Rich Text

Diane Keaton was one of those rare public figures who seemed to collapse the space between celebrity and the rest of us. She was relatable, ethereal, warm, effervescent. She was magic in corporeal form.

That’s probably why for so many of us the news of her passing hit especially hard. Maybe you first met her as the unbearably charming Annie Hall in “Annie Hall,” or mom extraordinaire Nina Banks in “Father of the Bride,” or as reformed doormat Annie in “First Wives Club,” or as yuppie girlboss J.C. Wiatt. Regardless, you probably fell in love with her through the screen.

As Rhonda Garelick wrote of Keaton in a tribute for the New York Times: “In seeming so authentic and unfettered — both physically and personally — Ms. Keaton felt like a reminder of those promises [of 1970s feminism], like a rare bird soaring in from bygone days when progress and growing freedoms for women seemed inevitable.”

The two of us were struck by how genuinely sad we were when we learned over last weekend that Keaton had passed away at the age of 79. We knew that we wanted to use this week’s Rich Text episode to explore what she and her work meant to us. We contemplated rewatching a beloved movie of hers to discuss, and then realized that both of us had the same gap in our Diane Keaton knowledge: 1987’s “Baby Boom.”

“Baby Boom” follows yuppie self-described “Tiger Lady” J.C. Wiatt. She’s married to her high-powered job, having four-minute sex with her live-in boyfriend Steven (Harold Ramis), and gunning for partner at her firm. A wrench is thrown into her carefully constructed plans when she ends up saddled with a (very cute) baby after her distant cousin dies and designates her as the guardian. Hijinks — so many hijinks — ensue. She and Steven break up, she ends up mommy-tracked at her patriarchal office, and eventually she buys a Vermont estate on a whim and moves to the country, where she meets a very handsome veterinarian (Sam Shepard), and she manages to launch a multimillion-dollar business of artisanal baby food within approximately six months.

In a 2020 Vulture interview, Keaton spoke warmly about the experience of making “Baby Boom” and her adoration of J.C. Wiatt. “I love the woman I was playing,” she said. “I mean, it was fun. And let’s not forget Sam Shepard. Let’s not forget him … because wow. [Laughs loudly.] That was really fun too.”

Watching the 1987 film in 2025, we found that after nearly 40 years, the themes still resonate. Women are still navigating inequities in the workforce, and negotiating the motherhood penalty, and contending with the allure of the cottagecore fantasy. And for all of “Baby Boom’s” imperfections — including some fairly egregious plot holes — Keaton’s performance stands the test of time.

So cheers to you, Diane. We’re so glad that your work gets to live forever.

“Why Diane Keaton’s Death Hits Harder,” Rhonda Garelick, NYT

“A Delightful Conversation with Diane Keaton,” Rachel Handler, Vulture

“FEMINIST HEROINES; Women As Victims,” Charles Shyer & Nancy Meyers, NYT

“FILM VIEW; Are Feminist Heroines An Endangered Species?,” Caryn James, NYT

“Putting Down The Independent Working Woman,” Chicago Tribune

“Film Review: Satire That Lowers The ‘Baby Boom,’” Kevin Thomas, LA Times

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Just when you thought she hadn’t even left yet, Taylor Swift is back again with yet another album, complete with a color-based theme (orange), theatrically released music video, and multiple vinyl variants. “The Life of a Showgirl," which dropped October 3rd, is her third fully new album in four years; between 2019 and 2025, she has released at least one new or rerecorded album every year. Like any savvy creative in the influencer era, Swift knows the importance of feeding the beast with an unceasing flood of new content!

Sure, her primary medium is confessional pop hits, not a curated Instagram grid. But Swift’s business model — the frequent drops, the mining of her personal life for intriguing material, the outsized parasocial relationship between her and her fans (in which she is positioned both as aspirational and, increasingly implausibly, as relatable), and the harnessing of backlash, outrage cycles, and “haters” to fuel her career — is almost perfectly optimized for an influencer-based attention economy. She’s figured out how to make sure we pay attention to her. And pay attention we did.

So what did we think of “TLOAS,” and what did we think of the discourse around it? Is it badly written and hollow? Is it boring because it’s about being happy and in love? Is it full of half-baked, ripped-off songs? Is it mean-spirited, petty, and punching down at less famous women? Are there too many old memes in it? Is she a tradwife now? Is it a needless album, born of greed, without a single bop to be found? Is it a misunderstood instant classic?

We listened to the album a few (dozen) times, read a few (dozen) reviews and takes, and went through a few (dozen) changes of heart about the songs before recording this. And while we’re not music critics or Swifties, we did wind up with some strong feelings and opinions! In this episode, we discuss our favorite parts of the album, Taylor Swift’s ambitions and influencer-esque savvy, the cringe lyrics (you know which ones), the difficulty of reviewing a Taylor Swift album without reviewing Taylor as a person, the “WI$H LI$T” tradwife discourse, and so much more.

Hope you enjoy! xo

Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker: “Why Does Taylor Swift Think She’s Cursed?”

Ira Madison III, “She’s Not Your Average Showgirl”

Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone: “Taylor Swift Conquers Her Biggest Stage Ever on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’”

Anna Graca, Pitchfork review

Tyler Foggatt, The New Yorker: “Do We Still Like Taylor Swift When She’s Happy?”

B.D. McClay, The Substack Post

Kelsey McKinney, Defector: “No Good Art Comes From Greed”

New York Times roundtable: “Taylor Swift Keeps Getting Bigger. Can the Music Keep Up?"

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One of the most fascinating things about watching different editions of “Love Is Blind,” is tracking the regionally-specific cultural differences.

In Denver, the U.S. season currently airing, we have biohacking and tech-enabled wellness clubs used as foreplay. In France, we have unfiltered bluntness. Who knew it was possible to start a relationship by telling a person that you simply don’t like how they look, and end up as the Golden Couple of the season? Paris truly is the city of love.

In this episode, we break down our high-level thoughts on France’s inaugural “Love Is Blind” season, from the pods all the way to the weddings. (So, to state the obvious, we get a little less granular than we usually do.) We discuss the French-specific cultural norms, the incredible fashion (we’d like to raid your closets, Kim and Tatiana), the equal opportunity bad behavior among the men and women, and the couples we really, really hope are still together come reunion day. Hope you enjoy! Xo

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The shippers can finally lay down their swords, because as we always knew they would, Team Bonrad has emerged victorious.

On Wednesday, the finale of hit teen romance show “The Summer I Turned Pretty” dropped. Fans got to watch Conrad show up in Paris and yearn for Belly all over the city. Their reunion culminates in a very steamy sex scene, a temporary freakout, and a rom-com-worthy chase-after-his-train reconciliation. Cut to an epilogue, where Belly and Conrad arrive at the Cousins beach house, just the two of them.

Meanwhile, our side characters also got their happy endings. Jeremiah connected with his former colleague Denise, Belly’s brother Steven and best friend Taylor are moving to California, and all of the parents seem to have reached a place of peace. Things are (mostly) neatly wrapped up — we do have a movie coming, so not *everything* could be clearly resolved — and the romance in the air of Cousins Beach remains.

And yet… there remain fundamental things about “The Summer I Turned Pretty” that we find a bit hard to swallow. In this episode, we discuss the underlying conservatism of TSITP, the wild Bonrad vs. Jelly shipping wars, the fandom’s allergy to delayed gratification, and why we loved Belly in Paris so much. Hope you enjoy! Xo

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As professional reality dating show viewers, we were feverish with excitement to watch Netflix’s new rom-com “The Wrong Paris” (brought to you by the director of Lindsay Lohan vehicles “Irish Wish” and “Falling for Christmas).

“The Wrong Paris” stars Miranda Cosgrove as Dawn, a small-town diner waitress and artist from Texas who is, of course, Not Like Other Girls. She doesn’t even watch the huge reality franchise “The Honey Pot,” a show similar to “The Bachelor” but with enormous cash prizes — and a love or money twist at the end. But when she needs money and a plane ticket to Paris for so she can enroll at a French art school, her normie sister convinces her to audition for the newest season, which conveniently happens to be filming in Paris. Dawn gets cast and boards the plane hoping only to pocket the $20k appearance fee paid to each cast member and get eliminated. Unfortunately, it turns out that the plane is heading to Paris, Texas — and the lead has no intention of eliminating her. Hey, he just loves the chase!

This is a rom-com about a woman who tries to scam a reality show and instead falls in love with a man who tries to hold her hostage until he can turn her ‘no’ into a ‘yes.” It’s a rom-com about chintzy metalwork art and high-school-level art criticism. And above all, it’s a rom-com about a reality dating show so poorly produced that it’s hard to imagine how the editors will even string together a season, given that most of the important narrative developments either happen off-screen or are interrupted by producers mid-filming because they’re TOO dramatic.

Along the way, we get some very light parody of “The Bachelor” and “Bachelor”-adjacent shows and a very topical plot twist.

In this episode, we recap the whole movie, try not to get too distracted by the obvious production missteps of the “Honey Pot” crew, and laugh a lot. Maybe this wasn’t “The Wrong Paris” for us, after all! Hope you enjoy. xo

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The Women sat at their iced-coffee-covered desks, staring into the vast beyond of their computer screens. They couldn’t help but wonder… what did they just watch for the better part of 12 hours, on and off for the last handful of months?

The answer is, of course, the final season of “And Just Like That…” The “Sex and the City” sequel has been polarizing from the jump, generating more discourse than minutes of airtime. And after just three cringey, painful, glorious seasons, it has come to an end.

We admittedly had gotten pretty behind on “AJLT,” due to our Big Summer of reality dating shows. But now that it’s September, we decided that it was time to dedicate the hours to this essential project, binge-watch the episodes we had missed, and dive headfirst into the conversation.

In this episode, we discuss what this season actually got right (quite a bit!), the Aidan of it all, the abysmal series finale, and whether hatred for the show is truly just bound up in hatred of middle-aged women. We hope you enjoy! Xo

“Were Carrie Bradshaw and Her Friends the Last Nice Rich People on TV?,” Ginia Bellafante, NYTimes

“In ‘And Just Like That …’ a Craven Era Took Its Revenge on Youth and Hope and Fun,” Jennifer Weiner, NYTimes

“my (needless) AJLT season 4 pitches,” Samantha Irby, bitches gotta eat!

“‘And Just Like That…’ Is Over Too Soon,” Wesley Morris & Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Cannonball with Wesley Morris podcast

“Misreading Carrie Bradshaw,” Jackson McHenry, Vulture

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The “Love Is Blind” season 2 reunion landed on Sunday afternoon, and it landed with the force and spectacle of a grand piano pushed out of a tenth-story window. The proverbial ink had barely dried on our glowing recap of last week’s finale — the 10/10 perfect couples, the happy surprise of Billy and Ashleigh — when all our starry visions of marital bliss were extinguished. Well, not all. (There are one or two decent men left in the United Kingdom.) This reunion brought us shocking update after unsurprising-but-still-somehow-shocking update, some Emma Willis tears, and a performance of “you’re a liar” in two-part harmony.

In this episode, we discuss all the couples’ relationship updates, berate ourselves for giving men the benefit of the doubt, speculate about stiff upper lips and missing chips, wonder about spleen-forward parenting, and give one last enemies-to-friends ranking.

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The two-part “Love Is Blind UK” finale dropped this week, and despite the usual dull spots — wedding dress and suit shopping scenes that could have been a mood board, by-the-book stag and hen do activities, all the standard trimmings of a wedding day — we were rapt. This season ended as all the best seasons do: Some drama, some suspense, some swoony happy endings, and one woman walking away from marriage to a man who can’t quite see her as a full equal.

In this episode, we discuss the resurgence of strict gender roles and “being in our masculine/feminine” relationship frameworks, the slow-motion implosion of Bardha and Jed’s engagement, Billy’s doubts and Ashleigh’s heartbreaking determination to win him over, and the love stories that made our hearts skip a beat. We end with an enemies-to-friends ranking and rate our final four couples on whether they should stay together/date after the show. Hope you enjoy!

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“Are You My First?”, a reality dating show that dropped on Hulu last week, was clearly designed to be provocative. Well before it premiered, it drew controversy for its choice of hosts: reality and podcast personality Kaitlyn Bristowe shares the honor with Colton Underwood, a public figure most famous for being a virgin when he starred on “The Bachelor” and second-most famous for allegedly stalking the winner of his season. The show itself, which we have now watched in full, never ceases reminding viewers that its castmembers are virgins, and their lack of experience is frequently played for awkward laughs. Their full humanity, indeed any part of their identities outside of not having had sex, is not explored in any meaningful depth. From beginning to end, everything from the eliminations (“Virgin Sacrifices”) to the contestants themselves (consistently identified as “virgins” in their chyrons) are chastity-branded. But the idea of what virginity actually represents — both as a heteronormative, patriarchal social construct and as a core part of the castmembers’ identities — is never challenged or even explored.

Perhaps it’s unfair to expect a trashy reality show to dismantle the patriarchy (though some girls can dream!). But we were also disappointed with the show’s sheer entertainment quotient, which was simply not high enough. Almost no relationships of any real interest develop, and we barely get to know the people in those relationships outside of learning exactly why each of them hasn’t had sex yet. The series is glued together with unfunny and stiff narration from the hosts (especially Underwood), apparently recorded using tin cans and a ball of string. By the finale, we could barely interest ourselves enough to watch.

But that’s not to say there isn’t plenty to discuss! In this episode, we break down the choice to cast Colton Underwood and review the performances of the hosts, offer some critiques of the format and production, dig into some of the standout characters and love triangles, and unpack how the show presents virginity and what it suggests about the cultural and political moment we’re in. Hope you enjoy! xo

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Last episode, we were wondering whether this season of “Love Is Blind UK” would be able to recapture the glory of the first. It all just seemed a little… dull. This week, we’re eating our words. We have besties! We have enemies! We have a genuinely riveting Pod Squad mixer!

In episodes 5-8, we watch the five engaged couples finish up their romantic vacation in Cyprus and head back to Manchester to move in together. They meet each other’s families, continue to build their physical and emotional connections, and grapple with the fallout of drama that occurs at a wider pod mixer. (Special shout out to Aanu for her “You’re a liiiiiiiiar” vocal stylings.)

Some couples hit the rocks this week. At the center of much of this drama are Katisha and Javen, who started off on slightly shaky terms after Katisha nearly picked someone else in the pods. But during this stretch of episodes it feels like Javen is just constantly looking for an out. Is that out Demola? Is it differing communication styles? Is it one of the other hot ladies in the Pod Squad? After some truly out-of-pocket behavior at the mixer, it was frankly a relief to see Megan level with her girl and allow Katisha to exit the relationship with her head held high on her own terms. Even more devastatingly, our Golden Couple-coded pair, Billy and Ashleigh, seem like they’re faltering during this stretch… all because Billy can’t handle six more months of Ashleigh working cabin crew.

But other couples we couldn’t quite get a read on in the pods started to soar! Kal & Sarover! Megan & Kieran! (Consider us officially swoony over these four.) We get into all of the drama and all of the romance in this week’s episode, and discuss how much all of our ratings and rankings have shifted around over the course of a week. Hope you enjoy! xo

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