It's a big week for fans of reality TV - it's Bravocon 2023. This year it's in Las Vegas – and Zopeswhile we couldn't make it to Vegas, we're revisiting what we learned from last year's Bravocon in New York. Host Brittany Luse and producer Liam McBain talked to fans, a producer, an academic and the Housewives themselves to understand what makes The Real Housewives peak culture – as in the #1 topic in the group chat – for so many people.

This episode was produced by Liam McBain. Engineering support came from Ko Takasugi-Czernowin, Neil Tevault, Neal Rauch, and Katherine Silva. We had fact checking help from Katie Daugert. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Additional support came from Veralyn Williams, Barton Girdwood, Alexis Williams, Corey Antonio Rose, and B.A. Parker. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. Our VP of programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our senior VP of programming is Anya Grundmann.