Support for this podcast and the following message come from Dignity Memorial.

When your celebration of life is prepaid today, your family is protected tomorrow.

Planning ahead is truly one of the best gifts you can give your family. For additional

information visit dignity memorial.com. This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross.

What do reality show cast members face that viewers don't get to see?

For example, the hit reality TV show Love is Blind.

That show follows the contestants as they choose a spouse

by talking one-on-one with 15 people without ever

having seen them, not even a photo. It's a little more complicated than that and

we'll describe it more in a minute. Working conditions for those cast members

have led to accusations against the show's production companies including false

imprisonment and abuse. Several lawsuits have been filed. Two former cast members have formed a group

to help connect reality show cast members to legal and mental health resources. My guest Emily

Nusbaum writes about this in a recent article called

Is Love is Blind, a Toxic Workplace. The article is also about the

restrictive contracts including non-disclosure agreements that cast members must sign. strict of

contracts, cast members must sign.

Fans don't usually know about behind-the-scenes problems

because the non-disclosure agreements

prevent cast members from revealing them

without the risk of a hefty financial penalty.

Nusbaum says the Contracts for Love is Blind are similar to ones on other reality TV shows. Emily Nusbaum is also the author of a new book about the

...