Podcast · Film & TV

Reality Life with Kate Casey

Daily podcast about unscripted television. Kate Casey interviews the talent, producers, and directors of reality shows, documentaries, and docuseries. Saturday episodes tell incredible person stories.

New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 45 min
Latest: 8 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 1 minNew

Ep. - 1737 - ST. ELMO'S FIRE: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE BRAT PACK CLASSIC (PART TWO)

Carl Kurlander, co-writer of St. Elmo's Fire, returns for the second half of Kate’s conversation about the making of the 1985 Brat Pack classic. Carl reveals how close Madonna came to playing Jules, why a real-life friend refused to lend his name to Emilio Estevez's character, and the scientific embarrassment hidden in Rob Lowe's famous St. Elmo's Fire monologue. He sets the record straight on the night the "Brat Pack" was born and the article that haunted the cast for decades. Carl also shares the surprising true story behind John Parr's hit theme song, which was inspired by Paralympian…

Play episode WhatsApp Download

Earlier episodes 29 most recent

E1736 · 7 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 13 minNew

Ep. - 1736 - ST. ELMO'S FIRE: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE BRAT PACK CLASSIC (PART ONE)

Carl Kurlander, co-writer of St. Elmo's Fire, joins me for the first of a two-part conversation about the true story behind the 1985 Brat Pack classic. It all started with a summer job as a bellhop at the St. Elmo Hotel in Chautauqua, New York, and a waitress named Lynn he couldn't stop thinking about. Carl takes us from an 18-page short story he mailed to her, to a freak scholarship at Universal Studios, to fetching gazpacho for director Joel Schumacher, the mentor who would become his co-writer and, at times, his tormentor. He reveals how a blizzard drive from Cleveland to D.C., a laundry…
E1735 · 6 Oct 2026 · 53 minNew

Ep. - 1735 - THE SERIAL KILLER CONNECTION BONNIE LOU GOWER AND KARA ROBINSON CHAMBERLAIN

Bonnie Lou Gower and Kara Robinson Chamberlain join Kate to discuss The Serial Killer Connection, the three-part Investigation Discovery docuseries exploring their extraordinary connection to serial killer Richard “Marc” Evonitz. Bonnie was married to Evonitz before learning the truth about his crimes. Kara escaped his captivity at just 15, providing crucial information that helped authorities identify him and link him to the murders of three girls in Virginia. The series follows the women as they retrace Evonitz’s past, investigate new leads, and confront the possibility that he had…
E1734 · 5 Oct 2026 · 16 min

Ep. - 1734 - WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK WITH KATE CASEY

Kate discusses what to watch this week including The Serial Killer Connection (ID Discovery), Lorne (Netflix), Who is Martin Mull (Netflix), The Pet Cemetery Murders (HBO), and The Kardashians. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113157919338245 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realitylifewithkatecasey Amazon List: https://www.amazon.com/shop/katecasey X: https://twitter.com/katecasey Vanity Fair…
E1733 · 3 Oct 2026 · 46 min

Ep. - 1733 - SATURDAY SERIES: TOM BROSS

Tom Bross, author of the three-part memoir series Don’t Call Me Jupiter: Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid—Tightrope, Lightning Crashes, and Wheel in the Sky—joins Kate to discuss growing up in a family that traded a conventional Midwestern life for California’s hippie counterculture. He shares how his mother’s pursuit of freedom left her five children navigating instability and abandonment, why school became his refuge, and how he found his own path. Tom also discusses taking in his nephews after his sister’s death, the heartbreaking decision to pursue an open adoption, and learning to love…
E1732 · 2 Oct 2026 · 45 min

Ep. - 1732 - REAL HOUSEWIVES BREAKDOWN MILLER NIGHT FOOTBALL

Kate reviews the latest episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Salt Lake City, and New York City. Director Jeff Cameron joins Kate to discuss Miller Night Football on HBO, revisiting Dennis Miller’s unexpected run on Monday Night Football and the collision of his cerebral comedy with live sports broadcasting. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113157919338245 YouTube:…
E1731 · 1 Oct 2026 · 37 min

Ep. - 1731 - THE WIDOWER: ‘TIL DEATH DO US PART

Dan Slepian, Dateline senior investigative producer and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Letters From Sing Sing, joins Kate to talk about the new Netflix documentary The Widower: 'Til Death Do Us Part. Thomas Randolph had six wives, and four of them died. In 2008, his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, was shot in their Las Vegas home after a Mother's Day dinner. Randolph claimed he killed the intruder, but prosecutors said he had hired the man to kill Sharon for life insurance money. Dan spent nearly twenty years following the case, including a death sentence, a reversal by the Nevada Supreme Court, and…
E1730 · 30 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 12 min

Ep. - 1730 - TEAM MOMS: BASEBALL

Chris DeRosa joins Kate to review Team Moms: Baseball on Paramount+. The series follows seven families at a Scottsdale baseball academy where the boys train for a shot at college and professional baseball, while their parents clash in the stands. Kate and Chris discuss the academy’s reported $30,900 annual cost, the parents who keep the drama going, and the question at the heart of the show: when does supporting your child’s dream become chasing one of your own? Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List: https://katecasey.substack.com/p/books-i-cant-stop-talking-about-this Vanity Fair…
E1729 · 29 Sep 2026 · 50 min

Ep. - 1729 - GERARDO MEJIA: THE STORY BEHIND “RICO SUAVE”

Gerardo Mejía played one of the high school football players in Can’t Buy Me Love before becoming an international star with “Rico Suave.” He joins Kate to talk about his family’s move from Ecuador to Los Angeles, how dancing led to acting and music, and why he spent his own money making a music video before he had a record deal. He also shares what happened after the hit, from struggling to support his family to starting over as a record executive and working with Enrique Iglesias and a new generation of Latin artists. Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List:…
E1728 · 28 Sep 2026 · 19 min

Ep. - 1728 - WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK WITH KATE CASEY

Kate discusses what to watch this week including Amazing Race (CBS), The Widower: ’Til Death Do Us Part (Netflix), Miller Night Football (HBO), and The Swan: Behind the Mirror (Hulu). Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List: https://katecasey.substack.com/p/books-i-cant-stop-talking-about-this Vanity Fair Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/martha-moxleys-diary What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook Group:…
E1727 · 26 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 11 min

Ep. - 1727 - SATURDAY SERIES: MICHAEL SWERDLICK PART TWO

EPISODE OVERVIEW:Deadline:Friday September 25th, 2026 at 10:00 P.M. MSTBaked-In Ads (Y/N & Amount):NOEpisode Title:Ep. - 1727 - SATURDAY SERIES: MICHAEL SWERDLICK PART TWODescription:Michael Swerdlick returns to tell more stories about the making of Can’t Buy Me Love, pilots hesold, and wild experiences in the business including working with the Olsen Twins.Reality Life with Kate CaseyWhat to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.comInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseycaTik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=enFacebook Group:…
E1726 · 25 Sep 2026 · 32 min

Ep. - 1726 - BRAVO BREAKDOWN WITH CARLOS KING

Carlos King joins Kate Casey to discuss The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/113157919338245 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realitylifewithkatecasey Amazon List: https://www.amazon.com/shop/katecasey X: https://twitter.com/katecasey Vanity Fair Article:…
E1725 · 24 Sep 2026 · 34 min

Ep. - 1725 - THE SWAN: BEHIND THE MIRROR

Director Erin Lee Carr joins Kate to talk about her Hulu documentary The Swan: Behind the Mirror, along with former contestants Kristy Garza from season one and Kari Bravata from season two. The Swan premiered on Fox in 2004 and promised women a total life makeover: three months of plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, therapy, and fitness training. The contestants were isolated from their families, expected to accept what the doctors decided, and barred from looking in a mirror until a dramatic on-camera reveal. Then only one woman from each episode advanced to a beauty pageant to be crowned…
E1724 · 23 Sep 2026 · 29 min

Ep. - 1724 - THE SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES MADELINE FROM THE TRAITORS: NEW BLOOD

Kate discusses Taylor Frankie Paul’s decision to leave Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the reality series following the women of MomTok as their friendships, marriages, faith and scandals play out both on television and social media. She examines how Taylor became famous, the toxic feedback loop that helped grow her following, and why leaving the show may not be the same as leaving fame. Then Madeline from Peacock’s The Traitors: New Blood joins Kate to discuss her banishment from the competition series, in which a group of players must identify the secret Traitors eliminating…
E1723 · 22 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 6 min

Ep. - 1723 - GERBIL: INVESTIGATING A HOLLYWOOD RUMOR

Allen Salkin, host of the 12-part podcast Gerbil from The Hollywood Reporter, digs into the six-year investigation behind Hollywood's most unkillable urban legend. Allen walks Kate through his old-school reporting process — LexisNexis searches, FOIA requests, tracked-down eyewitnesses — and goes deep on the Philadelphia Gerbil Panic of 1985, when KYW anchor Jerry Penacoli was hit with the same rumor years before it ever attached to Richard Gere. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok:…
E1722 · 21 Sep 2026 · 16 min

Ep. - 1722 - WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK WITH KATE CASEY

Kate discusses what to watch this week including Survivor 51 (CBS), Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test (Fox), Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time (Hulu), and Team Moms: Baseball (Paramount+). Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List: https://katecasey.substack.com/p/books-i-cant-stop-talking-about-this Vanity Fair Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/martha-moxleys-diary What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en…
E1721 · 19 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 3 min

Ep. - 1721 - SATURDAY SERIES: MICHAEL SWERDLICK CAN’T BUY ME LOVE SCREENWRITER

Michael Swerdlick, writer of the beloved 1987 film Can’t Buy Me Love, shares the remarkable story of how his first screenplay went from a typewritten script sitting on a shelf to a defining teen comedy. He reveals how Patrick Dempsey was cast at the last minute, the real-life inspiration behind the story, Paula Abdul’s role in creating the African Anteater Ritual, Michael Jackson’s connection to the film’s title, and what he remembers about the late Amanda Peterson. Michael also reflects on his unconventional Hollywood career, his instinct to root for the underdog, and why the movie…
E1720 · 18 Sep 2026 · 30 min

Ep. - 1720 - 14 DAYS IN GAINESVILLE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF SALT LAKE CITY

Daniel Levin, director of 14 Days in Gainesville, joins Kate to revisit one of the strangest collisions of true crime and sports in American history — the 1990 Gainesville murders and Steve Spurrier's first season as head coach of the Florida Gators. In August 1990, five students were murdered in their off-campus apartments in the span of days, sending a college town into lockdown just as Spurrier arrived to rebuild a struggling football program. Daniel and Kate dig into the fourteen days that terrorized Gainesville, the massive manhunt that followed, and how a football stadium became the…
E1719 · 17 Sep 2026 · 38 min

Ep. - 1719 - A KILLER STORY

Director Matthew Galkin and executive producer Josh Levine join Kate to discuss their HBO Original documentary series A Killer Story, which examines the more than two-decade-long case against Dana Chandler, accused in the 2002 shooting deaths of her ex-husband, Mike Sisco, and his girlfriend, Karen Harkness. Galkin and Levine detail how the story found them through investigative journalist Joe Sexton, who was contacted by Kansas homemaker Eileen Umbehr after she and her husband, Keen, spent twenty years and much of their own resources trying to prove Chandler's innocence. The conversation…
E1718 · 16 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 4 min

Ep. - 1718 - THE SECRET LIVES OF MORMON WIVES

Chelsea Devantez, author, director and host of Glamorous Trash, joins Kate to discuss Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Hulu’s reality series about the Utah influencers behind MomTok. They examine the shortened season, the crisis surrounding Taylor Frankie Paul, the increasingly complicated relationship between friendship and fame, and the deeper questions of faith, marriage, female agency and control at the heart of the show. Reality Life with Kate Casey What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok:…
E1717 · 15 Sep 2026 · 44 min

Ep. - 1717 - MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT LOVE IS BLIND UK

Chris DeRosa is back to discuss two very different experiments in finding a spouse. On Netflix’s Love Is Blind: UK, singles become engaged without ever seeing one another, then test their emotional connection in the real world before deciding whether to marry at the altar. On Peacock’s Married at First Sight, relationship experts match complete strangers who meet for the first time on their wedding day. Chris and Kate break down the Love Is Blind: UK finale, the couples’ final decisions, and the latest marriages, red flags, and drama on Married at First Sight. Reality Life with Kate Casey…
E1716 · 14 Sep 2026 · 18 min

Ep. - 1716 - WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK WITH KATE CASEY

Kate discusses what to watch this week including Dancing With the Stars, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, The Traitors, NOVA: The Battle to Breathe, and Joffrey Ballet: The Next Movement. Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List: https://katecasey.substack.com/p/books-i-cant-stop-talking-about-this Vanity Fair Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/martha-moxleys-diary What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatecasey?lang=en Facebook…
E1715 · 12 Sep 2026 · 27 min

Ep. - 1715 - SATURDAY SERIES: PAUL DAVID STANKO

Paul David Stanko grew up in a traditional family in Bloomington, Minnesota, later finding his creative and spiritual calling and a loving life partner after years of heartbreak. Then, nearly six decades into his life, an ancestry test revealed that the man who raised him was not his biological father—and that he had an entirely different family waiting to meet him. Paul joins Kate to discuss the discovery that changed everything, meeting his new siblings, and reconsidering his identity without diminishing the father who loved and raised him. Reality Life with Kate Casey Vanity Fair Article:…
E1714 · 11 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 16 min

Ep. - 1714 - CAPTAIN CHARLIE PETERSON: ONE PILOT’S UNTOLD 9/11 STORY

Twenty-five years after September 11, retired United Airlines Captain Charlie Peterson shares a story most people have never heard: hours after the attacks, with US airspace grounded and fighter jets in the sky, Charlie volunteered to fly a plane carrying United's emergency response team toward the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — not knowing just how closely his own aircraft would be watched along the way. It's a quiet, remarkable account of an ordinary pilot doing the job he was trained for on the most extraordinary day of his career. Reality Life with Kate Casey Vanity…
E1713 · 10 Sep 2026 · 32 min

Ep. - 1713 - REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK REAL HOUSEWIVES ULTIMATE GIRLS TRIP

Brian Moylan joins Kate to discuss the season premiere of Real Housewives of New York City, including Carole Radziwill’s return, the new cast members and the shifting friendships within the group. They discuss the good things that have come out of filming Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. Reality Life with Kate Casey Vanity Fair Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/martha-moxleys-diary What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok:…
E1712 · 9 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 2 min

Ep. - 1712 - INSIDE THE MICA MILLER INVESTIGATION

Liz Farrell, investigative journalist and cohost of COERCED: The Devotion & Death of Mica Francis Miller, discusses more than two years of reporting on Mica’s life, marriage and death. Liz explains what the Netflix documentary Death of the Pastor’s Wife did not cover, including the history of JP Miller’s father, the Rev. Wayne Miller, the family’s churches and the religious compound known as Gloryland; questions surrounding Mica’s bipolar diagnosis and whether her mental health was weaponized against her; how JP accumulated power and repeatedly avoided meaningful consequences; and the…
E1711 · 8 Sep 2026 · 58 min

Ep. - 1711 - DAUGHTERS OF 9/11

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, two women who lost their fathers at the World Trade Center are opening up about grief, memory, and justice that still hasn't arrived. Jessica Trant was 19 when her father Dan Trant, a Cantor Fitzgerald bond trader and former NBA draft pick, called from the 104th floor of the North Tower to say goodbye. Elizabeth Miller was six when her father Doug Miller, an FDNY Rescue 5 firefighter, ran into the towers and never came home. In this episode, Jessica and Elizabeth, the subjects of the new CBS documentary Daughters of 9/11 — join me to talk…
E1710 · 7 Sep 2026 · 17 min

Ep. - 1710 - WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK WITH KATE CASEY

Kate discusses what to watch this week including Real Housewives of New York (Bravo), Frontline: The Man Who Knew (PBS), The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (Hulu), A Killer Story (HBO and HBO Max), and Daughters of 9/11 (CSB). Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading List: https://katecasey.substack.com/p/books-i-cant-stop-talking-about-this Vanity Fair Article: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/martha-moxleys-diary What to Watch List: https://katecasey.substack.com Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/katecasey Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/katecaseyca Tik Tok:…
E1709 · 5 Sep 2026 · 51 min

Ep. - 1709 - SATURDAY SERIES: ALICE LACOUR

Alice LaCour, former federal prosecutor, litigation partner at Hilgers Graben, and co-host of The Prosecutors podcast, joins me for a conversation that spans her immigrant childhood in a small Georgia town where she didn't speak English until kindergarten, her path through Yale Law School and two federal clerkships, her work on Supreme Court confirmation teams, and the day she went into labor mid-trial and didn't leave the courtroom. We also dig into her career as a podcaster, including the backlash she faced after concluding Adnan Syed's original conviction was correct, and her real-time…
E1708 · 4 Sep 2026 · 45 min

Ep. - 1708 - EARLE MEETS WORLD REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS

Kate discusses Leah Remini joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and why her humor, candor, history with Scientology, and willingness to confront uncomfortable subjects could make her an ideal Housewife. She also reviews Netflix’s Untold: Raygun: Breaking Badly, in which Australian academic and breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn recounts her unlikely path to the Paris Olympics and the worldwide ridicule that followed her viral performance. Then, Kate breaks down Earle Meets World, Netflix’s new reality series following TikTok star Alix Earle, her sister Ashtin, their…

About Reality Life with Kate Casey

Reality Life with Kate Casey is a English film & tv podcast from Kate Casey. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Kate Casey
Language: English
Category: Film & TV
New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 45 min
Latest episode: 8 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1154758766

RSS feed Apple Podcasts

More English film & tv 6

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.