It's Called Reality

America's Sweethearts: Cowboys, Cults, and Performing Femininity

This week, we get into all three seasons of America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, from the audition process that breaks your heart, the five-year ceiling, the pay fight, and the slow transformation from Season 1 to Season 3 of women who were reflections of a brand becoming individual stars the brand can no longer control. Also discussed: whether the DCC is a cult, beauty standards, and parallels with K-pop. Subscribe wherever you listen. Tell your group chat. ------------- Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

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Love Island USA Season 8: The Good, The Bad, and The Lustful

Love Island USA Season 8 ran for 32 episodes, set records on Peacock, and somehow still felt like something was missing. Will Willow feel this way about every new season because she just can't let go of Season 6? Perhaps. This week, we're breaking down our Top 10 most important moments, takeaways, and cultural flashpoints of the season. From the Gen Z puritan paradox to the parasocial power trip of public voting, to two consecutive seasons of racial slur removals and what that says about Love Island's casting pipeline, our big question is: why weren't we really rooting for anyone? Subscribe wherever you listen. Tell your group chat. ------------- LINKS Read The Hollywood Reporter piece about reality TV's impact on Fiji https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/fiji-tourism-reality-tv-shows-love-island-survivor-1236574280/ Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays.

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The Real Housewives of Rhode Island: A History of Women’s Stories

Rhode Island: it's the smallest state in the US, and it also just delivered one of the most compelling first seasons in Real Housewives history, and we are here for it! This week, we're breaking down the cast, the drama, the reunion, why showcasing stories about menopause is so important, and what the "slam pig" incident reveals about how women police each other. ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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Perspectives on Couples Therapy: What We're Really Fighting About

This week, we're getting on the therapist's couch -- specifically, Dr. Orna's couch -- to dig into what Couples Therapy is really about. We're breaking down the three couples at the heart of Season 2 to look at anxious-avoidant spirals that are hard to watch and deeply relatable, navigating relationships that life thrust upon them, and how to navigate recovery in a relationship. Then we zoom out to discuss what Orna's supervision sessions reveal about therapists being human, why the show matters for normalizing therapy, what Season 5's chatGPT-using-husband says about the loneliness epidemic, and why weaponized therapy speak is a problem even if going to therapy isn't. Plus: Briana almost went to therapy school, Willow got broken up with by her therapist, and we're both anxious-avoidant. CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses addiction, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care. ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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America’s Next Top Model: A History of Beauty Standards

America's Next Top Model ran for 24 cycles, launching a generation of girls into a modelling fantasy world. This week, we're digging into what ANTM was really selling: the makeover myth, the beauty-is-pain narrative, the contradictions of a show that claimed to expand beauty standards while simultaneously reinforcing them. We get into Tyra as a complicated figure, why Janice Dickinson on the judging panel was never going help, and how the Wild West of early reality TV meant nobody was protected. From heroin chic to GLP-1 ads on every billboard, from girl boss hustle culture to trad wife soft-launching on your feed, the beauty standard didn't disappear. It just changed platforms, and the algorithm is still profiting off the same insecurities. ⚠️ Content warning: this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image. If you or someone you know needs support: 🇨🇦 National Eating Disorder Information Centre: nedic.ca | 1-866-633-4220 🇺🇸 National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline: 1-866-662-1235 | allianceforeatingdisorders.com ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

Disinformation, Bias, and Who Controls the Story: A Traitors Masterclass

This week, we're getting into the iconic hit reality franchise, The Traitors. We analyze the actual origins of the game (it started as a Soviet social psychology experiment, no joke), who's actually good at playing it and why, and the unhinged joy of watching people lie to each other for entertainment. Then we get into groupthink, confirmation bias, and why everybody at the round table should take a media literacy course. ⚠️ Spoilers ahead for all aired seasons of The Traitors. ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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The Reality TV Industrial Complex: Mormon Wives, The Bachelorette, and What We Owe the Women We Watch

This week, we get into the machine that made Taylor Frankie Paul, and what happened when it couldn't contain her anymore. From MomTok to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives to The Bachelorette season that has yet to air, we break down her redemption arc, the gamble ABC made, why Dakota is still on our screens, and the question underneath it all: what do we -- audiences, networks, and media -- actually owe the women we watch? Note: episode was recorded April 18th, 2026, as information was still coming in. ⚠️ Content warning: this episode discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you know is affected, please reach out: 🇺🇸 National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 | thehotline.org 🇨🇦 Assaulted Women's Helpline: 1-866-863-0511 | awhl.org ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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Survivor 50: A Case Study in Narrative Control

This episode contains Survivor 50 spoilers! You've been warned. This week, we dig into Season 50 of Survivor: the twists that overshadowed the players, the fan participation that wasn't, the gendered edit that disappeared some the season's top players, and what Christian Hubicki's elimination tells us about what happens when production stops trusting its own show. Plus: Who we were rooting for, how we'd play Survivor, our hot takes on how to make Survivor better. ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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Intro to Reality TV: It’s Not Just A Guilty Pleasure

Welcome to It's Called Reality! In our inaugural episode, we get into our origin stories with reality TV, and the argument that's going to drive every episode of this show: reality TV isn't just a guilty pleasure, it's a kind of mirror. And if you look closely enough, all the same forces that shape the world show up every week on these shows. We get into why/what we started watching, what we love about it, what we're watching now, and how we'd play if we were cast on a reality show. Subscribe wherever you listen. Tell your group chat. ------------- LINKS Listen to It's Called Reality: itscalledreality.tv Follow us: Instagram @itscalledreality and TikTok @its.called.reality Get in touch: questions@importantnotimportant.com -- send us your hot takes, questions, memes, and shows you want us to cover. We read them all. Take action: whatcanido.earth Support the show: It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important. If you want to go deeper on the issues we cover (and get future ad-free and bonus episodes!) consider becoming an Important Member: importantnotimportant.com/upgrade ------------- It's Called Reality is co-hosted by Willow Beck and Briana Brown, produced by Important, Not Important. New episodes on Fridays. If you love it, leave a rating and review!

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Introducing: It's Called Reality

Reality TV. You already watch it. You already have opinions. It's Called Reality gives you somewhere to take them seriously. Hosts Willow Beck and Briana Brown have been texting each other about their reality TV obsessions for years. Now they're yapping about it on a podcast -- and going a lot deeper than the drama. Every episode covers a different franchise, pulling the thread on the beauty standards, the bias, the power dynamics, and what it all reveals about the world we actually live in. From the Mormon Wives machine and what it says about how we treat women in media, to the Traitors as a masterclass in disinformation and groupthink, to Survivor as a case study in narrative control -- this is the discourse for people who give a shit. Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode. -------- Find us: Instagram: @itscalledreality TikTok: @its.called.reality Website: itscalledreality.tv Email: questions@importantnotimportant.com -------- It's Called Reality is produced by Important, Not Important.

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