Rising and grinding this morning (God I hate that phrase), but need to catch an early flight to Vegas as I’m giddy for March Madness, so you’re Podcast #69 is now ready to go. It’s with LA times columnist and author of “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure,” Amy Kaufman. I finished the book this past weekend, and if you’re a fan of this franchise, and essentially want to know how the sausage is made, it’s a great read. Around 265 pages and I know this because I’m covered on pages 257-260. Of course. Who wouldn’t save the best for last? I’ve always liked Amy’s writing and coverage over the years of this show, and this is a real extensive, deep dive into former contestants, producers, handlers, etc as they give on-the-record accounts of what it was like to be on the show, or be behind-the-scenes of it. So many interesting stories in the book that, yes, you may have heard over the years on this site, but to hear it told first hand by people who experienced is kinda eye opening. As always, if you want to respond to the interview, please include Amy’s Twitter handle (@AmyKinLA) in your replies. Hope you enjoy it. And oh yeah, wish me luck. I will need it this weekend.
You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)
(SPOILERS) Amy joins me to talk about her inspiration on writing the book, we get interrupted with news of Ashley & Kevin’s break up (5:10), producers with monetary incentives (10:16), the relationship in the early going of Mike Fleiss & Lisa Levenson which eerily resembles Chet & Quinn on “UnReal” (13:20), the contract, STD’s, and producer manipulation playing such a huge role in the show (21:26), how she role played with a former producer during a lunch date & thoughts on Elan Gale and his role with the franchise (28:08), Amy asks me about my treatment towards the men in this franchise (40:15), what led to her (probably) getting her coverage of the franchise revoked (48:50), and finally we wrap up talking about her coverage of the #MeToo movement for the LA Times (54:50).
Twitter – @AmyKinLA
Instagram – amykinla
Book: Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure
Yesterday’s link for the Reality Steve Bracket Challenge was updated later on in the day because most of the day it wasn’t working, or was telling people it was a private group and they needed to be invited. Everything’s all fixed. So if you want to join, click this link below:
It’s free, you can fill out up to 5 brackets per user, and there will be a prize given to the winner along with getting mentioned in a column. The point system for the brackets is as follows:
First Round: Each correct pick is worth 1 point. The seed of the winning team is added to the correct pick total.
Second Round: Each correct pick is worth 2 points. The seed of the winning team is added to the correct pick total.
Sweet 16: Each correct pick is worth 4 points. There is no bonus applied.
Elite 8: Each correct pick is worth 8 points. There is no bonus applied.
Final Four: Each correct pick is worth 16 points. There is no bonus applied.
Championship: Each correct pick is worth 32 points. There is no bonus applied.
Good luck to everyone. I’m sure I won’t finish anywhere close to the top, since that’s the way it usually works for me. And if for some crazy ass reason I win this thing, I will give the winnings to the second place finisher.
Remember, any spoilers from night 1 and early dates this weekend when filming begins on Becca’s season will be tweeted out since I won’t have the time to post anything on the site. Follow me on Twitter for any and all updates.
Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is “RealitySteve,” or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you tomorrow.
