Call Her Daddy: Alex Cooper's Transformation Continues

"Hi, Daddy Gang! It is your Father."

This catchphrase is likely to go down as one of the greats of the last 20 years.

It's branding gold. That's coming from someone who spent 15 years in marketing and has been a 'podcast junkie' for over ten years.

Alexandra Cooper, host and co-founder of Call Her Daddy, set herself apart from the beginning with her catchphrase.

Cooper originally launched her wildly popular podcast with Sofia Franklyn in 2018. The two parted ways in April 2020, with Cooper maintaining ownership of the brand and podcast.

I decided to listen to seven randomly selected episodes of Call Her Daddy after reading that her show ranks as the most popular podcast in the U.S. with young female listeners.

Cooper and Franklyn together brought their love of the 'F-bomb' to new heights and went into their sexual exploits in graphic and messy detail at times.

During the eighteen months when they worked as a team, they were irresistible to their listeners. How they sounded in action as a duo came across clearly in the two episodes I started with in my journey to wrap my mind around the popularity of Call Her Daddy.

• Episode 35: Professional Athletes
• Episode 50: MILF Hunter (Guest #1)

From the onset of episode 35, I had a hard time determining if these two were being dead-ass serious or putting on an act.

Then something obvious but missed him me straight on.

Attractive, hot women, black, white or other, can have a man standing naked with his 'dick' out in under five minutes on any given day, at any time of their choosing.

Why do I say that?

Because there's good reason to believe this all went down at different point in their not-so-distant past. And, considering they were 24 when the podcast started, it was still very much going down.

Still, as my current self, a middle-aged man, I couldn't resist the urge to stop trying to separate fact from fiction.

As the desire to do that grew stronger, I took necessary action.

I mentally teleported back to being 23, fresh out of college, launching into my adulthood with brains and hormones holding equal sway over my mind and actions at all times.

Remember those days. The ones where dumb shit happened with and without much alcohol, and other substances we won't discuss.

Their tips on stirring up jealousy in a woman or a man started making a lot more sense, and the tricks to get passwords from your boyfriend or sex buddy to dive deep into his smartphone and social media accounts seemed suddenly like the way things should go.

For the 'fuckboys' as they call them, who think they've got game too, this show isn't going to hold their attention long. Not even during this phase.

But for the 20-something guys and girls who know they haven't figured out how to bring the man or woman of their desires home, and have consensual sex, Call Her Daddy would be a must-listen during the era of Cooper and Franklyn.

The Split That Reshaped Call Her Daddy

Greed reared its ugly head by April 2020, not even two years into a three-year deal with Barstool Sports (Barstool). The ladies had the option to renegotiate after two years, and they exercised the option.

Barstool founder Dave Portnoy made an offer good enough for Cooper's taste. It never reached the bar for Franklyn. Cooper signed, Franklyn didn't, and the rest is history.

In May 2020, Call Her Daddy relaunched with Cooper as the sole founding Father.

The Daddy Gang became her gang and family, and the sex party began again.

A typical episode in 2020 might've been:

• Episode 89: I Fucked the Mascot (ft. Hannah Berner)
• Episode 101: Boyfriend Dick (ft. Harry Jowsey)
• Episode 102: The Toxic Dick Daze (ft. Katie Florence)

The subject matter remained largely the same in 2021. But in 2022, Cooper moved toward a new direction and new horizons.

In all likelihood, the shift entered the plans the moment she signed the deal with Spotify in June 2021, and left her more purely raunchy side behind with Barstool and Portnoy.

Lies and More Lies: Cooper's Wild Interview with Anna Delvey

My interest went up a tad with her first transformation. I started episode 179: Anna Delvey with no idea who this woman was.

But the idea that she faked being a German heiress and set her sights on conning elites in the art world in New York City, pulled me right in.

It wasn't long before learning that a Netflix miniseries, created by Shonda Rhimes, Inventing Anna had aired somewhere around the time this interview was done with Delvey still behind bars for her crimes.

Cooper asked whether she preferred to go by Anna Delvey or Anna Sorokin, which is her real name. The moment Delvey referred to her real name as her government name – I knew this is going to be an awesome ride.

No matter what question Cooper threw her way, Delvey never said much that you could sink your teeth in. She was a master of vagueness.

Late in the interview, Cooper asked, "What did you lie about?"

Delvey doesn't reveal one of her direct lies. She only acknowledges lying.

Then casually she says, "I didn't tell senseless lies."

Like WTF. Who says that?

Immediately after hearing this episode, I added Inventing Anna to my Netflix queue, and headed straight to her Instagram page, which she claimed was never curated to give her the appearance of wealth.

More lies. But, what did I find?

Delvey's currently out of jail. She's living fabulously in New York City.

Cooper's Shift from Sex Talk to Storytelling

As I pushed play on the final three episodes, the improvement in Cooper's interviewing skills are noticeable. Going back to her conversation with Delvey, she seemed unsure where to dive in with pointed questions.

Flash forward to episode 493: Kid Cudi and she's navigating with ease.

The F-bombs still come but instead of every other sentence as heard during the early days, they're cropping up every five-to-ten minutes.

Kid Cudi, who asked Cooper early in the interview to call him Scott, seemed like one of her old friends. That's how naturally the conversation happened.

Cooper's gift besides real marketing savvy, appears to be a knack for putting her guests at ease. She creates an openness that makes them feel safe.

Courtney Stodden, the featured guest for episode 180, even remarked that she felt safe to talk at the end of the show after detailing her difficult life in full.

Where do I see Cooper going with the next phase of Call Her Daddy?

She's probably out to claim the space left behind by Barbara Walters. She doesn't have the journalistic chops that made Walters, but she possesses the same level of likeability.

Listen or Take a Pass

Whether you'd enjoy Call Her Daddy, comes down to personal taste.

In the grocery store and at the bookstore, do you find yourself grabbing hold of a copy of People, US Weekly, maybe Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair?

If so, I think there's a good chance you're going to like listening to Call Her Daddy.

None of those magazines have generally been my cup of tea.

Most men aren't going to flock to Father Cooper. That's okay. It's clear Cooper isn't trying to pull in frequent listeners of The Joe Rogan Experience, The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, or The Megyn Kelly Show.

She's comfortable in her lane. ■