In the wake of the successful opening of Wonder Woman, listening to Lady Problems was strangely appropriate. The hosts explore issues that women face in different areas, including work, leisure, and at home. They usually have an interview, then they talk about male fuckery, and usually cover some kind of problematic favorite celebrity. Hosts rotate through a selection of MTV employees, but often include Teo Bugbee, Hazel Cills, and Rachel Handler.

This podcast is difficult for me to listen to. It’s like sitting in a group of VERY popular girls listening to them talk about feminism. I found it very difficult to concentrate through the excessive “likes” and “or whatevers” and giggling. Listening made me feel like I was trapped at a terrible sleepover that I could thankfully escape.

Despite this, the topics that they cover are very interesting and important. Race, wealth, age, and others all as they relate to women specifically. Now, if you are a woman with your finger on the pulse, some of this is going to make you sigh and think “I’ve heard this before, I already know this” and don’t worry, I’m right there with you. I think that this podcast may be targeting the younger generation, to bring them up to speed on some issues that are around them all the time, but that they might not think about.

One of the early episodes that I listened to talked about how the pay for actresses dips severely after age 35, and they talked about how we are coming into a time where more movies and tv shows are being written that feature older women at the helm of the cast, and that it took this long for that to happen. It got me thinking about all the older actresses that I absolutely love: Allison Janney, Judi Dench, Viola Davis, Sally Field, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Lily Tomlin, Maggie Smith, Halle Berry, Helen Mirren – how do all of these women not have movies or shows that are completely dedicated to their brilliance? Why is having Gal Godot at the head of the cast of Wonder Woman and having all women viewings of the movie blowing everyone’s minds? I mean, I know the answer, but I wish that the questions didn’t have to be asked at all.

So I guess I would say that if you can get past the youthful Valley Girl presence of the hosts, the content of this podcast is so important to hear. It definitely grew on me after about 5 episodes (after the first one I was like NO I CANNOT, but I kept going). Plus, if you are a completionist, it’s only been around since fall of 2016 so it’s one of those podcasts that will be easy to catch up on. Go check out Lady Problems and stick with it, it’s stuff we all need to hear.