Waiting to X-hale

I've been dreaming of this very journey for a few years. I turned 40 during COVID and was hit with speed bump after speed bump. Situations I have never anticipated experiencing and in some cases it will be my first time sharing it with you.    Once you've lived through a pandemic as I have, you see things differently, your appreciation for life hits differently and your tolerance for BS plummets… I want to navigate those twists and turns with you and stray off the beaten path just for the thrill of it. Through the chaos, expect a touch of wit and snark, the kind that's earned from years of figuring it out.     Just for W2X listeners I'm offering an opportunity for you to get the full breadth of my journey forward. Learn more at tangentisland.com how you can get exclusive access to my companion show, Tangent Island: Staying Afloat and video episodes of the main show.     Tangent Island drops every Monday and launches officially in January 2024.   In the meantime follow the show feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, me on Instagram @wynter and the show @tangentisland   

12/18/23 • 06:05

It’s the final episode, and there are tears shed, and personal revelations made as Karen and Wynter contemplate their favorite “second acts” in popular culture. Amidst it all, Wynter also discusses her new project dropping in January, and Karen shares a couple of lines from her new book Normporn. Plus, a glimpse at Apple TV+’s The Supermodel, and Todd Haynes’ latest, May/December. What’s the last NUO-LINGO ever? And what did each of our hosts choose as their final songs? We’re going to miss all of you, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.

12/8/23 • 71:37

In our penultimate episode, Wynter and Karen prepare for the end by reflecting on their favorite series finales including Mad Men, Six Feet Under, The Good Place and The Americans among others. Before they do, Karen insists on one more discussion about a pop culture controversy: Julianna Marguilles’ condescending comments told from her perspective “as someone who plays a lesbian journalist” on TV. Our team LOVES Squid Game: The Challenge, which is their new problematic fave. Plus, NUO-LINGO is unlocked for the last 2 episodes and butch/femme songs of the week.

12/4/23 • 64:43

This week we present our second "best of" episode featuring a collection of the lovely guests we've had over the years. You'll hear Guy Branham & Margaret Wappler make their first appearance since the end of Pop Rocket (3:28), Kathy Valentine talk about the L.A. punk scene and feminism (15:27), Kevin Smith talk about working with his daughter (24:37), June Diane Raphael give her take on Clueless (34:09), Bob Odenkirk talk about Mr. Show and using comedy to expose homophobia (49:21), Renee Bever and Tavia Nyong'o talk about blackness in horror cinema (55:48) and Sandra Bernhard gives her thoughts about fighting on the internet.    To get early access to releases and bonus content weekly, please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale  

10/7/23 • 71:09

We present our first "best of" episode featuring clips or topics that were ahead of the curve. From the prediction of the Cocaine Bear movie, the ahead of her time Queen Latifah and Wynter's discovery of TUBI to darker predictions of COVID conspiracy theories and political unrest, we look back on what we got right.   Episodes featured:   Ep. 6: What the Wild Things Teach Us: Cocaine Bear vs. Meth Gator Ep. 10: On Becoming Kirstin Dunst: 1990s KD vs. 2000s KD Ep. 13: All Hail the Queen (Latifah, not that other lady): Cleo vs. Khadijah Ep. 22: Hostless with the Mostest - Oscars 2020 Ep. 26: “What Movie Am I In?!?”  Our Brave New World of Outbreaks and De-Extinction Ep. 31: Conspiracy Theories Ep. 53:  Written in the Stars w/ Amanda Yates Garcia, the Oracle of L.A.   To get early access to releases and bonus content weekly, please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

9/23/23 • 63:37

Wynter flies solo again as she discusses her favorite natural disaster movies as Hurricane Hilary is set to bring the rain to SoCal. She shares her thoughts on guilty pleasures she’s indulging like Baywatch Nights and getting rid of cable. and what she thinks is the unlikely song of the summer which is a throwback to the eurodance era of the 90s.   To get early access to releases and bonus content weekly, please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

8/19/23 • 53:13

Wynter flies solo as she discusses Gen X grief in the wake of Sinead O’Connor and Paul “Pee Wee Herman” Reuben's deaths. She shares her thoughts Greta Gerwig’s Barbie success,  the Lizzo controversy, and recommends a British show that depicts Hollywood post-#MeToo. Plus her dedication to a popular Seattle radio station that’s been turning out her favorite greatest hits all week.   To get early access to releases and bonus content please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

8/5/23 • 53:20

It’s the hottest summer on record, so Karen and Wynter take it upon themselves to discuss the pop culture that’s bringing all the heat,  from Barbenheimer opening weekend, to Mission Impossible and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Before all that, Wynter rants about the erosion of travel etiquette, while Karen prepares for her return to Oz with a look at Deadloch, a lesbionic Aussie murder mystery that its writers originally called “Funny Broadchurch.” Plus, songs of the week from (you guessed it), Australia, and Japan.   To get early access to releases and bonus content weekly, please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

7/22/23 • 55:21

Wynter and KT have so much to chew on this week, including the scramble for social media life-rafts after Twitter. Wynter tells us all about the new Meta platform, Threads, while KT documents her various false starts and efforts at making a go of it on Bluesky. The two dish deep on the 2nd season of Hulu’s The Bear, and ask the question, “Fishes” or “Forks?,” all while heaping praise on Ayo Edibiri’s contributions to heartwarming BLERD representation.They also share their feelings about season two of And Just Like That…. Plus two songs of the week from Le Tigre and Otoboke Beaver.   To get early access to releases and bonus content please subscribe to our patreon at patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

7/8/23 • 61:33

Wynter is back and we have an episode filled with SPOILER ALERTS for both the season finale of Dave and all of Black Mirror, season 6. Which of Streamberry’s eps do we love, or…not so much? KT has an action alert for the LGBTQ+ community, as the GenX 1990s activist organization Queer Nation revs back up in Los Angeles to fight the ‘phobes. Plus, Japanese yacht rock and our undisputed song of the summer.   To get early access to releases and bonus content subscribe to our patreon at: patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

6/24/23 • 63:47

Karen assembles an expert panel of queers to dish about this summer's reality phenom, Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix). Authors, curators, and queers about town, Greta La Fleur (@GretaLaFleur), Juana María Rodriguez (@RadioRodriguez), Poulomi Saha (@poulomiqsaha) and Jeanne Vaccaro (@whateverjeanne on instagram only) join KT with a rundown of all the things they find delightful and cringey about TV's latest bid for sapphic representation. Who ends up on top in our cast-member power rankings? Who are the most "therapized" and most chaotic of the Queer Love crew? Do we think Xander and Yoly will end up together? And what about the racial and sexual politics that surface in these couplings? Plus, a spirited (and honest) round of "Marry, F*ck, Kill" in this bonus ep--W2X's pride gift to you!

6/7/23 • 62:25

Karen is joined this week by Scott Poulson-Bryant (a co-founding editor of Vibe magazine, author and professor at the University of Michigan), and Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, the author of The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games. Ebony is a Detroit native who is also a professor at the University of Michigan. The trio get together for some wide-ranging cawffee tawk about pop culture habits across the spectrum of GenX (Scott was born in ‘66, KT in ‘73, and Ebony in ‘77). We start with love for the dearly departed Tina Turner, and focus on the year 1984, with detours into the 1970s, as well as our opinions on who wins the zaddystakes between Pacino and DeNiro. Plus, we get into our childhood love of libraries long before the internet, and fantasy realms like The Neverending Story and Dark Crystal. Karen forces everyone to talk about The Ultimatum: Queer Love, while revealing more about her internet induction into gaylorism. Songs of the week range from Tina, to pianos in the dark, to reimaginings of Alicia Keys through the lens of Bridgerton.   To get early access to releases and bonus content subscribe to our patreon at: patreon.com/waitingtoxhale  

6/3/23 • 87:00

Fashion connoisseur and media scholar A.E. Stevenson joins KT this week to get into all things Met Gala, from the controversies around the Lagerfeld theme, to the tiniest details about some of the looks that ATE. Before all that, the two express their support for the WGA strike and explain some of the stakes for the uninitiated. Plus, songs by Kelele and Phoenix. To get access to early releases and bonus content subscribe to our patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale. 

5/13/23 • 70:47

Karen and guest-host Andrew Ti take their "Asian conversation meant to be had indoors" outdoors to the soccer pitch. The two share their love of ACFC player Jun Endo, while also discussing a controversy surrounding her hairstyle at the beginning of the season. Plus, "Brown-Eyed Biffs," latchkey kids, and the origins of the NUO LINGO phrase, "touch grass." It's our last FREE BoCo ep--the rest will be Patreon exclusive--so listen up, then subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale. 

4/29/23 • 26:40

Karen welcomes guest-host Andrew Ti (creator and co-host of Yo, is This Racist?) to discuss a recent Politico article that describes Gen X as “the Trumpiest generation.” Before getting into all that, the two discuss their mutual love of the Angel City Football Club, aka ACFC, L.A.’s National Women’s Soccer League team. Andrew also reports back after treating himself to matinees of the Dungeons and Dragons and Mario Bros. movies, while Karen is in the middle of another prestige TV rewatch with The Americans. Plus, two songs of the week featuring collaborations by women artists: Chong The Nomad - Take Two and BOYGENIUS - True Blue. Please follow and review the show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can support the podcast on Patreon.

4/22/23 • 57:49

Outtakes from episode 102 on Andy Cohen and International TV; a nuo-lingo on online displays of relationships.   Please follow and review the show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can support the podcast on Patreon.

4/17/23 • 22:26

Our dear Guy Branum sits in for Wynter, as he and Karen have a wide-ranging conversation about everything from #Gaylor discourse and why KT is a “Swiftie at Fifty,” to his long Talmudic catch-up with the Real Housewives franchise, specifically Beverly Hills. The two also explore the impact of international TV, including shows like Physical 100 (S. Korea) and the Filipino comedy, The Enlightened before discussing what it means for the Top Chef franchise to do a “World All Stars” season. Plus the songs of the week,  Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and Y’a du Soleil by Christoph Maé. Please follow and review the show wherever you listen to podcasts. You can support the podcast on Patreon.

4/8/23 • 55:21

Wynter and Karen are back with season 6 to ask each other, “what did I miss?” as they cover some of the notable pop culture moments that went down during their holiday hiatus.   Before they get into Spare, The Last of Us and M3GAN, the two debrief about the 2023 Oscars, as Wynter goes against the tide of criticism around The Whale, while Karen considers the significance of Everything, Everywhere All At Once’s sweep of the top prizes.   The two also catch up about their recent travels (KT went to Sydney for World Pride, and Wynter went to the backwoods of Washington as well as Philly with Wanda Sykes). Plus, us a nuo-lingo to ICK about and songs of the week!

3/17/23 • 78:48

It’s our 100th episode and season 5 finale!!! To help celebrate the occasion, the one and only BOB ODENKIRK was kind enough to join us for a chat about Mr. Show, comedy in the 90s, and the great Janeane Garofalo. Karen is cautiously optimistic about the new season of White Lotus, while she and Wynter process the ramifications of El-n M-sk’s purchase of Twitter. Plus, a few other 100th episode surprises, to go with nuo-lingo and our songs of the week.

11/7/22 • 71:42

Head over to w2xpodcast.com and click the blue button on the right side to leave us a voicemail! 

10/28/22 • 02:17

Wynter & Karen dive into the new Shudder documentary series, Queer for Fear: The History for Queer Horror, and are inspired to make some of their own queer horror recommendations for the spooky season.   Wynter considers which streaming services she needs to drop, while Karen claps back at the WaPo piece claiming GenX’s shift to the right by considering how “Generation Jones” skews those purported numbers.   Plus, Negroni Sbagliato (with prosecco in it), and two new songs of the week.

10/24/22 • 71:52

Wynter assigns Karen a range of true crime offerings with varying degrees of budget and prestige, from Lifetime’s The Gaby Petito Story, to Netflix’s limited series, Dahmer and the cinematic offering, Blonde. The two discuss when true crime is too much in both quantity and affect. KT’s viewing habits have veered to deep straight dude sportiness, while Wynter walks us through some major GenX anniversaries for 90210 and Janet’s The Velvet Rope, plus Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+. Nuo-lingo has a long reality story attached to it, and our songs of the week are bonafide jams.

10/10/22 • 68:15

The end of the Elizabethan-era (part II) prompted us to reflect on how British pop culture has dominated GenX’s imaginaries, from new wave and the new romantics, to Fawlty Towers and Monty Python, to iconoclasts like Bowie and the Sex Pistols up to and including contemporary favorites the Great British Bake Off and The Crown, to the British royal family itself as pop culture. Plus, it’s a very Hulu week for us with Welcome to Wrexham and Reboot. We drop a nuo-lingo for new relationships and two songs from beloved icons from the 80s and now.

9/26/22 • 55:37

Karen and Wynter are back together again, just in time to drop their Emmy predictions for all the Comedy and Drama acting categories. They tell you who they want to win, as well as who they think will actually win, so listen-up before you fill out your ballots for the awards broadcast on Monday, September 12!  Fresh from her vacay, KT talks about the “couple” shows she and Sarah watch together, like Industry on HBO. Wynter is stoked about the impending return of the Great British Bake Off and tells us about all the nuo-lingo that has officially been incorporated into Merriam-Webster. Plus, two sweet sweet songs of the week for coastal grandmas, grandpas and/or thembas.    Canceling Cable - SNL 370 New Words and Definitions Added to Merriam-Webster

9/12/22 • 86:25

Wynter is in the driver's seat one more time and wants to know if you're watching She-Hulk. It's a refreshing glass of characters and story that you don't even need to have watched all 432 Marvel movies to enjoy.  Ryan Bailey (So Bad it's Good Podcast) stops by for the main segment to talk about all things snark and why we love to hate on the internet.  PLUS: nuo-lingo to help you sift through bad vibes and a SOTW from a Gen X icon's kid! 

8/29/22 • 63:44

While Karen is on vacation, Wynter brought in special guest host Abby Gardner (We Have Notes Podcast/Substack) to talk about ALL THE THINGS: Biopics, Harry Styles, mixtapes, movies, Kate Bush, old Hollywood, new Hollywood, Joan Crawford, Florence Pugh...seriously, it's a dense pop culture discussion from top to bottom.  Grab a snack and settle in! 

8/15/22 • 82:31

Karen and Wynter have been seduced by Irma Vep, Olivier Assayas’ “serialized” HBO Max revisitation of his own 1996 indie film of the same name starring screen goddess Maggie Cheung (his ex-wife). The two get into all the series’ meta-narratives,, including Alicia Vikander as a modified K-Stew. Light SPOILERS. Karen is obsessed with #PREATH’s (Christen Press and Tobin Heath’s) sizzle on the ESPYs red carpet, while Wynter loves up on Nathan Fielder in The Rehearsal. (Where’s our HBO Max sponsorship already?!) Are we or are we not “BASED”? Plus two songs of the week from the 80s, and info about KT’s new food-related BoCo on our Patreon. 

8/1/22 • 67:21

Wynter has returned from her European vacation to tell us about her encounter with Aline–not to be confused with Celine, who the main character of this French-Canadian film very closely resembles. Karen tells us about Chris Belcher hot new memoir Pretty Baby (Simon & Schuster), chronicling her life as a queer teen rebel who escapes small-town Appalachia to become  a renowned Lesbian Dominatrix in L.A.  The two also offer their rundown of TV series that have taken a long hiatus (Stranger Things, Atlanta, Barry, Umbrella Academy, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) only to return after several years, assessing whether or not they were worth the wait.  Plus, nuo-lingo and songs of the week with totally different vibes.

7/19/22 • 70:46

This week Karen is joined by author, curator, and former kitchen-geek Jennifer Doyle, as well as Chef Courtney Storer to talk about the buzzy and bingeable FX series The Bear.  As the culinary producer on the show, Chef Coco gives us the inside scoop on how the actors recreated the tense, fast-paced atmosphere of professional kitchens, while revealing what happens to all the food they make on set.  KT and Jennifer talk about women’s soccer and mutual aid, and share their profound love for L.A.’s NWSL team, the Angel City Football Club. (LAFC gets its props too). Plus, they get into Apple TV’s Loot and Showtime’s I Love That For You. Nuo-lingo explains what it means when someone is “a 10, but…” and we offer up two songs of the week with a dose of hope.

7/4/22 • 74:15

Wynter is out of the country, so Karen invited her longtime gaysian/theysian pals, Summer Kim Lee (a cultural critic and UCLA professor), and JJ Chan (an artist and designer based in Brooklyn) to talk about the highly anticipated gay(sian) rom-com, Hulu’s Fire Island. The three talk about some of their own summer gaycations together and apart, while diving deep into the details of Fire Island down to its most resonant moments with Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, to what JJ calls the “Cherry Grove aesthetic” of Margaret Cho’s house, despite the film’s setting in the Pines.    Plus: Karen takes her wife Sarah to Disneyland for her very first visit to the Magic Kingdom, JJ gosses about “eyebrow gate” on Gentleman Jack, and Summer FINALLY gets into Survivor after 42 seasons.    And, nuo-lingo from a real life millennial and three #thatgirl summer jams!

6/13/22 • 84:48