I mean, I didn't swear or reveal secrets.

Oh, you've sworn.

You've sworn.

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to No Stupid Questions.

Today on the show, what's so gratifying about celebrity gossip?

I hope that I don't get sucked into this illusion that most people are walking around in five-inch heels and spent three hours in hair and makeup.

Also, what's the purpose of small talk?

We're going to stick to small talk.

And you know what?

That's okay.

We don't need to be friends.

Thank you. We don't need to be friends. Angela, you have mentioned in the past that you love reading Us Weekly magazine, and I believe cover to cover is the phrase you used.

Correct. I read Us Weekly Weekly.

I would like to know why you love it so much and whether you consider it a, quote, guilty pleasure or is it something more or different than that?

I love Us Weekly for so many reasons, Stephen. And I'm not sure I feel guilty about it as much as I used to maybe when I was on tenure track to become a professor who didn't get fired.

The reason, obviously, why I would feel guilty is that there's something base about looking at women and men parading around in sequins and whatever.

Like John Stort Mill, the philosopher, said that...

He's not commonly featured in Us Weekly, is he?

No. I mean, he's dead.

So the Mill quote you're about to give does not come from Us Weekly.

...