Ep 195: Why do smart people love dumb TV?

10 Things To Tell You

Laura Tremaine

Society & Culture, Unknown, Personal Journals

4.7 • 930 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2023

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is for anyone who has asked themselves why they're so invested in what is clearly outrageous, manipulative, and phony "reality" television shows. I watch Real Housewives every weekday on my lunch break, and as I've gone through phases of watching with both fascination and disgust, I’ve asked myself: why do smart people love dumb tv? What is it that we’re drawn to? Why do we get so sucked into the drama? Is it aspirational or escapism or something darker or is it just not that deep? And so I decided to explore that topic with the perfect guest: Matt Marr, cohost of the Reality Gays podcast. In this episode, Matt and I talk about our history of reality tv watching (starting with the Real World in the 90s), and we talk about how we think reality TV has changed culture, why we’re so invested in the lives of these reality TV personas, and so much more. We talked for over an hour and didn’t even scratch the surface of all that we could have discussed. FULL SHOW NOTES HERE We do have an extended cut version of this episode over on the Secret Stuff patreon page, where Matt and I talk about our shared Oklahoma roots and I'll also be releasing a personal episode over there this week about my time working in reality television in the early 2000s. For all that bonus material, SIGN UP FOR SECRET STUFF HERE. You can listen more of Matt on the Reality Gays podcast Follow Matt Marr on social media SPONSORS: Uncommon Goods // Go to UncommonGoods.com/YOU for 15% off your order MENTIONED in this episode: Instagram Christopher Ryan Stamey - @christopherryanstamey 90 Day Fiancé on TLC Real Housewives franchise on Bravo RuPaul’s Drag Race on MTV Passions Soap Opera on NBC The Real World on MTV Duck Dynasty on A&E Bittersweet by Susan Cain Indian Matchmaking on Netflix Love is Blind on Netflix Married at First Sight on Lifetime Pig Royalty on Amazon Prime Video Nanny 911, now on Amazon Prime Video Doggy Fizzle Televizzle on MTV Crowned on FOX America’s Next Top Model on UPN/The CW Joe Millionaire on FOX The Swan on FOX 90 Day Fiancé: The Last Resort on TLC The Golden Bachelor on ABC If you liked this episode you may like: Ep 189: About the Hollywood Strikes and How They Affect You SUBSCRIBE to 10 Things To Tell You so you never miss an episode! CLICK HERE for episode show notes FOLLOW @10ThingsToTellYou on Instagram FOLLOW @10ThingsToTellYou on Facebook JOIN the 10 Things To Tell You Connection Group SIGN UP for episode emails, links, and show notes JOIN the Secret Stuff Patreon BUY THE BOOK: Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First. by Laura Tremaine BUY THE BOOK: The Life Council: 10 Friends Every Woman Needs by Laura Tremaine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Laura Tremaine and I have 10 things to tell you.
0:08.6	I'm Laura Tremaine and I have 10 things to tell you. And you have 10 things to tell.
0:15.0	This show is about connection,
0:18.0	with each other and with ourselves.
0:20.0	And the hope is that the things we talk about here
0:22.0	will be fuel for better conversations and a personal awareness.
0:26.4	Each episode has a prompt or a topic that I want you to take to your journal, text to a friend,
0:32.0	or share on social media using the hashtag 10
0:34.9	Things to Tell You. This is a show about digging deeper and sharing our stuff.
0:40.0	I'll go first. If you follow me on Instagram you know that I spend my lunch
0:45.8	breaks with the real housewives. Every weekday when I take my break from
0:51.4	work I heat up some leftovers and I watch one of the real housewife
0:56.0	shows. My favorite cities are New York and Beverly Hills in Atlanta in that order if you
1:01.4	must know. It is a part of my workday rhythm and I make no apologies for it.
1:06.0	In fact, my blog that I started way back in 2010
1:10.0	It was called Hollywood Housewife
1:12.0	as a cheeky nod to the real Housewife franchise.
1:16.4	But over the years, as I've gone through phases of fascination and disgust,
1:21.6	and watched the popularity of huge reality shows that seem to take culture by storm.
1:28.0	I have asked myself, why do smart people love dumb TV?
1:34.6	Like what is it that we're drawn to?
1:36.8	Why do we get so sucked into the drama
	...

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