Tales of Taboo

Those of you who have been following me since the Health Is Hell era will probably remember the iconic videos I used to post with my beloved Grandma Jean. To the outside the world, she and I seemed to have the warmest, funniest, most loving relationship, and for the majority of my life we did. The truth was, though, those videos were made as my coping mechanism during the beginning of her long and painful struggle with Dementia. 4 years later, my grandma is no longer my grandma: she's cold, paranoid, angry, manic. Her memory and life force are gone. I still see her, but I don't recognize her anymore. Nobody ever talks about the unique pain that comes with mourning the death of somebody who is still alive. So, I figured I'd give it a try. To anybody out there with loved ones whose brains and bodies are being eaten by Dementia or Alzheimer's - I'm so sorry, and you're not alone. ~ Magic Mind is an amazing replacement for both coffee and Adderall (either prescription or not), and has completely changed my relationship to caffeine. Go to ⁠⁠https://www.magicmind.com/talesoftaboo⁠⁠ and for the next 10 days, get up to 50% off your first subscription and 20% off a one-time purchase with my code TABOO. ~ Physique 57 literally transformed my body in only 8 classes. Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership - plus you can start with a 14-day FREE trial. Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~ Love letters? Hate mail? Share your thoughts at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor, Aamir Augustine, and Angelito Casal at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Picking up where we left off on the journey through my party girl past...in 2018, after my now-infamous Katz’s Deli bottom-outing incident, I moved to LA for 3 months and experimented with Cali Sobriety. It was…wild, and definitely nowhere near sober! When the pandemic came, I explored PROPER sobriety, and it taught me so much about my ADHD and ability (or lack thereof) to self-regulate and soothe. In fact, it completely changed my life. I dive into how ‘raw dogging reality’ has gotten me back in touch with my inner child; my stance on hallucinogenics as alcohol replacement; dealing with dating, sex, and general peer pressure while sober; and finally, where I stand with alcohol (and partying as a whole) currently. ~ Physique 57 literally transformed my body in only 8 classes. Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership - plus you can start with a 14-day FREE trial. Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~ Love letters? Hate mail? Share your thoughts at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Gossip Girl, here - your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite...no, but actually. If you've ever wondered what it was like to grow up in New York City, you've come to the right place. We're foraying DEEP into my party girl past over the next 2 weeks, and for part 1, let's throw it back to 2008-2011: the golden years of Jeffrey Campbells, tabloid mayhem, Indie Sleaze, Gossip Girl, and - how lucky was I? - Ali in high school. Starting from my very first memory of getting drunk (at my own chaperoned house party, iconic), and weaving through hookah bars, warehouses in pre-gentrified Brooklyn, rooftops, Meatpacking District clubs, teen charity galas, raves, and the best electronic music festival in North America, I'm revisiting every step of my burgeoning obsession with nightlife - and getting f*cked up... Then, because all pleasure comes with pain, we'll grin and bear my college years, where I drowned under depression and bottom-shelf liquor, threw Playboy Mansion-themed parties, studied abroad in London, and started thinking about getting sober... And we'll end 5 years later, at the moment I blacked out in Katz's Deli eating a pastrami sandwich - and decided to move to LA to finally experiment with "Cali Sobriety." Part 2 next week! ~ Magic Mind is an amazing replacement for both coffee and Adderall (either prescription or not), and has completely changed my relationship to caffeine. Go to https://www.magicmind.com/talesoftaboo and for the next 10 days, get up to 50% off your first subscription and 20% off a one-time purchase with my code TABOO. ~ Physique 57 literally transformed my body in only 8 classes. Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership - plus you can start with a 14-day FREE trial. Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~ Love letters? Hate mail? Share your thoughts at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

I've been getting a lot of feedback on Instagram (mostly from far-right men, duh) about how it's "embarrassing" and "pathetic" that I've admitted to sometimes still feeling like a teenager at 30. Not only does a husband, child, and home ownership sound deeply unappealing to me right now, but I don't think those things actually constitute an "adult." I know I can't be the only person out there who isn't following, and doesn't necessarily want to follow, all of society's guidelines for how to correctly "grow up." In pursuit of defining what the f*ck adulthood even means, I get extremely candid about living with my parents until I was 28, and now living with 2 roommates (my ex-boyfriend & gay best friend); working my way up to a 6 figure salary but mismanaging all of my money (and then losing my job); actively growing apart from some friends and closer to others as everyone's path starts to diverge with marriage and children; and my new relationship, which I'm so happy in but have deliberately NOT centered around the idea of "settling down." ~ Physique 57 literally transformed my body in only 8 classes. Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership - plus you can start with a 14-day free trial! Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: ⁠⁠https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO⁠⁠ ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

In our sex-crazed, beauty-obsessed culture, why is it still so taboo for beautiful women to admit to CONSCIOUSLY (and shamelessly!) using their looks for personal, professional, and financial gain? The truth is, my appearance has been responsible for the majority of what I was able to achieve throughout my 20s — not just professionally as an on-air host, model (groan), and content creator, but in navigating a wide variety of global social scenes and subcultures, too. Though who I am as a person made the magic happen, the way I look always opened the door - for better or worse. I have zero regrets, but at 30, I’m starting to focus more on developing the parts of myself that aren’t perceptible. To be looked at and *seen* is an immense privilege, but it also led to an over-dependence on the reaction I solicit from others - even outside of audition rooms or sound stages. In certain ways, it’s led to the dissolution of important emotional boundaries, too. (Like, why tf do I feel numb to sexual harassment?) The truth is, the things that make me feel truly SEXY have nothing to do with my face or body - they’re totally internal. And contrary to what society wants women to believe, most of them have come with age! ~ Vella’s Women’s Pleasure Serum is a pre-play lotion that makes it easier to have orgasms and makes orgasms more intense - and it's totally changed my relationship to sex. Use code TABOO20 for 20% off at vellabioscience.com. ~ Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership at Physique 57 - plus start with a 14-day free trial. Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: ⁠https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO⁠ ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

2 years ago, I found myself in perhaps the most taboo situation: unexpectedly pregnant, and making the subsequent decision to have a medical abortion. I was 28, in a happy relationship, and financially stable: from the outside people would say I was equipped to see, and “should have" seen, my pregnancy through. Emotionally, however, I was - and am - far from ready to be a mother. The decision to abort was easy; admitting to it publicly was not. In light of the ongoing battle over women's reproductive rights in America - and now, specifically, over the abortion pill - I've decided to re-release this episode. Many women in media, and throughout liberal areas of the country, are openly, vocally pro-choice; however, rarely (if ever) do those who’ve actually had an abortion shamelessly speak up about it. Of course I understand - no one, including myself, wants to be judged, attacked, or outcasted. But silence keeps the process misunderstood and stigmatized to the outsider, and deeply lonely for those who have gone through it. The pain of having nobody to talk to is far worse than the procedure itself. I don’t expect to change the world by telling my story, but maybe laughing and crying about it will give others the strength to speak out, too. At the least, I hope to comfort those who feel alone, confused, or afraid in their journeys, as I very much did mine. ~ This episode is sponsored by Physique 57. Use my code TABOO to save $10 on your On Demand monthly membership - plus start with a 14-day free trial. Code applied automatically at checkout. Click here: https://ondemand.physique57.com/orders/customer_info?o=80200&d=TABOO ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

I've noticed an increasing trend on social media, especially TikTok, where people are creating personal brands out of mental health struggles - specifically, ADHD, anxiety, and mood/behavioral disorders. Visibility is really important, but this approach rubs me the wrong way. When you have ADHD as an adult, it's rarely taken seriously - in fact, it's often glamorized, made the butt of jokes, or seen as an excuse for being lazy. In truth, ADHD and anxiety has kinda f*cked up my life, causing bouts of severe depression and stopping me from living up to my fullest potential. It's time to get real about what living with a 'disorder' looks like - well, at least through my mascara-ed eyes. Starting with a brutally honest list of my day-to-symptoms, we go deep into my complicated relationship to the word "crazy"; history with learning disabilities and mood disorders in school; bottoming out at college; the various coping mechanisms I developed over the years, including drugs and alcohol and developing an outlandish, hyper-confident persona; regrets I have about my past behavior and what I hope life will look like now that I’ve entered my 30s; and why Paris Hilton has become my unlikely mental health hero. ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Wolf Taylor & Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Welcome back to Tales of Taboo! I've been so inspired by the past 3 years of being a safe space for your unconventional and so-called 'unacceptable' confessions, that I feel compelled to spend Season 5 speaking solo and on-the-record about my own. To kick it off, we're talking about failing. Or rather, "failing." Going into 2023, I felt like I had it all: a great partner, a six-figure hosting career, and the best body of creative work I'd ever produced. Then, everything disappeared. At the time of recording this episode, I was unemployed, broke, and single at 30 - plus, I accidentally deleted all of my past confessions episodes from my records. For the past 6 months, I've quietly been back at Square One in so many ways. I get real about my physical sickness-level burnout, why Season 4 was cut short (and why I kinda resented it), and how my professional responsibilities bled into my personal life and made me disregard my own feelings. But losing my job & sense of joy led me to re-evaluate & re-build my boundaries, and now, I'm optimistic about the future. Other people might consider me a big fat f***ing failure, but I actually feel like I'm ahead in many ways - because I love myself (and all of my flaws and shortcomings) more than I ever have. ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Aamir Augustine at WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

The Fashion episode was such a hit that I decided to revamp and re-release another set of industry-related confessions. With casting help from DeuxMoi, we're coming out from behind the scenes and exploring life in front of the camera as a model. I open the episode with my own Tales of Taboo about my lulz attempt at a postgrad modeling career (you'll scream at the very off-brand national campaign I booked), and a few encounters with agents and casting directors that, as the kids say, 'altered my brain chemistry'. (10:50) Then, our anonymous contributors are or were signed in LA, London, Miami, Milan, New York, Paris, Seattle, and Texas, and represented by well-known agencies such as One Management, Genetics, Heffner, Next, Select, and Women (plus some others I’ve been asked not to name). They tell equally juicy and shocking stories about: -what it’s like behind the scenes at Fashion Week & Miami Swim Week -working for controversial brands like American Apparel and Yeezy -lesser-known but higher paying sectors of the industry, like e-comm and fit modeling -the harsh realities of diet + exercise routines (maintaining 35 inch hips!!) -model houses, club promoters, and international ‘yachting’ trips -loneliness and depression brought on by working abroad -agency debt, and what success ACTUALLY looks like Plus, ON the record, we have agent Jane Belfry (@janebelfry) from BTWN Management breaking down the “body positivity movement” and model-turned-badass musician Dana Dentata (@danadentata) serving honest insight on everything from industry hyper-sexualization to working with icons like Ryan McGinley and Juergen Teller. ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Which famous designer refused to pay for $100,000 worth of samples? What major eyewear company has a Chief Financial Officer with no credentials besides being a party magician? Where does being over a size 6 and an A cup make you "fat?" What really happens behind the scenes at Fashion Week? I LOVE clothes. I love theatrics. I love escapism. What I do not love is when some people suffer greatly to compensate for others’ greed. On the heels of New York Fashion Week, I decided to revamp and re-release one of my juiciest, most scandalous, most shocking, and all-time favorite episodes. Our anonymous contributors went to hell and back in different parts of the exploitative, discriminatory, and deeply unglamorous Fashion Industry. With the help of DeuxMoi, I found ex-employees of American Eagle, BCBG, Dolce Vita, Halston, Free People, Linda Farrow, Stone Cold Fox, Victoria Beckham, Zac Posen, and some of the most famous- and infamous- fashion houses IN THE WORLD that I can’t mention by name! From dreamy, druggy parties to nightmare celebrity clients, body shaming to illicit sex, criminally low salaries and even lower self-esteem, turns out fashion is everything and nothing you thought it would be. In the words of one of our confessors: “we’re paying countries and people literally no money because we [the consumer] need fashion. I don’t think people realize that.” ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

What do you think of when you think bisexuality? Promiscuous behavior? Polyamory? Lying, cheating spouses? Midlife crises? Burning Man? Or maybe you think of…nothing: perhaps the biggest misconception is that middle-of-the-spectrum sexual orientation doesn’t really exist. Au contraire, I believe that we’re ALL a little gay - some of us have just chosen, or found the freedom, to explore it. In honor of Bisexuality Awareness Week, I decided to revamp and re-release this legendary episode from season 3. After my own on-the-record confessions (sorry mom & dad), our (VERY NSFW) anonymous contributors recount discovering their sexuality in a myriad of ways, like hooking up with their staff, rendezvouses with strangers from Grindr, or deep in the trenches of Berlin nightlife. We also hear tidbits about the LA orthodox Jewish gay community - so cool - and Skirt Club, a now-infamous, all-female sex party specifically for bicurious women around the globe. Bisexuality doesn’t mean hypersexuality, though: for every story involving polyamory or threesomes, there’s one about choosing the comfort of a committed heterosexual relationship and wondering if it’ll be stifling in the long run. While some contributors deeply wish for acceptance from the LGBTQ community, others don’t feel the need to ‘prove themselves’. What they can all agree upon, however, is that bi-erasure and judgment - and a subsequent lack of identity - is real. As one of them so aptly said: “Hell is other people. Not because they inherently suck, but because their judgments rule how we act.” ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts & G-Strings are available on Ali's Instagram via DM! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

I open this week's episode with my own candid confessions about the challenges of my former long-distance relationship, and how that experience + watching 90 Day Fiance led me to become uncharacteristically judgmental of people in green card relationships. I'm so grateful for our anonymous confessors, who successfully expanded and changed my mind by calling and writing in with accounts of their international engagements & marriages...and divorces :) (8:43) We hear from Americans with partners from Africa, Belgium, El Salvador, England, France, Germany, and Scotland, as well as a Peruvian woman (formerly married to a man from Rhode Island) who grew up as an illegal immigrant from 8-18. From rehab romance to being married by a one-eyed monk, invasive interview and customs processes to successfully sneaking around the government, supportive families to immense difficulties with cultural immersion, no two stories are the same - just as how no two relationships are. ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" sweatshirts are available on Ali's Instagram via DM! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Couples with large age gaps can cause polarizing reactions. On the one hand, age is a number and love is love - it knows no bounds or rules. Should one be lucky enough to find it, it’s always worth diving into head first, no? On the other, when one partner has lived considerably more life, is it kosher to subject a less experienced and often more impressionable partner to their baggage? Is desiring a younger woman implicative of some emotional deficit? I open this week's episode with my own candid confessions about seriously dating a 35 year old when I was 22. I was mature then, but certainly not a grownup - and while I know he loved me, I look back now and realize how my youth and naïveté were taken advantage of by somebody who wasn’t ready to face adult responsibilities. Then (9:53), our anonymous confessors call and write in with stories about their own male partners who were or are considerably older. The age gap ranges from 13 to 31 years, with a variety of dynamics: boss-client, boss-employee, pilot-flight attendant, Shibari rope partners, and regular old meet-cutes. From navigating Viagra, party stamina, and awkward public PDA to step-children and ex-wives, our contributors hold nothing back in revealing the good, bad, and ugly realities of cross-decade (even inter-generational!) dating. ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession (on or off the record) at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" merch (sweatshirts & G-Strings) are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Ethical Non-Monogamy and Polyamory are becoming increasingly popular relationship structures (or, at least, are now more commonly discussed), but they're controversial and deeply misunderstood. Most people see ENM as glorified cheating: an excuse to have one's cake and eat it too. The acronym often conjures images of suburban swingers, wild sex parties in Bushwick or San Francisco, Burning Man, and, like, sister wives, and I have to admit that there was a time where I made similar assumptions. This week's episode schooled the hell out of me, and I'm grateful for it. I open the episode with my own candid confessions about the positives and pitfalls of monogamy, why I desire more "traditional" partnership to add stability to my chaotic life, and the mistakes I made while getting serious with my last boyfriend. Then (13:05), our anonymous confessors call and write in with stories about ENM and Polyamory that are equal parts shocking and extremely enlightening. We hear from: -a former conservative Christian in Texas who discovered ENM while coming to terms with bisexuality and beginning her journey as an escort -a 30 year old woman whose partner fell into a simultaneous relationship with someone heavily pregnant -a divorced 68 year old dating a polyamorous, bisexual sex worker 20 years younger -a happily married, bisexual woman committed to raising her kids, whose her husband is permitted to use Seeking Arrangements when he goes on work trips -a former conservative who found a Poly community at UC Berkeley and overcame jealousy by becoming a "cuck queen" -a married man who entered the ENM scene with his wife after struggling with differing libidos -a 30 year old in a gay, polyamorous married THROUPLE -and more! In producing this episode, I learned very powerful lessons about attachment, boundaries, communication, jealousy, societal expectation, and most importantly, the urgent need for more unfiltered honesty in relationships - especially monogamous ones. Regardless of whether or not you fundamentally agree with our contributors, I hope you find your mind expanded and your heart more open after listening. ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession (on or off the record) at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" merch (sweatshirts & G-Strings) are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

Exercise gives many of us a sense of control, stability, and discipline. Boutique fitness, with its fancy methodologies and curated lights, scents, and sounds, capitalizes on another, more elusive (and highly monetizable) feeling: purpose. For up to $50 per class, we’re not only sold a vision of our best body, but also our best self. We’re asked to set intentions, repeat affirming mantras, and see squatting and sprinting as a chance to ‘conquer the impossible’. The word 'community' is thrown around like cold towels. In a world that’s lonely and often disappointing, it’s easy to see why endorphins can quickly become addictive and studios marketing power and positivity become clients’ second homes. But for employees of these studios, the culture is a LOT darker. I open up the episode with my own candid confessions about using barre and pilates as an emotional coping mechanism, especially when it comes to men and relationships; choosing body neutrality over body positivity; and my attraction to overpriced boutique fitness as a way to achieve the "clean girl aesthetic"...and therefore the semblance of a more put-together life. Then (13:35), with the casting help of Deuxmoi, we hear from anonymous former employees of Bar Method, DanceBody, Flywheel, Laughing Lotus, Orange Theory, Pure Barre, Taryn Toomey's The Class, an unnamed Los Angeles Lagree studio, and a Western Pennsylvania SoulCycle dupe. They tell stories about psychologically abusive training camps, CEOs with God complexes, intense fat shaming, raging eating disorders, overt racism, and severe underpayment. They walk us through how instructors get clients hooked on certain workouts, and what makes a marketing campaign effective. They reveal some of the WILD codes of conduct (or lack thereof) found in employee and trainer handbooks. And, most importantly, they encourage us to take a long, hard look at why we’re often so willing to compromise our morals, on either side of the check-in desk, in pursuit of the “perfect body.” ~ GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession (on or off the record) at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" merch (sweatshirts & G-Strings) are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

$10,000 bottles of wine! 15 hour workdays! All-night cocaine benders! Psychotic head chefs! It's Season 4 of Tales of Taboo! This week, we're exploring the high-octane world of high-end dining: the kinds of establishments that (literally) inspire books like Sweetbitter and movies like The Menu, where reservations are impossible and Chef is spelled with a capital C. I kick us off by telling MY most absurd tales as a diner in fancy restaurants: a college friend's outpatient rehab in Chicago, the development of a weird friendship with a 69 year old British man, doing edibles with famous restauranteurs at the Beatrice Inn... Then (starting at 11:43), we hear from current and former employees on the other side. In New York, confessors include the former events manager at a 3 Michelin star restaurant in Flatiron, a former waitress at another 3 Michelin star restaurant in Midtown, a former hostess at The Standard and Bowery Hotel's restaurants + The Waverly Inn, a former champagne slinger for a downtown cocktail group, and a line cook at a Lower East Side restaurant owned by a very young celebrity chef. In London, confessors include the former sommelier at Daniel Humm's Davies and Brook + another unnamed 2 Michelin star establishment, and a former waitress at two different Michelin star restaurants in Mayfair and Shoreditch. Elsewhere in Europe, a former assistant manager tells tales about an abusive executive chef at a Japanese Michelin star spot that was the first in its country. Fine dining is controversial and divisive. It's glamorous escapism with a very grim underbelly; a way to create community, yet isolate a huge number of people who cannot afford it; facilitate artistic expression and pump pretentious bullshit. These nuances are why this world is so taboo - and enticing - and deserves to be discussed. Welcome back. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @aliweissworld, and share your own confession (on or off the record) at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & Chris Stathopolous. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. "Degenerate" merch (sweatshirts & G-Strings) are available on Ali's Instagram via DM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

It's the last episode of Season 3! Can you believe?! What an honor to end it by interviewing one of the most brilliant and unique individuals I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. According to his professional bio, Adrian Dannatt is an actor, editor, curator, writer, artist and obituarist. I'd rather just call him a Bon Vivant: a collector of experiences, art, and people. He's also perhaps the only person on the planet less afraid of "stranger danger” than me. I met Adrian after stumbling into a showing of his personal art collection at a gallery on the Lower East Side. He was this fascinating mix of dapper and disheveled, extremely English, and had zero qualms about marching up to me, nitpicking my outfit, and immediately testing the bounds of my sense of humor. An unconventional friendship was born. The banter continued 2 years later in my podcast studio, where we bonded over - amongst many subjects - our mutual failures (as a wannabe actress who’s a podcaster and a former child actor who’s now only locally famous), lack of ambition, and obsession with “young, strange deadbeats who are attractive and brilliant”. We also have a wild multi-generational dialogue about fame and overexposure, social media, sleeping with famous people, death, "bussies," aging, how to be an interesting person, and why I should think of my podcast as the “crappy B movie” on the path to more long-term success. Buy Adrian's book "Doomed and Famous." It's really good. https://www.sequencepress.com/products/doomed-and-famous Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

I recorded this episode back in the spring of 2022. I felt so inspired by, at peace with, and safe in my new relationship (which I was then 6 months into) that I spontaneously felt compelled to talk about dating in my 20s, and candidly analyze many of the mistakes, failures, and instances of hurt that led to attracting healthy love at 28. That relationship has since come to an end, but my 'non-toxic dating' era has not - I am permanently changed. <3 By admitting (taboo!) to a long history of getting cheated on, dating addicts, misusing apps, having few boundaries, being a 'pick-me girl', and prioritizing all the wrong, surface-level things, I hope to resonate with even one person who is currently struggling from low self-esteem, is frustrated with dating, or feels like they'll never find their person. You will; you may even find more than one ;-) Here’s to more love, more vulnerability, and more connection in 2023. Happy New Year Angels. GOT A ROMANTIC OR TERRIBLE DATING STORY? THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW TO ATTRACT GREAT LOVE? Email ali@aliweissworld.com. Degenerate MERCH is available for purchase on my Instagram - DM me. Tales of Taboo is part of the Eve Podcast Network and a Forever Dog Production. Cover photos by Erika Flynn. Follow Ali on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aliweissworld Follow Ali on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliweissworld/ Follow Tales of Taboo on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talesoftaboo Follow Tales of Taboo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesoftaboopod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a narrative jammed down our throats year after year, incessantly, everywhere we go, that the holidays are supposed to be “the most wonderful time." Ironically, such a narrative often ends up reminding us (or forcing us to acknowledge) the things we do NOT have, and the ways in which life has disappointed us or not met our expectations. This is especially true when it comes to family members, who are placed at the center of all the songs, movies, and rituals. The truth is, way more people have dysfunctional families than they do the type to run 5Ks together and eat chestnuts around a fireplace. MOST families are dysfunctional, so the fact that there's extra pressure to appear perfect in December is...kind of insane! In stark contrast to standard Christmassy content, our anonymous confessors tell us raw and honest holiday stories about disownment and abandonment, divorce, death, missing and incarcerated siblings, alcohol and drug-abusing parents, extramarital affairs, mental illness, and loneliness. One confessor also recalls getting wasted and kissing her uncle, and another describes finding out her father in law had installed spy cams in his ex-wife's house to catch her with her foreign lover... THIS is what The Season is all about! Happy holidays, my Angels. I love you very much. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Email ali@aliweissworld.com. Degenerate MERCH is available for purchase on my Instagram - DM me. Tales of Taboo is part of the Eve Podcast Network and a Forever Dog Production. Cover photos by Erika Flynn. Follow Ali on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aliweissworld Follow Ali on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliweissworld/ Follow Tales of Taboo on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talesoftaboo Follow Tales of Taboo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesoftaboopod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support

When Whitney Port agreed come on the pod, 13 year old me - and late 20s me, tbh - pinched herself. An objective icon of the 2000s/2010s, Whitney was one of the only women on reality TV who built a wildly successful brand off of poise, elegance, and intellect - things that don't traditionally equate to great ratings within narrative nonfiction. Not the overt and degenerate type of taboo we've come to expect on this show, perhaps, but a fascinating taboo nonetheless. Whit and I went deep on the serious AND juicy stuff, including: -Major secrets from both of her TV shows, like the casting process, being TRICKED into filming for The Hills, fake friendships, and how refusing to compromise her morals may have led to the cancellation of The City -Her double life as a USC student AND celebrity/socialite on the rise, aided by the freedom of pre-cell phone camera fame -Debilitating anxiety over public image, and what it's like to surrender your autonomy to producers -(Almost) hooking up with Leo DiCaprio! -Her TMZ scandal -Staying relevant in the shifting social media/reality TV landscape — and, refreshingly, her resistance to fame. Listen to my guest slot on Whitney's podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-whit/id1462706458?i=1000567955167. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Email ali@aliweissworld.com. Degenerate MERCH is available for purchase on my Instagram - DM me. Tales of Taboo is part of the Eve Podcast Network and a Forever Dog Production. Cover photos by Erika Flynn. Follow Ali on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aliweissworld Follow Ali on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliweissworld/ Follow Tales of Taboo on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talesoftaboo Follow Tales of Taboo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesoftaboopod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talesoftaboo/support