Back Issue
Remember How They Tried Mariah Carey and Glitter? (feat. Ira Madison III)
As someone who reviewed both Glitter and its soundtrack for an alt-weekly a long, long time ago, I was curious to hear what the hosts of this recently launched shadefest had to say about the notoriously reviled 2001 musical/flop starring the one and only Mariah Carey. It turns out the movie is a favorite of producer Josh Gwynn, who not only convinces co-host Tracey Clayton (formerly of Another Round) to watch it, but also gets her to admit it’s not the trainwreck that pop culture history has deemed it to be. Using audio clips, Gwynn breaks down how various outside factors (a release date near 9/11, Carey’s infamous Total Request Live meltdown) may have led to audiences staying away from the movie. The hosts even bring in writer/podcaster/professional tea-spiller Ira Madison III to talk about Glitter and other cinematic vehicles for pop divas—so of course they talk Crossroads, the Shonda Rhimes–penned road trip movie starring Britney Spears. [Craig D. Lindsey]
Living & Learning With Reba McEntire
Friendship
For any listener on the lookout for a big, cozy blanket of a podcast, country music legend Reba McEntire is here to comfort you in the only way she knows how: by being Reba. In the premiere episode, McEntire and co-host Melissa Peterman have a down-to-earth conversation on the importance of maintaining friendships as you get older; their own relationship began on the set of Reba and has lasted for decades since. The highlight of the episode is an interview with the sassy and hilarious Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace). The impish raconteur has a few thoughts about friendship but is much more interested in talking about himself and how he, at the age of 65, now has over 5 million Instagram followers. Jordan will have listeners cracking up with stories about his sweet Christian mother who doesn’t understand why her actor son is always playing flamboyantly gay men. Like McEntire herself, Living & Learning is a warmhearted and straight-shooting good time. [Anthony D Herrera]
Please Make This
Candyland the Motion Picture, Part 1
If you’re tired of the current parade of film franchise reboots and long for something weirder, Please Make This has 900 suggestions that are a treat to wade through. The podcast feels like getting high with your friends, having the most incredible idea for a movie, but then actually having the follow through and write it down. Hosts Spencer D. Blair, Hobert Thompson, and Laura Petro take their concept off the rails as they reimagine Hasbro’s arbitrary color-matching board game Candy Land (the 1984 version, not the 2004 remake) as a Hollywood blockbuster. Their pitches bring up some important questions: What is it like to be stuck in a game shittier than Jumanji? Is Mr. Mint a cop? Why did Queen Frostine get demoted? This episode includes the first half of the dramatic reading of Candyland: The Motion Picture, and as soon as the first slug line is read, it’s clear that this is a campy masterpiece. [Morgan McNaught]