Fort Worth resident’s alter ego portrays ‘world full of idiocracy’ with satirical podcast

Want to know what Tish thinks of something? No need to answer that because she’s going to tell you anyway.

That is, if you tune in to “Boots, Bibles and Scrapbookin’,” a podcast in which Kristen Bennett of Fort Worth plays Tish, a sassy character whose mouth often exceeds her intelligence. However, and probably without realizing it, Tish is delivering a powerful societal message for us all about tolerance.

“The name of the podcast represents a parody of Tish’s surface values. Note I did not say ‘core’ values, because Tish is, after all, as imperfect as any human alive,” said Bennett, who came up with the idea, along with her friend Dave Arnold, from Virginia Beach.

“The show is a satire at its core. We use irony, hyperbole and humor to illustrate the ridiculousness of our world. If you find yourself nodding along to one of Tish’s rants, then you’re not getting the real message.”

Tish is the nosy neighbor who knows everything about the topic of discussion, even though she has to ask what the topic is.

To be clear, BBS is not a political show. Tish doesn’t care what side of the fence a person is on, or even if they straddle the fence — though she would probably tell them to “make up their damn mind.” If she has something to say, she’s going to say it, no offense intended, though again, she probably couldn’t care less because you ventured into her world and with it come all her thoughts and opinions in their complete glory.

Along with a lot of laughs, of course.

Plenty of real-life material

Among the topics Tish has shared her thoughts on are difficult family relations, poor leadership, the vaccine, wealth pyramid schemes, misunderstanding of holiday significance, religious hypocrisy, mental health and mindfulness.

“We will never run out of topics for Tish to malign,” Bennett said, adding that much of the time “the scripts just write themselves.”

You’ll also hear Tish talk plenty about the Rusty Nail, her favorite place to spend the holidays — or any time as long as the bar is open. She also has lots of stories about her best friends, Britney, Britni, Wanda and Britneigh. Her sons Scooter and Booger Jr., whose paternity is always in question, are a constant source of entertainment as well.

“Both of us are deeply creative by nature. BBS gave us an opportunity to re-ignite our imaginations while affording a channel to express social frustrations through satire and humor. At the end of the day, we do this podcast to make ourselves laugh,” she said.

As a West Texas native, Bennett said the accent and sass came naturally to her. However, in real life, she and Tish couldn’t be any more different.

“I am a classically trained opera singer and worked for years to ‘unlearn’ my West Texas accent, but Tish gave me the opportunity to bring it back in full force,” she said.

As for where they get much of their source material, Arnold said, “Social media pontificators are wonderful sources of material for Tish. We are living in a world full of idiocracy. We just identify it and give it a voice.”

Much of the podcast is often unscripted, relying on Bennett’s quick wit. Each episode follows a loosely defined theme and features an imaginative cocktail.

Fans of the show have learned to look for “Easter eggs” (hidden or secret messages), Bennett said. And while it’s all in good fun, no one, not even family, is above being an inspiration for one of Tish’s bits of wisdom.

Arnold plays Tish’s lawyer on the podcast. He joins Tish as her somewhat unwilling co-host and is often befuddled by her “out there” viewpoints and advice.

He is also Bennett’s real-life business partner in the field of eminent domain. They have another niche podcast called “Infrastructure Junkies!” which explores eminent domain, right of way, and infrastructure development.

Laugh out loud, but ‘don’t be a Tish’

Each episode of BBS is about 15 to 20 minutes long, like Tish’s attention span, Bennett joked. The aforementioned “Hospitality” episode (episode 8) is one of the most downloaded and Bennett said it gives listeners a good feel for what Tish is all about.

Of course the show is designed to make people laugh, but Arnold said within that laughter are some valuable lessons. For example, sometimes it’s best to listen more and talk less — or perhaps learn more and talk less.

“Like Tish, too many keyboard jockeys are convinced that they know ‘truth,’ yet remain unapologetically ignorant,” he said. “Tish means well, she really does. But she is hopelessly unrefined, and her advice and counsel, while humorous, is worthless.

“Listen to Tish. Laugh at Tish. But don’t be a Tish.”

Bennett said Tish is, without question, an outlet for her. She said her alter ego gives her space to find the humor in things that might otherwise make her crazy — and that’s what she suggests those listen get from Tish.

“When I hear or see something that makes me want to scream, I save it for Tish,” she said. “Boots, Bibles, and Scrapbookin’ gives us a place to belly laugh instead of banging our heads against the wall during these challenging times.

“A little bit of Tish lives in all of us, and that’s OK. It’s better for everyone, however, to keep our inner Tish to ourselves. And don’t ever forget, your next social media rant could find itself in a podcast one day.”

You can find “Boots, Bibles, and Scrapbookin’” on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow Tish on Twitter with her handle, @tish_pod.

This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:00 AM.