Episode 123 - Love Island USA's Newest Fan

We got our first heat wave of the season, besties—not just from these Midwestern temps, but from all the pop culture news, too.

On today’s episode, we share our concerns about how World Cup international teams will handle America’s humidity (it’s what’ll get ya), discuss how horror movies are bringing audiences back to theaters, and follow Lauren’s ascension into the Love Island fandom.

We also delicately discuss Ariana Grande’s shocking tour footage (Content Warning: Discussion of Disordered Eating), share the latest Taylor news, talk about what we’re reading, and more.

So grab your headphones and crank up the AC, because this episode is a scorcher.

Transcript

Welcomes, Weather, World Cup, and Toby Keith

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I'm Lauren and I'm Emily. And we're Midwest besties.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hi everybody. Welcome to the pop culture pot look. There is just so much popping. So much popping today. Including the heat in the Midwest. It is so hot. It's not even, it's not even mid-June. And we're in our first heat advisory.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

We had the most mild May, and I like made my.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Like to the point where I we were like, can we get a sunny, hot day for a pool day? Yeah. And it was like, maybe I am an outdoors girl.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

And it's like, no, I'm a 75 degrees girl.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

I just was in the worst mood yesterday. It was so swampy out. Yes. And it reminds me of like when you're going anywhere, like you're doing an errand and you're going from your cart into like, let's say, like a grocery store and then back in the trudge. The trudge from the parking lot into the store. There's no air in the air. It's just, you can't understand you guys unless you like live in super, it's such a like Missouri and Midwestern thing to be like, it's not the heat, it's the humidity. But it's not the humidity. You guys don't get fucking humidity is at 99%.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I saw on the internet like people talking about obviously this is not a sports podcast, but um the uh World Cup is in going to the world. Oh my gosh, yes. And like all these like Norwegian players just like laying in the heat in Chicago because it Chicago doesn't get quite as bad, but it gets pretty bad. It gets pretty bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Um yeah, and that it's really funny. It's gonna kick these people's asses. Because okay, so the so the US is hosting the World Cup. Again, like we're not sports girlies, except like I'm an NBA girly. Yeah. But I think a lot of the Europeans, like, it is like this funny thing of like Americans are like, oh, you always shit on us because like we love AC. Like, and that's not AC is not super prevalent, as prevalent as it is, it is standard in America. Like you fucking have AC. Um, and it's really not standard in Europe, but their climate is totally different.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

You there no like there's not even like screens on their windows. When I studied abroad, I studied abroad in Austria, and it's like you just open the window and like smoke a cigarette out of it, and they're like no bugs to be so lucky.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

It was a really clamorous, it's like not that's just not our reality, okay? That's not the world we live in over north, so it was funny because people were like, oh, they always like shit on us, and now look at them, they've got heat stroke.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

You're gonna be literally clutching for your fucking AC.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Footage of these, it's not funny, and I want them all to be healthy and like hydrated, but the footage of them like panting, wiping their brows, like they've just never experienced them.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

And I like Ephraim, I really do. I'm like, oh baby, and then to like run in that to like be at your most like peak physical ability.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

And all soccer is is running. What a nightmare!

SPEAKER_01 3:06

No, we're gonna have people passing out left and right.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

So there's no greater sense of unity in America than when we're shitting on Europeans together for shitting on America. Correct. Like, don't we support you? We we are on board, like we know you're better, but when you come for us, we're gonna bring up the American Revolution so fucking fast. You think we're gonna take the high road? No taxation without representation? Never done here, partner. When they go low, we go lower.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

I'm not gonna put mom of America anymore.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

I'm gonna put Toby Keith in a minute.

SPEAKER_03 3:40

Because we're gonna put a boot in your hand.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

I'm gonna put a boot in your ass. It is so hard being white trash and liberal for so many reasons in the Midwestern in the world. One of them is not being able to like Toby Keith. We were robbed, man.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

I mean, riddled the lyrics. The way he ate down with that song, the Statue of Liberty started shaking our fist. Like, he ate down

Episode Rundown

SPEAKER_00 4:20

so hard.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

REP, R. P to the Country King. We've got a lot to discuss today. Rice. Um we're gonna try kind of a new format and just letting you know up front. Again, we're always gonna timestamp everything, so feel free to skip around on our episodes. But today we are going to talk about the Ariana Grande of it all. Emily wants to get into some new horror films. Movie theaters are bad babies. Yes. Um, I, Lauren, am gonna talk about Love Island. She's in it, people. And we have some table scraps. We're gonna get into the real housewives of Rhode Island and some Taylor Swift news. So let's kick it off. Bitches love summer. God bless me, it's fucking summer.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

So you thought I was creeping with those chicks, which I wasn't. I went on wood ride.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

God bless me, it's

Ariana Grande discussion (Content Warning: Disordered Eating)

SPEAKER_00 5:03

summer. But we are gonna kick it off with Ariana Grande. So there is so much to discuss here.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Ariana Grande uh kicked off her Eternal Sunshine tour. And this is long awaited. This is her first, like no, she dropped that album.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

She dropped Eternal Sunshine last year, like two years ago. She dropped that in between Wicked One and Wicked Two. And We Can't Be Friends, that's on my solid rotation. Yeah. I love that song. But she is releasing, she's dropping. So what makes it kind of crazy is she's dropping her new album in like a week. Pedal. It's this is very weird. This has been really, really, really weird. Yeah, yeah. Um, so she kicked off her tour in Arizona last week, and immediately tour footage is dropping of her, and it is quite alarming.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

It's alarming, like it's alarming.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Yeah. And this is a very delicate conversation, like that Emily and I don't take lightly. And we even talked, I was like, Do you want to talk about this? Should we talk about this? I don't know. And like it because we don't want to shame, like, it's hard to talk about women's bodies because our bodies are constantly policed and they're talking and they're they're this and they're that and they're too much or they're too little. And we want to avoid talking about bodies if we can help it. Yeah. But it is alarming to see how um emaciated she looks and to see her, you know, she's wearing like revealing outfits, and to see the protrusion of the bones and how it really does seem like she is struggling. Like when you watch some of the footage, it's like the energy is just not there. Um, and how could it be? Because there's just and in the point okay, there's two points that I really think are important and worth discussing. First of all, like we want her to be healthy and we are we're like we're concerned. There's a lot of discourse around this. Um and I get frustrated when some of that discourse turns into like turning body positivity against people who are like in like gaslighting us, yes, and acting like she's always been little, she's always been so thin, and it's just like okay, you are not supposed to see every and be able to count like every single like chest bone. Her eyes are sunken in, like she has like a temper, like her head looks too big for her body. Like these are very clear signs of an eating disorder, and it's probably very triggering for a lot of people to see. I've never struggled with an eating disorder, and it's triggering for me to see.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

I think it's also just seeing her performance on stage. Yeah, um, like clearly, as someone, this is not someone who is a healthy person, right? Like the way that she has been moving her body, yeah, and you can compare it to tours of the past, yeah. What her choreography was like.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Um yeah, it's stark, it's a stark difference. And even tour, like when you think about Taylor Swift doing the Aeris Tour and how much she talked, and she did talk about like when she did 1989 and she was really struggling and how she was like, I felt like I was gonna collapse. Like I thought that was just normal to feel that way. And then when you look at her at the Airis Tour and the difference and how healthy she looks, and how she talks so much about like how much she has to work out and eating and like and fueling herself because it is so rigorous touring, performing, like it is so much on your body. Um, and it's just really clear like there is something wrong there. And I'm so tired of people telling you you can't talk about bodies and like turning it, turning that conversation around. So that is the discourse.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

There is a lot of discourse, you know, and this is our trademark. We we we have discourse over the discourse, and the discourse is leave her alone. She has asked us specifically to stop talking about her body, and we need to respect that. And then the other discourse is like, oh, this is crazy. Like, this is this is crazy to see what is happening to her.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

She looks like she looks unhealthy. And the other point that I want to make about this is that artists at Ariana Grande's level are not just a person, they're a brand, they're a machine, they are their own industry. And there are many, many, many people around them who make what they're doing happen and they become like mountains of money. They become not a person because they are worth so much in what they're doing, and there's careers on the line that don't just affect them. And so my there is an enabling to what is happening that I think needs to be addressed. And we have seen this before, right? Like, and it happens so much. Like I put in our notes like Justin Bieber, um, Demi Lovato came out and talked about like how her management team wouldn't let her have a birthday cake, like they made her like a watermelon cake. Um, Elvis literally died because he was so unhealthy and like he was being given drugs. And I think that like there should be a greater discussion around how they are like used and abused. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

100%. And unfortunately, I think because posit body positivity is in the state where it's in now, and something it's being weaponized. Yeah. And I think like if you were to reverse this, and if she had gained 200 pounds and was like sitting, you know, and I mean, probably at her point, like gained 300 pounds and was sitting there and not as as not as um her choreography wasn't as rigorous, and people were complaining about that. I would be like, you don't care about her health. Yeah, you don't care about her health. She's just not lit like living up to the beauty standards that you have set forth. So I can see how people are flipping.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Totally. You can be a thin person, and this is not what that is.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

This is not there's also just this darkness about because I think this all leads back to Wicked. Um, oh yeah. I feel like there has always been this kind of darkness around Wicked, like how we watched not just Ariana Grande, but Cynthia Arrivo vanish before our eyes. Um all those women, and then yeah, and then Michelle Yo. Yeah, like they were all looking pretty emaciated, skeletal, like skeletal, like not not even in like Kate Moss friends' peak. No, like we really see we see bones portraying. Yes, and then also this weird glorification of it. Like someone brought up, like, why were there did we talk about this on the podcast?

SPEAKER_00 11:36

No, but there's just a lot of body checking, like why gems highlighting the fact that you can see her like shoulder level. Yeah. There's a lot of body checking, and that's like very much a thing in the eating disorder community. So, what does that mean? So it means it's like you put your body in weird ways or accentuate in weird ways to show stuff like that because it's like to show how tiny you are. That's sinister, it's very sinister, yeah. It's very, very sinister. So, on the heels of this, you know, tour, and there's tons of conversation about it, we get the announcement through people, so we know it's for real. She and Ethan Slater have broken up. That's dark too. I mean, I think he's a really bad guy. Um I um my most hated like men are men who leave uh pregnant women Tom Brady's I think that's or um or who leave their postpartum wives with their young child, and that's exactly what he did. And so, like, I hope that Lily J is having a really fucking good week. Um you know she is a doctor, excuse me, and put respect on her name, Dr. Lily J, that queen. Um so they were together for about three years. I kind of thought they were gonna get married, I thought they were gonna go full throttle American cheating.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Um it seemed like that, but you could tell by Wicked Two Press Tour that they were probably over.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

I I quite honestly thought they were over. For a while. I think they were.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I think they were.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Yeah. And then and usually when we get these announcements, they have been. But Wicked Two Press Tour was like in the fall.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

So we're talking like eight months, eight months of pretending that like not putting in a night's announcement out. It's okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Maybe they just were. They were getting through the press tour, they were getting through, you know, she had this tour.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

I've actually heard rumors this new record is gonna be a lot about her ex-husband.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Yeah, Dalton Gomez. Uh-huh. It's it's a lot. So I don't know. We'll continue to possibly talk about it. We'll we'll just have to see. This is this is a delicate. I'm hoping nothing comes of it. She does her tour, everything's normal. There's a lot of people who are just like, I don't know how she's gonna be able to continue this tour. Like we're probably gonna get some cancellations and then maybe like she's entering a program. And and I truly just like whatever she does, I just want her, and I've never been like her, I'm not like an Ari fan or Stan, I should say. Um, I just don't want her to be unhealthy though.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

I also don't like this new, we're kind of jumping back and forth, like um method acting to the point where like you get absorbed in a character, and I st and I still I see that.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Are you gonna fly around New York in a bubble? Like, chill out.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Like someone commented on one of the TikToks that was like, Glenda, let her go.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

And

Horror Is Saving the Box Office - Backrooms and Obession

SPEAKER_00 14:35

like that is how I feel. So that's a wrap on that. So um, why don't you talk about why movie theaters are bah? We come to this place for magic.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

We come to this place for magic. That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Um I I probably see, I like to say, like, I go to the movies probably more than the average 38-year-old. Totally. Um, I'm not like going there every week because I have kids, but I love going to the movies. And uh Jake and I went to go see Backrooms, the new A24 horror movie. Uh two Fridays ago. Fabulous. I'll talk about it. Um, but it was the movie theater was shout out Marcus Ronnie's South County baby. Um, it was packed. Like I do not remember, again, I go to the movies a lot.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

The last time I saw a movie theater that packed, actually, I do remember. And it was going to see Parasite in February of 2020. Like that was the last time I saw a movie that time that there was so many people in the movies. The fact that you were seeing Parasite in February 2020. I know that's not what it was about, but like just the name of the movie. But and you know what that movie is like people like locked in like a house, like locked in a basement. I mean, they're not locked, they like choose to live there. It's really good. You should watch it. Um I won't, but okay. Um I so I'm just excited that movie theaters are back, and a lot of it is hinging on an uh, you know, I am a horror movie girl adjacent, I would like to say. And people have been talking about the horror movies that are gonna come out in in May of 2026 for like a year. Um, and one of them is Focus Features. They did a movie called Obsession, again, written by um, there are two white guys, but at least they're young white guys. Okay. So the first one, he's 26 years old. His name is Curry Barker. Curry Barker um wrote and directed it. It's basically about these like young, I think they're like 22. They all like work together, and this like nerdy guy is obsessed with this like really cool girl. And he like goes into like this crystal shop and like gets this thing called a one-wish willow. And he's like, I wish that this girl was obsessed with me or love me more than anything in the world, and he like snaps it and she turns crazy. Um, it reminds me a lot of um fatal attraction, I would say. But if fatal attraction went into like full mystical horror, full, okay. Um, the girl that plays this. I know I've been like, I was like, we have to give horror acting all the accolades, like Aunt Gladys, give the give this girl the Oscar, but we have to give this girl the Oscar. Yeah. Like she is so sinister. She is so what the way she can contort her face and be so scary. It was so funny. I was talking to my family about this because I have not shut up about it. Is she a breakout? She is a breakout. Okay. But I was telling this in my uh I didn't know I'd be talking about my dad on this podcast, but my dad was like, she should be really worried because like young actresses who are in horror movies have a hard time like being seen as anything else. Like, okay, dad, they will be scary. And I'm like, whatever, dad, which is Wait, but like what a randomly insightful thing. I know. He's a little, he's a closeted pop girly. And uh it was so funny. I'm like, no, I don't think it's gonna be like that. And it was so funny, I was like scrolling my Instagram and she was like on the cover of something, and like my stomach dropped. I'm like, what? I'm like, oh my god, it's the girl from Obsession, and I got scared, and she looked like gorgeous and fine. So he might have had a point. Um, I will say, like, looking at the perspective of like Gen Z men about it's like, okay, well, they still hate us, but now they're also kind of scared of us. I saw backrooms, which was when I went to the movie theater and it was like crazy busy. It was so fucking weird. Okay, so this this guy is 20 years old, and I wonder how I would have liked it if I hadn't known he was 20. Because sometimes, because it's not a perfect movie. There are there are there are plot holes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

But I was just like, look at this little boy. Look at this little boy knowing how to do this. I'm getting like Blair Witch vibes from this, like very kind of bootleg.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

So it's found footage, so it's roots based on so it this is why it's just so modern, new, new, new, because it's like based on a meme of like spooky. It's based on a meme that started on 4chan, so like sinister, but like so sinister, but you know I've gone down weird backroom rabbit holes.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Okay, so okay, so you know this.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Okay, yeah, that's why I'm like immediately spooked. So it's like this meme, and it's like roughly based on which I thought was funny, like a video game where it's like if you act it accidentally glitches, and then you end up in this like maze of of empty rooms.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

It's kind of giving interstellar Tony's trying to communicate with his daughter through the books.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

So he took that meme and made this short film, and and it is crazy how much like it is making, like on my husband's internet, like it's making people mad how young he is. And for me, I just like don't fucking care.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

This is what we've talked about time and time again. He's a disruptor, he's a disruptor. That's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Um, and I was just and it's again not perfect, of course they don't like him, so new and fresh. It's like I walked out of that movie and I was so one thing, just like scared because it was so unsettling. Yes. Um, and then I walked out and I was so aware of every poster being like a franchise or based on a video game or a prequel or a sequel. Yeah. Like I was so hyper aware of the unoriginal ideas around me. And this idea, although maybe not perfect, was super fucking original. Yeah. The horror in it, the special effects in it, yeah, the the monster in it. Like, it's it's so good, and it's just so fun to see to see and experience these things in in the movie theater. Yeah. Um, so highly recommend those two movies if you like horror. Um, and highly recommend going back to the movie theater.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

I do love a good like movie theater advantage. Give me a buttery, salty popcorn and a little treat.

Love Island USA

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Okay, we gotta get into Love Island.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

USA, to be clear. For one thing, pop culture moves so fast. So Lauren texts the reality TV chat six days ago. Shout out, Kara and Judd. And is like, I think I'm gonna get into Love Island. What do you think? I think I'm gonna take the plunge. I've been talking about it, and mind you, this has been building. Like, she was last time Love Island USA premiered, she was like, I think I'm gonna get into it.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

I've been teasing, I've been dangling it.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Uh-huh. Uh Kara and Judd, shout out our correspondents. They they watch really trashy dating TLC. They are like dating correspondents. Like they watch like 90 Day Fiance and things like that. And they have always said, like, don't do it. We've we've tried to do that.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Judd immediately was like, do not do it. Do not come. Uh-huh. Uh do not come.

unknown 21:56

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Uh, and they even said, like, I think Kara's finally like, yeah, just like give it a whirl.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Kara was like, the drama was like really low. We tried. They they aren't allowed to drink. And I was just like, really upset or inebriated that they couldn't drink. And I'll talk about that later and why that's like you can't. Um and now you're a brand new woman. Now all you talk about is Love Island. I have structure to my days. I have a purpose. I have a higher calling. It is like that. She is literally acting like that.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Like I am on a different plane. Yeah. It's I have ascended. We need someone like to make like I'm like Carl with the chakras and at the very Tippy's office Limon Land, and then is where you're at.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

You have to make that park here. I will. I'm like, like, like Lindsay telling Carl, it's like you have become who you're meant. He you've self-actualized. And I have. This has always been a reality TV like blind spot for me. And I've never committed because the con it is so much content. I didn't even realize it is new episodes every single day, except for Wednesdays. And it's on Bravo. No, it's on Peacock. It's a Peacock original.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

It is? Yes. Oh my God. I did not know that. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

So they premiere at midnight every day. Every day. No, they premiere at eight our time. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So it's like traders kind of. Like you can watch it that night. Appointment television. Appointment television is so fucking bad.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Yes. So I uh started and I have so many thoughts. If you can get through the first 15 minutes of the first episode, you will be locked in because they do this like atrocious introduction, like music video where like they show each contestant like in VG dancing and like lip syncing to the music video. Oh my god. It's so bad. I was almost turned, it's like so long. It's so long. I almost turned it off. Um, but I like gritted my teeth and I got through it. Um, so the premise of it, like how familiar, because I really wasn't like super familiar with it. Like Rob Rausch and like Mara Higgins are like and like hoodah, like, you know, I'm a mommy. Um, like you just get such I have a daughter. Um, you get such funny sound bites, pop culture moments. And I think that was driving me like for the FOMO of it all.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Totally.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Um, our algorithm, like it's so funny, even before our podcast, because now we have a shared algorithm, which has really helped our enmeshment.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Um it just naturally assumed that we watched Love Island, and it was like, I don't get these memes, babe. The event diagram, it just was like, what are these bitches doing? Like they're watching, like why are we not then?

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Watching literally new, like, yeah, no, no, you should be watching this. Yeah. Um, I know which is the stupidest reason because I watch a stupider version of Love Island, and I've only have but I've watched two seasons of it called Perfect Match on Netflix, and I've never watched that. So I think the the setup is pretty similar where you just put hot people in a house and they have to couple up. And if they don't couple up, they get booted up.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

And do they bring like new people in to shake it up? Is they literally the same exact thing? Okay, so this was originated in the UK. People do watch the UK version and say it's way, way, way better. I can't commit to that. Like I do have somewhat of a life outside of like this podcast and watching content and like a job and a child. Um, not last but not least. Third. Third. Least but not least, okay.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

I'm a mummy. Also, fuck you, Matt. He's also married.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Oh no, I don't give a shit about him. He doesn't even make the list. Um, okay, so two things I want to talk about are that the music budget for this has to be fucking insane. The fucking top 40, nay, top 20, top 10. Really? Capilroan, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean. I mean, insane hits that they are playing. That I'm just like, what's the budget? That is not what I I expected like full Netflix, like, ooh, you're hot. We're going to the beach, you're hot. Oh, we're on an island and you gotta get a couple, couple up. Oh, I'm hot. Like, literally, no. It's and they do have a little bit of that. Okay. Um, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I need like a little bit of that. Yeah. But they do, I mean, they also turn this editing, is like very like they are in Fiji right now. Like they're they edit this. It's like so American Idol shit. Yes, 100%. Which is why I'm also like Bravo, you gotta, you gotta up your game and faster turnaround.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

100%.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Um, so that's kind of crazy knowing how quickly they're editing this. I do kind of love that though. I love it because then you don't get like the spoilers and all the whispering about like who ends up with who because it's literally nobody's ended up with anybody yet.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Or you have a more interesting or diabolical narrative happening in real life and it's affecting your enjoyment of the show.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yes, exactly. Huh. What could I possibly be talking about? Yes. And then the last thing I have to discuss is that there, the kissing that we're seeing, I should say the French kissing is it's just tongue, it's very tongue-forward. Now, I want to put the caveat, I've never seen myself making out on the camera in fucking 4K. Nor do I ever want to. But there are tongues just flipping and flopping out there, and the way I can see and hear these tongues. Gross. Ugh. I like truly was by myself watching it and like put my hand up at some of the scenes. I'm like not even being formative. I'm literally like, I cannot watch your tongues just slapping, and it is like, okay. And so then I saw this TikTok that was like, I'm because I am not the only one. I was maybe like, I was like, maybe this is just how it is. Like, people, this is like discourse where people are like, Why can we see all their tongues? This is so this is new. People are not happy about it.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Because the where my mind went was like, I want to see hot rob make out with people.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, but I don't want to see your tongue. Like it's just a lie. Yeah. Like maybe a little peak, but like it needs to be like like is this one person or is it like all of them? Weird. Absolutely all of them. Every fucking and it's like it just looks like they're trying to eat each other's faces. I'm not kidding. It's so bad. And so on TikTok, people are talking about this, and they're like, We, this one creator was like, I am convinced that like Gen Z does not know how to kiss because like we know, like Gen Z isn't like going out to the club like we were. They're not like going out and rape making out with random guys or like kissing, and like it's so it's like they come on the show and they just like you don't know how to fucking kiss, and they're just like attacking each other's faces. So this is an important discourse to have with younger generations. I think it's really important is changing lives. Pull the tongues back, okay? We need a little less tongue. We need to pump the brakes, we need to ease up a little bit, and we need to like get the lips involved a little bit more and just like calm down the saliva swapping going on. And then one girl is wearing her Invisalign.

unknown 29:16

Oh my god, Lauren.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

It everybody's really just I mean, this the way that this is not gonna be Love Island, it's gonna be strep island because they are passing some germs.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Also, congratulations to that bitch who's like, I don't care if I'm on TV. I want these things off in eight months.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

No, it's so funny. She's like, I paid for it. And like if you know her, you're like, Yeah, that tracks. So I'm I'm invested. Like, I downloaded the app.

unknown 29:44

Oh my god!

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Like, I'm voting. Do you vote? Okay, so you vote. So that's not like perfect. And I'm not sure exactly yet how that's incorporated, but like I'm doing, I'm voting. It's like I think you can end up voting couples to get together. Like, you can say you want this new bombshell to get with this person, you can vote people off eventually. I want to say. I don't know. I don't know, but the audience gets involved, and guess what? That app is on my phone, baby.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

I do love the sense of community this is bringing, like it's bringing people together.

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Uh yeah. I, a preschool mom friend of mine, she got me probably much to her chagrin now, because I like DM her all the time to probably like, oh, this bitch is crazy. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's a great like background show. You guys, I'm folding laundry, I'm needlepointing, I'm on my phone. Like, I'm not like giving this all of my attention because my brain would melt. Correct. But it's very entertaining and it's just like a bunch of beautiful people.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

I mean, I always think of, but that's binge watching it, but I always think of when euphoria wasn't horrendous. Yeah. But like I've never seen depression so so beautifully depicted when she starts watching Love Island and like just watches it nonstop, and then she won't even go out of bed to pee. If it gets to that point, call the police. But that's why like it's like spread out day to day. Yeah. You can't watch more.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

I think that really helps. Yes. Yeah. Um, okay, and then we do

"I Knew It, I Knew You" Review

SPEAKER_00 31:10

have some table scraps to talk about. What do you think of Taylor's new trick?

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Drop that harmonica, bitch. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 31:18

All you said was hi, and I remembered I loved you. Came back when it mattered I saw you. Standing there in the light of the window, wearing that same smile. But it's been a while, but I knew it, I knew you.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

I think it's really cute. It's so funny because we talked about it last week and we were kind of like, meh, like, yeah, we're excited to hear it. But we're not like like jazzed, and I love it so much.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

It's so cute. It's so perfect for Toy Story. It's so cute. It's so buoyant. It's very different sounding for her. Like it is a little bit of a callback to her earlier stuff, but like she's showing up as an adult to this song. Like it's very mature still.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Yeah, it's very sweet, but it's not pandering. Well, I I like that. Um I think that this song really lets her voice in that lower register, like Lily Shine, where she doesn't try and do those high notes where her voice gets like really um like thin. You know what I mean? Yep. Um, I love that. I love when she just like leans into her alto register.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

And so she went to the premiere.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

She looked great.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

I thought she looked good.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

Her dress was like a little fugly, but like for her, but her glam. Her uh her glam ate down. She looked great.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Her glam's looking good. Stitch the red look.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

It's the red that goes with her skin tone. Her skin looks amazing, her fillers have settled. Her little horseshoe necklace that she's wearing. She just looks great.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

For her, this is a serve.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Yes, I will say that. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Yeah. Did you see her yellow gown that she wore while performing? I did too. It was cute.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

She's a method dresser. Bringing the like a big white VHS case of Toy Story and then had people sign it, and she used it as her clutch.

unknown 33:02

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Obsessed with that.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Thought that was just a good one.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

A plot, applaud. I love it so much.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

That is like the one of the best fashion things she's done. Yes. It's a very air win for her.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

I think she's just looking great. I love the song. She performed it live. I love seeing her performing it live. She did a live again.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Did you see her with Randy Newman? No, I haven't seen that one yet.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

Very cute, very good. I absolutely loved it. I'm excited. Yeah. I'm excited. It's just, I'm loving it all. I'm really hoping this is a sign. It probably isn't, but I would love to see her fall back, not like fall back, but the sound of this song, I would love to hear more of this sound.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

I would love to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Jack Antinoff lower register country folk pop.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Put your synth down. We put the synth down for this one. He can do it. No. He can we've had enough. He did full blow. We've had several albums.

SPEAKER_02 33:58

Long pod sessions?

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yeah, but we've had several albums of synth and like give it a few. Literally not what the fans want to do.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

That's not what the fans want to see. That's literally what the fans don't want to see. Any synth, but I do want Jack back.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

I'm with that's what I'm saying. No, no, no. I agree. I'm saying I'm like, we have to cut this. No, no, no. I no, I want Jack on, and I don't want the synth. Like, I think his production on this was excellent. Like his production on Sabrina's albums. Yes. It's like there's there's some overlap.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

We have to take a break. We're not okay. It was crazy though. Someone posted, and I posted it on our Instagram, um, that he didn't say anything about it.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

It was weird. He just like didn't like share anything, post about it. Very strange.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

We've talked about this. He's going through something. He's so weird. He's going through a major midlife crisis. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

And then you guys, Taylor's not getting married at Madison Square Garden. Thank you.

Taylor is NOT getting married at Madison Square Garden

SPEAKER_00 34:56

It's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

God, did you post did you put this in or did you just remember?

SPEAKER_00 35:00

No, I'm just so happy. No.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

So mad if we didn't talk about this. She is not getting married at Madison Square Garden.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

She's somehow gotten legs, and it's just like, okay, I'll eat my fucking croc, as Emily says. If she gets married at Emma's.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

I will eat my croc. Okay, my sister and my brother-in-law came over on Saturday. A lot of wine was drank. And Jake comes up to me and is like, So is Taylor gonna like sell tickets to her wedding? And for one thing, I don't, I'm because I'm a gatekeeper, I honestly I don't like when someone comes and brings me Taylor information that I don't already know. So I was like, What are you talking about? And like he's like, Taylor's getting married at Madison Square Garden, and I'm like, no, she fucking isn't. So I like immediately, I like disassociate from the conversation for like 45 minutes. 100%. I'm like looking at TMZ because I do I do think TMZ is reliable. Not as reliable as some, but yes. So that makes me nervous. And we have talked about how she is making decisions about this wedding that I did not think that she would make. I really if someone was like, where do you think Taylor's want to get married? I would have never said New York. Ever. Yeah. Um, maybe like upstate New York. Upstate. I was gonna say maybe upstate New York City. Um so I just and I don't know because I could totally see Travis being like, wouldn't it be dope if we got married at MSG?

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Well, and then people were like, no, actually, it makes so much sense because like their security infrastructure is already like perfect for her wedding. No, and there's just my brother-in-law. There's a shout out, Aaron. Sorry, I'm so I wasn't even there and I'm like roasting you. Um, I'm speaking on like the internet, but like it's like there's a roof and like blah blah blah blah. And it's like she is a billionaire. Do you know she can the security that this woman has that she can procure? Like, if the royals are having weddings wherever the fuck, like outdoors and like riding through the streets with horses galloping, like Taylor Swift does not need to get married in MSG. I also just want to say it is so it's a fucking dump. Like, I know it's historic and I hope to go there one day and like watch a show or see an NBA game, but like it's fucking fugly. She is not getting married there.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

I just don't know. It would be insane. It would be a joke. Like he even texted me because he is like, my brother-in-law is like sticking his heels down in this theory. He's 10 toes down. Where he's like, yeah, where he's like, um, I was just thinking how she could like decorate it. She could decorate it any way she wanted. There would still be like popcorn places.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

She raise it and rebuild it because that's what needs to happen. Like, this is someone I want. So we're gonna have people in black tie going to the wedding, like in the middle of NYC. Like we like I don't like Nick's banners hanging everywhere. Correct. Like, it's just not clocking. It's not clocking to you.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Um, so what I want, what's on my wish list with dollar signs, is like if she wants to have a rehearsal dinner there or like some kind of fucking pre-party, I guess flaunt that money around, say that you can rent out the whole Madison Square Garden and I'm marrying a tacky guy who probably thinks this is a really cool idea.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

I just don't, yeah, I don't see it. I it's I think it's a diversion, it's gonna be something else, whatever. Like it's just not there's no way. There's no way, correct, correct. Yeah. Um, okay, lastly, oh wait, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Oh, I also added Bestie's Book Club. I finished

Bestie's Book Club: One & Only By Maureen Goo and Everyone Is Lying to You By Jo Piazza

SPEAKER_01 38:28

One and Only by Maureen Goo G-O-O.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Um, really cute. Premise. Okay, so the premise is it's this uh Korean family, this Korean woman, she's turning 40. Her and her uh aunts and her grandma, her mom passed away, run a matchmaking business in LA. Cute. And the twist is that they're actually like they have the ability to read past lives, so they can actually meet someone, like they can people put people with their faded is what they call it. Um, anyway, she's been waiting 10 years to meet her faded. She cannot find him. She ends up for her 40th birthday, like hooking up with this like young guy who is so cute. And if this movie is turned if this is a book's turn into a movie and is not played by I think is it Charles Melton? Anyway, she hooks up with him and then finds out that her faded that she's been looking for for 10 years is the guy's boss. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

No, that sounds cute.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

It's so good. Okay. I'm nervous about recommending because I recommended a book to Lauren that she hates it.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

I don't, I'm not, no, I'm still not finished with it. I didn't hate it. Do you think you're gonna finish it? Yeah, I'm listening to it. I listened to it on the way over here. Oh, you're not cherry baby. Yeah. I think it just was slow. It was a slow burn at the beginning of the floor. It's definitely slow. Yeah. So I just started reading though, physically reading Everyone is Lying to You by Joe Piazza. Ooh. Have you heard of it? No. Okay, so Joe Piazza is a journalist and she is a podcaster and like blogger. She did this podcast several years ago that I like gobbled up called Under the Influence. Okay. Where she talked about like influencing and influencers and like inner culture. Yeah. Um, and she wrote this book that's kind of it's interesting. It came out in October of 2025 and it's really like flown under the radar, like as opposed to like yesteryear, because it's about like trad wife influencing. Ooh, yeah, and it's kind of like a murder mystery. So it's like these two best friends in college get separated and they go two really different routes. Did you tell me about this off pod? No.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Someone else has told you about it.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Someone else has told you about it. So the main character, Lizzie, and it switches from their POVs. Okay. Um, Lizzie is a journalist. She lives in Philly with her husband and her two kids. And then her best friend from college, who they're kind of estranged, she becomes a trad wife influencer and then reconnects with Lizzie and is like, come out to this conference. I want you to have this like big breaking story and leads her out there. I'm gonna start listening to this like tomorrow. It's really good. It like pulled me in immediately. So I'm really enjoying it.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

Oh, I can't wait. Yeah. Because I'm also reading Jake like bought me, my husband like buys me books uh for like my birthday and stuff, and he bought me this book called The Really Dead Housewives of New Jersey. Ooh. And it is a real housewives murder mystery. And I'm having it's my pool book, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I love that. Having a lot of fun with it. Okay. So speaking of real housewives, oh

RHORL Discussion - Is Liz the new Jen Shaw?

SPEAKER_01 41:20

my god. Um, real housewives of Rhode Island, give me your thoughts, baby girl. You were never homeless. You were never homeless.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

I will never hear you say you were homeless. You were never homeless in your light.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Um, I mean, the past two episodes, like, for me, okay, two things. Liz is a nightmare. Um, and the other thing is like, I think it's really great that she's platforming menopause.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

I feel I am nervous. I am nervous that we have flown too close to the sun and we are Icarus and like the wings are about to like fucking melt off and we're gonna clean into beer.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

You were like, we're worried that this is gonna be a gen shock. Because it's clear that these women are afraid of scared, scared of Liz.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

And I feel like it doesn't, although, and we're in a situation where like I remember in season two of Salt Lake City where we're like, Well, we can't get rid of Jen. She's too good, like she's too much of a what's the what does Tell the B say about like people who push the narrative?

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Oh uh an anchor.

SPEAKER_01 42:25

And yeah, she's too much of an anchor. Yeah. Um, and we found out that wasn't true because she ended up dragging the show down, and then once we were finally free of her, the show actually reached its full potential.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

Yes, yes, I totally agree.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Um, I do like Liz more than I have ever liked Genshaw. Um I do think that Liz is mentally ill. A hundred percent. And I don't like seeing her on my screen because I don't think she's capable of doing it. Like there's just something dangerous about it.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

She's nasty, she's very unapologetic. Like, I'm scared of saying this.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

I'm scared she's gonna like put a hit out on me. Like, I'm not even joking.

SPEAKER_00 43:03

Yes, it's also just really I think what's the worst part is it's just really clear that other women are scared of her. Yeah. That is what is it's like if these other women were able to go toe-to-toe with her, which like they might try, and then it just devolves so fast. Um I also shifting gears a little bit, like Rula does not need to be on this cast. I understand that her marriage has been a big topic of conversation, that but she's not participating in it. She and so it becomes really boring to me really fast. It's clear that this woman is in absolute denial and is right where she wants to be. She is good, just closing her eyes. I did not see no video. Like that is that is her. Um, she's not filming with the cast, she's not going on cast outings, she's not going on cast trips. Get her banned, like get her out of there. You're right. Um, and people were like, well, she's already confirmed she's gonna film for season two. Guys, casting announcements are not made until after the reunion. Errors. They're not even doing contract negotiations right now. They're not going to confirm somebody right now for season two. So I'm just going to put that out there. Like she said it, like she tweeted it. She's like, and season two is coming up. She does not have a contract right now. I mean, I'll I can eat my words, but like we typically do not get casting announcements until after the reunion.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

Do we really want a cast member who season one doesn't want to film everything?

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Season one will not film. That's not a good sign. It's just like if she were engaging in this conversation about her marriage, okay, fine, but she's not. And she shuts down and her loser-ass husband. It's not he doesn't want to film either.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

It doesn't, it's not it's the plot is obviously interesting. It's obviously salacious, but it's not like carrying the season in any way. Oh that like I think they thought it would.

SPEAKER_00 44:45

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

I think these women are interesting enough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

Like there's other things going on. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:51

I, for one thing, like the little, the little Bachelor Paradise couple is so cute. Oh my god, I know. Um, that is interesting to me. Like Rhode Island as a community is interesting enough to me that like there are other things that we don't we don't need it. And I think it's short-sighted to be like, well, it's making a good season now, but like, are you thinking about if we're gonna recreate a franchise that has longevity, we need to be thinking about these things.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Yeah. And I'm sorry, it's just like we don't want people who aren't gonna film. Like with the cast. It's like this is the whole point. They they would be short-sighted and crazy to renew her contract, at least as a full-time cast member, maybe as a friend of. Whereas, like, if Liz was gone second season, which I think she should be, yeah, I would miss her.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Or maybe demoted to a friend of. I don't know, I doubt that. Be raised up anymore. Like, she has just the amount of mind of film time to be perfect.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

I'm enjoying it. We will see. The season feels like it's coming, we're getting close to the end here. Yeah, so definitely they released a seating chart for the reunion. So we know the reunion's been filmed. Okay, let me guess. Alicia and Liz are first chair. I actually don't remember. Oh, I'm pretty sure you're right. Let's pull it up. Yes, and then Rule got second chair. I knew she was going to. Joel and then excellent seating chart. Kelsey, Rosie. And the besties. Excellent seating chart. Yeah. They need to add some new other housewives. Yeah, it's a very small cast.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

Small cast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

They'll add some more next year.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

And like seeing, I I have always been someone where I think I preferred small casts, but this summer, this season of Summer House changed me. We're like, no man, oh man,

Summer House Season 11 Cast Wi$h Li$t

SPEAKER_01 46:30

such a good one. Grow them all in.

SPEAKER_00 46:31

Speaking of Summer House, we should be getting those cast announcements pretty soon because they film the 4th of July and the reunion has aired. I bet we'll get them not next week because they're gonna wait for this all to air and shake out a little bit, but we'll get them by the end of June for sure.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Okay, we're at 53 minutes. Can we do a little Summerhouse wish list? Yeah, let's do it. Who's your wishlist cast?

SPEAKER_00 46:53

My wish list cast would be Jesse and Carl. Okay. Um, Kyle and Lindsay do Poppins. Okay. Sierra maybe does Poppins. I don't know if I want her full-time cast because I see her transcending Bailey and Levi, KJ and Dara. Um, who else is that it? I don't want Ben. Bye. Get the fuck out of here. Obviously, West and Amanda need to get her.

SPEAKER_01 47:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

Um, I would love this to be Carl's like final season and then to watch him transition into in the city.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

So I am like we are so close. So for me, I want I want Kyle. I think I want Kyle and I want this to be his last season. Okay. And I want Carl and Lindsay for drop-ins.

SPEAKER_00 47:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

Um, and then I want Bailey, Levi, KJ, Jesse, Dara, Dara, Mia.

SPEAKER_00 47:52

Oh, right. Mia and Mia. How could we forget Mia? Oh my god, we have to have Mia and we have to have Sierra. Um do you want Sierra full-time? I want Sierra full-time. Okay. Just for now. I don't know if I don't know if I see it. Like she's gonna be doing other stuff.

SPEAKER_01 48:08

Yeah. I just want her around still. I I would miss her. I know. Like she she like carries the fun of the house. Yeah. Like a lot of people are fun because of her. Yeah. Like KJ without Mia and Sierra. True, true, true, true. Would be like floating around. Yeah. Um, and then I think that we need another boy.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Yes, I think we should get like a new person on there. But maybe like just let that cast cook a little bit, you know? Like, I wouldn't mind if Jesse brought someone in. Jesse needs like a new friend.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Yeah, he lost his bro. I know. He lost two bros. That was something that we found out in the reunion that we didn't talk about in our uh flyover deep dive episode, which you should listen to.

SPEAKER_00 48:47

That's where we talk about the summer house uh recap, season three reunion. Yeah. Uh but yeah, that's that's where I'm at. All right. Well, that's a wrap, everybody. Lots to discuss this week. Uh great episode. Yeah. As usual, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Um, let us know what you thought about the episode. Give us a comment on our Instagram. Um, send us a DM. We're always around. Um, have a great week. Bye bye. Love you.