It’s the first episode of Show Your Work of 2018! We begin by identifying a vortex in my pop culture experience. What happened was that a few days ago, our friend Dean sent over the link to an episode of the Worst Ever podcast featuring guest Staci Keanan. I did not respond to the group thread and Duana wanted to know why I wasn’t more excited. Because I missed Friday night television in the 90s? For your gossip nostalgia, here’s the WB promo that Duana was referencing:


It’s now 2018 though. And our first order of business in 2018 is the Golden Globes. The Globes, unlike the Emmys, combines its supporting categories so one of the most competitive categories this year will feature two reigning Emmy-winning actresses going head to head (in addition to Shailene Woodley who doesn’t watch TV): Ann Dowd in The Handmaid’s Tale vs Laura Dern in Big Little Lies. Laura Dern is having a year-long moment. Can Laura Dern, aka Vice Admiral Holdo, be denied? Duana just saw The Last Jedi yesterday for the first time. It was my third. For two weeks I’ve been trying to contain myself around her about this. And when Holdo did her thing (all of her things, actually), I leaned over and shook Duana’s chair like an asshole. Laura Dern is a total boner-giver in this movie and according to Vulture’s recent profile of her career, we’ve been building to this for 20 years. 

Vulture also published a piece back in November about The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, nominated for best comedy at the Golden Globes. The Globes are often weird and asskissy. But over the last few years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has also been way ahead of the curve when it comes to identifying comedy winners. We’ve had Mrs Maisel on our possible podcast topics list for weeks, at Duana’s insistence, and here she makes a case for why this show is worth the acclaim and your time. 

Then we both make the case for why we all need to care about the secret lives of teenagers – specifically these two teenagers, Hayden Summerall and Annie LeBlanc, #Hannie, or as The Daily Beast called them last week, “Brangelina for the next generation”. Like it or not, #Hannie portends change for the creative class and for the gossip ecosystem. You roll your eyes now because teen preoccupations are beneath you but teens have been shifting Hollywood decisions for a long, long time now. And in a year or two, #Hannie’s fingerprints could be on everything that’s considered mainstream. 

And finally… “nobody wins when the family feuds”, Jay-Z’s Family Feud short film directed by Ava DuVernay, have you seen it yet? 

Duana and I, as children of immigrants, share our thoughts on legacy and responsibility, our personal stories of our parents and the “must be better” mantra. Then we discuss the film’s audacity and the future that could be built by a sisterhood of women including the Blue Ivy Carter. 

Thanks so much for your support of Show Your Work in 2017. We hope you continue in 2018 to take us with you to the gym or on your commutes or wherever it is that you listen to podcasts. Mostly though, we hope that your work can be a place and/or a space that gives you freedom and power. May we all bring our best work this year! 

Catch us weekly on iTunes and Google Play, and hit us up on twitter at @laineygossip and @duanaelise.