I hope you're happy today, because today you're getting served this hilarious and fun episode about 2004's dance battle spectacular featuring 2000's cute boys like Marques Houston and the band B2K. We are joined by return guest Dr. Briana Barner, who previously talked about podcasts themselves. Y'all, this was a jubilant and joyous good time, and we did it all for Lil Saint (you'll have to watch the movie or listen to the episode for that to make sense).

Dr. Briana Barner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland. She received a doctorate in Radio-Television-Film and a doctoral portfolio in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Texas. Briana also earned a Master’s in Women’s and Gender Studies from UT. She is an interdisciplinary critical and cultural communications scholar with research interests in Black podcasts, digital and Black feminism, digital media, Black cultural production and representation. Her work has been published in Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, Film Quarterly, and the edited collection Saving New Sounds: Podcast Preservation and Historiography, Feminist Approaches to Media Theory and Research and Black Sisterhoods: Paradigms and Praxis. Briana is currently working on a manuscript about the cultural production of Black podcasts.

Find her on Facebook , Instagram and here!

We'll tell you what we want, what we really really want, and that's for you to listen to this hilariously awesome conversation with past guest Melinda Hare about The Spice Girls'1997's classic campy music movie extravaganza, "Spice World". It was a hoot and a half and we hope you love it.

About Melinda:

"Born/raised in Northern California, I have a background in costume design and construction for theatre. BA from San Francisco state university, MFA from university of Washington. I have worked in professional and educational theatre. I co-created and co-host Haute Set Podcast, a movie podcast with a particular focus on the costume design. "

You can find her on Instagram.

To support the Fine Beats Crew:

Buy Leslie's critically acclaimed new novel, Family and Other Calamities! It's awesome!

Book Lynne to perform for your school, library or other group with her theater company, Building Better People Productions! They use drama for kindness!

Check out Producer Sam and all his creativity!

You ever make a deal with evil spirits and stop aging but all your oldness and evil goes into a painting you have hidden in your house?

Me either, but Dorian Gray from the Oscar Wilde novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" did, and we discuss the 1945 movie based on that novel with visual artist Donja Hamlin Houston (who Leslie and Lynne have known since middle school). This was a really thoughtful conversation about good and evil and all the things and we hope you like it!

Donja Hamlin Houston is a local Baltimore artist who works in education. You can find her on Facebook.

2/3 of the Fine Beats team and their people are out of town on Leslie's book tour for her new novel, "Family And Other Calamities" (which you should totally read), so today we go back to November 2023 for this rewind episode!

Once upon we were falling in love, but now we're only do a podcast!! Today we are talking about the dramatic 1980s classic "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler with our guest, Emmy-award winning voiceover actor, Christopher Walker. We talked that song plus others written by Jim Steinman, who penned bombastic amazing songs for Miss Tyler, Celine Dion, Air Supply, and most famously, Meatloaf. We talk drama and rock and weird 80s videos and it was all delightful. It doesn't disappoint, because we would do anything for love, but we won't do THAT, y'all.

Christopher Walker is a dad and and husband, an apprentice creative director for Graphic Audio, an actor, the voice of Disappeared on the ID channel, a writer and former trade press journalist, and the guy who peed on Paul Rudd in Living With Yourself. He loves to cook and enjoys actual cheeses.

And he is also the best person ever, says Lynne, who was in a play with him 25 years ago.

You can find Christopher on Facebook and Instagram

You ever been annoyed by a show or movie, but something keeps you watching it anyway? Then listen to today's new episode, where we talk Hatewatching with our guest Paula Chase. We discuss finding something good in the things that we kinda don't like. It's a fun one.

Co-founder of award-winning blog, The Brown Bookshelf, Paula Chase is a long time Inclusion advocate and recipient of the ALAN Konigsberg Award for her advocacy. Her critically acclaimed upper MG and lower YA books blazed the trail for books tackling tough topics for young readers. Chase holds a B.S. in Communication from James Madison University. She resides in Maryland with her husband. Together, they’ve raised two daughters. More about her writing can be found at www.paulachasebooks.com . You can also find Paula on Instagram and YouTube.

Come go on the hunt for mysterious creatures as we talk the CW's long-running show, "Supernatural" with author Beth A. Freely.

With nine full-length novels and five novellas under her belt, award-winning author Beth A. Freely recently moved to the village of Hope, New Mexico, with a population of “113 if you count our cats.” She is currently writing multiple novels at the same time while also editing one in anticipation of its 10th anniversary this year.

Quick-witted and full of energy, Beth loves to be on the receiving and giving end of a good, fun interview, bringing her unique perspective to the subject. She is a compassionate editor who celebrates each author's unique voice, offering thoughtful guidance to enhance their work. With a talent for creating not just functional but customer-focused websites, Beth ensures every project shines with creativity and purpose.

You can find Beth on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

(We had some tech issues earlier with this episode where it posted the wrong one. This is the right one now :) )

Get ready to be delighted by a delightful episode of a delightful TV show with a delightful guest, as we discuss sweet Australian animated kids (and everyone else) fave, "Bluey", with podcaster Juan Santana. This was a really sweet conversation about how wisdom falls from the mouths of babes (and things written and produced for them). We hope you enjoy!

Juan Santana is a Spaniard living in the UK and cohost of the 2 legit 2 Crit podcast, a show about table top role-playing games. You can find him on Instagram and YouTube.

Get ready to con the rich for the right reasons as we talk "Leverage" and its reboot, "Leverage: Redemption", along with other shows with con artists with a heart of gold. Our guest is writer, musician and stand-up comic Jelani Greenidge. We talk the Leverage shows, as well as awesome shows like "Burn Notice" and the like. I love theses shows, and I loved this conversation.

Jelani Greenidge is a consummate communicator with a passion to inform, inflame, and inspire. A writer, musician, hip-hop producer/emcee, DJ and stand-up comic, Jelani is also a graduate of North Park University and serves as Missional Storyteller for the Evangelical Covenant Church. His topical sweet spot is the intersection between hip-hop culture, nerd culture, and evangelical culture. (Come stop by, it’s not a busy intersection.) When he’s not watching TV or playing video games, he’s promoting his book Undercover Prophets: Pursuing Stand-Up Comedy to Talk about What Matters Most. Jelani lives with his wife Holly in leafy Portland, Oregon, with a few dying plants, way too many throw pillows, and a robot vacuum named Rosie.

You can find Jelani on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and here!