The thing about making a podcast about gossip is, you get to hear a lot of gossip. I've listened to listener's voicemails in my headphones at the bar, in the car, in my bed before falling asleep and each of them made me gasp with glee and horror.
At the end of season one of Normal Gossip, we asked all the listeners to send in their family drama. Since we wouldn't have much of a show without people who spend time to listen, it felt right to include their actual voices in the show! The stories we got were so good, so funny, so ridiculous that it was near impossible to narrow down which ones we should use.
But our team was very brave. Together we chose the top five calls to weave together into a bonus episode to hold you over until season two!
For the first of our two bonus episodes, out today, we listened to five family gossip tales told by our friends-of-friends. We meet secret husbands, find out an uncle is called The Old Man, learn about grandma's special friend, and much, much more. And of course we had to use a perfect call about the curious smells coming from Mom's bathroom, which in no way is connected to this episode debuting on 4/20.
Joining me for this week's episode is producer Alex Sujong Laughlin and Defector's Projects Editor Justin Ellis. You know the gossip is extra spicy this week because Justin wasn't even supposed to be recording! The stories were just so good that even he couldn't help but join in. What a special treat!
Our second bonus episode features some very special announcements, answers some frequently asked questions, and even has one more little gossip story to tide you over! Watch for it on May 4.
If you have feedback on the family gossip episode or your own gossip to share, leave us a voicemail at 2-6-7-9-GOSSIP or send us a voice memo to normalgossip@defector.com.
You can subscribe to Normal Gossip on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you listen!
You can follow Normal Gossip on Instagram here and TikTok here. (The transcript for this week’s episode can be found here)
