Getting to Know BE
(episode 1)
JAMIE: It’s The Broadly Entertaining Podcast. We’ve got fun, games and feminism comin’ at ya. Thanks for letting us entertain you!
[playful ukulele theme music]
GIANA: Welcome, welcome, welcome to The Broadly Entertaining Podcast! I am Giana, and I am in full support of the Pixie haircut. Joining me on this Broadly Entertaining journey is my co-host and business partner, and dear friend and a perfectly talented and capable woman of introducing herself [small laugh].
JAMIE: Why thank you, Giana, what an introduction! I am Jamie, and I am still a little bit sad that I never had a Teddy Ruxpin as a kid. This is The Broadly Entertaining Podcast for all the femme broads, them broads and dude broads out there, so let's party!
[ukulele reprise with a whistle coda]
GIANA: Let’s party party party. We are definitely celebrating this first episode of The Broadly Entertaining Podcast. A party in your ears, for your ears, wherever your ears are, we want to give them a good time. [plays 4 notes on the ukulele] Uh, Jamie…
JAMIE: Giana.
GIANA: We should maybe kick things off with a little ice breaker.
JAMIE: I love a good ice breaker! How about… Getting To Know You.
GIANA: Oooooh, okay.
JAMIE: Yeah! The question game, not the jaunty tune from The King and I.
GIANA: [slightly disappointed] Oh, alright.
[Jamie laughs]
GIANA: Perfect, then. It just so happens that I have a couple of fresh questions right here – they're fresh, Jamie, they're so fresh, these questions that I have for you…
JAMIE: Fresh out of the oven! What are the odds?
GIANA: What are they. [ukulele chord]
JAMIE: So quick explainer for the folks listening. This is a simple ice breaker game made up of three basic biography questions that we both know ahead of time, and two random questions that we each get to surprise the other with, for which our curiosity is the limit. Giana, would you like to ask first or answer first?
GIANA: That is a really tough question but I am gonna go with answer first.
[Jamie burps, with an echo effect overlaid]
JAMIE: Pardon me, pardon me!
GIANA: Yup, there it is. You’re pardoned.
JAMIE: Great. Great great great, because I also have a couple fresh questions ready to go!
GIANA: [sings the following Outkast lyric] So fresh and so clean clean
JAMIE: [pause] Biography questions first, moving on… [Giana laughs] Where did you grow up?
GIANA: Great question. I would say, generally speaking, I grew up in Reno, Nevada, though I did spend the first eight-ish years of my life in Manteca, California–shout out to Man-Stinka! For people– there's a Spreckels Sugar factory and it made it stinky in Man-Stinka [laughs].
JAMIE: Oh, interesting. Not a good smell, not a good sugary–
GIANA: No, not a great smell. You would think, but no, that is not a great smell. But, I would say I grew up in Reno; yeah I spent most of my adolescence there. Go Nevada.
JAMIE: Cool, cool cool! And while you were generally growing up in Reno, what was your sibling situation?
GIANA: Well I have two! I have an older sister and an older brother, and they both have kids, so I have nieces and nephews, and yay.
JAMIE: Yay indeed! Siblings with kids that have siblings, hurrah! Yeah!
GIANA: Hurrah, huzzah!
JAMIE: [laughs] And, ya know, as I know and as many people who know you know and as our listeners will continue to find out, you are a talented woman. [Giana giggles] Do you have a hidden talent?
GIANA: I don't like to hide my talents because I would rather monetize them. [both laugh] But, if there is a talent that I possess that only a handful of people know about, I would say that it is my talent for good bed making. Like tight corners, decorative pillows, and yes I'm that, like, “Oh man, that Giana chick, she sure uses a lot of pillows on her bed.” [Jamie laughs] Like, I get that, but I want it to look like a catalog. I want them to look like, you know you're in Macy's [laughs]. The pinnacle of bed making careers.
JAMIE: That is a goal. I mean hey, a department store display is a goal.
GIANA: I'm telling you, if I knew that was a job when I was a kid, maybe I’d be in a different place.
JAMIE: Well I'm glad you didn't know that, and that we are in this place, and now I have a question for you that you don't know in advance. Speaking of childhood and growing up, what was your first aspiration as a child? The first thing that you remember being the, when I grow up I want to… fill in the blank.
GIANA: OK it's actually two things simultaneously, strangely, because in 3rd grade I learned what debate was. We had– Miss Garlock was my teacher and she taught us what debates were, and the debate was space versus the ocean. She divided the class up and we got to argue our views. I got to learn what a lawyer was and what an astronaut might do, and research it myself in the same project, so at that time I wanted to be a lawyer-astronaut.
JAMIE: [laughs] So that's an astronaut who practices law and not a lawyer who works specifically for astronauts?
GIANA: You know what, I don't know that third-grade Giana would have cared either way. I think she would have been like, whatever hits first you know?
JAMIE: Fair enough.
GIANA: I think it is safe to say that it is now my turn to ask you some questions. I know that you have one more surprise question for me and that's great, but first I just wanted to, you know, since we're talking about childhood things let's talk about where you grew up.
JAMIE: I grew up in a place that was also known for having a bit of a stink, coincidentally, and that was on Staten Island, New York, which until, I wanna say 2001, was the home of the New York City landfill. So that was something that people sort of knew Staten Island was known for. I will tell you that there is a lot more that Staten Island has to offer than the negative things that it is known for, but I will also say that those negative things are not all necessarily incorrect and I have not rushed back to live there since adulthood.
GIANA: That’s– I did not know that we shared the same smelly childhood past.
JAMIE: I had no idea!
GIANA: We just keep learning more and more about each other everyday, Jamie. What a lovely partnership we have going; this is great. Well let's talk about– let's talk about your smelly siblings, then.
JAMIE: Sure! More things that we have in common. I'm not gonna say that's wrong. [laughs]
GIANA: [laughing] I'm sorry, Nathan; I'm sorry, Evan.
JAMIE: That’s alright, out of the three of us I am probably actually the stinkiest on any given day.
GIANA: Ya know what, I will also agree with that. Not that– I just, you know– I know you, I know them.
JAMIE: Yeah. They probably shower every day.
GIANA: Yeah, I get it.
JAMIE: Yeah. So, yeah! I, too, have two older siblings. They are brothers. Assigned male at birth, cisgender dudes. Nathan is five years older than I am, Evan is two-and-a-half years older than I am, so a very purposeful breakdown in our difference in ages. Our parents were very, uh, very particular. I don't know what my mother's birth control method was but I know that they were very purposeful about how they had their three kids, and that they had me because Evan was a boy and if Evan had been a girl I would not have been.
GIANA: Well…
JAMIE: And some days, I wonder if that would have been fine, but– [both laugh]
GIANA: I am, for one, glad that it turned out– [laughs] Well, you asked about my hidden talents. You're a very talented person, let's… what do you got in the hidden talent arena?
JAMIE: Well like you I am not one for keeping my skills a secret. I like to think it is less about monetization and more about the joy of existence in the world, but, you know, we also exist in a capitalist world so, gotta figure out how those things work together. I think one of my hidden talents is… I'm going to say the ability to correct people's grammar in my head while they're talking to me. In my head; I want to be very clear about that. I'm not stopping people in the middle of speech but my mother was a Spanish and Latin teacher and it's hard to grow up with a mother who's a language teacher and not develop your own relationship to language. We would start sentences with “me” as a kid. If we were like, “Me and Annie are going to the store,” my mother would be like, “who?”, and it was not until we said “Annie and I” that, you know, that we were able to move on. So that was kind of drilled into me, so it might be a hidden talent, it might be a tic, but [laughs], there you go.
GIANA: Parents, huh? [Jamie laughs] Well I want to surprise you. Surprise!
JAMIE: I surprised!
GIANA: Oh, great! With a question, though, so let's do this together. When you were in grade school, what material item, be it a toy or an appliance, whatever it might be, made you feel really envious? This could be because you couldn't have this thing 'cause your parents wouldn't let you or because your family couldn't afford it or whatever the reason was, what is that one thing in grade school time that was like, Ooh if I had that I'd have it going.
JAMIE: Sure. Well the first thing that came to mind is actually from when I was in preschool, so apologies for expanding the age range of the question–
GIANA: That’s okay. That’s alright.
JAMIE: The first thing that came to mind was Teddy Ruxpin. [Giana laughs] For those of you out there who are younger than Giana and I, so I'm gonna say people in their twenties and younger you might not know who Teddy Ruxpin is. It was a teddy bear with a cassette tape that you talked to and it talked back to you with pre-recorded messages, so, you know, an earlier version of a Furby-type thing which is also probably dating myself.
GIANA: Oh, the Furbys. Both equally kinda creepy, though. Same with the Tickle Me Elmo also all these animated, animatronic toys were a little scary.
JAMIE: Our first steps into the uncanny valley of virtual humanity… But yeah, Teddy Ruxpin. When I was in preschool I had a friend named Penny. I think we were just friends for one year, but I would go to her house and play. She would never come to my house which I think my mom had some beef about, but Penny's basement was filled with all of the toys and things that a four-year-old wanted to play with and she had a Teddy Ruxpin which I– You know it was not something that I had. There were no like, religious reasons I couldn't have it. It was probably cost based and it was like, that's junk you don't need, we don't have money for that, you don't get one. Which is fair. You know. In retrospect.
GIANA: Yeah. Can't have ‘em all.
JAMIE: Yeah. No, absolutely.
GIANA: I had a Teddy Ruxpin but I didn't have cable.
JAMIE: OK, yeah, there you go. There you go! Yeah, we got cable, and actually Internet and a home computer when I was 12 or 13, which was I think pretty early on–mid ‘90s so we were early–
GIANA: My parents were equally nerdy. [Jamie laughs] My dad was kind of a computer nerd and so is my brother so we had one kind of early, too, ‘cause they were like, “This thing’s cool.”
JAMIE: Yeah.
GIANA: Yeah! Well let me surprise you with another question if you don't mind– [Jamie gasps in mock surprise, Giana responds in kind]. I'm gonna do two in a row. This one, let's kind of fast forward to a potential future life of Jamie as opposed to child life. You've been cast in your own late night show. I want to know who your very first interview guest is gonna be, who your first musical guest might be, and who's your Ed McMahon? And these can all be dead or alive.
JAMIE: Okay, that was gonna be my first question [both laugh]. Okay, well I mean it seems like you should be by Ed McMahon.
GIANA: Hell yeah.
JAMIE: Yeah!
GIANA: I’ll do it.
JAMIE: Answer that one first, come on. And then, oh gosh… My first… My first interview guest would be… it would have to be a woman, which I'm going to say for the musical guest as well. This is gonna be an all female lineup.
GIANA: Love it.
JAMIE: My first interview guest would be– this is so hard!
GIANA: It's a little hard.
JAMIE: I mean, Michelle Obama comes to mind. That would be an amazing get. She is fascinating, she is smart, she is funny, quick on her feet.
GIANA: Mm hmm.
JAMIE: But then I'm also wondering if I should have somebody who’s more in the arts and entertainment world.
GIANA: Well there's a band spot, which you could also change for like a comedy spot, or another sort of– if that's if that's more your vibe. It's your late night show, man.
JAMIE: Fair, yeah, okay okay, yeah I like that. I like a standup, I like good standup comic.
GIANA: And you're right about Michelle Obama. She's hysterical and I love her.
JAMIE: Yeah, alright, so we'll keep her in the lineup…
GIANA: Yeah let’s keep her in the lineup for sure.
JAMIE: We’ll let her people know. [both laugh] And my first entertainment guest, well let's say Joan Rivers because I said it was gonna be all women, so even though there are definitely standups coming to mind that are men, I am going to stick with the all broad lineup for episode number one.
GIANA: Yup, sure.
JAMIE: And let’s say Joan Rivers because she's also got stories that I would love to hear.
GIANA: What a bill! Michelle Obama and Joan Rivers.
JAMIE: And you!
GIANA: And me! Yeah, totally. What a bill! That's a great bill. I love it.
JAMIE: Thanks! Alright, that was– I’m like, sweating.
GIANA: [laughing] Sorry, I didn't mean to make you sweat.
JAMIE: That's okay, that's okay. It's good to be put on the spot sometimes. Here's your second surprise question, speaking of on the spot. [Giana gasps] I'm gonna pull back from the future and we're gonna go into the present, and also a question that is just sort of more, uh, not time specific if you'd like to take it that way and that question is, What is your favorite room in a house? It can be the favorite room in your house. It can be the favorite room in houses in general. You know, certain rooms have a certain vibe or like, everybody is in the kitchen at the party, not to step on your answers. What's your favorite room in a house, and why?
GIANA: I know what answer my family would say for me and that would be the bathroom, and that is because when I was a kid I had an obsession with knowing what the bathrooms looked like in every restaurant that we went to. If we went out it was– and also I was a kid and I probably just had to fuckin’ pee. I still do this as an adult, there's like a trigger that happens in me when the meal is done I'm like, “Oh! Better go pee!” Like, almost every single time it happens to me and it happened to me then, too. But it did become a bit of a thing, like it was like I wanted to know what every bathroom looked like, so I bet my family would be like, this one. But, I think a cozy den, a sunken living room with a fireplace and soft furniture and coziness and lots of places to be able to easily put a mug of cocoa or cocktail or whatever, might be the best.
JAMIE: Just drink platforms everywhere.
GIANA: Well because it's actually more rooted in, less in the drink and more in the comfort level. I want to be able to be in this comfy zone for as long as possible but I am a human and I need to drink things and eat things so I just wanna stay cozy but be able to put it in close proximity. [laughs]
JAMIE: Yeah, that's legit. That's legit.
GIANA: Great question.
JAMIE: Thanks, great answer! [Giana laughs] Can I tell you my answer to the first question I asked you–
GIANA: Sure!
JAMIE: –which was, your earliest aspiration
GIANA: Oh, uh-huh uh-huh.
JAMIE: My earliest aspiration– 'cause I think it says a lot about who I am, and you know there are certain nuggets of your traits, your personality, your being in the world that are kind of with you from day one, right? So my earliest aspiration, also going back to the preschool era, was that I wanted to be a princess, which is common, however I was very clear that I did not want to have to marry a prince.
GIANA: Oh yeah! Totally.
JAMIE: So I wanted to be a princess, but I wanted, you know, freedom to make my own relationship choices.
GIANA: Yes. Yes, you had a little bit of the Jasmine in you; you're like, “don't make me climb this wall and escape from the madness and princessdom, ‘cause you’re making me marry people–”
JAMIE: But also I like to be spoiled little, so… And I do have a tiara.
GIANA: You do, that’s true. You do have a tiara and you wear it on your birthday and it is tiny and very– it's an understated tiara, it's not a garish one. It’s very lovely, and sweet.
JAMIE: Thank you.
GIANA: You’re welcome. Classy tiara. If you're gonna wear a tiara–
JAMIE: Eh, I mean, you know, there are a lot of tiara options out there. I don't want to tell someone that if they want to wear a big flowery one or a big sparkly one– Do it up, get your tiara on. And don't wait for your birthday. Fuckin’ wash dishes with the tiara on; I don't do that enough.
GIANA: Yup. Yup.
JAMIE: Yeah.
GIANA: Since we're going back, if I had an item that I made me very envious in my grade school days, it was like a neighborhood. Like, living in a certain, a specific neighborhood. I lived down the ways a bit from my high school but there are these neighborhoods that were immediately surrounding my high school that I had a lot of friends that lived in, and I just like, wanted to be in that area in that space and it was also just like– I remember it, I wanted it so bad. But that was kind of high school not really grade school.
JAMIE: That's alright, we make up the questions, we make up the answers. [both start to laugh]
GIANA: Yeah that's right, fuck it right? [ukulele starts to play briefly in the background] We make up the rules.
JAMIE: We set the rules.
GIANA: We set the rules.
JAMIE: And speaking of making the rules, one thing that we have done together for years, Giana, is improv [ukulele comes to an end], and there are a lot of rules in improv. Even though there's a lot of flexibility, there are rules that you have to follow to fit in the format and I think we should do some improv and tell everyone a story.
GIANA: And what better story to tell than the Broadly Entertaining origin story!
JAMIE: Oh, that’s a good story.
GIANA: We did just get to know each other individually, and our listeners got to know us a little bit better individually, so we might as well dip the biz… into the pot. [both laugh]
JAMIE: I was like, I have no idea what that means, but I don’t– I’m not hip, so…
GIANA: I am not hip!
JAMIE: Alright, well how do you feel about Storytime Half Life?
GIANA: I love that game. So fun.
JAMIE: Yay! You want to tell everyone how to play it?
GIANA: Yeah. Jamie is going to tell the story of Broadly Entertaining in one tight minute. Afterwards I get to take the half life and try to retell that story in just 30 seconds. After that, Jamie will only have 15 seconds, then seven seconds and we’ll keep going back and forth until all we have is one moment in time to sum up our entire history together; can you believe it?! Alright, Jamie, do you have one minute on your clock?
JAMIE: I have one minute ready to countdown on my clock.
GIANA: Alright!
JAMIE: I will do my best.
GIANA: You're gonna be great.
JAMIE: Here… we… go.
Giana and I met in 2011. She directed me in a short play for Left Hip Productions. We had such a good time at our first rehearsal–absolutely clicked immediately–that I invited Giana to come join me on an improv team called Rufus Khan so that we could continue laughing and making and running things together. After a couple of years in Rufus Khan I brought Giana into hosting trivia with me at a bar downtown. Thus began our continued hosting things together–“thus began our continued”, what?! [Giana giggles, nervous laughter and a short guffaw from Jamie.] And then we did bingo at Catfish in Brooklyn. We started doing raffles and fundraisers. We have a Party, Period. And then we moved away from each other so now we've got Broadly Entertaining, the podcast comin’ at ya! And here we are, still friends, still making stuff. That’s time.
GIANA: Yeeaaah! That was a nice minute! Okay, I think I remembered things and that I can do this. Here we go, in 30 seconds, the same story.
We met while rehearsing a play. We definitely hit it off immediately, which was great, and I'm glad that inspired Jamie to invite me to audition for Rufus Khan and have some improv years together, after which we started hosting trivia together through Jamie's connections in the trivia world, and enjoyed it but thought we could do better. So we started hosting our own nights in Brooklyn at Catfish (yeah!) and conducting our own fundraisers and Party, Period. And now we have this [quick stammer] podcast!
JAMIE: Yeah! Good work.
GIANA: [slightly breathless] Yeah. Yeah.
JAMIE: Even filled some gaps. // GIANA: I forgot the cities bit, but… yeah.
GIANA: But I forgot the cities part, that we’re in different cities, but that's okay.
JAMIE: That's okay!
GIANA: I forgive myself.
JAMIE: You know, the thing about a half life is that it's only half the life.
GIANA: That's true, and that you have to half that life at, let's give it 15 seconds, my friend. Let's see if you can do it.
JAMIE: Alright, 15 seconds on the clock, here… we… go!
We met working on a play, hit it off right away. Started to do improv together. That was so much fun that we started hosting trivia together and then we were like, why just trivia let's also do bingo and then raffles and parties and fundraisers. Podcast!
And that's my 15 seconds.
GIANA: [laughing] That was really good! Alright, alright–let's see how I do with seven seconds on the clock. [exhales audibly] Alright, here we go, aaaand…
We met during a play and then we did improv and then we had some trivia time and then after that we did bingo and fundraisers and Party, Period. and then a podcast! [giggle with exhale of relief]
Alright, Jamie what do you gonna–
JAMIE: Heart’s racing over here.
GIANA: I know, my heart’s racing too; I’m a little sweaty. Let's see what 3 seconds does for you.
JAMIE: Alright, ready? Here we go…
Theatre improv trivia raffles bingo podcast Broadly!
GIANA: [laughing] Okay, I've got one second, one moment in time to sum it all up, so here we go and…
Broadly [ukulele chords]
Now it's time for our favorite–our favorite in this first episode but we already know that this is gonna be our absolute favorite ongoing segment–BE a Feminist! [chanted in the opening rhythm of the classic BE Aggressive cheerleading cheer]
JAMIE: Giana and I are going to bring some news and reviews from the week, or just things that we recently learned, to share with each other and all of you. Things that fall under the broad umbrella of feminism. Giana, do you wanna start?
GIANA: Yeah! I just heard– Have you? I don't know if you have heard about this pixie haircut trend that's going on in South Korea. Feminism isn't necessarily the most popular word, I would say, in South Korea. That sometimes it's synonymous with man haters and that sort of vibe, but–
JAMIE: Not just in South Korea.
GIANA: Oh turns out, yeah you're absolutely right, but anyway, three-time Olympic gold medal archer–I think it's An San–she has a really short pixie haircut, but when she was winning her gold medals she was not receiving a whole lot of accolades on social media from her brethren, but instead just getting shit for having a short haircut. So a lot of feminists in South Korea have been banding together and cutting their hair short and wearing the pixie cut in solidarity and in protest against that sort of shithead ideal of toxic masculinity. So, yeah, that's my BE a Feminist story to share with you!
JAMIE: Hell yeah! Yeah! Love rockin’ a pixie cut.
GIANA: Hell yeah.
JAMIE: Do it up.
GIANA: Who doesn’t love a pixie?
JAMIE: Hair need not determine one’s femininity.
GIANA: I am all for the pixie.
JAMIE: I mean, we like a nice shaved head.
GIANA: Sure. Done it.
JAMIE: Yeah. Yeah! Alright now mine, my BE a Feminist–
GIANA: Now yours!
JAMIE: Yes. Well, there is a so-called “Me Too” piece of legislation that is on its way to President Biden's desk. It has actually passed both houses of the U.S. Congress. By the time this episode is published it may well have already been signed into law, and this legislation guarantees legal recourse for people who experience sexual harassment at work. It removes the freedom for employers to force people into private arbitration, and best of all this is retroactive so it's not like it only starts the day that the law is signed into law. It is retroactive for people who have been stuck in situations where they had signed some contract that had a clause in it that said, If anything happens you gotta go to HR and then you go to arbitration and you can't tell anyone about it and there's nothing you can do about it 'cause you want a job. So that's cool.
GIANA: That’s awesome.
JAMIE: Yeah. And I also just want to add–with the understanding that just because somebody has the freedom to go to court does not necessarily mean that they have the financial ability to go to court–I want people listening to know that if you need help finding or paying for legal assistance you can go to the National Women's Law Center. It is a great place to start. Their website is NWLC.org; National Women's Law Center. They have a connection with the Time’s Up Legal Fund and other similar organizations and funds that can help provide financial assistance for people who have been the victims of sexual harassment and are fucking done not doing anything about it!
GIANA: Yeah-heah-heaaaah…
JAMIE: Yeah.
GIANA: Yeah! You had a really great post on your personal page that I wanna steal, and will at some point, that you were saying if I ever am promoting an abuser’s work please please please tell us– tell me, and I think that kind of goes out to us as Broadly Entertaining as well. [ukulele fading up in the background] We do that work, we promote a lot of people's art and if ever that is something we do, we want to know. And, uh… tell us! We love you.
JAMIE: Yeah… we got your back!
GIANA: Absolutely.
JAMIE: Well this has been lovely, Giana. Thank you for spending this time with me.
GIANA: Yeah!
JAMIE: Thank you all for tuning in and listening to The Broadly Entertaining Podcast. Check the show notes for links, special thanks, or more information on anything mentioned in today's show. The Broadly Entertaining Podcast is written, produced and edited by Giana DeGeiso and Jamie Rosler of Broadly Entertaining. Theme music written and performed by Giana DeGeiso. You could always find out more at BroadlyEntertaining.com. Follow us on Instagram at, you guessed it, Broadly Entertaining. Thanks for joining us, broads, and we will talk to you again soon! Byyye…
GIANA: Buh-byyye…
[ukulele theme at full volume; it ends and is followed by a recording outtake]
GIANA: [sings a cappella] The Broadly Entertaining Podcast…
JAMIE: Sharts! [pause, followed by laughter] That’s no good, we’ll cut that, we’ll cut that out.
GIANA: [laughing] Or maybe that becomes the outro…