When Margaret Josephs of The Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) mentioned she was listening to Grant’s Rants, my curiosity was piqued. I’m always down for a Bravo show recap and I thought “Grant’s Rants” (full title: Grant’s Rants Hollywood Talk) sounded like an interesting name for a podcast. I started out listening for the host Grant Rutter’s thoughts on the reality TV shows I was watching and quickly found his Rhode Island accent intriguing, along with his shrewd commentary on things that don’t necessarily strike the eye of the viewer.

Then I came upon an episode with Granny June. Grant’s Granny reminds me of my own Nana, who, sadly, passed away before The Real Housewives franchise began, but who would have had some incredibly humorous takes. She is unabashed about sharing her blunt observations on grown women wearing pigtails or making a ridiculous ritual of multiple air kisses. Although I had a particular affinity for the episodes featuring this spitfire grandmother, comedians and pop culture enthusiasts have also lent their expertise. In addition, Margaret Josephs (the “Housewife” to recommend the podcast to me) and Danielle Staub of RHONJ were recent guests who provided tantalizing inside scoop and answered questions many had wondered about.

Here’s what Grant had to say about his podcast:

How It All Began

Grant’s Rants started in August of 2015. I was encouraged by the following I had generated when I was at AfterBuzzTV. In the beginning, I was surprised by people following me on Twitter, and positive comments I got online. I was used to people being destroyed in the comments, but many respected my opinionated views. I figured, there must be something to this podcasting thing. In my opinion, the YouTube space was over-saturated and Periscope was the big thing at the time. The work I saw coming off of Periscope was on the low end. I produced YouTube videos back in the early days and studied TV in school. Podcasts were the perfect platform to roll out a show and test for audience. I’m a long time podcast listener: I remember downloading podcasts off of my desktop computer and adding them to the my black iPod video! Podcasts like Daytime Confidential showed me that you can be a fan and have a perspective, and with a little insight you can legitimize yourself, but you have to be a fan first and always keep it real.

TV Talk Shows are an incredibly over produced medium, hosts read prepared note cards and are delivered every word or joke via prompter. When podcasting, you have to keep it real and be honest, and that’s why I think so many folks who want information or a genuine laugh find podcasts.

What Grant’s Rants is About

Grants Rants is a pop culture commentary experience, featuring a different guest co-host each week to chart the waters of that week’s latest news. It’s slanted towards reality TV but away from the Kardashians. I have one rule for the show, no Kardashian hot topics. You can get that information everywhere, we are here to cover what else is happening. Every co-host is connected to media or entertainment. This provides for an interesting commentary in the second half of the episode where we spotlight their career and the road to get there. I think people’s stories can be interesting. The thing about working in Hollywood is you can be working on a film set one year and the next you’re moving to Seattle to work in banking – the business takes many twists and turns and it’s interesting to see what keeps people hanging on and how dreams morph into career offshoots.

Guests and a Variety of Perspectives

My favorite guests are those who are on the same wavelength as me. Those people that just “get it”. Observant people are the best. I love to people watch. Grants Rants is all about commentary. It’s an escape from the headlines. I like to think if you look at a cover of US Weekly, Kim Kardashian will be on the cover announcing another pregnancy or something (who cares?), and we’ll talk about all the other stories surrounding that image – a Real Housewife divorce, Paris Hilton’s engagement, Britney’s tour, Scientology, etc. Guests who are game to talk about whatever and come to the table with an opinion are my kind of people. In the most recent episode, (#84) Comedian, Heather McMahan was my co-host. In addition to her being hilarious, she’s an old friend who just “gets it”. We have a certain chemistry that just bounces off of one another that is vital to a good show.

Granny June, my grandmother and my most guested guest is a favorite of listeners. She’s very plugged in to pop culture, reality TV and gossip. She also brings opinions to the table – she can’t stand Mama June and Honey Boo Boo, has no time for Roseanne Barr and can’t quit watching Dr. Phil. What’s great about having Granny on the podcast is that we are clearly very different demographics [I’m 28, she’s 88] but we both see what’s happening in entertainment and have our opinions. It also helps that she’s not afraid to give advice and yell certain Housewives on the show. One of my favorite bits of advice was Granny June telling Kyle Richards to sit down and stop having so many parties!

That’s the type of life advice you’ll get coming out of Grants Rants. The show has become an escape for many listeners, and something I plan to explore more in 2018 and the road the 100th episode this summer!

You can start listening to Grant’s Rants now by visiting: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grants-rants-hollywood-talk/id1033690074?mt=2.