Episodes

This week, Kate discusses Evangelical influencers, from more extreme transitions, e.g. a fashion influencer who now offers deliverance from abortion demons (?), to the reality-star-to-preacher-pipeline of young women of faith that are talented public speakers like Duck Dynasty's Sadie Robertson and The Bachelor's Madi Prewett that now use their platforms as ministries. Kate also plays clips from other mid-sized influencers, masochistically watches a couple videos from Girl Defined, and talks a b...

This week, Kate takes on the topic of P.E. class and snorkels through the obscure political origins of the Presidential Physical Fitness exam, the trauma of locker rooms, public weigh-ins, wearing of never-washed mesh 'pinnies,' and the annual dangling of herself and her dignity from a pull-up bar, among other memorable elements of 90s/00s gym class culture that would likely not hold up today. She also talks about her tall girl complex and body image issues and wonders how metrics of athletic pr...

This week, Kate discusses our obsession with scams and scam documentaries, and does a spin-off of the popular Tiktok prompt of "what's something that is a scam but we've normalized it so much we no longer realize it's a scam?" from her personal list of grievances, e.g. The American Dream, bridesmaid dresses, student loans, only married couples receiving benefits, among other things, and also goes through crowd-sourced submissions of things people think have big scam energy. She also details her ...

This week, Kate meanders through the art of the K-12 field trip, sharing her own nostalgia along with crowdsourced funny, poignant, and shocking tales from listeners about their memorable field trips. From obscure locations to buddy system politics, museum gift shop culture, coach buses versus school buses, chaperone assignments, seeing your crush in the wild in street clothes, hookups mid-transit, to processing confusing feelings about historical war reenactments, this episode has something for...

This week, Kate discusses the world of dating advice, both interpersonal and professional, from the books she read in her single days like Why Men Love Bitches, He's Just Not That Into You, and other best-sellers like Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man or The Rules. She also discusses the confusing nature of casual advice we give our peers and loved ones that can be grounded in anecdote despite being delivered as gospel, causing us to weigh the subjective input of others far too heavily on import...

This week, Kate interviews Ashley Hamilton and Claire Parker from the hit podcast Celebrity Memoir Book Club to talk celeb memoirs, female friendships, past forays into podcasting, e.g. Britney Spears and Lohan's Beach Club, best and worst traits of celeb books, ghost writers, and much more. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Sign up at butcherbox.com/BETHEREINFIVE to receive a FREE Grilling Bundle in your first order. You'll get two, 10 oz ribeyes, 5 pounds of chicken drumsticks, and a pack of burge...

This week, Kate is joined by her sister Kelly before they leave for vacation to talk about their own (and listener-submitted) personal & influencer travel pet peeves, preferences, vacation stories, thoughts on airport etiquette, and more! Enjoy :) SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Go to Framebridge.com and use promo code BTIF to save an additional 15% off your first order Get 25% off when you go to LIQUIDIV.COM and use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Experience better hydration today at LIQUIDIV.COM, prom...

This week, Kate answers listener voicemails spanning a variety of topics, including (but not limited to): -Taylor Swift trying to push merch in these trying times as the optimal use of her platform -Schools implementing policies that force girls to say yes when asked to dance -Chicken Soup for the Soul's profound impact on a listener, plus Kate discussing how depictions of drunk driving in 90s TV shows scarred her for life -Whatever happened with Kate's accountant that ghosted her to become ...

This week, Kate phones her friend Lucy (@lucyontheground) to talk about all things MET gala, Marilyn's dress, romantic comedies, Amber Heard & Johnny Depp's trial, RHOSLC, babymaking and naming, among other things. Hope it's an escape after a rough week. Skip the first 7 or so minutes if you're not in the mood for a rage intro. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS For 20% off your Kindbody at-home fertility test, go to shop.kindbody.com and use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. That's S-H-O-P DOT K-I-N-D-...

This week while nursing a tailbone injury, Kate made a list of topics to take up with you this week for her own state of the union prior to the second hour where she covers Revolve Fest's annual social media sorority recruitment video vibes of being both welcoming and also heavily implying there's no way in hell you'll get in amidst floral backdrops and fancy-free dispositions. Topics prior capture a great deal of range, from pounding clementines to Selling Sunset Season 5 to white cheddar popco...

This week, Kate interviews millennial magazine icon Atoosa Rubenstein, former editor-in-chief of CosmoGIRL! And Seventeen magazine in the early-mid 2000s, who has now entered back into the pop culture spotlight with her Substack Atoosa Unedited. Kate and Atoosa talk about her rise to being the youngest founder and editor-in-chief in Hearst history, her experience in the glam magazine world in the aughts, celeb encounters, "Devil Wears Prada" moments, the benefits and downfalls of her inexperienc...

This week, Kate reads e-mails listeners wrote in about their experiences learning puberty & sex ed. First, Kate snorkels through some of her early impressions of DOING IT from pop culture, reviews a brief history of sex ed in the US, and discusses some of the environmental nuances of the 90s and 00s that made abstinence-only education the status quo. Part-funny, part-cringe, part-heartbreaking, this episode showcases a wide spectrum of implications of not receiving comprehensive sex ed. TW: SA ...

This week, Kate is joined by Kate Spencer and Doree Shafrir from the Forever35 podcast to discuss all things in the name of self-care from today and yesteryear. Kate starts out by reading some of the weird/random lies people submitted that they told as kids on Instagram, e.g. faking eye exams, injuries, and orthodontia for unknown reasons. Then the Kates and Doree discuss rom-com jobs, working in the 'mean girl' era of journalism (e.g. Gawker), beauty advice in teen mags, nostalgic drug store pr...

In this episode, Kate eats an edible, snorkels through a teen magazine, then answers a variety of listener voicemails about light and heavy topics affecting their lives. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Get started today - frame your photos or send someone the perfect gift. Go to Framebridge.com and use promo code BTIF to save an additional 15% off your first order Go to HelloFresh.com/bethereinfive16 and use code bethereinfive16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts Your new nail life is here...

In this episode, Kate explores the parent wars she sees taking place about a cute, fictional movie on Facebook timelines (paired with the glorification of much more problematic fairy tales) and uses it as an opportunity to snorkel through many nostalgic topics involving her preteen rebellion, from cursing during hand-clapping games to high key Pagan sleepover rituals to boy band obsessions, grinding culture, and more. Kate also provides her take on the movie Turning Red, reads comments from pear...

This week, Kate is joined by her sister Kelly for an escape from real life to talk reality tv and real estate. More specifically, they discuss Love is Blind on Netflix (skip minutes 45-1:00 ish to avoid spoilers) and then discuss their (and other crowd-sourced Beth's) petty preferences for their needs in rentals/homes, following Kate's TV mounting journey. No societal pressure nor water pressure is spared in this thinkpiece about feeling like we should be in a place where we can afford more than...

In stressful times, Kate seeks out romantic comedies, using the genre's poor grasp on reality to escape her own. So this week, we have a rom-com deep dive done on a whim, following a fateful viewing of the critically-unacclaimed film Something Borrowed. In this episode, Kate goes through some of her favorite films, trends, themes, and theories as it relates to the art of the so-bad-it's-good romantic comedy. She explains the boundaries of her questionable taste, then meanders through the high po...

A joint episode containing an abridged part 2 of "Fitch, Please" (A&F Deep Dive) as well as listener stories about mall modeling & scams masquerading as magazine classified "modeling schools." The episode begins with Kate's windy thoughts about her obsession with malls, magazine editors, models, and related media, and while she draws almost no helpful conclusions, she has plenty of thoughts. This episode also contains snorkels aplenty in between stories about A&F and modeling, from 90s commercia...

A shorter interstitial episode Kate recorded from Dallas this morning while being bored with Super Bowl LVI coverage. This is a more vulnerable episode to share some personal updates as well as an announcement she shared at the last Track 5. She discusses her living situation, an update to The Losses We Share nearing a due date, reads some of the material that was exclusive to Track 5 events, and provides context for its now-significance. The regularly scheduled episode will follow, so if you do...

Everything's bigger in Texas, including Kate's problems!! First, there's an intro detailing the chaotic series of events that happened this week while stuck in Texas, e.g. having to cancel a show for the first time, a cryptic doctor's voicemail, a hotel scam, and a confusing housing situation, among other things. Following that, podcast regular Merritt Beck joins Kate (as both her host for the week and a guest for the pod) to have a casual conversation whilst pregaming an icy walk to a bar to mo...

In this deep dive, Kate examines the history, controversy, nostalgia, turnaround, inappropriate t-shirts, catalogs, and employee policies of iconic retailer Abercrombie & Fitch through the lens of the comeback it's making now. Part-research, part-personal anecdote, part-crowdsourced, this analysis takes both a serious and lighthearted approach to analyzing the influence of a brand that is both nostalgic and historically problematic. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Go to Framebridge.com and use pro...

Katelilah is a quarterly tribute to radio icon Delilah where Kate answers listener voicemails spanning a variety of topics. This week, Kate tackles: How do I deal with a passive-aggressive mother-in-law?FMK: mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar What about the US/American psyche makes MLMs thrive here relative to other countries? What TS adjacent music is perfect for walking down the aisle? (Links below) What is Kate's marriage advice for a newlywed couple? What are the cliche phrases Kate can't stand?...

This week, Kate is joined by an old friend and former colleague Charlene Polite Corley (who is now more importantly VP of Diverse Insights & Partnerships at Nielsen) to talk about a variety of topics in the realm of marketing careers, market research data, and the importance of representation in media. They talk through their early days in the big city, discuss data quality in a splintered media landscape, bounce around through topics like media literacy and data privacy, and eventually walk thr...

This episode is for lovers of 2021's episode "Pussycat Dull," when Kate read listener stories about nostalgic and embarrassing attempts to make romantic interests jealous in our youth. This week, Kate similarly crowdsourced stories about doing this in a religious context, asking listeners for their funny stories about weird things they did in the name of love who were part of youth groups, retreats, camps, and/or trips that hyperfocused on young women finding and/or praying for their future husb...