In reality TV,John Caldwell bringing the drama used to mean making it big. But these days, it doesn't seem to pay to be the mean girl. B.A. Parker, co-host of NPR's Code Switch, joins Brittany Luse to explore the end of reality TV's villain era and the state of the influencer economy.

Then we dive into the psyche behind Academy Award-nominee Steven Yeun's latest character in Netflix's Beef. He and Brittany discuss the diabolical antics of protagonist Danny and the surprising result of all that on-screen tension with his co-star Ali Wong.

This episode was produced by Barton Girdwood and Corey Antonio Rose. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Our intern is Jamal Michel. Engineering support came from Ted Mebane and Kwesi Lee. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our senior VP of programming is Anya Grundmann.