Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson are the comediennes behind the weekly, self-proclaimed “anti-slut shaming podcast” Guys We Fucked, a frank discussion about sex and relationships. The New York City-based duo have been performing together since 2011, and they started the podcast in late 2013. Past guests include Amber Rose and Dan Savage, as well as many of Fisher and Hutchinson’s past lays, lovers, and others in between. While in town for the Just For Laughs comedy festival last month, the two jumped on the phone with The Varsity to discuss free speech, the misinformation age, and practicing self-love — or even just self-like.
The Varsity: What’s the number one misconception surrounding your podcast? Are there people who misunderstand what you’re trying to do?
Krystyna Hutchinson: All the time. I think a big common misconception that… people perceive us to be, Corinne and I, to both be very kinky, and frequenting sex dungeons, and being bisexual. We’re really more vanilla people, sexually, with our own personal relationships, so people are always kind of shocked to know that we are quote-unquote more ‘regular’ than they think. That’s the feedback that we get a lot.
I remember the other day we were talking to somebody, we were interviewing a guest, and she said, “I’m shocked, I thought you guys were bisexual!” We’re not — we’re open, we’re open to things, but we’re pretty straight.
TV: Do you think it’s more your attitude in discussing sex that people find so refreshing?
KH: Yeah, the being able to go places that you don’t hear other people talk about. Usually it’s just within the privacy of your own home, with your friends, on a couch. The level of conversation that Corinne and I have with people is pretty intimate, so a lot of times people don’t get that we’re recording a podcast, and so I think people are always shocked at that level of honesty.
Corinne Fisher: A lot of times the things that get aired are either the really quote ‘crazy’ stuff where people have sex swings in their houses, or a politician being like, ‘No one should be having sex ever, you should only have sex after you’re married, with your spouse.’
I think we’re speaking for the masses, the relatable amount of people: this is what most people are doing on the day-to-day. Probably pretty vanilla, but then you have a couple of fantasies that at one time in your life you would like to play out with either a partner or friend or maybe a stranger. And those are fantasies that everyone has, but a lot of more vanilla-y people don’t discuss them publicly because we’re taught to think, ‘Ooh, this is naughty.’
TV: You might be getting this question a lot, but have your goals in doing the podcast or your aims changed at all since last year’s elections? Do you find that your environment has changed, or are you still just trying to keep it the same process?
KH: Corinne and I were in Los Angeles on election night, and so we experienced the disappointment of every American that voted for Hillary, and the shock, but also just the disappointment. It didn’t change how we do the podcast in any way except that Corinne and I just realized, goddamn, this is much more important, to make sure that our message is heard loud and clear.
Women are still struggling to get ahead in their various careers and struggling to be taken seriously, and we just saw it play out. Our whole country saw it play out on a stage, and we saw the guy [that we speak out against] win. And so that was just — phew! This honest conversation about what it means to be women, when it’s sexual, is just more important than ever. So if anything, that just kind of surfaced a little bit more after the election.
CF: We are obviously a very feminist podcast. Not everyone who listens identifies as a feminist, but [that] certainly is a large chunk of our listenership. We made a decision, Krystyna and I together, to officially endorse Hillary Clinton. Like, the Guys We Fucked podcast officially endorsed Hillary Clinton, and we got a lot of backlash from that from a lot of young women and it was really upsetting.
You know, from people who even after Bernie Sanders was no longer in the running for President were really anti-Hillary and pro-Bernie. It’s fine to be pro-Bernie, but when… the only people running in the major parties are Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and there’s young women who are calling Hillary Clinton a cunt and attacking me on Instagram, I found that deeply upsetting.
It caused a discussion about supporting other women, and we try to feature strong voices and talk a lot about free speech. A couple weeks ago we had Professor Nadine Strossen on, who is the former President of the [American Civil Liberties Union], and that was a really enlightening conversation. In fact, I actually just before was recognized at my dentist’s office today, and a girl came up to me —
KH: Oh, really!
CF: Yeah, and she said, ‘I gotta say, I really appreciate that Nadine Strossen episode because it honestly changed my life.’ She said, ‘Now when I see someone who has a Trump t-shirt or hat on, I don’t get as angry. I think to myself, that person’s voice is allowed to be as loud as mine.’
And that made me really happy because I think — I love that millennials are speaking out, and I love that they want to have their voices heard, and they want to get politically and socially involved. I think that’s so wonderful, but I think it’s turned into not listening at all to the other side. And that, to me, is problematic.
TV: There’s a quote from an interview you did with VICE where you said it’s actually younger audiences you find more annoying — “people who were in a super PC safe space and are hypersensitive.” What would you want to say to those people? Is there anything you think that they should know about dating and relationships?
KH: Look, the PC thing gets frustrating; when we talk about comedy, it gets really frustrating because comedy is an arena that Corinne and I do every single night, it’s our lives. And so a lot of times when we talk about PC culture, we talk about it in the context of comedy, because Corinne and I both believe that you should be able to joke about anything.
And sometimes a joke sucks and sometimes the joke makes you feel offended, and I like talking about this in the context of comedy because I’ve seen standup comedy that offends me, and I don’t go and bitch about it — not bitch, I don’t express my opinion about it other than that I felt at odds with the person speaking and I did not agree with what they were saying and then I left it there.
I think that it’s important to have social commentary on certain things, like if a journalist wants to write an extensive piece on the art of Chris Rock’s standup or something like that, and they’re noticing some interesting patterns or something like that — that I think is interesting to critique.
So just because I think something is offensive doesn’t mean that it should be silenced. In the world of comedy, our word is sacred, and if anybody tried to silence us, that would be the death of comedy because [the whole point] is the comedian’s voice. So understanding it in that context. The youth and the old… I don’t think it’s specific to any generation.
CF: I think especially me in particular, I’m a little older… not a lot older, but I think you feel old, especially as a woman, when you’re in your thirties. And I know that I am pretty tough on a lot of the young listeners openly on the podcast, in person, just all around. It’s more like a tough love for me because I don’t really care — older people, it’s not that I don’t care, but they’ve kind of lived their lives and given a lot of the contributions that they’re probably gonna be giving. Unfortunately, things slow down as you get older unless you’re like, Georgia O’Keefe.
I’m really concerned because that’s the future, and so I think investing in the future of America, or of the world, is really important, and I love that more people are getting politically and socially involved. But I think in this age of social media… there’s a lot of clickbait out there. We’ve all fallen for it, I’ve certainly personally fallen for it. And so I think the advice I would give is to… put that extra five minutes of work into researching something or making sure something is true or that you truly agree with something before you retweet it or go on a Facebook post and rant about it.
Because unfortunately there’s a lot of misinformation on the internet, and it’s important not to spread it because that’s where a lot of us are getting our information these days. You know, people aren’t going to the library like they used to. When I had a report as a kid, I would sit in the library for six hours; now if you’re doing a report, you just sit at your computer for six hours. You need to arm yourself with the tools to say, ‘What is the source that I am getting this from? Is it reputable? Is it biased? Is this true?’ ‘Cause you can just put anything on the internet.
TV: Agreed. And people are still definitely going to the library, so that’s good.
KH: Maybe in college, yeah.
TV: Obviously you have a lot of people writing in to your podcast with various questions. Do you find there’s one piece of advice that ends up covering a lot of questions? Is it communication, or honesty, or anything like that? Is there a one-size-fits-all?
CF: Love yourself more.
KH: I think a lot of things stem from insecurity. And loving yourself — not even loving yourself, ’cause I think that’s a tall order, liking yourself and respecting yourself. A lot of people don’t have the guts to communicate something because they feel like their voice — ‘should my voice be heard?’ or ‘does my opinion matter?’ or ‘should I tell my partner this?’ Respect yourself enough and respect your relationship enough and the other person enough to speak up and say something. I think that’s definitely the root of a lot of people’s issues, and mine certainly. [Laughs]
CF: I agree, a lot of women question themselves, or question, ‘Is it my fault that I’m feeling this way?’ I think to put an end to that will really help expedite the process of self-love, or self-like.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
