About this podcast
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
The newest 50 of 363 episodes
- Call Her Sofia · 1 h 37 minThis week, Kate does a solo intro book review and then is joined by Betches co-founder Sami Sage to dig into Sofia Franklyn's new memoir, Daddy Issues, six years after Kate first…
- Millennial Optimism: A Flash Sale on the American Dream · 1 h 15 min · Season 2 Episode 78This week, Kate dives into the unexpected resurgence of millennial optimism following the 2026 midterms, and the strange experience of watching a generation once mocked for its…
- Post-nut Clairvoyance · 1 h 29 min · Season 2 Episode 77This 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…
- Snorkel: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Aspyn Ovard, Dancing with the Stars, and more · 1 h 14 min · Season 2 Episode 76This 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…
- Get Off My Nuts (feat. Courtney Heath) · 1 h 16 min · Season 2 Episode 75This 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…
- The Edward Cullen to Mob Boss Pipeline (feat. Beach Reads and Bubbly's Katie Shober) · 2 h 0 min · Season 2 Episode 74This 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…
- Kate, I'd Like to Connect. (Cornell 7) · 1 h 14 min · Season 2 Episode 73The 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…
- Be There in Fluently Forward (with Shannon McNamara) · 1 h 59 min · Season 2 Episode 72This 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…
- Scallopocalypse · 1 h 29 min · Season 2 Episode 71This 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…
- Drops of Jupiter (with Nora) · 1 h 27 min · Season 2 Episode 70This 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…
- GOODBYE EARL TUPPER · 1 h 9 min · Season 2 Episode 69This 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…
- The Bore Ultimatum (feat. Nora and Caroline) · 1 h 47 min · Season 2 Episode 68This 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…
- Coaches Coaching Brooches · 1 h 44 min · Season 2 Episode 67This 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…
- WE NEVER STOOD A CHANCE (Parenting Edition) · 1 h 37 min · Season 2 Episode 66This 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…
- Cannes Debrief, MSG, and Celebs Making Out at the Heath (with Sami Sage) · 1 h 35 min · Season 2 Episode 65This 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…
- It's Like Our Sleepover (with Anna Konkle) · 1 h 41 min · Season 2 Episode 64This 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…
- Madison Square Jargon · 1 h 8 min · Season 2 Episode 63This 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…
- Be Good, Not Well · 1 h 19 min · Season 2 Episode 62This 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…
- False Paternity, 14 Felonies, and a Former Bachelor: Stephani Young on Love Trapped · 1 h 36 min · Season 2 Episode 61This 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…
- 1998 (feat. Caroline Moss) · 2 h 5 min · Season 2 Episode 60This 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…
- DZ: Discovery Zone (BTI5 Live Practice) · 1 h 8 min · Season 2 Episode 59This 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…
- Yesteryear with Caro Claire Burke | Trad Wives, Secret Lives & Twist Ending (Spoilers) · 2 h 7 min · Season 2 Episode 58This 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…
- The Taylor Frankie Paul of It All · 1 h 59 min · Season 2 Episode 57This 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…
- Taylor Swift Lyrics that Scratch Your Brain (Reprise) · 1 h 31 min · Season 2 Episode 56This 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…
- Mama's Back at the Lake (Director's Cut feat. Caroline Moss) · 1 h 58 min · Season 2 Episode 55This 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…
- Mother, Son, and the Aioli Spirit (Director's Cut) · 1 h 52 min · Season 2 Episode 54This 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…
- Bath and Body Jerks, Wash Your Face (Director's Cut) · 2 h 24 min · Season 2 Episode 53The 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…
- Petty Little Liars (feat. Kelly) (From the Vault) · 1 h 54 min · Season 2 Episode 52This 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!…
- Red Delicious · 1 h 26 min · Season 2 Episode 51This 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…
- Eras Tour Docuseries (Eps 1 and 2 feat. Sarah from Taylor Swift Style) · 1 h 59 min · Season 2 Episode 50This 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…
- Shelf Help · 1 h 59 min · Season 2 Episode 49This 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…
- Was D.A.R.E. an MLM? · 1 h 45 min · Season 2 Episode 48This 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…
- Fill Your Fillings (SLOMW + RHOSLC with Nora) · 1 h 49 min · Season 2 Episode 47This 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…
- It's Called Herstory, B*tch · 1 h 42 min · Season 2 Episode 46A 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…
- Ween Clips · 1 h 48 min · Season 2 Episode 45This 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+…
- Dancing with the Instacars (feat. Nora McInerny and Caroline Moss) · 2 h 10 min · Season 2 Episode 44This 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…
- Hobbies & Pinterests · 1 h 58 min · Season 2 Episode 43This 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…
- Life of a Showgirl: Prologues, pettiness, and poetry · 1 h 20 min · Season 2 Episode 42A 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…
- Killing Thyme Part 1 (Adult Hobbies feat. Carmen James) · 1 h 56 min · Season 2 Episode 41This 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…
- 2016 · 1 h 37 min · Season 2 Episode 40A 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…
- Help, I'm still at the chain restaurant (Katelilah) · 1 h 17 min · Season 2 Episode 39This week, Kate answers listener texts and voicemails. She snorkels left chest logo polo critters of yesterday and today, organizes mall chain restaurants into experiential…
- Loving Him Was Redbird (The Summer I Turned Pretty with @lucyontheground) · 1 h 52 min · Season 2 Episode 38This 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"…
- And, Baby, That's Dough Business for You · 1 h 30 min · Season 2 Episode 37This 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…
- Under the Influencer (with Lee From America) · 1 h 56 min · Season 2 Episode 36This 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…
- Mama Slay Off-Broadway (feat. Caroline Moss) · 1 h 55 min · Season 2 Episode 35This 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…
- Taylor Swift: Symbolic Self-Portraiture, Archetypes, and Tragedy in Lyricism · 2 h 14 min · Season 2 Episode 34This 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…
- Hot Girl Hamster Wheel (feat. Katie Gatti Tassin) · 1 h 42 min · Season 2 Episode 33This 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…
- No Ma'am (America's Sweethearts Season 2) · 1 h 59 min · Season 2 Episode 32This 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…
- Hit Girls (feat. Nora Princiotti) · 1 h 50 min · Season 2 Episode 31This 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…
- Total Request Five (Addison Rae and the New Pop Machine) · 1 h 52 min · Season 2 Episode 30This 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…
