Everything

Be frank about your age, your sexual orientation, your criminal record (if you have one), your tattoos, your scars, and your prescriptions. Admit to your bad moods, your neuroses, your fantasies, and your fears and it will be so cathartic you won’t need therapy. Better still, you’ll be able to gossip without hypocrisy. I am candid about myself in my column, and that frees me to investigate the private lives of public figures. The same applies to everyday gossiping: No one can fault you for talking about others’ indiscretions if you’re the first to reveal those things about yourself.

Michael Musto is a gossip writer whose column, La Dolce Musto, has appeared in the Village Voice for 26 years.