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Published by Ali Weiss
Tales of Taboo investigates, and celebrates, the stories we’re taught to keep quiet. Host Ali Weiss collects raw, honest, sometimes shocking anonymous confessions from her global audience and interviews public figures willing to speak candidly about their unconventional lives. Provocative, funny, and deeply empathetic, Tales of Taboo asks why we’re all so afraid to be different — and what might happen if we weren’t. Submit your own confession at confessions@aliweissworld.com, or follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld.
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Vea Vesper is a professional Dominatrix who “creates safe spaces to play dangerous games.” She was the first woman in Russia to publicly come out as a Dom, blazing a trail for sex workers on social media in her home country. We dive deep into sex and dating culture in Russia vs America (hello Russian Hooker trope!); what it really means to be a “good girl” and why intimidating women get further in life; how to “make the Universe your Mistress”; and all the ways in which BDSM can teach us about healthy boundaries, honest communication, and effective negotiation in everyday life. And, as a special treat for us very good boys and girls, she reveals the wildest scene a submissive has ever asked for. (Spoiler alert: it involves cake.) ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and hosted by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
Feel like blowing up your life? You’ve come to the right place. This week’s confessors range in age from 28 to 51 and reside in New York City, Los Angeles, Charlotte, San Diego, San Francisco, London, and the Netherlands. Each of them took enormous personal, professional, or physical risks in pursuit of a freer and more authentic life. We hear from an athletic trainer who elected to amputate half his leg; a high-end drug dealer turned stay-at-home mom; a sex worker turned corporate project manager — and a youth program director turned cam girl; two former city professionals making monster salaries who opted to pursue their artistic dreams full-time; a man who found unexpected success as a journalist in mid-life; a woman who moved to Europe for a man she met in China; and two women who found the strength to leave emotionally abusive relationships after ten and fifteen years. Together, they offer wisdom about losing and rebuilding your identity, navigating judgment from family and society, redefining success, confronting fears of failure, and understanding the complicated role money plays in happiness. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
Kseniya Sovenko ( @ksenyeah ) is a former nationally ranked competitive ballroom dancer, writer, and the founder of NYC Rave Girls ( @nyc.rave.girls ). After being diagnosed with HPV, Kseniya discovered she had high-grade cervical dysplasia (CIN3), an advanced type of precancerous cells. She was offered only one option for treatment, called a LEEP - or Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure - but read many reports that the procedure offered inconsistent results and bad side effects. So, in the middle of 2020's global lockdown, Kseniya traveled to Japan on a medical Visa to receive Photodynamic Therapy. Her story is equal parts wild and informative, and I hope you find it as inspiring as I did. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
What the f*ck is a " timeline ?" This week’s global confessors (16:35) reside in England, Spain, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Each got married — and in some cases had children — “late,” between the ages of 34 and 41. We hear from former party girls adjusting to quieter lives after decades of late nights and globe-trotting; a woman who moved abroad with her girlfriend before returning to the States in search of a heteronormative relationship; a queer woman married to a queer man in a proud Dual Income No Kids household; a woman pregnant via surrogate at 40 after spending a decade happily unmarried to her long-term boyfriend; a woman who resisted relentless pressure from her religious family to have children; and a PhD navigating social judgment about her happy marriage to a plumber. From sex, drugs, and rock & roll-filled twenties to lavish Christmas-themed weddings and shotgun ceremonies in Nashville and Vegas, our contributors have no shame about finding lasting love later in life. In fact, many believe that spending years focused on ambition and self-discovery allowed them to approach marriage as whole people seeking genuine partnership — not validation, void-filling, or a box to check. But they also speak candidly about the emotional and physical realities of delayed domesticity: the patience required to reject societal timelines, the strain “geriatric” pregnancy can place on the body, and the profound ways marriage and parenthood can reshape a woman’s identity after a lifetime of independence. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
Chelsea G. Summers is the author of one of my all-time favorite novels, A Certain Hunger . The story follows a sexy, successful, and sociopathic middle aged food critic as she travels around the world sleeping with, murdering, and then EATING men who have wronged her. Even more iconic than the book is Chelsea herself — a former stripper, sex writer, wine writer, and academic who self-identifies as having been a “fuckup” in her 20s and 30s before going to grad school in her 40s and writing her first novel in her 50s. Despite initial rejection by 40 publishers, A Certain Hunger went on to become an international bestseller. Chelsea joined me in the studio to bond over being "too much"; the joys of "unlikeable" female characters; the pain and privilege of beauty; society's toxic relationship to aging; and what getting older does to a woman's identity. She also dishes about what it was like to strip through her 30s, transition from sex work into academia, and marry a man twenty years her junior (who loves to paint her naked). ~ A Certain Hunger is available wherever books are sold - and is an Audible original, too. https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Certain-Hunger-Audiobook/B07Y46F4YG ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
It took me 10 years to graduate college. I mean, school sucks — when you’re a teenager, at least. It feels very different as an adult who actually chooses to be there. This week’s global confessors (8:55) reside in Southern California, Maryland, Hawaii, Ontario, London, Germany, and New Zealand. Each of them decided to finish their undergraduate degree or pursue higher education in their 30s, well beyond the age society tells us it’s “normal” to do so. We hear from a mother of two studying psychology to become a sex educator; a divorced mom back in community college at 35; and a woman pursuing her PhD while raising children in a foreign country. There’s a crime scene investigator pursuing a Master’s after seeing one too many dead bodies; a former nonprofit worker who fled abroad for graduate school after the Trump administration cut her funding; and an administrative employee pursuing a second Master’s out of fear that her mindless job would slowly rot her brain. We also hear from an Indigenous first-generation college student who took the LSAT four times before getting into law school, and a soon-to-be graduate navigating the complicated expectations of her immigrant parents. From tuition costs and lifestyle adjustments (goodbye Pilates, hello grocery budgets) to childcare, burnout, and balancing work with studying, all of this week’s confessors agree that returning to school later in life is no easy feat. But bringing real-world hardship, work experience, and parenthood into the classroom has made education feel far more meaningful — and the satisfaction of breaking barriers, whether racial, economic, or personal, has made the struggle worthwhile. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
Colette Pervette is a professional Dominatrix, writer, and PhD in Education from UC Berkeley. A self-proclaimed “Educatrix,” she’s also the founder of MistressClass : an online course merging psychology-centric lectures with technical BDSM training to teach aspiring Dommes the ropes (pun intended) while helping them step into their highest power and purpose. We discuss her teacher origin story of being outed to her Asian immigrant parents; the life-altering potential of honesty, in and out of the dungeon; why masks and personas actually aren't 'inauthentic' but tools for radical self-expression; and how physical and emotional pain shouldn't be avoided, but rather seen as an exciting - and important - test of boundaries. We also get into the rumors about her "sex cult" and the craziest acts she's ever subjected her Submissives to. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and hosted by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
Would moving home with your parents be a dream or a nightmare? Depends on which confessor you ask. This week’s stories (11:38) come from people between the ages of 31 to 45 residing throughout New York, California, and Oregon. Each of them is — or was until recently — living with their parents as an adult. I was too, until I was 28. While the cost of living crisis played a major role in their decisions to move home, medical conditions, career changes, and relationship status factored in too. Some describe the experience as comforting and deeply healing; others admit it’s been infantilizing or emotionally complicated. But nearly all agree that multigenerational living offers benefits beyond saving money: community, relief from isolation, love, and the time and space to pursue hobbies, creative ambitions, and more meaningful ways of existing. Most of all, it’s encouraged them to reconsider America’s traditional definition of “adulthood” — and question whether independence, productivity, and constant striving are really the only markers of a successful life. ~ Share your own story at confessions@aliweissworld.com. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating & review: it’s immensely helpful for expanding our community of confessors! Tales of Taboo is produced and hosted by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Sound mixing by Cedric Wilson. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro.
I absolutely believe in marriage, but I also believe that marriage is inaccurately marketed as a one-stop solution for all of life’s problems. It’s no wonder why, as of 2024, about 43% of American marriages are said to end in divorce: we’re brainwashed! And yet, choosing to end a legally-bound relationship is still seen as a "failure." This week’s anonymous confessors were all married and split by the age of 35. Their roads to divorce vary from the interference of religious parents, bisexuality, affairs, accidental pregnancies, drug addictions, and domestic abuse, to a FAKE death! However, their initial decisions to wed mostly stemmed from the same motivations: thinking (or being told) that marriage was “necessary” at that point in their life, or feeling lonely and insecure, and believing a contractual life partner would be a remedy. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Chris Stathopolous and WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating and review - it's immensely helpful for expanding our network of anonymous confessors. Thank you!
I recently broke up with my boyfriend. Though extremely painful, I knew it was the correct decision - but I also wondered in my lower moments if, at 31, I was “too old” to start over again. I’ve never looked or felt better, but there’s cultural shame surrounding not having a partner after a certain age. A massive amount of power and freedom of choice comes with being single, and many solo people in their 30s and 40s are NOT miserable. We just don’t hear about it. This week’s anonymous confessors are straight, gay, bi, and gender nonconforming men and women residing in New York, LA, London, New Zealand, & Paris. They’re between the ages of 31 and 54 and either are currently single, or found their partner “later in life.” On the coupled side, we hear from two women who met their husbands in their 40s after 20+ years (!) of being unpartnered, and a 39 year old former party princess who met her husband on Raya at 36. On the single side, both halves of a straight couple that broke up after nearly a decade dish on the novelty of riding solo for the first time at 30; a queer man explains why straight people need to stop obsessing over monogamy; an American in Europe enjoys her freedom to take road trips with hot strangers she meets at parties; a non-binary contributor in their 40s feels this is the first time they can be their authentic self on dating apps; and a 35 year old escort wonders if earning her own “fuck you” money has made her too comfortable with independence. Our contributors all acknowledge that a ‘single person bias’ is built into Western society: life is marketed to seem ‘impossible’ to navigate alone. But the sense of self-worth, knowledge of personal boundaries, sex, money, and total freedom that come from being single “later in life” prove that’s not actually true. ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Tales of Taboo is produced and hosted by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Chris Stathopolous and WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating and review - it's immensely helpful for expanding our network of anonymous confessors around the world. Thank you!
Affairs are by no means good or fair, but they rarely have malicious intent. More often, they’re about quelling the ways adult life can be lonely and disappointing. This week’s lustful anonymous confessors began their affairs in Paris nightclubs, Las Vegas strip clubs, and European hideaways; on Seeking Arrangements and Ashley Madison; at work, via email, and though the phone. They fell for their clients, coworkers, bosses - even doctors! While the physical circumstances vary greatly, our storytellers all admit to strikingly similar emotional motivations: trauma, abuse, sexual rejection, unhappy marriages, insecurity, the loss of love. And the words they use to describe the way their paramours made them feel are the same, too: ‘desired’, ‘chosen’, ‘appreciated’, ‘valuable’, ‘loved’. I mean, how many times do we get presented with an all-encompassing romantic attraction that makes us really feel something? That isn’t circumstantial, or a void filler, or in pursuit of domestic stability? Where it’s just this inexplicable, chemical heat? I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying it’s complicated. ~ Share your own confession - or love letters and hate mail - at confessions@aliweissworld.com. Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Chris Stathopolous and WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. If you love the show, please take a moment to leave a rating and review - it's immensely helpful for expanding our network of anonymous confessors around the world. Thank you!
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. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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.” ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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.” ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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. ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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.” ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
$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 @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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! ~ Tales of Taboo is produced and narrated by Ali Weiss. Follow Ali on Instagram & TikTok @aliweissworld. Audio production by Isabel McMahon & WTF Media. Theme song by Chris Stathopolous. Cover photo by Erika Flynn. Cover art by Kristen Montenegro. GOT A SECRET TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? Share your own confession - or thoughts and feedback - at confessions@aliweissworld.com.
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Observed September 13, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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