'm in the...

majority here when I say and also I don't want to hear it because every single time she releases an album I praise up and down like yes I think I've been I've always erred on the side it is extremely enthusiastic about everything she's been releasing we didn't get to talk about speak now TV I think that is yeah hugely underrated great the vault tracks are spectacular and they feel like speak now vault tracks do they feel like speak now vault tracks undeniably I think

Her vocal choices on the re-records are very interesting. And I like that she's leaning into how she's aged, you know, as a vocalist. Aged as in, like, texturized herself vocally in the years since. Were you about to say something about...

Well, what I think is that some of these Vault tracks are really, really good. Yes. I love Is It Over Yet? I actually think, for me, I think the standout is Now That We Don't Talk. I love Now That We Don't Talk. Love it. Slut is good. I mean, Say Don't Go is a lot of fun. It's very Diane Warren. I love hearing that on Taylor. I feel like arranged differently, it could be a really fun song sung by a different vocalist too. Yes. Fun song. The re-records? Mm-mm.

And it brings us no pleasure to say that it feels... That didn't. It feels like she chopped it up. I don't think she gave a shit.

or I just don't think she likes this producer that did a lot of it. I think the Jack tracks fare a lot better. Yes, the Jack tracks sound great. Out of the Woods sounds great. Yeah, I think she does some interesting things on Out of the Woods for sure. I wish she would. I liked Wish You Would a lot. I like I Wish You Would a lot. And if you were to look at the tweets about the style re-record, you would think they were hyperbolic. Whoa. As in hyperbolically harsh? Hyperbolically harsh? They are not. I think the style re-record is that bad.

She sounds like she's not even thinking about the words when she sings it. And all I have had to say about her recently as a vocalist is how great I think she is. That is without question. She's so amazing in concert. Just something didn't happen on the 1989 Vault tracks like...

The vlog tracks or the re-records? No, the re-records. Blank Space, again, there's none of the personality in it. Maybe she was just really in this specific bag when she was recording the 1989 originally, but she sounded like she had other things on her mind on these new re-recorded versions, largely. It's usually the tracks that this guy Christopher Rowe produced. I don't think they did great work together on this. It's funny because...

on, I think, This Love and Wildest Dreams, which were the ones that she released way in advance. Years ago, she released Wildest Dreams TV and This Love. I was like, these sound very promising. I mean, Wildest Dreams slaps compared to the other ones. That's what I'm saying. I wonder what the timeline was for the re-records and all this stuff. There is something that's not... There's no connective tissue here in terms of like...

where she was at, whatever that means, as she was doing this. With Speak Now, with Red, with Fearless, it's like there is this nice cohesion there throughout each album, going into the Vault tracks especially. And I feel like there's such a distinct break after...

After New Romantics, you're just like, this is a different thing sonically, which is fine. No problem. Of course, these are like cutting room floor tracks. Yeah. But I can't help but be like, this was written in 2021. Yeah.

for Midnight. Do you know what I mean? Yes. I totally get what you mean. Whether or not that's true, certainly it felt like they didn't care as much about making it feel like 1989 as much as they did on Certainly Fearless. Definitely Red. Definitely Red and Speak Now. That's what I really enjoyed about

all those vault tracks. I was like, wow, this feels like she's making a song. Like, I can see you. Like, I don't know if I'll listen to it every single day for the rest of my life, but it feels like a Speak Now track. When Emma falls in love. Yes. Definitely a Speak Now track. And it's so lovely. I mean, there's nothing bad about these vault tracks on 1989. It's just, I...

for some reason, I'm not sold on them being originally written for this album. That's my conspiracy. Yeah. And I feel like I do agree with you. I feel like I'm less hard on that because to me, what I'm like struggling with are the re-records. Because ostensibly, if these are supposed to be the versions that we're supposed to listen to now instead of the old ones, I...

I don't want to listen to this new version of style. I want the old version of style. I want the old Blake space. And I feel like most people are going to listen to both and be like, you guys are fucking crazy. They sound the same, but there's something I'm sure in there. I'm sure people, I'm sure a decent amount of people will actually agree with us. Yeah. She just sounds, she doesn't sound in it.

on these records and i'm obsessed with her i saw the show four times i've seen the movie twice i know you saw the movie this weekend i saw the movie on halloween instead of doing halloween like that's that's who i am and where i'm at like i don't want to come on here and be like the 1989 re-record didn't give have you heard the the rumor what that ari is working with max on her on ag7

Babe, is that a rumor or are you spilling tea? I'm not spilling tea. I'm just reading what Pop Crave is feeding me. So you're telling me that you went on Pop Crave, you, Bo and Yang, went on Pop Crave and saw that there was a report from Pop Crave and you didn't text your girl? I am not going to bother her with trifling things such as this. Trifling things? It's not trifling things. I'm just like, I respect...

what she has with the way she engages with her music and her songwriting process. And I'm like, I'm not going to be like a stand and be like, so like, when's this coming? Like, like that is, she, she is in such an exploratory phase right now where I don't need to be like, Oh, that's exciting. Do you know what I mean? I'm like, I'm not going to like bother you about this. Like whatever you like, you're going to go spelunking into the cave and then whatever you come out with,

we will pop carnage. We will gag. Do you know what I mean? This is a very exciting thing for me personally. I'm just like, whatever this girl is going to, is about to give with Max Martin. I'm like, it will be fucking amazing. I mean, even just hearing Brittany talk about Max Martin, like you realize how long this has been the diva, the doll.

Bo, listen, vacation, it's something you got to get right. You can't roll the dice. You have to make sure that it's all together. Everything is where it's supposed to be when you get where you're going on vacation. Can you agree? I have never agreed with you more. And I've

so many wonderful trips with you in the past. Bowen, I remember one of our favorite trips to Toronto when we shared that Airbnb. Remember that? Airbnb came in the clutch. We were doing our I Don't Think So Honey live in Toronto. We stayed in that amazing Airbnb. We loved it. We had the time of our life. Thanks, Airbnb, still to this day. I remember that Airbnb like it was my own childhood home. Thank you, Airbnb.

If you're planning a trip on Airbnb, try a guest favorite. The most loved homes on Airbnb. The guest favorites are a collection of some of Airbnb's most loved homes based on reviews and reliability. But why is Airbnb better than a hotel? First of all, more space. Great for a trip with a lot of people and allows you to be closer to friends and family when traveling together. Second, more bathrooms because sharing a bathroom, I know it's not our favorite thing to do.

Also, more common area spaces to hang out together. No more feeling crammed in one person's hotel room for the pre-party. Airbnbs can have things like a private movie room or game room. Think pool table darts, board games. These are easily accessible and you don't have to share the amenities with others. Looking for an authentic and local experience? Stay in the coolest parts of the area instead of the touristy ones. Airbnb, it's just for you and me. Hey everyone, we here at Lost Culture East just love

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Highlanders and more when you visit buyatoyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. What else is a cultural topic? Well, Wicked 20. Congratulations to all of us and Glenda's and Glenda's of the past. Everybody's been an Elphaba and a Glenda, haven't they? But you know what? It is one of those things where you think like Wicked really gagged the girls literally because it was like,

Everyone before the show was like, there's no reason why a Broadway show with two female leads should go up. Wow. Isn't that insane? It is insane. But before Wicked, that wasn't a thing. Crazy. Yeah, I mean... And it really has launched so many careers. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I'm going to go back on my thing about the DeLorean. I would love to DeLorean go back in time and see Adina and Kristen. Me too. And you know what I would not do? I would not yell at that teacher.

Thank you. Because I wouldn't want to scare a woman in a parking lot just because she was giving you some adversity. I think you grew from the adversity. I think I grew. You grew. I grew. Wait. What? You forgot something? Rest in peace, Matthew Perry. This was awful. Oh my God. This was awful. And this is... That also had me thinking about like alcoholism and how difficult it is because it seemed like he really fucking struggled and they haven't announced...

you know, the cause of death or anything, but I just know how difficult he had it and my heart just goes out. So funny. I ran into someone on the train and I was listening to the Britney audio book, funnily enough. And he was like, are you listening to it? I was like, yeah. And he goes, no, like I've been on a celebrity memoir kick.

This was on, like, Tuesday. So it was, like, essentially hours before. Not hours before, like, days before. But, like, still, it was such a strange thing. It was, like, the Matthew Perry book. I was like, oh, really? He was like... I knew he was struggling, but, like, I guess I haven't, like, looked into, like, how intense that was. He was like, no, it was... Like, he talks about how, like, season three of Friends, he was on, like, 20 Vicodin a day. Like, it was really hard for him. And...

It's so tragic. And look, shout out to Mindy Tucker, who today on Instagram went on a really well-informed thing about how like,

Let's just really be careful going into the water at all alone at any age, but especially as you're older, but like, especially in hot tubs. Hot tubs are actually high key kind of dangerous, especially if you're alone, especially if you have a heart problem that you don't know about. Just if you're alone, it's just like, it's not the safest place to be in. Just period. So that's really...

important. I feel like we often think that we take for granted, I think, our vulnerability in humanity sometimes. It's like, you know, we're human beings. We get into situations where our bodies get overwhelmed. Sometimes we can't handle certain things. It is a reminder to be even more careful. That is so useful and true. And unfortunately...

I wish it didn't have to take the tragedies like this for us to tell each other to like take care of ourselves. And, you know, obviously I feel badly even jumping into the narrative that like there must have been something that went wrong, but he was so public about his struggles with alcoholism that like, unfortunately, like the mention of his death at an early age, just bring up questions about this. And it is really fucking hard. And I, what I thought was, um,

at least the comfort in the last day or so was there was a quote that was resurfacing that he said which was I might be a lot of things but I am absolutely 100% a person who helps someone when they say they're struggling with what I'm struggling with like even if I can't help myself which I often can't I am the person who every single time someone reaches out to me and they have a problem or they have something I'm going through related to alcohol or drugs I point them in the right direction so that is something I can say about myself and

And I'm sure I'll be best known for Friends and this television show and this character that I played. But it would be nice if people could also remember that too. And he said something like, I know that won't happen, but that would be my wish. So I saw a bunch of people sharing that. I shared that. And he obviously was an incredibly talented and charismatic actor and a part of TV history. But he was also a human being who struggled. And the fact that he

wanted that to be true, I think is something that we can all help him accomplish. Yes. Yes. I just can't believe we've hit the point where, like, someone on the Friends cast has passed. Isn't that fucking crazy? Yeah, I know. Obviously, like, they only played that close to Friends on TV, but I did think of them. I thought, like, I wonder how they're all, you know, feeling. And it's just so difficult and obviously triggering when anyone...

is publicly struggling with something that I think we all know someone who has been, especially as we get older. You know what I mean? Like, I think that we're all realizing like, just how easy it is. You and I are hurting an age now where it's like, oh, this is when people that we know who are around our age start to realize stuff. Yeah. Isn't that interesting? Yeah. That actually, you know what? I even had therapy today and I talked about it today. Like I,

Not necessarily in the context of anyone, but it's just in the context of myself. I was like, I was thinking like,

I was in the shower earlier and I think I was thinking about Matthew Perry and some other people in my life. And I was thinking, it would be hard for me to just stop drinking. And I don't even have that thing within me that begs me to drink again. I'm just saying socially, in terms of how we live our lives, it would be hard for me to say I'm not drinking anymore. And I'm not even someone who's sick. So I can't even imagine. That's why I never...

It never surprises me or it never like shocks me when people like take a long time to understand that they have a problem with it. Because alcohol specifically is so baked into everything in the culture. Everywhere you look, it's there. It's mentioned. People talk about it casually. It's like Sarah Sherman was saying this at work. It's like alcohol is capitalism. It's like it is just...

It is the big market. You know what I mean? It's like... Think about the ad dollars. Any ad offers you get for alcohol, that is the highest paying market, period. Yeah. Alcohol ad money is the richest ad money out there. Absolutely. It's that for a reason. It's like there is a deep investment in making sure this thing gets distributed and that people consume it. Yeah. It's a lot. And I guess that's why the housewives thing with the alcohol...

it bothered me even more because I was like, we're pretending like this isn't a part, a symptom of...

society. That's why I brought up the football thing. It's because I'm like, this basically is a game that lives and dies on this masculine thing and the alcohol, the selling of alcohol, the drinking of alcohol, the consumption of alcohol. I know from growing up in a culture that was football driven that it goes hand in hand and it is really sad, as you said, to see people

come up in environments where it's just a given and then discover they have real issues later. But they didn't really stand a chance because as you said, it's baked in, especially when you're talking about capitalism, especially when you're talking about like eventized culture. Like, you know what I mean? Like it's...

If it's an event, it's assumed that it's there. Absolutely. I'm planning a party on Thursday. And what's been one of the number one things? How much alcohol do we need? In fact, it was the first thing. Girl, are you making a non-alcoholic cocktail? Baby! You better. I'm doing one for my housewarming. That's good. That you won't be at. I'm very sad. No, I am sad. I'm going to be missing that. I would really want to come to that. That's so shitty. Like, I should be here for your housewarming. But I literally can't be. Well, I feel like I'm failing you as a friend because I'm not present for your album release.

It's okay. I mean, like, here we are. We're celebrating each other. We don't need it to be Christmas at all. Hint at one of my songs. Anyway, not to be bleak on this episode with all these topics we've talked about. Like, I feel like we couldn't even get it up for 1989 Taylor's version.

Wait, hold on. Let me look at my notes. Was anything good? I liked the Beverly Hills premiere. Yeah, it was fun. I like that Dorit is activated. Dorit is activated. Erica is learning about empathy. Yeah, when she was being explained empathy and she was like under her breath, how they feel, how they feel. I was like, this is... It's actually, I don't find that endearing at all.

Erica is like toast. You're not pro-Erica. I've never really been pro- Pat Regan and I have both worn it as badges of honor. Yes, you're right. He was never- You were never- I was never pro-Erica. I used to love Erica. And I feel like I'm tolerating her now. I get it. She's like a shiny bobble of a thing. But like-

a rotten person to her core. And what lights me up now watching Beverly Hills is, and I never thought I would say this in a million years, you know what I'm about to say? Sutton. Sutton, I'm like, get Sutton back on the television. You have said this before. Like, you are a slut. I'm a slut now. I'm a full slut. And like, she is, look, she has the capacity to grow,

more than anyone else on the show. - She's a huge part of it. - She's a huge part of it. She's so compelling. She is always funny, always interesting. Can go from being light to also being very heavy when she wants. - Yeah. - She is very good at this. - Yeah, she's a good housewife. And I will say, the Garcelle stuff this week, I was upset for her because I actually think it's tough because

The Erica thing with Jax when she was mean to him on television and asking him at the party, I think that may have affected him more than we realized. Erica fucking sucks. That was not good. But I thought the way he was talking to his mother, I was really upset for her because he was like, I needed a mom two years ago and you weren't there and now I'm fine, so whatever. Yeah.

And then for her to say to camera that she felt like she'd failed as a mom, I was like, I just thought about talking to my own mom like that. And I was like, you're going to really regret saying that to your mom on television. Because I don't know if he says that to his father. And also, let's be real. She didn't ask to be a single mom. No. I'm sorry, but you're sitting on the beach in Malibu in your, like...

I just didn't like the way he talked to his mom, who works really hard... To give him a life where he can sit on the beach in Malibu. I think he's going to have regrets about the way he talked to her on television because I think that she didn't deserve to have her feelings hurt like that. I understand, like... That that was a traumatic moment, that he had that moment televised when Erica was being horrible. But yeah, it's not Garcelle's fault. That just made me feel bad because A, I don't think it's true that she's been...

anywhere near a failure as a mom. I think she works hard and loves her kids a lot and has an opportunity now to really hit the pavement and make a lot of money for them and really support them and herself. And she should have that opportunity. And B, I just think he's going to regret it. I would not want to be on television as a 14-year-old saying that to my mother. It actually, it really shook me. And I just, I don't know.

And how real do you think this Kyle Richards stuff is? I don't know what to make of it. I am like so done with Kyle being the de facto protagonist of the show. I'm like, am I supposed to care? You know, I'm supposed to care, but do I? I can't put my finger on it. Something about it is not landing with me. I think that they probably are having...

a transition in their marriage. I get that, but there's something about the tattoos and the being, the hanging out with Morgan Wade. There's something about it. There's something about it which doesn't pass the smell test to me. Well, like, so many things about Kyle in recent seasons have been like, wait, what? Like, wait, what is this about? Like, the whole, the whole Kathy thing. Like, I'm just like, we lack context. Do you know what I mean? There's something off. Something's off, but something has been off with her. Like,

I can't tell when she's acting. Something's not authentic about it. Period. Yeah. And I guess we'll see Potomac soon. Oh, I have this. But also, LOL, Erica being like, I'm on hormones. It's hormones. My hormones are amazing. It's not Ozempic. Ozempic is a hormone, essentially. So that's her way around it. I mean, look, no judgment. No judgment there, but it's like, just say it. Yeah. No judgment. But again, like, it's like the thing with these actors being like, I'm married to this woman. Yeah.

What are you trying to protect? What are you trying... Who's... Like, okay. Whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And if it is just hormones, like, slay, go off. It's just that, like, it's convenient that it happens concurrently with the very publicized rise of Ozepic. If the Potomac taglines were RuPaul's Drag Race Challenge, who is the top of the week and who is in the bottom two? I mean, we both know Candice is the winner. Candice is the winner. And the bottom is...

I'm going to say Robin Dixon. Robin Dixon, you are in the bottom this evening. Are we doing bottom two? 100% that bitch and... 100% I 100%... No, she did the whole... I just took a DNA test and it turns out I 100% don't care. The way she says care is so shocking. I 100% don't care. Like she goes down a full octave. Um...

She's definitely bottom two. She fucking sucks. Has always... Actually, no, has not always sucked. This is the thing that we were talking about. I used to love these women. And it's so sad how now I don't respect half of them. Every season, I go in trying, but Robin has set a low bar, and I will say...

Girl, if you really don't care, why are you crying on the street? Why are you hiding shit from the show? Why are you crying on the street, on the side of the road if you don't care? You care. It's okay. It's okay to care. Be activated. Be upset that your husband keeps cheating on you. You know what I'm saying? Wow. It's like we need to shake her into being. Wake up, Robin. And then who else is bottom two? What did Ashley say? I don't even remember. Mia...

oh, I might live in a small house, but it's small. That's so sad. Something like that. And I'm not saying that the square footage of your house determines anything about you, but for Mia Thornton to say that and use that as her tagline is...

Pathetic. Anyway, we so look forward to it. We're going to watch Miami tonight. Yes, we're going to watch Miami right after this. I'm going to need more water soon. But speaking of water and re-energizing, let's re-energize our audience because I know they're thirsty little piglets for I don't think so, honey. Yes.

This is I Don't Think So, Honey. This is where we take one minute to rail against something in culture. Matt, do you have a topic? I do have a topic. Okay. This is Matt Rodgers' I Don't Think So, Honey. His time starts now. I don't think so, honey. Anyone saying the wrestling singlet is played as a Halloween costume. Oh, who cares? Boys, I say keep going. Keep going. Y'all look good. You got those thunder thighs. You can fill it out. You're gonna push the dick to the side. Push the dick to the side. Keep on.

rocking those wrestling singlets, girls. That is a costume. Yes. Is it like Madonna night on RuPaul's Drag Race with some of you? Yes. I keep seeing too many singlets, but it's fine because guess what? They work. You boys look good. It doesn't matter. You just all seem to be really pulling it off.

And someday soon, you know, maybe it's not going to look like that. I know the power of walking around in a wrestling singlet at your best. I wore one in the film Fire Island, and I'm so happy that it's on camera. So you would want it on camera too. So you know when's a really good opportunity to get photographed and videoed? On Halloween, honey. And it's an excuse.

because you can't just go out walking everywhere wearing a wrestling singlet. So I support you boys and ladies and all my enbies out there who want to wear a wrestling singlet. You look amazing. And that's one minute. You're so right.

Let the girls wear the singlet. I say, and it's just so tired because really what you're saying when you see a wrestling singlet and you're like, oh, her real original is you're like, you're scared to admit how horny you are. A wrestling singlet does it every time. Does it every time. This is not, my item thing is Halloween related as well, but it's not this, but like low effort Halloween is actually okay. It's the only way to go. It's actually like,

the smarter way to go, and we're afraid to say it, but if you're putting in a lot of effort, well, actually, this is about to be made on Think So Honey, so put me on the clock. Oh my God, okay. So we're going right to the clock. Bowen's transitioning right into his I Don't Think So Honey. This is his I Don't Think So Honey as time starts now. I Don't Think So Honey if you are hiring prostheticians to put shit on you for your Halloween costume. Girl, that is peacocking a little too much, don't you think? The only person who is maybe allowed to do that is Matty Majocomo for his Peloton walk

classes because he looks, he goes all in and he looks amazing and he commits to the damn look. But if you're out there going to horse meat disco and you're, you have little prosthetic things like your fucking Gaga during the born this way era, honey, stop. It's a waste of time, a waste of money. You cannot possibly be comfortable with all that shit on you. You can put liquid latex on your face. If you want to look like you're mangled, fine. You can go all out with the horror makeup. Yes, please go off my queen. But if you are hiring people to, I've seen some of you girls, uh,

with your little time lapse videos of hiring makeup artists to put shit on you for the damn night. And it's like, I don't think this is worthwhile. It's Halloween. Just take it easy. Five seconds. We cannot be like wealth brandishing about this way. And that's one minute. You don't think there's something to be said about them helping the economy? Girl, I don't. These makeup artists are making a coin on every Halloween. I,

If you're Heidi Klum, if your thing is, I go all fucking out. But don't go to horse meat, just go with it. I'm saying don't go to a fucking party with that shit. Yeah. Sometimes I'm like, you guys...

Maybe I'm speaking from a privileged place because like, oh, I play dress up every week. Yeah, you get this opportunity all the time to look like a crazy creature. But I don't have to put on a costume. I just think this is another area in which we get to like, kind of like flex a little bit. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. I just am like, it can be a lot. It's the tripwire is low.

You know, I just worry. And here's the thing. Like, for me, it's no big deal if anyone else wants to go all the way off. Please. I just... It's so uncomfortable. Even if I put a wig on, I'm like... It's so uncomfortable. Oh, my God. I'm absolutely dying. Dying under this wig. Forget about makeup and all the things. And sometimes these, like, cumbersome costumes, girl. I just feel...

Like crazy. Crazy. But people can do whatever they want to do, but you're taking a stand. You're saying no. I'm saying I don't think so, honey, which as we all know is not, you know, to be taken, not to be taken seriously.

Oh my God. Girl. Girl. We went heavy this episode. We talked about Brittany. We talked about the housewives thing. Talked about Matthew. And we talked about 1989 TV. This was the takedown episode. We weren't taking things down. We were not. Brittany was taking down her family. Yeah. What should we call this episode? Hmm. Interesting.

vicious gerunding vicious gerunding vicious gerunding do you think that says click me I think so that's a what are these boys talking about you don't think so you want to come up with something better should we come up with something juicy okay hmm the Britney episode the Britney episode 2 the Britney episode 2 Britney and more

Perfect. The Britney episode two, Britney and more. Perfect to me. Wow, we did it. Thanks for joining us. As always, Readers Keys, Pulp Is This Finalist. Be sure to stream Have You Heard of Christmas this Friday. Wow, it's coming out. I cannot wait for my sister. This is a 10 out of 10 no skips album. I'm so proud of you. You're too kind to me, Aquina. Aquina. We end every episode with a song. There must be

I guess I lost the words. It's fine. All I know is action. Wait, you know what I wanted to say before we end?

She was an unbelievable recording artist. If you listen to her songs, what she does on Me Against the Music, there's a backing vocal which is like, I let people in the crowd rather than take it down. That's like full vocal fry. She's like, fuck it, I don't care. The sounds she was making to create her lead vocal. Britney was an amazing singer. She was an incredible singer. And In The Zone is, for me, it's always been a time between In The Zone and Blackout. Yeah, I mean, she really loves Blackout.

And she really loves In The Zone. And she really loves Glory. I love that she really loves Glory. Glory is an amazing album. I need to listen to Glory all the way through. When it starts and you listen to Invitation, just like put your earphones in and like close your eyes and lay on your back, girl. Because Brittany will take you for a ride. She's inviting. She is. And then, you know, you also get on that album. Do you want to come over? Bye. Bye. Bye.

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