Champagne, Capers, and Cuddle Parties with Se’era Spragley Ricks

Surprise! In today’s bonus episode, Se’era Spragley Ricks (Normal Gossip’s lead producer) joins Rachelle to dive into your questions, New Year’s resolutions, and morsels of gossip. Get tickets to Kelsey's book tour here! https://kelseymckinneybook.com/ Pre-order Kelsey's book, YOU DIDN'T HEAR THIS FROM ME, here! https://shop.lostcitybookstore.com/product/9781000275124 Subscribe to our newsletter for writing from Rachelle, Se'era, Jae, Alex, and Kelsey, plus blog recommendations and secrets! https://defector.com/normal-gossip-podcast You can support Normal Gossip directly by buying merch https://defectorstore.com/collections/normal-gossip or becoming a Friend or a Friend-of-Friend at supportnormalgossip.com https://defector.com/products/normalgossip. Our merch shop is run by Dan McQuade. You can also find all kinds of info about us and how to submit gossip on our Komi page: https://normalgossip.komi.io/ Episode transcript here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xLh_RqCdnow05wYqvScTXpTzBvbC2N08TnXATK98mzg/edit?tab=t.0. Follow the show on Instagram @normalgossip https://www.instagram.com/normalgossip/, and if you have gossip, email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 26-79-GOSSIP. Normal Gossip is hosted by Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae https://www.instagram.com/heyydnae/?hl=en) and produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks (@seera_sharae https://www.instagram.com/seera_sharae/?hl=en) and Jae Towle Vieira (@jaetowlevieira https://instagram.com/jaetowlevieira?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/) is our Supervising Producer. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Show art by Tara Jacoby. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia https://www.radiotopia.fm/. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices https://dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

• 0:06Speaker 00

  Hello, my beautiful flock of gossip birds. Welcome to a bonus episode of Normal Gossip. I'm your host, Rachel Hampton. In case you have somehow missed that news, check out the season finale of season seven for updates and a delightful slash stressful tale that takes place on the high seas. We have got a little treat for you today because, let's be real here, it's a rough time and you deserve a treat. But before I conserve your little treat, we have got to get down to a little bit of business. Some exciting news. We have officially started production on season eight of Normal Gossip, which will come out this spring. We have picked a lot of the stories,

• 0:50Speaker 00

  but we still have a few spots left. So if you have gossip for us, now is the time. Send all your mess to [email protected]. As a reminder, some of the kinds of gossip that I am absolutely desperate for, real estate gossip, gossip that is secretly a romance novel, fandom gossip, service industry or retail gossip, mega church gossip, Pokemon Go gossip, polycule gossip, road trip gossip, tabletop gaming gossip and family lore gossip. If all of that sounds amazing and makes you think, wow, I miss Normal Gossip so much,

• 1:34Speaker 00

  don't forget, we have a newsletter. It goes out every two weeks and has blogs and recommendations from me and Kelsey, Alex, Sierra and Jay and a bunch of our Defector buddies. If you'd like to sign up, the link is in the show notes. Okay, last bit of business, I promise. Kelsey's book is coming out soon. Is that even business? That's also a treat. If you haven't pre-ordered it yet, that link is also in the show notes. There are still tickets to see me and Kelsey gabbing about her book on February 11th in New York at Town Hall. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. Okay, that's it. Promise. Onto your first of many little treats. I am thrilled to welcome Normal Gossip's new lead producer, Ciara Spragley-Rick,

• 2:19Speaker 00

  to the front of the microphone. As some of you may know, Ciara and I worked together on Slate's Internet Culture Podcast, in case you missed it, where we found out we're both March Pisces. It shouldn't then be surprising that we fell in love immediately. Ciara, hello. Welcome to the front of the mic. How are you feeling?

• 2:40Speaker 01

  Hi. Oh, I'm feeling vulnerable.

• 2:43Speaker 00

  That's so real. That's so real. But if there's a space for vulnerability, it's right here with me.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  With my bestie.

• 2:53Speaker 00

  So for today's episode, we've got a real buffet of treats. First, we're going to answer some burning questions that y'all have for me and Ciara. Then later in the episode, we'll be reacting to some delectable morsels of gossip. And finally, New Year's resolutions. Y'all have them and we'll be giving our thoughts. I'm excited. Are you excited?

• 3:16Speaker 01

  Listen, feed it to me.

• 3:18Speaker 00

  Yes. Just picture me stippling my fingers like a villain. That's what I'm doing right now. But before we get into the morsels of gossip, some questions. So the very first one, and I'm excited to hear this one, is one of our listeners says they need to know Ciara's relationship with gossip immediately.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  Gossip is like ancestral for me. Like, it's in my DNA. My grandmother raised me. I grew up in the South. I'm from Virginia. And my grandmother had 10 kids. I like to think I'm her honorary 11th child because I stay with her during the weekdays. And her having 10 kids, of course, there was mess. Of course, there was like

• 4:02Speaker 00

  Of course.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  interpersonal messiness.

• 4:06Speaker 00

  That's a football team right there. I don't know how many players are on a football team, but that's a football team right there.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  It is chaos. So like, her kids will call her and be like, Mom, so and so did this. And she's just like, what? And then they would hang up. And then like, moments later, the person that they were having a problem with would call my grandmother.

• 4:28Speaker 00

  That's beautiful.

• 4:30Speaker 01

  They was like, Mom, did you hear that? And she was like, no, baby, what's going on? Even though the other kid literally just called her moments before. So I was sitting there and I was getting a tea. I'll be watching cartoons. And I'll like, turn it down a little bit. So it was effort. Like, I didn't have a remote, so I had to go through the TV and like,

• 4:48Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  And I would just kind of be listening. And then when they like, come to the house, my grandmother was like, big on Sunday dinners, like shit like that. They would come in and I'm like, ooh, I know you said this about this person. And I know this about that person. And I'm like, trying to like decipher who's telling the truth.

• 5:06Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:07Speaker 01

  And then sometimes my grandmother, like when she was making coffee and she was feeling chatty, she would like, talk to me about the gossip. And I'm like, ooh, Grandma, what do you think? Honestly, I was producing then.

• 5:19Speaker 00

  No, you really were. You were orchestrating. You were hearing the sides. You were putting them together. You were making a coherent storyline. And there's nothing better as a child than being in grown folks' business. It feels life-giving. You're just like, oh, I'm at the big kids' table.

• 5:40Speaker 01

  I felt like a grown up. I don't see gossip as like a negative thing. It is storytelling. And it is no surprise that I enjoy it.

• 5:49Speaker 00

  Of course. How could you not with an introduction like that? But I do think this segues into the next question, which is, how long have Rachel and Ciara been friends? Based on the way we're talking, you would think it's been 20 years at least.

• 6:03Speaker 01

  And it's been like, what, two?

• 6:05Speaker 00

  Two. Yeah, we met at the beginning of 2023. So it's been two years as of this January.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  But I mean, we're both, as you said at the top, March Pisces. So

• 6:16Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  I understand why our connection feels like it's been longer, like a long time in the making.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  We also come from, I think, pretty similar places in terms of like, region, ethnicity.

• 6:33Speaker 00

  So I think especially in journalism, finding someone who understands that background and kind of speaks the same language as you. I remember the first time that I said something and got Ciara to respond with, bitch.

• 6:50Speaker 00

  And we were working, obviously, and she, we didn't know each other that well at that point. It had maybe been like a month or two. And I was over here just grinning because I was like, got her. And Ciara was like, I'm so sorry, you're my host. And I was like, girl, we're for a ride. We're locked in now.

• 7:09Speaker 01

  I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, I have crossed so many lines and boundaries. But then after that, it was like a rap. Like, we were already locked in, but we were really locked in.

• 7:19Speaker 00

  Yeah, and you know, we've been through some shit together. That's gossip that is not for this podcast, but we have been through some shit together. And nothing bonds you like going through some shit together and making it out the other end.

• 7:33Speaker 01

  The trauma bonding is real.

• 7:35Speaker 00

  It's real. I just remember when I would go on vacation, you would do the little, like, seely crap from Colorblind.

• 7:48Speaker 00

  And I was like, this girl is ridiculous. And she is for me, like,

• 7:56Speaker 00

  I'm like, girl, I'm gonna be back next week. And you would just be like,

• 7:59Speaker 01

  I'm like, no.

• 8:03Speaker 01

  Don't leave me, Rachel.

• 8:05Speaker 00

  And now you're stuck with me forever.

• 8:08Speaker 01

  Stuck? This is an active choice, okay? Like, we are locked in, ma'am. We're here.

• 8:14Speaker 00

  Wow. The next question is, do we have any defector gossip? We had a little party for the finale of season seven, which was my first episode hosting.

• 8:28Speaker 00

  I don't know if this is gossip, but when I get nervous,

• 8:34Speaker 00

  like most people, I'm just like, give me another drink. So that day, everyone came over to my apartment, basically to watch the episode publish. Let me tell you, there is nothing more anticlimactic than publishing a podcast episode.

• 8:50Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 8:51Speaker 00

  You're over here thinking, this is something I have spent the last many months of my life being nervous about. And then it just goes live and nothing happens. Because obviously, nothing happens. You're pressing publish on audio. It's so anticlimactic.

• 9:08Speaker 01

  And we're just waiting for it to hit the airwaves.

• 9:11Speaker 00

  Exactly. And so someone brought champagne, which was very nice. And everyone like left my house to go get ready and there was half a bottle of champagne left. And if there's one thing that is true in my household, it's don't waste champagne. Because you can't save it. I mean, I don't have the means to save it. I know there are means to save it, but I don't, I don't got it like that. So I drank half the bottle of champagne and then went to dinner with my friends, where they ordered a bottle of wine for the three of us. And then went to the party where they had this lovely little menu of special drinks, including one that was a delicious little vodka drink, had three of those.

• 9:54Speaker 00

  So the gossip that I have is that I was three sheets to the wind. That night, I was just like, I can't feel how bad my feet hurt in these shoes.

• 10:06Speaker 01

  The best part is I couldn't even tell. You just look happy and you always look happy. So I didn't know.

• 10:13Speaker 00

  That's beautiful. I think I was too nervous to reach the normal Rachel state of drunkenness at that level, which is just me being like, I love you guys so much. I did cry at the bar that we went to afterwards. Yeah, yeah. So actually, I did get there, but I think I would have done that sober. It was an emotional day.

• 10:31Speaker 01

  It was an emotional day. Um, something did happen, that coat swap.

• 10:35Speaker 00

  Yes, oh, my God. I forgot. Oh, my God. I, let me tell you, when you called me at that point in the night, I was definitely three sheets to the wind because I had had another beer at that bar. So, please tell the story.

• 10:49Speaker 01

  So, there's a coat check. It was our Christmas party slash normal gossip, like, just celebration. And I had my grandmother's coat that is like, like an old school wool coat, gray, unassuming, Swedish looking. And it was in the back and it was in our coat check. And between my friend Palace and my husband, Justin, they were like, you know, we were all mingling. We were saying goodbye. I think I was talking to you when they went to go grab my coat. They grabbed my coat. I put on the coat. We go to eat because I was still hungry when we left.

• 11:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, the food was, it was finger food.

• 11:28Speaker 01

  It was finger food and I needed something hearty. Like, I was hungry. Um, so we went to Sisters.

• 11:34Speaker 00

  Great choice.

• 11:36Speaker 01

  I love Sisters, so good. Every time I go to Brooklyn, I make sure I like hit up Sisters.

• 11:39Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  So, we go, we leave, we say goodbye to my friend Palace. We go back to the hotel. I'm in the elevator, a couple comes in and then the couple is like, oh, my gosh, I just love your coat. And I was like, yeah, thank you. My grandmother gave it to me, like, you know, she has since passed. So this is like my coat that I always remember her by, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Then I like stick my hand in the coat and I fill a set of keys and I'm like, wait, who keys are these?

• 12:11Speaker 00

  Yeah, important note, Ciara does not live in Brooklyn. So there's no reason for her to have her house keys in her pocket at a party in Brooklyn. Her house keys were probably in like your luggage or some stuff in the hotel.

• 12:25Speaker 01

  And then I look at the coat and as beautiful as this coat is, it is not my coat.

• 12:32Speaker 01

  And I'm like panicked.

• 12:34Speaker 00

  Yeah, I remember you calling me in the bar. And again, I was, what, half a bottle of champagne, half a bottle of wine, three whiskey drinks and a beer into the night. So I just teeter my way outside and I'm like, why is Ciara calling me? And you're like, I have the wrong coat. And I immediately, as much as possible, sobered up and was just like, we're gonna get it back.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  You were, you were very encouraging.

• 13:02Speaker 00

  I was like, don't worry, we're gonna get it back. The thing is, I told you that, hung up and was just like, I'm too drunk to deal with this. I don't know what to do. And so I went into the party where Kelsey still was and I was like, my Virgo queen will fix everything. And so I go up to her and one of our staff writers, Giddy Nathan, and I'm just like, Kelsey, I have a problem. She's like, what? And I'm like, Sierra lost her coat. It's a family heirloom. It's been traded with someone else's, so she has someone's coat, but we don't know whose coat it is. And I was just like, I don't know what to do. And she just lays out a plan. And she's like, we're gonna do, she's like, we can't do anything tonight. She's like, when does Sierra leave? And I'm like, okay, okay, okay.

• 13:47Speaker 00

  And then you found out who had your coat.

• 13:51Speaker 01

  Yes, so I look, I'm like going through the pockets at this point now. I've already walked to the venue that we were at before and like, the coat wasn't there. So then I'm like walking back and I'm like, oh shit, I haven't looked through the pockets. I looked through the pockets and there is a piece of paper that was like for an event and it was like a reserved piece of paper and it had Israel's name on it.

• 14:12Speaker 00

  Incredible, incredible luck that that was in there. And Israel is Israel Daramola, who is a staff writer at Defector, who I'm not surprised that y'all swapped coats because you're both very fashionable. So, once you told me it was Israel's, I was like, okay, yeah, that tracks, actually, I understand.

• 14:31Speaker 01

  Yes, and I like emailed him, we were able to swap the coats back. Like, we both like took very good care of each other's coats and it was just a nice little scavenger hunt, if you will.

• 14:43Speaker 00

  I just remember getting your Slack message that you figured out it was Israel and that you were gonna swap. And I was the most hungover I've ever been in my entire life. And I was just like, if I could pull myself up into a vertical position, I would be jumping for joy.

• 15:04Speaker 00

  But I simply can't do that. I was like, I'm so happy for you. I need to go lay in a dark room somewhere.

• 15:13Speaker 01

  Oh, I love that.

• 15:17Speaker 01

  I was like, oh, crisis averted.

• 15:18Speaker 00

  I was like, crisis averted, okay, great. I can go back to being hungover.

• 15:26Speaker 00

  So that's the defective gossip. I got too drunk. Ciara had a caper all on her own.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  Listen.

• 15:35Speaker 00

  Okay, next question. What is your favorite piece of celebrity gossip of all time? Remember when Solange punched Jay-Z in the elevator?

• 15:51Speaker 01

  That was one of the most iconic moments.

• 15:55Speaker 00

  That like TMZ shot of her walking out the elevator. Her face just absolutely so angry. Beyonce in the background trying to look serious, but you can see her smiling a little bit because she was like, someone had to do it and I couldn't do it. And then Jay-Z just in the background, head down.

• 16:16Speaker 01

  And she's kicking. Julius, Julius was like, let me just, I'm gonna let you get a lick then.

• 16:21Speaker 00

  The way there was a bodyguard in the elevator and Solange still got her licks in.

• 16:27Speaker 01

  We wouldn't have known if we didn't know who Julius was. Like, my favorite part is when Solange is over there like getting her licks in. And Beyonce just takes the train of her gown and just like

• 16:40Speaker 00

  Moves it out the way.

• 16:41Speaker 01

  Pushing it over to the side. Yeah, she's like, oh yeah, like you can, you can tack him a few, but like just make sure you don't step on this.

• 16:47Speaker 00

  I know exactly. She's like, I gotta give this dress back. This was a rental. I don't condone violence publicly. However,

• 16:57Speaker 00

  that was iconic. I love Solange. The love of a little sister for her big sister. I don't know because I don't have sisters, but I've seen it play out.

• 17:06Speaker 01

  That is my sister. We grew up in two different households, but my sister is an Aries son.

• 17:12Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 17:13Speaker 01

  She don't play about me.

• 17:16Speaker 00

  So the last question is, I'm running for political office against my boss's best friend. How do I tell my boss?

• 17:25Speaker 01

  Like, okay, first off, your boss is probably not gonna vote for your ass anyway. So like, why even tell them?

• 17:31Speaker 00

  My instinctive reaction, which is maybe not helpful in this situation, is you don't owe that bitch anything. They'll find out when they go vote, or whenever they see the campaigning slogans. They'll figure it out. Why do you have to tell your boss about your political aspirations? Your boss's best friend? Who is that to you?

• 17:52Speaker 01

  Right. And it's not on company time.

• 17:55Speaker 00

  So our collective choice is, don't tell that person.

• 17:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, I mean, if they ask, you'd be like, yeah, I'm running.

• 18:02Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:03Speaker 01

  Can I count on your vote?

• 18:04Speaker 00

  Do you want to hear my platform?

• 18:06Speaker 01

  Here's my website.

• 18:08Speaker 00

  Remind them when voting day is. Remind them where their local polling station is. Tell them local elections are very important, the most important.

• 18:15Speaker 01

  Very.

• 18:15Speaker 00

  The most important, especially in these times.

• 18:18Speaker 01

  Become a poll worker.

• 18:19Speaker 00

  Vote in your local elections. But other than that?

• 18:23Speaker 01

  Don't tell them.

• 18:24Speaker 00

  You don't have to tell them shit.

• 18:25Speaker 01

  You owe them nothing but great work.

• 18:29Speaker 00

  Exactly. Wow.

• 18:41Speaker 00

  I'm gonna admit something embarrassing. I know, shocker. I have not had a bedside lamp for an undisclosed amount of months, long enough that I basically haven't read before bed for a really long time. And I only realized this because I'm hosting a friend and I was like, wow, they deserve to have a light by their bed at night. I don't. But this finally inspired me to find the perfect bedside lamp. And I had a vision in mind, Wayfair. They had exactly what I need, which is one of those library-style lights with like, the green lampshade and little pull cord. I have been having this image in my mind of having one, and now I have one because of course Wayfair had it.

• 19:25Speaker 00

  All things hosting Wayfair delivers high-quality, customer-trusted products for your home so you can host and celebrate without distress. When refreshing your home this holiday season, Wayfair delivers exactly what you need. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W A Y F A I R dot com.

• 19:43Speaker 02

  Wayfair, every style, every home.

• 19:47Speaker 00

  We've been cooking up a fun, special holiday project for y'all over here at Normal Gossip. And usually when work gets crazy, I kind of just try to continue my life like nothing's happening. But recently, thanks to therapy, this time around, I was like, what if I did not try to pour from an empty cup? And that is what growing feels like. If you've been thinking about starting therapy, then I think you should check out today's sponsor, Growth Therapy. Growth Therapy is built for therapy that actually feels like care. You can find therapy based on what matters most to you, like insurance taken, mental health specialties, identity, or night and weekend availability if you're working a lot.

• 20:32Speaker 00

  Book your first session in minutes, and you can start in as little as two days. Sessions average $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0, depending on your insurance plan. Prepare for holiday glimmers instead of holiday stress. Visit growtherapy.com/gossip to get started today. That is growtherapy.com/gossip. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

• 20:58Speaker 03

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• 21:37Speaker 00

  Wow, I really wasn't sure how we would reach a quorum on that last question, but I'm proud of us. We immediately were both just like, you don't owe that bitch shit.

• 21:48Speaker 00

  But now on to the part that y'all have all been waiting for, which is the gossip. We've got some little tidbits that have been gathered for us and we're both so excited. You might recognize the voices reading these morsels. Thank you so much to J. Tol Viera and Alex SuJong Loughlin for lending your incredible voice acting chops to this episode. Let's hear the first one.

• 22:13Speaker 02

  Our eighth graders tried to collectively boycott the dress code today, and every single one got sent to in-school suspension. Fuck around and find out.

• 22:24Speaker 00

  Damn. Okay, on one level, I'm proud of your children for collectively organizing.

• 22:29Speaker 01

  Me too. Okay, I'm just trying to figure out, like, what was the dress code?

• 22:34Speaker 00

  Exactly. As a bitch with long arms relative to her body, that fucking rule that's like your dress has to reach the bottom of your fingertips, for some people, that's mid thigh. For me, that is knee length because I have a really big wingspan.

• 22:50Speaker 01

  Me too. You and I are literally the same height and we have the same wingspan. And like, seriously, my arms are long.

• 22:56Speaker 00

  It makes benching really hard. But yeah, so actually, I think the eighth graders are right. That's how I feel about this. Power to the people.

• 23:05Speaker 04

  Home for the holidays and my mom is filled to the brim with petty work gossip. Someone took her stuffed toy off her desk and then tried to replace it, but she knows it's fake.

• 23:17Speaker 00

  Why would you do that? Who would do that? That's so rude. There's no... There are levels to this shit.

• 23:26Speaker 01

  I almost want to see a side-by-side comparison.

• 23:29Speaker 00

  No, same. Actually, so true. I need to know how different the fake is from the real. Because if it's a pretty close replica, if it's like, what, that Walmart Birkin that everyone's talking about? Wait a minute. Then I'm kind of just like, okay, they tried. But if it's just an immediate fake, like the Birkins in Canal Street, then perhaps I have questions.

• 23:56Speaker 01

  And have we found out who it was? Like, these are things we need to know.

• 24:00Speaker 00

  Your mother needs to go investigation mode. She needs to be requesting the tapes. She needs to be running back to that security footage. She needs to be doing fingerprint testing because I need to know who took her stuff away off her desk and then replaced it with a fake.

• 24:17Speaker 02

  My husband is about to be 31 years old at the end of the year. For 31 years, he has gone by Benjamin. This is the name on our marriage certificate, our mortgage, all his bank accounts, and even his new license he got two weeks ago. Recently, he was putting together his documents because he was applying for a passport. When he got out his birth certificate, he did a double take. On his birth certificate, his name is spelled Benjanin. Why has this never been caught before? Is our marriage even legitimate? The man in my house is a stranger. I don't know this Benjanin. I married Benjamin.

• 24:58Speaker 00

  There's no way whoever submitted this could have known how hard this would hit for me specifically.

• 25:04Speaker 01

  You know this firsthand.

• 25:06Speaker 00

  So all of you know me as Rachel, spelled with an extra L at the end. It's giving Rachael. It's giving French. It's special. It's confusing for a lot of people. The people who pronounce my name correctly upon first meeting me, I'm a little bit just like, where'd you come from? My parents spell my name the normal way, as in R A C H E L. For most of my life, I thought that was how my name was spelled. And by most of my life, I mean up until I was like nine or 10. That's not most of my life at this point, Jesus Christ. Anyway.

• 25:39Speaker 00

  I found out when my family moved from Chicago to Texas and I started going to Texas Public School, that um, my name legally is spelled Rochelle, despite the fact that I grew up with my entire family and my old school spelling it the old way. So it turns out my name is spelled incorrectly on my birth certificate because the nurse just kind of decided to go rogue. Um, my parents were like, we want our child's name to be Rachel Danae, spelled R I C H E L, Danae, D A N A E. Um, and when we got the birth certificate a few months later, I don't know why it was so late. I wasn't conscious. I was a baby.

• 26:22Speaker 00

  It spelled Rochelle Danae with an apostrophe in the Danae, D apostrophe N A E. I was born in Chicago. In the South Side of Chicago, some nurse was like, this girl needs a little spice. I must juice up her name a little bit, little extra little razzle dazzle going on. So I go to Texas and the public school is like, we call you your legal name. And so I was like, okay, now I have to tell everyone my name is Rochelle Rachel. And my parents were like, don't worry, we'll fix it. We have to go back to the county we were born in to fix it. But then I take like my SATs and it's all under my government name. And

• 27:07Speaker 00

  then I get my passport and it's all under my government name. And then I was like, you know what? At this point, it's a funny story to tell in interviews whenever I walk into a room and they're like, hello Rochelle. And it's like, actually it's Rachel. It's spelled wrong on my birth certificate. And everyone's like, what? And then it just kind of breaks the tension. And honestly, I've gotten every job that I've ever told that story in. So. Power to the nurse, I guess. Thank you. All the same. Benjamin. Benjenin. I get it. There are a lot of legal implications, which is why I have not changed my name. It's so much paperwork. And then it doesn't go through for a long time. Like, a lot of people who change their names

• 27:49Speaker 00

  understand this. If you get married, if you transition, like, for whatever reason, you're changing your legal name, it's a lot of fucking work, and it gets harder the older you get. So, I'm sorry, but you married Benjenin. That's Benjenin right there.

• 28:04Speaker 01

  That's Benjenin, and you know what? It's the same person.

• 28:07Speaker 00

  That's so true. What is a rose by any other name? That rose's name is Benjenin. And he still smells sweet, I hope.

• 28:17Speaker 01

  I would literally call him Benjenin the entire time.

• 28:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, this is a perfect opportunity for an extended bit.

• 28:25Speaker 01

  Like, Benjenin, come over here.

• 28:29Speaker 04

  I am on a neighborhood Facebook page, and a month or two back, I saw someone asking if it is legal for a landlord to throw a party at your house. Everyone responded that a landlord should not do that and gave varying advice. Fast forward to this week, and there is a post titled, "There might be a potential parking issue on X Street. My landlord is throwing his first cuddle party tonight, and I thought I'd warn my neighbors. I think he is having 18 to 20 people at the house. He's planning on having these parties every Friday night."

• 29:04Speaker 00

  Does your landlord live in your house? Or, what is this rental situation?

• 29:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, is it like a basement apartment? Or is it like, this is your home that you're renting the entire?

• 29:18Speaker 00

  This is your home and your landlord doesn't live there. You're renting it from them, but they just decided to have a cuddle party in your home.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  That violates so many.

• 29:26Speaker 00

  Because that violates your lease 100%. There is 100% a clause in your lease somewhere about like, warrant of habitability or some shit that will say this is not legal. Are you invited to the cuddle party? Are they allowed in your bedroom?

• 29:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, like, I mean, it's 18 to 20 people. They're all not fitting in, like, the living room.

• 29:49Speaker 00

  Or is it just a cuddle puddle on the floor?

• 29:51Speaker 01

  The way my brain is doing mental gymnastics.

• 29:54Speaker 00

  18 to 20 people feels like a lot of people. I like, I'm gonna be honest, I have like a pretty decently sized couch. And even cuddling with one other person on the couch gets real crowded really fast. I usually disavow neighborhood Facebook pages because they scare me. But I'm gonna need you to stay on this Facebook page. And I need you to get an invite to the cuddle party. I'm sorry. You need to take one for the team.

• 30:19Speaker 01

  Inside reporting.

• 30:21Speaker 00

  Please, update us because I have many, many questions. I need to know.

• 30:31Speaker 00

  Found out that my situationship got cited for threatening Pokemon Go players on his property.

• 30:39Speaker 00

  None of these words are in the Bible, I would like to say. That's A. B.

• 30:47Speaker 00

  Why did Pokemon Go put one of their whatever sites of someone's private property? Like, on one hand, I kind of agree with your situationship. If some random, if like just a horde of random people were coming to my home every so often and hanging out in the lawn, I would be a little stressed out by that. On the other hand, why are you threatening them?

• 31:16Speaker 01

  I like just imagine someone having a Ring app and like you get the Ring notification and it just keeps going off and going off. Because people are like on your property, you're like, what the fuck is happening outside?

• 31:28Speaker 00

  No, exactly.

• 31:29Speaker 01

  And then he hears about Pokemon Go, I might get annoyed too.

• 31:32Speaker 00

  Yeah, no, exactly. I understand why he's annoyed. Is there no way to like contact the app and be like, yo, you put one of your little landing sites in my backyard? Did this affect your situationship standing, finding out that this happened?

• 31:48Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 31:49Speaker 00

  Because this gossip is told very neutrally in a way that I appreciate. But I also want to know if you were like, ooh, that's an ick, which I get.

• 31:57Speaker 01

  And threatening, like, did they go out and like, yo, I'm gonna do such and such? Or were they like passive aggressive and just turned on the sprinkler?

• 32:05Speaker 00

  Exactly, because that, that's fine.

• 32:14Speaker 03

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• 32:54Speaker 00

  I could spend at least half an hour with that last one, honestly.

• 32:57Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 32:57Speaker 00

  But unfortunately, it's now time to address the passing of time. It's 2025.

• 33:05Speaker 01

  It is.

• 33:06Speaker 00

  Sierra, do you believe in New Year's resolutions?

• 33:09Speaker 01

  I will set goals for myself, but like, I don't do it around New Year's Day. Like, my, I mean, both of our birthdays are in March, so I like to use like, the first three months to kind of like, catch up on goals that I didn't like, reach or reflect or things like that. And then for my birthday, I will set goals. So like, I'll set goals ahead and then I'll like, officially start on my birthday.

• 33:34Speaker 00

  I like that.

• 33:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:35Speaker 00

  I might steal that.

• 33:37Speaker 01

  It's pretty cool.

• 33:38Speaker 00

  Resolutions feel like a lot of pressure. And I have never really attached a lot of meaning to New Year's.

• 33:49Speaker 01

  No.

• 33:49Speaker 00

  It always feels anticlimactic to me.

• 33:52Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 33:53Speaker 00

  Every single time, I'm just like, okay, another year has passed. It's now 2025. I'm not gonna internalize that until March. We all know that. I'm gonna be writing 2024 for at least the next three months. So, New Year's resolutions don't really hit for me. But I'm wondering if these next few resolutions that listeners sent to us will inspire us.

• 34:14Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 34:15Speaker 00

  Okay, the first one is, I resolved to leave my current job and take my crew with me. As someone who did that, I will go ahead and say, fuck yeah! It's great. 10 out of 10 recommend.

• 34:28Speaker 01

  I read that and I was like, is this about us?

• 34:31Speaker 00

  Is this play about us?

• 34:34Speaker 01

  Why not? Like, literally, it worked for us.

• 34:36Speaker 00

  That's a great resolution. 10 out of 10 recommend. The next one is, I want to watch all 10 Fast and Furious movies. That's an achievable goal. I just watched Fast 10 for the first time with my family over the holidays. I hadn't seen Fast, no, I have seen Fast 9. I saw Fast 9 in theaters. That's the one where they went to space. And then I saw the one where there's like the safe being dragged behind them. And then I've seen like the original, like, three, everything else that happens in that universe. This is a good year to watch those movies because they exist in a universe that is not real. Those are superhero movies at this point.

• 35:15Speaker 01

  It's escapism at its finest. It's a blend of genres. It's actually quite fascinating because you have like action, you have rom-com.

• 35:24Speaker 00

  Family drama.

• 35:25Speaker 01

  You have sci-fi, family, soap opera. Like, it's like, because the amount of times that a character has died.

• 35:33Speaker 00

  And then came back.

• 35:34Speaker 01

  It's like, am I watching Jane the Virgin? Am I, am I watching a Telenovela? Like, is this General Hospital when Luke died and came back? Like, because there's so much.

• 35:42Speaker 00

  I was watching Fast 10 and someone died. And I was like, they're not dead. And my dad was like, what do you mean? They blew up in an explosion. And I'm like, in this universe?

• 35:52Speaker 01

  That doesn't mean anything.

• 35:52Speaker 00

  Until you see the body, they're not dead. And then someone came back at the end that everyone thought was dead. And I was like, see? If that bitch can come back, why can't this other bitch that just died?

• 36:08Speaker 01

  There's been at least three of them, three of them who have died and come back. Like, and you mentioned going to space. Like, this is sci-fi at a point.

• 36:17Speaker 00

  I laughed out loud when that happened in the theater. And I was one of the only people who laughed. And I was like, please don't tell me y'all are taking this shit seriously. I cannot look at Tyrese Gibson staring at the screen and saying, we're going to space?

• 36:37Speaker 00

  Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up.

• 36:41Speaker 01

  It's, it's like, okay, in this universe, I'm trying to figure it out because like, what is time in this universe? Because you mean to tell me you go to space and come back, like, in a day's time, but it takes me 13 hours to fly to Thailand? And we just went to space? You sent a car to space in 24 hours? What fucking car? What in the Elon Musk Space Force shit is happening?

• 37:09Speaker 00

  All of this to say, this is a wonderful resolution because your mind will be occupied watching these movies because nothing makes sense.

• 37:19Speaker 01

  Nothing.

• 37:19Speaker 00

  And it's very fun to kind of just pick apart in a way that's like, what are we even doing here?

• 37:25Speaker 01

  The, the perfect escape, the perfect escape for this time.

• 37:29Speaker 00

  Next resolution is I want to try a new class every month, pottery, fitness, et cetera. Please suggest. I love this.

• 37:38Speaker 01

  Absolutely love it.

• 37:39Speaker 00

  I think this is a really good idea. One of the classes that I would recommend, I have been looking for classes to take with my best friend. We get each other Christmas presents and the Christmas present that I got her, her sister already got her. So I had to think of a second one.

• 37:54Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 37:55Speaker 00

  Pissed me off.

• 37:57Speaker 00

  But I found some dumpling making classes in New York and some sushi making classes as well. So I think I'm going to buy her one of those and we're going to do it together. So that is an option. I think there's a kind of cuisine that seems a little complicated. Having someone take you through is really fun. Um, I've looked into woodworking classes. Those are very expensive, but you do come out with like a side table. So I'm gonna be honest, the money feels worth it.

• 38:26Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 38:27Speaker 00

  Oh, aerial yoga.

• 38:29Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 38:29Speaker 00

  I walked past someone doing it in a building and I was like, I don't be one of those people who's just like looking in on people doing fitness because nothing freaks me out more, but I was like, I want to do that. I want to be swinging from the chandelier like fucking Sia.

• 38:44Speaker 01

  Yes. Okay. Like on that track, two that I would suggest, one is pole dancing.

• 38:50Speaker 00

  Oh, yes.

• 38:51Speaker 01

  Pole dancing is so much fun. It's literally like all levels. And I've been inspired by Alex, so I'm taking a knitting class on the intro to knitting.

• 39:01Speaker 00

  Yay. I love that.

• 39:03Speaker 01

  I can't wait.

• 39:04Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 39:05Speaker 01

  Can't wait to knit me a sweater like Alex.

• 39:06Speaker 00

  Oh, actually, one of my friends took, this is the same friend.

• 39:12Speaker 00

  Took a sewing class at the Fashion Institute in New York, but I think there are probably a lot of places that do sewing classes. And that is something that when I have more free time, I would be very interested in getting into because I love the idea of being able to like make or mend my own clothes.

• 39:31Speaker 01

  Yes, I was reading a book recently, I Who Have Never Known Men? And in that book, the ladies like make their own clothes. And I was just like, hmm, if I got a hole in a garment, I don't even know how to fix it. So I just wanna be like, I don't know, more at with my hands and like be able to like create or fix things. So like, I love the idea of like when you mentioned the woodworking class.

• 39:56Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  Sewing, knitting, I think these are things that are like really cool and it can cut back on so many things.

• 40:02Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:03Speaker 01

  Being more sustainable and just conscientious of like the impact and our imprint on the earth. So I like that.

• 40:09Speaker 00

  Wow. And then the last one, I like this one. The last resolution is to give fewer fucks in general.

• 40:18Speaker 01

  Amen.

• 40:19Speaker 00

  Girl, whoever.

• 40:21Speaker 01

  Turn to your neighbor and say.

• 40:23Speaker 00

  Amen.

• 40:26Speaker 00

  Pop off. Yeah, truly. I mean, I would say the, my addendum to this would be to place my fucks in the correct spaces. There are a lot of things that I think we should all just care less about. What celebrities are doing.

• 40:47Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 40:47Speaker 00

  It's not activism to care about what celebrities are doing. They're never gonna represent us. I think giving fewer fucks about the just TikTok coverage of the Trump administration. If there's anything I learned from the first Trump administration is that a lot of people will spend a lot of time spinning theories that don't happen. And the things that actually happen will be entirely surprising and devastating in ways that we couldn't have guessed.

• 41:12Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 41:13Speaker 00

  And I don't really wanna listen to pundits or people on Twitter who are just spiraling and scared and trying to control their fear by trying to guess what's coming next. I get it. I also try to control my fear by predicting the future, but unfortunately, I don't have that ability and neither does Ezra Klein. So.

• 41:34Speaker 01

  No.

• 41:35Speaker 00

  I don't want to pay attention to those people. I want to respond to the moment that we're in.

• 41:39Speaker 01

  I think just being more engaged and embedded in your community, honestly. So like, if I'm gonna give fucks about anything, I'm gonna give fucks about my community. I'm gonna be engaged in those spaces and in those places. And I think that's where we will find healing.

• 41:53Speaker 00

  Yeah. Ciara, thank you for coming on the show.

• 41:57Speaker 01

  Oh, my gosh, thanks for having me.

• 42:00Speaker 00

  I mean, technically, you're always here.

• 42:02Speaker 01

  I mean, I am. I'm always behind the mic, which I do love. I love being behind the mic. Um, this was just a rare occurrence. And I did it for our listeners, because they were like, who is the Ciara girl? Like, we know Rachel, but who the fuck is Ciara? And hopefully, you like me.

• 42:21Speaker 00

  If you don't, I'll come to all of your houses and fight you.

• 42:25Speaker 01

  Ma'am, no.

• 42:27Speaker 00

  Personally.

• 42:30Speaker 00

  I'll be getting in street fights for Ciara's honor. This is my bestie. This is the love of my life. Um, I'm so glad that this happened. I know you said it's a rare occurrence, but we might be making it less rare as time goes on. So this hopefully is not the last time y'all get to hear from Ciara on mic.

• 42:50Speaker 00

  But this was so fun.

• 42:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, thank you for allowing me to come on mic and be with you. This was fun.

• 42:58Speaker 00

  Girl, literally anytime.

• 43:10Speaker 00

  This podcast was produced by Ciara Spragley-Ricks and J. Tol Viera. The co-creators and Dowager queens of Normal Gossip are Alex Dujon-Loughlin and Kelsey McKinney. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Jasper Wang and Sean Kuhn are Defector's business guys. Alex Dujon-Loughlin is Defector's supervising producer. Tom Lay is our editor in chief. Dan McQuade runs our merch store, which you can find at normalgossip.store. Tara Jacoby designed our show art, thanks to the rest of the Defector staff. Defector Media is a collectively owned subscriber-based media company. Normal Gossip is a proud member of Radiotopia. I am your host, Rachel Hampton, and remember, you did not hear this from me.

• 43:57Speaker 05

  Radiotopia.

• 44:00Speaker 05

  From PRX.