Why This, Why Now?

Real Talk, Whole Life

What happens when your best friend of 22 years is a feminist pop culture critic who left social media—and you decide to give her a microphone? Pure magic. In this episode, Stacy sits down with her longtime bestie Daynah Burnett to get real about everything from TikTok slang confusion and “Love is Blind” hot takes to why reality TV might be secretly good for your emotional intelligence.

They unpack the state of media, generational drama (yes, your mom did mess up your bangs and your boundaries), emotional intelligence on screen, and why Pedro Pascal is everyone’s daddy. It’s sharp, hilarious, occasionally spicy, and exactly the kind of late-night-deep-dive-energy your group text wishes it had.

Spoiler alert: there are actual spoilers. For “The Last of Us,” “Hacks,” “Love on the Spectrum,” and probably whatever you’re watching next.

• 00:00 | Introducing Daynah + Friendship Origins

• 02:00 | English Majors, Feminism, and Cultural Criticism

• 06:00 | Career in Tech, Leaving Social Media, and Ethical Work

• 11:00 | Social Media, Teen Slang, and Digital Overload

• 16:00 | Pop Culture Consumption Without Social Media

• 21:00 | The Last of Us, Grief, and Emotional Intelligence in TV

• 27:00 | Generational Trauma in Media: Hacks + Representation

• 32:00 | Reality TV as Emotional Modeling: Love on the Spectrum

• 38:00 | Neurodivergent Representation + Viewer Bias Awareness

• 44:00 | Recommendations: The Rehearsal, Sirens, The Goat, Studio

• 50:00 | Book Recs, Celebrity Bios, and Pandemic Storytelling

• 55:00 | Celebrity Encounters + Shared Memories

• 58:00 | Closing Thoughts + Listener Invitation

Find Stacy:

• ⁠realeverything.com⁠
• ⁠instagram.com/realstacytoth⁠
• ⁠missionmakersart.com

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