We brought Allegra Frank some historical gossip involving a party full of mountain climbers, a long rope, and a bad idea. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia.

We've got a present for you from our secret feed vault! Rachelle, Kelsey, and Brandy gather over a bottle of wine to discuss Rebecca Yarros' FOURTH WING. If you'd like to get in on these monthly extra episodes, subscribe as a Friend or a Friend-of-a-Friend.

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

Chelsea Devantez joined us for a story about a family with enough money to buy anything they want—except another one-of-a-kind heirloom hutch. Follow Chelsea on Instagram here and check out Chelsea’s podcast Glamorous Trash here.

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

Defector's own Jasper Wang joins us to explore what happens when the people selling you their house have a few extra conditions. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

Carvell Wallace joins us for a tale of neighborly revenge involving fences, motion sensor lights, and a certain infamous app. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com. 

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

You know we had to find a special story to celebrate the return of Tracy Clayton! This week's tale involves a big family, a cabin in the woods, and the mysterious disappearance of a sweet potato pie. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com. If you want to read Ice Planet Barbarians along with us, you can pick up a copy here. 

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

Mike Rugnetta graciously accepted our invitation to a vampire ball in New Orleans. Follow Mike on Instagram here. Listen to his podcast Never Post here. And here's that collab with ICYMI. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com. Our merch shop is run by Dan McQuade. 

You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

Welcome to season NINE of Normal Gossip! We're kicking off the season with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and a story about four college students on a star-crossed Eurotrip. 

Order Malala’s new memoir Finding My Way here and follow her on Instagram here.

You can join us in donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund here or Transanta here. 

Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!

You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.

Our merch shop is run by Dan McQuade. You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/

Episode transcript here.

Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.

Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.

Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Support Radiotopia's fall fundraiser here.

We've got one more treat for you before we'll be back with more gossip next month! This is the first episode of Patrick Redford's new podcast Only If You Get Caught. 

Only If You Get Caught is about how we can better understand sports and culture by examining how humans cheat in ways big and small. Sacramento Kings fans have long believed that the NBA fixed the 2002 Western Conference finals so the Lakers would win. Patrick is joined by Tommy Craggs to discuss whether they think it actually happened. 

Episode transcript here. 

Show Credits

Only If You Get Caught is written and hosted by Patrick Redford. 

It’s produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin, with production support from Jae Towle Vieira. Editorial support from Tom Ley and Audrey Mardavich. Justin Ellis is Defector’s projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek Show art by Jim Cooke. Jasper Wang and Sean Kuhn are Defector’s business guys. Thank you to the Defector staff. 

Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber based media company. 

Only If You Get Caught is a proud member of Radiotopia. 

Today, we’re bringing you an episode of Try Hard,a new podcast hosted and produced by one of our very own dowager queens of gossip, Alex Sujong Laughlin.

This episode is the second episode of the season, and it features a familiar face, Erika Casupanan, the winner of the 41st season of Survivor, and a guest from the fifth season of Normal Gossip. 

Erika spent her life being the person she thought she "should" be. It turns out that doing her own thing doesn't rock the world the way she thinks it will. It's actually pretty cool.

Check out Erika's podcast, Happy to See Me.

Episode transcript here.

Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at [email protected], or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs.

Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.

Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.