Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness Getting Curious

Desiree Verdejo took a leap of faith: she left the grind of New York corporate law and opened a boutique in Harlem, which eventually led her to found Hyper! skincare. Desiree joins Jonathan to talk all about how she made this massive pivot over time and to follow your own instincts. Plus the two go deep on hyperpigmentation for sensitive skin of all shades, ingredients and formulas, and what’s next for the brand.



After leaving the world of corporate law, Desiree Verdejo moved to Harlem to open a beauty boutique specializing in Black-owned indie brands. She began to notice a hole in the market, which inspired her to launch the brand Hyper! –  a skincare line focused on targeting hyperpigmentation for deeper skin tones and sensitive skin types. Hyper! was an Allure Best of Beauty 2022 award winner.



Follow Hyper! on Instagram and TikTok @hyperskin. Desiree is on Instagram and TikTok @desiree.verdejo.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to learn more about the products from this episode, or head to JonathanVanNess.com for the transcript. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Find books from Getting Curious and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that between 2006 and 2016, 58% of bars, pubs, and nightclubs that catered to the LGBTQ community closed in London? Sociologist Amin Ghaziani joins Jonathan to explain this phenomena and how the queer community is adapting. The two dig deep into how the norms of the typical gay bar often exclude already marginalized folks in the LGTBQ community, the underground parties like Buttmitzvah and Femmetopia that have filled this void, and the experimental economic models these parties use to disrupt capitalism. Plus, the deep importance of uplifting queer JOY!



Amin Ghaziani is Professor of Sociology at UBC, Canada Research Chair in Urban Sexualities, and co-editor of Contexts, the public-facing magazine of the American Sociological Association. Amin has written and edited 6 books and over 60 academic articles, book chapters, and essays, many of which he has published in top disciplinary and subfield journals. He’s won several awards, including a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best Book in LGBT Studies. Amin’s been featured in places like The New Yorker, Time magazine, BBC Radio 4, CBC Radio, and The New York Times, among others. His latest book “Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution” was just published in the US on March 26th.



You can follow Amin on Instagram and X @amin_ghaziani.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.



Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we have Carol’s Daughter founder, Lisa Price! Lisa tells Jonathan about her decades-long journey to lasting success: from back in the early days when she made and sold products out of her kitchen at a time when there were barely any natural hair products on the shelves, all the way through being inducted into the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Plus, being on the Oprah Winfrey show, how scent and product are inextricably linked, and an iconic vintage beauty memory.



Lisa Price started Carol’s Daughter out of her kitchen in 1993, and now the brand has over 300 aromatic products for the face, hair, body and home. Her clientele include celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, Chaka Khan and Oprah Winfrey. During the Obama administration, Lisa was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council. She is also the author of “Success Never Smelled So Sweet,” a memoir that chronicles her transformation from a young Black woman deep in debt to president of a paradigm-changing business. In 2021, Carol’s Daughter partnered with the world-renown doula Latham Thomas to launch Love Delivered, an initiative focused on raising awareness of the Black Maternal Health Crisis in the United States. Lisa is also a part of the Executive Committee at L’Oreal USA giving her perspective on Black culture, diversity equality and inclusion and organizational topics.



Follow Lisa Price on Instagram @iamlisaprice and Carol’s Daughter on Instagram @carolsdaughter.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to learn more about the products from this episode, or head to JonathanVanNess.com for the transcript. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Find books from Getting Curious and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neil J. Young is here to answer all our burning questions about the history of gay people within the Republican party! Neil and Jonathan go back to the Mattachine Society in the 1950s and the beginnings of the Log Cabin Republicans in the late 1970s when neither political party accepted homosexuality. Then the two examine how gay Republicans were instrumental in taking down Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and advancing the legalization of same-sex marriage. Plus, we touch on the current mindset of this often disregarded group to better understand their political and personal motivations.



Neil J. Young is an award-winning historian, writer, podcaster, and author. Neil formerly served as a contributing columnist for The Week and, before that, an opinion columnist for HuffPost. He writes frequently for leading publications, including the Washington Post, the Atlantic, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Vox, Politico, Slate, and the New York Times. Neil co-hosts and produces the popular history podcast, Past Present. His latest book, “Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right” just came out in April.



You can follow Neil on X and Instagram @NeilJYoung17. Check out the Past Present Pod archive on Apple Podcasts and X.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.



Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you know that the looks for Ru Paul’s Drag Race, Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour, Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale Tour, Katy Perry’s Vegas Residency, and Cirque du Soleil were all created by ONE design genius? It’s true! ZALDY is the artist behind this incredible oeuvre…and our guest on Pretty Curious. ZALDY tells Jonathan all about his journey from model to designer, meeting Ru Paul in their Club Kid days, and how the industry has evolved since then. Plus, the two geek out over all things Olympics!



ZALDY is a fashion designer based in New York City. Since launching his own namesake clothing line in 2002, ZALDY has designed both stagewear and one-of-a-kind looks for Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Cirque du Soleil, and others. He served as the head designer for Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. collection and won an Emmy in Costume Design in 2019 for his work on RuPaul’s Drag Race.



Follow ZALDY on Instagram @zaldynyc.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to learn more about the products from this episode, or head to JonathanVanNess.com for the transcript. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Find books from Getting Curious and Pretty Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Our theme music is also composed by Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Pride, Curious People! We’re kicking the month off by talking with Angela Chen about the often overlooked “A” in LGBTQIA+. Angela lays down the basics of asexuality, then she and Jonathan talk more deeply about how the "Ace" perspective can offer everyone a new lens through which to think about their relationships to romance, sex, desire, and culture. Plus, compulsory sexuality and its MAJOR role in our cultural understandings of sex.



Angela Chen is a journalist, editor, and author. She’s worked as a senior editor at WIRED, a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Vox Media’s The Verge, and MIT Technology Review.  Her reporting and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Paris Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Lapham's Quarterly, National Geographic, and more. She is also the author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex.



You can follow Angela on X @chengela or on Instagram @angelaetcetera.



Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN.



Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com.



Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn.



Our senior producers are Chris McClure and Julia Melfi. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall.



Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com.



Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices