Imperfect Strangers

Fire up a super patriotic song that usually makes you uncomfortable because the American flag has been hijacked for nefarious and racist purposes and worry no more! An ecstatic and joyful Amanda and I discuss the 2020 election results. #RealNews Listen as we give commentary on #LawnAndOrder and give flowers to Black women. Pour yourself a tall glass of MAGA tears and enjoy.
And as referenced at the top of the episode, don’t forget to head on over to our Patreon because we’ve unlocked a bonus episode on Amanda’s Midwestern accent and AAVE no one should be using— it’s free right now. Like a free trial to entice you to sign up for the Patreon. In this political climate, we’ve all grown tired of the lies so we are big on honesty here. We’re enticing you. Plus, because we gave some shit away to non-patrons and we’re moms and we deeply understand how “that’s not fair, we already paid for that!,” for those of you who are paying customers, you get an *extended* conversation about Meghan Markle’s choice to leave the castle.  We only touched on it in Ep 25 “We Just Did,” because we pulled out the meat and potatoes of that conversation special just for you on the Patreon.

Want to support Amanda and Melissa,  the strangers behind your favorite new podcast? Join our Patreon! It’s AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do).  There you’ll find bonus content, episodes that never made air, IG Monday Night Lives you may have missed, a newsletter and so much more. You can join the club here! You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch! We have a very cool website! Go there now! We have a PRIVATE Facebook Group too. The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck. All season two artwork is by Lisa Venturella.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

We are all hanging by a thread here. Amanda and I wanted to wait until after we survived Election Day to bring you a timely episode about (possibly) the end of the world so please enjoy these cutting room scraps. On this raggedy shit, we talk shit about Instagram influencers because we’re mad we don’t have that douche je ne sais quoi that keeps them paid. We also get nostalgic about old school blogs in the Livejournal, pre-monetized era. Yes, we know we can always STFU but who wants to listen to a silent podcast?

Want to support Amanda and Melissa,  the strangers behind your favorite new podcast? Join our Patreon! It’s AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do).  There you’ll find bonus content, episodes that never made air, IG Monday Night Lives you may have missed, a newsletter and so much more. You can join the club here! You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch!
We have a very cool website! Go there now! We have a PRIVATE Facebook Group too. The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck. All season two artwork is by Lisa Venturella.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

On this episode that has no business airing, Amanda shares her son, the light of many lives, Bennett’s birth story. We should give you a time stamp for when that PG part is over because from there it’s just triple X. Melissa and Amanda discuss sex. Toys — what’s the website for purchase though, Amanda? Pornos — you mean like DVDs? Intimacy in long term marriage. Linda, get.

Want to support your Stranger Friends AND get access to BONUS CONTENT? We launched a Patreon and it's AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do). You can join the club here!
You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch!
We have a very cool website! Go there now!
We have a NEW, PRIVATE Facebook Group. 

The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

Amanda and Melissa want to Stop (Amy) Coney 2020 (Barrett) because religious pro-life demons who want to control women’s bodies and do hateful stuff with their friends in this Dumpster fire of an election year — oof. Later, ironically, in the conversation Amanda explains controlling her sons’ wardrobes. Her boys gotta leave the house looking like casual day at the accounting firm and Melissa quite enjoys Amanda’s specificity and rules in this arena. This episode won’t kill your brain cells, son. To hear your Patreon shoutout, listen from 4:11 to 12:00. The show begins with the cute little music and everything after that point.

Want to support your Stranger-friends AND get access to BONUS CONTENT? We launched a Patreon and it's AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do). You can join the club here!
You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch!
We have a very cool website! Go there now!
We have a PRIVATE Facebook Group. 
The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck. 
Podcast artwork by the wonderful Lisa Venturella.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

We are back up in that ass with the resurrection for season two. Melissa and Amanda continue on their path to knowing each other with a frank and too open conversation on privacy, household nudity and what goes on behind door … number two. Guess which one of our stranger-friends is a member of a never nude household and which one is a free bird who allows a nut sack on the sofa. Listen to find out. 

Want to support your stranger-friends AND get access to BONUS CONTENT? We launched a Patreon and it's AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do). You can join the club here! 
You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch! 
We have a very cool website! Go there now! 
We have a PRIVATE Facebook Group.  The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck. Imperfect Strangers illustrations are created by Lisa Venturella.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

Wow! Thanks so much for enjoying the little podcast that could. If you’ve been here from the start, you already know all this but if you’re new here — WELCOME STRANGER! Thanks for joining us. Here’s a little tutorial on how to get the most out of your Imperfect Strangers podcast experience. The first thing you need to do is listen to it. After that, we’re pretty sure you’re gonna want to subscribe so you never miss a new episode. After subscribing, you’re ready to become a regular listener! Our listeners know exactly how to do this. So let’s recap.
There are new episodes every Friday at midnight. So when Thursday is about to be over, that’s the midnight we mean. Once the show goes live, wherever you listen to podcasts like @applepodcasts or @spotifypodcasts, you hop on over to the Imperfect Strangers Instagram account to watch the interactive story which goes live, you guessed it, at midnight. There, you’ll see pictures to go with whatever our stranger-friend hosts are discussing. This can be random references and flashback photos from deep in the vault. Now let’s say you’re not trying to stay up until midnight to watch the story on Instagram. We have a solution for that! In the highlights section, you’ll find a button with the corresponding episode number and you can watch at any time! We’ve taken a loose poll and we’ve found that half of you like to “spoil” yourselves and watch it before you listen to the show. And the other half likes to watch it during. Some of y’all watch it before and after. Either way, it’s a fun way to really dig into the fun of this podcast.
Now. You’re like cool. And we’re opening our trench coats like "wait bitch. There’s more!" After you’ve listened to the episode and watched the corresponding story, you can meet us back here around 7ish pm EST on Monday night where Amanda and I go live to chat about the show and hang out with you, our Stranger-friends. Sometimes the chat gets lively and y’all don’t even be paying attention to us. Other times, we don’t even be discussing the show. But every time, it’s awesome. Yup.
OMG. There’s still more! If you need more time with your new community of friends or you just like Amanda and Melissa like that, you can mosey on over to the Facebook private group and get to clicking and clacking in there.
Still need more? Not a problem. We also have a Patreon! Pick your tier and enjoy bonus content, a newsletter, the Monday Night Lives you may have missed and so much more!
Got it? Cool. See you in season 2! Coming October 16!

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

Everyone's Business But Mine is a weekly journey through all the mess of reality TV, pop culture, and internet culture. EBBM is hosted by the lovely Kara Berry. In this episode, Kara and Amanda discuss Season 10, Episode 1 of Lifetime's Married at First Sight. Hear our thoughts on each couple and our final predictions for whether or not they will stay married or end in divorce. 

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

Melissa here. I was a guest on Reality Life With Kate Casey right after Imperfect Strangers had just started. You know, dabbling in that whole “put yourself out there,” “promote your new project” thing that normal people gotta do, like to do. Kate Casey is sometimes known as the Diane Sawyer of interviewing former reality stars in that she digs, gently, a little deeper to understand the true and real aftermath of having participated in that show. And she certainly lived up to that name. Fun fact, shortly after talking to me, she happened to interview Danny from my season and then reconnected us with a group text because our appearances on her show were wild similar. We hadn’t spoken in a decade plus. Interesting, right? Perhaps something that may come up in discussion with Amanda on season 2 of Imperfect Strangers. Because when we’re not recording, we do actually talk about stuff that is ongoing in our lives because that's the premise of the show, remember? Anyway, give the  episode a listen. Here’s Kate Casey’s summary:
Melissa Howard Beck was a member of The Real World New Orleans in 2000. She went on to star on Oxygen’s Girl’s Behaving Badly before moving back east to start a family with her husband. She talks about being outspoken about race on TV, trying to get a job in entertainment when everyone sees you as just the star of an MTV show, coping with social anxiety, her religious conversion, and motherhood.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

On this special season finale episode of your new favorite podcast Imperfect Strangers, Amanda and Melissa have a super meta conversation about the making of the podcast and the inner workings of their newfound friendship slash business partnership. After they exhaust you with talk of their feelings, enjoy discussions on Pen15 and COVID Halloween. 

Want to support your Stranger Friends AND get access to BONUS CONTENT? We launched a Patreon and it's AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do). You can join the club here!
You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch!
We have a very cool website! Go there now!
We have a NEW, PRIVATE Facebook Group. 
Sign up for the Imperfect Strangers Podcast newsletter. That is never filled with spam.
The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support

With both their daughters at home all day every day because they’re enrolled in remote school, Melissa and Amanda can’t escape their stank preteen attitudes. The two discuss finding creative ways to connect with their oldest children. Later in the episode, there’s discussion on people who have ugly hands, people who get murdered in the woods and Paris Hilton.
Want to support your Stranger Friends AND get access to BONUS CONTENT? We launched a Patreon and it's AMAZING if we do say so ourselves (and we do). You can join the club here!
You can also support the show by buying your very own Imperfect Strangers merch!
We have a very cool website! Go there now!
We have a NEW, PRIVATE Facebook Group. 
Sign up for the Imperfect Strangers Podcast newsletter. That is never filled with spam.
The Imperfect Strangers Podcast theme song is written and performed by Justin Beck.

---

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/imperfectstrangers/support