Total Request Five (Addison Rae and the New Pop Machine)

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' gas station sunglasses energy, and a mysterious Chicago conspiracy involving a billionaire, dark money, rats, and a luxury melange of nuts that leads to a truly shocking revelation Kate never saw coming. She closes with how this week's accidental theme of deception connects to the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything and gives a high-level, spoiler-free review. For a deeper dive, go to patreon.com/bethereinfive. Enjoy! PRE-ORDER Kate's upcoming book, She's Let Herself Go, out 4/27/27! And, if you haven't picked up her first book, the NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial, check it out here!

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 shares more context for what she's been working on the past three years (feel free to skip to the interview!) Then, Kate and Katie get into Goodreads finally adding half stars, the Alix Earle "Dr. Seuss" discourse, the chili pepper spice economy, why romance keeps publishing afloat while getting none of the respect, and the Edward Cullen to mob boss pipeline. They also talk about how anyone with small kids actually finds time to read, the Yesteryear backlash, and how reading got swept up in optimization culture. Plus, Katie brings a stack of recs: reading-rut breakers, a Halloween murder mystery, an entry-level "Brad," and an underrated book she thinks everyone should be talking about. Enjoy! Pre-order Kate's new book here!!!

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 through what the lawsuit and Jane Doe's 2024 statements actually say, asks why a DA publicly litigated her account before a grand jury could hear it, and talks about the pride she feels toward the student journalists at the Cornell Daily Sun who broke the story. From there, she turns to why this story hits women so hard beyond just, like, having a pulse, and why so many millennial women are sitting with the discomfort of the blackout culture we laughed off, the Wedding Crashers and Tucker Max era that made boundaries feel negotiable, the whiplash of going from purity culture to trying to pretend to be "chill," and the gray areas so many of us are still sorting through. Plus: what she's thinking about as the mom of a little boy, why every choice is its own choice (not consented to by the last one) and the most unhinged LinkedIn request of her life. If these topics are triggering or upsetting in any way, please skip this one, and if you're ever in need of help, you can reach RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or online at rainn.org. Hear Kate's full reaction to Life of a Showgirl: The Encore at patreon.com/bethereinfive Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! This episode is brought to you by: Jones Road Beauty: For a limited time, our listeners are getting a FREE full-sized mascara on their first purchase when they use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Just head to Jonesroadbeauty.com and use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them our show sent you. Caraway: Reset your kitchen on a budget. Bundle and save up to $230 on the 12 piece cookware set vs buying the products individually. Explore more set savings on bakeware, food storage, accessories and more. Visit Carawayhome.com/BTIF10 to take an additional 10% off your next purchase. Lagoon Sleep: Go to LagoonSleep.com/bethereinfive and take the 60-second sleep quiz to find your match. Use code BETHEREINFIVE for 15% off your first order, and every pillow comes with a 100-night trial. Wayfair: Transform your space with pieces that hold up to real life. Join Wayfair Rewards today and get five percent back on every purchase. Head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's Wayfair.com.

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 celebrity gossip, from publicist-planted DeuxMoi sightings to full-blown conspiracy theories. They discuss the nepo best friend economy, obsess over Olivia Rodrigo, dig into the Gracie vs. Audrey discourse, and get into high-status versus low-status comedy and why some bits land, followed by a brief Joe Alwyn symposium. They also discuss press tour lore, compare celebrity-sighting iPhone notes, and explore why the Pussycat Dolls shaped a generation, among other things. For the other half of the crossover, head to Fluently Forward's feed. Enjoy! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS The RealReal: Get $25 off your first purchase at TheRealReal.com/bethereinfive

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, like "stop copying me" being girlhood's first legal argument, the time her own wedding website got copied word for word, and the difference between a scullery and a butler's pantry, which she learned against her will. Then it spirals into the bigger thing she couldn't let go of: why influencer homes went from farmhouse to organic modern to old-world European right as everything got too shoppable, how the tastemakers who popularized those looks are now fleeing them upmarket, Kyle Chayka's AirSpace and why every "unique" house converges into sameness in the name of individuality, a Fashion Ambitionist throwback, a bar cart eulogy (the memories fade, the bitters last forever), and a meditation on scallops nobody asked for. Enjoy! Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here!