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‘Idle’, ‘trivial’, ‘scurrilous’: the word ‘gossip’ is often accompanied by uncomplimentary adjectives. But don’t dismiss it; from childbirth to Hollywood to political analysis to whisper networks, gossip may be more useful and serious than you realise. Lainey Lui, founder of laineygossip.com, and Buzzfeed News’ senior culture writer (and doctor of celebrity gossip) Anne Helen Petersen explain why.
FURTHER READING:
“Gossip is the weapon the powerless have.” How blind items got powerful.
Longtongue, blabbermouth, pant: the excellent Wordnik has other words for ‘gossip’.
The OED checks in on how Shakespeare used the word ‘gossip’.
The history of gossips attending births.
Gossips vs gossips: Popbitch goes deep into the National Enquirer.
Want more of that? Jeanette Walls’s book Dish tracks the US gossip industry throughout the 20th century.
AHP on Clark Gable, “The Lumberjack in Evening Clothes”, and other scandals of classic Hollywood.
Lainey at work (she’s always at work!).
For the gist of what AHP was talking about, analysing celebrities’ public images as you would a literary text, read her considerations of the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Charlize Theron, Armie Hammer and Angelina Jolie and what is involved in Star Studies.
The transcript of the episode is at theallusionist.org/transcripts/gossip.
Listen to the end for the Minillusionist, the new extra bit at the end of the show.
YOUR RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
floruit
CREDITS:
Lainey Lui is the founder of the gossip website laineygossip.com. She cohosts two podcasts: Show Your Work (with Duana the Name Therapist!) and What’s Your Drama?. She’s also ETALK’s senior entertainment correspondent and cohosts CTV’s daily talk show The Social. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Anne Helen Petersen is a senior culture writer at Buzzfeed News - you may have seen her recent piece about millennial burnout or her many elegantly written longreads. She is the author of the books Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud and Scandals of Classic Hollywood. Her newsletter is well worth your reading-time. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with help from Martin Austwick, who makes the music that you hear in every episode. Hear his work - with lyrics! - at palebirdmusic.com.
Find me online at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/helenzaltzman and instagram.com/helenzaltzman.
