Hot Takes & Deep Dives

Dream guest alert! We are FINALLY joined by Genesis Moss, your host's "gay root" (aka most formative lesbian) and star of The Real World: Boston! Genesis chats about coming out in high school in Mississippi, her roommates Montana, Syrus, Elka & Sean Duffy, drama at the after-school center, bringing drag and trans awareness to MTV in 1997, her connection to Britney and already being contacted for a...

Jess is joined by trailblazing New York City dancer~actress~performer Candis Cayne! Candis chats about her journey from initially coming out as gay, to building a career as a drag performer to eventually making her transition part of her act at Barracuda. She reminisces about performing in the streets - literal NYC traffic - cementing her legacy as one of the greatest performers in nightlife. She...

Jess is joined by fellow Howard Stern superfans, Ryan Bailey (So Bad It's Good) and Jacques Peterson (Unpopular), to unearth a 2006 pre-Housewives Bethenny appearance on The Howard Stern Show. We then pull back the curtain on a leaked 2012 All Staff Meeting (think Howard's Ted talk warning shot to his staff). We also discuss the Wendy Williams 2019 fight, not returning to the studio and debate whe...

Jess is joined by John Arthur Hill, Andy Cohen's SiriusXM co-host, go-to producer and noted ex-boyfriend. We discuss their meet-cute origin story while John was starring in Hairspray on Broadway and how they've maintained such a good relationship nearly 15 years later. John discusses his experience as a writer/producer on Watch What Happens Live and Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List and talks...

Jess is joined by Jamie Stein for a deep dive on House of Hilton, the 2006 tell-all about the Hilton dynasty, heavily featuring the backstories of Kathy Hilton, Kyle & Kim Richards and their mother, Big Kathy. We explore Big Kathy's mission for men, money and Hollywood and the ways in which she projected those dreams onto her three daughters, how their mom kicked Kyle & Kim's father out of the hom...

Jess is joined by comedians, L Word historians and co-hosts of "You Might Know Her From," Damian Bellino and Anne Rodeman, for The L Word deep dive of our dreams. We share our L Word origin stories, review the reboot (Gen Q), discuss their interviews w/ Guinevere Turner & Laurel Holloman, our obsession with Sepideh Moafi (Gigi), name our top 5 lesbians, discuss Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey's pod...

Jess is joined by RHONY fave Dorinda Medley! Dorinda goes deep about renovating Blue Stone Manor to be "Frankenstein meets Marilyn Monroe," working as both a real estate agent (where she met Richard Medley) and an aerobics instructor in New York City, SoulCycle, Barry's Bootcamp, plus her relationship to money, astrology (Sun in Sagittarius, Moon in Aries) and healing herbs. Dorinda also describes...

Jess is joined by Ben Rimalower (aka Countess Luann's cabaret director) for the Fire Island deep dive of our dreams. Ben and Jess share an intense affinity for the history and culture of the gay safe haven hamlets of Cherry Grove and The Pines. We go deep on our first experiences of FI, history of The Invasion and the Meat Rack, discuss share house culture, being sober in the wonderland of sex & d...

Jess is joined by two of the most unfiltered and knowledgable Bravo pundits in the game, returning friends Zack Peter (No Filter) & Jacques Peterson (Unpopular). Together, we analyze Erika Jayne's ~performance~ on RHOBH, Zack's latest discoveries in the Girardi scandal and our take on Housewivesian lawyer Ronald Richards. We then move on to RHONY — primarily the Eboni elephant In the room — plus,...

Jess is joined by the man, the myth, the DSLs: Mikey Minden. As Erika Jayne's creative director & choreographer Mikey Minden is responsible for the looks, moves, lighting, makeup & general artistry in her music videos, photoshoots & appearances on RHOBH. We chat about Mikey's career as a child dance prodigy and his work with The Pussycat Dolls, Usher, Kim Kardashian & Pink. We go deep on his artis...

Jess is joined by Madonna MLVC pod co-host Tony Trius in his third appearance, this time for our official Sandra Bernhard Showbiz Glamour Power Hour. We share our Sandy origin stories, New York City run-ins, nights at Joe's Pub, discuss Without You I'm Nothing,  appearances on Howard Stern, Letterman and Roseanne + relive the late-80s clique of Madonna, Sandy, Debi Mazar and Jennifer Grey. Plus, J...

Jess is joined by Andy Bellatti (aka Astrology with Andy), who in addition to our astrologer to the Housewives and pop queens, is also our resident Drag Race expert. Andy provides guidance on how to begin one's Drag Race Journey before going deep with trivia and history surrounding the show's evolution, behind the scenes tea, Untucked, RuPaul controversy, Michelle Visage, why the tide turned in se...

Jess is joined by Real Housewives of Beverly Hills OG Taylor Armstrong for a deep dive into one of the darkest Housewives storylines to play out on the show.  Taylor describes the initial casting for RHOBH, with thousands of Hollywood types trying out for the "part" (including Lisa Rinna). We dissect the infamous "But Now We Said It" scene and the new context that was brought to light re: Camille...

Jess is joined by comedian Gina Yashere, star of three Netflix stand-up specials and the co-creator and star of the CBS sitcom "Bob Hearts Abishola." Gina discusses her experience working as the first female Otis elevator engineer before pursuing comedy and shares how she was eventually discovered by Chuck Lorre (Roseanne, Cybill, Big Bang Theory) to co-create a show about a Nigerian family based...

Jess is joined by television writer, producer and director Page Hurwitz, exec. producer of Emmy-nominated Netflix comedy specials starring Tiffany Haddish, Fortune Feimster and Michelle Buteau. Hurwitz discusses discovering and casting those women (plus Amy Schumer) on Last Comic Standing. Hurwitz also chats about her experience as the EP and showrunner for Rosie O'Donnell's Oprah OWN talk show an...

Jess is joined by contrarian king Jacques Peterson (live from Sydney, Australia) to finally let loose on our Big Shot with Bethenny journeys. We discuss behind the scenes of casting & production, the winner and which network would have made more sense. We also touch on Ellen DeGeneres and The View before moving on to RHOBH & RHONY.  [ 2:30 - Big Shot w/ Bethenny ] [ 32:25 - Ellen & The View ] [ 38...

Jess is joined by the man who has written more words about the Housewives than anyone — Vulture's Brian Moylan — now publishing a book on how the sausage gets made (to quote Bethenny). We break the sh*t down, including: the "call to end all calls" that happened after RHONY's Cartagena Boat Ride From Hell, why Andy Cohen is the RuPaul of Housewives, the difference between each production company's...

Jess is joined by Sexy Unique Podcast's Lara Marie Schoenhals (@larzmarie) to unpack our feelings re: the forthcoming Sex and the City revival titled "And Just Like That." Lara Marie Schoenhals also hosts the podcast "Saving SATC 3," in which she improvs a final installment of the franchise in each episode. Together, Jess and Lara share their SATC origin stories, process Kim Cattrall, compare to R...

Jess is joined by Ben Rimalower, career theatre writer/director known to RHONY fans as Countess Luann's long-suffering cabaret director. Ben shares stories of producing audiobooks for both Bethenny AND Teresa Giudice, filming RHONJ/RHONY, Halloween afterparties with Bethenny & Luann and his reaction to Bethenny's "Life is Not a Cabaret" monologue. Ben also discusses his one man shows: "Patti Issue...

Jess is joined by fashion designer, performer and quintessential New Yorker — Isaac Mizrahi! Jess and Isaac break the sh*t down, including: Isaac's wild nights with Madonna and Sandra Bernhard, his talk show which featured Rosie O'Donnell getting that infamous haircut, how fashion shows and red carpets have changed, how he secured his West Village combination apartment without going broke, '90s di...

Jess welcomes the one true queen of Summer House — Lindsay Hubbard! We go deep on everything, including Summer House's entry into the canon via Vanderpump Rules, a listening tour of the Hamptons, Lindsay's family history, and whether she identifies more as a PR publicist guru vs. reality star these days. We also discuss Lindsay's Sun/Moon/Rising signs, an off-camera crazy dating story, fans (inclu...

Jess is joined by friend of the show and our hometown hero in Beverly Hills, host of #NoFilter, Zack Peter! Together, Zack and Jess react to the freshly dropped Real Housewives of Beverly Hills trailer and compare our expectations to the upcoming RHONY season. We also discuss how Zack became an actual plot point on the season premiere of Summer House and we rank which recent Housewives arrest/inve...

Wow, NYC Prep, wow! We are joined by husband to the pod, Ryan Bailey, for Jess' virgin viewing (and Ryan's hundredth) of Bravo's one-season wonder, NYC Prep. Together, we explore the psychological depths of our fave Manhattan wannabe socialites: PC, Sebastian, Jessie, Camille, Kelli & Taylor. We catch up with where are they now, why NYC Prep was canceled and declare this the very best of the one-s...

Jess welcomes Mohammed Bilal — the musician, poet and voice of reason on the groundbreaking third season of The Real World: San Francisco. Back in 1994, while Friends and Reality Bites were depicting Gen X as lazy slackers, The Real World: San Francisco cast its most racially diverse group of housemates who were trying to change the world (well, except Puck). Mohammed describes the cultural impact...

Jess welcomes back former LA prosecutor Emily D. Baker, Esq to understand the parallels between the Britney Spears and Tom Girardi conservatorships. We dig into: recent Britney court hearings & documents, risks of ending her conservatorship and a lot more. We then explore updates in the Tom Girardi / Erika Jayne forced bankruptcy/criminal investigation, specifically a close look at Tom Girardi's r...