Waiting to X-hale – Details, episodes & analysis

I've been dreaming of this very journey for a few years. I turned 40 during COVID and was hit with speed bump after speed bump. Situations I have never anticipated experiencing and in some cases it will be my first time sharing it with you.

 Once you've lived through a pandemic as I have, you see things differently, your appreciation for life hits differently and your tolerance for BS plummets… I want to navigate those twists and turns with you and stray off the beaten path just for the thrill of it. Through the chaos, expect a touch of wit and snark, the kind that's earned from years of figuring it out.

Just for W2X listeners I'm offering an opportunity for you to get the full breadth of my journey forward. Learn more at tangentisland.com how you can get exclusive access to my companion show, Tangent Island: Staying Afloat and video episodes of the main show.

Tangent Island drops every Monday and launches officially in January 2024.

In the meantime follow the show feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, me on Instagram @wynter and the show @tangentisland 

It’s the final episode, and there are tears shed, and personal revelations made as Karen and Wynter contemplate their favorite “second acts” in popular culture. Amidst it all, Wynter also discusses her new project dropping in January, and Karen shares a couple of lines from her new book Normporn. Plus, a glimpse at Apple TV+’s The Supermodel, and Todd Haynes’ latest, May/December. What’s the last NUO-LINGO ever? And what did each of our hosts choose as their final songs? We’re going to miss all of you, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.

Karen assembles an expert panel of queers to dish about this summer's reality phenom, Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix). Authors, curators, and queers about town, Greta La Fleur (@GretaLaFleur), Juana María Rodriguez (@RadioRodriguez), Poulomi Saha (@poulomiqsaha) and Jeanne Vaccaro (@whateverjeanne on instagram only) join KT with a rundown of all the things they find delightful and cringey about TV's latest bid for sapphic representation. Who ends up on top in our cast-member power rankings? Who are the most "therapized" and most chaotic of the Queer Love crew? Do we think Xander and Yoly will end up together? And what about the racial and sexual politics that surface in these couplings? Plus, a spirited (and honest) round of "Marry, F*ck, Kill" in this bonus ep--W2X's pride gift to you!

This week, Karen and Wynter take on the Netflix phenomenon, Cheer, a docuseries about the championship cheer squad from Navarro College in Corsicana, TX. Wynter speaks candidly about what it’s like to embark on life in her 40s, which includes taking a “Lexapause” to try and make a baby. Karen has taken on the daily ritual of trying to perfect the tornado omelette (or “omurice”), while explaining to us the meaning of “borrid” after a screening of Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Plus, a song of the week that comes with an 80s movie recommendation!

Join our Patreon for early access, bonus content, and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• Portrait of a Lady on Fire [Official Trailer]
• Cheer [Official Trailer]
• Japanese Dressed Omu-Rice [YouTube]
• tornado omelet master - korean street food [YouTube]

What box subscriptions keep Wynter and Karen thrivin' and survivin'? Wynter tells us all about a very different kind of streaming service that serves up classic Blaxploitation, while Karen finally admits which celebrity chef taught her how to cook. It's Oscar season, so the two share their very different feelings about another hostless ceremony, while looking back on some of their favorites. Nuo-lingo is tea-related, and the two offer up an Oscar-winning song as a mantra for 2020. 

Join our Patreon for early access, bonus content, and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• The Jane Club Instagram
• Tubi streaming
• The Five Stages of Understanding That Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt Photo
• Oscar Nominations 2020 List by Category
• Oscars to Go Without Host Again, ABC Boss Karey Burke Says
• Whoopi Goldberg's Entrance: 1999 Oscars
• SOTW - Hard Out Here For A Pimp - Three 6 Mafia

Wynter and Karen return from their holiday hiatus, and reflect on what 2020 has wrought thus far, and speak from the heart about the complicated feelings each of them experienced as Angelenos after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The two tell us what entertainment sustained them during their break, and take a deep look back at one of E.W.'s "top 50 movies about High School," Just One of the Guys. Plus, nuo-lingo is back and better than ever!

Join our Patreon for early access, bonus content, and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• Just One Of The Guys (1985) Trailer
• Kobe Bryant Left Deep Legacy in LA Sports, Basketball World
• Schitt's Creek Season 1 Trailer
• Succession: Season 1 | Official Trailer
• Cheer | Official Trailer

Grounded in the hopeful spirit of songs by Band Aid and U.S.A For Africa, Karen and Wynter chat about what they’re grateful for in 2019 – and look forward to renewed focus and positive productivity in the coming year. While Wynter hopes Instagram removing likes from the platform eases our anxieties, Karen recommends a book on choosing activism that actually makes us feel good. The two also discuss Apple+’s viability in the streaming world, boundaries at work, and leave us with a rockin’ SOTW! 

Have some feedback for us to consider for season 2? We’d love to hear it! 

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @waiting2xhalepd
• Instagram @waitingtoxhalepod
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waitingtoxhalepodcast/

Join our Patreon for bonus content and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• Band Aid - Do They Know its Christmas - The Making of
• How removing ‘likes’ from Instagram could affect our mental health
• “Pleasure Activism” by adrienne maree brown
• The Morning Show — Official Trailer
• Dickinson — Official Teaser Trailer
• Band Aid - Do They Know It’s Christmas 1984 (Official Video)
• U.S.A. For Africa - We Are the World (Official Video)
• ‘We Are the World’: A Minute-by-Minute Breakdown
• Ambrosia’s “You’re the Biggest Part of Me” (1980)

Karen and Wynter couldn’t resist diving into season 3 of Netflix’s most opulent and expensive series, The Crown as soon as it was released. How do the two feel about the new cast, lead by Oscar-winner Olivia Colman & Helena Bonham Carter as we enter EIIR’s midlife transformations? Karen has a little something to say about Gen Z labeling Gen X a bunch of “Karens.” And as usual, nuo-lingo enhances our vocabulary, as Wynter gets us bopping to a new song of the week. 

Join our Patreon for bonus content and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• The Crown Season 3 Teaser
• Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman? Gregory Allen Howard on ‘Harriet’s’ difficult journey to the big screen
• Charlie’s Angels Official Trailer
• Gen Z Is Calling Gen X The "Karen Generation"
• Discover the real history behind Netflix’s The Crown
• Starman - Bowie

W2X goes back to school w/ Professor Tongson’s class on U.S. Pop Culture LIVE at USC! Wynter is off on assignment, so Tre’vell Anderson from OUT magazine and Sarah Kessler, the TV editor for Public Books (and Karen’s better half) join her for a backwards glance at the early 2000s and the “postfeminism” of Sex & The City vs. The L-Word.  Tre’vell gives us the dish about Robyn Crawford’s new memoir and offers us a preview of the L-Word sequel, Generation Q, while Sarah tells us about her bodice-ripping amusements when Karen is out of town. Nuo-Lingo gets into “cool wine aunts,” and the students become the masters as they discuss the meme “Ladies, imagine this.” Plus, SOTW’s from the aughts! 

Join our Patreon for bonus content and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned:

• Opener: Clip from The L Word
• The L Word: Generation Q (2019) Official Trailer
• Sex and the City show trailer
• The New "Ladies, Imagine This" Meme Will Make All Women Piss Themselves Laughing
• I Believe - Fantasia
• Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix) - The Knife

All hail Regina King! Her turn on HBO’s The Watchmen alerted most of white America to the existence of a “Black Wall Street” in its opening depiction of the 1921 “Tulsa massacre.” This episode explores the shifting TV representations of the BMC or “black middle classes,” from King’s debut in the 80s sitcom 227 to the Johnsons of Black-ish today.  Karen and Wynter also talk GBBO gossip, 90 Day Fiancé drama, and a new interior design competition. Plus: NUO-LINGO and SOTW! 

Join our Patreon for bonus content and SWAG: https://www.patreon.com/waitingtoxhale

Links to just about everything mentioned: 

• 227 Theme Song
• Watchmen: Official Trailer 
• Before the 90 Days Season Preview
• Interior Design Masters Trailer
• Are These Two British Bake Off Sweeties Dating?
• HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ depicts a deadly Tulsa race massacre that was all too real (Washington Post)
• Dre Invites Charlie to Golf with the Social Club Guys - black-ish
•  Atlanta Season 2 Trailer
• Insecure Season 3 Trailer
• Cyndi Lauper - When You Were Mine
• Prince - When You Were Mine