The Gaymazing Race

Hacks writer, producer and all around awesome person, Guy Branum joins us for an insider's debrief about the show's "D'Amazing Race" episode. Plus, we get into the most beautifully lesbionic "Montecito" ep, which Guy co-wrote. 

Nicole and Karen have an epic post-race exit interview with Team LezBoss, Izzy and Paige. Get some inside scoop and all the sapphic love!

Karen regales Nicole with stories from the LIVE Amazing Race S38 finale at Berry park, while Nicole tells Karen what actually happened in the episode that started with the end of the road for our beloved Team LezBoss (Izzy and Paige), and culminated in the inevitable victory of Jas and Jag, who won 6 legs along the way.  We also get into how meaningful it is to see the self-dubbed "Turbanators" win the race in NY, since The Amazing Race began in 2001, and Sikh Americans were targeted with misrecognition and suspicion after 9/11.

The final four Amazing Race teams descend on Paris and we are reminded repeatedly that the U.S. was once  a democracy worthy of gifts from allies like the Statue of Liberty. At the Moulin Rouge, everyone must can-can in gendered outfits constituting what Nicole calls a "hate crime" on our gender non-conforming Team LezzBoss. The two judges at the Braille Institute steal the show with their coffee breaks, as everything seemingly boils down to slow & steady vs. fast hands on Braille typing machines. The final three will be determined by a scramble across the city of lights  for tri-color puzzle pieces. Will our last Gaymazing team survive to compete in the final?

The final 5 teams of the The Amazing Race make their way to Milan, where they're all struck by the revelation that all but one team–Izzy and Paige, aka Team LezBoss– has a Big Brother winner. In Survivor-like fashion, we see a MEDIC on screen as Adam from the Brothers Keffiyeh suffers a scary plunge in his blood sugar. Jas and Jag continue to coast, while Izzy and Paige use their eye for detail and therapized perspective on life to finish with their highest placement yet! Karen returns from Puerto Rico and has a lot of women's studies professoring on her mind as she and Nicole catch up on the feminist politics of the show.   

The giant has been slayed this week in a SHOCKING turn of events in Greece. We've got Sisyphus (aka a caveman), the Greek alphabet, women helping women (sometimes), and a real shake up in the order of things! Nicole and cartoonist, illustrator and Jeopardy champion guest cohost Ajuan Mance  talk about all of this while Karen is away at an academic conference. Stay tuned!

The Amazing Race teams descend on Bucharest, where they encounter a harrassy sinister chicken as they harvest Christ's eggs in a big city park. All Express Passes have to be used up on this leg, as Eric and Tucker, and Jas and Jag continue to vie for the top two spots, with Kyland and Taylor trying to play spoilers. Team LezzBoss, Izzy and Paige find religion when they are blessed with a PAN FLUTE challenge at the detour.We are gifted with lesbian jazz-scatting on a public transportation platform. Adam, from the Brothers Keffiyeh, is running on fumes and needs to eat something before crashing out. And all teams have to make mixed street meat kabobs (Mici, in the vein of Lule or Kofte) before the pit stop, and we wonder what kind. 

The consequences of running with the "Trainwreck" alliance come home to roost with team Sissy my Sissy, as The Amazing Race makes its way to Bucharest, Romania from Split, Croatia: Joseph & Adam nab the crucial last ticket on the first flight away from Natalie and Stephanie! Paige takes a 13,000 foot skydive roadblock for Team LezzBoss to spare Izzy the angst, and nearly all the teams make shit bricks at the detour in their bid  to move on to the next leg. Tragically, the talented Negrotti sisters are eliminated in this episode. NOOOOOOO! But Nat and Steph came on to TGR to talk about it, and so much more…YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Are team LezzBoss getting the villain edit as the weeks wear on, while Jas and Jag are getting the lovable multifaceted hero edit? This week of The Amazing Race moves fast with lots of self-driving and a detour that makes our teams choose between hauling salt, or gathering oysters. We learn all about Kristene and Rubina's sisterly bond forged through trauma, as they do their race "for their mama." Izzy is seen working her frustrations out on a wheelbarrow that she ultimately apologizes to, while Taylor too lets out a yawp of frustration at a navigation and q&a challenge. 

This episode of The Amazing Race moved us to tears as dastardly U-Turns,and  a controversial "gentleman's agreement" led to three all-female teams competing to stay alive at the end of this leg in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Just when we were starting to feel for Jas and Jag after they struggled to hail taxis last week, they decide to U-Turn team LezBoss, while the Brothers Keffiyeh, Joseph and Adam pick on our short Pinay KWEENS, Kristene and Rubina. A glorious tuxedo cat plays the role of Greek chorus at the monkfish filet challenge, and Izzy lets the double birds fly in a barn burning episode with feminist flair and despair.

The Amazing Race heads to Budapest, where teams have the option of taking a direct sleeper train from Prague that arrives an hour later, or enduring three transfers to land an hour earlier. Which would YOU choose? Team Sissy-My-Sissy proves they can thrive without the Trainwreck alliance, and Izzy and Paige offer the realest lesbian bathing suit representation we've ever seen on TV. We're profoundly upset by taxis passing up Jas and Jag bc of their appearance as (in their own words) "turbanators." Plus, a clown gets overheated after being joyfully tackled by the Brothers Keffiyeh who required 135 attempts to complete a juggling challenge.

THEEEEE Izzy and Paige join Karen as guest-hosts this episode, while Nicole is off in the Pacific Northwest causing trouble. We recap the episode together from their insider's perspective on what it felt like to run this leg, while reveling in all the gaymazing moments yielded by resident beer expert Stephanie, and Kristene of the 1-shot goal at hockey. Plus, we get a candid take on how Izzy and Paige feel about the Trainwreck alliance and the strategy behind the Driver's Seat twist (or as we like to call it at TGR, the Knee Deep in the Passenger Seat strategy). This is a fun, super-sized episode! Video will also be available on our YouTube channel. 

The teams dive into some old-school Amazing Race travel (by train) from the Netherlands to Prague. At the top of the pack, Jas and Jag (the self-dubbed "turbanators") ally with the Brothers Keffiyeh, Joseph and Adam, and team Sister-my-Sister / Huju (aka hug-jump), Natalie and Stephanie. Team Orange, Kristene and Rubina sound like they're speaking Klingon at the tavern crest-matching challenge, and Team Lesbos, aka LEZBOSS, Izzy and Paige tell us their love story, complete with photos taken in a U-Haul. 

We're back covering season 38 of The Amazing Race, which is filled with Big Brother contestants and GAYS! Phil greets teams in the "cradle of democracy," as they're collectively tasked with human bowling, creating cheese pyramids and color-coordinating gerber daisies, the flowers Karen calls "90s lesbian coded." We LOVE Izzy and Paige, who look like they're already part of our friend group (Thanks for inviting us to the S38 Hollywood Premiere Party)! We also have our eyes on the core lady-to-lady teams who finished near the top at this week's pit stop, including Nicole's early fan-fic faves, Kristene and Rubina (hi Pinay sisters!). We're also obsessed with Natalie and Stephane, the team we're calling "sister-my-sister," who "huju," or "hug jump" their way through the opening episode. SAD NEWS: we are no longer a part of the elimination station junket, but we'll be bringing in some of this season's teams by other means. 

Creator of the Ultimatum Fantasy League Dani Wassel, and raconteur, writer and performer Amanda-Faye Jimenez join Karen and Nicole to process everything from "The Choice" to "Ultimatum Day." We discuss a range of topics from trial spouse criteria, to dommy mommy issues, to sexual loopholes and "good old fashioned tribadism." Happy 4th of July!

Surprise! TGR returns with 3 special bonus episodes on season 2 of THE ULTIMATUM: QUEER LOVE. Karen and Nicole gather queer experts, friends of the pod and Ultimatum enthusiasts to join them in astute, if also sometimes raw and raunchy assessments of the couplings, uncouplings and potential throuplings of Netflix's messiest queer dating show. This week: Greta La Fleur and Poulomi Saha join us to introduce all the couples, haircuts, trial spouses and more leading up to "The Choice." 

Join us for some intense and candid Elimination Station interviews with the final 4 teams, Josiah and Alyssa, Jonathan and Ana, Han and Holden and Jack and Carson. So much gaymazing processing, truth talking and big love! Follow our IG @gaymazingrace for updates on footage taken at the watch party :)  

  The Amazing Race reaches its breathtaking end, and we dive into all the Gaymazingness the final legs in Portugal and Miami have to offer. We're left with a cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate episode, in which team ToH and the Soccersexuals compete for the last spot in the finale. In the finale, we see teams face their greatest fears while trying to achieve their greatest hopes. Have we reached peak Gaymazing from this most beloved reality franchise? What protocols of therapy and calling in has The Amazing Race brought to us this season?   

This was a tough episode of The Amazing Race for the contestants and us. The teams joust head-to-head, which brings up a lot of masc issues with the str8 guys, before consuming eight varieties of French soft, semi soft and hard cheeses on an empty stomach, followed by running up the stairs of a cathedral. Team Tragedy of Heterosexuality (Jonathan and Ana) are having a ROUGH leg, as Jonathan won't stop berating Ana for her every move, even though (maybe because?) he was bested at the joust by Carson. Team What About Bob (Han and Holden) give us Winnicottian lessons on what's "good enough" to stay in the race. The Gaymers (Jack and Carson) rightly proclaim "The race is not the place to work out your control issues." Sadly this leg ends with the saddest of outcomes, because our beautiful, handsome, shining knights of Las Vegas, Cirque du so Gay (Mark and Brett) meet their bitter end in the pinot gris fields of France. 

We've reached leg 9 of The Amazing Race, and all of the teams are excited by the old world charm and "verticality" of Napoli, Italy–and it's the first time TAR has visited this destination. Mark is "gagged" to be there, and we learn more about his and Brett's backstory as godpoppas and donors to their lesbian BFF neighbors in Las Vegas. Jonathan and Ana have their best detour yet and work well together assembling a mandolin, while all the other teams fondle, plait and braid mozzarella. Carson himself eventually makes a "son" (i.e. a littler pizza compared to a "mother" pizza) at the "Who wants to get saucy?" road block.  What About Bob, Han and Holden, trail the entire episode after struggling with "race brain" and eldest Asian immigrant daughter expectations. They get to the pit stop last, but guess what? It's the first non-elimination leg in ages and everyone lives to race again.

The Amazing Race continues in Sofia, Bulgaria, and we wonder: which TAR intern had to book the dungeon on Peer Space for the fire-walking Express Pass challenge? Nicole thinks this episode in the "A"-range for its gay score when all of our straight guy competitors take tremendous joy dancing in the water with circles of local men,, as the teams have to dive "Like a Prayer"-style to fetch an ornate cross out of the water. What About Bob (Han and Holden) switch affiliations in the middle of a Davinci Code-style cipher challenge. Cirque du so Gay (Mark and Brett) continue to bring the charming Danny and Oswald vibes as they ease their way through the city with their charms and talents, while our Gaymers think there's no time for building "good karma" at this late stage of the race. Erika and Melinda, arguably the most successful mother/daughter team on the race thus far make a fatal error misreading their clue and wind up in our Elimination Station. 

The Amazing Race teams face their first self-drive in Bulgaria, as well as another double U-turn. Our Gaymers end up lost beyond all hope, it seems, after struggling with navigation lagging nearly three hours behind everyone else. This leaves teams What About Bob (Han and Holden) and the Basic Bros (Nick and Mike) vulnerable to the  U-turn, which is exactly what Erika and Melinda do to the boys. Ana endures more of  Jonathan's craptastic attitude, as he blames her for every little thing that goes wrong even though he gets them stuck in a ditch. Meanwhile, our soccersexuals Alyssa and Josiah keep supporting each other to bigger gains each week. Cirque du So Gay, Mark and Brett, experience personal growth at the sheep milking challenge, while a needle in the haystack challenge gives our Gaymers a chance. They muscle up to come all the way back and send the bros, Nick and Mike to our elimination station.

We've reached the halfway point of The Amazing Race, and the teams are in Dubai for some SATC2-coded adventures, along with two roadblocks, a fast forward and lots of diving. We learn that Han has a boyfriend (sad) after she says "YES, CHEF" during a tea challenge, but where the Lorde taketh, they also giveth, and we get a few Gaymazing moments (perhaps unintentionally) courtesy of Holden. Our Gaymers can no longer hide that they're a threat, while Brett composes a song on the beach in Dubai. Tragically, Pops and Jeff join us in our Elimination Station after narrowly losing a footrace to the pitstop.  

Nicole and Karen get into the gayest episode of The Amazing Race this season, as Cirque du So Gay (Mark and Brett), and The Gaymers (Jack and Carson) both wind up on top–but who tops whom between them? Meanwhile, the tragedy of heterosexuality plays out as two of the remaining three straight couples face the dreaded double U-Turn. Karen, who is based in NY until the end of the season made her way to the Gaymers' weekly watch party at Berry Park in Brooklyn, where she hung out and got some awesome vox pop commentary from perennial faves Ricky & César, as well as Jack and Carson themseles. This may be one of OUR most gaymazing episodes yet!   

The Amazing Race heads to Bali, and our special guest co-hosts Ricky & César, the winners of season 36, join Karen to process the first ever "Driver's Seat" aka "Knee Deep in the Passenger Seat" challenge. Our Gaymers Carson and Jack bring multiple gaymazing moments in taxicabs and on their ATVs this episode. Meanwhile, Team Cirque du so Gay, Mark and Brett hustle hard while telling us about their skin care routine and the importance of Zen. Our last sapphic-coded duo, Team Cardigan (Bernie and Carrigain) are in the back of the pack and we are on pins and needles figuring out if they'll survive being saddled w/ extra weight at the rice threshing Road Block. Plus, confirmation on whether or not our gaydar is at least half right as we check in with Bernie and Carrigain in our Elimination Station. 

Both Karen and Nicole are recording on the road after their own planes, trains and automobiles, so their Amazing Race recap is a little more "gestalt" than precise for S37, E4, as the teams travel to Kyoto on the bullet train. Ironically, both our sapphic fanfic team, Bernie and Carrigain and our actual sapphic team, Courney and Jasmin are in trouble on this leg after being confronted by a sporty challenge. Soccer opens our eyes to the bisexual potential of a couple of the other teams. While all the teams struggle with being ninjas, including our gaymers, Mark does give good face during the fold-it origami challenge. At the pitstop, we learn about a NEW challenge structure called the "Driver's Seat," which conjured echoes of Chappel Roan in our heads. Sadly, Nicole welcomes our sapphic nurses, Courtney and Jasmin to Elimination Station.   

The Amazing Race continues onto Osaka, Japan, and some of our gaymazing suspicions are confirmed, as we learn about the gamers (aka "gaymers") cute back-story of coming out to each other as young gays who weren't gay for each other. We've rechristened Carrigain with the sapphic Gaylor nickname, "Cardigan," and Nicole has pointed out that Bernie's tongue is pierced and looks good with her hoodie. Meanwhile, the teams drum, wrestle sumos and make mochi, while Karen insists on adding "making mochi" to the gay lexicon. We sit down with Bubblegum, aka Bridget and her rappin' dad Ernest in the elimination station this week after Ernest struggles on the Taiko drums. 

What is bun-scrambling, and who's good at it? And which daddy gets to be "a female" in an opera singing challenge in Hong Kong? Welcome back to the Gaymazing Race!!! Season 37 of The Amazing Race debuts with 14 teams, the most ever to compete on the first leg. This is owed to the introduction of a NEW challenge structure, the "Fork in the Road," where teams are divided for the detour and the pit stop, effectively narrowing the competition to just 7 teams on each side. Who survives this cutthroat best-of-seven showdown in Hong Kong?! We meet several gaymazing teams, including cirque du soleil supergays Brett and Mark, sapphic nurses Courtney and Jasmin, and others who flash jazz hands and sport tattoos, while having gender neutral names. Sadly, our two most mature teams end up chatting in our elimination station, Mark and Harry, and Jackye and Lauren.   

Once again, we were tantalized by the promise of a historic GALA (Gay and Lesbian Alliance) between Ricky & Cesar and Yvonne & Melissa, as the final five hit the Dominican Republic to water slide into natural grottoes, harvest cacao and play some D.R.-style "beisbol." Sadly, Melissa is stumped by a rock-symbol challenge and Yvonne's struggled to make a bottlecap fly with a broomstick.. With just a two-minute gap between 4th and last, our girls who like girls who like the Amazing Race ended up in our elimination station, where they give us the ins and outs of their own "Gaymazing Race."  Plus we finally learn their zodiac signs!

The Amazing Race gets busy in Barbados, Rihanna's homeland. We admire their tiny jeeps and racquet sports skills, though the teams still struggle with navigation. There's another tantalizing possibility of another all gay alliance at the fish pot detour. Leading up to it Team Walla Walla Mama & Son LOSE THEIR CREW, which sends them directly to our Elimination Station. 

The Amazing Race teams head to Uruguay where Brokeback Fannypack is under the weather, and Sunny and Bizzy are looking forward to a "Girls night out, girls night in." Parenting emerges as a leitmotif in this episode, and we see Walla Walla Momma and Son emerge from the pack to run their own race. Ricky and César and Yvo and Melissa–aka, THE GAYS–all take on a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence-style Detour, and we are devastated (but also thrilled) to welcome our favorite Midwestern firefighter ladies, Sunny and Bizzy into our Elimination Station. 

Friend of the pod Kat Spada from Feminist Frequency Radio sits in for Nicole this week, as The Amazing Race moves to Argentina for gaymazing challenges that involve recycling and meat puzzles. Can Ricky & César keep Shane and Juan, aka Brokeback Fannypack from overtaking their top position? The girls who like girls, Yvonne and Melissa, and the other girls who like wraparound sunglasses, Sunny and Bizzy, explore an alliance together as the other three boy/girl teams, Rod and "Chichi," Walla Walla Momma and Son (Danny and Angie), and Team Anesthesia (Vinny and Amber) block them out of the of the meat puzzle detour.. This leaves our Sexy Grandparents Derek and Shelisa the odd on's out, and they sadly have to  join us in our  elimination station.

Sorry for the delay in getting this episode out! Nicole recorded this mere hours before her own amazing race to a meditation retreat, and our production assistant Corky (Karen's cat) kept pausing the recording to give notes. He's very picky. 

Ajuan Mance, an artist, illustrator and author of many books and comics series joins us on our own megaleg, as The Amazing Race continues in Colombia. A rebus puzzle nearly derails our favorite lady firefighters, Sunny and Bizzy, who at this point are showing more enthusiasm for each other than the girls who like girls who like hiking. Ricky and César continue their gay excellence, while Vinny exercises his Pinoy patience with Amber as she struggles with self confidence. Things get artsy and anguished to the very finish, and we (tearfully) welcome Team Double Dutch, Michelle and Sean to our Elimination Station. 

Ricky & César remain strong as they cruise through the first Colombian leg of The Amazing Race, which involves cooking platters of meats, salty abuelas, and squeezing coffee bean baskets between one's knees. Whither the girls who like girls, Yvonne and Melissa, who get nary an edit in this ep, as the firefighter sheroes prove why they're shaping up to be a perfect fan fic duo, babe, for this year's cast. The Encino Man twins, aka Floribama Shore, aka Anthony and Bailey join us for a cute elimination station.  Plus, more on Vinny's Filipinoness and our confusion about why he doesn't know what chicharron is.

Melissa, one of the girls who likes girls on The Amazing Race spawns the first lesbian catch phrase of the season. Nicole and KT take bets about whether or not she's a Virgo or a Scorpio. This season continues to SERVE gaymazingness and intrigue, as Ricky and Cesar, and Yvonne and Melissa finish in the top 5. KT shares more insider gaycation info about Puerto Vallarta, and the bustling gay district of Zona Romantica, where this leg is run, and we say goodbye to our favorite Zaddy Chris and his dear daughter Mary in the Elimination Station. 

We are BACK, and both Karen and Nicole have a lot of annoying Puerto Vallarta expertise to share, as they marvel at this season's gaymazing cast. Which butch daddy are both hosts enamored with in between their distracted chatter about The Traitors US, UK, Australia and New Zealand? And what do they make of this season's LGBTQ+ abundance? Maya and Rohan, siblings and Amazing Race superfans from birth join us in this week's elimination station. 

It's a nailbiter of a finale for season 35 of The Amazing Race, as the top three teams scramble throughout Seattle without coffee. The "grunge" challenge leads to some challenging understanding of tops, while "glass" requires everyone learn how to blow. "Grab" becomes someone's Carrie Bradshaw moment, and we talk to all three finalists in our last mega-sized elimination station of the season. 

The Amazing Race teams arrive in Dublin for the penultimate leg, and despite everyone having to Riverdance at the Gaiety theater, Karen and Nicole think this is among the straightest episodes yet.  Corey falls in love with his pretty dance instructor, the lady Swayze to his Baby, while John from Team BLERD is lithe and light in his (heeled) dancing shoes. Beardback Mountain duke it out with Steve and Anna Leigh, aka Team "Daddy/Daughter Dance" for the last spot in the finals. Despite some initial reservations, Nicole is ALL-IN on Steve conquering his cardio-challenges, while Karen pulls for Anna Leigh to remain the last woman standing in season 35. Sadly, none of this pans out and our hosts have to enter "right relation" with another team in the elimination station. Plus, we speculate whether or not the Irish pitstop greeter is a "non-practicing bisexual."  

Things get tense as the final 5 teams on The Amazing Race winnow down to 4 in Sweden's Stockholm archipelago. Everyone skydives their way to Nordic bliss before the slimmest of margins separate all the teams. This week's detour is decidedly a choice between a lesbian task–recycling–and a gay task: expediting a gourmet French menu. Nicole makes a case for reimagining team Beardback Mountain as "pansexual," while Karen bonds with our elimination station guests, Todd and Ashlie who are also from the I.E. (Inland Empire)  

After a long prelude in which Nicole and Karen discuss the new Todd Haynes film, May December, with some notes on which Amazing Race contestants they would cast in the lead roles, they get into how painfully straight the show has become. Slovenia feels very "Covid lockdown" season to our team, despite all the hype. Karen talks a little too much about caves, and Nicole thinks the greeters at the end of this leg are lesbian nuns. We are of course devastated that our brash fanfiction team is KNOCKED OUT (farewell Robbin and Chelsea), and we wonder if there's any gaymazing hope left as we near the finish line.

The Amazing Race visits Llubjana, Slovenia for the first time ever in its history, and Karen tells us about how Llubjana became a gaycation destination in the late aughts and early-2010s. Nicole softens to Steve, the daddy of team Daddy/Daughter dance, especially after Anna Leigh makes him run up a long ski lift for an express pass that was already claimed. Despite the gayness of Llubjana, we were hard-pressed to find gaymazing content beyond the detour where the judges of both sides offered the slightest glimmer of queer potential. Morgan and Lena join us in the elimination station after a photo finish at the Dragon Bridge pit stop, and we get into the sad, contested history of cast members who were also gay, but had some other aspect of their "difference" determine their storyline. 

The Amazing Racers take a 15 hour flight from Jaipur to Frankfurt where the season's first self-driving leg awaits them. As they make their way along the Rhine, we find out who can't find the right ferry. Are all the teams secretly laughing at the German word "Fährt"? Karen declares she would "slay in Köln," one of her favorite cities in the world, and a place she knows well. Nicole feels like the wayward teams have captured her true TAR spirit. Plus, experience the Kölner carnival challenge that makes EVERYONE a little bit gay. 

Kat Spada of Feminist Frequency Radio guest-hosts as Nicole takes the week off for a silent meditation retreat (gaymazing!). Kat comes in hot with new team nicknames like "ZZ and/or Top" (referring of course to team Beardback Mountain), as we give a thorough account of the mega part of the teams' second leg through Vietnam. The matching challenge at the Hung King Temple broke our hearts, especially because it meant Jocelyn and Victor were waiting for us in the elimination station. Plus, some chatter up top about what it means to watch The Amazing Race with a "queer gaze." 

Nicole and Karen 's powers of projection are more powerful than ever as they comb through the details of TAR's leg 3 in Vietnam for the subtlest of queer content. How are our fanfic Gaymazing teams (the tatted-up GenX moms, and "Beardback Mountain") faring against the ACTUAL gays competing this season, Joe and Ian? How hot does it get in the vinyl challenge? And who can roll the rice right to slide into the pit-stop first? This, and disturbing new sound effects on this week's TGR!

Nicole and Karen are back to give you all their spicy, gaymazing commentary on not one, but the first TWO episodes of season 35 of The Amazing Race. What teams have each of them cathected onto for their gay fan-fiction? Who are their favorites otherwise?  Is this season's gay team evil enough? Plus interviews with the eliminated contestants.