Lovett or Leave It

Lovett brings the hot dish straight from Minnesota’s ICE protestors, Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem freeze in place, and the Trump administration is caught off guard by the bravery of nice people. This week, Andy Richter and Vic Michaelis join Lovett for a few rounds of Interview Roulette, and lend some constrictive criticism to Kristi Noem, the Melania movie, and one very fat, damp coyote. And we end with some Second Thoughts for our number one guy.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Trump plays chicken with Europe and lays a big ol’ goose egg, Minnesotans dish it out hot while ICE agents freeze, and JD Vance brings his trademark mid to the Midwest. Kevin Nealon tells it like it is, and then apologizes immediately after. Frankie Quiñones cracks us up with The Egg of Truth, and Lovett is second to none when it comes to having Second Thoughts.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Trump turns up the volume, and America shouts right back. ICE is no match for Minnesota nice. The Federal Reserve chair is forced to get less reserved, and Greenland gives America the red light. Robin Thede picks the ultimate rom-com bestie, while Michael Urie and Ted McGinley of Shrinking talk about acting with animals, babies, and Harrison Ford.  And we end the show with Lovett and our three fabulous guests expressing a few very recent second thoughts.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, JD Vance and Kristi Noem lie about a killing in Minneapolis. Donald Trump seizes Venezuela’s oil and Greenland’s attention. George Civeris and Andy Kindler stop by to evaluate upside food pyramids and dictator athleisure, while Jameela Jamil questions our answers about trad wives, TikTok and Heated Rivalry. And we end the show by resolving to get even more annoyed in 2026. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. 

Hey 2025, don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. We close out the year with a bounty of hilarious segments lovingly hand-selected by the Lovett or Leave It team. FEATURING: Bob the Drag Queen, Jessica Kirson, Andy Richter, Jason Isaacs, Paula Poundstone, Tig Notaro, Stephanie Allyne, Alex English, Punkie Johnson,  River Butcher, Gianmarco Soresi, Roy Wood Jr., Robby Hoffman, Rachel Bloom, David Krumholtz, Ana Gasteyer, and the one and only Henry Winkler.  AND Lovett welcomes his writers Halle Kiefer and Sarah Lazarus to correct an injustice, and leaves you hungry for more. Happy holidays, everyone, and see you sluts next year!For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

In our season finale of Bravo, America! Lovett sits down with The Girls Next Door star Holly Madison to discuss the dark side of life in the Playboy mansion on and off screen. Holly opens up about being the main character on the show, but feeling like an object to Hugh Hefner and the Playboy hierarchy. She also speaks about her decision to leave the show and what it’s been like to tell her story on her own terms as public sentiment has evolved pre and post #MeToo movement.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. 

This week, the nation tunes in to find out who will receive Donald Trump’s rose: Paramount’s David Ellison or Netflix’s Ted Sarandos? Meanwhile, Obamacare subsidies are set to expire, Trump’s poll numbers continue to plummet, and Marjorie Taylor Greene remains... on the level? What the hell? Director Cameron Crowe riffs on the gods of rock and the zoos we’ve bought. Tig Notaro brings the hot lesbian action, and we all look forward to the new year, taking stock of what we’d change, and what we hope will stay the same.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, Bronwyn Newport, is in it for the friendships! Bronwyn opens up about leaving the Mormon church, becoming an American citizen, and striking a balance between vulnerability and self-preservation on the show. She reflects on what she's learned about herself from being on TV and the power of conversations she's had with family members when the cameras are rolling. Lovett also checks in on how Bronwyn is feeling ahead of the upcoming RHOSLC reunion and who her closest friends are going into that almost certainly messy conversation.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Pete Hegseth trolls and passes blame over lawless boat strikes. Trump falls hard, both asleep and in the polls. Mike Johnson tries to skirt the ladies of the GOP, while Kash Patel can’t help but jacket. Trixie Mattel gets Lovett’s house in order, and all Aparna Nancherla wants for Christmas is to sit still as we end our festive evening with a full color glossy spread of this year’s Lovett or Leave It gift guide.This holiday season, gift someone a Friends of the Pod subscription or treat yourself. Learn more at crooked.com/friends. Subscribing is the best way to support independent progressive media.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.  

Rachel Lindsay talks about what it's like to go from being a lawyer, to Bachelor contestant, to the first Black woman to be the Bachelorette. Can you actually find love on these shows? Can you ever trust that it's real? And what role to do fireball shots play in the process? Plus Rachel reflects on the moment she realized producers were preparing her to lead the franchise, even as they seemed to be worried about racial stereotypes in how she might be perceived by the audience. She talks about the perfect storm that led to Chris Harrison’s fateful interview on Extra which ultimately led to his ouster from the Bachelor world entirely. And Lovett does ask about the fantasy suites, but from a place of concern and confusion, mostly.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Donald Trump wings it as our lame duck president, before going hog wild on the press. Marjorie Taylor Green quits MAGA cold turkey, and Congress finally sinks its teeth into the the Epstein files. Hayley Kiyoko, Timothy Simons, and Pat Regan bite off more than they can chew ahead of Thanksgiving dinner, as Lovett helps our audience members spice things up, and we all get our cake and eat it too with a spin of the Gratitude Wheel.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Survivor hall-of-famer John Cochran revisits his legendary rise from tribe traitor to king of the island. He gets into the bullying antics of his first go at the crown, the mixed bag of superfans joining the game, and how the Survivor arena isn’t that too far off from the political one. He and Lovett also bond over their compulsion to self-deprecate, which seems to have worked out pretty well for them both so far. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. 

The government shutdown is over, but the typo-ridden unraveling of Donald Trump’s Epstein coverup has only just begun! The iconic Henry Winkler stops by to celebrate turning 80 with a relaxing round of 80 Questions. The hilarious Mo Amer joins to help us rank Hollywood’s knockoff Jews and bootleg Arabs. And before we go, we rise up to bitch and moan in a brave act of resistance. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Dorinda Medley recounts her days during the wild west of Bravo, before housewives considered social media, glam squads, and consequences. And she talks about how reality TV helped her become the star of her own life, how years as an Upper East Side political spouse readied her for the high-heeled combat of Real Housewives, and how in both worlds the worst thing anyone can be is boring. She and Lovett also commiserate about being eliminated first from their respective competition shows, although Dorinda’s ouster from The Traitors was far less justified.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Greetings from Mamdanistan! This week, Lovett or Leave It takes a bite out of the Red Apple from Brooklyn’s beautiful Crown Hall Theater. Zohran Mamdani takes City Hall and Democrats across the country give us a reason to keep living. Ana Gasteyer flies off the handle, while David Krumholtz kvetches with the best of them. The Rant Wheel opens some eyes in the city that never sleeps, and musician Victor Jones brings us all the way home. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Trump’s got us all in a Catch-22nd Amendment, Reagan battles tariffs from beyond the grave, and Mike Johnson does what he does best: shut down. Steph Tolev and Daniel Webb drop the gavel on ChatGPT erotica and Lily Allen’s revenge album, and join Lovett to dig up the most ghoulish dating stories ever told. And we end the show like Bruce Springsteen would have wanted: by making sure our biopics cut the mustard. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This week, Donald Trump takes a wrecking ball to the White House, ICE recruits gasp for breath during a light jog, and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner re-inks his past. Acclaimed and nearly interchangeable actors Michael Shannon and Allison Tolman grace us with stories about Nuremberg and fake blood gone wrong. Robin Tran joins to give our angelic audience some hellish advice, then we bravely rise to double down on the worst things we love. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Parvati Shallow on femininity and flirtation as reality TV weapons, and how the "Black Widow" moniker cast a shadow on her real-life relationships. Parvati talks about how her strange childhood informed her decision to compete on Survivor, how reality TV has evolved, and how she has evolved with it. She's been a contestant on The Traitors, Deal or No Deal Island, and five seasons of Survivor, and being seen as a vixen-coded "villain" has given her a singular look into the expectations for women on screen and off. A fascinating conversation with one of the greats. And for an even deeper look into Parvati’s story, check out her book, “Nice Girls Don't Win: How I Burned It All Down to Claim My Power.” For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Mike Johnson puts us over his knee for daring to protest, JD Vance lets the Young Republicans run wild at the playground, and Pete Hegseth expels the entire Pentagon press pool. Teri Hatcher regales us with stories. Maria Bamford cracks us up under pressure. And then we let the show go to the rant wheel dogs. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Olivia Plath joins to talk about leaving Welcome to Plathville and leaving behind the fundamentalist Christian community in which she was raised. She shares what it’s like to leave a marriage that began on television when she was very young, why as a teen she felt she needed a gun to protect against a Hillary Clinton victory, and why she decided to talk more about the anger and abusive aspects of her relationship that did not end up on TLC. Olivia has been on a journey, much of it for the world to see, and it’s given her a fascinating perspective on reality TV, on what happens to kids when their parents seek fame, and what it’s been like to grow up in one world and then choose to live in another.In this special limited series, Lovett sits down with reality icons who helped lead a hostile takeover not just of television, but of our culture. In intimate and revealing conversations, Lovett and his guests explore the ways these shows blur the line between authenticity and performance, the compromises of putting your life on television, the reality-TV-ification of our politics, and the secrets that don't make it on screen. What have reality stars learned about themselves, about television, and about America? And what happens to a society when the only thing worse than being hated is being boring? These are the questions we are trying to answer - either here, or at the reunion.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.