This week, we're getting into the iconic hit reality franchise, The Traitors.

We analyze the actual origins of the game (it started as a Soviet social psychology experiment, no joke), who's actually good at playing it and why, and the unhinged joy of watching people lie to each other for entertainment.

Then we get into groupthink, confirmation bias, and why everybody at the round table should take a media literacy course.

⚠️ Spoilers ahead for all aired seasons of The Traitors.

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LINKS

Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv

Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality

Get in touch: [email protected] -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all.

Take action: whatcanido.earth

Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade

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It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

If you love it, leave a rating and review!

This week, we get into the machine that made Taylor Frankie Paul, and what happened when it couldn't contain her anymore.

From MomTok to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to The Bachelorette season that has yet to air, we break down her redemption arc, the gamble ABC made, why Dakota is still on our screens, and the question underneath it all: what do we -- audiences, networks, and media -- actually owe the women we watch?

Note: episode was recorded April 18th, 2026, as information was still coming in.

⚠️ Content warning: this episode discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you know is affected, please reach out:
🇺🇸 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 | thehotline.org
🇨🇦 Assaulted Women's Helpline: 1-866-863-0511 | awhl.org

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LINKS

Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv

Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality

Get in touch: [email protected] -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all.

Take action: whatcanido.earth

Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade

-------------

It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

If you love it, leave a rating and review!

This episode contains Survivor 50 spoilers! You've been warned.

This week, we dig into Season 50 of Survivor: the twists that overshadowed the players, the fan participation that wasn't, the gendered edit that disappeared some the season's top players, and what Christian Hubicki's elimination tells us about what happens when production stops trusting its own show.

Plus: Who we were rooting for, how we'd play Survivor, our hot takes on how to make Survivor better.
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LINKS

Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv

Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality

Get in touch: [email protected] -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all.

Take action: whatcanido.earth

Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade

-------------

It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

If you love it, leave a rating and review!

Welcome to It's Called Reality!

In our inaugural episode, we get into our origin stories with reality TV, and the argument that's going to drive every episode of this show: reality TV isn't just a guilty pleasure, it's a kind of mirror. And if you look closely enough, all the same forces that shape the world show up every week on these shows.

We get into why/what we started watching, what we love about it, what we're watching now, and how we'd play if we were cast on a reality show.

Subscribe wherever you listen. Tell your group chat.

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LINKS

Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv

Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality

Get in touch: [email protected] -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all.

Take action: whatcanido.earth

Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade

-------------

It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

If you love it, leave a rating and review!

Reality TV. You already watch it. You already have opinions. It's Called Reality gives you somewhere to take them seriously.

Hosts Willow Beck and Briana Brown have been texting each other about their reality TV obsessions for years. Now they're yapping about it on a podcast -- and going a lot deeper than the drama. Every episode covers a different franchise, pulling the thread on the beauty standards, the bias, the power dynamics, and what it all reveals about the world we actually live in.

From the Mormon Wives machine and what it says about how we treat women in media, to the Traitors as a masterclass in disinformation and groupthink, to Survivor as a case study in narrative control -- this is the discourse for people who give a shit.

Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode.

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Find us:

Instagram: @itscalledreality

TikTok: @its.called.reality

Website: itscalledreality.tv

Email: [email protected]

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It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important.