Normal Gossip is the podcast that allows you to hear about the petty drama of others for free! Hosted by Kelsey McKinney of Defector, the podcast walks you through one gossip story per episode as Kelsey tells it to a guest. She collects her stories from third parties (and listener submissions) after interviewing the submitter to get all the details and anonymizing all of the information. The stories always start from a relatable place (such as having an annoying coworker or moving to a new town) and end up with crazy twists and turns (in one recent episode, I was shocked that someone’s entire family was participating in a fake identity scam).

McKinney is an excellent storyteller, but the podcast also touches upon the nature of gossip and how she shares the stories. It is easy to question the veracity of some of the gossip material, but the show emphasizes this; which parts could be exaggerated? How can the telling and retelling of stories emphasize certain elements and blow them out of proportion? Most importantly, Normal Gossip understands that gossip is fun, especially when it doesn’t concern you. Ultimately, the stories’ exact truth doesn’t matter; what matters is the enjoyment the audience gets from hearing about scams, secret hookups, and internecine feuds in Facebook groups.