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Author: Cloud10
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Diving deeper on the characters we love to consume! Laura Diez hosts guest conversations and shares stories exploring the portrayals of real people on reality tv, fictionalized women that stay in our memories, and pop culture legends. New episodes Tuesdays and Fridays.
308 Episodes
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After years of legal battles, financial uncertainty, and being made into the butt of late night talk show jokes, Anna Nicole had the opportunity to reinvent herself once again. The Anna Nicole Show allowed audiences to fall in love - until they fell out again. Then, her iconic TrimSpa diet pill partnership gave her "a makeover" the public couldn't get enough of. During this time, she begins dating Larry Birkhead, who would be the father of her baby - a title he fought for as other paternity claims were seemingly coming out of thin air. During her final year, Anna lived in the Bahamas, and was still no stranger to scandal. Finally, we will overview the tragic details of Anna Nicole's final 24 hours and untimely passing, and who was (and was not) held responsible.
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Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
01:29 The Anna Nicole Show on E!
04:07 Anna's mindset 1996-2000
08:02 Line with Von Dutch
08:34 TrimSpa, baby!
10:52 Larry Birkhead speaking out
13:32 Anna Nicole + Larry at the Kentucky Derby
16:28 Larry starts working for Anna Nicole
18:22 Larry moves in!
19:12 "The oil man"
20:43 Anna wants a baby
24:47 Larry's thoughts on Howard K Stern
25:50 Rough patches
27:36 Anna goes to The Bahamas
28:41 My personal interjections - Anna + Nassau
31:08 Home ownership
32:06 Immigration minister
34:43 Dannielynn's birth + Daniel's death
35:49 Commitment ceremony to Howard K. Stern
37:05 Daniel's cause of death, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor
38:48 Who is the father?
44:28 Anna Nicole's death - her doctor
48:07 Anna Nicole's final days
51:01 The final hours
53:24 Who is held resposible?
54:14 Anna Nicole and Daniel's gravesite
55:35 My personal reflections
57:37 Anna's archives
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Nearly 20 years since her passing, the life and legacy of Anna Nicole Smith continues to play in the public's imagination. In this part, we're discussing the conflicting stories of her upbringing (was she really born in Mexia, Texas?) and how she crafted her backstory for the public, plus how the name Anna Nicole came to be. Plus, all about her billionaire husband, J Howard Marshall II and the battle for his estate, that went on for years after her passing.
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Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
02:14 Sources
04:25 Youth - Vicki Lynn Hogan
05:51 The Mexia years
08:10 Marriage and Baby Daniel
09:03 Dancing + surgeries
11:25 The photographer that changes her life
12:26 Playboy, Miss May 1992
15:30 GUESS
17:12 Becoming Anna Nicole
19:32 Meeting J Howard Marshall II
21:42 Billionaire's backstory
23:31 Wedding of Anna Nicole and Howard
24:38 Forced distance + Howard's death
26:06 The will is revealed
27:13 Did they really love each other?
30:48 The battle for the $1.6 Billion estate
36:28 Anna Nicole's personal battles
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After a soldier on duty in Vietnam purchased a lifetime subscription to Playboy, the brand had to follow through on an offer made years prior - that the first issue of a lifetime subscription would be hand-delivered by a Playmate. Jo Collins, Playmate of the Year 1965, was requested... and in January 1966, she flew to Saigon and spent three days touring combat areas. We're overviewing her history with the brand - from Miss September 1964 to a Bunny Mother and Playboy representative at Veterans Day events in the '90s. Plus, the details of her three days touring Vietnam, visiting American troops and signing photos of her pictorial that had been crumpled into helmets.
Photos in the video version of this episode are primary by Larry Gordon for Playboy, sourced from "GI Jo: That Time We Sent a Playmate to Vietnam," May 26, 2026.
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Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:08 Jo Collins, Miss September 1964
03:54 Playmate of the Year 1965
05:48 The request - "G.I. Jo"
07:33 Making it happen
09:04 Warm welcomes in Saigon
10:50 Day 1: Meeting Lt Price + hospital rounds
13:06 Day 2: Combat zones
15:02 Day 3: Honorary Sky Soldier
16:23 Post-POTY: acting, marriage, divorce
17:04 Playmate Forever
18:13 My curiosities
19:00 Playboy Magazine + Vietnam War
20:58 Conclusion
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Shannon Tweed lived 14 months at the Playboy Mansion, 1981-1982, as Hugh Hefner's girlfriend. Her story begins on a mink ranch in rural Canada, and a string of odd jobs in her youth, that led to her winning Miss Ottawa beauty pageant and testing for Playboy magazine three times. After being named as Miss November 1981, she finds herself at the Mansion for her first Midsummer Nights Dream party ... she later moves in and starts the adventure of her career as one of the most recognizable B-Film actresses of her time. Stories shared as told in her 2009 memoir, Kiss & Tell.
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Time stamps:
00:00 Intro
03:13 Childhood in Canada
05:32 The Ottawa experience
08:37 Toronto, testing for Playboy
09:46 Midsummer Night's Dream party 1981
11:16 Life at the Playboy Mansion
14:35 Jaded
17:36 Break-up
17:58 Shannon's Playboy appearances
18:45 Acting
19:43 Midsummers 1983, meeting Gene Simmons
21:18 Life after Playboy
22:06 My reflections
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Book club!! We're recapping and reflecting on Izabella St. James' memoir, Bunny Tales: Behind Closed Doors at the Playboy Mansion. As one of the girlfriends in the final group of seven, leaving just before the Girls Next Door era, Izabella reflects in this book on the benefits, drawbacks, and misconceptions about living as one of the Seven Girlfriends of Hugh Hefner. I'm highlighting anecdotes and pointing out some differences in what Izabella tells us in this 2006 account, versus what we're hearing more recently from her and others about this time at the mansion.
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00:00 Intro (+ my biases!)
02:08 What Izabella really thought of Zoe Gregory
03:28 Zoe + Izabella vs Holly + Bridget
04:59 Youth
05:25 Pepperdine Law School in Malibu, her intro to Playboy
07:46 First Fun in the Sun
09:17 Graduation + prepping for the Bar; meeting Zoe
11:10 Grammys 2002 + not passing the Bar
15:02 Becoming a live-in Girlfriend
17:36 Rumors about previous Girlfriends
18:53 Housemates - Holly, Renee, Stacy, Bridget
22:01 Selling tickets to Playboy parties
25:58 Doing less
27:56 Internship at Playboy Entertainment Group
29:37 Benefits of Girlfriend Status - why won't he pay her loans?
35:20 Cost of his lifestyle
37:37 In-house Conflicts
39:29 Nightclubs + Bedroom Routines
41:51 Boys boys boys
43:16 Beauty standards
44:52 Playmates
46:33 Prepping to leave
53:06 Finally moving out
54:26 Unfriendly terms
55:50 Girls Next Door
56:47 Closing Thoughts
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