You Didn’t Hear This From Me: (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip

This is not what I expected but I LOVED it. Normal Gossip podcast co-creator McKinney delivers a wide-ranging treatise on our complicated relationship with gossip. In a tone at once scholarly-adjacent and extremely chatty, she spools out both personal stories and research about gossip’s role in society as a whole. Her examples range from oral storytelling traditions and The Epic of Gilgamesh to contemporary touchstones like Elena Ferrante’s unmasking and the Mean Girls Burn Book. Along the way she explores what makes gossip gossip exactly, its intersection with religion, the way it can be used as a means to power for marginalized groups, and its role as a social bond. And more! Smart, discussable, and extremely funny—I laughed out loud multiple times while reading.