Robert "Bobby" Finger (born April 22, 1986) is an American journalist, author, podcaster, and pop culture critic, best known as the co-creator and host of the '' Who? Weekly'' podcast alongside friend and fellow writer Lindsey Weber. He previously worked as a regular contributing writer for the US culture website ''

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

'' from 2015 until 2018.

Career

Finger graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 2008. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency before transitioning into becoming a full-time pop culture writer and podcaster in 2015. Finger's byline has appeared in outlets including ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and '' Vanity Fair''. Finger has also appeared as a guest on podcasts including '' Blank Check with Griffin and David'', ''It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders'', and ''Little Gold Men''. In 2016, Finger, alongside Lindsey Weber, started the podcast ''Who? Weekly'', based on a newsletter and focused on B-list celebrities. The podcast quickly became popular, amassing a group of fans known as 'Wholigans'. The podcast has received a positive critical response and celebrity fans including

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

and

Lea DeLaria Lea DeLaria (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, and jazz singer. She portrayed List of Orange Is the New Black characters#Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Carrie "Big Boo" Black on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' ...

. In 2019, ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' named the show one of the "10 Essential Conversation Podcasts that Shaped the Genre." The show also received national attention in 2017 after fans identified then-

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

Sean Spicer Sean Michael Spicer (born September 23, 1971) is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications dire ...

's open account on the mobile payment service

Venmo Venmo is an American mobile payment service founded in 2009 and owned by PayPal since 2013. Venmo is aimed at users who wish to split their bills. Account holders can transfer funds to others via a mobile phone app; both the sender and receiver ...

, which led to

trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a internet forum, forum, a chat room, an Multiplayer video game, online video game) or who performs similar be ...

. In 2017, Finger published a series of articles on ''Jezebel'' critically reviewing episodes of ''

Megyn Kelly Today ''Megyn Kelly Today'' is an American daytime talk show that was broadcast by NBC. Premiering on September 25, 2017, it replaced ''Today's Take'' as the third hour of NBC's national morning show '' Today''. The program was hosted by Megyn Kelly ...

'', entitled "''Megyn Kelly Today'', Today," which led to show host

Megyn Kelly Megyn Marie Kelly (; born November 18, 1970) is an American journalist, attorney, political commentator, and media personality. She currently hosts ''The Megyn Kelly Show'', a talk show and podcast that airs daily on Sirius XM's Triumph channe ...

inviting Finger to appear as a guest on the show. ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'' called the segment "hilariously awkward." In 2019, Finger began hosting ''I'm Obsessed With This'', a podcast reviewing new

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

programming. In 2022, Finger's debut novel ''The Old Place'' was published by Penguin Random House. "A bighearted and moving debut about a wry retired schoolteacher whose decade-old secret threatens to come to light and send shockwaves through her small Texas town.".https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/703745/the-old-place-by-bobby-finger/ ''The Old Place'' was selected by Vanity Fair as one of the best books of the year in 2022. His second novel, ''Four Squares'', was published in 2024.

Personal life

Finger is from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. He married Josh Fjelstad, co-host of the Pokémon podcast ''Exp. Share'', in 2018.

References

External links

Who? Weekly official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finger, Bobby Living people American film and television podcasters American feminists University of Texas at Austin alumni 1986 births LGBTQ podcasters