Welcome back to another solo episode of V the People. If you've been actually listening and following along, I just want to say thank you because it means a lot to me, and I'm just really glad that you're here and you're choosing to spend a little part of your day with me. Okay, so there's a lot to get into today. I'd like to start with that.
This past weekend, I went to one of the No Kings protest rallies here in the Lehigh Valley. I went to the one in Allentown, and it was just... I've been to these before, and every time I leave, I always feel such a sense of exhilaration, and I think it's because, I mean, there's a few reasons, obviously. For so many of us, we live in a world where we are in a silo, and you're scrolling and your algorithm is showing you the things you want to see, of course, but even though you're seeing a post and thousands of people might be liking it and you think to yourself, wow, there's other people that have the same values that I do and see the world the same way that I do, it's different because you're seeing it online and we're so desensitized to the fact that you share something and the amount of likes there is just a number.
But I think when you're actually out in person and you're seeing the amount of people showing up and side-eyeing authority with you, it's just... it's loud, it's visible, it's collective, and it feels so powerful. The signs are always the real stars. I love just watching what people come up with and the messages that are important to them.
And it's just... it's very moving. And I've seen a lot of rhetoric online that's kind of like, well, you know, what comes from this, what comes from these protests, what are you trying to achieve, how many of these are you going to have kind of thing. But from what I've seen, 8 million people have turned out from last week's election.
I mean, sorry, 8 million people have turned out from last week's protest. And what I was going to say is imagine if every single one of those 8 million people turned up at the midterms or at the ballot box. I just think if you look at history, any time, there was some type of a social justice movement, political movement, an anti-regime movement, they were always affiliated with protests, marches, and there's a reason for that. It raises your spirits, it gives you hope, it reminds you that there genuinely is power in the people.
So I just kind of wanted to start off on that serious note. I've been trying to not necessarily focus on what's going on in the world because I know we see that every which way we look, but this past weekend just felt really important to me. And so I wanted you to know that I was there, I was representing, and it was beautiful. So, yeah, that's that.
Okay, so on a way different note, we're going to pivot to some Baravo Goss reality TV. My brain right now is 70% what is going on with Amanda Batula and West Wilson. Is it West or West? I feel like everyone says West, but I think it's actually West with a T.
And now we need to go back and look. Okay, if you are not someone that is immersed in the Baravo sphere like I am, I still think this is worth your time because it will, if it does break and what I'm about to say is true, then it will make the CNN header much like Skandavald did. And cultures, I hate the same culture as King, so I'm going to start saying culture is Queen. Culture is Queen.
You need to know what's going on, all right? You just, you got to get your tea somewhere and I'm here with the freakin' tea bags and the honey. So have a seat because I'm just about to give you the backstory. Summer House has been around for pretty long.
It, when it first came out, they kind of did like a crossover with Vanderpump Rules to get people to start watching it. And it's this group of millennials now, you know, expanding, obviously and becoming more diverse with its age, but it's this group of people living in New York City and they share a Summer House in the Hamptons. And so you're following their lives in the city, of course, but then you're following their relationships when they go to the Hamptons every weekend. And they're partying, of course, there's drama, all the normal things.
So it's been around long enough at this point that if you've been an OG fan, you've become very invested in the people involved. And we've watched this one specific couple, Kyle Cook and Amanda Batula, fall in love, get toxic, get healthy, get toxic, get healthy, get engaged, get married, go through the marital ebbs and flows. I mean, we've just been through their entire existence as a couple as viewers. And up until literally two or three days ago, everyone has always seen, at least from my algorithm and my experience, Amanda Batula as like, I don't want to use a victim, but I mean, I guess you could.
As I would say, like the protagonist in the relationship because she is very committed to Kyle from day one, clearly very into him, wants to be with him. Whereas Kyle is a partier, he is always testing the boundaries, pushing the limits, staying out to like two, three, four, five AM, even after they've gotten married, and she's asked him to kind of settle down and stay in. He decided to become a DJ basically to continue milking his partying era. And he speaks down to her, he calls her names, like, it's not great.
And so everyone has always been like, why are you still with him? You need to leave him. It's gotten in her head. She's admitted to that, like, the fans of the show telling her that she should divorce him, that she'd be better off.
She's even admitted like when someone tells you something enough times, it's hard to not hear it. But she's been loyal to him just time and time again, lost friends for him. And I also want to say that even though he is in a lot of ways a douche, he's also very like, he's an ally. There are tons of conversations on the show when it comes to race, which I think is really cool and progressive.
And he's one of those guys that knows to like basically just shut up and listen. And there's a lot of redeeming qualities about him, even though everything I just said makes him sound like an absolute tool. Nonetheless, everyone has kind of like been standing, Amanda, this whole time. Meanwhile, on the other side of things, during COVID, the summer of 2020, they, instead of doing like weekends together, they did, I think it was like a four or five weeks stint.
It was like a month long time that they would just all be together after having tested and quarantined and everything we were doing during that crazy time that was 2020. And during that time, one of the guys in the house brought this girl named Sierra, who has since become a full-time cast member because she's a queen. She was the first full-time black cast member on the show. She has never hesitated to talk about what that meant to be the first black person on a predominantly white show in her experience and getting the other cast members to understand her perspective.
And she's just overall witty and funny and smart. She's a nurse. I don't know if she's an ICU nurse if I'm thinking of it correctly. She's a nurse.
She's living in New York City. She's also a model. She's just an icon, to be honest. Like, she's great.
The second she came on the show, this is a great microcosm. She came because she was a dating one of the guys in the cast and he had also been talking to one of the other girls on the show, who we now know as Hannah Burner, who is one of my favorite podcasters of all time. And Hannah basically went to Sierra and said, listen, we've been flirting this whole summer and I had no idea he was talking to you, let alone bringing you to the house. And Sierra, the ultimate girls girl, was basically like, fuck that guy.
Immediately believed Hannah, immediately took a girl's side and was like, no, absolutely not. I'm not engaging with this person. Obviously made the right choice because fans fell in love with her and she's since become, like I said, a full-time cast member and the douche lord that brought her on, got only knows what he's doing. I haven't heard his name.
I couldn't even tell he was last name. Anyways, this is a very, there's so many facets to this story and the fact that I'm like so aware of what's going on in the Bravo universe. Sometimes it's sad, but also like my wife and I always joke. If you like, under your head had to answer questions about something, what's like the thing you could do?
My wife's weird skill is that she could name any Taylor Swift song that's being played by a backpipe. We learned that while we were in Scotland for the Airstore. And my gift is that I could probably win a trivia prize about Vanderpump Rules, like down to the episode, the line, like it's sick. It's not okay.
But also like, who cares? It's my thing. Okay, so fast forward to like two years ago, they bring new guys on a summer house and there's this guy West Wilson. Is it, is it West or is it West?
It's going to drive me nuts. I'm going to have to look it up. Well, while sit talking, West Wilson, let's say. Okay, it's West.
I was right. Right? Yeah, it's West. Okay.
He is very charming, very funny. Even as a man hater, I'm like super into it. I think he's just a great personality. Super close with his mom and his grandmother, which like to me, that's just a green flag all around.
And he kind of like sweeps the era off her feet. They have a summer romance to the point where they meet each other's families. It extends beyond the summer. And then the fame kind of gets to his head.
He fucks up. He not only breaks up with her, but has like bad press about it. Says too much. And I think it was a New York Times article, which is crazy to think about.
But again, culture is queen. And the summer after that, they feuded the whole time. She was not having it. She speaks her mind, tells him that he's a dickbag.
And now this summer, they're like, they've made up, not only that, but they're kind of like rekindling their romance. He is on camera, apologized about the way he handled it. And also recognized that there was a racial component that he didn't even think about because of his privilege. Like just a really cool, upstanding guy.
Also, I know he's like spoken out about ice on his TikTok and loses followers and is like, I don't give a fuck. I'm going to speak out against this because I don't believe it. Clearly just like has his head screwed on, right? And all of this to say, I don't even want to say long story short because it's not short.
We're like 13 minutes in. I'm still talking about this. There are rumors because now also best forward, Kyla and Amanda are separated. That's going back to the last couple I was talking about if you're not aware.
And there's been rumors for a while going around that West and Amanda are hooking up. Now also mind you, Amanda and Sierra are best friends on camera and off. But also have been through it together. Sierra's really been there for Amanda through her separation through all the ups and downs of her marriage, has urged her to walk away.
She can do so much better. Just like a girl's girl. And these rumors going around that Amanda has been hooking up with West at first. As someone who's just constantly scrolling and seeing random things from Demoa, is it Demoa or Demoa?
I think it's Demoa. Demoa, seeing things there, seeing things from different Bravo accounts. I was ignoring, ignoring, ignoring. And then within the past week, it has seemed to be proven by other members of the cast.
Posting things, people from other Bravo shows kind of confirming it. Sierra unfollowing certain Amanda Batula business accounts. Apparently recording on Amazon Live separately that was supposed to be recorded together. There's just a lot of things floating around and how they say where they're smoking fire.
There are too many areas of smoke for it to not have some fragment of the truth. So that has been where my brain is at. Holy shit, I didn't realize how much time that would take me to explain. But again, you're welcome.
I mean, if you just wanted to get a quick overarching catch up in 15 minutes, I got you. That's where I'm at. Let's stay posted together. I have no idea what's going to happen.
But I'm telling you right now, if it's true and if it breaks as being true, then we are in for weeks and weeks and weeks of collateral damage, press, unfolding drama. They would pick cameras back up. They haven't even filmed the reunion yet. It would just be wild.
So stay tuned either that or you're like, I don't give a shit about any of this. But I do want to say that the CIA should be hiring Bravo fans and people who run Bravo accounts because what they can find and what they're able to unveil is just insane. It's insane. Imagine trying to keep a secret and being on a show like that.
It's inevitable that it's going to come out and really freaking fast. So that's what's been going on. A couple of other quick hits just to throw it out there. I'm still keeping up with drinking.
However, I'm keeping up with it more on a spiritual level. Physically, the past two episodes I've been passed out because it's such a comfort show that it just really relaxes my nervous system. So I see Harrison Ford, I see Liz, and I'm like, all right. And then I fall asleep.
I love the show, but I'm not watching it for an adrenaline rush. I'm watching it for pure comfort and joy. And so, again, I'm keeping up spiritually. But don't ask me what's been going on because I have no idea.
Paradise, I'm locked in the recording this on Monday and the season finale, I'm pretty sure it's already out. But for some reason, wait until 8 p.m. because in my mind, that's what time it comes out. I don't know why.
So I'll be watching that tonight. Along with catching up on the pit, it's basically in the graveyard of things I need to catch up on. But I love the pit specifically Dana. Also, anyone I've ever met named Dana is just a badass.
Shout out to my friend Dana if you're listening. Oh, this is kind of a really dark one. I watched last night a three-part docu-series called the Predator of Sevilla. And I know a lot of people say Seville, but my best friend lived in Sevilla for like a full-on year.
I went to visit her. They say Sevilla, so everyone should be saying Sevilla. And I don't even know how to say this because there's a part of me that's like, don't watch this. As a woman, it's just very triggering.
Everything is just so uncomfortably true and familiar about just like SA and that type of cult, like party culture and men taking advantage of you and people not taking women's accounts in a serious manner. Just like not believing women basically is what it comes down to. So on the one hand, I'm like, don't watch it. It's super dark and disturbing.
But on the other hand, I think everyone specifically men should have to watch it because as I said, it's just all too familiar. And the main girl that we follow throughout the series is just so relentless. And if she weren't relentless, nothing would have happened in this case. But the fact that he just fucked with the wrong girl made it so that he couldn't get away with anything.
And even this is a little bit of a spoiler alert if you think you're going to watch it. But even after all of the evidence they had against this literal predator, he was locked away for like six years initially and then they talked on I think another two and a half, but still is serving time for under 10 years. Which is insane when you actually listen to everything he did. So again, super dark, a lot of trigger warnings.
But if you're into that kind of thing, if you like watching something that just makes you want to become a lawyer, then highly recommend the predator of Sevilla. Dark, uncomfortable. And I also just want to say like, not everything should be easy to watch. That's my belief.
Like every now and then there were so many times I was watching it that I was like, I really want to change this. I just want to catch up on Shrinking or I just want to watch the hills. Like I've been super excited about the hills reunion coming back or Laguna Beach and just wanting to like go back and rewatch Laguna Beach. Like that's my Super Bowl.
That would be super easy to watch. I could be on my phone and just kind of catch like some clips. It's exciting. I'm a millennial.
I love it. But I think sometimes we have to consume hard content because it's reality. It's what's going on. It's what's happening.
And yeah. So anyways, I guess it's more of an awareness versus entertainment kind of show. But. That being said, I am absolutely rewatching the hills right now because I'm just kind of prepping myself for the hills.
Um, reunion, I keep saying that it's Laguna Beach. I need to go back and rewatch Laguna Beach, which I did have the three part DVD series when I was in high school. Also, my AAM screen name was Boy Meets Laguna because I combined my two favorite shows, which is Boy Meets World and Laguna Beach. And also Mr.
Feeney was my Zanga layout. So if you were curious, if like I'm an actual fan, there's your answer. Um, but yeah, that's a good one. So kind of go back and rewatch.
If you have a Roku TV, you can rewatch the hills. On the Roku channel for free. So you're welcome. And the only other thing upcoming is that the new season of hacks is coming out on my birthday.
So it's basically like Jean Smart is my mom. And she's like, here's your present. And I appreciate that. Okay.
Last but not least, um, I want to talk about the last segment, which is something we don't talk about enough. And I think something we don't talk about enough is that scrolling isn't always the villain. And I actually for a second was thinking like, how I already talked about this. And I think I might have.
But honestly, if you remember that, you're better than me because my memory sucks. Um, okay. Yes, scrolling is bad. But also, it's like the modern day zoning out and it's such a low effort mental break.
So just hear me out for a second. Like, I understand TikTok, our attention span, it's rotting our brains. I feel like there's just such a negative connotation with it these days. However, not every moment of your day needs to be optimized or like, what should I be doing to fill this time right now?
I just think there can be some moments where you're laying flat, you're sedentary, and you're watching some girl drink her sobby bee and make her pasta. And it's giving you that quick dopamine hit. And it's just making you feel good. Like, what is so freaking bad about that?
Sometimes I wonder if the science is like, okay, you've picked up your phone 300 times today and you haven't seen the sun. Like sometimes it's like, okay, I'm giving myself an hour of scrolling at night. And some people are saying doom scrolling. I think that's true if your algorithm is like, only the news cycle or only, you know, war and prepping and all of the things that, yes, it's super important to be aware of them and to make sure that you're not turning a blind eye.
But at the same time, sometimes it's just decompression and not always like you're failing by just scrolling on TikTok. So my take is that we should be able to make sure that you're not turning a blind eye. So maybe I'm not always like you're failing by just scrolling on TikTok. So my take is that we should just kind of like maybe reframe it.
Like, how are you doing it? And not how long, right? So like, okay, maybe I'm spending an hour scrolling on TikTok before I go to bed. But it's not all things that are making me feel really overwhelmed by the world.
And so I think that it's making me feel connected to all of the freaking cute pit bulls. That is on my algorithm. And if you're not on pit bull, TikTok, please get on it because they're so cute. I would fight for them.
I just think they're like the best breed of dogs. I'm getting sidetracked, but I feel very passionate about it. So just thinking of like, how are you spending your scrolling time? Not how long, but also like, you know, don't scroll for like five hours of your day.
So anyways, that's something I think we don't talk about enough. That is all for today. Again, if you've made it this far, if you've actually listened to this, I will send you a personal thank you know, because that's impressive. And I appreciate being here with me.
And I have a really exciting guest coming next week. I'm really excited about her. So yeah, stay tuned. And I'll talk to you soon.
Bye.