The Shade Of It All: A Rucast Podrace for RuPaul's Drag Race

READERS, school is back in session and so are we! Not content to leave you hanging, Kyle and Dr. Ben dust off their seats at the Shade Table to recap their thoughts on the remainder of one of their favorite regular seasons in a while (even if the narrative conclusion left a little bit to be desired). Join us ahead of our still-to-be-determined cadence for our RuCaps of Global All Stars with this Season 16 sum-up! (music: bensound.com)

At this point READERS, the dawls are the DAWLS! Avid dawl collector and fellow Aries Yair joins Kyle as they discuss their childhood journeys with toys and dolls, what aspects a collector looks for when expanding on their collection, the joys of getting a fresh challenge sixteen seasons into the franchise, and the many varied outcomes with the queens' foray into creating, branding and selling their signature limited edition dolls! Did the judges get it right? Which doll did you most want to add to your collection? (music: bensound.com)

Down on your knees READERS - Mother is in the spotlight! What happens when Kyle (who's kind of a bitch) and Keith (who puts your man on a leash) are drinking, having Keith cookies, and talking about made up Swedish bands? It means they're also talking latex for a mini challenge, self-producing girlies who don't think fully through their edits, being picked last in gym class, and the satisfaction of an underestimated underdog edit coming to fruition! Along with pussycat wigs (and mushroom, bus driver, Marcel finger wave and bowl cut wigs pretending to be pussycat wigs), we've got a quick (for us) rucap of Episode 5 of Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race - the girl group challenge! Make sure your Q doesn't heave on your angora carpet! We mean your cat.

SCHNAP OUT OF IT, READERS! Kyle and Keith are joined by Berlin-born, Boston based, bashful boy Patrick R to discuss hotel upgrades, stances on sketch comedy (or lack thereof), Chermit the Tiger the Frog, Babs and that emotional Eliminaysha and all that transpired in episode 4 of Drag Race Season 16, RDR Live! (music: bensound.com)

READERS - for the Mother of All Balls, who would you have summoned to the Shade Table? ("...Pass!") Kyle is joined by Keith, Ben and Holly for a 3 hour deep dive into the season so far, being kindofabitch, those WHO AIN'T NO DIVAAAAAA, what offended them about the various presentations of the episode (spoiler alert - there's a lot of things!) and opinions on all FORTY TWO! looks from Season 16's first full cast challenge, The Mother Ball! Who are your Mother Goose and Significant Mothers, and do you agree with the final Rate-A-Queen results? Were the right winner and Porkchop selected? Let us know, maldita perra! (music: bensound.com)

The wait is over, reading kittens! With a new year, new season of Drag Race and new equipment to break in at the Shade Table, Kyle & Ben dive into their thoughts on heel clacking, cross-eyed titty bibs, social media mugs, flippin to flip, political posters, AI racers, bananas and rating queens in our RuCap of the split premiere episodes of Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race! (music: bensound.com)

Grab your sixteen tunneled candles and pearl (h*rbor) thongs because The Shade Table is BACK IN SESSION! Fresh off the Sasha Colby Meet & Greet, Kyle is joined by Katie and Calvin Cato to give flowers and camouflaged shade at our latest crop of queens for Season 16 of Drag Race OG. (Spoiler alert: a past multi-visit Shade Table librarian is now a RuGirl!!!) Check out our rundown of the Season 16 Meet the Queens ahead of the NEW season kicking off on January 5th! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, we've got more summer reading for your nerves! Kyle and Keith are joined by The Bronx's premiere andrologist Ricardo Cabanas at the Shade Table, having buzzballs and Strawberritas and a slew of various Drag Race opinions. We talk about Ricardo's job of helping people make babies, the revolving door of Hell's Kitchen gay bars, how to see Beyonce twice (Kyle's not bitter), and our thoughts on the outcome of the back half of All Stars 8. How did y'all find this season readers? And which franchise are you enjoying most (and should we cover next?) (music: bensound.com)

Because you're holding up podcasting, green means GO! 

READERS, it's our longest episode ever but I promise it's for all the right reasons - Kyle's joined at the Shade Table with Ben and Tom McDonald of bookseller fame to wax poetic about the greatest all-around performer of our time, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter. We do a deep dive from the Destiny's Child days through the first 4 albums of her solo career, and of course talk about the *experience* Kyle and Ben had at the Renaissance World Tour. (We also spend time at the top talking about astrology, working at bookstores and some of Kyle and Tom's memorable celebrity encounters.) Break up the listen of the episode but don't break your soul - it's a fun listen that'll have you jumpin jumpin for our follow up (when we'll talk about self-titled and beyond in more depth).

Happy Zaddy's Day, READERS! One of the longest episodes of The Shade Of It All to date is here for all of the best reasons: via satellite call from Lebanon, the humble, honest, humongously talented, handsome and hot Haaz Sleiman joins (a VERY geeked and internally fanboying) Kyle at the Shade Table! Adorable nieces and brief internet outages were no match for a full-range conversation, discussing Haaz's introduction to acting, the other actors whose work inspires him, which of his roles led to him owning a custom $1k human hair wig, and being named a Daddy by Queerty for Father's Day this year. We also kiki quite a bit about Drag Race (and lightly spoil episodes 5-7 of All Stars 8, for the record). Which crowned queen did Haaz work with and encourage to go on the show? How many seasons of Drag Race and the numerous spinoffs has he seen? What type of queen would he be if he performed regularly? (Hint: there may be a reason Haaz asked what age range our audience is.) ;) Truly, we're honored to have had the time with him, and hope you enjoy the episode and if you aren't already, familiarize yourself with Haaz's work as his star continues to shine brighter!

(Kyditor's note: Moving On is now available on streaming, as is Breaking Fast which everyone should see!)

(music: bensound.com)