Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - "Candace Owens Saved My Marriage." - LIVE with @houseinhabit

Episode Date: June 8, 2024

Alex Clark speaks with the one and only Jessica Kraus, aka @houseinhabit for the first ever LIVE recording of The Spillover at The Young Women's Leadership Summit 2024. Listen in as Jessica shares interesting facts about celebrity trials she's worked on, her perspective as to what mainstream media gets wrong about Donald Trump, why she continues to push for the truth, even when it is costly. @houseinhabit House Inhabit Website

spillover history. I've never done a live podcast episode with a live audience, and I figured for the first time, there's no one better to do that with than the Jessica Krause from House and Habit. I will let her tell her entire story and explain why she is the biggest person on Instagram as a platform herself. Please welcome House and Habits, Jessica Krause. The founder of House and Habit, Jessica Ree Krause, has taken the internet by storm. She has built quite the following. I'm not asking for your vote. Just asking for your attention.

If you believe in what you're doing, that's all that matters. You cannot get caught up in the negativity and the hate. Like, we're not in this business to be pretty. You're not doing big things if you're not making people angry. I feel like I could not do what I do unless I had the support of all these women. Well, who would have thought that you would have been here? Who would have thought you would have made it here? Hi, guys.

I've never done a live podcast interview. I've never been on a stage like this before. Well, I think there's a lot of people in this audience who specifically came here for you. And I have to say, Jessica, I think that I speak for everyone when I say that you are single-handedly keeping real journalism, investigative journalism, alive. And so we all want to thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor. How would you describe for anyone who doesn't know you, which probably would be very few people in this room, how would you describe what it is that you do? What is your Instagram account

house and habit? Well, I think it's been so many things. You know, I've been on Instagram for probably 12 years now. So it's gone through a lot of transformations. But as of right now, I feel like it's just a kind of tracking just culture. And it was, you know, previously celebrity and pop culture, and then I shifted into politics. So it's kind of a mash-up of everything. But basically just trying to get people to engage respectfully with humor again. And you also have the number one substack, correct? Well, number one in culture.

But yes. In pop culture. Pop culture, yes. I love that too because when I started with Turning Point, I started as the conservative pop culture person. And watching your reporting, especially through the pandemic, I got introduced to you and what you were doing. And it was so fascinating because I was like, man, well, this chick seems like she has common sense.

I feel like we agree on a lot. But it wasn't clear where you stood politically. And then come to find out you kind of went through this political, awakening. So tell us for those who aren't familiar with your story, you probably wouldn't have been here a few years ago because you were a staunch leftist. Yes. I was raised in a very democratic household and I built my following, you know, into a liberal, sort of loyal audience. So that was a part of my brand and that is how I was a stay-at-home mother. I had four kids back-to-back, four boys. And I was making money, you know, through sponsors.

and stuff like that, but it was all kind of around the idea that I was a liberal, you know, mouthpiece or whatever. I don't know what you want to call it, but so it was a big part of it. And then I, during COVID, like probably a lot of you, I started to question a lot of my beliefs. And I feel like it was a sort of a kind of a breaking point where I went. through it publicly. I was questioning out loud what I was not in agreeance with, and that was the mandates. And so with that, it was the first time I experienced hate on the internet. I had always been, like, pretty well liked, and I didn't know that people could be so incredibly mean.

Well, what were they specifically calling you out for? I mean, what could they have been upset about? Well, I don't know if you guys know the Candice Owens story. Do you know that? Candice Owens is a big part of this sort of break. During 2020, my husband and I, we had always been two liberals. We always agreed on politics. We weren't super political, but, you know, that was like a common bond. And so he sort of became more conservative,

on his own. He was listening to Talk Radio, and he was doing a lot more, he was listening to a lot more than I was. I had kind of tuned out, and I was, depending on what was being fed to me through the outlets that I trusted, which was like CNN and a handful of other things. So we were fighting like crazy, because I couldn't believe that he had kind of strayed from the liberal side of things. What were some of the, what did the fights consist of? Like, I mean, you don't have to obviously give us super specifics, but I mean, what were the types of arguments like what you were arguing about? Well, I think that I hate to lose arguments. And so when we were fighting, he was always winning the arguments because he was more informed than me. And I was like, I, this cannot continue.

So I'm like, I'm going to get informed too. And then when I got informed, I was like, oh, no, I agree with a lot of what he's saying. And it's like, and that took. But the Candace, the Candace story is funny because this is like a full circle moment for me. for those who don't know. During that time, it was like during the Black Lives Matter and all the riots and all the, the most contentious point on the internet where you couldn't say anything right.

You couldn't say anything. You couldn't talk like real people. And I started noticing my husband was liking Candace's post. And I would see, like, you know, he'd do like handclaps and prayer hands on, like, her wedding post. And, like, she wrote something about, like, raising, you know, strong boys into men.

And I was like, you have to stop liking Candace Owens' post. Like, it's going to come back to me, and people are going to notice, and it's going to be disastrous. So we got in this huge fight in front of all my friends. I was in a bathrobe. I was out of the shower, and I was yelling at him. He was, like, loading up lumber in the car. And I was like, take down the hand emojis.

Like, take it down right now. And he was just like, I don't think it's a big deal, you know? You're your own person. You've never cared about this stuff before. Like, this isn't like you. And when he said that, I was like, he's right. And so I ignored it. But then a couple months later, I have this blogger.

She had quite a big following. She DM'd me, and she said, I've noticed your husband's been liking Candace Owen's posts. And if you don't tell your audience who your husband is, I'm going to expose it. And I feel like, you know, at the time, that's to me it was a big deal because my the only extra income we had coming in was through my sponsorships and I knew what that meant I knew that if I was looked at as a traitor to my following

that I would lose those so I begged her three times I said please don't expose this you know and how many followers at the time did you have so I had about 80,000 followers and I remember she had close to 400,000 followers so it was a big it was a big deal and it's like it felt like the closest thing I had come to someone blackmailing me, right? Like, tell them who he is. And I was, I was furious because I thought, I don't need to be monitoring what my husband finds interesting on the internet, but also I don't want to do that for anyone. And I did know when he said that, this isn't who you are. I agreed with him. So I begged her three times not to share it. And then I lost my temper, and I just went crazy on her. And there was a lot of expletives and

and I think I just went crazy. And then so she exposed all of these DMs. You know, she published it all. And I ended up losing a ton of followers, but I was gaming, you know, so it's like a crashing. What did the DM say? Like, what did it expose you as? That my husband was a secret closeted, conservative. Has it really been all that bad?

Well, now he's like, you were mad at me. Look at you. He's like, you need to reel it in a little bit. Okay, so the DMs get posted and you start losing but also gaining. And with the people that you were gaining primarily conservatives being like, ooh, cool. Well, I think people like, you know, I mean, you guys like an internet feud, right? Like you like a little drama on the internet. So it was exciting for people following both of us.

But the point was it was a breaking point for me where I said, we're not going to do this anymore. We're not going to play this game. I'm not going to make money on the internet. I'm not going to do this anymore because it's not worth it to me because I'm sacrificing. who I am and my convictions and my beliefs. And it's kind of what I needed to happen to break out of this safe space that I was not happy in. And I wasn't honest. And what do you mean by you were in a safe space that you weren't happy in? Well, because I had built this sort of liberal bubble where I just posted what I knew was going to be accepted. And so it was kind of this, you know,

you learn the formula and what works. And well, as a pop culture, report, what sorts of things would be out of bounds for a liberal audience? Because if you're not even covering politics, then what's the problem? No, I was still doing family stuff. I was a lifestyle blogger. And the pop culture came as a way, because I was so angry during 2020 about the censorship happening. It was kind of my way as a creative protest.

I started doing these pop culture stories as a way to get people talking again. Because there was, I mean, you guys all remember how it was. You couldn't say anything. You couldn't ask questions. And then the whole concept of amplify black voices really meant amplify liberal black voices. And so I started to question those kind of things. And so the pop culture stories came as a way

to save my own interest in this realm. I had given up, I was angry. I felt really alone and I was angry and I was combative with my own audience because I was going through. this sort of realignment. Yeah, it was an identity crisis because when you're in your 40s and you've been raised with a certain political affiliation, brand, whatever, it is like a religion.

So in that, do you remember something that your husband said in one of these arguments where you were debating politics where you're like, oh, that really makes sense? Oh, yes, I hated it. Because I've always won the arguments. It was, what were they? I think he was just really, it was about the censorship going on and... Like Hunter Biden's laptop?

He would fight about Trump. Well, I think, I think that, I think I was already turned by them, but no, it was, you know, he would say things like, well, he would come home and I'd be listening to CNN, so he would come home and switch to Fox, and then I would switch to CNN, and then he would switch to Fox.

So it was like these really stupid little... Like a sitcom. It was a sitcom, and then our kids would listen to us, And I was like, also, I hated Donald Trump so much, but I'm like, I'm not going to let Donald Trump be the reason we get a divorce. So I have to figure out a way. We had never fought. You know, I've been with this person for, been with Mike for 20-some years,

and we had never really fought. And all of a sudden, Donald Trump was ruining our marriage. I feel like that probably happened to a lot of people across America. I think there should have been. I was like, I think it was Googling research, or I mean, support groups. Like, how. Stop. But...

I don't know how to process that. Not ironically? Looking, no, looking back, it is fun. I mean, it's funny now, but at the time, I was like, this is very serious. Like, he's winning political arguments, and we're getting a divorce over Donald Trump, and I've lost my sponsorship. I'm just imagining, like, you typing in the computer, like, please help. I think my husband is conservative.

Well, guess what? I just found out my husband's been looking at conservative sites. But it was Candace. He was like, I like her. I liked what she wrote. So I, you know, I put that like emoji. And I was like, take it down. Take it down.

But I think I needed that. And so looking back, that was what pushed me into not caring anymore. And I even made a video. I remember filming in my bathroom. I was like, you, I will argue. scold my husband, but like, I'm not going to let the internet do it. So, yeah, that was, that was, it was Candace. And I had always liked her. Like, even as a liberal, I hated the thing she was saying, but I liked the way she said them. Why? What is it about the way she says it?

Well, I think she's, you know, it's like, it's the art of everything, the art of storytelling, the art of gossip, the art of argument. And she's a great, she's good at what she does. She can defend herself. You can hate it. You can not agree with it, but she is always able to defend her, point with, you know. So is it fair to say Candice Owens saved my marriage? Is she here? True. I feel like I need to send her a fruit basket or something. When you talk about being a pop culture reporter, I mean, I have to emphasize, if you're not familiar with Jessica's work, I mean, this is not, I mean, no shade to Perez, but like this is not Perez. This is in-depth, serious reporting, going to celebrity trials. Explain

what it is that you do and what makes you unique when it comes to pop culture journalism? Oh gosh. You know, that's kind of hard because I feel like I don't put too much thought into even what it is I'm doing. I just feel like I'm shocked every day that it's working and resonating with people because I've always loved what I'm doing now has always been a part of me. I grew up obsessed with pop culture. I read Vanity Fair and those tabloids. you'd get at the, my grandma had all the tabloids.

But then I also went into literature, so I learned Shakespeare and all the postmodern writers, Joan Diddy. And I fell in love with all of these people who were good at engaging, whether it was lowbrow, tabloids, highbrow, you know, literature. And so what I've been, and music. I used to, you know, I grew up obsessed with lyrics and music. So when I was a teenager, I used to. And yet you hate Taylor Swift.

We're all traitors. Traders. Wait, does she like Taylor? You like Taylor? Do I like Taylor? Upset. I'm like the only conservative. I'm on an island.

I am the last conservative except maybe two people in here that loves diehard. She's the background of my phone. I've met her twice. She's written me a handwritten letter. This is before I was a public conservative, obviously.

So she would never meet me now. But yeah, I'm a diehard Swifty. So that's the one thing you and I really be fine. We all have our faults. It's fine. It's fine. We've made up. Taylor Swift ruined our marriage. Okay, so the music.

So, music. So I was going to say, I used to write, I would write all the lyrics to, like, Bob Dylan's songs and stuff. So those are ingrained in my, that's a big part of what I do, too. A traditional journalist is not supposed to sway people. They're not supposed to sway emotions with music, and that's, like, my favorite thing to do. Yeah, I just think, I think the best part. about my story. You know, I've talked to a couple people, reporters, and I feel like they all get it wrong because they focus on how much money I'm making or how many followers I have. But it's really

about being a mother who decided one day that I didn't like the way news media was working. I was I felt like we were at war with the media because they were lying to us. Once I woke up to the fact of it, I was enraged. And so I feel like I put everything that I could into becoming what I craved. And I had no idea that anyone would even appreciate it or like it or be into it. So it was really a labor of love and I

started doing things in my own style not knowing that it was going to be as popular as it is. So it was really about just taking charge and being a voice that you know, I felt like we were lacking a lot of middle voices. And so when you decided to break free from the pattern, as I call it, and call out how biased and corrupt the media is, you talked about how initially you started at 80,000 followers. What are you at today?

I think I'm still at 1.2 million. What are some of the biggest stories that you've covered? Oh, gosh. Going back to Brittany, I went deep into the Britney Spears. conservatorship. I ended up in that courtroom just randomly and I realized being in the courtroom how much different it is, you know, hearing her in real time. And that made me want to go into other courtrooms. And so after that, it was the Galane Maxwell trial, which I was only one of four, you know, it was during COVID, so it was restricted access. But I was some days one of four

people from the public who was in the courtroom for that. And that showed me how corrupt I didn't agree with the way her trial was portrayed in media. Why? What did you not agree with? Well, because it was so layered and they really shrunk it down to make it, it's like they carve out the narrative they want and then they shrink the trial and then the mainstream media is in there to serve that narrative. So who was the mastermind? Was it her or Epstein? Well, I think it was the two of them. My point was never that she was innocent.

My point was that she was... Complex. She was more complex, that she was deserving of more, I guess, investigation, interests, whatever. I found her story very fascinating because she was, the whole point of the trial was, you know, grooming. And the way I saw it was she was groomed to be what she became and then became the fall guy. You know, there was all this suspicion. I mean, do you guys think Epstein killed himself? So I just feel like he disappeared and conveniently she became the stand-in.

And I was like, how are we convicting one woman for one of the biggest sex trafficking rings in history? Like, where are all the clients? So I would sit there every day and as soon as they would get to, yeah, I mean, every day in trial and they would get close to tapes, you know, they would mention the tapes or stuff, they would get shut down. So I felt like it was up to me to translate that, and it was like me against all of mainstream, and of course that's when I got a lot of hate. That brought on a lot of hate, and then right after Gawain, I jumped into, well, I kind of fell into Johnny Depp. And I ended up. Can I just ask something?

Okay. Do you think she pooped the bed? That was my least favorite part of that trial. But do you guys think? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I mean, there was a lot of crazy stuff. Is your least favorite part? What was your favorite?

Or what did you think was the most interesting? Well, I mean, I was really sucked into this. I was like buried in gossip. I didn't sleep. I didn't, I had it, someone was taking my kids to school. I was, I didn't shower. Like, I was living and breathing that trial because every day was just like, it brought everything together.

It was like all these, like Hunter S. Thompson. and all of these crazy celebrities. And then the celebrities were coming to me as anonymous sources, you know, was just pouring in. And some of the stories I could never tell, but they were just outrageous. I was curious about that if you often get celebrities sending you tips or telling you privately that they're fans of yours.

Also a lot of closeted conservatives in the celebrity world. I'm not going to name you. Don't worry, but... Can you give us industry hints? Industry hints? I would say they're conservative curious. They want to be able to talk about like J.K. Rowling and, you know, all the issues they're interested in.

But in their industry, I mean, I went to an event just last week, and I had a director, a woman come up to me and say that she's following me from a fake account because her industry, she can't be seen following me. And then I had a couple people. It happens all the time. They do show up in my DMs and they feel safe. But now the celebrity gossip has sort of been traded for political gossip. Any A-listers?

Like what list? Yeah. I mean, I feel like people should know by now that when I say my source, oftentimes, like, when I'm doing a story and I say, like, my sources, usually the sources are directly connected, if not, who the story is about. I keep waiting for people to figure that out, but... Okay, so favorite parts of Johnny Depp, sorry. I got a soft of time. Okay, do you remember when he almost ran into her in court where he,

because he made this vow where he wouldn't look her in the eye after a certain point, they got in a fight, and he's like, I will never look at you again. It's like so dramatic, but he also didn't look at her. So he was always drawing and she would be staring at him. And I was like, this is like, takes a lot of effort, you know? because they're in court for eight hours a day, and he's never once glanced over at her. But they were, like, getting up,

and there was this, you know, roundabout, and he almost runs into her, and it was, like, my favorite moment in trial. He, like, jumped back. It was like a silent movie. But that was fun, because all of his friends, everybody came out about him. And then some of them were saying it was hard for them to watch,

you know. It was entertaining spectacle for us, but they were like, I can't watch him go through this. Did you like the outcome of that trial? I thought it was fair, yeah. I think I have different feelings on it now, but that's because the story kind of, like I haven't never really told the whole story,

and the story changes and shifts through time. So I do have different feelings, but overall, I feel like, you know what it did? I feel like it connected America. We had all been through COVID, everybody was mad at each other, fighting about politics, fighting about all these issues, and all of a sudden, everybody in the world wanted to watch this disastrous Hollywood couple on TV every day. So I told him that when I saw him.

I said, I feel like I'm so sorry for, you know, your troubles, but I feel like you did bring America together in that courtroom. What celebrity trial that's happened in history do you wish that you could have been at? Oh, OJ. Such a good answer. Yeah, there's only one answer. It's O.J. Yeah. What was the story that really catapulted House and Habit?

I mean, was it Johnny Depp? Was it Epstein? What were you posting about? And by the way, Jessica is known, if you aren't familiar, with posting all her tea on her stories. It's like the stories are where it happens, which is interesting. It's a unique way to use the platform. I mean, everybody's posting on stories, but I mean, just primarily your content that

has grown your audience. is like all stories. Yeah, I feel like when I started doing it, it wasn't that way. People didn't really know how to use stories in a sort of a cohesive way, you know? It is kind of a rigid format. You have 15-second slides and stuff,

and I don't like how the music doesn't line up. I mean, I have a lot of issues with it, but I feel like when I started doing that, that's what grabbed attention to is nobody was really telling stories in that way yet. I mean, now everybody does it, but... And what was the court trial that everybody was like, oh my gosh, this is a girl, you got a follower.

Which trial? Yeah. I feel like it was probably Galeen Maxwell. I felt like it was hard to get information on that, and so having someone there. And, you know, that was my first opportunity to tell trial coverage the way I like, which would include fashion and, you know, gossip, what I overheard in the lunch rooms. And, you know, there's, like, drama with the sketch artists. It's like, it's exhausting, but it's very fascinating.

Was freeing Brittany a mistake? I'm all. I, again, that's another story I feel differently about with time. I spent, last summer, I went to Louisiana to do a story on kind of like the back pages of her life. And I met with her mom and her old friends that she grew up with. And so I was able to see things from a, and I haven't told that story yet either, but I'm able to see it from a more, I guess a compassionate intimate angle. And I don't really have an answer for it. I don't know what, I think it's incredibly tragic.

She was, you know, one of the biggest pop stars of an era. And I don't know what is left of her anymore. Are there any stories that you regret reporting? No. Have you ever passed on a tip that you wish you would have pursued? No. I usually will take it first and then I've taken a little bit and then pass it on. I did that with Johnny Depp when we uncovered her PR guys.

He had a whole history of sexual assaults. And I was scared because my, you know, I was, my account. was being taken down a lot and it was just that was a weird time so I did take and I broke it but then I gave it to another outlet to back me up you know so I wasn't the only one with this information is there a celebrity conspiracy that intrigues you that you haven't reported on yet but you would like to it's like sitting in the wings oh a so a celebrity conspiracies yes but I don't know that they're widely known yet until I share them.

Okay. So, follow her on Instagram. How do you verify that a story is true? I mean, it's easy. Well, you have to understand. I deal with, like, I call it high-quality gossip. So what I do involves

like having a good intuition, right? You kind of know when people are not what they say they are. And oftentimes they provide emails, photos. It's not hard. You know? There's a lot of things I haven't reported that I've gotten just because I didn't feel like it was backed up enough.

And I'm willing to be wrong. It doesn't happen a lot, but I'm willing to be wrong about some of these stories. You know, the news is wrong all the time. I feel like some of these things I'll get wrong, but if it comes from a source, I know, as close to the story, I'll always include it. As a leftist,

what was the most off-putting thing about conservatives to you? Wait, I'm scared to see it in front of all of them. Well, the thing is, is that we're actually tolerant, Jessica. Okay, I know. Well, okay. First I'll tell. Well, I felt like they had really bad fashion.

Like, I felt like everything had... What, how could you say that after being here? No. But, because all, you know, from a liberal standpoint, I just saw eagles and flames and, like, a lot of American flags. A lot of old navy. Yeah, a lot of... But I have come to love it. I'm wearing it.

Like, you see. see me with these stupid bedazzled bags and stuff and like I ended up loving loving all of it. Yeah, and they are. Stupid bedazzled bags that you got at Mara Lago. You've now been to Mara Lago. You've been invited to go there, report on all of the happenings. And I guess my big question is what do you think the mainstream media gets wrong about Donald Trump?

Oh, everything? I think, well, I think once I remove myself sort of from both parties and just a bystander who returned to like a love of people, he is one of the most fascinating people of our lifetime. Because until you stand in a room with him, you know, I've never witnessed anyone have that holdover people, whether it's good or bad. So like his haters will wake up at four the morning to see him at court. And I'm like, what are you guys doing here? You hate him, and you've been standing in line for 10 hours. They hate him so much, but they still want to see him. And you have his supporters who wake up at the same time because they want to catch.

So like all these people, all they want to do is catch a glimpse of him, but they love and hate him. It's like the craziest dynamic. And I feel like he, when I was at Marlago, I spoke to a lot of his staff and I spoke to a lot of his donors, supporters, and they all have stories. or the media won't show of him calling their children when they're sick or him. I mean, just like incredible stories about him being a very compassionate person. I think he loves, I think he's super patriotic. I think he really truly does love this country. And I think, I mean, I think he's very, very funny.

And I think he's probably the smartest man about media, right now. I think he understands media more than anybody, or not media, but like, he understands how to go viral, how to make. He understands how to be a celebrity, but in a good way. He's like the ultimate show guy. Well, when I, the one, I've met him one time and, you know, you get five seconds to say something. And so what I said was, I have to tell you, you are the pop culture president. Yes, he probably loved that. Yeah. No, he did, he was not paying attention to me because he's busy and he's doing a line of people, and he stopped in his tracks, and he goes, I am the pop culture president. He loved it. He ate it up. He ate it up. So I got his attention for, that was my five seconds

with Donald Trump. That is what I've come to love about him. He's kind of sometimes like, you know, when you have like, you're so proud of your kid and they get on stage, they're like accepting it. And you're like, they're so proud. They're doing such a good job. And then he starts to ramble and talk about, like, when I saw him, he was talking about Joe Biden's beach chair for 25 minutes. How Joe Biden could not open this beach. And it's like I felt like a mom and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, I think he just called Adam Schiff a watermelon head to Dr. Phil. And I don't know how Dr. Phil didn't bust out laughing. But he does. Sorry, but you have a watermelon head. I mean, I think the time there I got to see him. That's his house. So he's

walking around. I see him with Baron and Melania eating dinner and being normal people. So what was your favorite weird, random thing about Mar-a-Lago that you were like a little detail that you're like, oh, I love that. So for me, it was Aura Bay in the gift shop because that's Trump's favorite hair care brand. Oh, is it? Yeah. So all the brands in that little shop. Because he does his own hair, right? I don't know about that.

I heard he does. It's very, like, locked. It's very sad. I heard he does his own hair. Well, everything, at least what they told me, because I asked the people in the gift shop that last time I was there and I asked them, are these just random products that you guys just put in here for a guess? Or does he have a say in the products that are kept in the gift shop? Because there's like nice brands in there. And they said, every single thing is handpicked by Donald Trump.

Yes. Every single thing there is branded by him. It's like Trump water, Trump wine. I'm like, do you want the Ivanka salad or the Donald Trump chocolate cake? Like everything is, it's, I mean, it's hilarious. So they get everything wrong about him. Nothing. not even one thing is right? Well, I think, like, he's, I mean, he's sort of temperamental, and he can be brash, all of those things. But I think they fail to realize what people love about him. And in doing that, they get it all wrong.

Because that is what happened. I was so angry. I mean, you guys, I went, I flew to Washington, D.C. to protest his presidency with all the ladies. Was it 100 or a million? I don't know how many there were. But I forget what I was going to say. I went to, yeah, I went to protest.

And I, oh, so then I was like, you know what? I'm going to figure out what these people like about him because he's an evil man. And I need to know what these people are thinking. And that was a big mistake, because then I ended up loving them, and I love him and my whole world. Any such cases. No, I think once you get to know his base supporters, it's like they're just very patriotic.

And they believe in his policies. They believe in bringing business back to America. It's like not that crazy. If you had 20 minutes with Melania, what would you ask her? Or would I just sit there and stare at her? I know. She's so incredibly beautiful in person. She really is.

And they're so tall. Like, no one tells you how tall these people are. like, what are these people eating? He's six, five. She looks like she's six, four. I think I would ask her what it's, I would love to know what it's been like, you know, just knowing what I know and the little bit that I've experienced, because like all of these people are real people at the end of the day, right? And all of these things people say and write about you, it is very loud. and no matter what, I would think that it would affect a person. So I would love to know about her raising her son in, you know, over those few years in the White House and everything they've, I mean, the press was terrible to her.

I remember thinking they were really terrible to her as a mother and how they were covering Baron. I do remember that was one point where I couldn't get behind, but I think she's very guarded for good reason. but I would love, love a chance to talk to Melania. Just in case anyone here knows anybody. Just in case there was any Trump family member here last night. My favorite Melania moment is that, Who gets an F about the Christmas trees? That's what, I want more of that side of her personally,

and I want more of them as a couple. So my thing is like, anyone who's listening, you know, in the Trump fam is my thing is like I want more of them like what is your relationship like I want more candid moments and I think that is something that RFK does

very well with Cheryl yes for sure that's a big difference right there's a lot of differences between I think they agree on a lot and then I think there's major differences in character and that's why he's been so fun to cover because he's nobody has

ever offered me such transparent access. You know, I'm literally just on a boat or, you know, stayed at the Kennedy compound, which is probably one of the best memories of my life. And you get to see him with his kids and his wife. And, you know, anyone, when you see them in that setting, you're going to kind of warm up to them and appreciate him.

And he's, both of them are incredible fathers. I think that's the other thing that makes him mad, is you hear all this about the negative, you know, the Kennedy families against RFK, and you always hear like, oh, well, his family doesn't even support him. But those are the few family members that are directly linked to the Biden administration who don't happen to agree with his vaccine stance or whatever.

But his nieces and nephews, his kids, they adore him. So that's the side I get to see and write about. You know what I don't understand? And I feel like you were the perfect person to bring this up with, is that, I mean, you live in Southern California, right? And we're a liberal and covering all these celebrities and, you know, being around RFK and everything. I don't understand how we went pre-pandemic.

It was so in vogue. It was the thing to be a celebrity who did not vaccinate your children. And then all of a sudden it became like, you know, the number one worst grave sin you could possibly do. I don't understand the shifts. So, like, culturally, what changed? why did it flip from that being a more liberal point of view to now being a more conservative? Yeah, that's a good point. I actually haven't thought about it that way. It was. You're right. I don't think anyone's pointed that out, but I don't know. It was a crunchy liberal celebrity thing to be like, I don't vaccinate my kids. And then conservatives, I mean, I remember growing up and seeing that written about in tabloids and be like, oh my gosh, what a horrible mother. Now I'm like, I'll never vaccinate my kids.

Well, I don't think that ever needed to be a political issue. I think that's... Personal. Yeah, it was a personal issue where, you know, I didn't get a flu shot. Like, I don't feel like that needed to be right or left. It's like if you don't, if you're not comfortable with this vaccine that came out of, you know, very fast, it was a rushed vaccine. And I didn't feel like that was ever political. So it was weird that it...

But I think that, you know, Hollywood is liberal. So they kind of swooped that agenda, and they did all the, remember all the videos where the celebrities came out and they're like, I forget what they were saying, but they were really silly. And yeah, that was weird. But you know what? But I was on text threads and there was a lot of celebrities against it. That's, I think, too, where I lost my interest in Hollywood is I knew how phony they are. Like, there's so many who do not agree with what is going on, whether it's mandates, or any of these hot topic issues, but they can't say it.

And I was just like, I don't think we have, I can't, I can't waste time on these people anymore because they're not, they're not of substance. And so are you alluding to you switching from more of the exclusive just pop culture celebrity stories to now like going on political campaign trails and covering this kind of behind the scenes political stuff? How much access has the Biden admin given you? I think, well, I drove by the White House last half. as nobody answered.

I sent a message out. Like, if anybody's home, I'm in town. Because people accuse you of purposefully not covering anything related to President Biden, and what is the truth? Well, it's a lot of, I mean, he's, first of all, he's not hosting a ton of events. I don't know if you've seen him lately, but, like, he's not doing a ton. So that already is limited. And then when he does do events, like right now, he's meeting with George,

Cluny or having some extravaganza with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. So these are not really open to the public, but also I don't think they love independent journalists. I think someone like RFK has made his campaign about alternative, you know, they call him like the podcast candidate. He's going on speaking with podcast people and I think he appreciates an independent perspective. And same with Trump. They realize the power of social media, but I think the Biden administration just I mean, can you imagine if I was shadowing him around, like him and Jill? I guess you'd have to carry, like, a diaper bag. I mean, I would love it.

Don't get me wrong. Anyone who invites me, I usually show up. Hence. Well, we're really happy that you came. Thank you. Three dream people that you'd want to interview dead or alive. Oh, dead or alive? Well, I think it's no secret that my top interview would be Galane Maxwell, Queen Elizabeth.

And do we want Diana to? Should we just throw Diana in it? Together. Have you ever been offered money to not report on something? No. I've been offered money to report on something, and I turned that down. Interesting. What do you think the media landscape will look like in America in 20 years? Oh, gosh. That's probably what scares me the most. I don't, I want to be optimistic and think that it's going to change, but I do see media as our biggest enemy right now. I think it's what divides everybody the most. So, and right now you have all these billionaires who, who own the outlets, who own the narrative,

who own the truth, right? So I think unless there's a huge sort of revolution or revolt against it, it's going to get very dark. So that's why it is so, I'm so grateful for everybody who supports me and any of the independent journalists you follow and subscribe to, because it really should be funded by the people so that we can get unbiased,

perspective. What reporters or outlets do you trust for news? Oh gosh. I don't. You mean out of like the big ones? Yeah, I mean anybody, like is there, is there a news political or news podcasts that you like or a Twitter account or Instagram account or network? I think I just follow the sort of, I like the free press.

I like, I don't do podcast. I don't have time for to listen to podcasts. Oh, that's right. you did that event with Barry Weiss and wasn't Tim Dillon there? Yes. Okay, Tim Dillon is my number one favorite comedian obsessed, would die for Tim Dillon. So I was very jealous that you got to do that. He was so funny at her.

He is genius. Like it actually, I didn't know you could, it could hurt. Like, I didn't know you'd go to a comedy show and laugh so hard it could hurt. He was amazing. But I don't know. I don't really trust. I feel like when you get a very watered down version of, I just go to get the basics, like Hunter Biden's in trial.

I just go to get the names right and the dates, and I'll sort of post them as just a very watered down version. But there's so much, I don't know, there's so much that goes on in every, all these corners that is left out. And it's sad that journalism is really like shriveled to this. It's so stale, you know. My last question for you, and then we'll do live audience questions. So if you have a good question for Jessica that I haven't asked, go ahead.

And if you want to form a line or raise your hand or I don't know how they do it out there, but the staff will help you. My final question for you is, have you lost a lot of friends being willing to stand for the truth? And I would say just being open-minded and not necessarily posting under like a liberal bias, have you lost a lot of people because of that and has it been worth it? Oh, God. I feel like I'm going to cry. I have. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't talk to my mom and my brother. And I lost quite a few friends. But yes, it is worth it because I believe in everything I'm doing right now. And I'm supported by my husband and my kids who are very proud. I'm proud of you too. But I know that a lot of people went through this. It was a really hard time for everyone,

so I feel like that's why I want to feel connected to everyone that follows me and reads because I feel like we've all been through a rough period. We all lost friends and family. And I just think we need to join together and really support each other. All right. First question for Jessica. We're going to be on your right. Hi, my name is Arabella. So I'm an editor at my school's newspaper, and I've had some experience with trying to get censored by one of my advisors, actually.

I was wondering if you have any advice on how to go about dealing with that and just dealing with trying to be censored. Yes, write me, and I'll share your story. We're going to expose, who is this person? Now, you work at the Wichita Eagle, which is our town's paper, and she began to be able to do. became a teacher. Her name's Joanna Chadwick. Thank you. There you go. Next question.

I'm over here on your left. Hi, I'm Alana, and I'm going to be a first-time voter in November. My question to you is, how should I go about making my own determinations about candidates rather than following the party's popular choice, and where should I start on research? into the politicians and their policies and beliefs. Oh, gosh. Well, I think, you know what? I started with was going on their websites,

and they have links and things that you can kind of start with that break down their policies from their perspective. And then from there, I just feel like a lot of the podcast, I don't know, you guys know more about the podcast than I do, but I think it is hard for someone your age to figure those things out with the media land. landscape the way it is. I think it takes a lot of work and dedication. I love that you are even trying and interested in it. But gosh, what do you think? What do you, what, like, how do you tell

how do you, it's, I feel like it's hard. I mean, I do it for a living in it. It takes a lot of work to figure out what they believe and what the difference is. I would say, follow closely what is a candidate say versus what they do. Yeah. when they're making promises, you know, how are they showing that they're going to follow through on those promises? If they've held public office before, how was their record with following through with those promises? I think that's a big thing for me. And maybe just figuring out what your top issues are. It can be overwhelming.

So everybody has different issues they care more about. So maybe focus and then learn about those. Yeah, really good question. Thank you. I'm Taylor and I am a Swiftie so just like Can you just like blink twice of Taylor Swift or Travis Kelsey as one of those closet conservatives you were talking about? I hate to break it to you but no I had to try I had to try I know we can dream next question

Hi my name is Ania I have not seen yourself yet but you've got me so excited to go look into you now and I will do it when I get home. I am learning photography and journalism. I'd like to be a photojournalist and I really want to be an investigative reporting. So I kind of like your advice on someone just starting out in that, you know, what you would do if you were to start over, how you would go about that. I feel like reading, I feel like going back and reading some of the older style of journalism, is really inspiring, like Hunter S. Thompson on the campaign trail,

Joan Didion on the campaign trail. I don't have a ton of new journalists that I get excited about, so I would really go back and study, because really what's old could be new again, and I would go back to some of the greats, you know, when, like, Rolling Stone was really, you know, edgy and vanity fair even. I would Dominic Dunn for trials,

That's what I did. I go back and I would figure out what they did that was so compelling. Because right now, like I said, I think we're in a very dead space with journalism and just storytelling in general. Great question. Hi. Thank you for being here. My question is, how can we go about de-brainwashing society and people that we know who are so deep in the mainstream media that they don't know the truth? I feel like that's the hardest,

the hardest thing to do. It's actually very discouraging because I feel like that's what I'm trying to do every day too is breakthrough. And I feel like a major part of that is not losing your temper and coming at it with

rational discourse. And I think that's the hard, but if you look at the strongest arguers, they are able to hold their emotions at a certain level. So, you know, once you start, nobody listens when you're screaming at each other, or if you're lecturing or berating someone. I think asking questions, making people feel like you're listening, that's what I've noticed.

I've had to change. I mean, I have a bad temper, too, so I've had to reel it in and just engage in a more civil manner, I guess. Just come with, you know, say, you know, just. Show them things that you find or ask them. And it can't be something long. You have to start with like really small, like read this or watch this little, you know, five-minute clip because nobody's going to watch a three-hour podcast on somebody they hate.

But you can listen to an hour-long spillover with Jessica Krause. Go ahead on the left. Hi. Hi. So I was wondering, now that you're conservative. I'll say for her. She's not a conservative, but how would you describe your views? Conservative-ish.

Yeah, like, she's dabbling and dabbling, depending on how nice we are to her. Away from far-leaning left, right? Yes. What do you believe that the right can learn from the left? By the way, they're holding themselves with all the things you've watched and reported on. Wait, what? What can the right learn from the left right now? Yes.

Oh. Nothing? I see nothing good happening over there right now. Oh, God, I mean, what is the left doing right now? I got nothing. I would have to think about that. What? Does someone have...

Oh, yes. Oh, my gosh. That's it. They are so smart with that. They're very smart with media, flashy media. They're good. They're good at switching things around and... Yeah, that.

That. No, I'm really disappointed with the left right now. So that's a hard one. I think the liberals I grew up with is not reflected in the party right now. So everything that I admired about that side is sort of missing. I don't, what, do you have, do you know, you don't know? No, I would agree with you. Media, I mean, they've

infiltrated our schools, they've infiltrated pop culture. I mean, they have left no stone culturally untouched. The aesthetic is better. The left has good aesthetic, so it makes, you know, you want to look at these things. And they have all the celebrities, they have all of the entertainment. So it's like

a flashy distraction from what is actually really happening, which is not all that great. They don't apologize. Be loud? Be loud? Yes. They never apologize. I think that was a good one.

I think the right needs to be louder and bolder and unapologetic. Right? Hello. Welcome to Texas. We love you. We've turned up the heat for you and the humidity. Question. Okay, I actually love your documentation.

I've been a wedding lifestyle photographer for about 12 years. Who are your main influences? And I've actually been following Denise since I've started. Like, she's like a my favorite. I wish she was here. give a big hug. But who are some of your influences? I love how you curate stuff. It's so just well done. Do you have any specific photographers or people that you love? Yes. I just posted yesterday. My favorite society photographer is David Jones. He's from England and he was

hired by Tina Brown for Vanity Fair to sort of exactly what we're doing actually. So I will tell the story and Denise captures the images. He was hired as her photographer and his images are just like I'm obsessed with them. I bought a print when I was in England. I have all of his books and so I always sit down and show Denise what I love about him because he's very in the moment. What we're doing is never staged. You know, we don't pull anyone aside to take their photo. It's all moving imagery. So he's my favorite. Who else do I love? I love Richard Avedon. That's one. That's one. studio and who else? Who else do we love? What? You guys collaborate? I don't know. Yeah, so we're always talking about, like I'll tell her what I want and give her a loose thing.

Like I like wherever we're at, I'm like, can you please include some food shots to let, you know, because it's really, each of these campaign chapters is not just about the candidate. It's also about Corners of America that we're visiting. So what are the people eating there? What are they wearing? That kind of thing. So yeah. Love you guys. Thank you. Let's do, should we do, can we do two more or do we have to do one more? This will be the last question on your left. Okay, last question. Hi, I'm Macy. Big fan, Jessica. I've been a subscriber since day one. My question is, do we have an update on Kate? Oh. So I do. I do. not have an update. I had Intel a couple months ago that I published what I knew, but I will say that I said I was going to back off because, you know, it's such a sensitive subject

and nobody really knows what's going on, but of course secretly I'm reading all the conspiracies. Like, I realize something is very off and I don't think anyone knows how to approach it, you know, without feeling invasive. But I do not have any updates. I just have theories and suspicions. Juicy closing question. Yeah, good job. And obviously we're thinking of her and hoping everything is okay. Well, thank you guys so much for your questions and contributions for a live audience spillover. That was so fun. Jessica, I just want to tell you, you have awakened a massive amount of women into the lack of transparency of American media. And I think that you should know that your work is one of the greatest examples of grassroots politics that we have seen in a very long time.

Thank you. Thank you for having me. You made it. Where can people follow you and read your work? I am House and Habit on Instagram and same name on Substack for longer version stories. Oh, why House and Habit? Oh, a sneaky last question. I know.

People always ask that. It was really just when I was, when I started on the Internet, I was documenting family life and I was a stay-at-home mom. So it was really about being kind of locked into routine with, you know, home life and house. It really was House of Habit, but I had to change it at some point because someone stole the name. So it's just, I feel like it's bad luck to change names. So now it's whatever you want it to mean. Oh, you're saying that as all this, I'm debating on if I should change the name of my podcast this summer. T.

Oh. But it's cool, I promise. My boss that is against the name change is going, ha ha, I knew it. It's hard. A name change is dramatic, yeah. Yeah, so we're debating it anyway. That's a little behind the scenes inside baseball or whatever. Do you think she should change it?

All right. Jessica, thank you so much for coming on. The spillover.