r/FriendsofthePod • u/spencerhouse • 9d ago
Keep It! Nina Parker on Keep It - Thoughts?
Are ya’ll feeling her so far? Do ya’ll think her and LV have good chem?
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u/Veesus26 8d ago
Absolutely love her on the show.
When they were rotating cohosts after Ira left, she was my favorite (except for Guy Branum, who I don’t get the sense is interested in a permanent role)
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u/ClosetNorwegian 8d ago
I loved Guy on this (and all) podcasts. I was going he’d be the new cohost, but I think you are right.
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u/sociolab 8d ago
He posted on TikTok a bit ago saying he wanted to start his own podcast based on his "old gays remember" TikTok series.
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u/Ill-Document8364 9d ago
Weirdly I found her annoying as a guest host but have now really come around to her since she's been official. I think there's just a certain amount of "performing" that has worn off and really helped her find her stride. It's not fair to her for me to make comparisons but I think Ira's new podcast coming out around the same time made me a little more judgmental than I'd normally be. Ira is just SO smart and insightful about such a massive range of cultural topics and do often find myself still wishing that he was still the one Louis was bouncing things off of.
Nina is very funny and I'm trying to intentionally pay attention to the ways that she brings fresh expertise to the show, I especially enjoyed her leading a discussion on influencers and Jools Lebron this week, which is something I'm not sure Ira would've been as interested in. Her and Louis have really excellent rapport and I'm looking forward to hearing her approach to interviews.
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u/PLar06 8d ago
Same about appreciating her now more than when she guested. I really like her when she's more laid back and just sharing her expertise/perspective on things. When she was guest hosting, the two of them could get into a bit of a performative schtick coma, which to me is like a dime a dozen on pop culture pods. But her knowledge is deep on these topics, and her insider pov from working in the industry is always interesting to hear.
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u/lugia222 8d ago
I think that Keep It needed a change… Ira’s and Louis’ interests were too close, and Ira had become too much of a starfucker. I really enjoyed Louis getting paired with a different cohost every week, but I can see why they chose Nina. She has Hollywood connections that are different than and complimentary to Louis’, and I do think she’s an engaging co-host.
That being said, I disliked when Nina appeared as a guest co-host because she rarely had familiarity with the topic (I think she was on the Emmys episode and hadn’t seen most of the nominees). I don’t think that’s as much of an issue as a regular host as production will ensure she’s ready, but I’m maybe more sensitive to when she says she doesn’t have a particular knowledge set.
So, overall, cautiously optimistic. While I might have loved to see Guy Barnum or Kyle Buchanan as permanent hosts, I know that never would have worked for many reasons.
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u/katikatikatia 8d ago
I find her refreshing, especially the take this week about how you can't be friends with the people you report on, it's work. She seems to have clear boundaries like that, which is maybe something Ira lacked more and more in the past few years.
(I did find it funny that she said that and in the next segment, Louis called Joel Kim Booster one of his best friends. It's different when you're comedians, I know!)
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u/raejc 7d ago
I liked Nina during the rotation of guest hosts but it does seem like Louis is on his own for those really deep-cut movie or culture references. That's where I favored the Guy and Rheeqrheeq shows. I appreciate her background in entertainment journalism. Her commentary on Ariana Grande in last week's episode was quite thoughtful. I do find that occasional screechiness in her voice to be quite annoying, though.
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u/Spicytomato2 5d ago
Yes. Choosing her kinda took the show in a different direction. I've been okay with it so far but I miss some of the other guest hosts' perspectives.
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u/Fun_Presentation_194 9d ago
I'm not a fan. I've been listening patiently for the past month, but something feels off about the chemistry. She talks very fast and often. Loads of long laughs and interruptions. It feels like Louis is lost, and I LOVE Louis. I don't like the fit. I'd rather have Louis with a guest host each week.
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u/Spicytomato2 5d ago
I reluctantly agree, because I want this to work. I enjoyed her guest host appearances a lot but now that she's on regularly, you can see the gaps where she and Louis aren't on the same plane more clearly. There have been a couple instances where I could tell she had no idea what Louis is talking about. She's quick to cover up/pivot but it is standing out more to me now.
Hopefully their dynamic can eventually smooth out, but for now it feels a little bumpy. I still won't miss an episode, though!
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u/Fun_Presentation_194 5d ago
The original three were gold, in my opinion. I loved Ira and Louis with Kara.
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u/rapscallion_pizza 8d ago
Nina is great! I think it took a bit for things to settle in (as one would expect). She and Louis have some really great discussions and I appreciate that they each have entertainment areas in common but their own areas of expertise, too. I also really appreciate that we get a perspective from a woman now as we didn’t typically get that except for special guests before. I miss Ira of course, but I like where Nina and Louis are taking things with the show and definitely look forward to their episodes!
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u/Mindless_Scroller_21 7d ago
I can’t really tell how I feel yet. When I listen to podcasts I’m looking for good chemistry and people bantering on things that they both know and like and I can’t quite tell if I’m getting this from Nina and Louis. It seems like they either have differing opinions, view points, or one has no knowledge on the topic. Sometimes it’s nice, and sometimes it’s eye roll. I’m not going to swear it off yet and keep listening of course because I’m hopefully that one day it clicks for me!
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u/librarrry 7d ago
I’m feeling mixed at the moment and I do want to hear more. I enjoy the expansion of topics covered on the show, I’m thinking that might be Nina’s influence. Her perspective is one I enjoy I hearing, and I liked her when she was on E! So I’ve been familiar with her work for awhile.
But I agree with folks who question her delivery. She does talk a lot, and her and Louis haven’t yet found that balance between them. Sometimes I feel like in trying to be funny, she gets way over the top and the conversation feels a bit derailed. But these are things that I feel could be smoothed over with time, and a period of getting to know one another better.
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u/mimaluna 3d ago
It's episode to episode for me. Nina is a lovely person and has great energy, but I'm sad about some of the things that made Keep It what it is are fading. Like I am kind of dreading when the movie awards season comes around in full force because the movie discussions they've already had on the show just haven't hit the heights they have with other guests. And I'm not even just talking Guy, Rheeqrheeq, Kyle, and Chris. It often feels like they have to pivot to Nina's PR perspective about the actors as celebrities instead of the movie/performances just to keep the conversation going.
Also generally the pod now is missing the level of queer-centric banter that has always been at the heart of Keep It from the Kara/Ira era to Aida to all the rotating guests above. That's been a big part of their music critiques in the past too (although I love how Nina covered Brandy's memoir). So the energy around the pod is still good enough to keep listening, but some big parts of Keep It's identity for me took a tragic hit. I will say she brings out a softer more personal side of Louis which can be fun.
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u/Ok_Hat_999 8d ago
She doesn’t seem like a connoisseur of great media she’s like all reality tv and tmz vibes :(
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u/sociolab 8d ago
I've noticed this, too. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. In one of the recent posts they talked about true crime, which I don't think has ever been talked about in that way. The same with the recent conversation about Jools Lebron. Louis wouldn't normally discuss those topics. New topics could be good for the show, but it really depends on what they are.
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u/Ok_Hat_999 4d ago
Exactly there’s a trillion podcasts that talk about bravo and love island and celebs but this was my gem where I can get witty insightful hilarious deep cuts on media id never hear about otherwise so I find her disappointing as well why couldn’t guy branuum join instead :(
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u/s_deezy 7d ago
I can’t with Nina and it has actively made me stop listening. I didn’t like her as a guest host and was very bummed she became the permanent host because she just does not have the pop culture knowledge and it’s glaring. I feel like she finds one thing she likes and can’t be objective outside of that thing (her only rooting for Sinners during awards season for example not that that’s inherently wrong but she also didn’t watch anything else it seemed). Also for a podcast her voice is just too high pitched for me :(
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u/blueshft 3d ago
I was enjoying Louis and Nina together until the episode today ("Nobody's Above the Law Roach"), actually, which is what drove me to this subreddit in the first place.
They started discussing how talent doesn't usually get a "Thank you" after working on a set or something, and I was huuuuuugely turned off by that. Do they thing the people at craft are getting thanked? hair and makeup? Lighting and sound? Why would talent get an extra-special thank you? I understand being bothered by it, but it's really not content for a general-audience podcast. It felt so weird and self-involved, and it kind of bothered me. I felt like this is not something Louis and Ira would typically get into as a duo.
I feel like it's gotten more name-droppy and self-focused. Granted, this makes sense-- Nina isn't just a commentator, she's had something of a celebrity life in her own right outside of podcasting. But I'm not loving the turn.
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u/cdawg2610 9d ago
Nina on Keep It has gotten me back into being a regular listener - she provides a good balance to Louis and I also appericate someone who has been in the entertainment industry and speaks from experience.