The Shade Of It All: A Rucast Podrace for RuPaul's Drag Race

Readers! To wrap up '22, Kyle and recurring librarian Jake Leizear pay homage to the oft-overlooked second outs of the season; the local drag scenes of Baltimore, Connecticut and Seattle; and our opinions on the 200 seasons of Drag Race we got this year (as both Drag Race OG and TSOIA approach our 200th episodes!) We *mostly* get away with discussions about this year's 12(!) seasons without discussing the winners, so you can remain predominantly unspoiled. We also toss in some quick first impression thoughts on the imminent MTV-debut of Season 15! Why are WE going to win Drag Race? I mean, look at us! Like come on! (music: bensound.com)

Readers and beavers! Kyle and Dr. Ben are joined by second daughter of Columbiana, Ohio Kara Noel! There's no shortage of asides and “twin talk” between Ben and Kara (despite them not being twins) as the trio discusses blood types (and our debilitating issues with giving blood), repetitive jargon, acceptable Wheel of Fortune guessing strategies, The Wiz, credit scores, oversized alliances and of course, the designs of the challenge and Vanna Fucking White as we discuss All Winners Episode 3: The Realness of Fortune Ball! Enjoy the eloguence! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, it's happening! The fans wanted them to compete again so bitches, they got in the ring and let's GO. For such an epic season to be ru-capped in true Legendary Legend style, Kyle made sure to be joined by none other than Katie and Sharron! We discuss why women kill (spoiler alert, it's men), what queens we'll always stan, the several many seasons of Drag Race that have aired since the librarians recorded last and our thoughts on the opening two episodes of All Stars 7, aka All Stars All Winners - "Legends" and "Snatch Game"! Participation points for everyone! (music: bensound.com)

READERS it's happened! After spending a month and a half off celebrating their birthday

READERS, this season's been so long, Kyle's another year older! To celebrate the occasion, Jake Leizear is back to chat with the birthday boy about terribad autotune, staring at the ceiling during performances, crawling on the floor when asked, natty Xtina wigs, and the “I'm a mouse - duh!” shenantergins of the final performance episode of season 14, “Catwalk!” In 10 days we'll have a winner, baby - who's it gonna be?! (Music: bensound.com)

READERS, are we at the penultimate performance episode of the season?! Returning to the Shade Table with Kyle this week is the newly and dually citizenshipped Gary Goldman, complete with overly seltzer alcoholic bevvies and a litany of opinions! We're discussing standup vs. roasts, immortal fascinating show stopping ingenue SUPER HAPPY TO BE THERE Norvina, ignoring feedback from the judges, terribad Frankenstein runway audio and the queens attempts at roasting the “hilarious” Ross Mathews! ***SPOILER ALERT*** if you're an eager beaver reader listening to this in the 18 hours before the next episode airs: at the 1 hour 2 minute and 30 second mark, we briefly discuss the potential outcome of episode 14, so jump back in at the 1 hour 5 minute mark if you want to remain unspoiled! (Music: bensound.com)

READERS, have you heard that being vegan just makes you better than other people? Well Kyle got an afternoon of reminders courtesy of Dr. Ben and special West Coast visitor Katie Kaitchuck! The sound effects run rampant, along with thoughts on the corpse of ANTM, residual trauma from Snatch Game, editing (or lack thereof), the Broadway show with beef you should be seeing, and the quality of this week's Rusical, “Moulin Ru”! (We also get REAL excited about the sniping on the runway with the “Who should go home tonight and why?”) Twelve episodes in with still 7 queens left - will the golden chocolate EVER be seen?

READERS! A two-episode rucap rolled into one is made all the more poignant by bringing you the dynamic duo of Aries season - the Porter Twins! After two years, Kyle is joined once again by his twin sister Kayla to talk about Boscow, some contested lip sync decisions, some questionable celebrity impersonations, some world-view shattering blackface, and of course, the straight up WTFery of this year's Snatch Game - and it's aftermath! (Pardon the background guest appearances of Kayla's landlord investigating some steam, and Kayla's fur baby/Kyle's fur niece, Chima.) If ONLY Seduction could do that... (music: bensound.com)

READERS. It's one week later which was about the amount of time we needed to process the Bland Finale of Drag Race UKvsTWXYZ. Is Michael drinking this episode? Is Hollie over her Drag Race fatigue? Who's going to be the first to mention Wetherspoons? And did anyone make it through a full listen of the "prize" track for the winner of this potentially one and done season? All this and more as we sum up our thoughts in the final (for now!) episode of The Shade Of It All: Toad in the Hole Edition!

READERS!!! It's a quick and dirty (well…quick and dirty for Shade Table standards) episode as Ky-Ky and Kei-Kei, most *definitely* recording on a weekend because Kyle's sister didn't bail on him last minute, virtually discuss to eliminate or not to eliminate, the...interesting…sonic prize of the “winner's” “prize” from UKvsTWXYZ with Nubian Queen Ebony Goddess RuPaul, “caked up” celebs, and the wildly varied understanding of both shoulder pads and Menzeseses in our recap of Seasons 14, Episode 9 - Menzeses! (Music: bensound.com)

READERS! Hollie's having gin, Michael's having pineapple juice, and Kyle's having dragonfruit energy drink to kept us hydrated and moderately critical of the penultimate episode of the show. We're talking two pussies, Mystery Mall, outfits that you hate a little more every time you see them, shitty soap operas, scones vs. biscuits, and how thrilled the queens likely are having to record a RuPaul song in a competition where the prize is recording a song…with RuPaul… The Drag Race Ouroboros is alive and well! (Music: bensound.com)

Your favorite girl group is back, readers! Kyle is joined by recurring librarian Keith and longtime gal pal Holly Louise Gooden to start the reunion tour of KWA (that's Knitters With Attitude!) As per yewzh when these 3 get together, there are a lot of laugh-filled tangents before we start recapping (around the 16:20 mark; at the 30 minute mark if you ONLY want to hear about this episode), but we talk about who our crushes for the season are, belated opinions of Season 13, the trash user interfaces of the numerous streaming platforms, the library, the music stylings of our family elders and the girl groupings of Season 14, Episode 8 - 60s Girl Groups! (Music: bensound.com)

READERS! Hollie and Michael are back with Kyle at the Shade Table to talk about everyone's “favorite” challenge - The Snatch Game! Did the Family Feud/Family Fortunes twist help? Is playing a straight up man a copout at this point? Will we get in a Wetherspoons reference? What about another UK girl group? And is there any point in watching the rest of the season after THAT ending? All of this and more as we cover Drag Race UK vs The World, Xcuse You Zery Much Episode 4: Snatch Game! Get your mushy peas ready... (music: bensound.com)

READERS, we've got a lot of hot air to let out after that episode. (Get it? It's a fart joke, the cream of the crop of humor.) Kyle is joined by the Latin from Manhattan Francisco Alegria to talk about the leftover feelings from the Glamazon Prime runway, having your tortillas made vs. being a tortilla maker, how much y'all need to get caught up on Dynasty references, what role we'd go after as THESPIANS (and some acting tips as well from said THESPIANS), and the incredibly polarizing final product of the Director's Cut of Season 14, Episode 7 - The Daytona Wind! (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Kyle and Michael are here to differentiate between the West End and the Bell End as we talk nondescript white guy guest judges, Jujubee rendering everyone illiterate when it comes to the library, how appealing throwing a tantrum is multiple weeks in a row (spoiler alert: not at all appealing!), whether Meryl Streep should be nominated for this episode, and of course, our thoughts on Episode 3 of UK vs the World, an increasingly questionable season of our favorite show! Does Michael get in his weekly Wetherspoons reference? Will anyone else get a win on this season? Most importantly: IS THE VENGABUS STILL RUNNING? (music: bensound.com)

READERS! This week, the Shade Table has seats for the newly American Gary Goldman and the STILL reigning Miss Nerd NY Megami! After determining whether we could pass the American citizenship test (spoiler alert: Gary can; Megami and Kyle can't), we talk about floppy jacks and other objects available on Glamazon, diarrhea thoughts, dated Sex and the City references, that homeless woman at the resort talking about her lover who isn't there, and even get an assist from Dr. Ben Wagner to teach us young'n's about Chappaquiddick. And we discuss episode 6 of Season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race for almost two hours! PULL UP A CHAIR - YOU'RE IN DRAG, MAN! (music: bensound.com)

'ELLO READERS AND GUBNAHS! Break out the bangers and mash (and your blaccents

READERS! You're in store for a second episode this week, as Kyle and Keith are joined by K-Pop stan and The Cut staple Jaime Aguilar to talk about the molesty mini-challenges, curious runways, and THAT lipsync of this week's episode, Save A Queen. Hope you rememberized your lines! (Music: bensound.com)

READERS - You alright babes?! For the first time in Shade Table herstory, we're getting international and trans-Atlantic, and bringing you a special show within a show! (Do you want to play?!) American Kyle is joined by two British Kyles, the lovely Hollie Charles and Michael Kenny! (The only British lot we know are the ones with multiple first names, sue us.) On the first of this special six part series, we spill the English Breakfast as we discuss queens with diminishing returns, great gowns beautiful gowns, cherry-picking Ru, the plethora of Spice Girls merch we grew up surrounded by, and the debut episode of Drag Race UK vs The World (or the MUCH BETTA title of International All Stars). When life gives you lemons...

READERS! This week Kyle is joined by Baltimore's little buffoon court jester (his words, not ours) Jake Leizear at the virtual Shade Table! (It's a three take episode courtesy of Kyle's Service Battery warning from his refurbished Crapbook Pro - just a heads up.) Join the dolls as they discuss Pokemon Legends, eye rolls, questionable improv choices, loose interpretations of loose definitions of loose celebrity “looks”, and the sly genius of this week's episode, She's A Super Tease. (We're both spoilerheads but we keep this episode spoiler free! But you're welcome to slide in the DMs if you want some tea.) (Music: bensound.com)

READERS…it's chocolate.

READERS. Kyle, Keith and Ben are back discussing with the night shift queens, in addition to chatting about being born in the 1900s, severe back arches, more white woman nude illusion, what family members you can subject to Joan Crawford reenactments, questionable wigs, sexy sexy sexy gowns, a whole lotta lip-syncing and all of our thoughts on Episode 2 of Season 14 - Big Opening, Part 2! Check? Check. (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Our late fees have been paid off and our library cards have been reinstated. That's right - The Shade Table is back, bébés! The new year brings with it some new equipment, a new Shade Table, a new guest librarian and of course, a new season of Drag Race. Join Kyle and returning interim librarian Keith in welcoming Dr. Ben Wagner to the Shade Table, where they discuss milky twilights, white darkness, white woman nude illusion and other white hot takes on the Season 14 Big Opening of RuPaul's Drag Race (Part 1!) (music: bensound.com)

READERS! What even is time? (No seriously. Because we're still dealing with a panini two years later...) We finally got around to finding the audio from our recap of the reunion and the finale of Season 12, which we recorded back in December of 2020 :| Quite a bit has happened since (including roughly 17 seasons of Drag Race and it's sibling shows), and we will eventually get around to summing up Season 13 (and All Stars 5 & 6) - but in the meantime, take a time warp with Katie, Kyle and Sharron as we discuss coronation of the Essence of Beauty, Jaida Essence Hall. (And prepare yourself...our Season 14 recaps are imminent. For real! And they're gonna be FUN.) >:) music: bensound.com

Ready, set, PRO! Happy “Boxing Day” episode, readers! We talk about our mystery jobs (both newly acquired and possessed for years), Zoom pregnancies, hepiphanies, Sharron's one-woman show “The Sound Lot”, talking to people with our mouths, ideal show lineups, advice from Whoopi, professional bottomists, a record amount of bleeped out Jane moments, and the results of the various One Queen Shows! Did you notice all the great glasses on display? (Don't forget to use code 139191WL7 for 30% off glasses at Wherelight.com!) (music: bensound.com)

Readers, we'll wait. Today is DEFINITELY December 23rd, and Kyle is joined by returning guest librarian Keith (black black black again), along with Keith's sewer-dwelling tethered Dawn! The shade button is alive and well (if not a little delayed) as we discuss comedic stylings, QPOWs, problematic cis gays, “loud” white people fabrique vs. loud POC fabrique, the drama of playing Spellbreak (and what happens next will *shock* you), Wisconesottatenn…essee, A-list guest judge Debbie Blair, and how great and game all of our new queens were on the Superfan Makeover! YOU CAN LEAVE! (But after you listen to the episode kids! PLEASE!!!) (music: bensound.com)

READERS! With his specialty in American politics, Kyle could think of no better guest librarian to join him in the digital aether than political scientist Patrick Egan! Who better to discuss early bird special queens, off the cuff jokes vs. a well-paid writing staff, and good debate etiquette with? We also find out which recent election cycle debate Patrick attended and how to LOOK OVER THERE! It's an insightful episode and we don't want to tell you what to do but if you skip it? Let's just say you red, white and blew it. (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Kyle is joined by our immensely bearddraggled Brillo faced friend of the pod Mike Soto for some quick chats about Drag Race Canada and Holland, goat fish Jantasies, weird quality Skype audio (sorry!), …CHAKA KHAN?, gay uncle at Easter attire, wiggling body parts, Trinity the Truck Traylor Thomas the Transformer, Mike's childhood Barbie, flying Sharpies, Chesté, and triggering eager child critiques. Oh, and their thoughts on Episode 8 of Season 12 - Droop! (There it is!) (music: bensound.com)

Everybody say THANKS MISS RONA! Readers! Kyle welcomes a return appearance to the Shade Table from tall and skinty legend Keith, and they're kiki-ing (KeiKei-ing?) about what they've been up to for the past eight months (spoiler alert: nothing), Rusicals past and present, DaftBoy fans presents DaftBoy fans by DaftBoy, OnlyFans contemplations, discorrections, Tragedy Mirror Time, cliffhanger thigh highs and riding crops - and the chugs, mugs and angry wrestlers involved with Madonna: The Rusical! (music: bensound.com)

Take a trip in our time machine to the start of April 2020 - and the most recent gathering of your three head librarians at The Shade Table! Everyone's got ill-timed illnesses, Katie's got Death Wishes for people, Sharron's in...Hawaii? and Kyle is sorry we've got weird audio for this episode. We're asking for your sheltered-in-place forgiveness as remote recording was a new TSOIA frontier, but this episode still has plenty to keep you entertainted: gay polygamist cults, how much fun we're having playing our NO!, quaran-cleaning, “what's that bitch”, secondhand embarrassment, dick thumbs on Skype and screaming about berries. And we also talk about the Season 12 Snatch Game! Apologies again for the audio - we've got a better handle on internet calls 8 months into all this :') (music: bensound.com)

Ayo sis! Ayo ma! READERS. It's a family affair at The Shade Table this week as Kyle is joined by his twin sister Kayla and mother Karen to kiki about this week's episode! Kayla talks about her admiration for look queens, Karen apparently really doesn't like Widow, Kyle divulges some tips about making the most of small parts in a show, and we recap the ups, downs and “Who should go home tonight and why?”s of Episode 5 of Season 12: Gay's Anatomy! (music: bensound.com)

Hope you're ready for some unprecedented firsts on The Shade Of It All, readers! This is our first life-altering pandemic during the pod, so Kyle is trying out a Hail Mary pass (that's sports enough, right?) with recording first time guests (and the first ever call-in librarians!) Kevin Tallon (of the Gotham Knights rugby team) and two-time Olympic swimmer Amini Fonua! These athletic gentlemen flex their shade muscles as we talk serving it to one camera, living Jersey accents, Amino's Barb status, Kevin's food dating reality show past, hater merch, problematic faves, swimming vs. Broadway, 3 different brand new kinks to praise/shame, what it takes to see a goofy French person, and of course the THIRTY SIX (!) runway looks in this week's Ball Ball! Who hit a home run? Who stayed in the gutter? How many bus driver wigs did you think this cast owns? Up your D! FENCE! and listen to find out! Gooooooooooal! (music: bensound.com)

#ThankGoodnes - Kyle-Steven's rejoined by one of his favorite Judys, Holly Louise, and welcoming to the kink-shaming Shade Table for the first time, Keith Avery! Life's not fair that Kyle's surrounded by these beauteous recipients of God's Photoshop, but we manage to sneak in references to fish hiding kids in their mouths, personal pandemic problems, murder elevators, being blessed and highly flavored, Fruit Roll Up suits, AT&Teeth, bad improv with some unfortunate character names, Rubles, buttons, bows, bus driver wigs, ASMR & vodka - all while discussing Episode 3 of Season 12, The World's Worst! Full disclosure: our recap starts at the 24 minute mark, but just make yourself a quarantini and enjoy the ride! (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Kyle's joined by the current f*cking reigning Miss Nerd New York, Megami! We spend a little bit of time discussing the giant disqualified elephant in the room but then get into a discussion of sad girl music, painting with the S12 girls, Destiny's LaTavias, the Cardi B Collection for Fashion Nova, Janne Hathaway and premiere 2 of 2 for Drag Race Season 12: You Don't Know Me. (Their Venmos do work, by the way: @megaminyc and @kyle-steven-porter - help some poor uneducated womyn out!) (music: bensound.com)

READERS. Sharron's wearing her TEAMWENDY shirt, Katie's getting her cake sitting pants on while getting increasingly blonde (she's 40!), and Kyle is…hard to hear (he has an excuse though - he's sick!) as we get the gang together to drop some *big* Shade Table Season 12 News. We also talk emoji mashups, pangolins, capybaras, skinty legendts, tiny tiny couches, getting refunds AND credits, All Stars 12, leprosy and premiere 1 of 2 for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12. IF YOU STAY FREDDY YOU AIN'T GOT TO GET FREDDY! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, can y'all hear the beauty? POSE's own B. Hawk Snipes of the legendary House of Reign sits down with us to kiki about episodes 5-7 (What Would Candy Do, Love's in Need of Love Today, and Blow). We talk preschool academics, pudding, Sue Simmons, Solid Gold, Elektra's rejects, and sitting beside Patti Lupone. (music: bensound.com)

READERS, quick-- squeeze in our latest Summer Reading episode before this week's POSE! Katie, Sharron and Kyle welcome to the Shade Table Tito (the model who was just talking) to discuss opulentils, signature moves, Instant Hotel, Dorito Loco Tacos, killing Cousin Oliver, and calling the cops on Dorian Corry. (music: bensound.com)

READERS, Katie, Kyle and Sharron pull up to the Shade Table to talk Caroline in the City, Rachael Leigh Cook, Victim-Crime Vision Boards, and NIPPLES EVERYWHERE as we dish about RuPaul's Drag Race: Season 11 Finale! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, Katie, Sharron and Kyle gather at the Shade Table about dressing a fupa, horse feathers, functional unf*ckability, Daryl Strawberry, and Wood Glue as we assess the Season 11 reunion! (music: bensound.com)

READERS! It's a family reunion at the Shade Table as Kyle, Sharron and Katie retake their places and mics to talk Kyle tendencies, Sharron's drag padding, and play Hotep Pyramid (NOT explained by Dr. Katie Ganache). AND, Season 11, Episode 12: Queens Everywhere!(music: bensound.com)

Alright readers - this one's a doozy! Katie is booked and blessed ("she's so busy") and Sharron is wrapping up her Eurotrip ("she's STILL in Sweden?!") so Kyle is joined by one of his best judies, the infinitely quotable Holly Louise Gooden! Tune in to find out which queen makes Holly want to rub her boobs, opinions on lacefront beards vs. weave beards, whose tuck could have been better, BIKE SHORTS? and more! It's our longest episode yet for what feels like the longest season yet - start at the 19 minute mark if you want just the show coverage (but we'll keep you laughing if you listen to all 132 minutes, promise). :) (music: bensound.com)

Readers, we're back on Lawn Guyland! ("We're" being Kyle - Sharron's in Sweden and Katie's sick, no bueno!) Our extra special guest librarian is flight attendant Nico Dragone and his spicy opinions - we're discussing golden pigs, ball pairings, Da Black Magic (or lack thereof), being Stanjies and our other feelings on Season 11, Episode 10: Dragracadabra! All while drinking peach wine product! When will your fave?! (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Sharron and Kyle are Blacking Out™ and discussing resting bitch voice, scream-laugh-cries, diabetic comas, acquiescing to scene partners, the season of So Many Pants, and the Dreamgirls: Lurleen Lumpkin, Lyle Lanley and Laverle. Oh, and also Episode 9 of Season 11 - L.A.P.D.! (NOT brought to you by Zenni Optical.) "I call her Paula and I keep her hidden." Give that b*tch a Peabody! (music: bensound.com)

Readers! The power of 3 will set us free as Kyle, author of Why Are You Yelling?, and Sharron, author of From Ho To Housewife: It IS Possible (who may or may not be astral projecting) are joined by good judy of the Salt Table - hey Tauruses! - Megami (who may or may not be a ghost). We're discussing the queens several salty sides, B*g D*ck B*tch dot com (thanks Bing!), how hard it is having to be a real person and the other shenanigans of Season 11, Episode 8 - Snatch Game At Sea! You know damn well we've got some thoughts on THAT LIPSYNC too! (music: bensound.com)

The cheese stands alone, readers! Due to a combination of our Shady Ladies being booked and blessed (including out of state!) and Kyle's birthday shenanigans (Happy Belated Kyle!), our regularly scheduled podcasting program hit a delay this week. To not leave you with TSOIA FOMO, we've got a one-time-only one-man show from our resident Aries himself, as he recaps the happenings of From Farm To Runway, Episode 7 of Season 11 (Hey, 7/11! Seriously though, where does denim come from?) (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Joining Kyle and Katie in Sharron's absence is comedy-horror writer (and returning guest librarian) David Nora! We're going back to our Kameron Michaels shit as we talk Swan Lake with Death Drops, if daftboy is Banksy, being the most Vanjie, Metro Pollis and the Draglympics for our recap of Season 11, Episode 6! Onusthing is possible! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, while Kyle's away, Katie and Sharron have Mike Soto at the Shade Table talking curmudgeon eleganza, blurred hairlines, the gay Situation, Cara Delevawgne and Rex and the City. Sharron gives a TED talk and we unicorn the house down hooves as we chat about Season 11, Episode 5: Monster's Ball! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, Katie and Sharron are back to watch Kyle flip the Shade Table. We get political about The Quinns, Sharron gets Abducted in Plain Sight, and Kyle explains dance belts as we talk girl crushes and recap Season 11, Episode 4 - tRump: the Rusical! (music: bensound.com)

READERS! Katie's in Mexico & Sharron's moving to a brand new soundstage, so Kyle's holding down the Shade Table with two of his good Judies - Pedro Guerrero, writer & cheesecake maker extraordinaire, and Hector Torres, renowned Puerto Rican & digital marketing manager at [REDACTED]. While sipping on some champagne, the boys talk about why Team Britney was Stronger, why Team Mariah was A No No, rain dancing with the Grandma from Dinosaurs and the rest of our thoughts on Episode 3 of Season 11! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, check your latitudes! Katie, Sharron and Kyle gather at the Shade Table to talk FashionNoma, sunburns, fish wings, and various crèmes as we get into Season 11, Episode 2! (music: bensound.com)

READERS, Katie, Sharron and Kyle bring their bibliographies to the Shade Table to discuss entrance looks, A$AP Backstory poochie prints, whose box we want, fanjies, and extra-special guest judge Hip-Hop Harrimy Bearimy. Get into Drag Race Season 11 with us! (music: bensound.com)