Normal Gossip - Champagne, Capers, and Cuddle Parties with Se’era Spragley Ricks

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Surprise! In today’s bonus episode, Se’era Spragley Ricks (Normal Gossip’s lead producer) joins Rachelle to dive into your questions, New Year’s resolutions, and morsels of gossip.Get tickets to Kelsey's book tour here!Pre-order Kelsey's book, YOU DIDN'T HEAR THIS FROM ME, here!Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets!You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com.Our merch shop is run by Dan McQuade. You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/Episode transcript here.Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip, and if you have gossip, email us at [e-mail] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP.Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby.Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hello, my beautiful flock of gossip birds. Welcome to a bonus episode of Normal Gossip. I'm your host, Rachel Ampton. In case you have somehow missed that news, check out the season finale of season 7 for updates and a delightful slash stressful tale that takes place on the high seas. We have got a little treat for you today because let's be real here, it's a rough time and you deserve a treat. But before I can serve your little treat we have got to get down to a little bit of business. Some exciting news, we have officially started production on season 8 of Normal Gossip, which

will come out this spring. We have picked a lot of the stories, but we still have a few spots left. So if you have gossip for us, now is the time. Send all your mess to normalgossipatdefector.com. As a reminder, some of the kinds of gossip that I am absolutely desperate for, real estate gossip, gossip that is secretly a romance novel, fandom gossip, service industry or retail gossip, mega church gossip, Pokemon Go gossip, Polycule gossip, road trip gossip, tabletop gaming gossip, and Family Lore Gossip.

If all of that sounds amazing and makes you think, wow, I miss normal gossip so much, don't forget we have a newsletter. It goes out every two weeks and has blogs and recommendations from me and Kelsey, Alex, Sierra, and Jay, and a bunch of Artifactor buddies. If you'd like to sign up, the link is in the show notes. Okay, last bit of business, I promise. Kelsey's book is coming out soon! Is that even business? That's also a treat. If you haven't pre-ordered it yet, that link is also in the show notes. There are still tickets to see me and Kelsey gabbing about her book on February 11th in

New York at town hall. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Okay, that's it, I promise. Onto your first of many little treats, I am thrilled to welcome Normal Gossip's new lead producer, Ciara Spragley-Rix, to the front of the microphone. As some of you may know, Ciara and I worked together on Slate's Internet Culture podcast,

in case you missed it, where we found out we're both March Pisces. It shouldn't then be surprising that we fell in love immediately. Sierra, hello. Welcome to the front of the mic. How are you feeling? Hi.

Oh, I'm feeling vulnerable. That's so real. That's so real. That's so real. But if there's a space for vulnerability, it's right here with me. With my bestie. Oh! So, for today's episode, we've got a real buffet of treats. First, we're gonna answer some burning questions

that y'all have for me and Sierra. Then later in the episode, we'll be reacting to some delectable morsels of gossip. And finally, New Year's resolutions. Y'all have them and we'll be giving our thoughts. I'm excited. Are you excited? Listen, feed it to me. Yes. Just picture me steepling my fingers like a villain.

That's what I'm doing right now. But before we get into the morsels of gossip, some questions. So, the very first one, and I'm excited to hear this one, is one of our listeners says they need to know Sierra's relationship with gossip immediately. Gossip is like ancestral for me, like it's in my DNA. My grandmother raised me. I grew up in the South. I'm from Virginia. And my grandmother had ten kids.

I like to think I'm her honorary 11th child because I stayed with her during the weekdays. And her having ten kids, of course there was mess. Of course there was, like, inter there was like... Interpersonal messiness. That's a football team right there. I don't know how many players are on a football team, but that's a football team right there. It is chaos.

So like, her kids would call her and be like, Mom, so-and-so did this. And she's just like, what? And then they would hang up. And then like moments later, the person that they were having a problem with would call my grandmother. That's beautiful.

They was like, mom, did you hear that? And she was like, no, baby, what's going on? Even though the other kid literally just called her moments before. So I was sitting there and I was getting the tea. I'll be watching cartoons and I'll like turn it down a little bit. So it was effort. Like, I didn't have a remote, so I had to go to the TV

and like turn it down. And I would just kind of be listening. And then when they like come to the house, my grandmother was like big on Sunday dinners, like shit like that. They would come in and I'm like, ooh, I know you said this about this person and I know this about that person.

And I'm like trying to like decipher who's telling the truth. Yeah. And then sometimes my grandmother, like when she was making coffee and she was feeling chatty, she would like talk to me about the gossip and I'm like, ooh, grandma, what do you think? Honestly, I was producing then. No, you really were. You were orchestrating.

You were hearing the sides, you were putting them together, you were making a coherent storyline. There's nothing better as a child than being in grown folks' business. It feels life-giving. You're just like, "'Ooh, I'm at the big kids' table.'" I felt like a grown-up.

I don't see gossip as like a negative thing. It is storytelling. And it is no surprise that I enjoy it. Of course. How could you not with an introduction like that? But I do think this segues into the next question, which is, how long have Rachel and Ciara been friends? Based on the way we're talking, you would think it's been 20 years at least.

And it's been like, what, two? Two. Yeah, we met at the beginning of 2023. So it's been two years as of this January. But I mean, we're both, as you said, at the top, March Pisces. So I understand why our connection feels like it's been longer,, a long time in the making. We also come from, I think, pretty similar places in terms of, like, region, ethnicity. (*LAUGHTER*) So, I think, especially in journalism, finding someone who understands that background

and kind of speaks the same language as you, I remember the first time that I said something and got Sierra to respond with, "'Bitch!' And we were working, obviously, and we didn't know each other that well at that point, and maybe even like a month or two, and I was over here just grinning,

because I was like, got her, and Sierra was like, I'm so sorry, you're my host, and I was like, girl, we're for a ride, we're locked in now. I was like, oh my gosh, like I have crossed so many lines and boundaries, but then after that, it was like a wrap. Like we were already locked in, but we were really locked in.

Yeah, and you know, we've been through some shit together. That's gossip that is not for this podcast, but we have been through some shit together and nothing bonds you like going through some shit together and making it out the other end. The trauma bonding is real. It's real. I just remember when I would go on vacation, you would do the little like, seely crop from Color Purple. And I was like, this girl is ridiculous,

and she is for me. Like, I'm like, girl, I'm going to be back next week. And you would just be like... I'm like, no. Don't leave me, Rachel. And now you're stuck with me forever. Stuck? This is an active choice, okay?

Like, we are a locked in man. We're here. Wow. Wow. The next question is, do we have any defective gossip? We had a little party for the finale of season seven, which was my first episode hosting. I don't know if this is gossip, but when I get nervous,

like most people, I'm just like, give me another drink! So, that day, everyone came over to my apartment, basically, to watch the episode published. Let me tell you, there is nothing more anti-climactic than publishing a podcast episode. Oh, my God. You're over here thinking, this is something I have spent the last many months of my life

being nervous about, and then it just goes live and nothing happens. Because obviously, nothing happens. You're pressing publish on audio. It's so anti-climactic. And we're just waiting for it to hit the airwaves. Like... Exactly. And so, someone brought champagne,

which was very nice. And everyone, like, left my house to go get ready, and there was half a bottle of champagne left. And if there's one thing that is true in my household, it's don't waste champagne. Cause you can't save it. I mean, I don't have the means to save it. I know there are means to save it,

but I don't, I don't got it like that. So I drank half the bottle of champagne and then went to dinner with my friends where they ordered a bottle of wine for the three of us. And then went to the party where they had this lovely little menu of special drinks, including one that was a delicious little vodka drink, had three of those. So the gossip that I have is that I was three sheets to the wind that night. I was just like, I can't feel how bad my feet hurt in these shoes.

The best part is I couldn't even tell. You just look happy and you always look happy. So I didn't know. That's beautiful. I think I was too nervous to reach the normal Rachel state of drunkenness at that level, which is just me being like, I love you guys so much. I did cry at the bar that we went to afterwards.

I was wondering if you did cry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So actually I did get there. But I think I love you guys so much. I did cry at the bar that we went to afterwards. I remember you did cry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So actually I did get there, but I think I would have done that sober. It was an emotional day. It was an emotional day. Something did happen, that coat swap that you did. Yes, oh my God. I forgot. Oh my God. Let me tell you, when you called me at that point in the night, I was definitely three shoes to the wind, because I had had another beer at that bar. So, please tell the story.

So, there's a coat check. It was our Christmas party slash Norma Gossett, like, just celebration. And I had my grandmother's coat that is like, like an old school wool coat, gray, unassuming, Swedish looking, and ituming, Swedish looking. And it was in the back. And it was in our coat check.

And between my friend Pallas and my husband Justin, they were like, you know, we were all mingling, we were saying goodbye. I think I was talking to you when they went to go grab my coat. They grabbed my coat, I put on the coat, we go to eat, because I was still hungry when we left. Yeah, the food was, it was finger food.

It was finger food, and I needed something hearty. Like, I was hungry. Um, so we went to Sisters. Great choice. I love Sisters, so good. Every time I go to Brooklyn, I make sure I like hit up Sisters. Yes! So, we go, we leave, we say goodbye to my friend, Palace. We go back to the hotel.

I'm in the elevator. A couple comes in. And then the couple is like, oh my gosh, I just love your coat. And I was like, yeah, thank you. My grandmother gave it to me. Like, you know, she has since passed. So this is like my coat that I always remember her by.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then I like stick my hand in the coat and I fill a set of keys. And I'm like, wait, who keys are these? Yeah, important note, Sierra does not live in Brooklyn. So there's no reason for her to have her house keys in her pocket at a party in Brooklyn. Her house keys were probably in like your luggage or some stuff in the hotel. TITIANA And then I look at the coat, and as beautiful as this coat is, it is not my coat. And I'm like, panic.

TITIANA Yeah, I remember you calling me in the bar, and again, I was what? Half a bottle of champagne, half a bottle of wine, three whiskey drinks, and a beer into the night. So I just teeter my way outside and I'm like, why is Sierra calling me? And you're like, I have the wrong coat. And I immediately, as much as possible, sobered up and was just like, we're going to get it back. You were, you were very encouraging.

I was like, don't worry, we're going to get it back. The thing is, I told you that, hung up and was just like, I'm too drunk to deal with this, I don't know what to do. And so I went into the party where Kelsey still was, and I was like, my Virgo queen will fix everything. And so I go up to her, and one of our staff writers, Gideon Nathan, and I'm just like, Kelsey, I have a problem. She's like, what?

And I'm like, Sierra lost her coat. It's a family heirloom. It's been traded with someone else's. So she has someone's coat, but we don't know whose coat it is. And I was just like, I don't know what to do. And she just lays out a plan. And she's like, we're gonna do this.

She's like, we can't do anything tonight. She's like, when does Sierra leave? And I'm like, OK, OK, OK. And then you found out who had your coat. Yes, so I look, I'm like going through the pockets at this point now. I've already walked to the venue that we were at before, and like, the coat wasn't there.

So then I'm like walking back and I'm like, oh shit, I haven't looked through the pockets. I looked through the pockets and there is a piece of paper that was like for an event and it was like a reserved piece of paper and it had Israel's name on it. Just incredible, incredible luck that that was in there. And Israel is Israel Dara-Mola, who is a staff writer at Defector, who I'm not surprised that y'all swap coats

because you're both very fashionable. So once you told me it was Israel's, I was like, oh, okay, yeah, that's Rex, actually, I understand. Yes, and I like emailed him. We were able to swap the coats back. Like, we both like took very good care of each other's coats. And it was just a nice little scavenger hunt, if you will. I just remember getting your Slack message that you figured out it was Israel

and that you were gonna swab. And I was the most hungover I've ever been in my entire life. And I was just like... If I could pull myself up into a vertical position, I would be jumping for joy. But I simply can't do that. I was like, I'm be jumping for joy. But I simply can't do that. I was like, I'm so happy for you. I need to go lay in a dark room somewhere.

Oh, I love that. I was like, ooh, crisis averted. I was like, crisis averted. Okay, great. I can go back to being hungover. So that's the defective gossip. I got too drunk. Sierra had a caper all on her own.

Listen. Okay, next question. What is your favorite piece of celebrity gossip of all time? Remember when Solange punched Jay-Z in the elevator? Ha-ha! That was one of the most iconic moments. That, like, TMZ shot of her walking out the elevator, her face just absolutely so angry.

Beyonce in the background trying to look serious, but you can see her smiling a little bit, because she was like, someone had to do it, and I couldn't do it. And then Jay-Z just in the background, head down. And she's kicking. Well, Julius was like, let me just, I'm gonna let you get a bit of licks in.

Like, Julius was like... The way there was a bodyguard in that elevator, and Solange still got her licks in. We wouldn't have known if we didn't know who Julius was. Like, my favorite part is when Solange is over there, like, getting her licks in, and Beyoncé just takes the train of her gown and just, like, push it over to the side.

Yeah, she's like, oh, yeah, like, you can tag him a few, but, like, just make sure you don't step on this. I know exactly. She's like, I gotta give this dress back. This was a rental. I don't condone violence publicly. However... ...that was iconic.

I love Solange. The love of a little sister for her big sister, I don't know, because I don't have sisters, but I've seen it play out. That is my sister. We grew up in two different households, but my sister's an Aries son. Oh.

She don't play about me. So the last question is, I'm running for political office against my boss's best friend. How do I tell my boss? Like, OK, first off, your boss is probably not gonna vote for your ass anyway, so like, why even tell them? My instinctive reaction, which is maybe not helpful

in this situation is... You don't owe that bitch anything. They'll find out when they go vote, or whenever they see the campaigning slogans, they'll figure it out. Why do you have to tell your boss about your political aspirations? Your boss's best friend? Who is that to you?

Right. And it's not on company time. So our collective choice is don't tell that person. Yeah. Like, I mean, if they ask, you can be like, yeah, I'm running. Yeah. Can I count on your vote? Do you wanna hear my platform? Here's my website.

Remind them when voting day is, remind them where their local polling station is. Tell them local elections are very important, the most important. Very. The most important, especially in these times. Become a poll worker. Vote in your local elections.

But other than that. Don't tell them. You don't have to tell them shit. You owe them nothing but great points. Exactly, wow. Support for normal gossip comes from Airbnb. I travel a lot for my job, but right now I am super excited about an upcoming personal trip that I'm taking to Montreal this winter. I love food, and Montreal is such a great food city. There are a bunch of amazing restaurants that I've been wanting to try out, and also bagels, so many bagels.

And while I'm away, instead of my house just sitting empty, I could be earning a little extra spending money by hosting on Airbnb. It would be a great way to use my space to offset some of the cost of my next destination. I love that hosting can be super flexible and I can host for as little or as long as I want. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Wow, I really wasn't sure how we would reach a quorum on that last question, but I'm proud of us. We immediately were both just like, you know, oh, that bitch shit.

But now onto the part that y'all have all been waiting for, which is the gossip. We've got some little tidbits that have been gathered for us and we're both so excited. You might recognize the voices reading these morsels. Thank you so much to JTolviera and Alex Sujong-Loughlin for lending your incredible voice acting chops to this episode. Let's hear the first one. Our eighth graders tried to collectively boycott

the dress code today, and every single one got sent to in-school suspension. Fuck around and find out. -♪ BELL DINGS, CELL PHONE RINGS, Me too. Okay, I'm just trying to figure out, like, what was the dress code? Exactly. As a bitch with long arms, relative to her body, that fucking rule that's like like your dress has to reach the bottom of your fingertips,

for some people that's mid-thigh. For me, that is knee length because I have a really big wingspan. Me too. You and I are literally the same height and we have the same wingspan. And like, seriously, my arms are long. Yes, it makes benching really hard. But yeah, so actually, I think the eighth graders are right. That's how I feel about this. Power to the people.

Home for the holidays and my mom is filled to the brim with petty work gossip. Someone took her stuffed toy off her desk and then tried to replace it, but she knows it's fake. Why would you do that? Who would do that? That's so rude. There's no, there are levels to this shit. I almost want to see a side by side comparison. No, same. Actually so true. I need to know how different the fake is from the real. Cause if it's a pretty close replica, if it's like, what, that Walmart Birkin that everyone's talking about? Wait a minute.

Then I'm kind of just like, okay, they tried. But if it's just an immediate fake, like the Birkins in Canal Street, then perhaps I have questions. And have we found out who it was? Like, these are things we need to know. Your mother needs to go investigation mode. She needs to be requesting the tapes. I have questions. And have we found out who it was? Like these are things we need to know. Your mother needs to go investigation mode.

She needs to be requesting the tapes. She needs to be running back to that security footage. She needs to be doing fingerprint testing because I need to know who took her stuffed toy off her desk and then replaced it with a fake. My husband is about to be 31 years old at the end of the year. For 31 years he has gone by Benjamin.

This is the name on our marriage certificate, our mortgage, all his bank accounts, and even his new license he got two weeks ago. Recently he was putting together his documents because he was applying for a passport. When he got out his birth certificate, he did a double take. On his birth certificate, his name is spelled Benjenin. Why has this never been caught before? Is our marriage even legitimate? The man in my house is a stranger. I don't know this Benjenin.

I married Benjenin. There's no way whoever submitted this could have known how hard this would hit for me specifically. You noticed firsthand. So all of you know me as Rachel spelled with an extra Ellie at the end. It's giving Rochelle, it's giving French. It's special.

It's confusing for a lot of people. The people who pronounced my name correctly upon first meeting me, I'm a little bit just like, where'd you come from? My parents spell my name the normal way, as in R-A-C-H-E-L. For most of my life, I thought that was how my name was spelled. And by most of my life, I mean up until I was like nine or ten. That's not most of my life at this point, Jesus Christ.

Anyway, I found out when my family moved from Chicago to Texas, and I started going to Texas public school, that my name legally is spelled Rochelle, despite the fact that I grew up with my entire family, and my old school spelling it the old way. So it turns out my name is spelled incorrectly on my birth certificate because the nurse just kind of decided

to go rogue. Um, my parents were like, we want our child's name to be Rachel Dene, spelled R-I-C-H-E-L, Dene, D-A-N-A-E. Um, and when we got the birth certificate, a few months later, I don't know why it was so late, I wasn't conscious. it was so late. I wasn't conscious. I was a baby. It's spelled Rachelle Denae with an apostrophe in the Denae,

D apostrophe N-A-E. I was born in Chicago. I guess you would guess this isn't... In the South side of Chicago, some nurse was like, this girl needs a little spice. I'ma juice up her name a little bit, little extra little razzle dazzle going on. So I go to Texas and the public school is like, we call you your legal name. And so I was like, okay, now I have to tell everyone my name is Rachelle Rachel.

And my parents are like, don't worry, we'll fix it. We have to go back to the county we're born in to fix it. But then I take like my SATs and it's all under my government name. And then I get my passport and it's all under my government name. And then I was like, you know what? At this point, it's a funny story to tell in interviews

whenever I walk into a room and they're like, hello, Rochelle. And it's like, actually it's Rachel, it's spelled wrong on my birth certificate. And everyone's like, actually, it's Rachel. It's spelled wrong. I'm at birth certificate. And everyone's like, what? And then it just kind of breaks the tension. And honestly, I've gotten every job that I've ever told that story in. So power to the nurse, I guess.

Thank you. All the same. Benjamin, Benjamin, I get it. There are a lot of legal implications, which is why I have not changed my name. It's so much paperwork. And then it doesn't go through for a long time. Like, a lot of people who change their names understand this. If you get married, if you transition, like for whatever reason you're changing your legal name,

it's a lot of fucking work. And it gets harder the older you get. So I'm sorry, but you married Benjamin. That's Benjamin right there. That's Benjamin. And you know what? It's the same person. That's so true. What is a rose by any other name that roses name is Benjamin? And he still smells sweet. I hope.

I would literally call him Benjamin the entire time. Yeah, this is a perfect opportunity for an extended bit. I hope. I would literally call him Bingenin the entire time. Yeah, this is a perfect opportunity for an extended bit. Like Bingenin, come over here. I am on a neighborhood Facebook page and a month or two back, I saw someone asking if it is legal for a landlord to throw a party at your house. Everyone responded that a landlord should not do that and gave varying advice. Fast forward to this week and there is a post titled,

there might be a potential parking issue on X street. My landlord is throwing his first cuddle party tonight and I thought I'd warn my neighbors. I think he is having 18 to 20 people at the house. He is planning on having these parties every Friday night. Does your landlord live in your house? Or what is this rental situation? Yeah, like, is it like a basement apartment? Or is it like, this is your home that you're renting the entire thing? This is your home and your landlord doesn't live there. You're renting it from them, but they just decided to have a cuddle party is your home that you're renting the entire thing? This is your home and your landlord doesn't live there.

You're renting it from them, but they just decided to have a cuddle party in your home. That violates so much. Because that violates your lease 100%. There is 100% a clause in your lease somewhere about like, warrant of habitability or some shit that will say this is not legal. Are you invited to the cuddle party?

Are they allowed in your bedroom? Yeah, like, I mean, it's 18 to 20 people. They're all not fitting in, like, the living room. Or is it just a cuddle puddle on the floor? The way my brain is doing mental gymnastics. 18 to 20 people feels like a lot of people. I, like, I'ma be honest, I have, like, a pretty decently sized couch

and even cuddling with one other person on the couch gets real crowded really fast. I usually disavow neighborhood Facebook pages because they scare me. But I'm going to need you to stay in this Facebook page and I need you to get an invite to the cuddle party. I'm sorry. You need to take one for the team. We need inside reporting. Please update us because I have many, many questions I need to know.

Found out that my situationship got cited for threatening Pokemon Go players on his property. None of these words are in the Bible, I would like to say. That's A. B. Why did Pokemon Go put one of their whatever sites on someone's private property? Residential property? Like on one hand, I kind of agree with your situation, Chip. If some random, if like just a horde of random people

were coming to my home every so often and hanging out in the lawn, I would be a little stressed out by that. On the other hand, why are you petning them? I like just imagine someone having a ring app and like you get the ring notification and it just keeps going off and going off because people are like on your property

and you're like, what the fuck is happening outside? No, exactly. And then he hears about Pokemon Go, I might get annoyed too. Yeah, no, exactly. I understand why he's annoyed. Is there no way to like contact the app and be like, yo, you put one of your little landing sites in my backyard? Did this affect your situationship standing finding out that this happened?

Ooh. Because this gossip is told very neutrally in a way that I appreciate, but I also want to know if you were like, oh, that's an ick, which I get. And threatening, like, did they go out and like, yo, I'm going to do such-and-such? Or were they like passive aggressive and just turned on the sprinkler? Exactly, because that, that's fine.

Oh, gosh. ["Spring Day"] Huge news. I wrote a whole book of beautiful essays about gossip. It's called You Didn't Hear This From Me, and I'm so, so proud of it. It's about how we use gossip. It's about Britney Spears and West Elm Caleb and Gilgamesh and Picasso. And it's so, so fun.

And I think it's really good. It comes out February 11th in hardback and a sexy audio book, which I read. You can buy it wherever you get books. You can go to kelseymckinneybook.com to see all the retailers where you could possibly buy a book from and to buy tickets for the upcoming book tour, which will be really fun and really exciting. That's Kelsey McKinney book.com. Support for normal gossip comes from Airbnb. I travel a lot for my job, but right now I am super excited about an upcoming personal

trip that I'm taking to Montreal this winter. I love food, and Montreal is such a great food city. There are a bunch of amazing restaurants that I've been wanting to try out, and also bagels? So many bagels. And while I'm away, instead of my house just sitting empty, I could be earning a little extra spending money by hosting on Airbnb. It would be a great way to use my space to offset some of the cost of my next destination. I love that hosting can be super flexible and I can host for as little or as long as

I want. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. I could spend at least half an hour with that last one, honestly. Yes. But unfortunately, it's now time to address the passing of time. It's 2025. It is. Ooh, Sierra, do you believe in New Year's resolutions?

I will set goals for myself, but like I don't do it around New Year's Day. Like my, I mean, both of our birthdays are in March. So I like to use like the first three months to kind of like catch up on goals that I didn't, like, reach or reflect or things like that. And then for my birthday, I will set goals. So, like, I'll set goals ahead, and then I'll, like,

officially start on my birthday. I like that. Yeah. I might steal that. It's pretty cool. Resolutions feel like a lot of pressure. And I have never really attached a lot of meaning to New Year's. No.

It always feels anticlimactic to me. Every single time, I'm just like, okay, another year has passed, it's now 2025. I'm not gonna internalize that until March. We all know that. I'm gonna be writing 2024 for at least the next three months. So New Year's resolutions don't really hit for me, but I'm wondering if these next few resolutions

that listeners sent us will inspire us. Okay. Okay, the first one is, I resolved to leave my current job and take my crew with me. As someone who did that, I will go ahead and say, fuck yeah, it's great. Ten out of ten recommend. I read that and I was like, is this about us?

Like... Is this play about us? Why not? Like, literally, it worked for us. That's a great resolution. Ten out of ten recommend. The next one is, I want to watch all 10 Fast and Furious movies. That's an achievable goal. I just watched Fast 10 for the first time with my family over the holidays. I hadn't seen Fast. No, I have seen Fast 9.

I saw Fast 9 in theaters. That's one where they went to space and then I saw the one where there's like the safe being dragged behind them. And then I've seen like the original, like three, everything else that happens in that universe. This is a good year to watch those movies because they exist in a universe that is not real. Those are superhero movies at this point.

It's escapism at its finest. It's a blend of genres. It's actually quite fascinating because you have like action, you have rom-com, you have sci-fi, family, soap opera. Like, it's like, because the amount of times that a character has died... And then came back? It's like, am I watching Jane the Virgin?

Am I watching The Telling the Beller? Like, is this General Hospital when Luke died and came back? Like, because there's so much happening. I was watching Fastin and someone died. And I was like, they're not dead. And my dad was like, what do you mean? They blew up in an explosion. And I'm like, in this universe,

That doesn't mean anything. Until you see the body, they're not dead. And then someone came back at the end that everyone thought was dead. And I was like, see? If that bitch can come back, why can't this other bitch that just died? There's been at least three of them who have died and come back. Like, and you mentioned going to space.

Like, I laughed out loud when that happened in the theater. And I was one of the only people who laughed. And I was like, please don't tell me y'all are taking this shit seriously. I cannot look at Tyrese Gibson... -♪ LAUGHTER... -♪...staring at the screen and saying, we're going to space? Shut the fuck up. -♪ LAUGHTER... -♪ Shut the fuck up.

I... It's like, okay, in this universe, I'm trying to figure it out because like, what is time in this universe? Because you mean to tell me you go to space and come back, like in a day's time, but it takes me 13 hours to fly to Thailand? And we just went to space? You sent a car to space in 24 hours? What fucking car?

What in the Elon Musk space force shit is happening? All of this to say, this is a wonderful resolution because your mind will be occupied watching these movies because nothing makes sense. Nothing. And it's very fun to kind of just pick apart in a way that's like, what are we even doing here?

The perfect escape, the perfect escape for this time. Next resolution is, I want to try a new class every month, pottery, fitness, et cetera. Please suggest. I love this. Absolutely love it. I think this is a really good idea. One of the classes that I would recommend, I've been looking for classes to take with my best friend.

We get each other Christmas presents, and the Christmas present that I got her, her sister already got her, so I have to think of a second one. Okay. Pissed me off. But I found some dumpling making classes in New York, and some sushi making classes as well. So I think I'm gonna buy her one of those,

and we're gonna do it together. So that is an option. I think there's a kind of cuisine that seems a little complicated. Having someone take you through is really fun. I've looked into woodworking classes. Those are very expensive. But you do come out with like a side table. So I'm going to be honest, the money feels worth it. Yes.

Oh, aerial yoga. Oh my god. I walked past someone doing it in a building and I was like, I don't be one of those people who's just like looking in on people doing fitness because nothing freaks me out more, but I was like, I want to do that. I want to be swinging from the chandelier like fucking Sia. Yes, okay, like on that track, two that I would suggest, one is pole dancing.

Oh, yes. Pole dancing is so much fun. This is literally like all levels. And I've been inspired by Alex, so I'm taking a knitting class on the intro to knitting. Yay, I love that. I can't wait. Yay, I love that. I can't wait.

Wow. I can't wait to knit me a sweater like Alex. Ooh, actually one of my friends took, this is the same friend, took a sewing class at the Fashion Institute in New York, but I think there are probably a lot of places that do sewing classes, and that is something that when I have more free time,

I'll be very interested in getting into because I love the idea of being able to like make or mend my own clothes. Yes, I was reading a book recently, I Who Have Never Known Men, and in that book, the ladies like make their own clothes. And I was just like, hmm, if I got a hole in a garment, I don't even know how to fix it.

So I just wanna be, I don't know, more at with my hands and be able to create or fix things. So I love the idea of when you mentioned the woodworking class or sewing, knitting. I think these are things that are really cool and it can cut back on so many things. Being more sustainable and just conscientious of the impact and our imprint on the earth. So I like that.

Wow. And then the last one, I like this one. The last resolution is to give fewer fucks in general. Amen. Girl, whoever. Turn to your neighbor and say amen. Pop off. Yeah, whoever. Turn to your neighbor and say amen. And say, amen. Pop off.

Yeah, truly. I mean, I would say the, my addendum to this would be to place my fucks in the correct spaces. Mm-hmm. There are a lot of things that I think we should all just care less about. What celebrities are doing. It's not activism to care about what celebrities are doing. They're never going to represent us. I think giving fewer fucks about the just TikTok coverage of the Trump administration.

If there's anything I learned from the first Trump administration is that a lot of people will spend a lot of time spinning theories that don't happen, and the things that actually happen will be entirely surprising and devastating in ways that we couldn't have guessed. And I don't really want to listen to pundits or people on Twitter who are just spiraling and scared and trying to control their fear by trying to control their fear by trying to guess what's coming next.

I get it. I also try to control my fear by predicting the future, but unfortunately, I don't have that ability, and neither does Ezra Klein. So, I don't want to pay attention to those people. I want to respond to the moment that we're in. I think just being more engaged and embedded in your community, honestly, so like, if I'm gonna give fucks about anything, I'm gonna give fucks about my community.

I'm gonna be engaged in those spaces and in those places, and I think that's where we will find healing. Yeah. Sierra, thank you for coming on the show. Oh, my gosh, thanks for having me. I mean, technically, you're always here. I mean, I am. I'm always behind the mic, which I do love. I'm always behind the mic, which I do love.

I love being behind the mic. This was just a rare occurrence and I did it for our listeners because they were like, who is the Sierra girl? Like, we know Rachel, but who the fuck is Sierra? And hopefully you like me. If you don't, I'll come to all of your houses and fight you. Bam.

No. Personally. No, no. I'll be getting in street fights for Ciara's honor. This is my bestie. This is the love of my life. I'm so glad that this happened. I know you said it's a rare occurrence, but we might be making it less rare as time goes

on. So this hopefully is not the last time y'all get to hear from Ciara on mic. But this was so fun! Yeah, thank you for allowing me to come on mic and be with you. This was fun. Girl, literally anytime. This podcast was produced by Sierra Spragley-Ricks and JTollviera. The co-creators and Dowager queens of normal gossip are Alex DuJong-Loughlin and Kelsyn McKinney.

Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Jasper Wang and Sean Coon is Defector's projects editor. Jasper Wang and Sean Kuhn are Defector's business guys. Alex Dujong-Loughlin is Defector's supervising producer. Tom Lay is our editor-in-chief. Dan McQuade runs our merch store, which you can find in NormalGossip.store. Tara Jacoby designed our show art, thanks to the rest of the Defector staff. Defector Media is a collectively owned subscriber-based media company. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. I am your host, Rachel Hampton, and remember, you did not hear this from me.