Who? Weekly

Who? Weekly is a bi-weekly celebrity gossip podcast presented by Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber. Focusing specifically on tabloid coverage of D-list celebrities, it tackles, according to the tagline, "everything you need to know about the celebrities you don't".[1]

Who Weekly
Who? Weekly logo
Presentation
Hosted byBobby Finger and Lindsey Weber
GenreComedy, Talk
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesBiweekly
LengthApprox. 45 minutes
Publication
Original release18 January 2016 – present
ProviderIndependent
Websitewww.whoweekly.us

History

Who? Weekly began as an occasional newsletter written by friends and pop-culture writers Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber before spinning off into a podcast.[2][3] The first episode was aired on January 18, 2016 [4] on the HeadGum network.[5] The podcast is currently released independently.

In both the newsletter and in the podcast, celebrities, ex-reality television contestants, youtube stars, broadway actors, and social media influencers[6][7] are categorized as either "Whos" or "Thems" – roughly D-list vs A-list celebrities – according to their name recognition and the nature of their fame. Whos and Thems are named for the likely response to hearing a person's name: "who?" vs "oh, them!"[8] [9] This extends into, for example, describing behavior as "who-y", if it is seen as self-promotional or tacky, for example producing "sponcon" (sponsored content) or writing public apologies on Notes app.[10] Although mainly dividing the celebrity landscape between "Whos" and "Thems", the podcast has also created the categories "T.H.A.M.P.S." (or THAMPS) for the pseudo-famous Trainers, Hairstylists, Agents, Makeup Artists, Publicists and Stylists,[11][12] and "Nahs" for people that might be in the public eye, but are not famous enough to even be considered a Who.[13]

The duo continued releasing weekly newsletters as an accompaniment to the podcast episodes for paid supporters on Patreon.[14] As of 2020, the newsletter has been replaced with Who? Daily, consisting of four mini-episodes a week with stories not covered in the main podcast episodes.[15]

Beginning in October 2017, there have been a series of live Who? Weekly shows across the United States.[16][17]

Format and recurring segments

Episodes air biweekly and alternate between the main episode discussing topical celebrity news and "Who's There" episodes, which consist of responses to callers' questions and stories left on the podcast hotline.

Main episode

What's Rita Up To?

Main episodes always end on the segment What's Rita Up To?, featuring an update on the activities of singer Rita Ora[6]. Ora is considered by the hosts to be the "original, OG Who" and the "Patron Who"[18] for her ubiquitous appearances in tabloids and relative anonymity in the United States.

Last Weekly

An infrequent segment dependent on one of the hosts' access to Us Weekly. Last Weekly[19] is a multiple choice guessing game in which on of the hosts needs to figure out the celebrity being profiled in one of the tabloid's segments.

I Don’t Know Her

Described as a "deranged version of six degrees of separation",[20] the hosts speculate if a specific Them celebrity knows a specific Who celebrity.

Most Markleous Headline of the Week

A limited segment that followed the most outrageous headlines during the media coverage running up to the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and now Megxit.[21]

Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes

A rapid-fire segment, in which each host has 30 seconds to explain a dark or disturbing piece of celebrity news and the other host responds with "yikes".[22]

Who's There

Who's There episodes were a later addition to the show, added after fans began contacting the hosts asking about the identity of various celebrities. The hosts consider the call-in show an integral part of the podcast as it opened up a dialogue between the hosts and their fan base and created a sense of community between the fans.[20]

Callers traditionally sign-off with in-jokes from earlier episodes,[2] like, "good form, Bella Thorne", “me in Greece”, “ScarJo YummyPop”, “crunch crunch!” and "Women don't belong in balloons" [23][6][24].

Who Dat

Features guest hosts Shani Hilton and Aminatou Sow to discuss Black Whos and Thems.

Caller You're Doing Amazing, Sweetie

A naive phone call left unanswered at the end of the show.

Rapid Fire Who/Them

Generally, a weekly segment where the hosts answer, in unison, if the person called about is a Who or a Them.

Says Who?

Features guest hosts to discuss the Whos of their given field[23], for instance, in July 2019, political reporters Clare Malone and Clio Chang joined the hosts to discuss the Whos of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary.[25]

Fanbase

Who? Weekly fans are collectively called Wholigans.[26] The Wholigan Facebook group has 15,000 members and includes not only listeners but industry insiders[6] who discuss celebrity sightings, news, rumors and deep dives. Notably, the search for "who-y" behavior has led the group to discover in 2017 that then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had an open account on mobile payment service Venmo.[10] They began asking for payments as a form of trolling, causing some press attention.[27][28][29]

Celebrity callers to Who's There have included Lena Dunham, Lea DeLaria, and Richard Curtis.

Reception

Slate's Brow Beat described Who? Weekly as "terrific" and said that the show "feels smart and fun because it’s sometimes messy, not in spite of its messiness".[2] The podcast was chosen as one of the best podcasts of 2016 by The New York Times, who said that "the podcast feels delightfully absurd and truly vital in the Trump era",[30] and by Vulture, who said it "has quickly become a cult hit".[3] It has also been recommended by Nylon, Esquire, Marie Claire and Vogue.[31][32][33][34]

References
  1. Smith, Rachel Holliday (2019-01-28). "A Beginner's Guide to Getting Into Podcasts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  2. Brogan, Jacob (15 Apr 2016). "Who? Weekly Is the Perfect Podcast About Celebrities Who Make You Say "Who?"". Slate.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  3. Quah, Nicholas (12 Dec 2016). "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2016". Vulture. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. "Who? Weekly". podbay.fm. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  5. "Who? Weekly". HeadGum. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  6. Harmon, Steph (2019-09-13). "From Rita Ora to Lena Dunham: how a podcast about celebrity became a 'recipe for joy'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  7. Ward, Mary (2019-05-18). "James Charles and the things that make you go, 'Who?'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  8. Finger, Bobby; Weber, Lindsey (20 July 2016). "How to Spot Whos, the Ubiquitous Noncelebrities Flooding Your Social Media". The Cut. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  9. Finger, Lindsey Weber, Bobby (2016-07-20). "How to Spot Whos, the Ubiquitous Noncelebrities Flooding Your Social Media". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  10. Harnish, Amelia. "Wholigans Are The Real Thems Of The Who? Weekly Universe". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  11. "Who's There: Jake Paul & Tiffany Haddish?". Who? Weekly. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  12. "Joyce Bonelli & Tokyo Stylez (T.H.A.M.P.S.) from Who? Weekly". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  13. "Flume, Tracee Ellis Ross & Independent Women Pt. 2? from Who? Weekly". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  14. "Who? Weekly is creating podcasts". Patreon. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  15. "Who? Weekly is creating podcasts". Patreon. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  16. "Who? Weekly Live!". Who? Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  17. "Who? Fall 2017 Tour". Who Weekly. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  18. Baila, Morgan. "Who Weekly Funny Podcast On D-List Celebrities - Review". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  19. Keisha Lance Bottoms & Tristan Evans?, retrieved 2019-09-28
  20. Hoepfner, Fran (27 Sep 2017). "Who? Weekly's creators on why they'll never run out of wannabe celebrities to talk about". AV Club. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  21. "Netta Barzilai & Eurovision 2018? from Who? Weekly". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  22. "Kayti Edwards & Jack Donnelly? from Who? Weekly". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  23. Lutes, Alicia (2019-08-13). "How to stay happy when the news is depressing". Stylist. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  24. "How The Aeronauts Drastically Changed the Real-Life Story". E! Online. 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  25. "Says Who? 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates (ft. Clare Malone & Clio Chang) from Who? Weekly". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  26. Keiles, Jamie Lauren (2019-11-13). "Even Nobodies Have Fans Now. (For Better or Worse.)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  27. Kircher, Madison Malone (6 Feb 2017). "Somebody Found Sean Spicer's Venmo and Now People Are Asking Him for Money". NY Magazine | Select All. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  28. Mei, Gina (8 Feb 2007). "Press Secretary Sean Spicer is Getting Trolled On Venmo". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  29. Calfas, Jennifer (7 Feb 2017). "Social media users are asking Sean Spicer for money on Venmo". The Hill. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  30. Hess, Amanda (6 Dec 2016). "The Best New Podcasts of 2016". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  31. Bryant, Taylor (31 Oct 2016). "15 Podcasts We Can't Stop Listening To Right Now". Nylon. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  32. Dibdin, Emma (14 Oct 2016). "The 25 Essential Podcasts of 2016". Esquire. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  33. Keong, Lori (9 Dec 2016). "The 10 Best New Podcasts of 2016". Marie Claire. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  34. Garcia, Patricia (20 Dec 2017). "11 Great Podcasts For Holiday Travel This Year". Vogue. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
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