Killing Thyme Part 1 (Adult Hobbies feat. Carmen James)

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, the Beths share heartfelt anecdotes about the simple pleasures and unexpected connections they’ve found through prioritizing joy and leisure. 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! Head to cozyearth.com and use my code BETHEREINFIVE for up to 20% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here on Be There in Five! Take advantage of this exclusive offer: For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to  Hungryroot.com/bethereinfive, code bethereinfive to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. Reboot your fall wardrobe with elevated essentials from Marc Fisher. Shop the new collection and receive 10% off your purchase with my new code BETHEREINFIVE10 at marcfisherfootwear.com.  Whether it’s a weekend away, a big night out, or just a little style refresh – your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to REVOLVE.com/BETHEREINFIVE, shop my edit, and take 15% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE. Fast two-day shipping, easy returns – it’s literally the only place you need to shop from. Offer ends October 24th, so happy shopping!

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! Head to cozyearth.com and use my code BETHEREINFIVE for up to 20% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here! Go to helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for their Fall Savings Event from October 1 2025 →October 6th, 2025 for 20% off site wide. That’s helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for their Fall Savings Event from October 1 2025 → October 6th, 2025 for 20% off site wide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you! Get healthy, glowing skin for fall with clean, vegan skin and body care from OSEA. Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code BETHEREINFIVE at OSEAMalibu.com. You’ll get free samples with every order, and free shipping on orders over $50.  Instead of striving for perfect health, aim for supporting foundational health.* Get 25% off your first month, only at ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE. Start Ritual or add Essential For Women 18+ to your subscription today. 

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 discuss a variety of topics, e.g., finding community through crafting, why hobbies feel fraught for millennials, the joy of getting lost in creative flow, and why domestic arts shouldn't require feminist disclaimers. Enjoy!      

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 SPONSORS who make producing an independent show possible. Whether it’s a weekend away, a big night out, or just a little style refresh – your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to REVOLVE.com/BETHEREINFIVE, shop my edit, and take 15% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE. Fast two-day shipping, easy returns – it’s literally the only place you need to shop from. Offer ends September 28th, so happy shopping! Reboot your fall wardrobe with elevated essentials from Marc Fisher. Shop the new collection and receive 10% off your purchase with my new code BETHEREINFIVE10 at marcfisherfootwear.com. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code BETHEREINFIVE for 40% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here! Go to Helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for 25% Off Sitewide during the Extended Labor Day Sale. Take advantage of this exclusive offer: For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to Hungryroot.com/bethereinfive and use code bethereinfive.

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 homeschooling. Yep, that’s the episode. Enjoy!  tiers of mall chain restaurants,  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 AllModern for furnishing Kate's Season 2 Studio! AllModern has the best of modern furniture and decor all in one place. With styles from Scandi and mid-century, to minimalist and maximalist, every design is hand-vetted for quality by their team of experts. Plus they have fast + free shipping! Check out allmodern.com; you'll find Kate's bookshelves here and her new rug here! Fuel your day with the freshest, best-tasting meal delivery made by award-winning chefs. Go to cookunity.com/bethereinfivefree or enter code bethereinfivefree before checkout for free premium meals for life. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code BETHEREINFIVE for 40% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here! Get healthy, glowing skin for summer with clean, vegan skin and body care from OSEA. Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code BETHEREINFIVE at OSEAMalibu.com. You’ll get free samples with every order, and free shipping on orders over $50. Don’t settle for less than evidence-based support. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE. Start Ritual or add Essential Prenatal to your subscription today.

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 viewership, intense stan-dom, the love triangle, and complex character dynamics between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah (and Redbird??). They go through key moments, episodes, character motivations, songs, Easter eggs, Jere and Belly’s biggest flops, and so much more. Don’t listen if you aren’t open to speculating about the ending :) Enjoy! 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 AllModern for furnishing Kate's Season 2 Studio! AllModern has the best of modern furniture and decor all in one place. Check out allmodern.com; you'll find Kate's bookshelves here and her new rug here! Go to cookunity.com/bethereinfivefree or enter code bethereinfivefree before checkout for Free Premium Meals for Life. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Cookunity.com for details. Savor the last bits of summer with Liquid I.V. Tear. Pour. Live More. Go to LIQUID-IV.COM and get 20% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Today or some quiet Sunday morning when you’re feeling inspired, visit Sixpenny.com/BeThereInFive for a stroll through their impeccably designed pieces, and perhaps even order yourself some free swatches. Get healthy, glowing skin for summer with clean, vegan skin and body care from OSEA. Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code BETHEREINFIVE at OSEAMalibu.com. You’ll get free samples with every order, and free shipping on orders over $50.

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 Taylor Swift's unprecedented appearance on New Heights, where we learned about TS12: The Life of a Showgirl, coming October 3rd. She breaks down her personal interview highlights, from SAT vocab words to otters to human exclamation marks and having fun. She was particularly struck by the Sourdough (10-minute version) airtime that was devoted exclusively to bread puns. She also talks through what we know so far about TS12 and gets excited to make space for more Blank Space pop on this album, exclusively produced by Max Martin and Shellback. Enjoy! Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! Did you know all of your favorite podcasts, including Be There in Five are on Amazon Music? All you have to say is ‘Alexa, play the podcast Be There In Five on Amazon Music.’ Or if you’re listening on your phone, just download the Amazon Music app, search for “Be There In Five” and click "Follow." Take advantage of this exclusive offer: For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to Hungryroot.com/bethereinfive and use code bethereinfive.  So today or some quiet Sunday morning when you’re feeling inspired, visit Sixpenny.com/BeThereInFive for a stroll through their impeccably designed pieces, and perhaps even order yourself some free swatches.  Go to helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for the Labor Day Sale: Best of Web Offer, which is 27% Off sitewide Exclusive for listeners of Be There in Five, from August 15, 2025 → September 8, 2025. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you! Get 15% off Branch Basics with code BETHEREINFIVE at https://branchbasics.com/BETHEREINFIVE! #branchbasicspod Calm has an exclusive offer just for listeners of our show– get 40% off a Calm Premium Subscription at calm.com/BETHEREINFIVE for 40% off unlimited access to Calm’s entire library. calm.com/BETHEREINFIVE. And tell Calm you heard about them from me!

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 routines, and her sponsorships netted an income of over $300k a year. On the grid, her life seemed perfect. But behind her carefully curated posts, Tilghman was in crisis, suffocating from the unrelenting demand of keeping up her online facade. She found herself viewing everything she did as potential content for Instagram, her relationships suffered, and her job’s focus on food led her to develop an unhealthy obsession with eating “perfectly.” After a stay in a mental health facility to address her disordered eating and psychological decline, Tilghman quit influencing as her primary career and set out to discover who she really was by leaving it all behind. Or did she? In this episode, Kate and Lee discuss her memoir (out Tuesday Aug 12) “If You Don’t Like This, I Will Die,” with topics including the pressures of influencer culture, the evolution of wellness trends, and the complexities of social media addiction. They explore Lee's journey through extreme wellness practices, her current POV on her treatment for orthorexia, and her departure from the influencer world. Ultimately, while Lee shares a compelling personal story, the conversation reveals notable inconsistencies between her current perspectives and her memoir's narrative, so Kate also contemplates how curated online personas continue to shape real-life accountability in her outtro and will continue the conversation over at patreon.com/bethereinfive. Note: This episode covers eating disorders and wellness culture. For resources and support, visit NEDA.org 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! Thank you to AllModern for furnishing Kate's Season 2 Studio! AllModern has the best of modern furniture and decor all in one place. With styles from Scandi and mid-century, to minimalist and maximalist, every design is hand-vetted for quality by their team of experts. Plus they have fast + free shipping! Check out allmodern.com; you'll find Kate's bookshelves here and her new rug here! Go to cookunity.com/bethereinfivefree or enter code bethereinfivefree before checkout for Free Premium Meals for Life. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Cookunity.com for details. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code BETHEREINFIVE for 40% off! And if you get a Post-Purchase Survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here! Go to LIQUID-IV.COM and get 20% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. That’s 20% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE at LIQUID-IV.COM.  Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code BETHEREINFIVE at OSEAMalibu.com. You’ll get free samples with every order, and free shipping on orders over $50. Head to OSEAMalibu.com and use code BETHEREINFIVE for 10% off. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE. Start Ritual or add Essential Prenatal to your subscription today. That’s ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE for 25% off.

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 trap, Gen Z’s relationship to social media, the attention economy, and, most importantly, Caroline shares her journey to becoming a producer of the off-Broadway play ‘Dilaria,’ starring Conrad Fisher himself (#teamconnie). 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! Hey Beths, did you know all of your favorite podcasts, including Be There in Five are on Amazon Music? All you have to say is ‘Alexa, play the podcast Be There In Five on Amazon Music.’ Or if you’re listening on your phone, just download the Amazon Music app, search for “Be There In Five” and click "Follow." To pick up my amika favorites, go to loveamika.com/bethereinfive. And for the rest of July, amika is giving Be There in Five listeners a one-time use code for 20% off your first order. Yes, that is TWENTY PERCENT OFF from now through July 31. Just go to my page at loveamika.com/bethereinfive and use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Get what you’re craving. Try the freshest, best-tasting meal delivery made by your favorite celebrity chefs. Go to cookunity.com/bethereinfivefree or enter code bethereinfivefree before checkout for Free Premium Meals for Life. That’s Free Premium Meals for Life by using code bethereinfivefree or going to COOKUNITY.COM/bethereinfivefree. Terms and conditions apply. Go to Cookunity.com for details. Go to Helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for 27% Off Sitewide, Exclusive for listeners of Be There in Five. That’s Helixsleep.com/bethereinfive for 27% Off Sitewide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you!  Squeeze the most out of your Summer with Liquid I.V. Tear. Pour. Live More. Go to LIQUID-IV.COM and get 20% off your first order with code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Head to nordstrom.com to build your Marc Fisher Footwear wish list now, and shop premium styles at an exceptional value online through Aug 4!

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" fairytale princess to The Albatross and Cassandra the cursed prophet, how has Taylor deliberately written herself into literary archetypes as both artistic strategy and psychological self-defense? TLDR; a chaotic TS deep dive with a (hopefully) entertaining payoff about why our "crazy" fan behavior might actually be anthropologically normal. Topics covered: The difference between symbolic self-portraiture and literal autobiography Greek gods vs. monotheistic religious figures (and why it matters for fandom behavior) Guillermo del Toro's quote about Taylor's "deep interest in fable and myth" Why "Mastermind" is more about childhood loneliness than strategic planning "The Albatross" and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner Why treating artists like gods can be dehumanizing in the name of protection Finding self-acceptance and/or collective empowerment at pop concerts A bathroom floor monologue about fairytales and personal authority And so much more! Enjoy! TRACK FIVE CHICAGO is on Saturday, July 19. Get your tix here! Order Kate's NYT Bestselling book, One in a Millennial here! Text or leave a voicemail for Kate at 775-HEY-BETH! To pick up my amika favorites, go to loveamika.com/bethereinfive. And for the rest of July, amika is giving Be There in Five listeners a one-time use code for 20% off your first order. Yes, that is TWENTY PERCENT OFF from now through July 31. Just go to my page at loveamika.com/bethereinfive and use code BETHEREINFIVE at checkout. Thanks to amika for supporting the show! Get ready for Cozy Days! Don’t miss your chance to score Cozy Earth’s biggest discount of the year. From July 11–13, head to cozyearth.com and use code BETHEREINFIVE to get 45% off best-selling, temperature-regulating sheets, apparel, and more. Don’t forget, this deal ends on July 13! For better sleep and a cooler summer, what’s stopping you? Sleep cooler, lounge lighter, stay cozy at Cozy Earth. (if you listen after July 13, you can get 40% off with code BETHEREINFIVE!) For a limited time get 40% off your first box PLUS get a free item in every box for life. Go to Hungryroot.com/bethereinfive and use code bethereinfive. That’s Hungryroot.com/bethereinfive, code bethereinfive to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life. Head to nordstrom.com to build your Marc Fisher Footwear wish list now, and shop premium styles at an exceptional value online and in-store starting July 12th! Get healthy, glowing skin for summer with clean, vegan face and body care from OSEA. Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code BETHEREINFIVE at OSEAMalibu.com. You’ll get free samples with every order, and free shipping on orders over $60. Head to OSEAMalibu.com and use code BETHEREINFIVE for 10% off. Don’t settle for less than evidence-based support. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE. Start Ritual or add Essential Prenatal to your subscription today. That’s ritual.com/BETHEREINFIVE for 25% off.