Laughing at Hollywood and the U.S. Supreme Court

Lindy West, Meagan Hatcher-Mays and Guy Branum rank Hollywood celebrities and Supreme Court justices in a lighthearted take on pop culture and politics.

New York Times bestselling author Lindy West and democracy expert and “recovering lawyer” Meagan Hatcher-Mays have been best friends for 25 years. Their podcast, Text Me Back!, celebrates that friendship through lively discussions of pop culture, politics, the paranormal and more.  

As part of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival in early May, West and Hatcher-Mays took the stage with comedian and actor Guy Branum for a raucous, gossip-filled dissection of both Hollywood celebrities and the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices.  

In this episode of the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival podcast, the three laugh their way through Branum’s hot takes on his famous colleagues, from Natalie Portman to Chelsea Handler to Ludacris. They then rank the Supreme Court justices from best to worst and give them snappy taglines in the style of the Bravo television franchise The Real Housewives of New York.  

Along the way, the trio delve into serious political issues, too, from voting and reproductive rights to the entrenched power dynamics of the nation’s highest court.  

This conversation was recorded on May 4, 2024 and contains some strong language.  

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Isaac Kaplan-Woolner

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

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