What's Your Issue?

This week Pop Pantheon's Russ Martin joins us to discuss Vanessa Grigoriadis's April 5, 2010 NY Mag cover story, Growing Up Gaga:

"The self-invented, manufactured, accidental, totally on-purpose New York creation of the world's biggest pop star. "

This piece is one of Russ's favorites, and celebrity investigative journalism at its finest! We discuss Gaga's early life in the NYC scene, the building of her pop star persona, the evolution of her public image and music, her most creatively impactful love interests and mentors, and more!

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This week, Dara and Troy are breaking down Teen People's 25 Hottest Celebrities Under 25 from the year 2000. They discuss: what happened to going out tops and casual red carpet looks? Mandy Moore lore. That 70's Show's social dynamics. Who would Jessica Simpson be in another life? P!nk and her aerial fabrics.

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In this Patreon exclusive, we discuss US Weekly's 2009 cover story about RHONY's Hailey Glassman ("Jon and His Bimbo"), Ed Hardy, our uber-less college party days, and more! Subscribe to listen or watch the whole episode

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This week, we dissect Nancy Jo Sales’ lesser-known (but no less fabulous) October 19, 2009 Vanity Fair article, The Unreal Rise of Jon and Kate Gosselin.

"How did two average parents from rural Pennsylvania with an outsize brood rise to such dizzying heights of stardom and tabloid infamy? The author peers behind the curtain of the biggest celebrity story of the year."

We discuss the state of print media in 2009, Halloween wigs, TLC's exploitation of poverty-stricken families, was Kate really shtooping the bodyguard?? media ethics and responsibility, Jon's hair plugs, evolving gender roles in the age of Obama optimism, Pennsylvania hot tubs, Haley Glassman on RHONY, and more!

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This week, we're covering the September 2025 article from The Cut:

⁠What Happened at Wondermind?⁠

Selena Gomez and her mother, Mandy Teefey, flipped their mental-health journeys into a buzzy start-up. It all fell apart.

By Angelina Chapin

"Wondermind was supposed to build a world of mental-health-related content — through a website, podcasts, TV shows, and films — and its mission was lofty: to “destigmatize” mental-health problems and “democratize” its care. [...} Something to the opposite effect seems to have played out at Wondermind. Out of 29 former and current employees, 14 agreed to speak with me, most on the condition of anonymity. According to dozens of conversations, the company’s grand mission and basic operations were tanked by Gomez’s and Teefey’s personal and family dysfunction, including the denial of Teefey’s instability."

This episode has everything you want: child stars, toxic mother/daughter relationships, polyamorous lesbians, one Sex and the City reference, and ashwagandha Cheetos.

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To see the Candie's ads as we dissect them, watch this episode exclusively on Patreon!

Troy McEady and Dara Laine get into Jenny McCarthy and her toilets, Hayden Panettiere - the Candie's queen, Britney Spears' ad campaign with pictures by Terry Richardson, the David LaChapelle of it all, the evolution of the brand identity, and more!

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Today Troy and Dara discuss the February 1998 issue of Vibe magazine with the perfect Kara Berry from the podcast Everyone's Business (But Mine) !!

They talk about Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim's feud and their influence on high fashion, which TLC girl they are, a hypothetical Missy Elliott Lilith Fair, the best of hip hop in 1997, and Troy's new Oprah DVD box set.

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Today we're flipping through a couple teen fan magazines: Teen Beat from May 2000 and Tiger Beat, Nov 2008!

In this issue: our favorite teen fan mags, the Jonas Brothers, O'Town, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Joan Hart gives fan advice, our horoscopes, "Which TV Show Are You?", "What's Your Scarf Style?", fan sweepstakes, and more!

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Today we have a most iconic guest, PAPER Magazine's senior editor and Eating For Free podcast's Joan Summers!

We talk about her work at PAPER like Angie K's Lunatic Fringe profile and the Chappell Roan cover they nabbed right as she was taking off... plus! her time as Jezebel's tabloid reporter, the US Weekly Saving Britney article from 2019, the time she pissed of Countess Luann, media literacy, and more!

Go listen to Eating For Free and read her Substack Local Gossip

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In 2024 we released a Playboy x Real Housewives Spectacular discussing the spreads for the RHOBH ladies Lisa Rinna, Garcelle Beauvais, and Denise Richards. We're re-releasing that episode with a brand new 40 extra minutes covering the March 2010 Playboy spread for RHONY's Kelly Bensimon. If you listened to the original on our regular free feed, then this will be an extra hour of content because this version also includes the patreon extended cut of the episode.

To read along with us, here's a link to all four editorials.

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