Normal Gossip
5.0/5
Critic Rating
Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Kelsey McKinney discusses reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. The second-hand truth really is stranger than fiction. Produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Show art by Tara Jacoby. https://normalgossip.komi.io/
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Chelsea Daniel • Vogue • Dec 7, 2023
"Hosted by the captivating Kelsey McKinney, Normal Gossip delivers a mix of juicy, listener-submitted, completely anonymous stories that keep you on the edge of your seat. This podcast feels like stumbling upon an amusing chat out in the world, and I absolutely adore it."
Score: 5
Sarah Larson • New Yorker • Sep 29, 2023
"...cozy-chatty podcast...full of sharply described scenes and characters, staggeringly nutty decision-making, and plenty of surprises. The stories’ oratorio-like endings evoke the absurd, well-constructed pleasures of a “Seinfeld” episode, but the show never loses its organic tone...conversational naturalism..."
Score: 5
Emma Carey • Esquire • Sep 1, 2023
"...the most tantalizing, distant, and low-stakes gossip possible to listeners each week. McKinney and her guests hilariously hash out other people’s lives without, well, ruining them. The result is a weekly chit-chat that will itch your gossip scratch for the week without the guilt or consequences."
Score: 5
Eoghan O'Sullivan • Irish Examiner • May 2, 2023
"Long, juicy, strange, funny stories that may or may not be true - you’ll lap it up."
Score: 5
Amy Beecham • Stylist • Dec 24, 2022
"Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet...it’s utterly addictive listening....you literally never know what might come next."
Score: 5
Emma Dibdin • New York Times • Jun 28, 2022
"The low stakes are part of what makes “Normal Gossip” work — each yarn is as inconsequential as it is juicy, a pleasure as fleeting as cotton candy."
Score: 5
Andy Dehnart • Reality Blurred • May 30, 2022
"They’re so satisfying, and my only complaint is that I hate when stories and episodes end. That’s because the stories are unspooled well, and have just the right amount of surprising twists and juicy moments. Occasionally I found myself wondering about the veracity and verifiability of the stories, but that’s gossip, right?"
Score: 5
Smithereens Staff • Smithereens Blog • Apr 1, 2022
"This podcast is like satisfying a sweet craving, in a weird way. I don’t know at all the people they speak about, I have never met them and the story has anonymized some details, but I was sucked in and could not help but think about what I would say or do in the situation."
Score: 5
Áine Ryan • 9Honey • Mar 21, 2022
"...each episode is more jaw-dropping than the last. So much so, you might be tempted to google the little crumbs McKinney and Laughlin have dropped in an effort to identify the people involved. …"
Score: 5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Feb 17, 2022
"McKinney is a great, casual storyteller; her slightly discursive style lulls you into a soothing rhythm before a sly reveal extracts an involuntary gasp. Normal Gossip can evoke bigger ideas about gossip: its purpose in society, its nature and meaning, its appeal. There’s no need to always over-intellectualize things. Good gossip can be just a good time."
Score: 5
Rachel Syme • New Yorker • Jan 24, 2022
"...provides pure, voyeuristic, candy-coated pleasure. The show evokes the thrill of sitting next to chatty, high-drama strangers at a café, a rare feeling in these indoor-oriented times. It’s delicious."
Score: 5
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter • Jan 17, 2021
"The kind of gossip your mom tells you she heard about at the hairdresser. The way it’s presented, it feels a little like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. (What would you do if this happened to you?) A fantastic episode with Sam Sanders about a woman who learns a bit too much about her boyfriend’s family will force you to question your morals and ask yourself, how did this woman get into this situation?"
