Gerbil

Latest episodes

Showing 8 · updated from the feed

7 - A Guide to Dating Gerbils

The Toronto Film Festival, a Hollywood sitcom writers room, and a Manhattan humor magazine provide clues through the murkiest origins of the rumor. Testimony from writers

Oct 22
1 h 06 min

6 - Fear and Biting in Mesa

Gerbils have been illegal in California since 1924. So how does the rumor even work? Allen road-trips to Arizona to meet real gerbils, becomes a casualty of a nasty hamst

Oct 15
49 min

5 - Without a Base, Without a Trace

Is "gerbiling” actually a real thing? Between a bestiality investigator's case file, a 2024 FBI report, and doctors who've seen things, we go looking for the line between

Oct 8
45 min

4 - Tail Between His Legs

In the 1980’s after Rock Hudson's death, Hollywood's homophobia is in full panic mode, and American culture is whispering about – and mocking – the sexuality of leading m

Oct 1
46 min

3 - Sex Object

Playing pimps and hustlers, attacking the press, projecting an unreadable sexuality — welcome to early Richard Gere. Bret Easton Ellis, Karina Longworth, and journalist M

Sep 24
46 min

1 - The Word

Say "gerbil" to someone and watch their face. Everyone's heard the rumor. Nobody knows where it came from. Reporter Allen Salkin isn't sure he should be the one to dig in

Sep 17
40 min

2 - The Philadelphia Gerbil Panic of 1985

Could Jerry Penacoli — Philly's golden-boy newsman, be the Gerbil rumor's actual patient zero? Eyewitnesses and archival tape tell a wilder, sadder story than anyone reme

Sep 17
51 min

Gerbil: Inside Hollywood’s Most Unkillable Rumor - Trailer

The Richard Gere gerbil rumor won’t die. Why? Did a movie star really show up at a hospital in the 1980s with a rodent in his rectum he’d inserted for sexual pleasure? In

Sep 15
1 min

Chart trend

Position in the TV & Film chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#50#98SepOct

#9

all-time peak

4

days in the top 10 since Sep 2026

Chart positions

Where Gerbil ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 27, 2026).

#13 ▲ 14 TV & Film US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

I really wanted to like this podcast more but upon listening to the penultimate episode I’ve found myself shocked by the use of AI voices. Why? There are so many people you clearly got to speak/act on it, why use AI for only these things? Nobody else in your office or life was available? I’m genuinely confused and bummed out. The podcast itself is smart and engaging and well-done, so why cut corners here?

S. Spaghetti · Oct 2026

Binged 5 episodes over two days - enjoy the thorough pursuit of truth and the greater question of how urban legends take hold - especially when homophobic accusations are attached and add fuel to the virus.

Yyŷÿyüpœ · Oct 2026

This show is not what you think it is. I had to make sure because if it was a salacious click bait monster, I would’ve never tuned in. Amazing investigative journalism that IS about so much more than the title of the piece. And I hope that its intended goal comes to pass. I hope Alan does more podcasts like this. And I hope Richard Gere comes on in the end and then we all laugh about this and let it go.

yiveee · Oct 2026

When I was younger I heard the gerbil rumor at school. My friends swore they heard from trusted sources that it was true. Could it be? Well you have to listen to this brilliant examination of one of the longest lasting rumors in Hollywood to find out. A must listen.

Sassy Saus · Sep 2026

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.