Hot Takes & Deep Dives

Jess is joined by the OG of RHONY, Jill Zarin (and daughter Ally!), for a Mother's Day Special in which Jill doles out advice, Secrets of a Jewish Mother-style. First we get into Jill's reaction to the RHONY split and upcoming Housewives Berkshires Girls Trip. Then, Jill & Ally answer questions related to dating, relationships and friendships including:  the Instagram follow in dating, deleting an...

Jess is joined by Gary Janetti, best known for writing/producing Will & Grace, Family Guy and being married to Brad Goreski! Gary discusses meeting a 23 year-old Brad Goreski while on vacation in Mykonos and turning it into a 20+ year relationship, writing Will & Grace, working on Britney & Madonna's guest appearances and the sexual ambiguity of Family Guy's Stewie. Plus, TripAdvisor reviews, Gary...

Jess is joined by Real World: New Orleans' breakout fave, Melissa Beck! Melissa chats about her journey through the MTV machine from auditioning, filming for five months (OG show), paid just $5,000 total. Post-MTV, Melissa discusses trying to make it in comedy and getting cast on Girls Behaving Badly alongside an unknown Chelsea Handler. Plus, the impact of "Come On Be My Baby Tonight," how Mariah...

Jess is joined by Zack Peter for a deep dive into the waters of Bethenny's one season talk show. We review her episodes with Kim Richards, Ramona stealing the dress, Luann, Tracy Anderson, Andy Cohen as well as bizarre yet fascinating segments with audience members. We also discuss B's manic podcast, the time Jess called into Bethenny's SiriusXM show, Jason & Bryn Hoppy and do a tight 5 on good ey...

Jess is joined by JUDY GOLD, Emmy-winning writer/producer for The Rosie O'Donnell Show and NYC stand-up fixture over the last two decades. Judy chats about Joan Rivers, Janeane Garofalo and Rosie's talk show vs. Ellen. Plus, Madonna using Judy's son as a stand-in for baby Lourdes Leon, meeting her partner via a Time Out New York dating ad, reality stars (Countess Luann, Stormy Daniels) doing cabar...

Jess is joined by RHONY's Leah McSweeney (aka LeahMob)!! Leah chats about everything including growing up in Chelsea club-kid culture, sex with girls in high school, her love (and concern) for Britney, Madonna & Courtney Love at the VMAs, experiences in rehab, psych wards and dating a married couple. We also discuss Bethenny quitting RHONY right before Leah started, friendship with Kelly Cutrone a...

Wow, RHONY, Wow. Jess is joined by writer/comedians (and co-hosts of the pod Dyking Out), Melody Kamali & Carolyn Bergier, to react to the breaking news of RHONY being split into two shows. We discuss why the new RHONY should be built around style icon Jenna Lyons, plus the Carole Radziwill / Samantha Ronson connection. We also discuss Carolyn & Melody's foiled attempt to get Sara Ramirez to appea...

Jess is joined by queer comedy icon MARGARET CHO! We chat about Margaret's incredibly prolific career, including her stand-up specials and iconic TV appearances (30 Rock, Sex and the City). Margaret goes deep about her experience starring in a sitcom based on her life where the network (ABC) fed her diet pills and zero-fat cookies in an effort to compete against the casts of Friends and My So-Call...

Jess is joined by SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE character queen CHERI OTERI! Cheri recounts being discovered at The Groundlings, alongside Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin and fellow SNL hopefuls Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan and (gasp) Jennifer Coolidge. Highlights include — origins of her Barbara Walters impression and the cutthroat pressure between cast & writers for airtime. Plus — Jim Carrey's iconic episode, w...

Jess is joined by the king of all culture vultures, EVAN ROSS KATZ, on the heels of his first book dedicated to the cultural impact of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. We dive into why KIM CATTRALL blocked (and later unblocked) Evan on Twitter, SJP inviting him to the premiere of AND JUST LIKE THAT... and recently admitting she hasn't watched an episode since. Evan gives his hot take RHONY casting couch,...

ISAAC MIZRAHI returns for his second appearance! Jess and Isaac discuss why he never attempted drag, his friendship w/ RUPAUL and the idea of him being a permanent judge on DRAG RACE. Isaac also confirms the truth behind the legendary MADONNA - SANDRA BERNHARD - INGRID CASARES break-up, gives his AND JUST LIKE THAT review and discusses the repercussions of his seminal documentary, UNZIPPED. Isaac...

Jess is joined by the star of SiriusXM's BEVELATIONS and Fashion Queens, BEVY SMITH! Bevy Smith is a quintessential Harlem girl and life-long New Yorker.  Bevy discusses how she reinvented her successful corporate career to TV host at age 38, how ANDY COHEN changed her life, turning down Bravo's TIM GUNN'S Guide to Style, her fashion pilot w/ BETHENNY and how Louboutin became the "it shoe" after M...

Housewives empath & intuitive Jamie Stein returns to burn through a plethora of Bravo Hot Topics. We go deep on Lindsay Hubbard & Carl Radke's healing, Kyle Cooke's relationship to alcohol and the outlook of his marriage to Amanda Batula.  We also touch on Lisa Barlow's unbridled rage toward Meredith Marks, why RHOSLC is self-combusting, why Teresa Giudice is afraid to ask fiancé Luis for a prenup...

Did you know our friend Stefan from MLVC (the Madonna podcast) spent the summer working as a background actor for And Just Like That!? Well, Stefan is here and ready to SPILL on... the scenes he filmed, experiencing Che Diaz in the wild, Cynthia Nixon's wig, the erasure of Chris Noth/Big's flashback scenes, 14-hour days, being directed by Michael Patrick King, how much background actors are paid,...

Jess welcomes TWO of the stars of the groundbreaking Showtime series Queer as Folk: Peter Paige & Scott Lowell (aka: Emmett Honeycutt & Ted Schmidt)!! We discuss the infamous Larry King interview where they were grilled on their sexuality, how QAF changed the way sex & sexuality was depicted on cable, why The L Word was able to break into the mainstream zeitgeist in a way QAF was unable to, the Br...

Ever wonder how a professional interior designer would feel about the furniture, lighting and other questionable choices of our Housewives? Jess welcomes Dale Saylor, NYC interior designer and owner of Hollymount Design, for expert critiques on the many homes of Bethenny, Bluestone Manor, Gizelle Bryant's house of horrors, Carole's apartment reno, Sonja's Townhouse, LVP's SUR aesthetic, and trends...

Bravo's "Work Out" star Jackie Warner returns for her third appearance! For the first time, Jackie discusses her ambien-induced car accident that led to her arrest at gunpoint by the LAPD. Jackie reveals how the incident ended her career in Hollywood and led to her weight gain and her ultimate move from LA. Jackie also talks Sex and the City, how she would manipulate reality tv/"Work Out" today, g...

Jess is joined by L Word historians and co-hosts of "You Might Know Her From," Damian Bellino and Anne Rodeman to finally let loose on And Just Like That and BOY do we have feelings. We discuss Jess' run-in with SATC exec producer/writer Michael Patrick King the very morning of this recording, the Kim Cattrall / SJP fall-out, Willie Garson's death, our hatred of Che, Susan Sharon based on Dorinda...

Jess is finally joined by our showbiz glamour muse... star of stage, screen and radio... Ms. Sandra Bernhard! Sandy reflects on her iconic Letterman appearances, her friendship with Madonna, playing Nancy on Roseanne and crafting her one-woman shows. Sandra also shares about her relationship with her girlfriend Sara of 20 years, ultimately not having a baby with Isaac Mizrahi, and Sara's impact on...

Jess is joined by writer/comedian and star of SiriusXM's Smith Sisters Live, Mariah Smith! Mariah Smith rose to internet prominence with her insanely popular blog Keeping Up with the (Kardashian) Kontinuity Errors and worked as a producer for Watch What Happens Live. We discuss highlights of her WWHL era, interning at SNL, Bethenny's failed Bravo negotiations, James Kennedy & Raquel, and of course...

We are joined by a RHONY OG and cabaret royalty — Countess Luann! We get into everything, including how production on Ultimate Girls Trip differed from a typical season, Eboni leaking info about the Ramona investigation to the press and fans still clamoring for Alex McCord. Luann also entertains the idea casting a lesbian or trans housewife for RHONY, relives the Boat Ride From Hell and gives her...

Jess welcomes the best butch in showbiz — comedian, jazz singer & Orange is the New Black's "Big Boo" — Lea DeLaria! Lea discusses her big break performing as the first openly gay comic on TV in America (on Arsenio), working with Goldie Hawn on The First Wives Club and how her life changed within 24 hours of Netflix dropping the first season of Orange is the New Black. We also chat about Lea's fri...

Jess is joined by writer/comedian Melody Kamali to recover from the whiplash of the Jen Shah arrest spectacular on Salt Lake City and the Ultimate Girls Trip binge on Peacock. We also discuss Taylor Swift's "All Too Well," Melody's experience interviewing for a producer job on Love & Hip Hop, Love Life on HBO Max, the new lesbian reality show Tampa Baes and Miranda's basically confirmed queerness...

On the heels of our Melissa Etheridge interview, Jess is joined by Tony Trius, co-host of MLVC (the Madonna podcast) to go deeper on the female singer-songwriters who defined the '90s Lilith Fair era and whose lyrics were the soundtrack to our babygay lives. We discuss why Sarah McLachlan, Ani Difranco, Fiona Apple, Tegan & Sara, Tracy Chapman, Aimee Mann, The Murmurs (and many more!) defined this...

We are joined by return friend PetShopBoy for a culture catchup, featuring a review of the Housewives oral history book, Not All Diamonds & Rosé, Winter House and spending Halloween with Leah McSweeney (as Madonna). We later flash back to Bravo's glory days for a rewatch of Hey Paula (Paula Abdul's series).  [ 5:30 - Not All Diamonds & Rosé ] [ 25:00 - Winter House ] [ 34:15 - Hey Paula rewatch ]...