Blair Underwood is a multi-generational snack: he’s been hot for so long, it’s kind of unreal. He’s currently starring on Broadway in A Soldier’s Play, so he popped into the studio to talk about that—and plenty more besides: Why he loves playing bad guys, navigating and negotiating your worth, and the most disturbing fanmail of his career. Plus we asked him about putting on a watch … :eyes emoji: Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on Thirst Aid Kit each week. Sign up now to listen and...

Somehow, Penn Badgley’s turn as sneering killer Joe Goldberg on Netflix’s You has recently made him the internet’s sort-of boyfriend… but our interest in Penn is older and more complex than that! We went deep on what makes his sly looks to camera so compelling, the power of a deep voice, and why Nichole’s powerless against his general “stop motion Christmas puppet” energy. On Slate Plus, we introduce a brand new segment, “Explain Yourself.” This week, we’re joined by podcast king (Pineapple...

From Lost to Hawaii Five-O, Daniel Dae Kim is all talent and cheeky smiles. He joins the hosts of Thirst Aid Kit to discuss the premiere of Blast Beat, what it’s like to be discarded for Keanu Reeves and Randall Park, being trapped on the Lost island, and what it means to see himself as a Thirst Object. You may know Kendrick Sampson’s leading man looks from HBO’s Insecure but he’s been in all your faves too: The Vampire Diaries, How To Get Away With Murder, The Flash, the list goes on. He...

Hey Thirst Buckets! We’re taking a break right now, resting up to do some intensive thirsting. But until then, we’re sharing some of our favorite episodes from over the years. In this one, we talk about Ryan Coogler, Bay Area Bae. Ryan Coogler is not your average Hollywood auteur, seeing as he is a) incredibly talented; b) apparently generous and gracious; c) fine as hell and d) fresh out of the Bay. All those things — and more — are what make him so very special. In this episode we take a...

Hey Thirst Buckets! We’re taking a break right now, resting up to do some intensive thirsting. But until then, we’re sharing some of our favorite episodes from over the years. In this one, [add a line about the episode]   Enjoy, and we’ll be back with a bunch of new episodes in a few weeks!

Happy New Year, Thirst Buckets!  As you probably know, in 2019 we found a new home for our podcast at Slate. Since then, we’ve lusted out loud over quite a few of our favorite thirst objects. And you thirsted with us! To celebrate, we’re sharing a few of our favorite Thirst Aid Kit episodes from over the years. And the first episode we’re throwing it back to is REALLY a celebration… it's called Chris Evans, featuring Chris Evans himself. Enjoy, and we’ll be back with some brand new thirsting...

What a year 2019 has been! After a 9-month hiatus, Thirst Aid Kit found a new home at Slate and we had much to catch up on— so much so that we weren’t able to get to as many listener-submitted drabbles or Thirst Sommelier requests as we wanted. In this episode, we correct that oversight by answering some questions from our tumblr page, helping a couple of Thirst Buckets find a new Nick Miller from New Girl and a new Nicholas Braun (aka Cousin Greg of Succession) to crush on, and by reading...

Does Randall Park know what he does to us? We only ask because whether it’s performing a classic prank as Asian Jim on The Office or punching Keanu Reeves in Always Be My Maybe, Randall keeps showing us he’s one to watch, whether on network TV, in lesser known indie films, or in superhero franchises. He’s an “overnight” success only if you typically sleep for 15 years a night — and the result is he leaves his fingerprint on every script he touches. Plus he’s got the cutest smile, the warmest...

Wyatt Cenac knows funny. You may have heard him in everything from Bojack Horseman to Archer and Bob’s Burgers. He was a writer for King of the Hill, a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and starred in Barry Jenkins’ first full-length feature film Medicine for Melancholy. He’s also starred in his own stand-up specials, one of which, Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn, was nominated in 2015 for Best Comedy Album (Grammy’s). Like we said, this man knows his funny.  Follow us on Twitter...

Hey, Thirst Buckets! In case you missed it, we were featured on another Slate podcast called How To! With Charles Duhigg, and we want to share it with you here.  Traci is a single, professional woman looking for love. She builds furniture in her spare time, enjoys dancing and can’t believe she has to devote an hour each day to swiping through photos and sending flirty texts. Traci’s quest for romance is made harder by the fact that, as a black woman, she has to put up with more nonsense than...

The thing about Jake Johnson is: so. many. people. fancy. him! Is it because he legitimately looks like a guy you might bump into at your neighbourhood bar? Or is it because he serves up a specifically appealing mix of gruff, grumpy heat (with truly *superb* onscreen kiss abilities!) that just makes you want to join him on the sofa and rail at modern life? We discuss his many forms and charms, from New Girl, to Into the Spider-Verse via Easy etc. We also have a couple of original drabbles...

It’s difficult to separate ‘Joshua Jackson the actor’ from ‘Pacey Witter the character’ but we managed it in this episode! He may have captured our teen hearts but we’re also interested in what he’s been up to since then, on TV and on stage: Fringe, The Affair, When They See Us, Children of a Lesser God… Joshua brings a preternaturally mature persona that makes our eyes shine and our [REDACTED] tingle.  Follow us on Twitter @ThirstAidKit. Bim is @bimadew and Nichole is @tnwhiskeywoman. Our...

You know it, you see it: there’s something about Lakeith. It’s there in Atlanta, in Get Out, in Someone Great… the list goes on. It’s actually many things — ace acting ability, a bucketload of confident, quirky charm, and a presence that belies his slight and lovely frame, all in a relatively short career so far. We wade through all these thirst-inducing attributes, as well as what it means to fancy a Thirst Object when they’ve messed up… We also have a reader drabble about an old TAK fave,...

We say Sudeikis, you say Mantzoukas, let's call the whole thing off! Yes, it's a 'two for one' deal on this week's episode, in which we examine two funnymen named Jason and figure out their very distinct and very different brands of sex appeal. Sudeikis is all charm in a bottle and Mantzoukas has his wildman persona, and yet both satisfy our varied thirsts. Finally! We have the return of Thirst Sommelier and this time we’re helping someone find a suitable replacement for Shia LaBeouf, “good...

Happy Halloween! This week there are no tricks, and only BIG OLE TREATS thanks to the top tier selection of Thirst Objects gathered. We asked our friend, writer and covert thirst-bucket Driadonna Roland to help us break down the dudes that make her weak in the knees… We started on Baldwin’s Beale Street with Stephan (StePHOINE) James, pivoted to the Boardwalk for Bobby ‘something’s about to go down’ Cannavale and traversed the Jabari kingdom for Winston ‘dem thighs!’ Duke. Fanfic Wars was a...

Buttoned Up. Taciturn. No-Nonsense. We all know the magnetism of a stern man, and how it compels thirst. Writer, benevolent internet queen and genteel bisexual lady Nicole Cliffe joined us to discuss her many thirsts, both real and fictional — from her formative crush on Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully on The X Files to Mindhunter’s Bill Tench. We also made a stop at the door of stoic-but-filled-with-rage KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin (played by Armie Hammer) in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Last but not...

We never wanted a hall pass for Zack Morris but our thirst for Mark-Paul Gosselaar grew from a tiny acorn into a mighty oak — JUST LIKE HE DID. From Pitch to the Passage, we explore what makes MPG the MVP: is it the well-groomed beard? The thick thighs? Or maybe the fact that he’s starred opposite so many black women and girls that’s got our foofs a-tingle… This week on Fanfic Wars, MPG saves Nichole, relaxes with Bim after a fan convention. Plus [REDACTED] as usual. Follow us on Twitter...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll have heard all the #ThirstDiscourse about Fleabag’s Hot Priest  — and we’re here to peel back his cassock and reveal what lies beneath… We also look at his forebear, Sidney Chambers AKA the Sexy Vicar of Grantchester, solvin’ crimes, breakin’ hearts and listenin’ to smoky jazz. Plus, a quick rundown of the other sexy clergy of our youth and beyond. There’s also our usuals: [REDACTED], super-steamy Fanfic Wars, in which Nichole tries to teach Hot...

If you like your comedy packaged in a bundle of silly, offbeat joy, then this week’s Thirst Object should appeal. We’re talking about Oscar-nominated director, writer and actor Taika Waititi. The lesser-spotted New Zealand silver-haired fox knows that going through the funny bone is the best way to our hearts — and brings a child-like glee to filmmaking that makes us want to go on an adventure with him. Plus! We have Fanfic Wars, in which Nichole goes on a frightfest, and Bim enjoys baked...

We’re back, thirst-buckets! We were away for nine months, gestating this thirst baby, and now we have returned… and named it Dan Levy! The co-creator and showrunner of the Emmy-nominated comedy Schitt’s Creek is our Thirst Object, and we have lots to talk about: his forever-coiffed hair, his intense eyebrows (inherited from his equally lushly-follicled father Eugene), his smirk, that makes us want to share secrets with him… We talk about how he actively creates a world in which homophobia is...

Thirst Aid Kit is back in your ears on September 26th, with a new home on Slate Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dear Thirst Buckets, Thirst Aid Kit’s time at BuzzFeed has come to an end. At this point, we don’t know if the show will live again elsewhere but we wanted to give you a proper “goodbye-for-now.” Thank you for listening and sharing and talking about Thirst Aid Kit. We could not have made three seasons without any of you. Follow us on Twitter to see what’s next. We love you, and as always, stay thirsty!

It's our season 3 finale and let's just get straight to it: We've got Wilson Bethel AKA Wade Kinsella AKA Bullseye in the building! What a delightful, funny, thoughtful man he is. We could barely maintain our professionalism. We talk about everything from his spoken word beginnings to his chronic shirtlessness. How much of him is Wade Kinsella, Hart of Dixie's charming bad boy? How did he prepare himself to play Benjamin Poindexter, Matt Murdock's disturbing counterpart in Netflix's...

This week's episode is all about a certain even-complexioned, old-fashioned dreamboat of a Thirst Object, Boris Kodjoe! Half German, half Ghanaian, and all American, Mr K is a tall drink of water we have been quietly thirsting after for more than a decade, bless him. Boris Kodjoe has the longevity and (thirst) range. So we went deep on how his strong eyebrows, deep voice, and clean musculature wins us — and actors such as Sanaa Lathan, Nicole Ari Parker and Gugu Mbatha-Raw —over every single...

What we do is serious academic business, and that’s why we’re honored to have Cheers and Queers hosts Isoke Smith and Kirya Traber teach us a new criterion of thirst: does your crush have a rower’s back? Isoke and Kirya tells us all about a new set of rising stars: Laith Ashley, Indya Moore, Nafessa Williams, and Trevante Rhodes. If you’ve ever looked at a picture of someone and wondered “do I want to eat them or do I want to be them?” this is the episode for you. We also have some more...