Pod Insights Ride with Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barone Betty Draper + Courtney Cook About this episode Welcome to our Blonde Ambition episode.
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Transcript 11,357 words · 3 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Benito Skinner? The following podcast is a Dear Media production. The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
0:19 Mary Beth Barone? Hey, can you come pick me up? Yeah, what's wrong? Nothing. Are you sure? Yeah, no, I just need a ride. Ride, ride. Oh, my God. So what? I just wanna have fun. Start your engines. Take care.
0:30 Benito Skinner? I'm Benito Skinner.
0:31 Mary Beth Barone? I'm Mary Beth Brown.
0:33 Benito Skinner? And this?
0:33 Mary Beth Barone? Is?
0:34 Benito Skinner? Ride.
0:38 Benito Skinner? Pour some-
0:39 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, we're recording?
0:40 Benito Skinner? Pour some sugar on me.
0:43 Mary Beth Barone? Exactly.
0:44 Benito Skinner? That was just playing in the bodega. I can't hear her in my headphones.
0:47 Mary Beth Barone? I can't either.
0:48 Benito Skinner? Don't have to, though.
0:49 Mary Beth Barone? Oh. And then maybe a little bit lower.
0:51 Benito Skinner? A little lower.
0:52 Mary Beth Barone? Thank you.
0:52 Benito Skinner? Yeah. Pour some sugar on me.
0:56 Mary Beth Barone? I couldn't hear that at full volume, so that-
0:57 Benito Skinner? You can't get enough. I was picking out a macro bar while that was playing just now. Try everything.
1:03 Mary Beth Barone? Try everything.
1:04 Benito Skinner? Yeah. I can't believe that song exists. Sometimes songs like that, do you ever like, eh, think, hear a classic and you're like, that must have been fucking insane when this dropped.
1:14 Mary Beth Barone? It came out, yeah.
1:14 Benito Skinner? Like, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," that must have been, I hope you guys were spinning that on your vinyls going crazy.
1:20 Mary Beth Barone? Well, you know what?
1:20 Benito Skinner? To all our old listeners.
1:21 Mary Beth Barone? To all of our sort of more, I guess, when was that out, the 90s?
1:25 Benito Skinner? I like to call them advanced.
1:26 Mary Beth Barone? They're advanced.
1:27 Benito Skinner? It's 80s. Whitney is 80s, right? I think that feels very 80s to me.
1:31 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah. I was thinking about how it's cool that we keep adding to music. Like, we don't have to retire any to keep making more. Do you know what I mean?
1:39 Benito Skinner? Oh, God, I literally had this thought recently where I go, must be so crazy as a musician, like, we're still hearing new album titles. Like, the first time I heard "Virgin," I thought, that's so crazy that that hasn't been used.
1:49 Mary Beth Barone? Been done, yeah.
1:49 Benito Skinner? But maybe it has, but not that, you know, I'm not aware of it.
1:52 Mary Beth Barone? And it's just like, yeah, there's gonna be new music that comes out this year that's like a song we're gonna play like a thousand times. Cause right now I can't stop playing Lizzie McAlpine's "Spring Into Summer," and I'm like-
2:02 Benito Skinner? You got a crush, girl.
2:03 Mary Beth Barone? Hey. I keep playing this song, and I was just thinking like, oh, this could be my most played song this year, but then I thought, we're only like a few days into the year.
2:12 Benito Skinner? I know, but for some reason, Olivia Dean hadn't arrived at my desk, and you can take off your headphones and walk around the block if you want during this, cause I know you're about to get a little jealous. She has electrified me in a way that only you had previously.
2:25 Mary Beth Barone? Thank you.
2:26 Benito Skinner? A new Supreme has risen.
2:27 Mary Beth Barone? Well, I just can't. I take a little ownership because I showed you the music videos at my house.
2:32 Benito Skinner? You had like a playlist and I just saw them.
2:34 Mary Beth Barone? Olivia Dean.
2:35 Benito Skinner? Did you look up Olivia, Olivia Dean? God, I love her name. I just, I literally like, I watch videos of her and I like blush. I, I get like a little like bashful. I don't know how to describe it.
2:46 Mary Beth Barone? She has star power.
2:47 Benito Skinner? She has this moment in the video where, man, I need where she walks and she like has this power strut and she keeps contact with the camera. And if I was teaching how to be a star class, I would show that and go, that can't be taught. And then class dismissed. Class dismissed. That, that right there can't be taught.
3:06 Mary Beth Barone? It can't. And I like that her videos are in a cinematic universe. I actually noticed this with Audrey Hobert's videos as well. They seem to have like a through line for the album.
3:13 Benito Skinner? Yeah, it's very, it's, it's eras, it's cohesion, it's storytelling.
3:17 Mary Beth Barone? I just got really self-conscious because I had to get my gel taken off. Cause I'm doing a brand activation on Thursday.
3:24 Benito Skinner? Hey, notice something.
3:27 Mary Beth Barone? I have to do Essie and I'm excited because I love Essie. But I've had gel on for a while, so my nails look like they've survived the blast.
3:33 Benito Skinner? I say this to you as I'm about to go on a ski mountain for a brand, for a brand deal.
3:38 Mary Beth Barone? A brand activation.
3:39 Benito Skinner? I guess it's an activation of sorts. Heineken was such an activation.
3:43 Mary Beth Barone? It was, and so was Milk. Yeah.
3:45 Benito Skinner? Santa was such an activation.
3:46 Mary Beth Barone? To me, it, any brand deal can be an activation.
3:49 Benito Skinner? You just have to put your heart into it. Some of you guys are not putting your heart into your brand deals and you ain't slick.
3:55 Mary Beth Barone? Honey, it shows.
3:56 Benito Skinner? And it shows. It shows in the work. Like, I just think it's fun. It's all art, if you think about it. Andy Warhol would have loved it.
4:04 Mary Beth Barone? And I just posted that scene from Six Feet Under where they've just taken mushrooms and she's saying, we should try to make art in every single thing that we do.
4:11 Benito Skinner? I say that every morning when I take a probiotic.
4:14 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah. Your ritual.
4:15 Benito Skinner? Rit- ritual. My ritual. Speaking of ritual. Oh wait, no, we'll do Puerto Rico as a joint.
4:22 Mary Beth Barone? As a sleigh, as a carpool.
4:24 Benito Skinner? Was there anything else I wanted to tell you over Christ, quiz my ears?
4:28 Mary Beth Barone? I have some things.
4:30 Benito Skinner? Hit me with the list, sweetie. Hit me.
4:33 Mary Beth Barone? So I just wanted to say, this has nothing to do with what we do for work. This is a human thing.
4:38 Benito Skinner? Uh oh.
4:39 Mary Beth Barone? It's not me being too good for anyone. It's not me saying I'm better than anyone.
4:43 Benito Skinner? Melrose Pod is getting scared with this one. I cut all my hair off, by the way, you guys. I hope you like it. I'm feeling good.
4:49 Mary Beth Barone? So I actually don't remember every single person I've met.
4:52 Benito Skinner? We gotta knock that off. We gotta, we gotta stop expecting that.
4:55 Mary Beth Barone? And can I just say, I'm sorry.
4:59 Benito Skinner? It's not you.
5:01 Mary Beth Barone? I wish that I had. I wish I've remembered every single person. It's not something I'm capable of.
5:06 Benito Skinner? Can I say something awful? And I know, oh god, the AI one's gonna post this and I'm just gonna get reamed. I'm done. Benny Drama fucking thinks he's famous or something. Okay, I said this to someone, I think it was to my sister, and she was like, that actually makes so much sense. And I was like, maybe it belongs on the pod. When people go to the airport, you don't meet anyone. But we sometimes do meet people who have seen our work. So they come up to us. So even at like a random thing that at a cafe, you don't meet anyone. Like I just met an absolute brony and a doll on the street corner. So I've now met someone.
5:45 Mary Beth Barone? Right.
5:45 Benito Skinner? Like.
5:45 Mary Beth Barone? You just met someone walking in.
5:46 Benito Skinner? That's not, that's not normal.
5:48 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
5:48 Benito Skinner? So like, the sheer amount of people that we're meeting is like, maybe I'm wrong, but.
5:53 Mary Beth Barone? No, I think you're right. And I, I think.
5:54 Benito Skinner? Cause I'm like, is that why I'm having trouble with it? And I can't place faces anymore.
5:58 Mary Beth Barone? Well, that's the thing. So I'm actually gonna start telling people I have face blindness.
6:01 Benito Skinner? I think I do though. Cause sometimes I literally think so many people look like, like somebody to me, like someone will be walking towards me and I'm fully like, that's.
6:10 Mary Beth Barone? Well, I don't know if I went to high school with them, if I went to college with them, or if they did improv with me. Like I just can't parse that out. But also, it's like, I'm not complaining at all, by the way. I, I love meeting people in, in all walks of life and every such situation. I don't at all.
6:25 Benito Skinner? We're also not even talking about some of these people that might have been in a past life.
6:29 Mary Beth Barone? Totally.
6:30 Benito Skinner? I'm all about past lives lately. Let's go with it. Oh my god, I, I have stumbled upon this TikTok and this gets into my ride later, but because my algorithm is just, it's perfection.
6:41 Mary Beth Barone? You've perfected it?
6:42 Benito Skinner? It's perfection.
6:42 Mary Beth Barone? Mine has some work to do.
6:44 Benito Skinner? It finally gets me. It's not trying to predict me, it gets me. It's not trying to pander, it's not trying to sell, it's just like, we got you, kid. This thing came across my desk and this thing, I don't wanna say came across my desk anymore. I just decided.
6:57 Mary Beth Barone? Too damn bad.
6:59 Benito Skinner? Well, that's too damn bad. What's that from?
7:03 Mary Beth Barone? I don't remember.
7:03 Benito Skinner? Do you know what I'm talking about?
7:04 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah, it sounds like it's from Baskets, but I know you didn't watch that, so.
7:08 Benito Skinner? No.
7:09 Mary Beth Barone? It's what couldn't be from that.
7:10 Benito Skinner? I haven't watched enough things lately. This like video where this guy has this really calm voice and he'll tell you about like how you're feeling or like invisible string theories that give you tingles where he's like, they say that one person should always love the same person twice or like some shit like that. And I'm like, okay. And they have like an animation of like two skeletons meeting each other. And I'm literally like,
7:31 Mary Beth Barone? Whoa, I would love to see some shit like that.
7:32 Benito Skinner? I'm completely covered in body chills. I'm like, I'm convulsing. It's incredible. So I see that and then who I'm going to talk about today also.
7:40 Mary Beth Barone? That's on the algo.
7:41 Benito Skinner? But yeah, and then monkeys, monkeys and otters all look like me, by the way. There's not a single animal that doesn't look like me.
7:47 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah, I actually don't want my algorithm to get that accurate because then I'll never close the app. You know what I mean? I need a few misses here and there that jolt me back to reality where I go, I gotta put this thing down.
7:57 Benito Skinner? I know. I know. It's time to stop when somebody has a MetaCube out. So you can, hey, MetaCube, if you're listening, I'm not interested. Knock it off.
8:05 Mary Beth Barone? Let her go.
8:06 Benito Skinner? Unless you want to fly me and Mary Beth to somewhere in the world. No, let her go. I'm serious. I just, it's not gonna happen. And then after I bought the Zootopia plushies for us on TikTok, which is my favorite text of the year, Mary Beth sent me a photo of two Zootopia blind box dolls and said, care to comment?
8:27 Mary Beth Barone? They showed up at my house.
8:29 Benito Skinner? When you open those, can you take me through unboxing that? Unboxing the, the blind boxes?
8:33 Mary Beth Barone? I guess I should announce at this point in the podcast that my apartment has become Benny Drama's shipping and handling facility for the last two to three months. So you've been getting things shipped to my place, which is fine. I have a package room. When you first asked me, I go, okay, a package here and there. Sure, of course. It's every day I get at least five packages. They all have my name on it. So I don't know what's, what it's gonna be ever.
8:55 Benito Skinner? I kinda like.
8:55 Mary Beth Barone? Which is fun.
8:56 Benito Skinner? I don't have to do that, but I just feel like it's a respect to like the owner.
9:00 Mary Beth Barone? But then I don't know what's something I ordered versus something you ordered.
9:03 Benito Skinner? Exactly.
9:03 Mary Beth Barone? So I open these.
9:04 Benito Skinner? It's all a blind box of sorts.
9:06 Mary Beth Barone? It's all blind box. All blind. It's, and it's fun for me. It's like, okay, I get. To experience this right now. I opened this one box and it had, yeah, I just, I immediately was just like, well, these are for us and Benny ordered them. Like, there was never a hesitation of like, maybe he got these for his nephews. It was just like, well, Benny got these for us and we're gonna open them later.
9:23 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
9:24 Mary Beth Barone? That was it.
9:24 Benito Skinner? I was so happy. They took a really long time. They really did. They were for Thanksgiving.
9:29 Mary Beth Barone? Well, with TikTok shop.
9:31 Benito Skinner? Well, in TikTok shop, usually it's really fast, though. And also, I will say, the way that TikTok shop works is how our website will work, where it's trickery.
9:38 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
9:39 Benito Skinner? You press a button and you think you're about to confirm two more times before, but it's already, no.
9:43 Mary Beth Barone? No, it has your.
9:44 Benito Skinner? It went through your Venmo. Bye bye. See you in two days.
9:47 Mary Beth Barone? Well, interestingly, I, Sophia Neugard did the.
9:52 Benito Skinner? Wait, can we watch her on your TV tonight?
9:54 Mary Beth Barone? Yes, we can.
9:55 Benito Skinner? Cause I have not seen her in enough time and I need to.
9:58 Mary Beth Barone? I know she's done a lot of videos, too.
10:00 Benito Skinner? Oh, I can't even imagine like the, yeah, what hotels has she stayed in? What airports has she spent 48 hours in?
10:07 Mary Beth Barone? Her investigation into like buying stuff on TikTok, she had ordered stuff from stores that by the time she received the product, she went to go return it and they weren't websites anymore. That's where we're headed.
10:17 Benito Skinner? Quality, not quantity.
10:18 Mary Beth Barone? Quality, not quantity. Should we quickly touch on why are you wearing a pesto shirt? I don't even think you remember that, but you told me to write it down. I remember. I came to the Ludlow. You were down so bad. You had had a lot going on and.
10:35 Benito Skinner? That was called the low point, I would say.
10:37 Mary Beth Barone? You told me to write this down. I'm only bringing it up because you told me to write this down.
10:40 Benito Skinner? It was like as low as I've ever been.
10:42 Mary Beth Barone? I came over and you're, you're, you were upset about your skin. You were about to have to fly to LA and then you were like, and I have pesto on my shirt. And I was like, well, that feels like something you could easily fix.
10:55 Benito Skinner? It was just like, it was, it's called the final straw.
10:58 Mary Beth Barone? Pesto shirt.
10:59 Benito Skinner? Why are you wearing a pesto shirt? It's like, it's the only one I have. I don't have a washer dryer. Yeah.
11:05 Mary Beth Barone? Poor guy.
11:05 Benito Skinner? My skin was bad, though.
11:07 Mary Beth Barone? But you know, when you hit rock bottom, it's only up from there.
11:09 Benito Skinner? Exactly.
11:12 Benito Skinner? What's the song with Rock Bottom?
11:14 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, Rock Bottom by Hailee Steinfeld.
11:16 Benito Skinner? I was about to say it's Hailee.
11:17 Mary Beth Barone? I'm on the right side of Rock Bottom.
11:19 Benito Skinner? I'm me.
11:20 Mary Beth Barone? Now you are.
11:20 Benito Skinner? All you have to do is cut your hair and get a tan.
11:22 Mary Beth Barone? Hailee Steinfeld, congratulations. She's expecting and we were so happy to see the collab post between you and your guy.
11:29 Benito Skinner? Yeah, our, the baby said.
11:31 Mary Beth Barone? Are you gonna post about it? I'm gonna see if there's anything else you wanna touch on.
11:37 Benito Skinner? I fall in love with you more and more every day.
11:39 Mary Beth Barone? Every day. I feel high today, which is interesting.
11:42 Benito Skinner? Well, señorita.
11:44 Mary Beth Barone? Señorita, THC margarita.
11:45 Benito Skinner? I feel for you.
11:50 Mary Beth Barone? I love when you do that.
11:52 Benito Skinner? What? Do what?
11:52 Mary Beth Barone? Just like you go into musical theater voice.
11:54 Benito Skinner? I know. It's so easy to tap into. I wanna play a musical theater, anything. I wanna play anything that.
12:02 Benito Skinner? I don't know.
12:03 Mary Beth Barone? My mom watched the new George Clooney Noah Baumbach movie.
12:06 Benito Skinner? Oh, yeah.
12:07 Mary Beth Barone? And she said, Adam Sandler did a great job. He played outside his normal, you know, idiot golfer or whatever.
12:13 Benito Skinner? She needs a letterbox. Can I just say she needs a damn.
12:17 Mary Beth Barone? If I didn't think it would destroy my relationship with a lot of producers, directors and financiers, I would have her do on my TikTok movie reviews.
12:25 Benito Skinner? I know.
12:25 Mary Beth Barone? But I think she's just so honest.
12:27 Benito Skinner? It's so funny. I'm like, when I watch something, no, I don't even have takes on it. I'm just like, that probably took so, that was probably so hard to get made.
12:33 Mary Beth Barone? I started Frankenstein last night.
12:35 Benito Skinner? Ooh, I really wanna see it.
12:36 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
12:36 Benito Skinner? I haven't seen it yet. I mean, Mia Goth, come on.
12:39 Mary Beth Barone? There's a lot going on.
12:40 Benito Skinner? Owen, Oscar Isaac. Don't even get me near that man. I have things to say.
12:47 Mary Beth Barone? Shaking.
12:47 Benito Skinner? I know I'm shaking. I love when he's a little bastard and ex Mahina.
12:51 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, yeah. I mean, that's the first time I ever saw him, I think.
12:54 Benito Skinner? I think it's the first time a lot of us saw him unless we saw Leonard Cohen.
12:58 Mary Beth Barone? Leonard Cohen?
12:59 Benito Skinner? Or what's that?
12:59 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, oh, Luen Davis?
13:01 Benito Skinner? Luen Davis.
13:03 Mary Beth Barone? For some reason, I thought that, okay, yes, you're right. That's the first time.
13:07 Benito Skinner? It's so funny, Lewin Davis. I think about that movie all the time because it's the last movie I saw with my godmother. And we both agreed that he was really handsome and I hadn't come out to her. But it was kind of like, that might have been it. So I kind of came out through Oscar Isaac. And also when I asked her to get me a Bratz doll when I was like eight.
13:23 Mary Beth Barone? Lewin Davis, many, many people have never heard of it.
13:25 Benito Skinner? I know, but I think it was like his debut in my head. Like I hadn't seen him before that.
13:29 Mary Beth Barone? We should watch that.
13:30 Benito Skinner? I agree. Oh, my God, the other night we watched Casablanca, Hugh Hefner's favorite movie.
13:35 Mary Beth Barone? Really?
13:37 Benito Skinner? Did you not know that?
13:38 Mary Beth Barone? No.
13:38 Benito Skinner? That's all I remember from the girls next door.
13:40 Mary Beth Barone? We had dinner last night with a straight guy and I forget what little factoid I mentioned, but he's like, it must be great for you guys to like, know all this stuff.
13:48 Benito Skinner? No, it was so mortifying in that moment to be like, yeah, we do know this. Like, that's so embarrassing. I don't know, Amy Adams is coming to mind. Was it a factoid about her? It was like something.
13:57 Mary Beth Barone? It was something completely random about a movie or something. Anyway. If the pace feels a little slow today, I feel like we're still on island time.
14:08 Benito Skinner? Yeah, baby. Hubba, hubba. Yeah, we are. You know, I got really ahead of myself on the Monday back. I was doing emails, but then I started doing creative work. And then I laid my head on a pillow and woke up late for dinner.
14:23 Mary Beth Barone? Right.
14:24 Benito Skinner? So sorry about that.
14:25 Mary Beth Barone? Have you seen that TikTok? It has like four million likes.
14:27 Benito Skinner? Yeah, that girl.
14:29 Mary Beth Barone? Did the day happen?
14:30 Benito Skinner? Did the day happen? That's me like a lot.
14:33 Mary Beth Barone? What time is it? She's like, it's five AM or PM.
14:37 Benito Skinner? Oh, God, here I go talking about set. You guys want this season over, huh?
14:41 Mary Beth Barone? Someone misses the set. You miss that life.
14:43 Benito Skinner? I would wake up from naps at lunch and be like, I've missed everything. And everyone wants me dead. They want me to die.
14:49 Mary Beth Barone? Did the day happen?
14:50 Benito Skinner? Did the day happen? That was me in London. Do you remember that Sunday?
14:54 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
14:55 Benito Skinner? I was so hungover and then I go to Mary Best Room and I'm like, we have to walk outside.
15:00 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
15:00 Benito Skinner? Like, I need to have air.
15:01 Mary Beth Barone? I had no interest in it whatsoever, but then I was happy.
15:04 Benito Skinner? You always get nervous that you won't fall asleep that night? You'll fall asleep that night. Can I just say that to everyone?
15:10 Mary Beth Barone? Let's get into what we write for.
15:11 Benito Skinner? I will be writing for Courtney Cook.
15:13 Mary Beth Barone? And I will be writing for Betty Draper. This episode of Ride is brought to you by Ritual. If you think about it, your gut is kind of like Beyonce. It's powerful, like 70% of your immune system is located in your gut. Whoa, that's insane. And if we're not supporting our gut, then we're not really addressing the whole picture. Ritual's Symbiotic Plus is a daily gut health supplement with clinically studied probiotics to support immune health and the annoying gut stuff like bloating and gas. So I take probiotics because as you know, I have a lot of dietary restrictions. My biome is just very delicate, just like my bones. So it's very important to me that I take Ritual, which contains high-quality, clean ingredients,
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16:52 Mary Beth Barone? It's 2026, and if you're still paying rent without Bilt, it's literally time for a change. Bilt is a loyalty program for renters that rewards you for your biggest monthly expense: rent. If you think that's my biggest monthly expense, honey, you obviously don't have access to my RealReal account. I don't like paying rent, and I bet you don't either, but Bilt makes it feel a little better. Bilt is a loyalty program for renters that rewards you monthly with points and exclusive benefits in your neighborhood. Let me explain. With Bilt, every payment... Of rent earns you points that can be used towards flights, hotels, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases, and so much more. And here's something I'm really excited about. Starting in February, Built members can earn points on mortgage payments for the first time. Soon you'll be able to get rewarded wherever you live and unlock exclusive benefits with more than
17:37 Mary Beth Barone? 45,000 restaurants. I can't even believe there are 45,000 restaurants. Fitness studios, pharmacies, and other neighborhood partners. Personally, I'd redeem my points for going to SoulCycle, of course. Oh, my God, I think there's an overcompensating theme ride coming up. I just got a DM about that. I need to look into it. I don't think I'm in town, though. It's simple. Paying rent is better with Built. And soon owning a home will be better with Built, too. Oh, my God, I'm so excited. I'm tripping over my words. Earn rewards and get something back wherever you live. Excuse me, I'm getting choked up. Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com/ride. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com/ride. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com/ride.
18:21 Mary Beth Barone? Thank you, Built. Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in as I do the Merit Beauty ad. Whoa, don't be psycho.
18:31 Benito Skinner? I feel like, come on, live this life. Who gives a shit?
18:34 Mary Beth Barone? Jackson, keep all this so you're able to. Let's be honest, if a routine takes longer than five minutes, it's not happening. That's why Merit Beauty believes great makeup should be effortless.
18:42 Benito Skinner? Oh, my God, so Merit. I'm so glad I came.
18:45 Mary Beth Barone? I'm so glad you're here.
18:46 Benito Skinner? They have this amazing stick. I'm sure you have the title in there, but it's kind of like a foundation-y stick.
18:52 Mary Beth Barone? I'm opening fruit leather.
18:53 Benito Skinner? Oh, God. What goes great with a Merit frickin' full face.
18:58 Mary Beth Barone? Fruit leather.
19:00 Benito Skinner? And it's just like you just dab it so you don't need a full-face foundation.
19:03 Mary Beth Barone? So with Merit.
19:04 Benito Skinner? Man, I feel good.
19:06 Mary Beth Barone? Their clean, thoughtfully curated essentials help you get a fresh, polished look in minutes. With products you can swipe on, blend with your fingers, and move on with your day. Merit is a millennial, a millennialist.
19:15 Benito Skinner? Well, so it's a millennialist. I'm a maxonista and a millennialist. That's wait, that should be our bios. Artist, comedian, millennialist. Oh, I put a mint in. Some of you should think about it.
19:26 Mary Beth Barone? Merit is a minimalist beauty brand that makes elevated makeup and also elevates makeup.
19:32 Benito Skinner? They have such a good blush. The blushes are so good. For me, it's like, have you ever seen a pretty girl get ugly like this until she puts on her merit? And that's me.
19:39 Mary Beth Barone? Merit's best sellers are proof that less is really more. The flush balm gives you that natural, healthy glow without overdoing it. It was sold every 30 seconds in 2024. That's how good it is.
19:48 Benito Skinner? I was buying it every 30 seconds. It shipped into her house.
19:53 Mary Beth Barone? I got it. I got every package.
19:55 Benito Skinner? Oh, God, you have such a tough life.
19:57 Mary Beth Barone? Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag with your first order. I'm at meritbeauty.com. That's M E R I T beauty.com. To get your free signature makeup bag with your first order, meritbeauty.com.
20:12 Benito Skinner? Those makeup bags are fabulous.
20:14 Mary Beth Barone? Thank you, Merit. Wait, where are we going?
20:17 Benito Skinner? Who cares? Ride!
20:19 Mary Beth Barone? This is an episode years in the making.
20:21 Benito Skinner? Blondes.
20:22 Mary Beth Barone? Blondes?
20:23 Benito Skinner? This is our blonde.
20:23 Mary Beth Barone? I don't know your girl.
20:24 Benito Skinner? Wait, it's our blonde ambition episode.
20:25 Mary Beth Barone? It's blonde ambition. I don't know your girl.
20:27 Benito Skinner? Courtney Cook. Okay, can I start? Because like I just, I gotta let this riff.
20:30 Mary Beth Barone? Wish you would.
20:31 Benito Skinner? So I'm on TikTok one day and as I said, my algorithm like finally just gets me. And after three MetaQ ads, I land on this woman. She has a little Bob, so I'm already locked in, blonde Bob. She has this warmth that I immediately, as a gay man, go, English teacher. Like I just said it out loud and she's British lit.
20:52 Mary Beth Barone? Whoa.
20:53 Benito Skinner? In Atlanta.
20:53 Mary Beth Barone? But she's not British. Okay.
20:54 Benito Skinner? No, no, no. But she has an affinity for the Brits. Shared, like us.
20:59 Mary Beth Barone? Totally.
21:00 Benito Skinner? So I'm thinking like real recognize real in this moment. Yes, Bob. So I love when, sorry, I just, I literally just got tingles. I love when someone's doing something in a rush, but like they still like have time. I don't know how to describe it. Like I used to love watching this woman who was a newscaster do her makeup and she had like 30 seconds to do it. I like loved it. I was like, fuck yeah, bitch. Like I was screaming. This woman, she's doing this before school and she was eating Weetabix. Have you ever had that?
21:29 Mary Beth Barone? I have not.
21:30 Benito Skinner? But you do you know what it is? Yeah, yeah, which now I'm like, I want one so fucking bad because she's eating them. But every morning she's like, I mean, her mannerisms like are in my bones at this point. So I would say that if you're gonna watch, like, this is probably the episode to watch. Cause like, I just like, I want to be her.
21:46 Mary Beth Barone? God, I wanna see this girl.
21:48 Benito Skinner? I think there's something beautiful that I'm gonna get to later about the way she approaches food and everything, but she's eating, she does little combos every morning with her Weetabix. So she'll put in like, yesterday, she dipped them in dark chocolate, put them in her fridge, and then the next day she puts them in this glass bowl that's too small for everything, and then dumps milk and strawberries, and she eats it, and she's like, every time on her first bite, she'll go, and kind of wait a sec, and then she's like, mhm. But she has this thing that she says, and I'm literally, it's in the back of my head now, and it's helping me. She goes, we ain't stressing.
22:20 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, wow.
22:21 Benito Skinner? Also found out via comments because, you know, I heard the South, I heard a little bit of a southern accent, and I went, please, please, want the rights for me and my friends?
22:30 Mary Beth Barone? I know, well, this was my fear. This was my fear with this ride.
22:33 Benito Skinner? Someone said, are you a Trumpie? And she goes, no. No, she like, something cutesy. She was like, oh, no. So, okay, I'm like.
22:41 Mary Beth Barone? We can breathe.
22:41 Benito Skinner? Yes. She goes, we ain't stressing, and I've literally thought that was so like, if she gets like milk on the counter or whatever, she goes, we ain't stressing, no worries. And I'm like, we ain't stressing, and say that, and I just.
22:51 Mary Beth Barone? Say that. Wait, if these walls could talk.
22:53 Benito Skinner? If these.
22:54 Mary Beth Barone? We have a new bit we're doing. It's very visual, though.
22:56 Benito Skinner? It's very visual.
22:57 Mary Beth Barone? And it's from the mind, from the twisted mind of any drama, I have to give credit where credit is due.
23:01 Benito Skinner? It's very much like.
23:02 Mary Beth Barone? I have nothing to do with this.
23:03 Benito Skinner? If these walls could talk.
23:05 Mary Beth Barone? They'd say, and you can watch the video if you wanna know what we're doing.
23:09 Benito Skinner? Courtney Cook, okay, so that's her breakfast. Her lunch, she'll either have like a plowman's lunch, which is just kind of like various, like, oh, my god.
23:16 Mary Beth Barone? You saying that?
23:17 Benito Skinner? What's a plowman's lunch? I don't know exactly where it comes from, but she'll have like a piece of bread, cheese, she loves this, uh, oh, my god, what's it called? It's like a German cheese. I probably shouldn't say.
23:29 Mary Beth Barone? Flinchenko?
23:29 Benito Skinner? Yeah, yeah, it's string cheese. She's like, has this plowman lunch. It has like onions. She really loves onions, which I don't really fuck with raw onions. But she has these like onion cups that she does. And she'll put like soup dumplings in an onion cup.
23:43 Mary Beth Barone? What does that mean?
23:44 Benito Skinner? So it's like where you cut an onion and it has like one of the layers and you use the cup to like scoop something. And she'll eat that.
23:50 Mary Beth Barone? That's, that's crazy.
23:52 Benito Skinner? She'll do it with like deviled eggs and all the comments are like, girl, your students after lunch must be like.
24:00 Mary Beth Barone? You know the Grinch when he eats an onion?
24:03 Benito Skinner? But I believe that she has fabulous breath. Like there's, oh, she also says fabulous all the time. So like, I know. I know, cause she's so.
24:10 Mary Beth Barone? And she's posting each meal every day?
24:12 Benito Skinner? Not each meal every day, but she definitely posts a couple of times a day. There's such a warmth to her. She has four kids. Okay, so she has, I'll get back to her lunch. So these onion cups are kind of like her, this is her signature.
24:24 Mary Beth Barone? Signature scoop.
24:25 Benito Skinner? It's her signature scoop. It's, it's Sydney Sweeney's signature scoop.
24:30 Mary Beth Barone? But it's hers and it's an onion.
24:32 Benito Skinner? And it's an onion cup. I mean, that to me doesn't really feel like I won't ever eat that, but I love watching her eat it. She'll eat it in one bite, which is very me.
24:39 Mary Beth Barone? That's so crazy.
24:40 Benito Skinner? No, it's incredible.
24:41 Mary Beth Barone? But I can imagine the crunch it makes being very satisfying.
24:44 Benito Skinner? Oh my God, I'm literally like, I'll get tingles. I love it. And so she'll do that for lunch. And then sometimes she'll take, you know, I love sweet potatoes. She'll take a sweet potato and she'll just stick this cheese like in the middle of it. She'll put like four pieces of cheese in and just take it to the dome. She cuts a little bit and then just she fingers it in there. It is so incredible. I, I, I'm like, I watch her do it. I need to eat it. And I, I can't stress enough, like there's such a joy and there's like, there's no calorie counting.
25:16 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
25:16 Benito Skinner? There's no guilt about eating. It's so like, I eat and I'm hungry and I'm eating right now. I just like, I don't know if we like see enough of that. It never feels like, you know, oh, I'm doing some kind of crazy thing where I'm wasting a bunch of food as well. Like a mukbang or something. It feels very like, I'm eating my lunch, eat with me. And also like, I'm hungry, I'm gonna eat.
25:35 Mary Beth Barone? And is she talking like? She's narrating about her day or it's really about the food?
25:38 Benito Skinner? It can be anything. She kind of like talks about, yeah, she brings in her mom for some recipes sometimes. She talks about her pregnancy cravings, which rock my world. And you can just tell how much her kids love her too. Oh my God, it's just something about her, like she has that, that English teacher, Jeannette Qua.
25:52 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
25:53 Benito Skinner? I will say, oh my God, and like sometimes she'll like, she dyes her own hair. And she'll just like, she just does it and she'll kind of be like, I don't know, maybe that'll look weird. We ain't stressing. And I'm like, we ain't stressing.
26:04 Mary Beth Barone? What's, it's some powerful prose.
26:06 Benito Skinner? I just can't stop thinking about it. And like, she does like an English roast every Sunday, like a British roast. They look fucking insane. Like I have to, I'm a, I'm gonna fly in. If we were shooting in Atlanta, I would have to drive over.
26:18 Mary Beth Barone? Courtney's table.
26:19 Benito Skinner? It's Courtney's table. I'm like, feed this cast, girl. A lot of dietary restrictions, but feed this cast. So I, oh my God, she had, and she shows and she goes, this is our roast every single Sunday. She's done it for 23 weeks. She's doing 52, 53 weeks of it. 52 weeks?
26:35 Mary Beth Barone? 52, 52 in a year.
26:36 Benito Skinner? 52 in a year.
26:37 Mary Beth Barone? She'll be doing a year.
26:38 Benito Skinner? Yeah, no, she, a year, a year, some change, a year, some change.
26:41 Mary Beth Barone? A year and a week.
26:42 Benito Skinner? Can you Google Courtney Cook cheese?
26:44 Mary Beth Barone? You think that'll come up?
26:45 Benito Skinner? Mm hmm. It's sold out in grocery stores and I posted her on my story and she has a following. 2.3 million. I mean, people are obsessed with her. Butter case, that's what it is. But I think it's like butter case, cause it's like German. So I'm saying butter case.
27:00 Mary Beth Barone? I love the way you did that.
27:01 Benito Skinner? Thanks, sweetie. There's a warmth to it and an intimacy and an unapologeticness that I think is really beautiful. But yeah, it just made me warm and it made me so happy that this person is teaching people. I feel safe with her and I'm like, I bet her students love her so much. And I've seen some comments where people are like, she's my kid's teacher and she is literally perfect.
27:22 Mary Beth Barone? Oh my God.
27:23 Benito Skinner? They love her so much. And I'm just like, ah, oh my God. And so people are like, you must have the stomach of a God.
27:31 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah, as they say in England, good constitution.
27:33 Benito Skinner? Literally, I mean, come on, like eating those onions. I mean, her, she, the, the gut flora must just be fabulous.
27:38 Mary Beth Barone? This woman, I have to see her doing her thing.
27:41 Benito Skinner? I would be decimating those classrooms if that's what I was taking down at lunch.
27:47 Mary Beth Barone? I wonder what it's like to be a teacher and sort of be like famous online.
27:50 Benito Skinner? She's done a few ads, which I was so excited about. I was literally like doing my little, that's my girl, get that.
27:55 Mary Beth Barone? Walls could talk.
27:56 Benito Skinner? Yes, if these walls could talk. I like want to cast her in overcompensating. Like I just like, I don't know. I'm just completely enamored of her and I just, I, ah.
28:06 Benito Skinner? I wonder if she would listen to this. I hope she would.
28:08 Mary Beth Barone? I hope, I hope a few people send it to her.
28:10 Benito Skinner? Yeah, Courtney, it's Benny. I would have been your favorite student.
28:14 Mary Beth Barone? I'm sure.
28:16 Benito Skinner? Me and British Lit, I would have gone, my paper's already turned in. Five paragraph essay, assert, support, explain, it's done.
28:21 Mary Beth Barone? British Lit is so interesting to teach high school kids. I feel like we didn't get that specific.
28:25 Benito Skinner? It might not be high school. I don't know exactly the age she teaches.
28:28 Mary Beth Barone? I just assumed.
28:28 Benito Skinner? Well, I would assume that it probably is high school because that feels like too specific for like elementary, first grade.
28:33 Mary Beth Barone? She's teaching British Lit in first grade. I actually thought the other day too, I think we should stop teaching Of Mice and Men. I think it's like actually bad.
28:40 Benito Skinner? Oh, I love that book.
28:41 Mary Beth Barone? I know, but isn't it showing that like men are just, they don't know their own strength, but then ultimately you feel bad for them. I haven't read it in a while.
28:48 Benito Skinner? It was a little bit more about friendship.
28:50 Mary Beth Barone? But he kills the girl, right?
28:52 Benito Skinner? Yeah, on accident.
28:53 Mary Beth Barone? Exactly.
28:54 Benito Skinner? Lenny, so that just happened after he shoots Lenny.
29:01 Mary Beth Barone? You didn't think we were gonna talk about Of Mice and Men on here?
29:04 Benito Skinner? You know, I saw the play with Leighton Meester, yes, with James Franco, but I saw it with Leighton Meester.
29:08 Mary Beth Barone? When? That's so cool.
29:09 Benito Skinner? And someone else was in it who was really famous. Who was the other guy? It was really beautiful.
29:13 Mary Beth Barone? On Broadway?
29:15 Benito Skinner? I saw it on Broadway, yeah.
29:16 Mary Beth Barone? She's perfect for that role.
29:17 Benito Skinner? I'm trying to think if there's any other like little quips for her. Her palette is very international and she really gives credit where credit's due, I will say, which is really nice. And also, why I know you're gonna love her, condiment darling. She's putting mayo on everything.
29:33 Mary Beth Barone? Yes.
29:34 Benito Skinner? Onion cups, soup dumplings on onion cups. It's so fucking fabulous.
29:38 Mary Beth Barone? One of my career goals is to be in the Hellmann's Mayo's Super Bowl commercial.
29:43 Benito Skinner? That's so funny because I thought you were gonna say start a mayo company, but we promised each other we'd never start companies.
29:47 Mary Beth Barone? Why would I mess with perfection? Hellmann's has got it. They did it.
29:51 Benito Skinner? Hellmann's, you got it.
29:52 Mary Beth Barone? Hellmann's, you have our attention.
29:54 Benito Skinner? Yeah. This episode is brought to you by No CD. So picture this, you're going about your day when suddenly a horrifying thought flashes through your head. I've talked about this before, it's these intrusive thoughts. I get them so much during the holidays and honestly, mine, I don't know if anyone else feels this, I'm sure someone does out there. I mean, my God, we do have pretty good listenership these days. Knives are really hard for me. Anytime I see them, I'm like, oh, intrusive thoughts are coming. Here's the thing about those disturbing unwanted thoughts, like the ones you have about killing me. They're more common than you think, first off. But in fact, almost everyone has them, but for people with obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD, they usually cause a lot of distress and they feel hard to stop thinking about.
30:38 Benito Skinner? And once you feel something, your body reacts to it. So you think it's true. It's not true. It's ego dystonic. It's not something that you would actually do. That's why you're so stressed about it, babe. But I use NoCD. I used it about a year and a half ago before we started shooting overcompensating. And it truly helped me so much to talk to somebody about it. Using Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy, or ERP, ERP, the most proven OCD treatment, your NoCD therapist can help you take the power away from OCD and distressing thoughts in live, face-to-face video therapy sessions. I mean, come on, it's fabulous. NoCD also accepts many major insurance plans and offers always-on support between sessions. To learn more about therapy with NoCD, go to nocd.com and schedule a free 15-minute call with their team.
31:22 Benito Skinner? That's nocd.com to learn more and book a free 15-minute call. Tell them that Benny Drama sent you, baby.
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31:50 Mary Beth Barone? You know what I liked about it too? Cause I can't eat gummies anymore because it all hits me too fast.
31:54 Benito Skinner? Oh god, yeah.
31:54 Mary Beth Barone? This is a gradual sort of, I mean, you're thinking about all kinds of.
31:57 Benito Skinner? Are you kidding? I thought about clouds last time, not in a good way.
32:00 Mary Beth Barone? Not in a good way. And that's a, yeah, I don't, I don't tell me anymore.
32:03 Benito Skinner? I won't.
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32:17 Benito Skinner? You want a vacation in your mouth, right? Like, isn't that what you kind of have said a lot?
32:21 Mary Beth Barone? That's what I've been looking for. When people tell me, what am I looking for with dating? I say, well, I would like a vacation in my mouth.
32:26 Benito Skinner? And they go, what about lime jalapeno margarita, mango margarita, grapefruit paloma, ranch water? All those would be that. And you say, wait, that's so funny.
32:34 Mary Beth Barone? I said, I don't eat a man. Oh my god, no!
32:38 Benito Skinner? You say to them, "Those are all the Señorita flavors." And then you kiss.
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32:53 Benito Skinner? Exactly.
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33:52 Mary Beth Barone? I mean, that sounds pretty damn good to me. It's also authentic and intentional. There are also IRL events, if you can even believe that. Her is the only dating app actually built for Sapphics by Sapphics. And it's perfect for this winter restart season. I mean, we're in the cold weather. It's famously cuffing season. We're gonna be coming out of hibernation soon and trying again. It's time to wipe the slate clean. And Her isn't just about swiping. As I mentioned, it's real queer community. It's IRL dating, it's queer events, and personality-forward. It's beautiful. We love to see it. Just so you know what I think you should be putting in your profile. I think you should be just putting your personality in there. Just like whatever you find fun and funny. And hey, maybe throw a serious one in.
34:37 Mary Beth Barone? And just like see. Try Her this winter. It's Sapphic restart season. Thank you, Her. I can't wait to download and make a profile.
34:46 Mary Beth Barone? From one mom to another.
34:48 Benito Skinner? From one blonde freaking.
34:50 Mary Beth Barone? Bombshell.
34:51 Benito Skinner? From one blonde bombshell. She is gorgeous.
34:54 Mary Beth Barone? Courtney Cook to Betty Draper. So I feel like sometimes when we do the rides that like we've been wanting to do for years, I feel like like I'm not ready.
35:01 Benito Skinner? No, it's so much pressure.
35:02 Mary Beth Barone? Gossip Girl, like I just was like, did we hit all the notes that we really wanted to?
35:06 Benito Skinner? I'm having that with Courtney Cook. Yeah. She has like five other things, but I'm like, ah, if I covered the onion cups and the we ain't stressing, like you know why I love this woman, but that's not going to be my last words on her.
35:15 Mary Beth Barone? Of course not.
35:16 Benito Skinner? And Betty Draper is in perpetuity.
35:17 Mary Beth Barone? We can always talk about her.
35:19 Benito Skinner? Of course.
35:19 Mary Beth Barone? Always in the future.
35:20 Benito Skinner? Of course.
35:20 Mary Beth Barone? Something that I missed.
35:21 Benito Skinner? Thank you.
35:22 Mary Beth Barone? So I started watching Mad Men and I've talked about it at length, sort of everywhere I go, I'm talking about Mad Men on other people's podcasts and interviews in general meetings. I'm talking about Mad Men. I think it's one of the best shows ever made.
35:33 Benito Skinner? Do you know this is what my haplessess said? He's like, in office, we joke, will Benny ever do an interview where he doesn't bring up Mary Beth and the OC?
35:44 Mary Beth Barone? And the answer is no.
35:45 Benito Skinner? And I said, no, honey, it's just, it's not, it's a meme.
35:49 Mary Beth Barone? It's a movie and it's pretend.
35:51 Benito Skinner? You're an adult. You should know that.
35:52 Mary Beth Barone? You should know that. So I started watching Mad Men. I think I caught up on like four seasons and maybe there were like two seasons left or something by the time I caught up.
36:00 Benito Skinner? Oh, wow.
36:01 Mary Beth Barone? Cause I watched the series finale when it aired.
36:03 Benito Skinner? Whoa, that was a long time ago.
36:04 Mary Beth Barone? It was a long time ago.
36:05 Benito Skinner? AMC?
36:05 Mary Beth Barone? I was in Savannah, Georgia. Of course. This was the AMC Breaking Bad era.
36:09 Benito Skinner? Why were you in Savannah, Georgia?
36:10 Mary Beth Barone? I was there for spring break with my family.
36:12 Benito Skinner? Wait, that's so fun.
36:13 Mary Beth Barone? I love Savannah. Actually, I'm gonna ride for.
36:15 Benito Skinner? Courtney Cook.
36:17 Mary Beth Barone? All right.
36:17 Benito Skinner? She was there, probably.
36:18 Mary Beth Barone? Next time. Next time I go to Georgia, I want to meet with Jon Ossoff and I'll add Courtney Cook to the list.
36:22 Benito Skinner? Oh, I'll be with her at school.
36:24 Mary Beth Barone? Please. Oh, we'll do it.
36:25 Benito Skinner? She'll be feeding me an onion cup. I'll gag, but I'll take it down like a champ.
36:28 Mary Beth Barone? We'll talk about like making feminist literature.
36:29 Benito Skinner? I think she has things to say as far as like eating culture. I just think it's beautiful. I can just tell she was loved as a kid.
36:36 Mary Beth Barone? Eating culture.
36:37 Benito Skinner? I don't know how to describe it. Like the culture around eating. Uh, she's just.
36:40 Mary Beth Barone? She's coming from a place of abundance.
36:42 Benito Skinner? You know where I'm like, just someone is doing good. Like they're putting out all the right energy and I want her to get everything she wants and including brand deals. But if she loves teaching, maybe she still gets to teach, but then also like.
36:54 Mary Beth Barone? Maybe she doesn't have to because she's got the brand deals.
36:57 Benito Skinner? Does a line with Crate and Barrel.
36:58 Mary Beth Barone? Totally.
36:59 Benito Skinner? Can I say something about Betty Draper?
37:01 Mary Beth Barone? Sure.
37:02 Benito Skinner? And can I just say something?
37:03 Mary Beth Barone? Please.
37:03 Benito Skinner? January Jones.
37:04 Mary Beth Barone? January Jones.
37:05 Benito Skinner? She came into my life via red carpets.
37:08 Mary Beth Barone? Absolutely.
37:10 Benito Skinner? And it was always the Golden Globes because they were just about to sweep. They were always gonna win.
37:14 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah, those were the days.
37:15 Benito Skinner? And I-
37:16 Mary Beth Barone? Golden era of television.
37:17 Benito Skinner? Golden era of television, 100%. I just remember being like, that's a perfect woman. I still feel that way. There was something about like the essence of that show in every way that appealed to me. But for some reason AMC, I don't think I had it or something. Like, there's a few things I'm saving. And I don't know why I've saved for so long. In between seasons of overcompensating, I watched all of the OC.
37:39 Mary Beth Barone? Right.
37:39 Benito Skinner? And then sometimes I'll do all of Sex and the City.
37:41 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
37:42 Benito Skinner? And then I started, oh, I redid Fleabag again. But then I'm either gonna do Sopranos or Mad Men because I haven't done either. Which is crazy because it's like, how can I like write for TV and I haven't watched those? I'm embarrassed. I'm totally embarrassed.
37:54 Mary Beth Barone? Hey, it's okay because the good thing is they are still available and you can find them whenever you're ready. I mean, I just watched Six Feet Under, which I hadn't. It's like, you know about a show that you should watch and then one day you're just gonna go, I'm ready now.
38:06 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
38:06 Mary Beth Barone? I'm ready to watch it. And I'll talk about Six Feet Under in season six, probably.
38:10 Benito Skinner? That was me with girls. It was like one day I was like, now's the time. I didn't watch it at the time when it was out because in college I didn't watch it really anything.
38:16 Mary Beth Barone? Well, college HBO was tough. It was tough to have that. AMC, it was Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men was like all sort of like-
38:24 Benito Skinner? Jesus.
38:24 Mary Beth Barone? -cycling throughout, like, you know, one season would end and the other would start. So that was a crazy time to be a fan of TV. But at the time, this was AMC, it was weekly, it was watercooler talk. I mean, it was such a massive show and it had such a, it just like, a lot of thought and care was put into the show in this really beautiful way.
38:41 Benito Skinner? Star making for so many people.
38:42 Mary Beth Barone? And star making, absolutely. And there's actually a GQ cover that January Jones did in a black leather jacket that I'll never forget. There was a lot of moments. GQ, actually, for women born in the 90s who would later come to realize their bisexuality, GQ is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Megan Fox spread, the Katy Perry spread with her with the fire extinguisher, and then of course, January Jones in leather jacket.
39:03 Benito Skinner? They also know how to position athletes to gay men. Because all of a sudden, I'm like, shit, he's caked up. He's got a fucking wagon.
39:11 Mary Beth Barone? And we never knew before.
39:12 Benito Skinner? No, but yeah, oh my god, I would love to be like, can I get this GQ? And it was Megan Fox. I mean, that's why we did Megan Fox with the red background. It's kind of a-
39:19 Mary Beth Barone? It's iconic.
39:20 Benito Skinner? To GQ.
39:21 Mary Beth Barone? So I'm watching Mad Men and I read, I used to read like blogs doing like episode recaps and stuff. Cause I just, I like to engage with what's being said in the discourse around the shows. There wasn't as much social media at the time. So it was really like you're reading one person's opinion of like that episode or whatever. And I just remember that Betty Draper got a lot of bad press, to be honest, because she is a very complex female character. But what I really love about how they wrote the character was that she had a very deep backstory. And so to me, all of the choices that she made in her marriage and in motherhood makes sense based on the time period, how she was raised and honestly, like how her husband was treating her. She is definitely flawed. Like she's really hard on the kids. She has a short temper. She smokes for goodness sakes.
40:05 Mary Beth Barone? And she's not perfect, but I just have so much empathy for this character who I feel like, you know, she was so beautiful and probably was just like praised for that her whole life. And then as women age and they can't really rest on that anymore. I mean, she was obviously beautiful, straight till the end. It was sort of beautiful to see that character navigating all that she was going through with like being a young mom and then aging and all that stuff. So.
40:29 Benito Skinner? Oh, it just, and she gave birth to Kieran and Shipka.
40:31 Mary Beth Barone? Kieran and Shipka.
40:32 Benito Skinner? But you know, what's hitting me right now is maybe we should be them for Halloween. Obviously I'm Betty.
40:36 Mary Beth Barone? Right.
40:37 Benito Skinner? I was just thinking about that. And you're Dawn, you're big Dawn.
40:39 Mary Beth Barone? I'm Dawn.
40:40 Benito Skinner? You're Dawn, babe.
40:40 Mary Beth Barone? Cause Dawn was, he was a tough chew as a husband.
40:43 Benito Skinner? I'm sure he was.
40:44 Mary Beth Barone? And he had a backstory.
40:46 Benito Skinner? What a gorgeous couple. Here's my thing, like I, sometimes when people, it's like the Carrie Bradshaw discourse. And it's kind of what we talked about before where it's like, yeah, but it's also like a TV show. So that you should like, there needs to be things that happen.
40:59 Mary Beth Barone? There has to be conflict.
41:00 Benito Skinner? Yeah, there has to be conflict. And also like, I haven't met anyone who's perfect, except Courtney Cook, but we haven't met.
41:05 Mary Beth Barone? Right.
41:06 Benito Skinner? I know she is and you, but I, I'm just kind of like, yeah, I, I, I think that's kind of the point. Thus TV.
41:12 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah. I think justice, justice for Betty.
41:14 Benito Skinner? Betty, we're in your corner.
41:15 Mary Beth Barone? Hey Betty, we're rooting for you. That was important to me as a young woman to see that representation on TV. And just how much rich backstory you can create for characters in an hour long program. I think one thing Carrie Bradshaw could have benefited from was a little bit more insight into her family and how she was brought up. I feel like we didn't get a lot of that in Sex and the City in general, which that's not what the show is about and that's totally fine. And it's, I think Sex and the City is a perfect television show. Like I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't necessarily think that. That having any of their families super involved would have enhanced the show necessarily. But I think it would have given us a little more insight into their choices.
41:52 Benito Skinner? I think it's fun. I'm sure there's like great interviews with the writers and stuff of why they chose not to. I think there was something specific about just like, it just felt like we're just not doing it. There are some characters where that makes sense. The thing that I think is really fun is like thinking about what the audience thinks the past would be. And then how you could play with that. Like that, I feel like is always interesting.
42:13 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah, like surprise them.
42:15 Benito Skinner? Yeah, to be like, you know, that you thought kinda.
42:18 Mary Beth Barone? Well, that's what they did with Dawn's story was it was slowly revealed through flashbacks and stuff like that. With Betty, it was more linear. You're meeting her family and her dad and finding out about her mom passing away. And I just, also the fashion, I mean, my God, say what you will about her, but she knew how to dress.
42:32 Benito Skinner? Of course.
42:33 Mary Beth Barone? The woman knew how to dress.
42:34 Benito Skinner? A hundred percent.
42:35 Mary Beth Barone? The woman wondered what she'd gotten herself into.
42:37 Benito Skinner? The woman had wondered what she had gotten herself into.
42:39 Mary Beth Barone? That's her marrying Dawn Draper.
42:40 Benito Skinner? I just wrote that two minutes ago.
42:42 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
42:42 Benito Skinner? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I've only seen the aesthetics of it and my God, I mean, total knockout.
42:48 Mary Beth Barone? Some iconic Betty Draper moments. There's a bird squawking outside her window. She just grabs the gun and shoots it.
42:55 Mary Beth Barone? Over an episode, it's not her immediate response. That used to be my phone background, just her one cigarette hanging out of her mouth and holding the shotgun.
43:03 Benito Skinner? Like the iconography of the show is, is pretty.
43:05 Mary Beth Barone? It's just beyond.
43:06 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
43:07 Mary Beth Barone? And I could honestly ride for Joan. I could ride for.
43:10 Benito Skinner? Who's Christina Hendricks?
43:12 Mary Beth Barone? Joan.
43:12 Benito Skinner? Oh God, she is, oh my God, you know what she's so good in is Drive.
43:17 Mary Beth Barone? She's, she's kinda good in everything. Peggy Olson, of course, played by Elizabeth Moss. Then we have the character of Megan, who is a later, uh, love interest of Dawn's.
43:27 Benito Skinner? So Mad Men is about marketing in the 50s.
43:31 Mary Beth Barone? Yes.
43:31 Benito Skinner? To make it, to put it, you know.
43:32 Mary Beth Barone? And their families, like these Mad Men's families, family life. And so the show ran for a lot of seasons and I just, I wish, I wish it kept going. I think they're all good. Every show, I feel like there's the fans that go, well, that one season wasn't great. Were they like, you know, they did too much or whatever. To me, it never low key or high key fell off. It's just stayed good. And I stayed there arm in arm with Betty Draper. Other iconic things, when she said, of course, that someone told her she looked profoundly sad and she said, well, my, my people are Nordic. Then she has to confront Dawn about something and she's like, I've seen how you are with money. You don't understand it.
44:08 Benito Skinner? You to me.
44:09 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah. Sitting you down with a shoebox I found in a locked drawer. But she's sort of driven to mania at certain points in the show because also women's ailments at that time were not taken seriously. She's diagnosed with hysteria like pretty early on in the show because her hands keep getting numb. And then she has to see a therapist, which I thought was really interesting to give a female character like that a therapist relationship in the show where you can kind of tell the therapist isn't taking anything she says seriously.
44:36 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
44:36 Mary Beth Barone? But she is expressing, whether they be superficial or not, experiences that she's had.
44:42 Benito Skinner? You know what therapist scene I think about all the time is Fleabag? Where she was like, you already know what you're gonna do. Do you know what I mean? And Fleabag's like, what? Like, what do you mean? She's like, no, you already know what you're gonna do.
44:52 Mary Beth Barone? Watch shows with complex female characters.
44:54 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
44:55 Mary Beth Barone? And.
44:56 Benito Skinner? And stop hating them.
44:57 Mary Beth Barone? I throw over compensate in the mix.
44:58 Benito Skinner? Think about if you're hating them or if they're just a woman. Or if that guy's annoying or he's gay.
45:04 Mary Beth Barone? Whoa.
45:04 Benito Skinner? That's also a really good game.
45:05 Mary Beth Barone? Oh.
45:06 Benito Skinner? Yeah. Are you annoyed because he's gay or is he annoying?
45:09 Mary Beth Barone? Is he annoying?
45:10 Benito Skinner? Is he a demon?
45:11 Mary Beth Barone? And do you like him?
45:13 Benito Skinner? Or is she a woman?
45:13 Mary Beth Barone? Do you like him or is he just a straight guy? Shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad really pose the question of like, you can't just root for someone that's just sort of awful across the board. Of course, I wanted Dawn to like be happy too.
45:26 Benito Skinner? And I was always rooting for Walter White. He had his reasons, my good sis.
45:31 Mary Beth Barone? Totally.
45:32 Benito Skinner? I love him. Oh, my God, Bryan Cranston. I know you're listening, big daddy. Bryan Cranston, Courtney Cook, I love y'all.
45:39 Mary Beth Barone? Who would be Bryan Cranston's one? Who would you be so shocked and happy to hear is a barony?
45:43 Benito Skinner? Hmm, Bryan Cranston is kind of top of the list.
45:46 Mary Beth Barone? He's kind of number one for me.
45:46 Benito Skinner? Yeah, Christopher Nolan.
45:48 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, my.
45:48 Benito Skinner? On the set of The Odyssey. Also, can we stop like being so hard on trailers? It's like, let's wait until the movie comes out. Also, like, yeah, everyone was so insane about the Odyssey trailer and I'm like, were you there?
46:03 Benito Skinner? Oh, sorry. Did you know Homer?
46:04 Mary Beth Barone? But wait, I didn't watch it because I'm like, I don't need to see it. I'm gonna see it in theaters.
46:08 Benito Skinner? Yeah, I'm gonna see it in theaters thrice.
46:10 Mary Beth Barone? I don't care what he makes. He can make stop motion about
46:13 Benito Skinner? I do because I'm gonna go.
46:14 Mary Beth Barone? I'm going to see it.
46:15 Benito Skinner? A hundred percent.
46:16 Mary Beth Barone? I don't give a fuck.
46:17 Benito Skinner? Someone's like, the hell am I did? I'm like, being a virgin isn't embarrassing unless it's you. Come on. Stick that thing right up that ass, baby. Let's have some fun. Let's go on the odyssey.
46:31 Mary Beth Barone? Which we know was written because someone took a while in the bathroom and they needed a story.
46:36 Benito Skinner? And they needed a story. They came back.
46:38 Mary Beth Barone? You know what that tells me? Christopher Nolan.
46:40 Benito Skinner? They're easier.
46:43 Benito Skinner? Chris, we love you, Chris.
46:45 Mary Beth Barone? We love you.
46:46 Benito Skinner? Yeah, but I'm just like, Jesus, the trailer hate. Can we stop with the trailer hate? What's up?
46:54 Benito Skinner? I need to stick some cause cheese in a sweet potato right now with my best girl.
46:57 Mary Beth Barone? Chomp on down. Courtney Cook.
46:59 Benito Skinner? Booter cause.
47:00 Mary Beth Barone? Courtney, Courtney Cook.
47:01 Benito Skinner? Booter cause.
47:02 Mary Beth Barone? Booter cause.
47:04 Benito Skinner? Say it again.
47:05 Mary Beth Barone? Booter cause.
47:06 Benito Skinner? What did you say the other day that was so funny? You had a perfect line read.
47:09 Mary Beth Barone? Totally.
47:10 Benito Skinner? Oh, my God, it was so funny. I said something insane. Mary Beth looks me up and down and went, totally. And, and didn't blink, didn't anything, barely moved. It was perfect.
47:19 Mary Beth Barone? Well, because I heard what you said to me and I was thinking, like, I actually processed it. And then I said, I was like, totally.
47:26 Benito Skinner? We're both on doxy.
47:27 Mary Beth Barone? I know, this is fun. Our cycles synced. I think it's working. I forget to take it twice a day sometimes.
47:32 Benito Skinner? Oh, I've never forgotten. You know what you are, Mary Beth?
47:35 Mary Beth Barone? Bisexual?
47:36 Benito Skinner? Well, yeah, but you're also my ride or die. Ride or die.
47:41 Mary Beth Barone? So, ride or die. Initially, I was apprehensive. Because the thing with people on TikTok is sometimes they totally break your heart. You, you don't always know where they lie politically. And then all of a sudden, they're posting memes where you're like, what, what's going on?
47:55 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
47:56 Mary Beth Barone? That happened to me recently where someone I just thought was At least politically, sort of not vocal. They posted stuff where I go, well, now I have to unfollow you, and that's unfortunate.
48:05 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
48:05 Mary Beth Barone? I was also concerned because I do feel like everybody now thinks that they should be an entertainer, and I think that's dangerous territory.
48:12 Benito Skinner? She's not.
48:13 Mary Beth Barone? It sounds like this person is actually entertaining. It sounds like they are alight, they're coming from a place of abundance, and I ride for that.
48:20 Benito Skinner? That makes me so happy. There's no motive, and she even said she did it because she likes watching those videos of people eating their lunch. And she's like, and I just like, I don't, I don't even think she thought that what she was eating was that interesting, but it is.
48:31 Mary Beth Barone? Sort of like, morning. Like, I don't think that girl started doing Snapchat characters to do a lip gloss brand deal. Like, I think she and her friends probably thought it was really fucking funny, and they were laughing about it. And I mean, it's kind of like us, kid.
48:43 Benito Skinner? Like, sometimes you don't even know, and like, yeah, you sign a contract with Spotify and like, start a podcast, and they ask like, who you want to do it with, and you say your bestie, but like, other than that, like, it's like, it falls in your lap. Then they cancel it, like.
48:54 Mary Beth Barone? By the way, if anybody knows what we should be using instead of Spotify, because you know the founder of Spotify owns like, an AI weapons company?
49:00 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
49:00 Mary Beth Barone? And now they're running ice ads. Is YouTube the way? Because like, Apple Music feels like a lot to jump into now, but is YouTube the?
49:07 Benito Skinner? I wouldn't know how to post a story, but I'm sure someone could like, come and show me in five seconds. I just, I don't, yeah, I don't know the best way.
49:13 Mary Beth Barone? We're open to suggestions.
49:15 Benito Skinner? Of course.
49:15 Mary Beth Barone? Always.
49:16 Benito Skinner? Yes. Title, fuck it. Are we on title?
49:19 Mary Beth Barone? I think, I don't know if they have podcasts.
49:20 Benito Skinner? Jay.
49:21 Mary Beth Barone? Jay.
49:22 Benito Skinner? Which camera?
49:22 Mary Beth Barone? We have a business op.
49:23 Benito Skinner? Jay.
49:24 Mary Beth Barone? Continity for you. Courtney Cook, I can't wait to engage with your content and follow, and keep up, and, and maybe get inspired, because it sounds like if all you need to do is put food in an onion, maybe I'm a cook after all.
49:36 Benito Skinner? No, I swear to God, like, she also that, like, she, she's inspired me because I really don't think I can cook anything, and I'm like.
49:42 Mary Beth Barone? Three shirts can do.
49:43 Benito Skinner? I love you in the triple mu mu.
49:45 Mary Beth Barone? Three shirt, three shirts.
49:46 Benito Skinner? I love you in the triple mu mu. You, you look so gay to me every time you do it. It's so hot. I can't, I, I'm serious.
49:52 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
49:52 Benito Skinner? It's this. Neutralized attraction.
49:56 Mary Beth Barone? You know.
49:56 Benito Skinner? Speaking of neutralized attraction.
49:57 Mary Beth Barone? What?
49:58 Benito Skinner? Flat chested queens everywhere, Avatar, Fire and Ash.
50:02 Mary Beth Barone? Flat chested?
50:03 Benito Skinner? I don't know the actress who plays her. She is literally incredible. The villain in it in Fire and Ash, I don't want to give too much away, but you know, no one's seen it. I want them to go to the theaters and check out this this flick.
50:13 Mary Beth Barone? What's struggling at the box office?
50:14 Benito Skinner? Struggling right now. She is so you coded in every way and it's like.
50:18 Mary Beth Barone? I gotta see it.
50:19 Benito Skinner? Flat chested icon. She is like, the way she moves, it's very Olivia Dean, shoulders up. Again, it's a part of my star power class and I show that and I go, that can't be taught. Class dismissed.
50:30 Mary Beth Barone? Go home for the day.
50:31 Benito Skinner? And then I would eat a big old sweet potato with bouders case in the middle of it.
50:36 Mary Beth Barone? I'm fucked with cronut culture right now, as you know.
50:39 Benito Skinner? Oh, God. Okay. Don't give too much away.
50:41 Mary Beth Barone? Don't say it. Don't say it.
50:42 Benito Skinner? I ride for Betty Draper. I ride for January Jones. I ride for the time I'm going to spend with Mad Men at some point. But for the fact that I know it so well, the iconography, the red carpets, everything speaks volumes about the character, the writing, the show and the actor.
50:57 Mary Beth Barone? You know what I see for you?
50:58 Benito Skinner? What?
50:59 Mary Beth Barone? I see you cuddled up with somebody, next relationship. You look at each other, two men looking at each other and going, should we start Mad Men tonight?
51:09 Benito Skinner? Mad men and woman, you mean?
51:10 Mary Beth Barone? Right. Me and you.
51:11 Benito Skinner? Yeah.
51:12 Mary Beth Barone? And you, you're on a couch and you just literally, you take that remote out with the three buttons, you press them.
51:18 Benito Skinner? And obviously I straddle, I do full baby Rex in the pool pose over them.
51:24 Mary Beth Barone? Daisy's on the, on the L, part of the L shaped couch.
51:26 Benito Skinner? Of course, I press play and we watch it straight through for the next six days. And we, we only eat.
51:34 Mary Beth Barone? We only eat and you stop to go piss and shit.
51:36 Benito Skinner? No, we don't.
51:37 Mary Beth Barone? You don't. Diapers.
51:40 Benito Skinner? We shit ourselves.
51:41 Mary Beth Barone? Yeah.
51:42 Benito Skinner? Pissing and shitting in the bed.
51:43 Mary Beth Barone? Me coming into your place.
51:45 Benito Skinner? We watched Mad Men. Yeah, that sounds incredible. I do think that's coming.
51:51 Mary Beth Barone? I see that for you. I was waiting for Six Feet Under, which again, I'll get into in the future. But I thought I'll watch that with a partner. And don't shoot the messenger here, but I tried to. I tried to watch Sopranos. It's not for me. It's okay for certain things to not be for a person. And I go, some people hate Sex and the City. I didn't hate Sopranos. I tried to force watching a show I wasn't ready to watch. And that's why I hope whenever you start Mad Men, it's the day that you are ready. Because if you try to force it, you're gonna watch five episodes and then you're not gonna finish it.
52:21 Benito Skinner? No, no, no. I want to be locked in and ready. It was like, maybe, I guess now, like, eight years ago when that finally happened with me with Sex and the City. I had seen so many clips, so many pieces. I had like snuck episodes, you know, on E with my sisters. But I was like, it's finally happening. And I just locked in. It happened with the OC too, last year.
52:36 Mary Beth Barone? Happy watching.
52:37 Benito Skinner? I was like, happy watching. And poor son.
52:41 Mary Beth Barone? Oh, man!
52:43 Benito Skinner? I can't get enough. Oh, my exit.
52:48 Mary Beth Barone? Benny, babe, eyes on the road. Benny, go!
53:01 Speaker 02 Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.
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