IAmA Naked News anchor who writes a segment called the Naked Nerd. I've been pregnant on air, and just shot a docuseries based on Naked News. AMA

Why aren't you working right now?

Thanks, Greg. This is one of our writers- one who tried to kill me in a recent hot sauce competition by the way. I'm working from home today...you know, like you do every time you get the Jack Daniel's flu.

To quote one of Naked News' segments - OH SNAP!

That's quoting one of our GOOD segments. Meaning Kat isn't in it.

Shut up, Greg. Don't you have some My Little Pony porn to watch?

Are you doing this AMA topless?

Unfortunately, I'm not. I'm wearing a Richard shirt from the LFG webcomic and I'm not wearing any makeup. Work from Home day means I get to wear pants. Pants are a novelty. I like pants. (And with that, the downvotes commence. ;) )

Edited because I mistakenly wrote the wrong Lar/Sohmer comic down

I'm going to assume most of your viewers are men. How do you feel about that?

Thanks for starting this off! Good question- and you're right, most of our viewers are men. Like any program, we cater to our demographic. While this is fun sometimes- most of my interests fall into the "traditionally male" demographic and I get paid to talk about comic books and video games all day- I'm a third-wave feminist, and I have to remember who I'm writing for when I craft my segments.

As far as how I feel about men staring at my breasts, well...I like being naked. I wouldn't say I'm an exhibitionist, because I don't get any sort of thrill from people staring at me, but I've always been relatively comfortable with my body and it makes me happy to work in a field where we're actively trying to break the stigma against nudity as something to be fetishized.

From watching the video on the homepage of the website, the company you work for are actively using the 'fetishization' of the female nude to make money. The choice of broadcasters and anchors clearly illustrates this. To truly break the stigma against nudity naked men should also feature in the broadcasts and 'sexiness' which is apparent should be toned down. Natural nudity is what is needed, this includes the inclusion of people who do not represent the ideal female body image, but people of all shapes and sizes-including men. All this show is doing is showing that it is ok for 'completely naked, attractive and intelligent women" (from the statement on the website) to be naked, not exactly breaking any stigmas....

edit: typo

I'll agree with you on the way our site looks...I am going to be 100% honest and say I'm not a fan of how our site looks to the outside observer, either. I think it makes our show seem like something it's not. We have people of all shapes and sizes on our program. I agree that a cursory look at our webpage suggests otherwise, but let's face it, people who look good are going to sell better than people who aren't- and we are a pay site- but I promise you that only two of our girls are playboy models. ;) You can do a lot with good photography and retouching. I was on up until the end of my pregnancy, and I had gained sixty pounds- and I wasn't a skinny woman to begin with. I'm very pear-shaped, and before I was pregnant I had small breasts and big thighs and cellulite. Our senior anchor, Victoria Sinclair, is well into her forties and has had absolutely no work done and she looks wonderful. We've had curvier girls on our show, we've had skinnier girls on our show, and we've had ladies of all ethnic backgrounds in the past. Unfortunately, we're at the mercy of who will audition, and it's hard to find women in Toronto who are both competent anchors and comfortable with nudity. We did have a mens' show, for five years- unfortunately, it didn't sell and we were losing money on it so we had to scrap it. You can still see archives of it at http://nakednewsdailymale.com

http://vimeo.com/15949396

Here's a crazy video I found of her

That was shot by my friend Steve Prue, from teamrockstarimages.com. The story behind that was that I had tried to do a topless segment in Times Square, because New York City has the same topfree equality laws as Toronto does, but I nearly got arrested. So Steve said, "come to Brookyln, we love topless girls here", and I wandered around Brooklyn naked as kind of a "screw you" to Times Square. The zombie-looking stuff is in there because we filmed that for a project that didn't end up working out.

How often did you catch the people you were interviewing(while nude) checking you out and how did you feel in regards to it?

It's funny. I catch more people staring at my breasts when they're covered. Most people go out of their way to look me in the eye when I'm naked. It's a weird phenomenon...how would you react if a topless girl interviewed you? I'm actually shocked at how polite most people are.

I would probably just bend my neck and cross my eyes so I have a "better" view of you.

Trust me, those aren't my best assets.

Turn the table around, who would you want to interview while they are naked and you are clothed? [Edit] Thank You Everyone! This is my 2nd highest comment and put me over 1,000 Karma!

Christina Hendricks.

Do you have any kind of trees in your yard? If so, what kind?

Apple? Pear? Orange?

I live in Canada. No orange trees here. I'm not sure if this is a serious question, or the weirdest innuendo ever.

I never understood the point of Naked News. Is it just a gimmick? Are there studies that show that guys watching NN are more informed?

What it boils down to is... is there a legitimate reason to be naked while doing the news, or is it just for ratings?

Honestly, I'm as stymied as you as to why our format works- but it does. We've been going for almost fifteen years, and a lot of our audience has been with us since the beginning. I'm going to assume it has something to do with the idea Kevin Smith presented in Mallrats...remember that scene where Brodie and T.S. go to the topless fortune teller and he says, "A woman could tell me I was going to die tomorrow, so long as she did it topless"? I think that's what it boils down to...hard news is easier to take when it comes from a friendly source. And that's what we aspire to be, really...a friendly source.

What was the most uncomfortable moment you've had on air?

Honestly, interviewing Artie Lang was among the more uncomfortable moments I've had. I was very new, and I went into the interview pretty cocky and trying to be funny...don't you hate it when personalities (edit: hosts) do that? Anyway, he saw right through it and kind of tore me a new one...and he was right to do so.

video here

i didn't see anything that looked like artie was ripping into you, and it didn't look as though you were all that uncomfortable, to the naked eye at least.

^{(edit: [SFW] - fun parts are all blurred)}

That video was edited. He wasn't mean, he just called me on my bullshit.

Hi Kat, You interviewed my husband and myself at NYCC 2010, which was our very first time cosplaying at a con. It was also our very first interview in cosplay. Our costumes have vastly improved since then, thank goodness. I still remember how tall you were in those heels and how very nice you are. Congratulations on your pregnancy! What is the next con you plan to attend?

Were you the Green Lantern and Star Sapphire, by any chance? If so, you guys looked AMAZING! I'll be at ECCC next, though not in any official capacity- I'm just going to enjoy myself, though I might do a few low-tech iPhone videos if I meet someone cool. And thank you on the congratulations!

Yep that was us, great memory! Thank you for your kind words (those costume were terrible). :) Here's the updated costumes: http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/288/f/a/star_sapphire_by_snuggiemouse-d4cyx13.jpg

Have fun at ECCC! We are going to Megacon in March, 1 con a month is all I can handle.

They look wonderful! Great job!

When I finish work everyday, I am excited to go home and get out of my work clothes.

Do you go home and put clothes on?

I do. Nothing feels sexier to me than eight layers of clothing. I love pants.

IS it a rewarding Job?

I've gotten to travel the world, interview some really amazing humans, write off lingerie, comic books, and games, and get in free to tons of events and conventions. I work with some really cool people, AND I get to see boobs every day. Am I going to win a Nobel Peace prize or a Pulitzer any time soon? No. But I find my job rewarding nonetheless. ;)

You like to look at boobs? SO DO I!

Hooray for boobies!

write off comic books and games and boobs everyday...Damn, The Dream.

Right? I'm a pretty happy redhead.

Would you consider yourself an exhibitionist or just someone who is ultra comfortable in your own skin?

I'd definitely say I'm more the "comfortable in my own skin" type than the "exhibitionist" type. I don't really get any kind of thrill from being nude. It's more of a "well, why not be naked?" type of thing, you know?

Well, I've never seen Naked News (is it on TV or what?), but growing up around nudists I have the utmost respect for you. Keep up the good work!

Thank you! Our weekend show is on a few pay-per-view stations, and our weekly program (Monday-Friday and Sunday) is at http://nakednews.com. Thank you!

A gorgeous geeky redhead who lives in Toronto? I'm ashamed I was previously unaware of your existence.

If you go to conventions, you can't miss me...I'm tall and usually in heels. If you're at a con and you see me, come say hi! I promise I'm friendly.

I consider myself a pretty confident guy, but I think I'd turn into a rambling idiot if I attempted to walk up to meet you. I don't think I'm cut out to meeting attractive ladies that I may also have seen naked.

I'm surprisingly easy to talk to.

I'll be that guy: I actually met you once, at the Gladstone. You and I share a few friends, and someone had said that we'd get along -- shared interests in poly, geekstuff, etc.

You were gigantically unfriendly to me, and it felt like you instantly went on the defensive when you felt like someone recognized you in public. (In reality, I had no idea you were on NN, and only found out later when someone mentioned it to me as a possible reason as to why you were so unfriendly.)

I barely got in an introduction before you dismissed me with a uninterested eye roll.

I'll try to refrain from further judgement -- maybe it was an off night for you, or maybe I interrupted an engaged conversation -- but it was a pretty huge turn-off, and didn't exactly enamour me to a second attempt.

I'm so sorry...I don't mean to come off like that. Which event was it? If it was at the Questy awards, I had just found out I was pregnant and was exhausted and running the event. If it was at that Tweetup event...I was on a date with my significant other.

I heartily apologize if you found me rude. I try very hard not to be.

What prompted you to get into nude journalism?

I've always wanted to get into journalism, but I grew up in this tiny town of 500 people and I was more concerned with getting out of there than going to school. I wasn't 100% sure of what I wanted to do with my life, and didn't want to be paying off student loans for ten years only to discover I hated the field I'd chosen. When I heard about Naked News, I contacted the producer to see if they were hiring, because it was something I was interested in. I auditioned and got a job as an anchor, and a few months later, I submitted a sample script for a segment about fan culture I'd written and the producer liked it enough to run a test segment. Now I'm writing and producing segments for the show as well as anchoring, and I love it.

Which is your favourite boob? left or right?

I think there are more boobs on the right.

Say I am naked. Say I am naked on TV. Now lets make it interesting, I just had a fantastic lunch of authentic Indian vindaloo. Oh what's that? I'm back on air after lunch. Okay sure. I am now in front of the camera, getting my stuff organized. "Live in 3..2..1..Action". You have to fart but you know its a risk. What do you do?

Also: Favourite desert?

YOU HOLD IT IN.

Also: the Mojave.

What current 'mainstream' professional journalist do you think should do the news naked?

Anderson Cooper. Because Anderson Cooper.

I'd watch the shit out of a Walter Cronkite naked news.

I'd get lost in those wrinkles of time.

As long as he has those eyebrows, he'll never be truly naked.

Top 3 comic books of all time?

Oh god...tough question. Bone was the comic that got me into comics, back when I was eight and I read a few strips in Disney Adventures. It's just this wonderful mix of humor- I still giggle when I read the "stupid, stupid rat creatures!" panel- and dark fantasy. Strangers In Paradise is a beautiful book- Terry Moore writes women so well. I'm also a big fan of Fables. My favorite book right now is SAGA- Brian K. Vaughn is amazing. As far as supes go, I love Gail Simone's run on Secret Six and Batgirl, and I thought Grant Morrison's New X-Men run was wonderful. I'm also looking forward to reading the all-female X-Men run that's currently happening, and of course, the Dark Phoenix saga is one of my favorites.

What has been your most awkward moment in this career, on and/or off set?

I was interviewing Kevin Smith and I was in the middle of asking him a question, and he offered me his coat to cover up with. I ended up stammering for a good minute.

I take it from your stammering that he wasn't trying to be funny?

he was trying to good-naturedly rib me a bit. I didn't know how to respond. He was a real sweetheart, though.

Who would like to cosplay as, that you haven't already?

I've done most of my favorites- Emma Frost, Jean Grey as the Black Queen and Dark Phoenix, and Madelyn Pryor (I'm sensing a pattern here...) and a handful of others, but I'd love to cosplay as Morrigan from DA:Origins, Darth Talon, Star Sapphire Wonder Woman, and because of my height, Big Barda. I'd love to do a Red Lantern Mera costume, too.

And the pictures of this cosplay are available where?

She posted her instagram link elsewhere, looks like some phoenix costumes (Somewhat NSFW): http://instagram.heroku.com/users/katcurtis

Oh, those were just tees. You can see some of my cosplay here: Psylocke: http://www.katherinecurtis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/imback.jpg

Emma Frost: http://www.katherinecurtis.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/201679_10150137944846664_634371663_6161211_4238979_o.jpg

Madelyn Pryor: http://www.katherinecurtis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/goblinqueen1.jpg

More Emma: http://www.katherinecurtis.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/stormtrooper2.jpg

If you don't mind me asking, how does your family feel about your profession ? Do they ever tune in to watch?

I don't mind at all! My parents and I are really close, so they were the first people I told when I got the job. They're proud of me- nudity was never something that was stigmatized in my home. They don't watch, but they're supportive.

You said you've been on air while pregnant, what does your husband/BF/significant other think about your job? Do they ever have issue with it? Also what do you plan on telling your kid(s) when word gets around school that they can see so and so's mother topless?

My significant other is really supportive and looks at it like a job, which is all it is. I'm raising my son in a body-positive household. I'm hoping that when that happens, his anwser will be, "yeah, so?"

How warm is it on set?

Some days, it's warm. Some days, it's freezing- we work in a large space, so it's hard to regulate tempurature...the worst is shooting first thing on a Monday, because the heat was turned off for the weekend. To be crass, my goosebumps get bigger than my nipples those days.

Pics?

Here's my Instagram: http://instagram.heroku.com/users/1683827 Just a warning: there are some shots on there that are semi-NSFW, due to implied nudity.

Few questions here, take your pick:

1.) Do you get offers to step it up and go into the porn world? If so how often?

2.) What does your family think about all this?

3.) What was the interview process like to get this job?

4.) How in the hell did you get into this in the first place?

5.) Does your job interfere with any personal relationships that you have/had?

6.) When is Half Life 3 coming out?

1) I've never gotten an offer like that. I'd be really bad at porn.
2) My family is super supportive. 3) I went in for an audition, they aired it, I got enough audience feedback wanting to see me again, I came in for a guest anchor week, they hired me after my trial week. 4) I liked the idea of the program, and wrote into the program asking if I could audition. 5) Not really. I'm really up front about what I do, and that tends to weed out people who don't approve right away. There are surprisingly few of them, though. 6) With Valve, who knows? Hopefully before the Steam console comes out though.

I know that third-wave feminists tend to be more pluralistic, but what you're doing is perpetuating the sexualization, and devaluation of women. Using your body to appeal to a specific population only prolongs the counterproductive tendencies of a lot of men. It only contributes to the fixation on aesthetics, and sexual appeal. A bit hypocritical imo.

I disagree. I think that by doing my job nude, I encompass all of me...I don't have to separate my sex appeal from the fact that I'm a thinking human being. I like the fact that my personality and my opinions get to play in the same arena as my body does. I think that de-sexualizing myself to be taken more seriously is more of a step back.

Have you ever been asked to do something and had to refuse?

What is your favorite joke?

I usually don't get asked to do things that would make me uncomfortable. However, last week one of our anchors tried to get me to do the Gangnam Style dance onscreen. I refused.

My favorite joke? Ann Coulter.

Has anyone ever recognized you on the street? How did they/you react?

I've only been recognized once- I'm pretty low-key when I'm not working. I tend to not wear makeup and I look different clothed. ;) It was kind of cool, actually. It was this weird, surreal moment where he said, "Hey, you're Kat from Naked News!" and I said, "Hey, you know who I am!"

As the mom of my first baby (an 8 month old)...

Are you planning to go back to airing news naked with your post-pregnancy body? How does your stomach look? Were you worried that having a baby would end your nudity career?

I've lost all my pregnancy weight but my stomach has this weird jiggly loose skin on it... my husband now says "eww put a shirt on" when I walk around without one.

Mine had that loose jiggly skin, too. I toned it up with crunches, cocoa butter, and a belly bandit. I can't recommend one of those enough. Your husband is a jerk. My son is ten months old and I've been back since he was around six months old.

So did you want to become a journalist before you became an exhibitionist, or vice versa? I'm just curious if the journalism led into the Naked news, or if you already enjoyed showing off prior to that and found the Naked news as a great way to express that side of yourself.

I'm not really an exhibitionist, per se...I had done some nude modelling before I started working at Naked News, and while I enjoyed it because being nude came easy for me, it was never something that made my lady-bits tingle. Nudity was never a big deal in my house...we weren't nudists, but it was never stigmatized as something bad, either. I think that's a healthy way to look at it. I did always want to write and work in television, though, and I guess that part came first.

People were asking for a pic of me today. Here you go (prepare to be disappointed) http://pics.lockerz.com/s/278768508

do you really think there are people watching this who are not fapping?

Have you seen our show?

That you're still fielding answers is pretty damn awesome of you; thanks for that. That some jackass seems to be downvoting every single answer you post is dumb. But hey, it's Reddit.

So, two unrelated questions. Does Naked News allow non-on-screen people to get naked at work?

Is Naked News hiring for news writers? The site is completely geared toward the anchors.

We have had our cameramen strip down at nudist resorts where it's required.

We aren't currently hiring writers, unfortunately- we don't have a high turnaround there, and a lot of our anchors do their own segments.

So you take your clothes off for money? When I take my clothes off all I get is a headache and handcuffs.

Hey, be fair. I take my clothes off and talk about comic books for money.

weapon of choice for the zombie apocalypse?

This one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i240YgsA_rs

This show still exists? Are you sure the cameras are plugged in?

I've watched the show today, so either the cameras are plugged in or we have some badass wicked talented CG engineers I'm not aware of.

Do you like this job?

I really do!