Episodes

This week, Kate reviews the Barbie movie and all the whimsy, fun, and complex nostalgia of this pop cultural fixture that has historically represented both opportunities and impossible standards for women. Warning, lots of spoilers - she reviews the plot high-level, talks about her favorite parts, Greta Gerwig's religious parallels, the recognizable throwback clothes/vehicles/characters, and then discusses her interpretation of the deeper meaning of Barbieland versus the real world, and the rela...

This week, Kate starts out by discussing her high-level thoughts about the Speak Now re-release, and then she is joined by Nikki Glaser (multi-hyphenate comedian, podcast host, TV host, mega Swiftie, among other things) to talk about Speak Now (TV) favorites and vault tracks, along with other related topics like You're Losing Me/the Joe Breakup, addressing fans reaching out to her exes online, favorite Eras tour moments, the glory of finding a local Swiftie bar singalong, etc. Enjoy! SUPPORT OU...

This week, Kate interviews Emily Henry (author of Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place, and more!) about her wildly successful rom-com style novels and the many millennial-adjacent themes that are woven into her beloved characters. They discuss pressing topics, like if her banter is inspired by Gilmore Girls, the location of January and Gus' houses in Beach Read, having her books optioned for movies, what it's like trying to maintain creative control, etc. in addition...

Two years after The Losses We Share, Kate shares some thoughts on pregnancy thus far to add to the Childless Millennial/Millennial with Child series and gives a status update about how she's feeling in real time about being this far along (mostly so she can't change the story later). Shorter than usual and kind of a random stream-of-consciousness personal life episode, but thanks for listening, and enjoy the long weekend! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Right now, BÉIS (base) is offering our listeners 15...

This week, Kate interviews influencer Caroline Calloway about her backstory leading up to her debut memoir, Scammer, whose title is a nod to her online reputation following a myriad of scandals throughout her decade on the internet. They discuss various elements of her internet lore, like backing out of a $500,000 book deal, the mason jar workshop, projects that have fallen through, being sued by her landlord, the infamous article written by her ex-friend Natalie in The Cut, etc., and then get i...

This week, Stephanie McNeal (former culture reporter for BuzzFeed, currently a senior editor at Glamour Magazine, and the recent nemesis of Tom Sandoval's nail beds) returns to the podcast to discuss her new book about the lives of influencers called Swipe Up For More. First, Kate reminisces about their first convo in 2020, does a brief snorkel about Caroline Calloway's upcoming $65 book made from Italian paper (?), and then Kate and Stephanie dive into topics from her book, e.g. what it was lik...

This week, Kate finally digs into the Duggar world after finding the Prime Video documentary Shiny Happy People particularly riveting/alarming, and explores topics adjacent to the crimes, controversy, and cultural relevance of the family, along with the connections of the IBLP to homeschooling and extensive political pipelines designed to infiltrate positions of power with individuals groomed with fundamentalist beliefs. Kate discusses her taste in reality tv, her history with TLC programming, r...

This week, Kate interviews Yseult Mukantabana and Hannah Summerhill (from The Kinswomen podcast) about their book, Real Friends Talk About Race, which uses their own friendship and experiences from different racial backgrounds to offer guidance on navigating layered conversations between friends. They talk about how they met and started these conversations in living rooms, why they wanted to provide a resource for bridging the gap through uncomfortable conversations, how they approach uncomforta...

This week, Kate reviews the Bama Rush doc on (HBO) Max and discusses why she thinks the doc fell short of our expectations as viewers and voyeurs of this Tiktok phenomenon. First, she reviews her initial reaction, the director's role in it, why she realized it would be impossible for cameras to get on the inside, and reviews some of the core themes that were touched on but not explored. She also speculates about the important things, like sticker gate with Holiday. Then, Kate is joined by anothe...

This week, Kate answers listener voicemails, with topics including (but not limited to) a listener's romantic tryst with one James Marsden, a mysterious voicemail about Kate's signature sign-off, the use of the term of endearment "mama," a Bachelor lore snorkel regarding which season Kate would go on if she were here to make friends, thoughts on baby naming trends/Utah spellings, and celebrity privacy and parasocial relationships, discussed through the lens of the recent car chase with Meghan & ...

This week, Kate muses aloud about her feeling like influencer and affiliate marketing has pyramid scheme vibes, then goes off on a tangent about vague marketing jobs in the context of being "pink collar" jobs that aren't treated the same as more technical roles, then eventually gets back on topic an interviews Emily Lynn Paulson (author of Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing) about the good, the bad, and the cringy of her time bossbabing as a top...

This week, Kate interviews Sara Petersen, author of Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture, and they discuss all sorts of topics regarding the performance of motherhood online, from the origin of the 'cult of domesticity' to modern moms rebooting civilization as homesteaders and beyond. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Pre-order my book, One in a Millennial here! Right now, BÉIS is offering our listeners 15% off your first purchase by visiting BEISTRAV...

This week, Kate continues the bridesmaid series by reading and reviewing listener-submitted stories about the joy and obligation of participating in wedding parties (and their related events), but for part 2, Caroline Moss (@geethanksjustbought it, author of Hey Ladies, original mama slaying at the lake) joins her to talk all things 2010s wedding culture and beyond. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Pre-order my book, One in a Millennial here! Don't forget to listen to Nora McInerny's new podcast, ...

This week, Kate resurrects the Bride Tribe series to offer her updated perspective (and updated listener stories) about participating in weddings and/or being a bridesmaid, just in time for wedding season. This episode is narrated via a 27-point list Kate once made about how stressed she was attending friends' weddings around age 27, when she was left wondering if the most accurate wedding rom-com this whole time was the depiction of glorified girlfriend martyrdom in 27 Dresses. Enjoy & come bac...

Kate reflects on her Mormon Mommy Blogger series 4 years later and laughs/cringes at a full circle moment she experienced this week while sober on a party bus en route to a Taylor Swift concert. Enjoy! Pre-order my book, One in a Millennial here! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Get free Chicken Thighs for a Year and 20 dollars off your first box when you sign up today when you sign up at butcherbox.com/BETHEREINFIVE and use code BETHEREINFIVE. Find your forever pieces @jennikayne and get 15% off with pr...

This week, Kate discusses a topic adjacent to her newly released book cover: early 2000s burned CDs, where a generation of baby pirates took on the music industry with a stack of CD-Rs, a sharpie, and a dream. She goes through some brief history of peer-to-peer sharing sites, talks through the millennial version of 'walking miles in the snow' aka buffering, discusses changing her entire personality to impress boys via music, then reads some listener anecdotes about their favorite memories, sound...

This week, Kate muses aloud about several topics adjacent to studying abroad and crowdsources stories from fellow millennials' good, bad, and cringy "cultural" experiences. Recently an article went viral about a Gen Z'er not enjoying her time in Florence, and it got Kate thinking about her time trying to cosplay a more sophisticated, European version of herself that genuinely thought she came back a changed woman due to her collection of street pashmina and her ability to navigate the Eurrail tr...

Maj spoiler alert - this week, Kate recaps the Eras tour in Vegas (night 1) with her sister Kelly and college BFF Hannah. They may be half asleep, but they are wholly satisfied by an amazing show and wanted to share some of their hits, misses, fav moments, tips, and audience complaints. EnjoY! Get tickets to my April 2nd virtual show, Be There in Five Years, at moment.co/bethereinfive SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Right now, BÉIS is offering our listeners 15% off your first purchase by visiting BEISTR...

This week, Kate watched M3gan and then was served content about AI making podcasters obsolete, so she tries to figure out if she should care about chatGPT and then competes with it to see who does a better job answering listener voicemails. A woman in STEM! This episode covers pressing listener questions, such as: -Popular girls who painted their nails in class, where are they now? Feat. an incredibly windy tangent about body spray/splash culture in locker rooms and 90s Herbal Essences commerci...

This week, Kate shares her hopes and dreams for the Eras tour before it's spoiled this week, e.g., some thoughts she has on theme/structure/flow, her favorite F bombs she hopes to sing, plays a sampling of her setlist draft, and also shares insights from her snorkel into TS tour footwear over the years. She also makes a detailed plea for a YOYOK/Long Live finale, among other must-hear songs. Then, Kate interviews Sarah from the original TS style blog, Taylor Swift Style, and they discuss Taylor'...

This week, Kate begins by addressing the Scandoval of it all, doing a 20 min or so snorkel through the current Vanderpump Rules drama between Tom/Tom/Rachel/Raquel/Ariana, trying to contextualize it with past show drama for beginners. Then, she segues back into a favorite topic of the Beths (candle culture) to resurrect an old series called Under the Influencer and interviews Lindsay Silberman, a magazine journalist turned influencer and business owner best known for her insanely popular brand, ...

This week, Kate breaks her silence on the 1999 "historical" American Girl dolls that dropped this week and talks through their accuracy regarding millennial iconography. She also discusses 90s twin tropes/evil brunette twins, sleepover popcorn politics, and skincare routines of yesteryear like the Clinique 3-step. She then finds archived PDFs of old American Girl books about popularity and crafting, like a whole book dedicated to "Jazz Up Your Jeans," and it jazzes up Kate's day. She then discus...

TW: pregnancy, miscarriage, fertility talk, mentions of Breaking Dawn Much to her surprise, Kate's now in her Gestation Era. Hear how it all went down and more on this episode that's a personal detour from her usual content (and is technically part 5 of her Childless Millennial series that's been 2+ years in the making). SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Evelyn & Bobbie is giving Be There in Five listeners an exclusive discount code to try Evelyn & Bobbie bras, risk-free, for yourself! Use code BETHEREINF...

This week, Kate talks about the controversial list of 141 rules The Cut/NY Mag came out with that were positioned as a revised etiquette guide for modern society. First, she dives into some of the histories of western etiquette, snorkels Emily Post & the gang, reflects on her time in cotillion, learning to be 'ladylike' in pop culture, and her issues with classism and 'old vs. new money' convos. She then ventures into some of her takes on the list and peppers in listener emails about their respo...