Hot Takes & Deep Dives

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...

Jess is joined by fellow Long Islander ROSIE O'DONNELL for the kiki of our dreams. Rosie discusses the inception of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, the infamous episode where Whitney Houston no-showed, her experiences with Britney and reaction to the Framing Britney documentary, being in the studio as Madonna recorded "This Used to Be My Playground" for A League of Their Own, why Barbara Walters disappo...

Jess is joined by iconic Survivor castaway Jerri Manthey, known for her three season arc (spanning 15 years) appearing on The Australian Outback (season 2), All Stars and Heroes vs. Villains. Dubbed "The Black Widow" due to her love-hate relationship with Colby Donaldson, Jerri goes deep about the publicity surrounding The Australian Outback which turned the cast into overnight celebrities (Letter...

Jess welcomes Housewives Empath Jamie Stein back to the pod, this time to dissect the unconscious fears and desires of the Summer House cast. Jamie goes deep on the personal journeys and interpersonal relationships of Carl Radke, Kyle Cooke, Lindsay Hubbard and Hannah Berner. We then transition to The Real World: New York and review the landmark reunion series. Jess previously interviewed Jamie ab...

Jess is joined by friend of the show Kate Casey for some predictions on Housewives All Stars (aka Mash-Up) and what to watch this week (Real World New York) + (It's a Sin, HBOMax). Kate also shares a story about the Housewife interview she never aired and why she no longer cares to interview Bethenny or Andy Cohen. Finally, Kate explains why we should get into the new Clubhouse app. Follow @jessxn...

We finally get to bask in the glory of a deep dive on Logo's gay bachelor show, Finding Prince Charming. We are joined by TWO of our fave suitors: Brandon Kneefel and Justin Roisom. We go behind the scenes of casting and production, Brandon and Justin's reaction to the rentboy controversy surrounding their "prince" Robert Sepulveda, Jr., before we blow the lid off the damn thing half way through....

Jess is joined by the one... the only... Gina Gershon!! Gina Gershon is a legitimate gay icon for her back-to-back iconic roles as Cristal Connors in Showgirls and Corky in Bound. We chat about everything --- Bound, Showgirls, NYC vs. LA in the 90s, high school w/ Lenny Kravitz, appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm as the Hassidic dry cleaner + her impressions of Sarah Palin and Melania Trump. Foll...

Jess is joined by Tony Trius and Stefan Mreczko, hosts of MLVC - The Madonna Podcast - for the deep dive of your dreams. Together, we pour through each of Madonna's albums and reveal our fave "deep cuts" from each. We also discuss our favorite live tour performances and which "single" is criminally under-appreciated. The taste WILL. JUMP. OUT.  Follow @mlvcpodcast , @jessxnyc , @hottakesdeepdives