Gossip is the only cultural tradition I care about, and Kelsey McKinney has written its Bible Samantha Irby, #1NYTbestselling author

From the host of the Normal Gossip podcast, a delightfully insightful exploration of our obsession with gossip that weaves together journalism, cultural criticism, and memoir.

As the pandemic forced us to socialize at a distance, Kelsey McKinney was mourning the juicy updates and jaw-dropping stories shed typically collect over drinks with friendsand from her hunger, the blockbuster Normal Gossip podcast was born.With listenership in the millions, Kelsey found herself thinking more critically about gossip as a form, and wanting to better understand the role it plays in our culture.

In You Didn’t Hear This From Me, McKinney explores the murkiness of everyday storytelling. Why is gossip considered a sin, and how can we better recognize when it’s being weaponized? Why do we think were entitled to every detail of a celebritys personal life? And how do we define gossip, anyway? As much as the book aims to treat gossip as a subject worthy of rigor, it also hopes to capture the heart of gossiping: how enchanting and fun it can be to lean over and whisper something a little salacious into your friends ear.

With wit and honesty, McKinney unmasks what we’re actually searching for when we demand to know the truthand how much the truth really matters in the first place.