Be There in Five
by Kate Kennedy
Be There in Five is a pop culture and millennial zeitgeist-focused podcast by Kate Kennedy (entrepreneur, author, pop culture commentator). Long-form and solo hosted, Be There in Five explores different facets of popular culture in a comedic, thoughtful, and analytical way, covering entertainment, social media, bloggers/influencers, and celebrities, in addition to focusing on the humor found in reexamining the 90s/00s as an adult (from AIM to Zenon). As one listener described it, "come for the relatable humor and lighthearted topics, stay for the surprising levels of depth and thoughtfulness injected into them."
Episodes
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Post-nut Clairvoyance
This week, Kate is once again joined by Courtney for pop culture chatter, spooky stories, and some post-nut clarifications following her revelation a couple of weeks ago. They catch up on the increasingly bizarre corners of their algorithms, the exhausting logistics of influencer morning…
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Snorkel: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Aspyn Ovard, Dancing with the Stars, and more
This week, Kate is back with a solo pop culture snorkel, kicking things off with porch pumpkins, tiny pieces, and the mystifying minutiae of motherhood before diving into listener-requested topics, including the potential Glee reboot, Barbara Palvin walking the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show six...
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Get Off My Nuts (feat. Courtney Heath)
This week, Kate tests out a new format with Courtney sitting in as a "body double" to keep her on track, and it quickly goes off the rails: Kelly Clarkson vs. Dragons Love Tacos, Teddy's brutally honest observations, a coffee shop Pretty Woman moment, why Courtney hates magicians, Shane Gillis'…
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The Edward Cullen to Mob Boss Pipeline (feat. Beach Reads and Bubbly's Katie Shober)
This week, Kate is joined by fellow Chicagoan Katie Shober, founder of Beach Reads & Bubbly, the beloved book community that started as recommendations on her personal Instagram and grew into roughly 300 book clubs around the world. First, Kate introduces her new book's title and concept and…
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Kate, I'd Like to Connect. (Cornell 7)
The Cornell 7, Consent, Why are you adding me on LinkedIn? This week, Kate is up late whisper-screaming into the mic, starting with condescending religious commenters and meandering into a conversation about the Cornell 7 that wasn't going to be the episode but then became the episode. Kate walks...
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Be There in Fluently Forward (with Shannon McNamara)
This week, Kate sits down with Shannon of the Fluently Forward podcast to unpack the backlog of pop culture topics she's been wanting to dig into with someone who cares about this stuff as much as she does. Together, they mourn the lost golden age of blind items and survey the full spectrum of...
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Scallopocalypse
This week, Kate crashes out over an influencer's crash out about a friend allegedly copying her home, but it happens to be a home that looks like so many others online, it's basically the Instagram Face of fancy homes. Kate goes through the series slide by slide, and discusses adjacent topics…
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Drops of Jupiter (with Nora)
This week, Nora McInerny joins Kate for a witchy birthday-week episode that escalates from lyric trivia and vintage Girl Talk into a full unlicensed spiritual review via tarot, numerology, astrocartography, and a 1982 birthday book, as read by two women who believe in nothing and also everything…
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GOODBYE EARL TUPPER
This week, Kate is back from the book-deadline trenches with a mini dive inspired by the many fellow Beths who misread Brenda Song's new NFL gig as "color analyst." What follows is a journey through a brief history of "having your colors done" and why we can't resist things that offer to help us...
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The Bore Ultimatum (feat. Nora and Caroline)
This week (for ep 2), Kate is joined by friends of the pod, Nora McInerny and Caroline Moss, for a group hang that begins with scorpions in Nora's laundry and only escalates from there. The three of them get into the perils of too many fourth-wall breaks on House of Stassi and the collective...
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Coaches Coaching Brooches
This week, Kate asks an important question for the sake of equality in the workplace: can a woman carry two bags and be taken seriously? Can her bracelets clank? Jury's out, and she felt inspired to take on the genre of body language coaching and weird advice people give women about how to…
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WE NEVER STOOD A CHANCE (Parenting Edition)
This week, the air quality is apocalyptic, parents everywhere are staring down the summer childcare cliff, and Kate is feeling pro-tantrum.. What starts as a meditation on the summers of yore turns into one on modern parenting and why we never stood a chance. Through a mix of personal stories and...
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Cannes Debrief, MSG, and Celebs Making Out at the Heath (with Sami Sage)
This week, Kate briefly debriefs her week at Cannes Lions during a record-breaking heat wave, including how she accidentally hired a private French bodyguard in an armored Maybach, sweat off her spray tan across the Côte d'Azur, and what it's like to be at Coachella for vague marketing babes...
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It's Like Our Sleepover (with Anna Konkle)
This week, Kate chats with PEN15 co-creator Anna Konkle for a conversation that's equal parts silly and heavy, like the last two people awake at a sleepover asking about the meaning of life and swapping stories of their first thong. They discuss Anna's new memoir, The Sane One, and how it…
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Madison Square Jargon
This week, Kate meanders through "I Knew It, I Knew You" and the Toy Story 5 premiere, why she's changed her tune on the rumored Madison Square Garden wedding venue, and goes on various passionate detours about golf, a dramatic reading of Luke Bryan's "Fish Hunt Golf Drink," and digs through a...
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Be Good, Not Well
This week, it's just Kate, an Aperol Spritz, and the tech bro quote about wine that accidentally kicked off the conversation we've all been needing about optimization culture and being tired of treating every part of life like a performance review. Plus, a round of News You Can Use about why…
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False Paternity, 14 Felonies, and a Former Bachelor: Stephani Young on Love Trapped
This week, Kate sits down with Stephani Young, the journalist (and longtime Beth!) behind the viral investigative podcast Love Trapped, the year-plus deep dive into the Clayton Echard paternity scandal that turned out to be so much bigger than a Bachelor Nation headline. Kate opens with why a…
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1998 (feat. Caroline Moss)
This week, Kate is joined by Caroline Moss for an episode that was supposed to be about modern pop culture and somehow turned into mostly topics from 1998. They get into the longevity industrial complex and Kate's pitch for an old-age commune, the unhinged Duggar honeymoon prep CD, Lydia and…
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DZ: Discovery Zone (BTI5 Live Practice)
This week, Kate is trying something new by returning to her old form. After taking time off and noticing her comment section brain rot, she's trying to get back to occasional one-pass, no-edits, no-looking-things-up format to practice for a live format of the show coming soon. It's the kind of...
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Yesteryear with Caro Claire Burke | Trad Wives, Secret Lives & Twist Ending (Spoilers)
This week, Kate sits down with Caro Claire Burke, author of the hit debut novel Yesteryear, the trad wife time travel thriller that triggered a publishing bidding war, has already been optioned by Anne Hathaway, and is Good Morning America's April book club pick. They discuss a variety of topics...
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The Taylor Frankie Paul of It All
This week, Kate is breaking her hiatus for a special report recorded before Thursday's news that ABC was scrapping TFP's season of The Bachelorette. Ultimately, she decided this episode was still a relevant conversation to have, given that she and her guest (Sam Dalton, LCSW @sam.the.therapistt)...
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Taylor Swift Lyrics that Scratch Your Brain (Reprise)
This week, Kate attempts to revive (but then mostly records a new version of) a fan-favorite Patreon from 2021 about the way Taylor Swift pronounces words. We're talking plosives, brain-scratching vowels, and why certain words sung a certain way make you want to listen again, but with updated…
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Mama's Back at the Lake (Director's Cut feat. Caroline Moss)
This week, Kate and Caroline Moss revisit the beloved Mama Slay at the Lake episode with a director's cut of our delirious 6 AM conversation about irreverent merch, warm beans, Facebook walls, Maxine culture, and Steve Madden platform loafers, followed by a brand new conversation where we get…
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Mother, Son, and the Aioli Spirit (Director's Cut)
This week, Kate revisits an infamous episode from March 2020 about dips, sauces, and dipping sauces. Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! Right now, Betterwild is offering our listeners up to 40% off your order at...
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Bath and Body Jerks, Wash Your Face (Director's Cut)
The culture that made the Beths say the Beth culture was for them. Mashup ep with 40+ min of new audio. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out, or just a...
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Petty Little Liars (feat. Kelly) (From the Vault)
This week, Kate has an announcement that she shares at the beginning of the episode that will then explain the rest of the episode and why its title may sound familiar. Enjoy! Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! SUPPORT...
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Red Delicious
This week, Kate reflects on 2025 for feeling depleting yet not defining, exhausting and sometimes forgettable; a year of endless micro-trends, political chaos, and moment sludge that somehow left very little to hold onto. Fun! She dives into "viral death cycle" and why nothing sticks anymore,...
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Eras Tour Docuseries (Eps 1 and 2 feat. Sarah from Taylor Swift Style)
This week, Kate welcomes back Sarah Chapelle (Taylor Swift Style) to discuss the first two episodes of Disney+'s The End of an Era docuseries. They dissect the emotional weight of episodes 1 and 2; from the devastating Vienna terror plot and Southport attack to Taylor's leadership style, bonus…
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Shelf Help
This week, Kate investigates Elf on the Shelf: cute Christmas tradition or late-capitalist nightmare? After a simple Instagram question turned into hundreds of responses about surveillance capitalism, invisible labor, and performative parenting, she started to unpack what this manufactured...
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Was D.A.R.E. an MLM?
This week, Kate's peer pressuring you to listen to an episode about the DARE program in the 90s and how it made every fifth grader in America incredibly wary of adults wearing trench coats. From winning essay contests and meeting Darren the Lion to interpretive dance performances and questionable...
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Fill Your Fillings (SLOMW + RHOSLC with Nora)
This week, Kate has Nora McInerny back for their tradition of poorly recapping The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. They do a better job this time of actually talking about the show, and after catching up on Nora's Groupons, they go through the main SLOMW storylines while drawing parallels with the...
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It's Called Herstory, B*tch
A casual late night monologue, gabbing about things on Kate's mind, including but not limited to: Hilary Duff's new single "Mature" Speaking of age gaps, Kat Stickler and John Mayer dating?? Celeb plastic surgery content Danielle Bernstein's wedding, which turned out was the engagement party Shay...
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Ween Clips
This week, Kate's trying something new during her off week: a Fall/Halloween-themed mashup episode pulling together some of her favorite topically adjacent clips from the past 7+ years of Be There in Five. Includes segments from Make Your Christian Brothers Autumnal, Ween Pics, Spooky Snorkel…
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Dancing with the Instacars (feat. Nora McInerny and Caroline Moss)
This week, Kate is joined by friends of the pod (Nora McInerny and Caroline Moss) for a delightfully chaotic convo about DWTS that starts with Groupons, the jewelry heist, millennial dentures, car shopping, and more. Then, the second half of the episode, seasoned fans Kate and Caroline share…
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Hobbies & Pinterests
This week, for part 2 of our hobbies series, Kate reads listener emails about pursuing new hobbies as an adult and their profound impact on personal fulfillment, mental health, and community building. Ranging from arts & crafts to whale watching, canine nosework to online sleuthing and beyond…
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Life of a Showgirl: Prologues, pettiness, and poetry
A stream of consciousness about TS12 with Kate after she had a couple days to let it marinate. Back to hobbies next week. :) Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! And if you get a Post-Purchase...
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Killing Thyme Part 1 (Adult Hobbies feat. Carmen James)
This week, Kate and her guest Carmen James (@thegoodcarmablog) chat about all things related to adult hobbies. The first half is Kate musing about nostalgic hobbies, sharing her own recent ventures, and the importance of finding identity and joy in leisurely activities. Then, Kate and Carmen...
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2016
A nostalgic deep-dive into the last era of millennial optimism, when we got to figure out who we wanted to be before the algorithm told us who we already were. Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! THANK YOU TO OUR…
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Help, I'm still at the chain restaurant (Katelilah)
This week, Kate answers listener texts and voicemails. She snorkels left chest logo polo critters of yesterday and today, organizes mall chain restaurants into experiential tiers, power ranks Gatorade flavors, and explores a world where the Cullens' immortality problems are simply solved by...
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Loving Him Was Redbird (The Summer I Turned Pretty with @lucyontheground)
This week, Kate brings in a friend of hers and a friend of the pod, Lucy Carey (aka @lucyontheground), for an in-depth discussion about the series "The Summer I Turned Pretty" [ALERT: the TV series version, they aren't book experts]. They explore the cultural phenomenon of the series, its massive...
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And, Baby, That's Dough Business for You
This week, Kate listened to a two-hour football podcast and lives to tell the tale. In this podcast episode about a podcast episode, Kate obsesses over a 30-something woman and her boyfriend existing and being normal, which surprisingly turned out to be the best entertainment of all. She recaps...
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Under the Influencer (with Lee From America)
This week, Kate's interviewing Lee Tilghman, also known as @LeeFromAmerica, who was one of the very first major wellness influencers on social media. To her nearly 400k followers, she shared daily updates on everything from skincare and sleep hacks to smoothie bowls, travel tips, and workout...
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Mama Slay Off-Broadway (feat. Caroline Moss)
This week, join Kate and Caroline Moss as they chat through a variety of topics, from nostalgic summers that turned shitty to off-broadway dreams becoming realities in the big city. They discuss things like the Coldplay couple, Labubus, the importance of a modern-day Girls rewatch, the likability...
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Taylor Swift: Symbolic Self-Portraiture, Archetypes, and Tragedy in Lyricism
This week, join Kate as she returns to form (2+ hour early BTI5-style rambling) by going through an old PowerPoint she found on her computer about Taylor Swift's evolution from diary-style songwriter to mythological storyteller through increasingly complex literary references. From "Love Story"...
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Hot Girl Hamster Wheel (feat. Katie Gatti Tassin)
This week, Kate starts by talking about water table culture, Le Creuset mystery boxes, and attempting to reclaim her adult hobbies, then she's joined by Katie Gatti Tassin (Money with Katie, Diabolical Lies) to talk about her book Rich Girl Nation, which analyzes the unique experiences women have...
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No Ma'am (America's Sweethearts Season 2)
This week, Kate reviews America's Sweethearts season 2 on Netflix and tells the tale of how last year's Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders episode became one of BTI5's biggest hits— and biggest headaches. When current DCC members flooded her TikTok comments defending themselves against former teammate...
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Hit Girls (feat. Nora Princiotti)
This week, Kate is joined by Nora Princiotti (host of Every Single Album, author of Hit Girls) to talk about the women who built pop's shiniest decade, like Taylor, Britney, Avril, Ashlee, Beyonce, and beyond. First, they tackle the news that Taylor Swift now owns her masters, then discuss some...
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Total Request Five (Addison Rae and the New Pop Machine)
This week, Kate tries a tri-deep dive connecting Addison Rae's evolution, Y2K's one-hit wonders, and the overlap of both TRL and Tiktok's pop generations. Through Addison's candid interviews about stepping away from constant content creation, Kate explores how the machine that once discarded the...
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Beth: A Week in the Life
Join Kate on all eight of her days trying to Eat Pray Love. Back to reg programming next episode. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! Check out loveamika.com/bethereinfive for my favorites.
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Class of BTI5 (feat. Kelly)
This week, Kate is joined by her sister Kelly for a classic nostalgic crowdsourced ep with big yearbook staff energy. Listeners submitted their tales related to graduation, senior week, prom, senior pranks, local traditions gone awry, and so much more. Enjoy! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at...
About this show
Be There in Five is a pop culture and millennial zeitgeist-focused podcast by Kate Kennedy (entrepreneur, author, pop culture commentator). Long-form and solo hosted, Be There in Five explores different facets of popular culture in a comedic, thoughtful, and analytical way, covering entertainment, social media, bloggers/influencers, and celebrities, in addition to focusing on the humor found in reexamining the 90s/00s as an adult (from AIM to Zenon). As one listener described it, "come for the relatable humor and lighthearted topics, stay for the surprising levels of depth and thoughtfulness injected into them."
Hosted by
Kate Kennedy