If you listen to the cult’s favorite entertainment podcast every two weeks, Who Weekly, you probably already know a lot about Bobby Finger. He loves his cats almost as much as his “java”, as he calls it, he’s a fan Daddy’s Girls fan, and he can probably give you the filmography of every actress from Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. Over the past six years, Finger and her co-host, Lindsey Weber, have made a name for themselves discussing career moves, spon-con, and general celebrity happenings. But not A-listers like Tom Hanks or Jennifer Lawrence. No, their life is too well protected and therefore boring to justify more than two hours of discussion per week. In place, Who Weekly focuses on the celebrities they affectionately refer to as “Whos”, those who have yet to achieve household name status, but are doing everything in their power to get there, often to no avail.
Now, Finger can add a published author to her resume, which also includes former editor, journalist, and Rita Ora pundit. The podcaster’s first novel, The old placereleased this month, telling a story Finger knows well, that of a small town in Texas. The old place follows Mary Alice Roth, a recently retired teacher adjusting to her newly idle life – when someone from her past returns and changes everything. Below, Finger talks about going back to his roots to write The old placehis favorite Twitter account, and why he only had to see The female king twice.
What inspired the story of The old place?
It’s set in a small town in central Texas, and I’m from a small town in central Texas. The main character is a retired math teacher, and both my parents were teachers, so the small town education system is close to my heart. It’s a queer coming-of-age story, and personal experiences loosely inspired it.
Was it difficult to go back to basics to write this book?
We moved right before I was in high school, so it’s been a long time since I lived there. I had to re-learn things about it and re-access old memories, but it wasn’t difficult at all, or kind of burdensome. It was really enriching.
Did you revisit your hometown in preparation?
No, because I wrote the manuscript in the first year of the pandemic, so I didn’t travel anywhere. It was nice to disconnect from New York, in a way. I couldn’t go see my family because they’re all in Texas, so it was a way to revisit this whole place. I have not been [to my hometown] in a moment. My parents go there semi-occasionally, but I haven’t been in years.
You were a journalist before you started podcasting. How was your return to writing?
I don’t think I could have written this book if I hadn’t worked full-time in journalism, at Jezebel, specifically. I started out as a copywriter in advertising, but when I got into full-time journalism at Jezebel, it was so written. From the morning until your sick leave, it was just a blog. I was more prolific than ever, just because it was the job. I don’t think I could have written this novel if I hadn’t been conditioned to sit down and not stop for a while, to really get going on the daily word count .
your podcast, Who weekly, likes to divide celebrities into “Whos” (Barbie Ferreira, Addison Rae, Sabrina Carpenter) and “Thems” (Julia Roberts, Bella Hadid, Taylor Swift). Now that you’re a published author and doing interviews, does that make you a Who?
No. Always a “no”, firmly a “no”. I don’t want to attract attention.
Let’s move on to some questions about the cultural regime. What’s the first thing you read when you get up in the morning?
I open my email, then scroll through Twitter and check the weather. Lately my new favorite thing to read first is the NYC Subway Weather Twitter Account. It’s a funny, vocal report that tells you what to expect from the weather in New York on any given day. It’s so much more than temperature and humidity. Each day gets a note, each day gets a little description of what to expect.
As for Twitter and Instagram, do you use the Who Weekly account or your personal account to scroll? Which do you prefer?
Oh, I hate my personal account. It’s depressing. It is therefore fully Who Weekly in the morning, because they’re just celebrities, it’s a bit more silly and it’s an easier start into the day before you get into the hard stuff. I don’t open the New York Time application until lunch.
What is your favorite social media account to follow on all platforms?
Just Jared, for sure. I was about to say Pop Crave, but no, just Jared. For a while it would have been Pop Crave, but it’s too much everywhere these days. Just Jared is good, easy content for celebrities.
When was the last time you went to the movies? What did you see?
I saw The female king twice last week. I saw him on Saturday afternoon after seeing him a few nights before with friends. My husband couldn’t go and he said, “Oh, I’m just going to see it while you’re gone,” since I’m in San Antonio now for a literary event. But after seeing him for the first time, I said to myself, “No, we’ll see him again before I leave, because I want to see him with you. I want to see it again and you will love it.
Did the second viewing change your opinion about it?
The first time I saw it was at one of those Thursday night screenings, they call them previews. There weren’t as many people as the one on Saturday afternoon. One of the first things I thought of after seeing The female king Thursday was, it was so exciting. I was like, “Oh, that would just be awesome to see with my family.” It’s a Thanksgiving movie to me. This is the movie you can bring everyone to.
There are a lot of very energizing and exciting moments. There are maybe five big applause moments throughout the film and everyone cheered at those moments. Every time that happens in a movie, I love it. It’s not a movie where you sob, although there are a few moments where people do cry.
Do you think you enjoy that kind of atmosphere more now, after watching movies alone for two years?
Absolutely. I’ve always loved that, but it means so much more now, after spending so much time watching movies at home with one other person, or at most, maybe a handful of other people. I really missed living things in a group.
Finally, what is the last thing you do before going to bed?
When I go to bed, I read a book. Whether it’s a Kindle or a paper book, I try to read for half an hour before I go to bed simply because it really tires me out. But then, when I put the book down, I do one last Twitter scroll, and then I go to sleep. My husband and I joke, “I need to do one last site check.” So the last trigger is horizontal, on the phone, making sure nothing happened. And then I put the phone away.
Have you ever seen something that wakes you up again?
Yeah. And that’s always bad news. It’s some kind of climate catastrophe or horrible news. And then you end up reading about it, and it’s like, “Why did I do that?” Because then you have to start the cycle again, and read the book and not look at your phone.