There’s not a great way to introduce my most-listened-to podcast — so listened to, in fact, that I’ve caved and pay them $5 a month on Patreon for extra bonus episodes because I can’t get enough.
Let me rephrase: there’s not a calm way to introduce Binchtopia, where I don’t immediately confess that I know all about the intimate details of their lives and health problems, Julia Hava’s most recent surgery and Eliza McLamb’s spinal arthritis. It’s hard for me to admit that I have strong parasocial friendships with girls who have no idea who I am, but I’m taking one for the team and admitting it. But for now, let me try to be calm.
Hosts Eliza McLamb and Julia Hava started Binchtopia in 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It’s hard to pin down exactly what Binchtopia is, but the podcast’s bold description does a pretty good job: “If Plato and Aristotle had internet addictions and knew what ‘gaslighting’ was, they’d probably make this podcast,” it says. “Hosts Julia Hava and Eliza McLamb guide you through our current cultural hellscape, share sociological and psychological perspectives on pop culture, and deconstruct everything you’ve ever loved.”
The hosts of Binchtopia curate a community with its own sort of unique traditions. At the beginning of almost every episode, they read out “mailbox moments,” which are emails sent in by listeners either about the topic of that day’s episode or just general (usually very funny) moments that they wanted to share. The hosts also do Bad Book Club episodes, where they read mostly cheesy, romantic, young adult (YA) novels and summarize the plot while providing cheeky commentary on the side. These are some of my favorite episodes because they both usually have really strong opinions about the writing, and it makes for a comical listen. Beyond that, they also have annual episodes they do, like a cultural roundup at the end of every year, where they go through each month of the year and discuss what their favorite pop culture moments were; and a Valentine’s Day hotline, where listeners call in and leave voicemails about problems in their love lives, usually putting their boyfriends on blast for our entertainment and deliberation. The Valentine’s Day hotline and mailbox moments are some of my favorite ways that Hava and McLamb incorporate listeners into their episodes.
Like Hava and McLamb themselves, their episode titles are less than predictable but exceedingly clever. For example, “Santa’s Surveillance State” is the title of their seasonal Christmas episode, where they discuss the Germanic tale of Krampus and the ever-watching Elf on the Shelf. “The Spirits Are Telling Me Women Should Have Rights,” “I Eat My Slop Bowl on Company Time” and “Let’s Get Kibbe with It” are a few more titles of episodes that seem all-too-endearing and nonsensical before you give them a listen. I think the episode titles are really telling of their particular humor. For example, “Let’s Get Kibbe with It” is an episode where Hava and McLamb both get a color analysis done and break down the history of dressing a certain way to “complement” your body type and overall appearance. This has a lot to do with famous beauty and style expert David Kibbe, who invented the idea of the Kibbe Body Types like dramatic, classic and romantic. So, although the titles are generally pretty giggle-worthy, the Binchtopia hosts cover topics that make you question what you know and where that knowledge came from, all while gracefully balancing humor and intelligence.
Binchtopia is a podcast that has really resonated with me because Hava and McLamb seem to continuously explore their own curiosities, no matter what they are. Often, women are made out to seem frivolous for being interested in popular media, fashion, gossip, etc. I know I’ve felt this way before. But truthfully, those things can be really fun and they’re entertaining. Hava and McLamb put no meter of value on their interests, jumping from Hilaria Baldwin’s fake Spanish accent to the history of gambling with no difference in consideration for the two subjects. So much of the innate girl guilt I’ve felt growing up is made smaller by seeing that Hava and McLamb, both of whom I admire so much, are women that are not so different from me: interested in humanity in all aspects. It seems like, in their eyes, no subject is too dense or too frivolous. There is always a why, a how, a what if, as long as you push for it.