Podcasts

[Ginger]

Apr 7, 2022 13:29:17 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

I have discovered Celebrity Memoir Book Club and I can't listen to anything else. Don't listen to any episode about a celebrity that you like, because they are merciless, LOL. So far I have listened to Oliva Munn (blech), Anna Kendrick (blech), Rob Lowe (broke my heart how bad he is revealed to be), and Mindy Kaling (she comes of ok). I'm now on Anna Farris and her divorces are not surprising at all.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm listening to the Anna Faris episode right now. I'm curious about the Anna Kendrick episode, because I read the book without knowing anything about her and she came off just fine to me, but since then I have continually heard bad things about her.

If the hosts are bringing in outside information about these celebrities, I don't think Mindy would come off so well in her second book. Sometime after book #1, her friendship with the BFF who she gushed about in the book ended. (This is her BFF from college, who she became famous with by co-authoring and co-starring in the off-Broadway play Matt and Ben, and who had a small role on an episode of The Office). I would love to know what happened there.

Also, in book #2 she told an off-putting story about how in the early days of The Office, she temporarily ditched all of her old friends in favor of a new BFF who led her around the LA social scene, until the new BFF abruptly soured on her and left her behind, thereby teaching her an important lesson about true friendship. I think book #2 is also where she started showing hints of how dysfunctional her dating behaviors are. (Her real-life dating history is completely different from book #1 crap ~I just want to find a good friend who will love me so I can have a great marriage like the one my parents had~).

[Ladybug]

Their Mindy Kaling episode is just about book 1, and she talks a lot about her BFF.

Anna Farris is one of those people who can't be single. The hosts commented on how she couldn't let go of past failed relationships, to the point of complaining about boyfriends from elementary school. That book was awkward because she wrote the bulk of it while married to Chris Pratt, but it was published after they split up so they had to change the tenses on some things. Anna is also proud of the fact that she's never gone to therapy and the hosts think she clearly needs it.

The hosts are very critical of nearly every one of these celebs. I haven't listened to an episode where they were like, "OMG I like this person so much more now!" but I'm still digging through past eps. The tone is full snark and critique. They are also comedians, and the episodes about female comedians and comedy writers definitely reflect that. They can relate to them, but they don't hold back the snark.

[Ginger]

Feb 10, 2006 17:47:02 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

That book was awkward because she wrote the bulk of it while married to Chris Pratt, but it was published after they split up so they had to change the tenses on some things.

The hosts did not seem to accurately grasp the timeline. Anna clearly wrote the book not knowing that she and Pratt were going to split right before it came out, and there were some last minute changes made right before the publication. The hosts kept saying over and over again that Anna knew they were getting divorced when she wrote it and interpreting the content that way.

I have to say, I don't love the hosts. If I didn't skip the intros where they talk about their botox and whatnot, I would like them even less.

[Ladybug]

Yes, I skip the intros as well. I was surprised when they said they live in NYC because they both sound like Valley Girls.

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2022 9:23:54 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

They are basing their observations mainly on what the celebs write in their memoirs. Rob almost exclusively talks about women in terms of their hotness and sexiness. If he's describing an older woman, he notes that "she's still sexy." The only woman he talked about who he had nothing at all to say about her physical appearance or sexiness was Jodie Foster. According to the hosts, he also brushes off his sex scandal where he videotaped himself having sex with a 16 year old. He tells another story where he had dinner with Roman Polanski and two French models and ends up having a threesome with them, he says "Thank you Roman Polanski" for setting up the dinner date. He is really boastful about being an actor and thinks actors are the pinnacle of society. Finally, he is obsessed with violence and talks about a lot of gruesome accidents and violent deaths he's been connected to. And like Marky Mark, he has a 9/11 "I could've been on that plane" story. The hosts who read the memoir were not impressed with him.

All that plus: he thinks the Dewey Decimal System is stupid and a barrier to finding books. Broke my librarian heart.

[Ladybug]

Sept 28, 2005 19:00:14 GMT -4 @roisin54 said:

All that plus: he thinks the Dewey Decimal System is stupid and a barrier to finding books. Broke my librarian heart.

I missed that! I'm a librarian too so not cool, Rob. I did pick up that he is obsessed with presidents and what their desks are made from and other historical facts sprinkled throughout the book.

[prisma]

I looked up the podcast and was excited to see that they reviewed Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis. I found that at a used bookstore for a couple of bucks and, after reading it, went from a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to not being able to stand them based on how gross he came off. Granted, based on the complete lack of parenting he received as a kid it is quite a miracle that he turned into a functioning adult at some point but, hoo boy, he's gross. I thought less of Flea afterward, too. (Although it did make me appreciate Chad Smith and John Frusciante more.)

In any case, I'd like to see how the hosts felt about it.

[SGleason]

I read the first message about this podcast, went right over and followed it, downloaded the first episode, came back here, and now I’m not so sure I want to hear it.
What a roller coaster ride that was.

[Ladybug]

I think the John McEnroe episode is very good. They take him to task for the very selfish things he says and does, but they are also intrigued by a lot of his stories. And the time he was coming into prominence in the 70s and 80s there were a peak time in tennis so that’s interesting as well.

[Ginger]

Apr 10, 2022 20:11:08 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

I think the John McEnroe episode is very good. They take him to task for the very selfish things he says and does, but they are also intrigued by a lot of his stories. And the time he was coming into prominence in the 70s and 80s there were a peak time in tennis so that’s interesting as well.

All I remember from reading John McEnroe's autobiography ages and ages:
1. Tatum O'Neil is the worst woman in the whole world. Everything she does is terrible.
2. Patty Smyth is the most wonderful woman in the whole world. Everything she does is wonderful, mostly because she's nothing like Tatum O'Neil.