Whether she’s on the basketball court or the red carpet, this week’s Pretty Curious guest knows how to turn a look. Actress, producer, and ballroom legend Trace Lysette joins Jonathan to discuss her favorite beauty products, how she takes inspiration from both 1930s Hollywood and 1990s ballroom culture, and her thoughts on the phrase “stunning.” Our conversation with Trace begins around 8 minutes into the episode. Trace Lysette is a dynamic and talented actress known for her remarkable contribut...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 344
What’s in a calorie? So much more than what you see on a box of cereal or a restaurant menu. The story of the nutritional calorie is the story of U.S. empire, dating back to the late 1800s when government agencies used it to determine just how little they could feed people in the military, prisons, asylums, and Native boarding schools. This week, Dr. Athia N. Choudhury joins Jonathan to discuss the history and politics of the calorie, and explains why counting on this metric—and wellness culture...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 343
If you haven’t seen this week’s Curious Now guest on your TikTok feed, you’ve definitely seen her work. Annie Wu Henry was a breakout star of John Fetterman’s winning Senate campaign, where she crafted iconic, witty, incisive videos for Fetterman’s TikTok account—and turned likes and views into votes. We’re hearing all about her political strategy work, her take on Gen Z and millennial voters, and how she’s planning to post her way through the 2024 presidential elections. We get into our convers...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 342
There’s a group of far right influencers lurking on your social media feeds. They post organic recipes, millennial mom advice, and #glowups. And they’re using this content to promote white supremacist ideas. This week, Dr. Eviane Leidig joins us to discuss who these women are and how they’re spreading hate on social media. Dr. Eviane Leidig is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University. Her research specializes in the global far-right, gender, and online radicalization, r...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 341
Welcome to Pretty Curious, a new series where every other Monday, we’ll be talking all things beauty—skincare, haircare, self-care, and beyond. For our premiere episode, we’ve invited back Getting Curious guest David Yi to discuss their GRWM routine, their K-Beauty faves, and how they’re making skincare more inclusive with their brand Good Light. We get into our interview 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the episode, after some stunning product reviews from Jonathan, so skip to then if you simply c...
Sep 18, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Gather your plant fam and tell all the green gurls—there’s royalty on the podcast this week! Christopher Griffin aka THE Plant Kween joins Jonathan to discuss the joys of indoor gardening, from finding a plant that fits your lifestyle to tending to root rot. Plus, a casting session for Divas Live: Green Gurls edition! Christopher Griffin, also known as Plant Kween, is a Brooklyn-based educator, author of YOU GROW, GURL! Plant Kween’s Lush Guide to Growing your Garden, and gardener with a collect...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 338
It’s a new week—and we’re debuting a new series! Welcome to Curious Now, where every other Monday, we’ll be covering topical issues like elections, climate change, LGBTQIA+ rights, and beyond. For our premiere episode, we’re honored to be back in conversation with Alicia Roth Weigel, a beloved Getting Curious guest who is advocating for intersex rights. We discuss how recent anti-trans legislation also affects intersex people, and what it looks like to protect the “I” in LGBTQIA+. We get into ou...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 1
You know the feeling when you try on a dress and realize—it has pockets? Those pockets were more than 500 years in the making! Dr. Hannah Carlson joins us this week to discuss why pockets are still not a staple for womenswear, and how people throughout history—from Queen Elizabeth I to suffragettes to a first grader in Arkansas—have taken up pockets as a political cause. Hannah Carlson teaches dress history and material culture at the Rhode Island School of Design. After training as a conservato...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 337
What’s better than one constitutional law expert? THREE! This spring we had the honor of speaking with Professor Melissa Murray about the Supreme Court's recent term. Now she’s back, with her brilliant Strict Scrutiny co-hosts, Professors Leah Litman and Kate Shaw. They join Jonathan to discuss WTF is going on with the Supreme Court these days—from Clarence Thomas’ luxury vacations to what the nation's highest court has in store for us this fall. Plus, an epic round of judicial-themed F*ck, Marr...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 336
Southern Resident killer whales are a lot like us. They have family meals, chat in different dialects, and sleep side by side. They even engage in an activity called sword fighting—which is exactly what it sounds like. One major difference? There are only 75 of these orcas alive today. This week, we’re learning all about this remarkable endangered population, what they're really up to when they ram into boats, and what it’ll take to protect them. Dr. Deborah Giles is one of the world’s leading e...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 335
Getting Curious is going spelunking! Caves are full of evidence about our Earth’s past: they can tell us about monsoons in Laos and sea surface temperatures in Mexico over tens of thousands of years ago. They can also help predict our climate future. This week, Professor Kathleen R. Johnson takes us through the incredible world of caves and shares what it’s like to scale 200-foot ladders, kayak all day in the dark, and encounter pythons, big ass spiders, and other creatures along the way—all in ...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 334
We spend one third of our lives sleeping. But WTF is going on during those hours?! This week, Dr. Gina Poe gives us an A to Zzzz crash course in all things sleep. Dreams, memory, narcolepsy, naps, sleep demons, traveling across time zones, playing video games before bed, how substances like caffeine and alcohol affect our rest—and beyond! Gina Poe is a neuroscientist at UCLA who has worked on the functions of sleep for over 30 years with an independent research laboratory funded by the National ...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 333
Sea daddies! Sea queens! Land hoes! This week, we’re getting wet and wild with Dr. Seth LeJacq to learn what life was like for queer sailors in the British navy from the 15th century to the 19th century. How did these sailors express their gender and sexuality? What did they risk—legally and socially—when they pursued queer relationships? And were their ship hammocks really sturdy enough for a night of deep sea “exploration”? Dr. Seth Stein LeJacq is a historian specializing in the history of ge...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 332
Paris. Lindsay. Kim. We know the celebs in paparazzi photos, but what about the people behind the cameras? This week, Professor Vanessa Díaz takes us inside the world of Hollywood's paparazzi—who are predominantly Latine men, many undocumented—and shares what this profession captures about power, politics, and pop culture in America. Vanessa Díaz, Associate Professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University, is a multimedia ethnographer and journalist whose work focuses o...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 331
Parasites are everywhere: in our bodies, in our water, even in our cats’ litter boxes. Are they agents of chaos—or just misunderstood? This week, Dr. Sebastian Lourido joins Jonathan to discuss the epic world of parasites, from pinworms to toxoplasma gondii to, yes, humans. Parasites! They’re everything, everywhere, all at once. Dr. Sebastian Lourido is an Associate Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. ...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 330
Last week, Earth hit record-high temperatures—three times. We’re feeling the heat of climate change, literally, and it’s f*cking scary. To help us handle this moment, we’re re-releasing an episode from our archives, with Dekila Chungyalpa. She joins Jonathan to discuss how she confronts climate change disinterest and skepticism, and why she’s bringing the sacred back into science. Dekila Chungyalpa is the founder and director of the Loka Initiative, a capacity building and outreach platform at t...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 329
Imagine a situation where the cops can take your car, your house, and your cash. You could be waiting years to get your possessions back, without an attorney to help you. And the police can ultimately keep or sell your belongings—for profit. How’d they get away with it? Civil asset forfeiture. This Fourth of July week, we’re revisiting an episode with Professor Saleema Snow all about this damaging practice. A lot has changed since we first aired this episode in 2020 (including our audio quality!...
Jul 05, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 328
Is life one big cosmic orgy? To wrap up our Pride Beyond Borders series, we’re going big… with an episode all about our universe! Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein joins Jonathan to discuss why spacetime isn’t straight, what quantum spin can teach us about gender expression, and why the key to understanding the cosmos may just be (wait for it) the world’s biggest dental dam. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Core Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies ...
Jun 28, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 327
What do 90 young, gay men in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have in common? They’ve all spent years sharing their stories with this week’s guest: Dr. Travis S. K. Kong. He joins Jonathan as part of our Pride Beyond Borders series to discuss what it’s like to be queer in each of these places—and share his interviewees’ coming out stories, their experiences with sex and dating, and their senses of intergenerational queer community. Travis S. K. Kong is Associate Professor of Sociology at th...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 326
What’s it like to enter a religious or spiritual space as a queer person? In Haitian Vodou, the divinities are ready to accept LGBTQIA+ practitioners—and are arguably queer themselves. In part two of our Pride Beyond Borders episode about this African diasporic religion, Professor Eziaku Nwokocha takes us into one of Manbo Maude’s temples to better understand this spiritual practice, and how its practitioners navigate questions of race, gender, and sexuality. Curious for more? Check out part one...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 325
A spiritual practice that has a divinity dedicated to the protection of lesbians?! Tell us more! This week, for our Pride Beyond Borders series, we’re exploring the world of Haitian Vodou in a special two-part episode. In this first half, Professor Eziaku Nwokocha introduces us to this African diasporic religion, and Haitian history. In part two, out tomorrow, we’ll step into the world of Manbo Maude’s temples in Haiti and the US to learn about Haitian Vodou rituals and fashions, and what this p...
Jun 14, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 324
This June, we’re celebrating Pride Beyond Borders! And to kick off our series, we’re exploring global drag culture with Professor Kareem Khubchandani aka Dr. LaWhore Vagistan. We’re learning how drag artists around the world stage political dialogues with their audiences, how queer nightlife can connect diasporic communities, and how this art form can be used to challenge—rather than reinforce—the legacies of colonialism and white supremacy. The world of drag is so much bigger than the world of ...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 323
In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court of the United States will hand down decisions that could have major implications for LGBTQIA+ rights, racial justice, tribal sovereignty, and beyond. Melissa Murray and Jonathan discuss what’s on the docket, why the Supreme Court seems more powerful (and conservative) than ever, and how we can get through this hot mess SCOTUS summer. Melissa Murray is a Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, where she teaches constitutional law, family law, criminal law, an...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 322
We’re dripping in jewels this week on Getting Curious! What does it mean for a diamond to be “hard”? Are lab-grown gems made to perfection? What’s the difference between rubies and pink sapphires? Dr. Gabriela Farfan joins Jonathan to discuss the science and art behind the dazzling, multifaceted world of gems and minerals. Dr. Gabriela Farfan is the Coralyn Whitney Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. She began collecting minerals at a young age and...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 321
New Orleans was one of America’s most important cities in the early 1800s. It was also one of the most deadly. This week, to mark the new season of Queer Eye, we’re exploring New Orleans history with Dr. Kathryn Olivarius in a special two-part episode. Today, we’re learning about yellow fever’s grip on the city—and what this illness revealed about power and politics in New Orleans. Haven’t listened to part one yet? Check it out here to learn more about New Orleans history. A note from the team: ...
May 18, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 320
New Orleans is a city in a swamp—a city, some argue, that should have never been built. So how did it become one of America’s most important sites in the 1800s, and a critical battleground in the American Civil War? This week, to mark the new season of Queer Eye, we’re exploring New Orleans history with Dr. Kathryn Olivarius in a special two-part episode. Today, we’re breaking down the basics on antebellum New Orleans. Tomorrow, we’ll learn all about New Orleans’ rampant history of yellow fever....
May 17, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 319
You didn’t hear it from us, but this week’s episode is so juicy that you’ll want to tell everyone about it. Dr. Meltem Yucel joins Jonathan to dish on gossip: why it’s irresistible, what it reveals about our moral and social codes, and how we can use it to our benefit. Come for the drama, stay for the drama. (Are we the drama?) Dr. Meltem Yucel is a Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She researches the development of social cognition and morali...
May 10, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 318
Chimpanzees and bonobos know how to live it up. They hang out with their friends, they take self-care breaks, they eat fresh fruit, and when it’s raining they fashion umbrellas out of leaves. Dr. Laura Simone Lewis is back on the show this week to tell us all about the social lives of these dynamic individuals, who happen to share 98% of our DNA. From their favorite juice flavors to their equivalent of Netflix and chill—this episode’s got it all. Missed Dr. Lewis’s first episode on the show, all...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 317
What do Enlightenment-era paintings, 19th-century American fashion magazines, and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” have in common? They’re all examples of what fatphobia has to do with race, class, and gender discrimination. This week, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the archives, with Dr. Sabrina Strings. Learn all about the origins of anti-fat bias, and how it persists today. Listened to this one last year? We promise—it’s worth revisiting! Sabrina Strings, Ph.D. is a Chanc...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 316
The RMS Titanic sank 111 years ago this week. It may have been on its maiden voyage, but this trip was the culmination of more than 200 years of maritime travel and innovation. This week, Dr. Meaghan Walker joins us to explore British maritime history in the lead-up to this historic event. And just like an 18th century ship would have zig-zagged towards its destination, this episode is hitting all the angles: we’re talking kidnappings, steerage, slop clothes (the original fast fashion!), and why...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 315
