Creative Complaint

Actor, comedian, and writer Sydney Battle joins host Dani Loftus to discuss the icks that drive her creative life. Sydney opens up about navigating rejection in Hollywood, where celebrities now take tiny parts that once went to rising actors.They explore tactful complaining versus toxic positivity, the relatability trap that makes celebrities build airport pillow forts and why people need to just say "excuse me."***Sydney's InstagramDani's newsletter***00:59 — Don't tell people who they look like (unless it's the hottest person alive)06:09 — "Honesty without tact is just cruelty"06:47 — Toxic positivity and the 16-page audition complaint08:31 — When celebrities get the part you auditioned for09:20 — Separating career opportunities from talent to stay sane10:52 — When your happy side quest becomes your main career12:19 — Post-strike scarcity: celebrities taking two-scene parts14:34 — Dating ick: low effort and people who don't value you correctly17:28 — Celebrities need to stop trying to be relatable18:51 — Jessica Chastain's valid complaint vs. Kristen Bell's airport fort24:46 — Just say "excuse me"***Our music, Stamford Brook Style, is by Adrian Michna.

Writer and comedian Sophia Benoit joins Dani Loftus to discuss the art of complaining as a form of connection. They touch on texture-based food aversions, surveillance culture, and people who take jokes too literally online. Also, we learn what a "rat room" is.***Sophia's podcastSophia's websiteDani's newsletter***00:00 — What is this podcast00:54 — How Sophia doesn't like talking about herself (despite writing a memoir)02:20 — Sophia's approach to complaining and how it got her all her jobs04:11 — European-style complaining as connection, not misery05:29 — Biggest industry ick: pretending writing is hard work07:41 — When your dentist wants to discuss your sex writing career08:00 — How writing about relationships affects personal expectations12:27 — Is messiness a personality trait or a diagnosis?14:15 — Being seen as negative online when you're actually positive15:00 — The wealthy patron system vs. needing hundreds of thousands of followers17:42 — The guy in Ohio who thinks you're the worst person alive18:16 — "Can they eat you?" Sophia's grandfather's motto for anxiety18:41 — Good morning texts...ick19:47 — Cottage cheese and other aversions21:11 — American individualism and pretending cities are that different22:39 — Surveillance culture24:38 — People taking jokes too literally online and explaining things back***Our music, Stamford Brook Style, is by Adrian Michna.

Writer and editor Greta Rainbow joins host Dani Loftus for a tour through the icks that shape her taste: from airplane armrest invasions to cagey creatives, hidden gluten, weak PDA, celebrity beverage empires, and a deeply cursed Homeland Security tweet.They dig into gossip as community protection, transparency in the creative economy, why the literary world runs on shame, and how momentum truly works (“like a 15-year-old boy”). Plus: dating icks, tech icks, virtue icks, environmental icks, and Greta’s Ick of the Week.***Dani's newsletterGet Greta's book industry column***00:00 — Welcome to Creative Complaint00:55 — “Sir, Turn Off Your Phone”04:50 — Complaining as High Art05:30 — The Gospel of Gossip as Public Service10:00 — Lack of $$$ Transparency11:30 — Shame, Sales, and the Literary Hunger Games12:40 — Momentum Is a 15-Year-Old Boy15:00 — Earnest America vs. Irony-Pilled New York16:00 — Best Friends After Two Hangs? Immediate Red Flag17:00 — The Affection Olympics18:45 — Bad vs. Good PDA19:15 — Hidden Gluten, Hidden Rage20:20 — New Yorkers, Please Learn to Recycle21:50 — Emma Chamberlain Should Start a Publishing House, Actually24:15 — Rejection as a Luxury Commodity27:20 — Fascism: Final Boss Ick***Our music, Stamford Brook Style, is by Adrian Michna.