Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness

Imagine a beauty playground where every makeup product is multi-use, you’re encouraged to get creative, and everyone is welcome. You’re imagining Danessa Myricks Beauty. Danessa Myricks drops by Pretty Curious this week to share her dynamic approach to makeup, the magical ingredient that’s powering her product lines today, and her tips for achieving a creamy, long-lasting look.

Our conversation with Danessa begins around 10 minutes into the episode. To learn more about the products referenced in the episode, check out our Instagram @curiouswithjvn, or head to JonathanVanNess.com for the episode transcript.

Danessa Myricks has continuously broken boundaries and built a world of beauty for people from all races, ages and genders. As a pro makeup artist, photographer, and entrepreneur, Danessa is one of the most influential leaders in the beauty industry, inventing products that work in multiple places and on all faces. With the creation of her multi-million-dollar eponymous brand, Danessa Myricks Beauty and photography work, she continues to creatively combine art, product innovation, education, and inclusivity to move the beauty industry forward.

You can follow Danessa on Instagram @danessa_myricks. Danessa Myricks Beauty is on Instagram and TikTok  @danessamyricksbeauty. For more, head to danessamyricksbeauty.com and Sephora’s Danessa Myricks Beauty collection.

Make sure to check out our other new series, Curious Now. And don’t worry—Getting Curious isn’t going anywhere. We’ll still be releasing new episodes every Wednesday.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious, Curious Now, and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Warrior princesses. Gender-bending Vikings. Nuns who were writing about orgasms and writing world-class music. This week, Dr. Janina Ramirez is taking us back to the 400s—and introducing us to the baddies of the Middle Ages. What did people think about abortions? Did Vikings really wear horned helmets? And why is this period anything but a dark age?

Dr. Janina Ramirez is a cultural historian, broadcaster and author based at the University of Oxford. Her research began with a degree in English literature at Oxford, followed by an MA and PhD at the Centre for Medieval Studies in York on the art, literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England.

Her book Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It is available now!

You can follow Dr. Ramirez on Instagram and Twitter @DrJaninaRamirez.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From reproductive rights to school curricula to traffic and infrastructure, state legislatures make decisions about our everyday lives, all across the country. And these legislators regularly win their seats by a couple hundred votes, even fewer. Sister District co-founders Lala Wu and Lyzz Schwegler join Jonathan this week to discuss what’s at stake in state legislative elections this fall, how states like Virginia are bellwethers for 2024, and why every voter needs to show up this odd-year election.

We get into our conversation with Sister District around 13 minutes into the episode, so skip to then if you simply can’t wait to hear from them! For more information on the news stories we covered this week, head to @curiouswithjvn on Instagram.

You can follow Sister District on Instagram and Twitter @Sister_District, and at sisterdistrict.com. For more, check out the following resources:

Text “JOIN” to 68998

Sister District’s State Bridges Program

Princeton Gerrymandering Project

Virginia Public Access Project

iwillvote.com

And be sure to check out Equality Texas, our spotlight group of the week. They’re on Instagram and Twitter @equalitytexas and at equalitytexas.org.

Lala Wu is a Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Sister District. Prior to Sister District, Lala practiced law, specializing in environmental issues and clean energy. Lala graduated from U.C. Berkeley, School of Law and Barnard College of Columbia University. Lala serves on the Boards of the AAPI Victory Alliance and TogetherSF.

Lyzz Schwegler is a Co-Founder and Sister District’s Senior Vice President of Digital. Prior to co-founding Sister District, she worked for a nonprofit film and television production company, founded her own production company and produced an internationally recognized one-man play, and spent half a decade as a communications professional in the private sector. She was pursuing a graduate degree in Public Policy when Trump was elected and Sister District was born.

Tune in next Monday for another episode of our other new series Pretty Curious, all about beauty—and every Wednesday for an all-new episode of Getting Curious.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She’s a Jeopardy! champion, an advocate for trans rights and representation, and this week’s guest on the podcast. Who is Amy Schneider? Amy joins Jonathan this week to talk all about her Jeopardy! career, her latest Wikipedia wormholes, and her love of tarot. Plus, a Jeopardy! round inspired by Jonathan’s favorite topics.

Amy Schneider is an American software engineer and recent Jeopardy! champion. Following an impressive forty-game winning streak, she became the most successful woman ever to compete on Jeopardy!. She is second all-time in the show’s history, trailing only Ken Jennings. Amy is also the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions.

Her new book In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life is out now.

You can follow Amy on Instagram and Twitter @jeopardamy. For more from Avid Reader Press, check out @avidreaderpress on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether she’s on the basketball court or the red carpet, this week’s Pretty Curious guest knows how to turn a look. Actress, producer, and ballroom legend Trace Lysette joins Jonathan to discuss her favorite beauty products, how she takes inspiration from both 1930s Hollywood and 1990s ballroom culture, and her thoughts on the phrase “stunning.”

Our conversation with Trace begins around 8 minutes into the episode.

Trace Lysette is a dynamic and talented actress known for her remarkable contributions to the entertainment industry and has emerged as a powerful voice and a beacon of representation for transgender individuals in Hollywood. She currently stars in the critically acclaimed film MONICA playing the title role opposite Patricia Clarkson; which also has a SAG/AFTRA Interim agreement so they can promote for the upcoming awards season including the Oscars.

You can follow Trace on Instagram @tracelysette

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious, Curious Now, and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s in a calorie? So much more than what you see on a box of cereal or a restaurant menu. The story of the nutritional calorie is the story of U.S. empire, dating back to the late 1800s when government agencies used it to determine just how little they could feed people in the military, prisons, asylums, and Native boarding schools. This week, Dr. Athia N. Choudhury joins Jonathan to discuss the history and politics of the calorie, and explains why counting on this metric—and wellness culture more generally—can be a “mundane kind of violence.”

A note from Dr. Choudhury and Team JVN: This discussion periodically includes the term “ob*sity.” When it is referenced, it is only to describe a process of medicalization and pathologization, and not in alignment with its politics or political uses.

Athia N. Choudhury is a writer and cultural historian/theorist interested in questions of race, food, militarism, eugenics, and body surveillance in the 20th-21st century. She earned a Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California and is currently the Postdoctoral Associate in Asian American and Diaspora Studies at Duke University. You can find Athia’s writing in The Journal of Transnational American Studies, The Routledge International Handbook on Fat Studies, Pipewrench magazine, and Food, Fat, Fitness: Critical Perspectives.

You can learn more about Dr. Choudhury at athiachoudhury.com, and reach out to her here.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you haven’t seen this week’s Curious Now guest on your TikTok feed, you’ve definitely seen her work. Annie Wu Henry was a breakout star of John Fetterman’s winning Senate campaign, where she crafted iconic, witty, incisive videos for Fetterman’s TikTok account—and turned likes and views into votes. We’re hearing all about her political strategy work, her take on Gen Z and millennial voters, and how she’s planning to post her way through the 2024 presidential elections.

We get into our conversation with Annie around the 11-minute mark, so skip to then if you simply can’t wait to hear from her. For more information on the news stories we covered this week, head to @curiouswithjvn on Instagram.

You can follow Annie on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @annie_wu_22.

Annie Wu Henry is a progressive social media and digital strategy expert who passionately believes in the synergy of on-the-ground organizing, electoral campaigns, and online media. Currently holding key roles as Creative Director at AAPI Victory Fund and Digital Consultant for the Working Families Party, Annie’s visionary approach has significantly elevated various campaigns and initiatives. Notably, she played a pivotal role as the social media producer for John Fetterman’s successful Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. Through her personal platform, Annie actively engages her followers, empowering them to stay informed and take action in the pursuit of progressive change.

Tune in next Monday for another episode of our other new series Pretty Curious, all about beauty. And check in next Wednesday for an all-new episode of Getting Curious.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious, Curious Now, and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a group of far right influencers lurking on your social media feeds. They post organic recipes, millennial mom advice, and #glowups. And they’re using this content to promote white supremacist ideas. This week, Dr. Eviane Leidig joins us to discuss who these women are and how they’re spreading hate on social media.

Dr. Eviane Leidig is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University. Her research specializes in the global far-right, gender, and online radicalization, recruitment, and propaganda. Her latest book, The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization, is published by Columbia University Press.

You can follow Dr. Leidig on Twitter @evianeleidig, and at www.evianeleidig.com.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Pretty Curious, a new series where every other Monday, we’ll be talking all things beauty—skincare, haircare, self-care, and beyond. For our premiere episode, we’ve invited back Getting Curious guest David Yi to discuss their GRWM routine, their K-Beauty faves, and how they’re making skincare more inclusive with their brand Good Light.

We get into our interview 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the episode, after some stunning product reviews from Jonathan, so skip to then if you simply can’t wait to hear from David! For more information on the beauty products we discussed this week, head to @curiouswithjvn on Instagram.

David Yi is the founder and editor of Very Good Light, a beauty platform that aims to democratize beauty for all people and author of the book, PRETTY BOYS. He's been written about in the NYT, LAT, Forbes, Allure, among others as the thought leader in men's beauty, identity, and Asian American advocacy. David has championed DEI in his decade of journalism, writing for the likes of the WSJ, GQ, Vogue, and WWD. Additionally, he is a founder of AIM, Advocates for Inclusion in Media, as well as a GLAAD and Webby nominee.

You can follow David on Instagram @seoulcialite. good light is on Instagram and TikTok @goodlight.world, and at goodlight.world. And Very Good Light is on Instagram @verygoodlight, and at verygoodlight.com.

You can revisit David’s episode of Getting Curious here.

Make sure to check out our other new series, Curious Now. And don’t worry—Getting Curious isn’t going anywhere. We’ll still be releasing new episodes every Wednesday.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious, Curious Now, and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gather your plant fam and tell all the green gurls—there’s royalty on the podcast this week! Christopher Griffin aka THE Plant Kween joins Jonathan to discuss the joys of indoor gardening, from finding a plant that fits your lifestyle to tending to root rot. Plus, a casting session for Divas Live: Green Gurls edition!

Christopher Griffin, also known as Plant Kween, is a Brooklyn-based educator, author of YOU GROW, GURL! Plant Kween’s Lush Guide to Growing your Garden, and gardener with a collection of more than 200 green plants (also known as “green gurls”) in their apartment.

You can follow Christopher on Instagram and TikTok at @plantkween, and at www.plantkween.com.

Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.

Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.

Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.

Our executive producer is Erica Getto. Our producer is Chris McClure. Our associate producer is Allison Weiss. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.

Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.

Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices