Comedian Mary Beth Barone has released her debut Netflix stand-up special, "Galaxy Brain," filmed at New York's Skirball Center in March, in which she tackles subjects including bad male behaviour in comedy, Ozempic, sex and politics. In an interview with Variety, Barone said she was ready to court controversy, joking that she keeps a list of people the special might upset, including J.K. Rowling, Mark Zuckerberg and male comedians generally, arguing that women and queer people "get shit on enough" and it's time to respond in kind.

Barone, who built her profile through New York club sets and the podcasts "Obsessed" and "Ride" with collaborator Benito Skinner, spent roughly two years workshopping material while touring before approaching buyers last summer; Netflix signed on within weeks of an August Los Angeles gig. The special opens by ribbing Netflix itself over the scarcity of women-led specials. Barone also discussed the second season of Prime Video's "Overcompensating," which she co-writes and stars in alongside Skinner, describing it as "sadder but also funnier" than the first.