Ep. 38: Thank You To 30 Countries!
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Thank you to 30 countries. This is Episode 38 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood : a listener appreciation episode from the newsroom floor to you. Less than 1% of independent podcasts reach 30 countries. We did. With no ads, no PR, no notes from brands. Just a 2002 newsroom diary that leads to 24 years (and counting( of Hollywood, and you. In this episode: My thank you to my listeners both in America and the world! Why I’m here. To share not just my Hollywood journal, but the loss of a spouse, the weight of $100 million brands, and the truth that art and entertainment are the great...
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Ep. 37: It'll Get Better, Trust Me (2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
It's fall 2002 in Hollywood and everything is shifting at once. A new apartment, a new schedule, a boss who keeps telling me it'll get better and a newsroom that never stops. In this episode, I take you inside my Labor Day move-in with my husband Stone, including the moment I grabbed him by the chin and made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, and why that mattered more than he knew. We swim, we laugh, we plan a housewarming with a very strict guest list, and I become a human catamaran. Meanwhile at work, my supervisor is leaving, the Emmys are calling, a Shannen Doherty superfan flew 7,000...
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Ep. 36: Hollywood Heatwave 2002: Labor Day Fight, 125 Degrees
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
Labor Day 2002. New apartment. No A/C. 125 degrees inside. Me and Bebbles Stone, unpacking boxes, making daiquiris, trying to start a life. I was an editorial assistant at The Hollywood Reporter. He was staging our new home, I was cooking, and the heat got into everything. This is Let’s Talk About Hollywood. Career clarity plus real life from the mediasphere, for adults. I’m Karl Gibson and this is a first-hand audio Hollywood memoir from 2001 on. No blind items. No gossip. Just what it costs to build a marriage and a career in the shadows of the A-list. Love is not naive. It is a choice...
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Ep. 35: The Disney Layoffs 2026: Regroup, Recalibrate, Ready!
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
This week of April 12, 2026, Disney laid off 1000 employees. My LinkedIn filled with 86,000 impressions in my written response to lazy AI slop about “streaming failure.” Disney+ is a streaming success. But 1000 careers were cut. I see you. You have value. You’re not done and your success will land anew. I’ve been out of work 18 months. That’s not a trauma dump: that’s my receipt. I’m still here. I’m still making things. And if I am, you are. The layoff ended your job. It didn’t end your career. This episode is for Disney employees and any worker in the world who just...
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Ep. 34: AKA - Ask Karl Anything
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
In this week’s Ask Karl Anything episode, I answer listener questions about leaving Los Angeles after 29 years, starting over on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and whether making this podcast and sharing candid parts of my life is ever hard. It’s an episode about home, memory, reinvention, career and what it means to speak honestly about your life. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you there! The podcast will always be free and runs on audience donations. I'll thank you on the air in an episode! Thank you! 💛 To support the podcast and help keep it independent, donations can be made from 96...
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Ep. 33: Hollywood Assistant: Pay Your Dues, Not Your Identity (2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
In this episode, I talk about what it's like being an assistant at an multi-million dollar enterprise and how being the best at your work and paying your dues is smart, but losing your identity and your own unique career path doesn't come with the job. I share a slice of life, the clashes and the wins that set a precedent for the career to ultimately come. As always, it's not what you say yes to, it's what you say no to and why. Assistants rock and this episode represents for all! If you'd like to support the podcast - it's always free and runs on donations, of any amount, like yours,...
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Ep. 32: Summertime Madness (2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
In this episode, it's the summer of 2002 and everyone (except my Mom and sister) is pissy and stressed. I'm working 6-day weeks at The Hollywood Reporter, my spouse has just gotten a new job, we've got a new apartment just weeks away from moving into, my then-best friend is tripping, and overall it's just a slice of life of pre-autumn summertime madness! I The podcast will always be free and runs on audience donations. I'll thank you on the air in an episode! Thank you! 💛 To support the podcast and help keep it independent, donations can be made from 96 countries here: or to...
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Ep. 31: Chaos & Confrontation on the Sunset Strip (1998/2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
In this episode, an update comes in 2002 about one of my closest actor friendships, an actor I'd worked with for nearly two years and shared off-the-set experiences with, that came to a chaotic and argumentative end on Sunset Blvd. at 2 a.m. in 1998. This episode honors friendship, grief, and touches on the start of when a loved one's drug use overpowers everything you used to know about each other. If you'd like to support the podcast - it's always free and runs on donations, of any amount, like yours, you can do so below! I use Donorbox, available in 96 countries and currencies. And...
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Ep. 30: It Comes Back to Your Career (2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
This week's episode talks about the current armchair analysis of Hollywood in certain forums that incorrectly see a wholesale AI takeover and is crowning winners of a future consolidate Hollywood without taking into account that the paying customers and audiences will be the judge of that. The 2002 journals detail an impending move, the stress of trade-offs in a career, leaving Hollywood in style, and why it's not so much leaving in style so much as it is leaving on your own terms and with your sanity intact. Let's talk...about Hollywood! If you'd like to support the podcast - it's always free...
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Ep. 29: "You're the Golden Child, It Doesn't Matter" (2002)
Let’s Talk About Hollywood™
I'm back and offering prayers for love, peace and safety in our current global conflict. My first solo invite to a party in 2002 where I gained entree into Black Hollywood. This is part two of a two-parter and also touches on those early days in Hollywood, the vibes of trying to get on the radar of PR execs and the town. I throw Bebbles a party and, later, a bar brawl nearly ensues when an admirer gets too close. The podcast will always be free and runs on audience donations. I'll thank you on the air in an episode! Thank you! 💛 To support the podcast and help keep it independent,...
info_outlineThank you to 30 countries.
This is Episode 38 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood : a listener appreciation episode from the newsroom floor to you.
Less than 1% of independent podcasts reach 30 countries. We did. With no ads, no PR, no notes from brands. Just a 2002 newsroom diary that leads to 24 years (and counting( of Hollywood, and you.
In this episode: My thank you to my listeners both in America and the world! Why I’m here. To share not just my Hollywood journal, but the loss of a spouse, the weight of $100 million brands, and the truth that art and entertainment are the great equalizer. Audiences are the key to any profession and I’m grateful you’re here with me.
I talk about which episodes you’ve connected with most, and my aim to stay honest while building a global narrative community. From editorial assistant — the old ‘Associate Producer’ desk — to studio executive, this archive is ours now.
Season 2 continues. Thank you for making this more than an audio memoir. Thank you for making it us.