Engagement Party

Is Sobriety the New Flex?

Former Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio got sober before “sober-curious” was trending. As an original arbiter of internet culture, he’s got a long view of today’s drinking dis

How a Lesbian Bar Sparked a Week of 'Woke 1' Whiplash

From a viral story on a lesbian bar’s masking policy to Nikole Hannah-Jones' essay on making school segregation a personal issue to the “Cornell Seven,” Audie and Ari con

Kandi Burruss on Life After Reality T.V.

It's been 20 years since Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise changed the face of reality T.V. In this special bonus episode, former Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss

Letterboxd Is the Last Best Corner of the Internet

The film review app Letterboxd is a social hub for movie fans everywhere. But has democratizing criticism somehow lowered the bar, or is this the last truly great social

The Novel of the Century Is NSFW

With The Disappearers, Marlon James has written an explicit and violent epic that’s been called “the novel of the decade, if not the century." He joins the party to talk

Should Nepo Babies Embrace the Label?

Nepo babies have sparked debate for years, but chart-topping singer-songwriter Stella Lefty, who also happens to be the daughter of a billionaire, is reigniting the conve

Dating Apps Were Never About Romance

The internet is full of dating horror stories and think pieces the death of traditional romance. It’s a concept built for virality. But is the moral panic real? Audie and

Television's Prestige Hangover Era Is Here

Television's golden age is over, replaced by one that’s decidedly more, as they say, “mid.” Audie and Ari weigh in on whether TV really got worse, the industry's post-pre

RushTok is Southern Soft Power

This week, the internet turned its eyes to an annual 2020s tradition: watching freshman girls rush sororities at big Southern state schools via an endless stream of socia

Lauren Weedman From 'Hacks' Has Main Character Energy

As generational warfare feeds TV scripts from Beef to Hacks, Emmy nominee Lauren Weedman joins the party to talk about hanging with Gen Z on the Hacks set, the art of sce

How Ella Langley Won the Electoral College of Culture

"Choosin’ Texas" broke the Billboard charts – so why can’t we all agree it’s the Song of Summer? Audie breaks down why the answer may say more about the state of the musi

Eddie Huang and the Power of "Sad Boy Lit"

Writer and chef Eddie Huang joins the party for a conversation about "sad boy" literature, finding love, and the worst relationship advice he's ever received. Like what

Gen Z's '90s Nostalgia Has Some Gaps

The '90s are everywhere these days — clothes, music, TV — and brands are doing everything they can to capitalize on the revival. Audie and Ari explore what’s driving the

'The Odyssey' Is Epic But The Discourse Is Not

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey isn't just a movie — it's an event. Audie and Ari sift through the hype, backlash, and what the online chatter says about the cultural mom

Will Meta’s AI Glasses Ever Be Cool?

Meta’s trying hard to sell people on its AI glasses, but will partnering with Ray-Ban and celebrities like Kylie Jenner let them shed the pervasive take that they’re cree

The Summer of Peptides and Celebrity Weddings

Is this officially the summer of peptides and celebrity weddings? Audie and Ari consider what Serena Williams’ Wimbledon comeback means for the rise of GLP-1s and the evo

‘Nunmania,’ the Woke Pope, and Gen-Z's Loneliness Content

From pop stars like Rosalía and Lilly Allen in habits to nuns blessing Spurs players and praise for the “woke Pope,” Catholicism is in, and everywhere. But is it just abo

The Anti-Toxic Masculinity of Modern-Day Rom-Coms

Amazon's wildly popular "Off Campus" is just the latest in a parade of BookTok-beloved titles to gain new fans as streaming shows, and the pairing of explicit sex and non

'Obsession' Fever, 'The Republic of Wasia,' and Why Tan Lines Are Hot Again

"Obsession" and "Backrooms" are breaking box office records. Audie and Ari dissect both films' YouTube origins, the secrets of their success, and why the whole horror gen

Audie & Ari on Ambition, Purpose, Poetry (from The Sam Sanders Show)

What are the pieces of pop culture — movies, music, TV, books, speeches — that you return to over and over again? Sam Sanders calls them “Modern Scriptures,” and on the l