The Gaymazing Race

To wrap up the season, we're bringing you post-finale interviews with Raquel and Cayla, Dusty, and Arun and Natalia. 

In this supersized episode of TGR, Nicole and Karen recap the final two legs of the race in Lisboa and Los Angeles. Cayla and Raquel continue to inflame all the fanfic we've been weaving about them by calling each other “babe” all over Portugal and Los Angeles. Dusty talks-up Ryan's upper-body strength in a rowing challenge. Arun and Natalia demonstrate what can be accomplished without ever working out, and Kim and Penn dork out doing foley sound effects after enacting serious piñata carnage in El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Plus: WE INTERVIEW THE WINNERS OF S33, which Nicole predicted midseason after a careful reading of the edit, and video BoCo.

Could leg 9 of season 33 be the gayest episode of The Amazing Race yet? Nicole and Karen have such rich Hellenistic content to explore, from all the Thespians featured throughout this leg in Thessalonaki to the Oracle of Delphi giving us endurance-oriented experimental theater vibes. Through it all, Cayla offers Raquel a back massage, Ryan won't do the same for Dusty, and at least 3 cats show up, along with a dog who races to the pit stop with a trailing team.

In this food-centric leg 8 of The Amazing Race, we witness more kitchen hubris from the guys, ladies climbing ladderless, some dumpster diving, and add to our TGR Dogs & Cats tally. Plus, Lulu and Lala join us for an elmination station interview to talk about their touching goodbyes to Phil and give the inside scoop on some...digestive realities of the race. 

Today Nicole is joined by noted Amazing Race superfan Poulomi Saha to discuss Amazing Race 33 Episode 7 (Gently Down the Stream) , while our faithful host and executive producer Karen Tongson recuperates from Covid.  We watch the teams try Casu Marzu in Corsica, count metal fish together under the water, fake-almost-drown thanks to editing, and MORE. Tune in!  Poulomi Saha (@poulomiqsaha)  is  an Assistant Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, where she teaches courses in postcolonial studies, gender and sexuality theory, and ethnic American literature. She is also the  author  of the award-winning book, An Empire of Touch: Women's Political Labor & The Fabrication of East Bengal.

Leg 6 of The Amazing Race is not for the lactose intolerant, as our contestants take cheesin' to a whole other level. We get a clear picture of which teams know how to manipulate strips of leather and metal loops round an ass to properly strap on giant metal milk containers. Is sisterhood powerful? Or is it all lip service between the all girl teams whose actions don't always match their feminist rhetoric? Plus, Akbar and Sheri join us in our very own elimination station to process how they went from masterful fromage making, to spelunking into last place. 

Nicole and Karen experience actual physical distress when they see this week's Amazing Race Road Block: the second highest bungee jump in the world. Would our resident vegan Nicole be able to stomach the sausage-making challenge that Karen thought was a “no-brainer” choice at the Detour? And which of the teams visits our elimination station?!? Plus, find out more about the three teams who couldn't return to the race when it resumed in September 2021.

Nicole and Karen rejoin the race as it resumes in St. Gallen Switzerland after a 19 month suspension. The contestants confront dizzying Alpine heights, some fast-moving clouds that Sils Maria would be proud of, and a leather challenge that our hosts feel confident they could master. PLUS: Starting this week, Nicole and Karen will be welcoming TAR 33's eliminated teams for a special exit segment! Tune in as we chat w/ Michael and Moe about karaoke, the race's Covid protocols, and their experiences at “elimination station.” 

Nicole & Karen recap S33 EP3 in Glasgow, Scotland: what they're calling the last “pre-pan” or “pre-lapserian” episode of The Amazing Race before production was halted on 2/28/2020. How do our hosts feel about the “if it ain't Scottish, it's crrrrraaap” aspects of this leg, which features contestants donning kilts, fondling bagpipes and risking tetanus to refurbish whiskey barrels? The hosts also apply their gaymazing lens to some of the robust masculinity on display throughout the episode, while giving an honest assessment of gaymazing team Isaiah and Taylor's Scottish folk singing. Plus a close read of the Ep. 4 trailer, and behind the scenes scoop on TAR's Covid “plan B,” with a rundown of all the legs of the race once production resumed. Inside the Herculean Effort to Resume ‘The Amazing Race' After Its 18-Month: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/the-amazing-race-season-33-covid-restart-phil-keoghan-1235130165/

Nicole and Karen reunite to recap the long-awaited 33rd season of The Amazing Race, which began filming in early 2020 before…(well, you know), and didn't resume until 18 months later. We'll introduce you to all 11 teams and who we're currently vibing with. What changes in the first two episodes of S33 (filmed in London), already seemed Covid-aware? Or were they merely refreshing the format? Plus, some info on the modifications made once TAR resumed production in fall 2021. 

On the heels of our last episode which touched upon the lack of lesbian representation on The Amazing Race, Nicole and Karen take matters into their own hands to form a lesbian TAR fantasy league. We invite authors, scholars, and queer BFFs Poulomi Saha & Greta LaFleur to talk about what would make them a great Amazing Race team. We hear about how Poulomi groomed an unwitting Greta to be a TAR teammate by posing challenges in their everyday lives. Which one of the two actually submitted a TAR audition tape in the early 2000s? And whose student competed in S32? Collectively we think out loud about why only lesbian couples and no lesbian buddy teams have ever been tapped to run the race.

Karen and Nicole spend some quality time with the first ever lesbian couple and team to compete on The Amazing Race, the “married ministers,” Kate and Pat. Though their run on the race lasted only a couple of legs, they also had some spirited drama on the web series Elimination Station. Which of the two earned a lifetime supply of Hooters?!  You'll also find out which of them was fired from their job after appearing as an out lesbian on TV for “peddling the gay agenda,” and learn about their spiritual and activist journeys both before and after the race. Together, we reflect on the lesbian story arcs available on reality TV, and in reality/lesbian culture itself. Plus, we get into the pitfalls of some THOUGHTS on the Poker Players from season 15 and much much more. 

One of the most lovable and legendary LGBTQ competitors ever to have graced the Amazing Race mat, Oswald Mendez of “Team Cha Cha Cha” (Oswald & Danny, S2/S11) join Karen and Nicole for a scintillating chat about all things gaymazing. Find out about how watching Pedro Zamora influenced Oswald's sense of self before his own entry into reality TV as a gay Cuban. On which leg did Oswald & Danny take a break from the race for some drinks and dancing w/ the local gays? What TAR rules had to be written or modified because of Oswald and Danny's innovations to the game? Plus, this week's road block segment revisits Team T&T's slippery situation in Malta in S25, while Nicole and Karen detour into a post-mortem of the “Mine 5” alliance on S32.

Nicole and Karen welcome Bill Bartek and Joe Baldassare, aka “Team Guido,” the very first gay team to compete on Season 1 of The Amazing Race, and the first gay couple to appear as series regulars on network reality TV. In a revealing and candid interview, Bill and Joe help Karen and Nicole break down the recurring trope of “the gay villain”--a reality competition stereotype they were shoehorned into after their first appearance on TAR--by going behind the scenes of not only the show, but also their relationship. Plus, our “Road Block” revisits Mika vs. the Leap of Faith waterslide in Dubai, and we detour into the infamous Kafka challenge in Prague. 

Authors, professors, and professional queers, Nicole J. Georges and Karen Tongson introduce you to their new limited podcast series on The Amazing Race from an LGBTQ point-of-view. What makes the race so “gaymazing” beyond some of the storied LGBTQ teams who have competed, and in some instances even won, the race? How does TAR touch upon a queer aptitude for travel, adventure, cracking codes, and reading signs? How has the show grappled with the thorny issue of “diversity” in TV representation?  Our hosts introduce you to some of the themes and recurring segments you'll be hearing all series long while introducing newbies to The Amazing Race fundamentals. Plus, Nicole and Karen do a deep dive into some of their problematic TAR favorites, including Mirna and Charla.