Trashy Divorces: A Good Podcast About Bad Relationships

 There are times in people's lives when poor behavior dominates and rational thinking is replaced by greed, revenge, and sometimes even white-hot hate. Those times include family holiday dinners, school board meetings, weddings, and, most assuredly, divorces.

Now, toss in the random element of celebrity, and you have a podcast! Trashy Divorces is a "good podcast about bad relationships." Hosted by Alicia and Stacie, every Sunday and Wednesday, the duo takes listeners on a comedic ride through stories of marital misconduct and love gone wrong. 

From that brief description, you might think that this podcast is juicy, sleazy gossip spewed forth TMZ style. I'm happy to report that these women are far too classy and sharp to descend into the depravity of TMZ self-righteousness and snark.

The show began in December 2018, and has kept to a consistent schedule for the last five years. That's medal worthy for an indie podcast. The show does offer three levels of membership via Patreon and does sell some cool merchandise.

The co-hosts describe themselves this way: "Stacie is a freelance copywriter with experience in a range of industries, but for years has supplied regular ghostwritten content for law firm websites. In 2018, she realized that she had a stack of material that, with significant revision and a shift of emphasis, could probably make for a pretty bangin’ podcast. Then she realized that the website and social media handles for “trashydivorces” were somehow not already owned by someone else, and a plan was hatched."

"Alicia is a freelance corporate trainer and instructional designer by trade who consults for companies and government agencies. When she’s not doing that or podcasting, she’s also an accomplished artist. You can find her work at Be Sassy Art on Facebook. Her first wife will always be her Yorkshire terrier Ruby Tallulah, but she grudgingly acknowledges her status as a cat lady, and blames Stacie for it 100%."

"They’ve been married since 2015 (they had to do it in Florida, because it wasn’t legal in Georgia yet) and live in Atlanta with Ruby and their cat sons, Inman and Barnaby."

The scope of the podcast and divorces is wide-ranging and not limited to current times. The duo has done informative and entertaining episodes on Henry VIII and, in the same show, Rudy Giuliani.  They've connected Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell, and her divorce with the trailer trash tale of Newt Gingrich with his sordid affairs and marriages.

Their curiosity knows no bounds, since they've covered everyone from Sonny & Cher to Donald Trump, and Agatha Christie to Brad & Jenn.

The tone of the podcast is more sensible, analytical, and level-headed than you might think, given the nature of the topic.  The co-hosts begin with a bio and then delve into the subject's relationship history along with their career highlights and low points. Stacie reads the bios of the subjects and adds context and depth to the life stories, while Alicia adds commentary and a sharp slice of wit.

The co-hosts have their fun with the misogynistic jerks we all know and look down on -- Silvio Berlusconi, Rupert Murdoch, Prince Andrew, and Mario Lopez. I personally savored the episode about Bill Nye The Science Guy who managed to stay married for a whole seven weeks and sparked drama that included poisoning rose bushes, a stolen laptop, a restraining order, and an annulment.

The duo doesn't ignore female celebrities with issues, with recent episodes on Kaley Cuoco and her relationship slips and falls, and Zooey Deschanel, the pixie girl, who found a Property Brother very soon after the dissolution of her second marriage.

At times, the co-hosts find that the trashy divorces do not define the celebrity. Case in point actor Tony Danza, who even after three divorces, they called him "a decidedly untrashy fellow."

The co-hosts synchronize well together with distinct voices and an easy-to-follow cadence and delightfully understated sarcasm that can produce grins, smirks, and smiles.

On the podcasting side of the equation, Trashy Divorces has excellent sound quality, a sharp, syncopated musical score, solid episode notes, and a stylish and full-featured website. They know how to monetize with merchandise, a Patreon membership page and a subscription cost that encourages participation, and a nicely organized sponsor page where listeners can find the various deals offered by the podcast's sponsors companies.

Finally, the duo is sharp enough to capitalize on current events, and they just did an episode on country singer Jason Aldean just he is immersed in the "Try That In A Small Town" culture battle.

Perhaps the worst human being they've covered could be actor Steven Seagal, who they reviewed in March 2023. Seagal combines misogyny, narcissism, cruelty, paranoia, inflated self-worth, and the award as the worst Saturday Night Live host. 

I recommend Trashy Divorces for listeners because you can have fun, learn something about celebrities, and possibly even reassess your romantic life.