Fine Beats & Cheeses

Come with us back to April 2023 and revisit our conversation with the delightful Christina James about the Tom Hanks cryfest, "A Man Named Otto".

CW- This episode (and movie) talks about attempted suicide, grief, widowhood and pregnancy loss.

Our producer nicknamed this episode "Hankering To Cry", because we talked A LOT about how this 2022 Tom Hanks movie made us bawl throughout. Our guest is Christina James, radio personality from Baltimore's Bright-FM, where she plays Contemporary Christian hits middays Monday-Friday from 10AM-2PM. She is a fantastic guest and we LOVE her. This was SUCH a fun, thoughtful episode. BRING TISSUES and watch this movie. It's really, really great.

Christina can be found on Facebook, and would love for you to join her Facebook Group, "Christina James I BRIGHT-FM Middays".

We know All Too Well that you will enjoy this episode, as we talk all things Taylor Swift with our guest Melissa Leygan, who is a huge fan (or Swiftie, as they are known). Melissa is the first guest of ours to actually bring us thank you gifts (including baked goods and friendship bracelets), and this convo is as enlightening and delightful as she is. Tell all your Swiftie friends!!

You can hear a bonus conversation with us and Melissa on our Patreon page, where you get extra content from FB&C in exchange for a small monthly donation that helps keep us afloat! Sign-up here: https://www.patreon.com/FineBeatsandCheeses

Melissa's Bio below...

I've been a casual Taylor listener since I was in high school, but I became a fan as we listened to the well-crafted playlist my sister made on the drive up for the Eras tour, and it was when I saw her in May 2023 in MA that I became a real Swiftie(tm). I have so much respect for this woman and how she has navigated this world built to tear down people just like her, and she rebuilt and regrew and kept performing in spite of them all. I can't wait to share my love of her Fearless drive, Reputation, and how her Karma is the guy on the Chiefs. Truly, this bio isn't about me, it's about our Goddess and Queen, Taylor Swift. All Rise For the Queen. 👑

We are well-read cheesy people today as we discuss books and why we love them with Ashley Mason, social media marketer. What a fun conversation that made us immediately want to run to the library for things we haven't read yet or to our own bookshelves to curl up with our old favorites to read them again. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Ashley Mason is the founder of the content marketing agency Dash of Social that helps its clients establish thought leadership, grow online communities, and drive brand awareness.

Additionally, Ashley founded Massachusetts Business Network in 2022, which is the only statewide publication that provides free to low cost resources to organizations through its podcast, blog, and directory.

Ashley is a graduate of Stonehill College, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. She is a TEDx speaker, has been named a 40 Under 40 Honoree by Cape & Plymouth Business Media, and was recognized as Best Social Media Specialist by Boston Business Women.

Ashley currently serves as a Board Member for the Brockton Visiting Nurse Association (BVNA), Middleboro Public Library, and South Shore Young Professionals (SSYP). When she isn't working, you can find her running on her Peloton or curled up on the couch with a book.

You can find Ashley at:

https://www.facebook.com/dashofsocial

Twitter: ashjeanmason

Instagram: dashofsocial

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyjeanmason

https://www.dashofsocial.com

Special guest Daarina Jefferson stopped by to discuss Reality TV, especially the Real World!

Daarina Jefferson is a mompreneur, wife, podcaster, aspiring motivational speaker, and now fashion designer. Her podcast, "Nina: I Am NOT My Illness" is an inspiring podcast about living with mental health issues. You can find it on Spotify, and you can find Daarina at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daarina.jefferson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daarina-jefferson-8301b6199/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mrs.j.

https://www.aliveshoes.com/daarinaj-1

We're going back, back, back to school again as we talk about the cheesy classic "Grease 2", and our guest is journalist and author, Baltimore's own Laura Lippman. We laugh, we sing, we talk about how cute Adrian Zmed is, and why this movie falls short of the first one, yet we still can belt all of the songs. Loudly.

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2024. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.

Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through ninth grade. After graduating from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her other newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light.

Ms. Lippman returned to Baltimore in 1989 and has lived there since. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a Sun editorial writer who retired in 1995 but continues to freelance for several newspapers, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a former Baltimore City school librarian. Her sister, Susan, is a local bookseller.

You can find her at:

https://lauramlippman.substack.com/

https://lauralippman.com/

Instagram @lauramlippman