“Hello and welcome back to the Cancelled Podcast,” are words that are engraved into my brain forever. If you are unfamiliar with this catchphrase, it stems from the Cancelled Podcast starring Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield. This podcast is the epitome of girlhood. It’s a stripped down version of the podcasts that we typically see, just two women who are best friends, sitting on a couch and gossiping about their lives. Think of it like a morning debrief you have with your friends after a night out— that’s the Cancelled Podcast.
Appropriately named because of the numerous scandals Tana has been in since her start on YouTube in 2015, Cancelled does incredible numbers. While weekly episodes almost always soar above 1 million views, and the girls have taken it on the road with sold-out shows across the country. So why is such a simple podcast so massively successful?
The answer is simple. Tana and Brooke are so open and honest with their lives, that the viewer feels as if they are hanging out with their best friends. They don’t hold back from the juicy stuff, name dropping, discussing the ins and outs of their inner circle and the LA influencer and party scene. Their podcast is raw, some weeks they are crying from laughing too hard, and other times from talking about really difficult topics like mental illness, childhood trauma, and substance abuse.
Both girls have had difficult upbringings, they are both estranged from their respective parents, and their openness to discussing such sensitive topics is very relatable to viewers all around the world. Unlike other podcasters, they talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Alternatively, the girls also tell lighthearted, silly stories, oftentimes laughing so hard they can’t catch their breath.
These stories have created years worth of “lore” (Tana’s favorite word) which feel like inside jokes with your friends, you almost can’t help but feel a special bond with the two. This has likely contributed to them drawing such a dedicated fan base with their current 50 show cross-country tour, and the girls have been teasing even more new tour dates coming in the fall.
Essentially, the Cancelled Podcast means everything and more to me. Tuning in each week is comparable to attending a therapy session. Hearing Tana and Brooke tell their stories and be unapologetically themselves makes it so easy to relate to them. They make me feel less alone, like there are beautiful, successful women who go through the same struggles that I do— that all women do.
The struggles of dating, relationships, boys, friendships, mental health, and simply being a woman in general. Tana and Brooke are the definition of girlhood, empowering women everywhere, and I foresee many more successful episodes in the future.
ROARA Magazine 