23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
'2 Dope Queens' Is on The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time
Comedy and Fiction
For nearly three years in the late-2010s, BFF comedians Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams hosted 2 Dope Queens, the Webby Award-winning comedy podcast produced by WNYC Studios that tackled subjects like race, gender, and sex in hilarious ways. The unfiltered conversations the pair would have alongside guests, who ranged from comedian Michelle Buteau to former First Lady Michelle Obama, would focus, often very loosely, on a running topic like 'Hair' or 'Fifty Shades of Matthew McConaughey' or 'Hot Peen,' the title of a 2018 episode featuring Tituss Burgess in which they chatted about the men they lust after. The goal of the podcast, which grew out of their weekly live comedy show, was not only to make these thorny subjects feel less taboo, it was also to pass the mic to comedians and storytellers from marginalized groups—women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community—who did not often get the chance to appear on the late-night shows hosted by straight white men. 2 Dope Queens ' commitment to helping others feel heard resonated with listeners, who turned it into one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows of its time, spawning a series of HBO live specials, many of which were directed by frequent guest and bad advice giver Tig Notaro. By the time Robinson and Williams ended 2 Dope Queens in 2018, they had broken the podcast landscape wide open, giving way to an entire genre of shows that blend comedy, social commentary, and female friendship. Extremely dope.
