You know we had to come back and finish discussing the first drop from “Love Is Blind Germany” season 2, and we are doing that today! But first, we needed to unburden ourselves about a couple other Cultural Conversations: the Golden Globe Awards adding a Best Podcast award, and Ashley Tisdale French’s essay in The Cut about leaving her toxic mom group.

First, we get into the momentous decision of the Golden Globes to finally recognize all the valuable podcasting work being done by celebrities. We get into our feelings about celebrity podcasts in general (with all due respect to our queen Amy Poehler), the swamping of the industry by big-money deals for big-name movie stars, and the Golden Globes’ approach to recognizing this entire diverse genre of art and journalism.

Next, we turn to actress and businesswoman Ashley Tisdale French’s underbaked but provocative essay in The Cut about how her mom group turned toxic — and how she bravely chose to leave. We break down the speculation that followed about the mom group, which was instantly identified as likely being Hilary Duff and Mandy Moore’s well-publicized crew of celeb and celeb-adjacent moms. The speculation was followed by a denial from French’s camp that the piece was about Duff’s group, but also tacitly confirmed by the prickly reactions from the direction of that particular social circle. Duff’s husband Matthew Koma posted a parody of French’s Cut portrait and headline strongly implying that she was squeezed out of the group for being self-involved and tone-deaf! Meghan Trainor posted an “I’m so unbothered” TikTok about the gossip! We discuss the essay’s weaknesses, why it seems to have backfired on French to some degree, and why we’re so fascinated by the idea of “mean” or “toxic” moms.

Finally, we run through the major plot points of “Love Is Blind Germany” episodes 5-8, which take our newly engaged couples from honeymoons in Crete to daily life together in Munich, culminating in the beginning of their weddings. There are a couple of relationship casualties on the way, and cracks begin to form in some of the stronger couples. But there’s one real exception: Josy and Gunnar seem to go from strength to strength, slowly blossoming in each stage of the experiment. They remain our sweethearts, our favorites, our babygirls. Don’t fail us; we need this right now.

Timestamps for easy listening:

0:00 — A rant about the Golden Globes podcast category

14:06 — Ashley Tisdale French toxic mom group drama

47:19 — “Love Is Blind Germany” eps 5-8

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