[PREVIEW] Bonus Chat: 'The Circle' Is The Most Boring And Captivating Show On TV

For this week’s audio chat, we ended up with two, uh, pretty different things to discuss: the resurfacing of old, misogynistic blogs by Reality Steve as well as new allegations about him from Demi Burnett… and season two of Netflix’s social media challenge show “The Circle.”An odd mash-up? Perhaps. As you may be gathering, this week’s bonus chat was originally supposed to be about just “The Circle.” But shit happens, and now here we are. During this rather long episode, we discussed Reality Steve’s complicated place in Bachelor Nation, the wacky gimmicks and catfish hunting on “The Circle” — and, in both cases, the conflicting motives and crafted identities that shape all of our friendships, especially in reality TV world.Have a wonderful weekend, y’all. And as always, happy listening, friends! We’ve been reading…“A Special Place For Women,” our friend Laura Hankin’s forthcoming novel. Vulture’s brutal oral history of what it’s like to work for producer and allegedly abusive boss Scott Rudin.We’ve been listening to…The “Dear Shandy” podcast, where Sharleen Joynt and her husband Andy Levine answer callers’ relationship questions and interview Bachelor couples like Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick about their relationship styles. Sharleen and Andy have the best dynamic, and it’s a Bachelor-adjacent pod without actually being about “The Bachelor” at all.We’ve been watching…“The Circle”! Duh!The gritty HBO Max adaptation of Alissa Nutting’s gloriously sharp-edged tech satire “Made for Love,” starring Cristin Milioti’s eyes.We’ve been buying… Giant architectural scrunchies from small, woman-owned brand Room Shop. They are perfect, especially for days when you do not want to wash your hair.