BINGELY TV/STREAMING

TULSA KING

Paramount+ Originals

Paramount+

We have been enjoying a number of the original series on Paramount+ and Tulsa King is one of them! S3 takes us back to Tulsa, Oklahoma where we follow Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) as he continues to make a life out West successfully after being released from prison. He continues to build his empire, work with a number of mobsters that are new to him as well as that he has known, while also creating a gratifying personal life.

Each season we watch him navigate these worlds with a crew of unlikely people who have come together under his leadership.

If you have yet to catch all episodes, this is one you should definitely enjoy during your downtime as there are a number of great cameos! If you’re in this season, you know it’s been a ride and we can’t wait to see Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Shaft, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menance) this season!

STARTING 5

Netflix Originals

Netflix

Last year, Starting 5 S1 started with the tip off of the 2024-25 NBA season and with Jimmy Butler (Heat), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), LeBron James (Lakers), Domantas Sabonis (Kings), and Jayson Tatum (Celtics). S2 is the completion of this season when the Indiana Pacers had a historic playoff run that secured the Eastern Conference title and eventually came to an end in the Finals against Oklahoma City Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers) are 2 of the 5 athletes in this season as well as Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Kevin Durant (Suns), and James Harden (Clippers). We’ll see them on the court and in their personal lives. Starting 5 is produced by UNINTERRUPTED, in association with Omaha Productions and Higher Ground Productions.

MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT

PEACOCK ORIGINAL

Peacock

We’ve been watching Married at First Sight since the beginning and although it has been a staple on Lifetime, S19 now calls Peacock home! We’re back to meeting people for the first time as well as the experts who match them. As this show settles into its new home, we can already see some changes that have been added into this format - 2 couples have an interesting connection and 2 couples are older!

We love that the drama and complications that happens when you are immediately married to a stranger is still there! How will this unroll, well we’ll have to keep streaming!

Read the OCT ISSUE #118 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

BLACK RABBIT

Netflix Originals

Netflix

After NYFW, our team was ready to binge a few shows just to get back to our normally scheduled program of sorts! We found ourselves enthralled in Black Rabbit which dropped this month! The brother duo we didn’t know we needed, drew us into restaurateurs, crime, and a dark and gritty series. When we meet Jake Friedken (Jude Law), we know that he is a rising restaurateur with a successful restaurant, plans to take on NYC’s dining scene and he knows all the right people. As the series continues, his need to help his brother Vince Friedken (Jason Bateman) we learn that he lives a completely different life that is not only dangerous but continues to generate more complications!

As they continue to work together, we learn about why they were estranged from one another and how far one will go to protect their family!

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

Hulu Original

Hulu

If you’re not currently watching S5 of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, we don’t know what to say! We return to the Arconia where murders continue to happen and we pick up right where S4 left off. We don’t want to give any spoilers away, but suffice it to say that a beloved character was killed last season. Our lovel true crime podcasters once again come together in order to find out who did it, why and how it is all connected. Of course, along the way, they find out more secrets of what has been taking place in the building practically in plain sight!

As they also increase their presence for their podcast, Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin) continues to find out how they can maintain their friendship as things continue to change around them! Make sure to also listen/watch the companion podcast as well.

THE CHINATOWN STING

Pushkin Industries

Spotify

We’ve been enjoying The Chinatown Sting where we are introduced to a group of women during the late 1980’s that enjoy playing mahjong in NYC’s Chinatown. Who knew this game amongst the community would lead to a massive undercover drug bust?

But this drug bust was not an isolated event. Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang investigate the events that led to this as well as the repercussions that still exist to this day. The episodes have interview sources who have never talked before, but now are sharing on the record from witnesses, defendants, and federal prosecutors. This is definitely a true crime case that will have you putting the pieces together while you listen.

Read Athleisure Mag’s SEP ISSUE #117 and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

SOUND MEETS STORY | LINDSAY GRAHAM

Podcasting has been around for 20 years, but it has been in the last 10 years where there have been a number of platforms, series, and networks that everyone talks about. Whether you’re into True Crime, Reality, Business, TV Commentary, etc there is a genre there to suit your interests. In the last 6 or so years, we came across Lindsay Graham who’s shows forcus on historial, business, and variations of True Crime as it pertains to history and/or business.

For years, we have heard his voice as he talks about various times in history and businesses that we engage with. We sat down with him to talk about his array of successful series, the final episodes of Business Movers, his production company Airship, how he came to his partnership with Wondery and his thoughts on podcasting as an industry that continues to eovolve.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s definitely a pinch me moment as we have enjoyed listening to your and your portfolio of podcasts for years!

We can’t remember which podcasts we started listening to that you created, but we think it was American Scandal with its first season which focused on BALCO. We tend to listen to shows that focus on True Crime and business so the intersectionality of those verticals is what drew us into that season and ultimately enjoying the other ones as well.

Before we start to delve into your podcasts. What is your background and how did you get into the podcast industry?

LINDSAY GRAHAM: It was by total accident! I have no business doing what I am doing right now. By education, I have an MBA in Marketing right?

AM: Right!

LG: So that is what I was doing for most of my working life really. I worked in non-profit marketing and I also worked in an insurance company. It was at that insurance company when I got fired and that was fine because I didn’t like them either. But as you can tell, you notice the guitars over my shoulder here, I have always been interested in music and in audio. I guess my dream job would have been Record Producer.

So, I have this little studio that I am still in. I thought after this moment of losing my job, I went to my wife and said, why don’t I try and do something with my life that I actually enjoy? So I tried. I cofounded a little audiobook company based out of Dallas here.

We put out a lot of audiobooks, but along the way that caught the attention of Hernan Lopez who was the Founder and CEO of a very young company called Wondery at the time.

One of the best decisions that I ever made in my life was that because it was a fictional show and because we were ad sponsored, we didn’t have a host. Most podcast ads are host read ads. So I decided to be the host! I figured that I would put my marketing degree to work. Well Hernan just really enjoyed how I wrote and read my ads. Then even though I gave up that audiobook company and crawled back to the world of Marketing, Hernan called me up and said, “hey, I’ve got this problem. We have a brand new podcast coming out and it’s hosted by a journalist who can’t do personal endorsements – would you do it? It’s called Dirty John.” In the same phone call, he also asked if I was a history buff and would I want to host and sound design a new concept for a show there that they were calling American History Tellers. I like to joke that these are not questions that you want to say no to! You say yes to all of them!

AM: Exactly.

LG: So I did! All of a sudden, I was a podcaster, but I was a part-time podcaster. There was no way that I was going to suddenly quit my job again and go back to this fantasy world of being in audio. So for a long time, I did History Tellers part-time on nights and weekends and it was rough with a full-time job, and a young daughter at home. But it was really rewarding and I was actually making more money then I was at my day job. So I said, “I’m not going to quit for 1 podcast. But what if I had 2? Because then I can distribute the risk and it’s a portfolio of revenue. So I went back to Wondery and I said that I had an idea for American Scandal. It’s very much so the formula of American History Tellers show but leans into the True Crimeish, but not so True Crime. They bought the rights to that show – I really wish that I didn’t sell all of it because who knows and who knew how successful it would be? But what I did was secure my place in podcasting. I had 2 successful chart topping shows with a young network on the make and I got to quit the day job to become a full-time podcaster.

Yeah, I’m here by accident sort of, but you take the reigns at some point.

AM: Your podcasts have gotten us through running around the city, heading to events, coming from showrooms, heading to set, navigating layouts for when the issue is about to drop and more! We started listening in 2018/2019, so for a period of time we were able to just go from one season to the next in a number of series. The sound production is just incredible. As a Telecom major with a focus in production, my ears are always enjoying the audio quality in each episode.

LG: Thank you! We put a lot of effort into it and I guess that is the audio background coming to the fore right?

AM: Exactly.

What are the kinds of stories that you are drawn to when you are coming up with the different podcasts? Are there subjects that you naturally lean towards?

LG: Yeah. At this point, these shows are run by talented and sort of medium sized teams. So, I don’t even know some of the topics that are being worked on until they are really far down the pike. But in the beginning when it was a smaller endeavor and we were all working together to try to figure this thing out, the thing that was most helpful was to try to find the central question of the rubric that this show is centered around. What is the kernel? For American History Tellers, we put you in the shoes of everyday ordinary people as history is being made. That’s kind of what we are trying to do. We try to stay out of the Halls of Power as much as we can. It’s not all Oval Office and Congressional floor. We really do try to put you at the kitchen table of when these things are happening. So that’s what makes that show special and when we started, it was a good question – what do we start with? What should be our debut topic? This was early on in the first Trump administration. If you remember, there were these weird sabor rattling moments with North Korea and Putin. I thought that we should remind the American public about the Cold War and how terrifying it was for a lot of people especially us Gen Xers who had to hide under our desks or whatever to some how avoid a nuclear apocalypse – that was going to protect us.

AM: They were thick tables!

LG: Oh yeah!

But it was always how did this affect the average American at that time and how does that reverberate now?

American Scandal was actually pretty similar although this one is very POV centered show. We follow certain characters and we try to anchor it in their perspective. It always comes down to and I think this is why it is such a character driven show because that is what we try to bring to that show.

All of my shows have some sort of center or central question to them that we use as sort of a touchstone to remind us of how we are telling the story.

AM: Where do you start creatively whether it’s a new season or an entirely new podcast series. What do you do when you may have such wide lanes?

LG: There are editorial discussions and marketing considerations like Oct is around the corner, do we have a spooky story? We’re in the media business so we try to do our best with calendarization and things like that.

How do we tell is to our audience in a manner that adds value to someone who may know a lot about it and is also unique to us and I think that that is how we go about it. We get so many suggestions from our listeners, our writers, and our researchers, and they don’t just quite fit.

AM: Tell us about Airship. How did it start and what are all the podcasts and projects that are involved in this company.

LG: So Airship is my production company that I founded really to just house my increasing podcast activities right? So it started with American History Tellers, then once American Scandal came along, then American Elections Wicked Game, then 1865, then History Daily, and so I knew that I needed a structure.

It’s a small podcast production company. We do our best to keep our output up with our resources lean. At our height, we were putting out 11 episodes a week for my shows and other shows. We kind of specialize in the history niche and we have recently taken over the entire turnkey process of American Scandal so that now includes scripting, that was something that previously Wondery did. So yeah, it’s just a little company that could.

AM: Do you guys have from an American Scandal perspective, do you guys have a soundboard so that people can give feedback? How does that work from thinking about a topic and making it an actual season?

LG: Yes, I have a critical employee, my Chief of Content, William Simpson, he actually works in the UK. A lot of that gets filtered to him first. So, all of the ideas will go into some document and we’ll get some form of vetting together. It does require some fair amount of effort to see which of these stories has the legs. We’re not in the enviable position to do any original reporting – we’re not diving into the archives with a weekly show or 4 or 5 weekly shows – how could you?

We need to rely on the existing reporting and the existing sources and that still requires a lot of effort to find out what’s out there and to validate it as well as we take truth telling very seriously. We want to make sure that the story can be told without bias. But then there are considerations of how we can tell the story that is unique to us. I have writers, a bunch of freelance writers, I have freelance showrunners and producers, I have my Chief of Content, I’m involved all of the time – it will all go through it’s filtering and funneling process and then we will come up with ideas.

AM: I love History Tellers and I also love History Daily. I’m always amazes about some item or event that happened on this day that I didn’t know about. How do you decide that? There doesn’t seem to be overlap and there is a new fact to uncover and listen to for that day.

LG: Well the good thing about history is that it is pretty old! There has been a lot of days. Even though that is true, I will back up and say that since you have listened to it, you realize that there is a recency bias. There’s a lot more 20th century stuff than there is 19th century stuff and that is again because of sourcing and other things. We don’t know what really happened in 4500BC – no one was writing it down, but I’m sure it was interesting. The point remains that so much was happening that we have the entire globe to cover! This isn’t American History Daily, it’s History Daily. We don’t choose days like this person was born or this person died. Those aren’t actually interesting days that’s just kind of an anniversary of something – it’s what that person did in their life that’s important. So we have all sorts of options. We get to find a date, anchor an episode around that date, but also storytell from both sides of that date. We’re not just a page a day kind of calendar that gives you a sentence or 2 on what happened.

AM: We’re bummed that Business Movers will end at the end of this month. It was really a series that we have enjoyed listening to as it is in that vein of The Men Who Built America on History Channel and those kinds of docuseries are always fascinating and it’s great to be able to deep dive into those companies and industries. How did that podcast come about and what do you want the legacy to be for that particular series?

LG: To tell you how these things get decided, their Sales team said that they were selling the crap from their business program ming. “Does Lindsay have any interest in a business show?” I thought it was perfect because I have a business degree as I’m a history podcaster with a business degree so the ingredients for that show started pulling together. Talking about the rubic or the central kernel of that show, that one has always been as I have articulated – there is a Character, a Crisis, and a Business Concept. In every episode, we will explore those 3 things. This character dealing with this crisis as it relates to this business concept. We’re not explicit about that, like we’re talking about inventory management or inflationary pressures or whatever the business concept is. Hopefully you pick it up and under every single episode, it is there. Can I just tell you that I had some of the most fun in that show because the personalities are so big, so dynamic, and they are consequential in our everyday lives. There is not a company that we covered that you don’t have some sort of personal relationship with whether it’s Disney, or Pepsi, or Microsoft. Even the ones that you think didn’t touch your lives, you would be captured by their journey as well. It was a fun show and I really enjoyed it. I am sad that it reached its end.

AM: We saw it on your LinkedIn when you announced it and that’s what made us reach out after being long time listeners! We listen to it to as there are so many nuggets to learn and apply it to things that we are working on or how we engage with other businesses. A number of those businesses have been those that we have worked or partnered with and it was great to hear things that we may not have known about their backstory or event looking ahead to where they planned to go. It was an enjoyable and invaluable podcast that will be missed for sure.

LG: Thank you very much, that is exactly the reaction that I would hope for from my listeners. That it is entertaining, but also surprisingly useful resource.

AM: 1865, we don’t know how we found out about it, it could have been a cross promotional episode that was somewhere else or an ad but it was enthralling to listen to, the sound, the voices – super immersive! How did this come about and what was your involvement in it?

LG: That came on the heels of the very first podcast of the fictionalized presidential elections so a friend of mine who was living in LA and he’san actor and writer and was trying to make things work, he had a play about 1865. It focused a little more on John Wilks Booth, but he had an idea for an adaptation and was pitching it around Hollywood to try and get a TV series. He heard Terms which was the audio drama that I made, and said why don’t we make an audio drama around this subject. It worked perfectly as I was already making a brand around history podcasts so we decided to partner on that and he is the Co-Creator and Head Writer of that show and I am the Co-Executive Producer as well as I composed all the music and did the sound design of that show as well.

AM: It was incredible to listen to and an audible delight.

LG: Well thank you again! Audible delight – I like it! Well it was a real labor of love. It tells a very important story that starts with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the immediate first days of Reconstruction and how difficult this period will be without Lincoln around. It is semi-dramatized, but everything that is said in there is true.

AM: Are there upcoming podcasts that you are able to share to keep an eye out? There are probably 5 names whether it’s the host or a production company but when I see them pop into my feed or I’m aware of a project that is coming up from them I follow immediately because if I hear your name or Airship I know it will be something I will enjoy from an audio perspective as well as the subject that is being presented.

LG: Probably not -

AM: That’s what we thought you would say.

LG: Nothing is fully greenlit at this point. The uncertainty at Wondery has certainly made it difficult to announce or do anything for sure right now. The changing nature of the podcast industry has also altered how I view my work. So, I don’t know. It’s not even a matter of us vetting it with legal yet. It’s a little uncertain right now. However, I will guarantee that there will be more stuff from me and my partners in the next 12-18 months.

AM: That’s great!

Just as you said, the podcasting landscape – I mean this industry has been around for quite some time. There are many people that feel that they can just jump in and make a podcast and that is debatable. But for those who do want to embark in this area, what are some tips that you have regardless of their genre – what are things that they should be thinking of?

LG: The barrier to entry to not just podcasting but to a bunch of New Media – short form video, or you could sign up for Substack right now and have a paid newsletter. All of it remains the same I think. There are tactics for hooking people or marketing to them and extracting economic value from their audience and I think that the only way to do that is in a world of increasing authenticity is to be yourself or to do what you do. You may not know what you do, and that is a hard question to answer and I don’t know if I have the fullest idea of what I do. No one is going to have a career if they approximate viral moments or they just start replicating other success. If you think back in every piece of media that is hailed as something worthwhile or is a watershed piece, it has no resemblance to what came before it, it broke the mold, it changed things, or twisted things or was so outrageously original that is forced itself into the world. I’m not saying that you have to be so violently original, but you do have to be authentic. In a moment where we are all reckoning with AI and it’s very slippery and seductive inauthenticity. I think that we will more and more be drawn to these small and obviously human moments.

AM: 100%.

Do you have any podcasts that you enjoy listening to?

LG: Here’s the secret!

AM: We know where this is going, but we just wanted to hear it directly from you ha!

LG: Once you make podcasts and enough podcasts for 8-10 hours a day, I drive home with the radio off. I really appreciate just the silence of driving home. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy podcasts, I’m just not the inveterate consumer that you might think that I am.

You know, I once visited a very famous celebrity chef at his home and his refrigerator was filled with champagne and an expired tin of caviar and nothing else!

AM: Yup!

LG: I think that there is a certain bit of the cobbler’s kids (Editor’s Note: this is a Spanish proverb that means that someone with a specific skill is often so busy assisting others that their own affairs go unattended) here. But Revisionist History is always one that I enjoy. Malcolm Gladwell has an amazing, quirky, and impish way of looking at the world and I just find him captivating. Even if he is wrong about his big point or is demonstratively apprehensive of the facts, it still is really entertaining and thought provoking.

A recent winner in the history podcast universe has been The Rest is History out of the UK. They have hit upon a formula that their parent company has been replicating quite a bit. They came out with The Rest is History and then all of a sudden, there is The Rest is Politics, The Rest is Politics: US, The Rest is Football, The Rest is Entertainment and the formula works! But it is rooted in 2 people who authentically enjoy each other and authentically know what they are talking about even if they just researched it and they are able to bring their own expertise to it. It’s not a new formula of 2 people talking about a subject, that is as old as podcasting. There is something where there is a chemistry between these 2 hosts and the way that they tackle topics is persistently interesting.

AM: Are there subjects that you have yet to tackle that you would love to see in a podcast where it’s a series or just an episode?

LG: I’m sure there are! I mean yes absolutely. I have a document hidden somewhere in the cloud of every single one of these ideas. Just at this moment, I can’t think of any of them!

There is 1 story that I am dying to tell and I do hope that I get to tell it and I want to do it in a live show setting. There was a man named Danny Faulkner that lived here in Dallas. Presumably, he was an illiterate house painter. But he started finding wealth and success in real estate deals and building condos. This is in the mid 80s and all of a sudden, everyone was buying, building, and swapping these condos. A lot of people were getting rich and it’s not surprising that is becomes an entire house of cards and a big Ponzi scheme – trading amongst each other, bidding the price way up there and then selling it to a rube! But, this illiterate house painter was the ring leader of it all and he crashed a bank! He pretty much started the real estate depression of the 1980s and it had a great affect on my family because my father was a home builder and all of a sudden, we had to move out of our house and find a new place.

It’s one of those stories that would be really good for American Scandal because it is very character forward, but it is pretty small and pretty localized, and is not international, but it meant a lot to a lot of people and it has a personal connection to me and that is why I want to do it in a live show setting where I can drive the personal connection!

AM: Wow!

When you were talking about it it sounded like something out of Texas Monthly.

When you’re not working on your podcasts, what do you like doing in your personal time?

LG: I just yesterday saw a clip from the comedian Jimmy Carr, and he was asked, what are your hobbies. He gave this response, “I’m lucky that my work is more fun than anything else than I can think of.”

AM: We have said that on a number of occasions.

LG: That’s kind of, sort of true for me. Of course, I have enough of it, I drive home in silence, I get to come home and spend time with my young daughter who is 11 and my wife. I play guitar. I love to cook. If there is ever a guitar playing cook podcast, I would be ready!

AM: That’s a nice little intersection there.

LG: I live a fairly quiet – well you know what? I’ll tell you this! For the last 7 or 8 weeks, I’ve been taking improv classes!

AM: What, oh wow!

LG: Yeah! Way back in the day, I used to run the tech, sounds, lights, and used to play music for an improv troop. I never got on the stage myself. I enjoyed it then and then I grew up. But recently I thought, I need to for my own benefit grow, step outside of myself, and to be silly! This is terrifying to me to get up on the stage and be silly and put on a voice or to move my body in an odd or awkward way! I don’t dance like no one is watching – that doesn’t make sense to me and I’m not going to dance at all! So I figured that I’m too locked up. So I have been taking this improv class and I have really been enjoying it and I signed up for level 2.

AM: Wow and is the goal to maybe have a small group of family and friends to watch the joys of what you have learned?

LG: No. That’s not the goal. I have enough things that my family and friends can consume if they want to hear what I’m doing. The improv is really just for me and I might get comfortable enough to enjoy it as well from a performance aspect. But it is really a brand new and very rewarding way of thinking.

IG @notthatlindsaygraham

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Lindsay Graham

Read the AUG ISSUE #116 of Athleisure Mag and see SOUND MEETS STORY | Lindsay Graham in mag.

THE AUDIO FILES | CHARLIE WEBSTER, UNICORN GIRL

When you have a genre of podcast that you enjoy it may be about the subject or the host/investigator. We came to know about Charlie Webster when we listened to Surving El Chapo: The Twins Who Brought Down A Drug Lord. She served as creator, writer, and producer of this show which she developed with Lionsgate Sound and Co-hosted and Co-Executive Produced with 50 Cent Jackson (POWER franchise, Expend4bles, Den of Thieves franchise). For the first time ever, we heard from Chicago identical twins Jay and Peter Flores who worked with and brought down El Chapo.

From there, we continued on with another Lionsgate Sound podcast, Scamanda which followed a woman who pretended that she had cancer. Now she is back with Unicorn Girl an Apple Original! We wanted to know more about the subject, how she came to it, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We became familiar with your work with the podcast Surviving El Chapo and most recently Scamanda which we enjoyed. Before we delve into Unicorn Girl, you spent a number of years as a broadcaster and journalist with sports. How did you get into the industry?

CHARLIE WEBSTER: I feel like from a real young age, I loved storytelling and I was so curious about people, and it has impacted my own life and it provided escapism and I felt so connected to how people got to where they did, and I loved books as well. I read all of the time. You mentioned sports in sports broadcasting and again, this was an escape for me. It gave me so much as a teenager in a very difficult background. So I feel like I went into Sportsbroadcast because I wanted to be an athlete and I didn’t end up being an athlete professionally and so then I thought, if I could tell people’s stories, of the amazing human endurance, the things people go through, their endurance and people’s backgrounds from where people get to where they are. That inspired and influenced me and then I just wanted to make documentaries and I wanted to share people’s stories and to give them a voice. That has been a passion of mine. That has been my journey with journalism and my career – whether it’s sports or you mentioned Surviving El Chapo – it’s all about human connection and our life experiences really and it’s that human experience throughout no matter what topic we are talking about.

AM: What led you to include podcasts in your body of work and what stories are you drawn to?

CW: I started in television, but I did do television and radio. Radio is not so dissimilar to podcasts and I feel that since I have had both visual and audio experience, I combine that because even Scamanda turned into a TV show and even with making Unicorn Girl, there’s elements of visual that I play in so that you can hear it and it paints a picture. So I feel like the fact that I have experience in it all – I have even written a book and Unicorn Girl listens like a Summer thriller read so I feel like I have combined all of my skills into making a podcast. But making podcasts is hard because you can’t rely on a visual thing. You can’t see anything. I love the challenge of being able to put you in that situation and to take you along the journey. I love podcasts as a fan too. I feel like it was a really in teresting way to tell stories. I remember wanting to make a story about domestic abuse and I wanted to I don’t know to create a rethinking about what you hear about it. I thought it would be powerful to do it in audio because of the risk that there may be for people in telling their stories. So that is what built my podcast experience. You can create so much intimacy in podcasts which I absolutely love.

AM: Both Surviving El Chapo and Scamanda are deep explorations into 2 very different kinds of stories and Unicorn Girl seems to be the same. When you decided to do an investigative serialized podcast, where do you start in terms of research and deciding how you will allow the story to unfold?

CW: That’s a really good question because Surviving El Chapo and Scamanda and Unicorn Girl are all very different, but at the end of the day, they have very similar themes about human connection, relationships, purpose, and trying to live our lives really and I think that is something that we can all relate to. They are all different and the starting point was different, but I feel like in Surviving El Chapo, I got very close to and spent a lot of time with the Flores twins and I feel that there could be and definitely is a judgment about them because they were drug traffickers. But they were groomed by a very young age by their drug trafficking father and I think that that is something that I love to get underneath the story.

Then again with Scamanda, the top line is Amanda was a woman who faked cancer and there are so many layers to that story. It is so deep because she didn’t just fake cancer and lie about it, she acted as if she actually had it – did she really believe it herself, was it about seeking attention, was it about addiction because she got a lot of adoration for that.

Then you go to Unicorn Girl and with Candace again, there is a headline that you see if you Google Candace Rivera, and it’s embezzlement but that’s not the story – the story is so much deeper and harder to describe with the journey that she went on. And again, she based it on things in truth so was there good in the bad that she did? It brings up such moral complexities and links because life is not black and white.

So when I first go into a story, that is to me what hooks me. Life is messy, we are complicated people and what drives them to do it and so – I don’t know – a lot of it is connected to myself and my lived experience. I love to tell powerful stories which are empowering and help people. It’s about understanding your own pain and trauma and I feel that is across all three.

AM: You talked a bit about what drew you to Unicorn Girl, for those that may not have heard the trailer, what is this podcast about?

CW: I laugh because it is hard to describe! That is the theme of Unicorn Girl. I think what drew me to it was that there were so many things that I couldn’t believe what Candace was doing! Sometimes there were more questions than answers, but don’t worry there are answers and you will definitely go on a wild journey and for me, the fact that I wondered was this a lie, was it not a lie, was it good or was this bad. The people she surrounded herself by and because of the way that I entered and came into the story, I didn’t investigate Candace retrospectively – she hadn’t gone on the journey that she has and the police and the law weren’t involved. I came in very early and got to know her as a fantastical character that people just loved to be around. She was so overt on what she put out there and when the suspicion came around her and after Scamanda, I was really inspired to tell another story about female friendships and messiness and that was everything that Candace was the epitome of! But I could never imagine what it ended up actually being which you will see by the end of the episode.

AM: What do you want listeners to get out of this podcast?

CW: I hope that firstly, they get an empowering kind of inspiring listen and also just going on a compelling journey that captivates you, that engages you, and I feel that no matter walk of life you have been through or I don’t know your present life, there will be something that you connect to and I feel this story has every emotion on the rainbow possible! I think we will pull you in in different ways depending on your own lived in experience. I hope that by the end of it there will be some justice through what Candace did, the group of people, the journey they went on and how they connected with each other to come together and to stop her and to bring that into your own life. But also understand that being hurt, how you were portrayed by somebody that it will hopefully feel very validating that it’s not your fault and I think that is important. We ask so many questions like how can people fall for this? It’s really important that we don’t simplify it because things aren’t black and white and I think you will see this in Unicorn Girl because there was so much truth and so much credibility in what she did and you’ll learn a lot along the way about manipulative techniques.

AM: What did you learn most after researching and telling this story?

CW: That’s a good question – what did I learn – question everything. For people that know me, I’m a super duper detailed and can be very hyper focused. I spend a lot of time with people and I like to listen to every single detail. For me, I learned that I need to question everything because there were some things where I thought that couldn’t be real and it was real. I think that challenged me and it made me think on whether I was telling the story in the right way and to get every single perspective that I could possibly get to make sure that I was telling this right. Some people have different perspectives that you will hear in the end on whether she did good or bad. I think it affirms that I was really careful of this in Scamanda and here as well – to never judge and it also brought about a personal complication in this story because it affected me – something happened to me along the way when I was making this story that Candace also said had happened to her and that really challenged me emotionally to care for myself and to also care for other people. A lot of things that I do is to hold space for other people that have been through so much and have been abused I suppose and have had so much betrayal and trauma from what other people do and that challenged me as well. I learned a lot – they are my personal learnings and not those of Unicorn Girl. But I think again, in terms of Unicorn Girl, I learned that I don’t know – it’s really hard to spot when people are manipulating and lying so it was really important to really show that nuance because it is not so obvious at all sometimes. I don’t know, sometimes there aren’t red flags and I learned that in this story – maybe they weren’t, maybe they weren’t obvious at the time, probably not.

AM: From research, interviewing, recording, and post-production, how long have you worked on this podcast?

CW: Probably around 2 years!

AM: When you’re not working on the next podcast, how do you take time for yourself?

CW: I tell you what, Unicorn Girl has totally consumed me! I feel like I have just come out from a rock after 2 years! What am I doing? That’s just who I am as well. It’s something that I am aware of because I just give everything. At the same time, I don’t feel that I could bring these stories to light in this way if I didn’t live it and breathe it. I literally did just that for every single second of my day. I didn’t just pop in and do a few interviews. I spent so much time in this community with the people that were impacted by Candace. It took me to many different places, I even flew to Spain to find one person.

What I like to do is running and it’s a huge outlet for me and I take myself up a mountain. I feel like I was a mountain goat in another life, but if gives me the headspace and helps me think about things and process things and work things out. I’m able to give my mind a little break and to not be embroiled into a story and I love dancing as well! I snuck out to Glastonbury Festival in the UK. If I can run and dance, I am the happiest person in the world!

AM: Are there any upcoming projects that you would like to tell us about that we should keep an eye out for?

CW: I think that I have had Unicorn Girl as a secret for ages and I couldn’t tell anybody about it and I am excited to be able to share that with everyone! I feel I was so inspired by the incredible viewers and listeners from Scamanda so now it’s great to share! There are other things in the midst, but I can’t talk about those – but I am desperate to talk about this!

IG @charliewebster

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 122 Laura Ribatallada | PG 125 Apple Original |

Read the AUG ISSUE #116 of Athleisure Mag and see AUDIO FILES | Charlie Webster, Unicorn Girl in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

UNSPEAKABLE SINS

Netflix Originals

Netflix

Sometimes you want to have a few twists and turns and a bit of splash when you’re bingeing a show that is perfect to watch during a weekend! Unspeakable Sins is a thriller meets soap opera which kept our attention throughout the 18 episodes. If you enjoy continuing to guess on how everyone is connected, why various crimes took place and how everyone is aligned with one another - you will find this and more throughout the show.

We definitely hope that this series will be back for a S2 as there was a cliffhanger with plenty of story that could continue on with the main characters or those that were adjacent to the people that we met!

We’d even love to see a new group of characters that explore their unspeakable sins!

ALIEN: EARTH

FX Original

Hulu

Growing up, Alien was our first horror movie that blended sci-fi, thrills, otherwordly characters and plenty of jumpscares! Throughout the Alien Universe, we have enjoyed seeing more from the variety of Xenomorphs (endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species), space travel, humans holding their place in society and the various individuals that include humans, synthetics, and human-hybrids! Each movie tackles different areas in time around the flagship Alien movie. In Alien: Earth, this serialized show is actually prior to the original movie and sets up how these worlds came together. We see the various classes and how companies hold a very large stake in how humanity goes about their day to day. Of course, we also get to know more about the Xenomorphs as they go about hunting humans and maintaining their dominance!

BUTTERFLY

Prime Video Original

Prime Video

Sometimes families coming together can be complicated and in Butterfly, we meet David Jung (Daniel Dae Kim), a former US intelligence operative living in South Korea under the grid. He is willing to risk it all for his past that has now come into his present. While Caddis, a spy organization is on his heels to find and take him out, he realizes that their deadly young assassin Rebecca (Reina Hardesty) is worth him staying around risking his life in order to connect with her again! What would you do for an estranged connection?

Read the AUG ISSUE #116 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

QUARTERBACK S2

Netflix Original

Netflix

With the upcoming football season starting soon, we can get our fix by watching S2 of Netflix's Quarterback which follows select quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins during the 2024-2025 season. We get to see them on the field, during practice, and when they are out and about living their lives. We enjoy being able to know how they see the game and navigate their lives as well as to work alongside their teammates. If last season was any indication, we know that this will be a quick binge as we get ready for a great football season ahead.

BALLARD

Prime Video Original

Prime Video

Avid readers of Athleisure Mag know that we have been a fan of Prime Video's BOSCH the flagship show as well as its first spin-off BOSCH: Legacy and now the latest, BALLARD! These Michael Connelly series are based on his books that allow us to follow a series of cases in the LAPD and to get to know those who are investigating even more. In BALLARD, we are introduced to Renee Ballard (Maggie Q) who we know left Homicide in the LAPD due to an incident and now helms an interesting team of Reserve Officers as well as volunteers to help solve cold cases.

As we watch her navigate getting justice for those that have been forgotten, we are reminded of our favorite characters from the BOSCH universe that even include Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) himself!

Like the other series in this universe, it is fast paced, there are multiple cases and twists and we're sure you'll find it as satisfying as we did. We're already looking forward to what S2 will involve to see how this story will continue.

EASY MONEY: THE CHARLES PONZI STORY

Apple Originals

Spotify

In terms of financial crimes, we are all aware of Ponzi Schemes as it has been attached to a number of downfalls that people have found themselves in. In Easy Money: The Charles Ponzi Story, we find out about the man, Charles Ponzi (Sebastian Maniscalco) who came to the US to live his American Dream and due to various choices that he made became the symbol that many people have been connected to that have involved swindling and other nefarious behaviors financially.

We trace Charles' story from being in Italy, coming to the US, attempts at making an ernest living, to figuring out a plan that wasn't fully formed but had to be moved upon.

It's doing this plan and continuing to add others to it in order to fund it that creates what we know to be the Ponzi Scheme that continues to pop up across industries in a number of ways.

Read the JUL ISSUE #116 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

DEPT Q

Netflix Original

Netflix

Prior to watching Dept. Q, we were not aware that it is an adaptation of Department Q, a 10 book series originally. But within the first few minutes, we were hooked on this Danish crime thriller series where Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) is a talented policeman who works in his own way. Coming off of an injury on the job, he is given his own unit where he is tasked with finding a Cold Case to solve in the basement of the police station with very minimal resources. Over the course of the episodes he puts together an interesting 4 person team who also have their own way of solving the abduction of a well known person who has been missing for 4 years.

What's enjoyable about this series that we hope will have an additional season, is that you get to see the process that each of the characters go through to solve the case as a team as well as individually. We also get to know a lot about the people in the life of the victim and how they could be involved or how they are able to give clues that may not have been examined thoroughly before.

THE BETTTER SISTER

Prime Video Original

Prime Video

We really enjoyed the twists, turns, and misdirects that took place in The Better Sister which takes place in The Hamptons and in NYC. We get to see 2 sisters who have an interesting connection beyond being siblings and how they have lived very different lives when they have not been around one another.

When life events turns both of their worlds upside down, they have to get over their grievances and distrust with one another and learn to be a team in order to find out what happened to them and how they can continue to live a new life that they have imagined them for themselves.

THE BEAR

FX Originals

Hulu

The wait is over! S4 of The Bear takes us back to Chicago over the course of 10 episodes of this final season of a beloved series. Whether you binge it all or spread it out all episodes can be seen right now!

We have followed Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), his family, and the team that has worked with him since the beginning. We have seen the sacrafices that they have made personally and professionally, the transition that has taken place in the restaurant, and industry titans that have made appearances in this show. How will this all be tied up and what more will we be able to learn about this group that we have watched since 2020? We're going to find out!

Read the JUN ISSUE #114 of Athleisure Mag and see Bingely TV/Streaming in mag.

SEASON 4 POWER UNIVERSE | POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN LONDON BROWN, HAILEY KILGORE, MALCOLM MAYS

We're a few days out from S4 of Power Book III: Raising Kanan with its season premiere on STARZ on March 7th. The Power Universe is always pulling us in as we see how they navigate in their world, new faces, and the importance of family dynamics. If you have yet to catch up on the season, now is the time! There are no spoilers here if you have already watched the series; however, if you haven't there may be references in previous episodes.

We sat down with 3 members of the cast London Brown (Ballers, American Soul, Back to the Good Life) who plays Marvin Thomas, Hailey Kilgore (Amazing Stories, Respect, Cinnamon) who plays Laverne "Jukebox" Ganner, and Malcolm Mays (Southpaw, Snowfall, Them) who plays Lou-Lou Thomas. We wanted to know more about their characters, how they see them, where we find them, and chat about what we can look forward to as we get ready for the upcoming episodes.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to connect with you all. London, we have talked ahead of every season and it’s so good to check in with you again. Hailey, I had the pleasure of chatting with you prior to S2 I believe which was great. Malcolm, it’s nice to connect with you! What do you enjoy about playing your characters Marvin, Jukebox, and Lou Lou before we delve into the season?

LONDON BROWN: For me, it’s been fun for them to allow me to play the character my way. The fact that they were open and willing to hear the ideas that I had on Marvin and I could tell that the writers started to write for me! That’s always great when the writers know that you are going to do something with their words. I was able to feel that and I knew that they had figured it out.

I’m like, “yo, throw it at me – whatever it is!” Let it be emotional, fun – whatever you want to do. Do you want guns? Do you want him holding some food? I’m ready to have a good time! I just appreciate the writers for even allowing me and trusting me to deliver their words properly, you know?

AM: It’s always fun when I see you on screen London as you always own that screen and it’s great to see how we you have navigated playing Martin.

Hailey and Malcom what about Juke and Lou Lou?

HAILEY KILGORE: Juke is a badass! If I was walking around unafraid like that and willing to be bold would be amazing. I don’t think that I have that personally.

MALCOLM MAYS: I kind of like that he’s kind of a mark, that’s kind of nice. I’m not like that and I don’t get to relate or empathize with mark ass behavior in my life. Everybody is not built of steel, you have to pretend to be built of steel. It’s nice to occupy that space sometimes. In life, much like Black women, Black men don’t get that opportunity to be vulnerable with that physical consequence.

AM: As we wait for S4 to start, where did we leave your characters last season and where are we picking up with them again?

HK: Ooo

MM: Ha! There’s so many seasons!

LB: You know, that’s a good question! I would say that with the last season, I feel like Marvin – you guys are catching him still in the strive of his journey and he’s trying to find his real groove. He’s trying to be a guy that is taking on more responsibility for himself and not trying to be sonned by Raq (Patina Miller). So moving forward, in this season, you see Marvin taking more initiative and making his own moves outside of whatever his sister has going on.

That’s his way of trying to be a little more independent and to take back his position in and within himself. That way he feels validated and so the season of things that Marvin and Stefano Marchetti (Tony Danza) share is because of that. Marvin is trying to find someone that really appreciates his work because for so long, he feels like his loyalty and things like that were slept on! This season, he’s like, “yo, I’m about to figure it out on my own!”

AM: What are you excited about for S4 that fans should be looking forward to?

MM: I think that I just got out of rehab so they should be looking forward to a more sober and less crash out Lou – that’s what I remember!

HK: Listen, I think the fans have been demanding this switch to flip in Juke and I think that they’re going to get that this season.

LB: I’m excited for the fans to see the real family side of the show. I think that sometimes, because it is in the Power Universe, I think that the fans only think about you know, the dramatics, the street life, but I think that this season, the audience will really be able to see that yo, they’re involved in all of the nefarious things, but they are a real family with real issues and son/daughter dynamics – they’re trying to figure it all out. But at the end of the day, they really are family. The family stuff that the audience will finally get to see is going to finally be able to explain and answer some questions from previous seasons. Oh, that’s why Raq and Marvin have this dynamic because of that, this is why Lou is doing what he’s doing – we kind of break it down some more and that has been fun!

AM: It’s incredible how you have all brought these characters to life and we’re looking forward to how we see it on screen soon! It’s great to chat with all of you to get your takes as we get ready for S4 and I always love each season catching up with you.

LB: Thank you so much, I appreciate you!

IG @reallondonbrown

@haileyfkilgore

@imalcolmmays

@raisingkananstarz

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | STARZ/POWR BOOK III: Raising Kanan

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see SEASON 4 POWER UNIVERSE | POWER BOOK III: Raising Kanan London Brown, Hailey Kilgore, Malcom Mays in mag.

DIGGING INTO THE DYNASTY | HBO'S CELTICS CITY DIRECTOR LAUREN STOWELL + PRODUCER GABE HONIG

We love a good documentary and docuseries and when it covers something iconic in sports, you don't have to tell us twice! HBO's CELTICS CITY takes us through one of the most storied franchises in the league that is truly a dynasty and most recently won their 18th Championship last year. In this 9 episode docuseries premiering on March 3rd, we learn about the history of the Boston Celtics from its start, how it fits within the city of Boston, the impact of the sport, as well as culture on the game and more!

We sat down with the docuseries director, Lauren Stowell (144, Tiger Woods: America’s Son, SC Featured: Together – The Jrue and Lauren Holiday Story) and its producer Gabe Honig (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, US Open Epics: Tiger Woods: Perfection at Pebble Beach, The Captain) to find out about the series, how they went about covering 75 years of history, incredible interviews, and what the Celtics mean to fans, sports enthusiasts, and more.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s great to talk to both of you! Before we delve into CELTICS CITY, can you tell me a bit about your backgrounds? Lauren, I know that you did Tiger Woods: America’s Son and Gabe, The Captain – as a Yankees fan, that was a phenomenal docuseries!

LAUREN STOWELL: Yeah, I, currently work with Connor Schell (co-creator and Executive Producer of the 30 for 30 series for ESPN, O.J.: Made in America, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story) at Words + Pictures as a Director/Producer there. I've been there for 2 years since we really started CELTICS CITY. Prior to that, I was at ESPN as a Storyteller Feature Producer documentarian for 16 years. Before that, I was at UConn, you know, I'm a Connecticut native!

GABE HONIG: I've been a freelancer for all the very many years of my career and done such shows as Friday Night Tykes and then The Captain. I hooked up with Words + Pictures with Connor and Libby Geist (The Last Dance, Giannis: The Marvelous Journey, Court of Gold), and then Lauren too to embark on this adventure.

AM: So, what was it about CELTICS CITY that made you guys want to be part of the project and to tell this onion of a phenomenal story?

LS: Initially, after reading the treatment that, you know, Connor and Bill Simmons (The Ringer podcast network, 30 For 30, Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary), had the initial idea to do something longform - multi-part, but really starting to get into the layers of the story for me personally, obviously, Gabe can speak to his experience once we started discussing the story. It was so multi-layered. It was so nuanced, there was so much room for possibility and opportunity, within the story. When, Gabe came on board and we started discussing the story, the arnrative, and the structure. It was almost unbelievable how many highs and lows and larger than like characters, iconic figures, not just sports, but American history. Yeah. So the opportunity for me to tell a story that went beyond just the story of the Celtics, something that could resonate and connect to American culture as large, was really what drew me to the project.

GH: So as a lifelong New Yorker and fan of all things New York sports. This is the last project that I think that I could ever think that I would spend 2 years of my life doing around the Boston Celtics! Words and Pictures passed me the treatment after I was done with The Captain, and I read it and I was just like, “there's a lot here that I think as a Storyteller you can really sink your teeth into.” I was still a little skeptical and then I met with Lauren and her vision for how she wanted to tell this story, I was inspired within the first 20 minutes of what ended up being our 2 hour conversation!

AM: Oh wow!

GH: We spent a lot of time before we shot a single frame, really figuring out what are the tent poles here? What are the stories and where do all the branches come off of? Who are the characters? And I think that's what also separates this story from other stories about franchises. Lauren's focus was on the people and their experiences as they move throughout history. I think that's the thing about the Celtics that, like, I think people are going to really fall in love with, and that makes it the most interesting is that it's the people. The organization leans into the people, the people that have been there for 40 plus years that are still there. That's unheard of in professional sports!

And that comes with pluses, and minuses with that as well. We don't shy away from any of that. It's about character and how those people grew, didn't grow, and all the pros and cons of complicated human beings?

AM: What was each of your favorite moments in the docuseries? Whether it's something you know that we actually get to see through the series, or maybe just something just being in the production side that that really spoke to you?

LS: Ugh, it's such a good question! It's so hard! I know for Gabe it will be difficult for him too. We talk about this all the time, the moments that you know over the almost 2 years that we were working on this story. I would say for me, one of the moments that just really resonated with me was when we were able to get Karen Russell and Randy Auerbach together. They’re close friends and we kind of discovered that through speaking with each of them in our kind of early research phases. I think what was important to all of us on the team was really understanding Red Auerbach and Bill Russell as men, as people, what their character was, and their values. Because without understanding that, you can't really understand the history of the Boston Celtics without understanding those two - the architects of what it became and what it is. I think that was, like, such a special moment for me.

Just seeing them sit across from each other, the genuine admiration and reverence that they each held for each other, but that they talked about each of their fathers holding for one another and how much I guess it meant you know that even they were able to keep this relationship all these years later, and it was just cool to see the daughters of 2 Legends!

AM: Right.

LS: Sitting across from each other all these years later and reminiscing on their favorite moments and how much their father's impact on the sport and on America was. It was really cool for me. I think there's so many moments, but that's probably one for me. That just felt really special.

AM: That's really cool.

GH: I'm going to give you a 3 part answer here.

AM: Give it to us!

GH: Easily the coolest moment. Yeah, okay. As a huge sports fan, like, yeah, being in the room when Larry Bird was interviewed!

AM: Um yeah!

GH: It’s like Holy Shit. And yeah, you know, I'm riding up in the elevator with Larry Bird of the Celtics who has been there for 40+ years and Jackie MacMullan (Editor’s Note: She is a retired freelance newspaper sportswriter and NBA columnist for ESPN.com). What am I doing here?

AM: Yup!

GH: So that's cool. There were other moments I had the easy job of sitting in the room, but not actually asking the questions. That was, Lauren, uh, who was doing most of the question asking for the process. And there were several times, and I don't want to spoil anything. There were several times where I'm just like, that bite right there, what that person just said that's going to be in the show and will be in the trailer. That question that I mentioned earlier, why do I have these preconceived notions about Boston. By having somebody answer that for me in a way that resonated for me was like a magical moment.

Then the third thing is another kind of, like, just really cool moment man, like being there when they won Banner 18. I'm not a Celtics fan. I try to be impartial on my job. Being in that building, a culmination of almost 2 years of work and seeing that green and white confetti come down, that was pretty fucking cool!

AM: I can see that, wow!

LS: You just gave me chills Gabe again – such a cool moment.

AM: I can only imagine, I mean, sometimes you'll watch a game and even if you're not necessarily a fan, you're rooting for and hoping for a better season.

How long did it take for you guys, to work on this in terms of production/post-production? You guys truly are dealing with research and acquiring these amazing people to speak, from relatives, front office, players, etc. I can't even imagine, like how much time was involved?

LS: Gabe, I mean you’re air traffic control. Please tell her the air traffic that you work with!

GH: The day-to-day of the project started in January of 2023. You know, we started staffing up in February of that year, and our first interview was Bob Cousy (Editors Note: Bob Cousy played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950-1963. He was a 6X NBA Champion, 13X NBA All-Star and 1957 NBA MVP and was known as a core piece during the early half of the Celtics dynasty known as The Houdini of the Hardwood and is regarded as the 1st great point guard of the NBA and was the first to reach the 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000 career assists milestones), because there was concerns about his health, and by the way, Bob is still doing fine. We filmed that interview on, I think the first week of April of ‘23.

We really started filming heavily that May all throughout the end of the Summer. We had, I think, 50 interviews in the can.

AM: Wow.

GH: The Summer of ’23 was an incredible blur. I mean, I'm just in awe of Lauren and our producers, Sascha Gardner (American Greed, The Athletic, The Captain), and Christina Lenis (The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, The First 48 Presents: Homicide Squad Atlanta, Slow Burn). Like, I don't know how they did it, we all did it. We ended up doing 98 interviews. Our final interview was Kevin Garnett in August of ‘24.

AM: Wow!

GH: Yeah, we started editing in May of ‘23. Throughout the process, we had to submit for review, between 70 and 80 cuts that all had their sets of notes. We've got a lot of partners and things like that. You know, Lauren and I are still laughing and smiling. There were times like in any creative process where you want to, uh, pull your hair out and you feel like all is lost.

AM: Yup.

GH: At the end of the day, I couldn't be prouder of what our team was able to accomplish.

LS: I'll add on to what Gabe is saying too. I mean, you know, he talks about that summer of ‘23, that was just kind of a blur. I mean. I cannot say enough about the team, the preparations that was required for these interviews. If you think about the story we're telling, starting in 1950 to a current hunt for a championship with these players. It was 75-80 years of history that everyone on the team - I mean, there were probably 25-30 books that everyone had to read. There was no one definitive work that we could use that just is the history of the Boston Celtics. We had to piece together almost like a patchwork of the research. And you know, Gabe and the team the preparation for the interviews for me was unreal.

Like, I'm talking some of these interviews, a lot of them are 3-4 hours on average. And you know, I had 10-12 pages of notes, research questions, and topics. All of that had to be a fine-tuned, well-oiled machine to be able to do week after week after week. And yeah, it was a very aggressive timeline. And yeah, our team was amazing in accomplishing so much in a short amount of time.

AM: I love how basketball - obviously, it’s great for entertainment and learning about the people who play the sport and the dedication they have. But it's also a vehicle about the larger story of what's going on and what that mirror is and what it can be. What do you want the viewers to get after they enjoy seeing all 9 episodes?

LS: I think what I would want the viewer to walk away with is having conversations that maybe they thought they would never have. That's what I would hope, because I do think our goal as a team was to challenge some of the perceptions, to bring truth, to allow the characters of the story - the fabric of the Celtics to speak. These individuals, who many of them never have told their stories some have, many haven't. For them to speak their truth, and I hope that that becomes a source of, you know, again - important discourse, especially in today in our culture and society right now. We need to have these conversations, and I hope that this film allows that because we were able to show the arc of 75 years of Celtics history, but also American history.

GH: That’s a great answer Lauren. Again, as I tend to do, I'm going to answer this in 2 parts.

AM: Nice!

GH: Number 1 - you know and it’s something that I don't even know if I've ever talked to Lauren about this. In our first conversation, Lauren, brought something to my attention that I think is vitally important if you're a sports fan. This film is not just for sports fans.

AM: Right.

GH: I think somebody that doesn't know anything about basketball, you will enjoy it. For sports fans, I want, you know. I'm hoping that people can take away something, which is like, if you love sports, you know, the story understandably, and you should know the story about Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodgers and Branch Rickey (Editor’s Note: Branch Rickey was a baseball executive and player who broke MLB’s color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He also created the framework for modern minor league farm system, and he introduced the batting helmet).

AM: Right.

GH: No one talks about Red Auerbach or the Boston Celtics in terms of moving this country forward in terms of Civil Rights within sports and understanding that an athlete is just an athlete. I hope that the takeaway here is that there are other people in that conversation that move the ball forward and perhaps, moved it forward in really interesting ways as well as those never really talked about ways.

And then, just to add on to what Lauren said quickly - what I loved about working with Lauren is that we were pushed to hear from people who haven't been allowed to tell their story, who the camera has not been pointed at and these stories - some of these stories with the Celtics yeah, they've been told before.

AM: Right.

GH: We had a challenge to tell them in a different way and Lauren put people in front of the camera and they were so happy to finally be able to tell their side of the story, and it's so vitally important, and it's a perspective that needs to happen more in all of media, but especially sports documentaries.

IG @lstowell

@gabehonig

PHOTOS COURTESY | HBO

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see DIGGING INTO THE DYNASTY | HBO’S CELTICS CITY Director Lauren Stowell + Producer Gabe Honig in mag.

BINGELY TV STREAMING

THE WHITE LOTUS

HBO Original

Max

We're always excited to check into the latest season of The White Lotus! In S3, we find ourselves in Thailand and we are introduced to new and old characters that will leave us guessing on how they are connected as well as who died and who did it! This is the classic forumla that brings its viewers back each season. Avid watchers know that each season focuses on a vice and questions elements around it, this season takes a look at the wellness industry as well as what it means to immerse oneself into a series of cultural rituals whether one does it authentically or as a means to wear it as a costume with the ability to take it off as needed.

We can't wait to see where the season will take us, the stunning destinations and the characters that we can't wait to find out more about!

PARADISE

Hulu Original

Hulu

Over the last few years, Apocalyptic dramas have really taken on new layers and nuances. Like many, we have been hooked on Paradise, a Hulu Original that looks at the end of the world with a curated group of individuals that have been selected to continue life away from where they have always been. In each episode, we learn more about how everyone is connected, how people were selected to be in this group, and is the threat that everyone ran from as big as everyone believed it to be!

Each episode ends with a cliffhanger and more understanding of how the pieces fit into one another. The cast which includes Sterling K. Brown (This is Us, Hotel Artemis, Black Panther) and James Marsden (WestWorld, Jury Duty, Ally McBeal) - we can't wait to see how this season ends! We also can't wait for next season as they have been renewed for S2.

MADAM RAM

QCode

Spotify

We're always looking for a great podcast and we can't say enough about the latest from QCode is yet another immersive audio drama experience that tells the story of Georgia Frontiere who is voiced by Toni Collette (The Estate, Nightmare Alley, Knives Out) in Madam Ram. Georgia is the controversial opera singer turned NFL owner of the Los Angeles Rams and this series is based on true events with some scenes and characters being fictionalized.

We get to know more about her ambition, power, and quest for respect as she helms the team via ownership. It's a great way to know more about the team and her place in the league.

We've been fans of QCode and the way that they present their podcasts that truly feel like a journey and we expect nothing less in their latest venture.

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

THE NIGHT AGENT S2

Netflix Originals

Netflix

Over the winter holidays, we decided to catch up on our favorite shows (hello Squid Games) as well as watch series and films that were new to us (such as Black Doves, Carry-On, and Subservience to name a few). The platform suggested that we watch The Night Agent and we enjoyed S1 which takes us into the world of espionage and shows us what happens when a phone call changes the lives of so many people as well as to see the innerworkings of complicated connections. With a satisfying S1, we're excited that we can now watch S2 to see how Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) navigates his new role as he gets deeper into the Night Action program. Who will be his allies and who are the adversaries this season? What happened to those that we met last season? We're excited to find out and know that these episodes will be full of twists and turns!

THE PITT

Max Original

Max

We love a good medical drama and if we're honest, it was programs like ER that let us see the inner workings of a hospital and the staff that makes everything roll along! It created our love for shows such as Grey's Anatomy, The Resident, and so much more.

In The Pitt, we meet Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) in a hospital in Pittsburgh. Over the course of 15 episodes we get to see a shift - so essentially, all of the shows this season are seen in "real time" hour by hour! We're met with a range of patients, understanding the dynamics of staff as they navigate their personal lives as well as their working relationship, and so much more.

The Pitt is a progressive build where you're very invested in the residents, patients that span over a series of episodes, and the flashbacks that we continue to be privy to of Dr. Robby who is dealing with the angst that took place during the pandemic. We're excitd to see what this shift will look like and we hope that they are renewed for another season so we can see what new topics will be tackled.

THE PRESTIGE TV PODCAST

A Spotify Original + The Ringer

Spotify

A number of the series we watch has companion podcasts which tend to be in partnership with the show or network that they are on. We listen to them in our feed, but we also enjoy checking in with The Prestige TV Podcast. We're able to hear their thoughts on Severance, The Agency, Yellow Jackets and more. Depending on the show, it will either be broken out with an episode per podcast show or they will be groups.

The hosts will talk about what took place in the show, how it ties into source material if it is adapted from a book or a movie, fan theories, what they expect to see in upcoming issues, and they stay away from spoilers. We suggest listening to the episodes after you have watched the show to get the most out of them and to prep for the next episode of your favorite series.

Read the JAN ISSUE #109 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.