Reality TV has always prompted discourse. From its earliest days, critics have decried it as the downfall of civilization even as viewers tuned in in droves for the interpersonal drama, the competitions, and the bizarrely artificial setups. Decades into the genre’s formation, critics and fans still abound, and we’re still asking the ever-titillating question: How much of what we see is actually real?  It’s a question that has, in a sense, escaped containment in recent years, where entire media ecosystems may be based on outright lies and propaganda, where mis- and disinformation are spread online both deliberately and not, and where the boundaries between reality TV and social media stardom seem to be eroding. How did we get here? And why are so many of us still lapping it up?  We—Stevie and Ilana—cemented our friendship in grad school by watching The Bachelor franchise every week, and we began asking each other these and many other questions.…