Baroque B*tches - An Art History Gossip Podcast

The pitch is right there in the title: art history gossip. Baroque B*tches takes the juiciest personal drama from famous artists' lives and serves it up with the energy of two friends dishing over drinks. Co-hosts Chelsea and her partner in crime cover everyone from Caravaggio to Kandinsky to Claude Monet, and the angle is always the same -- what was actually going on behind the canvas? The show bills itself as "high brow art, low brow tea," and that captures the tone perfectly. With 74 episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays and a 4.0-star rating from 81 reviewers, the podcast has found a real audience among listeners who want art history without the formality. Episodes open with a few minutes of personal banter before getting into the main topic, which some listeners love and others find a bit long. The strength here is making historical artists feel like real, messy human beings rather than untouchable figures. Gertrude Stein, Alice Neel, Mary Cassatt, William Blake, Louise Bourgeois, and J.M.W. Turner all get the gossip treatment. The explicit content tag is earned -- the humor is unfiltered and occasionally crude, which is part of the appeal if that is your thing. One art historian reviewer said she was "obsessed with how relatable they make art history," and that sums up the best-case scenario for this show. Not every episode lands equally, but when it works, it is a genuinely fun way to learn about artists as people.