Thank you so much to Jose Cuervo for sponsoring this episode. Buy Jose Cuervo here: https://www.danmurphys.com.au/list/jose-cuervo

In this week's episode, I explore the culture of celebrity blind items— from its origins to its rising popularity in recent years and of course, the ethical implications of this type of gossip content.

Timestamps:

00:32 Intro

4:55 What is a blind item?

6:17 The history of blind items

9:14 Crazy Days & Nights

11:57 Blind items & social media

14:02 Blind item TikTokers

14:57 Why have blind items become so popular lately?

15:11 Theory #1: Transparency of celebrity PR machine

19:25 Theory #2: The rise of misinformation & citizen journalism

23:28 Theory #3: The mainstream-ification of conspiracy theories

26:48 Theory #4: Blind items feed into our negativity bias

29:34 Conclusion: The ethical implications of blind items

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Sources:

Capote, T. (1974). Blind Items. In Ladies’ home journal (Vol. 91, Number 1, pp. 81-). Meredith Corporation.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-03-11/gossip-blind-items-from-tiktok-to-podcasts 

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a62807688/town-topics-gilded-age-william-dalton-mann/ 

https://www.strikemagazines.com/blog-2-1/if-youve-heard-of-blind-items-youre-hot 

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/10/crazy-days-and-nights-enty-interview?srsltid=AfmBOopWGxKGjwCsg94XMK1Y3FrztW05VzgBK9koRUaBd2fw_Ab1jHdC 

https://www.vulture.com/article/enty-lawyer-crazy-days-and-nights-john-nelson.html?

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/crazy-days-and-nights-an-interview-with-the-elusive_b_5a57d145e4b0b1f4505c82ec 

https://www.laineygossip.com/Home/Press# 

https://www.elle.com/fashion/a60387426/musicians-eras-trend-2024/ 

https://centennialworld.com/deuxmoi-anonymous-user-submitted-gossip/