BINGELY TV/STREAMING

PHOTO CREDIT | Netflix/Being Gordon Ramsay

BEING GORDON RAMSAY

Netflix DocuSERIES

Netflix

We know Chef Gordon Ramsay whether you have been to his restaurant, watch a number of his shows, or purchase items that we see him partnered with. We know that is a busy man who has an ever growing empire. In Being Gordon Ramsay, we watch as he is about to launch a large multi-venue dining complex in London’s Bishopgate tower on the 60th floor. While he is focused on this, we get to see his family, the relationship with his business partners, how he continues to stay connected with his other restaurants, and how he looks at building his empire across his hospitality group, media and other ventures.

PHOTO CREDIT | FX/Love Story John J Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette

LOVE STORY: JOHN F KENNEDY & CAROLYN BESSETTE

FX

Hulu

In Love Story: John F Kennedy & Carolyn Bessette, we go back to the 90’s to learn about JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette. We see how he transitioned from being an Assistant District Attorney for NYC to becoming the founder of George Magazine. We see how she rises in the ranks of Calvin Klein as a VIP services person to running the PR for celeb talent. Of course we see how their 2 lives collide for a romance that wasn’t easy with his stardom, attachments to his on again off again girlfriend Darryl Hannah, and living in his family’s shadow as a Kennedy.

We get to see what drove them as people and together. We also see how they navigated their relationship that was filled with growth, marriage, and then eventually the events that led to the tragic plane crash. Throughout this limited series you get the vibes of the time, the style, and the music as well as more texture on their love story.

PHOTO CREDIT | 30 For 30 Podcasts/Murder at the U

MURDER AT THE U

30 For 30 Podcasts

Spotify

We always enjoy the podcasts that come from 30 For 30Podcasts and their investigative journalism that focuses on some of the most known as well as lesser known sport stories that we want to know more about. In their latest series, Murder at the U, which looks at the murder of University of Miami senior defensive tackle Bryan Pata in 2006. It was all

but certian that he would be a top draft pick and would be drafted to the NFL. He was months away from having everything that he wanted for himself as well as his family.

But everything took a turn when one night in November he was shot dead outside of his apartment after coming home from practice. For over a decade, this death has been one that has rocked college football and his family and friends are still trying to get answers on who did this to this man? A team of ESPN reporters have taken it upon themselves to look at the evidence and talk to those who knew him.

Read the FEB ISSUE #122 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY TV/STREAMING in mag.

GO GET'EM MODE | MICHELLE BUTEAU

We’re days into the New Year and we’re making sure that we are setting ourselves up for the best success! Although we know that the 1st is the beginning of the year, it’s that first Monday that really lets us know what we’re in for. Jan 5th is really the beginning of a series of days and weeks where we really have to get in gear!

We sat down with actor, standup comedian, producer, Co-Creator and star of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest Michelle Buteau to talk about her career, her creative process, her projects and why she partnered with Premier Protein! She talks about the importance of showing up for herself and being good to herself.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Hello! We met briefly at Chuks Collins dinner this Fall when he shared his collection at Bryant Park Grill. I was waiting to be seated, turned around and then there you were looking stunning walking by and all I could get out was, I love you in Survival of the Thickest!

MICHELLE BUTEAU: Oh yes, that was a great dinner and Chuks is so special!

AM: Yes it was such a good dinner and it’s great talking with you now.

MB: I love to hear that people love the show because it makes me feel like I am doing my job, so thank you for that! I will never get tired of that.

AM: I am a fan of your energy, your humor, your authenticity and all the things! Honestly, I don’t know where I was in life, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I was like wait who is this – I loved you on Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown, you were the host of a social reality show that I loved watching, being on BET’s First Wives Club – I was like this woman is working! You literally got me through the pandemic which then brought me to watching the other things that you do as well!

You’re an actress, a comedian, a producer, a host, you can do drama – when did you realize that you wanted to be an entertainer?

MB: Oh my goodness! I feel that every kid thinks that they can be an entertainer. I think that it was when I was around 12 or 13 that I was like, “I think that I want to do this” to my parents and they were like, no you don’t. I don’t think that I really told myself or gave myself permission or license to really go far with this until my 20’s which is so crazy, but you know, whatever makes you happy!

AM: Well, whether you’re preparing for a character or an upcoming film, or series, what is your creative process or what do you pull from when you’re trying to get ready for things that you’re working on?

MB: You know, that’s such a great question! I don’t really have a process, the main thing that I have to do, because I have a husband, 2 dogs, 2 kids, are responsibilities at home and in life. The main thing for me to do is that I am happy and healthy, that I have all of my vitamins, and I am taking care of myself because my brain is working! When I have a good amount of rest because I like to be busy – the main thing is that I am taking care of me throughout the day!

AM: In Survival of the Thickest, I love it with the energy of that show! You are showing the industry and what goes on in it. I am the Co-Founder/Creative + Style Dir of Athleisure Mag but I am also a Fashion Stylist. So when I am watching the show and your character, I’m like oh yeah – that is what it is!

MB: Yeah, you get it!

AM: Yup, I’m like, that’s pretty much it! It’s glam when it’s glam and then it’s just not.

MB: Yeah and I love that about it. It’s a parallel to comedy which is why I chose that job for my character. That job will humble you real quick and the next day you could be flying first class or private in this whole different realm, so I think it is important to know that there are a whole of different places that you can live especially with the job that you love.

AM: What made you want to be a Co-Creator of this show and also star in it as well? I know that you’re back in production on S3 and I am so bummed that this will be the final season – but the series has everything!

MB: I mean, it was just really natural right? I have been doing standup for 24 years and it has helped me figure out my voice, my platform – and when I wrote this book when I brought my kids home from the hospital. I was like, “oh, I have twin babies now and I guess I will be at home so I need to write a book – I mean what? What?” But I will say, hot tip, I do put some Premier Protein Shake in my coffee because that’s how I get my protein! I get my coffee kick, my caffeine kick, my protein kick! So that was very helpful! Obviously lots of hugs and fresh hugs too – but anyways!

AM: What is life without fresh veggies and hugs?

MB: Ok now! Downward dogs and everything – cat/cow!

I mean, I wrote the book and then when Netflix optioned the book, they said, “do you want to build this world yourself or would you like to work with someone?” There’s nothing better than collaborating. When you find the right person it just sings and so I am so happy that Netflix introduced me to my Co-Creator Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (My Name is Earl, New Girl, The Carmichael Show) because we had a time! We had a whole kiki! It’s been so fun! It is 3rd and final, but that’s ok because I think that it is a gift knowing that you are not coming back so that you can do what you want to do. Also, no one is a 1 trick pony! We can go out there and do other things – I mean look at you!

AM: Tell me about The Surviving and Thriving Tour!

MB: Oh my goodness! Well, you know, everybody has got – the whole point is that we can live in 2 places at once. While we feel like this is really hard, there also some really good things too. You have to wake up really early, but isn’t it really good that you get to wake up really early and get to do all the things that you want to do? I feel like being busy or stressed is a privilege – I get to have the responsibility to do these things which is really fun. So Surviving and Thriving is named kind of after that. I love standup and I can’t wait to go back out on tour. I love performing and just writing hard jokes, hard jokes. I want people bending over with laughter! I want people to just be cackling because laughter is medicine and I’m a doctor!

AM: I mean, I will take in all the prescriptions that you’re providing!

MB: Yeah! There’s no Co-Pay, come get you some laughs!

AM: Spa Weekend looks amazing! It’s a great cast! Why did you want to be part of that project?

MB: I mean, there is just this beautiful, wild and comedic powerhouses coming together! I love Isla Fisher (Now You See Me franchise, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Nocturnal Animals), Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, Blockers, Motherless Brooklyn), Anna Faris (Scary Movie franchise, Mom, The House Bunny) and how could I not want to be part of that team? I also love the idea of strong female bonds and relationships when we are from different walks of life. The one thing that we have in common is that the women of Spa Weekend, go on a spa weekend because they need it. They are really busy with the responsibilities and the mundane things that are done in life and they have to go away. They just go away for a wild weekend and they just have a lot of fun stuff going on and a lot of hijinks!

AM: I cannot wait to see it!

You recently partnered with Premier Protein as a part of their New Year campaign and Go Get ‘Em Mode. Tell me about this mode and what it is and why did you want to partner with this brand?

MB: Oh my goodness because I like to Go Get’ Em so let’s Go Get ‘Em, come on sis – let’s roll! Are you for real? So I remember and this was a full circle moment. My dad, he was like the busiest man alive. He would lift weights in between meetings, take me to the mall and he was so busy. He would always have a Premier Protein Shake! So I grew up watching the busiest man I know always being in Go Mode and getting it done and always taking care of his body. So when Premier Protein Shake approached me, I said yes! Everyone knows about that hard start of the year at the top of January 1st and it isn’t always that and then people beat themselves up – it’s the Monday – it’s the January 5th of it all. It’s really exciting because Premier Protein wants to set people up for success by going to goget2026.com and you can go on there and try them out for free! They will send it to you in your house in select cities (Atlanta, NY, Chicago, LA, Philadelphia and Miami). We all know what that is! We know what the pre-party is before you have to go to work so it’s that 5-9 where you’re like, uh-oh how am I going to do this, who am I going to be, what am I going to wear? You know, can I touch my toes, will I have enough energy – yes you can! It’s Premier Protein and they want to help you get that energy sis so let’s go!

AM: I love that and a shake is a great way to do all of that!

What do you love about drinking these shakes? Do you have a special flavor?

MB: I’m a Chocolate or Caramel girlie! What I love about it is that I am doing something for myself. I feel like because women – I mean, I’m no doctor – I only play one on TV – actually I did!

AM: I was going to say you did!

MB: You got me!

AM: You did!

MB: We need between 40 and 65 grams of protein a day. So you get 30 in one shot with the bottle, it’s like pretty great! When I have more energy, I’m nicer to people! There’s no road rage you know what I mean? I hope you heal! Oh my God there’s a spot! I found a parking spot? Yes you can cut me in line! You go –

AM: That’s right!

MB: I’m just a nicer person when I have more energy. So yes, I do that for myself - treat yo’self all year long!

IG @michellebuteau

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Netflix/Vanessa Clifton

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see GO GET’EM MODEL | Michelle Buteau in mag.

FINDING YOUR BALANCE

Avid readers of Athleisure Mag know that a few months back we had an article that was focused on fitness and menopause where we talked with Dr. Jessica Shepherd, Board-Certified OB/GYN, Chief Medical Officer at Hers, and Pvolve Advisory Board Member for Women’s Health & Longevity. It was the first time that we covered this topic.

She shared how menopause is comprised of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. She also talked about symptoms that many of us may be familiar with from hot flashes, irregular periods, brain fog and more. We know that this tends to happen to women between 40 and 50. Although a number of elements of menopause seemed to be new to what we knew about, we were not prepared to learn so much more in Balance: A Perimenopause Journey which is a docuseries created by 2 monastic filmmakers, Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Sadhvi Anubhuti, who not only started their menopausal jounrey, but wanted to share their experiences and how they are approaching it as they found that there was quite a bit of misinformation, lack of research/education, and stigme around this portion of a woman’s lifecycle. This docuseries premieres on Jan 30th on Apple+ and Prime Video.

We do not only hear from them and the doctors that are treating them as one focuses on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and the other opts to do so utilize natural remedies. They also have medical professionals who have varying opinions, regular women along with their partners who weigh in, and even Executive Producers Alyssa Milano (Who’s the Boss, Charmed, Spin City) and Jeannie Mai (The Real, Raid the Cage, America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation) share their accounts as well. In watching this 4-part docuseries, we were constantly reminded of so many aspects that people don’t talk about and why we need to do the research necessary to assist us as we navigate this time as for many, this journey start 10 years prior to the target age of menopause which is in the 30s for many of us!

ATHLEISURE MAG: First off, we have to say that we’re positively frustrated in watching this docuseries. That is to say that this is an incredibly informative docuseries where we learned a number of things that we didn’t know about the menopausal journey and that it makes us want to do more research and yet to see the gaps that exist that shouldn’t be. We could go on and on but I am excited to sit with you to hear from you as filmmakers and women navigating the menopausal journey.

Why did you want to make this docuseries?

SADHVI SIDDHALI SHREE: We wanted to make this docuseries Balance, because we wanted to educate women. We are not prepared and because we’re not prepared, we don’t know what we’re going through. We often criticize ourselves, we blame ourselves and we feel all kinds of frustrations because we are going through this transition but no one told us how to navigate. So, to reduce that suffering is important to us as monks and filmmakers.

AM: What’s really impressive in this docuseries are the different voices that you have coming together to talk about this topic. You have different kinds of medical professionals, those who are pro HRT, as well as those that aren’t, I was so excited to see Dr. Jessica Shepherd who I met a few months ago and I had interviewed her about menopause as the event was on the topic, having regular women, Alyssa Milano, and a former cover of ours – Jeannie Mai – both who serve as Executive Producers of this docuseries. So why did you want to approach it in this way by having those on various sides of the issue for, against, and those in the grey area?

SADHVI ANUBHUTI: You said it right! We wanted to make sure that we covered everything. When you are treating perimenopause and menopause, you want to treat it holistically. So we wanted to make sure that we had nutrition, activity, and a full understanding of what is happening to us from the OB/GYNs and a full scope of everything. So it was very important that we included trusted voices.

AM: Why do you think that there is such a stigma around the transition of menopause from the awareness, the marketing aspect, the fact that there is this timeline of life prior to menopause, 1 day which is the actual menopause, and then after. I’m 46 and I will be 47 in Sept. When I went to my first menopause event last Fall I remember thinking well that is for people in their 50s and 60s – is this even a fit? Then learning about the menopausal journey, it was like, “oh no you are in that mode and you need to learn about this!”

SA: You are right! It’s that misunderstanding of what is happening in this space. It’s the fact that women have not been included in that research and we have been underfunded, under researched, and misunderstood. That needs to change. So information needs to be out there and that is why this series needs to be there.

AM: It covers so many things from the social, emotional, and physical aspects of this journey. How long did it take you to think about creating this, doing this, traveling all over the world, and the research? What was the process in creating this?

SSS: I would say, that we were going through the early perimenopause symptoms for a few months and as filming was going on, we realized that no one knew about this. We were researching for ourselves and so we knew we had to do a docuseries in 4 parts so that it would cover everything. So the whole process took about 2.5 years. So as soon as we knew that we could film our appointments because we wanted to show this raw and honest from the very get go.

AM: It took 2.5 years and it’s now coming out Jan 30th, the same day that our JAN ISSUE #121 drops, what Jan 30th, what has been the response that you have received from those with early previews/screenings? Even for those that have participated in it as we get to see other people’s journeys along with their spouses as well and how they are doing. You also have your journeys as well.

SA: I think that for the first time, many women are starting to feel seen, validated, believed, they’re not crazy – this is something that all women go through. I think that we are building our own community of women who are saying that they are not going to suffer anymore, they’re not going to go through it like their mom did, and so it is very empowering to see that response.

AM: Where should people go to find out more information about the movie as well as this journey of menopause? In watching this and hearing certain responses in the docuseries, I think about things I have noticed and just attributed it to other things. I’m someone who eats healthy, works out etc, but maybe something I felt that I just assumed I was tired could be a symptom so I know I will be rewatching and taking personal notes to get to the bottom of things that I didn’t know could be more aligned to this and not just something that is about age or being tired. So where can people go to find out more about this?

SSS: Our viewers can go to the Balancedocuseries.com website where there we will have resources and viewers can follow all the doctors that they resonate with featured in our series because they have education on this, they are posting all of the time on social media and you can always go to the Menopause Society as well. It’s one of those things that you need to go to a trusted resource so that you have the right guidance as that is critical in this time and that’s why Balance is such a trusted resource because it is raw and it is real and we’re not holding anything back.

AM: You guys are filmmakers and I have enjoyed seeing other documentaries that you have done. What do you enjoy about storytelling, and how was it to do this particular story because it is personal? You’re telling this story and you have also injected yourself in this as well as we’re following your journey, as well as others in this docuseries as being objective must have been something that was always in mind in navigating telling this story.

SSS: I think that it comes from our experience of being monks and filmmakers on 3 other films – 2 on human trafficking and another one on animal cruelty. So, these are very dark and human subjects and we are passionate people. What we practice in our system is that there are so many sides and you have to see them and there are various truths to those sides and how do you do it – no pun intended, in a balanced way? That is really important because you have to honor all voices and as you have seen in this series, I have taken the hormone therapy path and she (name) has taken the natural approach which will resonate with audiences and we have our own questions so it kind of covers the whole spectrum of the topic.

IG @siddhalishree

@sadhvianubhuti

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Balance: A Perimenopausal Journey

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 of Athleisure Mag and see Finding Your Balance in mag.

BINGELY TV/STREAMING

THE BEAUTY

FX Original

Hulu

What is the price of being undeniably beautiful, hot, and desirable? If you could take a supplement or dose, would you? If it meant that that beauty may ultimately bring you closer to death, is it worth it? The Beauty looks at a string of supermodel deaths that take place in fashion’s global destinations. They seem to be connected, but how is difficult to say and as the investigation continues, they realize that there are a number of powers that be that are involved! You should also watch their companion podcast, The Beauty Official Podcast to get more details on each episode of this series.

THE NIGHT MANAGER

Prime Original

Prime

If you’re looking at a gripping thriller that checks off all the boxes, a phenomenal cast, stunning locations, well dressed people, and constantly questioning who is involved in the various acts of espionage, then The Night Manager is a must watch. If you have yet to check it out, you need to binge S1 where we first meet Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) in his hotel where he is a night manager. It’s a fateful encounter that ultimately changes his life’s path and brings him to being the ultimate spy!

S2 catches up with him 10 years later and interestingly enough, S1 launched in 2016 and now the current season which is streaming now kicked off a few days after the New Year. We catch up with him firmly in his role as a spy working with agencies on new and old missions! We see how the past is still unresolved and continues to be a threat. We also move to a new location to see him bring justice for those that he has lost as well as those that are in the cross hairs of a villain that he knows all too well!

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN

KINGDOMS

HBO Original Podcast

HBO

Fans of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon have a new series that brings us to Westeros for us to enjoy, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which just launched earlier this month. We follow a hedge knight who is finding his way in the world along with his young squire in this prequel to the flagship show. In many ways, this series lets us see elements of the families that we will come to know while also looking at what is taking place in other areas of Westeros, and how these communities grew into what we know today.

There is more humor in these episodes as they are more light hearted as we see how knights train, the countryside and so much more. After each show, you can watch and/or listen to the companion podcast which provides more insights into each episode along with interviews from an array of those who are in front of, as well as behind the camera.

Read the JAN ISSUE #121 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.

9PLAYLIST MULTI | JEEZY

Read the SEP ISSUE #117 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST MULTI | Jeezy 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.

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.

MACY'S 4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS

PHOTO CREDIT | Macy’s

With one of the largest Summer holidays taking place next week, many of us have a number of activities that we will partake in for the 4th of July! Whether it’s a rooftop party, a backyard barbecue, or laying out on the beach - the options are endless! We tend to find ourselves taking in our local fireworks as well as those that are presented via Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks which will be live from the Brooklyn Bridge (that includes fireworks off this iconic bridge and 4 barges that are on the lower East River in the Seaport District)! If you’re watching via broadcast, you can catch them on NBC at 8pm ET (the encore presentation will air on 10pm ET) or stream it on Peacock!

For the 49th edition of this show there will be an array of acts prior to the big show in the sky which will include the Jonas Brothers, Eric Church, Lenny Kravitz, Ava Max, Keke Palmer, and Trisha Yearwood. This year’s event will be hosted by Ariana DeBose and the musical score for the fireworks is created by Ahmir Questlove Thompson and James Poyser.

This year’s show will have more than 80.000 shells, 30 vibrant colors and of course effects that will include state-of-the-art projection mapping on the Brooklyn Bridge. We all have our favorite pyrotechnic effects such as the crackling crown jellyfish, atomic rings, yellow and green sunbursts and so much more! The telecast will also celebrate the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games as well as the NBA’s return to NBC this Fall.

Clearly, this is a Summer tradition that has been enjoyed since 1976 in terms of Macy’s creating this spectacular event each year! If you are with us in the city, you’ll want to check our public viewing areas where you can see it in person as there is a sponsored lottery for free public viewing tickets. If you have yet to see it in person but are planning ahead to next year, you can begin planning now as it will be in its 50th year.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

LEGACY AND BEYOND | TITUS WELLIVER

For over a decade, we have enjoyed the BOSCH universe from the flagship series to its spin-off BOSCH: LEGACY. We've loved getting to know more about Harry Bosch; his focus on helping victims; and finding those that have hurt them to bring them to justice. The series finale will close this chapter of the BOSCH universe, but we are also looking forward to the spin-off of this series with Ballard which stars Maggie Q (Nikita, The Protégé, Designated Survivor)!

We had the pleasure of talking with Titus Welliver (The Town, Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy) who plays the title character ahead of the premiere of BOSCH: LEGACY, and it is only fitting that we chat with him again! We talked about how he became part of both series, what he has enjoyed about playing this character, as well as digging into Harry Bosch.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to connect with you again. I had the pleasure of interviewing you ahead of the premier of BOSCH: LEGACY for the first season. In addition to loving this series, I’m a fan of the flagship series BOSCH. What initially drew you to the BOSCH universe?

TITUS WELLIVER: Well the script, I had read one of the BOSCH books many, many years before and it certainly did land on me. But it had been several years before the script for the pilot was put in front of me and I was immediately drawn to the character, I understood the character, I thought about how I would play that character, what was important and what wasn’t important etc., etc.

Through a series of mishaps in trying to get me in the room with Michael Connelly, the other producers, and the other creators of the show, the meetings kept not happening. Several months went by and I was shooting one of the Transformers films which took me all over the United States as well as to Hong Kong and I had a little window that was open and I was back in the States and my manager called me and said, you’re going to meet with Michael Connelly in 2 days or something like that.

I said, “what do you mean? I thought that that boat sailed a long time ago.” My initial reaction when I read it was that I loved this character, but I had been doing it long enough to know that you never know what is going to happen. I thought that of course, they would go out to every single star name and what actor wouldn’t want to play this character?

AM: Right!

TW: So I met with them and as fate had it, I was gifted the role of Harry Bosch which had the continuing gift of 10 years, almost 11 years, of playing this character and realizing him.

AM: I mean, I love this character and I love his complexities and that he loves jazz. My great-uncle was the late Joe Henderson –

TW: Stop it!

AM: Yeah!

TW: Wow! That’s very cool! Wow!

AM: Yeah, so every time he’s playing his music, I love that because I’m always listening to jazz to settle my mind and I love his interactions with the other characters in his world.

What is it that you love about bringing this character to life?

TW: Well, he is a quintessential anti-hero and I tend to gravitate towards anti-heroes because I think that there is a different level of reality and humanity to anti-heroes. Bosch is a character that is capable of incredible heroic deeds, he is a very very good cop, he’s relentless. If a person is a victim of a crime, you would want him working the case, but you know, he’s a strong flavor. He doesn’t suffer fools, he does not subscribe to the societal norms that we might. He does not enter a room and try to win people over.

AM: There’s no tucking in there!

TW: Right! He doesn’t navigate bureaucracy with standard operating procedures. He does a workaround. Bosch is – because of all of that, he is all elbows. He’s not the status quo cat. So command – he pisses people off. He irritates people. But people can’t really – people don’t want to really push him too much because he’s the guy that has got the highest closure rate in Hollywood Homicide. Hence that relationship which was forged between the late great Lance Riddick (The Wire, Fringe, John Wick franchise), my brother, who I miss every day. And when Irving’s son is killed, he enlists Bosch to help him. And that speaks volumes about it because he is such a stone in Irving’s shoe, but Irving knows the fabric of his character and that is one of the many beautiful things about Bosch.

Then you have his beautiful relationship with his daughter. I didn’t have to put my elbows out with the writers when I said, “look, let this be a relationship that gestates.” They don’t know each other and let’s allow this through a natural process and have them get to know each other. That relationship is the dynamic that allowed us to – without being contrived, peel away a little bit of the layers of Bosch that he could express vulnerability, which is not something that he is comfortable with in any shape or form in expressing vulnerability. He’s just not, but he does with his child because she is the most important person in his life.

But also within that, there are times when he conceals things that he doesn’t want her to know about.

AM: Yeah! Which is so interesting to see when you’re watching him with each character as it’s different elements of him that you can tell it’s the same man, but it’s really interesting. Via the screeners, we have gotten up to episode 8 at this point. I want to know what’s going to happen, but what I love about him is how he is measured and with all of these elements at play, this one man holds all of that in the balance which is interesting and obviously, you play him so well.

TW: Well thank you! He carries a tremendous amount of weight as a character. That is another reason why I love playing him. Look, all of that is demonstrated or exhibited in the process of reading all of Michael’s books. Because the narrative tells you what Bosch is thinking and what he is doing. Thankfully, I had a conversation with Eric Overmyer (Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The Wire) and Michael Connelly very early on and I said, “look, this stuff where we find Harry in the books alone, doing his work – he’s listening and has Coltrane going, he’s having a Fat Tire and he’s drinking a whisky and is going through a murder book, that is expressed in the narrative, but he is not saying anything.” That is an integral part of who this character is. Now any executive who looks at that and says, “wait a minute, you’re actually going to go and put this character sitting alone in his house with just music playing and him flipping through pages, and he’s not saying anything?” – what? Are you kidding, people will turn it off. Well, it in fact became a hallmark of the show where the audience and for me as an actor honestly, those are some of the most challenging scenes to play because there’s so much said, but unsaid.

You don’t have the luxury of dialog to express that which I think is more interesting.

AM: 100%.

TW: You give the audience the benefit of their intelligence. You don’t need to go, “this is what you should feel, this is what you need to think right now.” They extrapolate from what they are seeing that’s occurring in front of them and they form their own ideas of what that should be. But there is a consistency with that when people see that stuff, where they go, “Harry’s working right now.” Through the beauty and the eye of our incredibly gifted cinematographers and directors as well, the way that they would shoot those things kept a level of ambiguity, but also said – you know that he is working, but we’re not going to tell you specifically what it is which for me is fun to watch too afterwards!

AM: Oh yeah, it just draws you in and it has such a fun pacing to it and it’s nice to have things where you need to connect the dots and see how it all happens. You don’t always need to have words to push everything forward.

So what are your feelings with the finale coming up of the series. I’m so sad that it is not continuing on. What are your takeaways from this?

TT: Well I look at it really as – I mean I agree and I feel sad about it. One can’t help, but make a connection with a character and an emotional bond. I’m not an actor who takes their work home or the character, I don’t carry his weight. But the joy of playing that character and the gift for me – opening those scripts as they came was like Christmas. It was like an advent calendar. Where is Harry going here? What do I get to explore? That has been for a decade of my life and it has been dedicated to that and to the relationships that I have with Michael Connelly, Eric Overmyer as well as Thomas Bernardo (BOSCH, The Lincoln Lawyer, BOSCH: LEGACY), the crew and the other actors that’s the hardest part of it. Look, you don’t see – there’s no closure. As Harry Bosch would say, closure is a myth. You don’t see Harry riding off into the sunset. We don’t close on Harry sitting alone in his house looking out the window while we’ve got some grand music playing in the background. So it doesn’t have that, it doesn’t have a sense of finality and yet, there is for us, there is that sense of finality.

AM: Well I appreciate you taking the time, I love the series, and the whole universe of it, and I love seeing you in any role that you’re in because if your name is on it, I know it’s going to be a great show as you’re one of the coolest people.

TW: Well bless you! That is a very kind thing to say and it’s been a pleasure talking to you and I hope that you enjoy the finale!

IG @boschamazon

@tituswelliverofficial

PHOTOS COURTESY | Prime Video/BOSCH: LEGACY

Read the APR ISSUE #113 of Athleisure Mag and see LEGACY AND BEYOND | Titus Welliver in mag.

9PLAYLIST MULTI | SLOANE STEPHENS

Read the MAR ISSUE #111 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST MULTI | Sloane Stephens 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.

RUGBY RISING THE UNITED STATES OF RUGBY

During the Summer Games of Paris 2024, we all watched Rugby a lot more as we watched Team USA Mens and Womens hit the global stage and in the case of the women, they brought home Bronze! Rugby is a major international sport and is one that continues to grow in the US! In The United States of Rugby we find out more about this sport and its focus on growing it here domestically by following the Chicago Hounds. who are in their 2nd season of Major League Rugby (MLR). This series can premiered Feb 21st with weekly episodes on Roku. With the US hosting 2031 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup on the horizon, we sat down with filmmaker Alex Donnelly to find out more about the series and his approach to capturing this story.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to talking about this series, can you tell me about your background and are you a rugby fan or have you played the game?

ALEX DONNELLY: I come from a background in documentary filmmaking, with a focus on telling human-centered stories that highlight the depth and beauty of everyday experiences. As a non-sports person, when I arrived on set, I had never seen or certainly played a rugby game in my life, I certainly didn't know the rules, or what the positions were doing what - I've come to know the game all too well now - but what I did immediately recognize were stories of resilience, and abundant passion—qualities that rugby represent so well. Throughout this project, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the sport but more so for the people who dedicate themselves to this gladiatorial game.

AM: What attracted you to United States of Rugby and to be part of this project?

AD: At the outset, what really drew me in was the opportunity to explore something new – something I had never seen before. Rugby has such a rich history internationally, but in the U.S., it's still in its startup phase, trying to carve out its place in the sports landscape. I was excited to document this moment in time - the players, the fans, the clubs, and the league—all pushing to break through and establish rugby as a major force in American sports. That pressure, combined with the sheer dedication of everyone involved in (and behind) the game, made it an incredibly compelling story to tell.

As we progressed through the season, my wife (who is now a big rugby fan) shared a quote with me that I believe encapsulates the heart of this series: “The point of desperation is often the point of truth.” (Author, Matt Haig) No one wants to feel desperate or backed into a corner, but those moments—when challenges feel insurmountable, when you’re forced to navigate uncertainty—are where we truly discover who we are. Rugby is a sport that physically embodies that idea. Whether it’s being smashed into the ground by someone twice your size or facing a more universal, everyday struggle, it’s in those moments of discomfort that we learn the most about ourselves. This series captures that raw, human truth—both on and off the field.

AM: What was your approach for this series as the story is multi-layered in terms of talking about rugby, MLR, the Chicago Hounds, the game in the U.S., placing it on the stage next to other countries where it’s very popular, and showing us details about the game and the passion behind it?

AD: With so many layers to the story, my approach was to always ground it in the human experience - who are these people? Rather than just presenting rugby as a sport, I wanted to showcase the people driving its growth in the U.S.—the players, coaches, and staff who are deeply invested in its success. By weaving in some historical context, the rise of MLR, and the Chicago Hounds’ journey thus far, we aimed to create a narrative that not only educates viewers about the sport but also connects them emotionally to the people behind it. The goal was to highlight rugby’s unique culture and the passion that fuels it, while also showing how the U.S. fits into the global rugby landscape and hopefully creating some heroes of the game along the way.

AM: What did you learn im this project?

AD: One of the biggest takeaways for me was just how strong and committed the rugby community is in the U.S. You are always one degree away from someone who has played rugby. Even though the sport isn’t as mainstream here as it is in other countries, this does not stop the people who are involved from being incredibly dedicated and driven to see it grow. It’s a sport that demands both mental and physical toughness well beyond what they're getting in terms of viewership, and that’s truly unique.

AM: What do you hope that viewers take away from watching this series?

AD: I hope viewers come away with a newfound love for rugby and the people who are working to build its presence in the U.S. Whether they’re longtime fans or completely new to the sport, I want them to feel the energy, passion, and sense of community that rugby fosters. Ultimately, I hope this series inspires more people to get involved—whether that’s playing, supporting a team, or simply appreciating the game on a deeper level.

IG @apdonnelly

After speaking with Alex, we wanted to connect the stars of the series who play on the Chicago Hounds. We sat down with Noah Brown, Charlie Abel, and Nate Augspurger as they give us an inside view on this game and their passion for it.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with rugby and when did you realize that you wanted to play it professionally?

NOAH BROWN: I fell in love with rugby in middle school, but I only realized I wanted to play it professionally during my freshman year of college when I was selected to play with the USA u18s world school 7s team in Auckland NZ. That’s when I realized that rugby could allow me to see the world while doing something I love.

CHARLIE ABEL: I fell in love with rugby when I was about 10 years old. I had two older brothers who played and they were good, much better than me. I wanted to play with them, but also my dad didn’t want to have to take me to separate games, so he forced me to play up. So I was playing Under 12s at age 10. Later I ended up playing Under 16s when I was 12 because my brothers were 14 and 15 – again, because of my dad. I had to learn quickly to keep up, and I loved it.

NATE AUGSPURGER: I remember falling in love with it in high school. I was 14 years old. And when I started as a freshman at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, I felt like I could see myself playing at a higher level.

AM: Prior to coming to The Hounds, tell us about your rugby career.

NB: Played at Penn High School, then Western Michigan for a semester. Then Indiana University - during my time there I played u23 USA 7s and the senior national team 7s. I also played with the Chicago Lions (national champs) which was the main reason I was tied to the Hounds eventually.

CA: I played for several teams in Australia and one in France before I came to the MLR in 2021 to play with the Los Angeles Giltinis.

I started my professional career in the inaugural MLR season with the San Diego Legion in 2018. In 2016 my international career carried over from USA Rugby Sevens to USA RUGBY 15's with the Eagles. I love to compete at the highest level and strive to be in an Eagles jersey. After several successful seasons with the team out West, I had a great opportunity to move back to the Midwest with The Hounds.

AM: Tell us about the position you play.

NB: I play on the wing, usually the finishers on the field. Trusted to score tries and get up to take high balls out of the air.

CA: I play Prop – both Tighthead and Loosehead, and Hooker in an emergency if you need. A Prop usually likes the physical battle. That’s true for me. It’s all good fun.

NA: I play a position called Winger. It's a fast-paced position, a lot of running, and a winger is usually positioned on the outside, like a wide receiver in football. Scoring tries is a part of the job description.

AM: What is an average week like in terms of working out to prepare for your next rugby match?

NB: On an average week I have team trainings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, with rehab/prehab early in the morning then gym sessions later in the day. Then often I’ll do mobility work after the training day has ended.

CA: We do 3 gyms sessions a week, 3 field sessions, a recovery day. And then I do heaps of (physical therapy) treatment because I’m getting old (a youthful 33).

NA: Generally, there is a lower physical intensity with a mental focus approach early in the week. Recovery and treatment offered through the week, as well as chiropractic two times a week. We will have daily gym sessions and meetings to start off a given day. We raise the physical intensity in the middle part of the week. Much more running, training, and competing. The day before the game there is rehearsal time. Gameday is the best day of the week, say your prayers and go as hard as you can.

AM: On game day, do you have any routines that you do in preparation for the match?

NB: I just review my journal in which I have goals that are aspirations for the match. I say them to myself 3 times in a row.

CA: I do. I have lots. My gameday routine really kicks in when I get to the stadium. I’ll have a shower, a cheeky cold shower. I have to get my ankles strapped (i.e. taped) by Sam (Lead Athletic Trainer Samantha Malette). It has to be Sam. She’ll do ankles, left then right, always in that order. Then she tapes heat pads onto my back. Then I apply heat cream all over my entire body. It’s basically bath of heat cream, so my whole body is boiling. I’ll have some snacks, like gummy lollies and an energy beverage. Then I put my stuff on: left sock, left shoe, right sock, right shoe, fold the left sock down, fold the right sock down. Shorts, then I tape my wrists and thumbs – right first, then left. Lately I’ve been adding a nose strip. I think it helps.

NA: I do 20 minutes mobility. 20 minutes activation. 8 minutes speed mechanics (pre game warm up). I say my prayers in the morning. Sometimes I'll have music on and I try to have a smile when I greet my teammates, front office, stadium staff etc.

AM: What routines do you do to come down from all the energy that you had on the field?

NB: After a match the best way to come down for me is to get around the fellas and have a few beers.

CA: I don’t do anything after a game except a little celebration.

NA: I like to go home, put on my pjs and be with my wife and my dogs on the couch.

AM: We got to know more about you, rugby, and The Hounds. What did you enjoy about this series and what do you want viewers to know about rugby?

NB: The doc covered a lot of the PG-rated parts about the sport, which I can’t blame them for. But the really fun parts would be the couple big nights out we have a year, called socials. The whole team gets involved and it’s goofy and raunchy and hilarious. I wish more people could get an idea about what that’s like because it shows how the team is really a family of brothers, not just a sports team.

CA: Rugby is mad fun. The special part about rugby is the culture around it, outside of the game itself. It’s the lads, how we interact with each other and with other teams. It’s very confrontational and violent during, but after it’s very relaxed. You’re mates with everyone.

But, respectfully, I’m going to try to smash you if you’re on the other team. Respectfully.

NA: I liked the action snippets from the games. It reminds me of the games from last season and watching the Hounds compete in slow-mo is fun. I hope viewers can fall in love with how professional rugby in America connects a very diverse collection of people from all over the world. The game of rugby is a unifying sport, the ultimate team game.

AM: What would it mean to you to play for Team USA for LA28 and the World Cup in '31?

NB: Playing for Team USA in LA28 and the World Cup in ‘31 would mean everything to me. Those events will be pivotal in the development of rugby in the United States and I desperately want to be one of the players that prove to the world that we belong at the international table.

NA: Highly unlikely.

AM: What does it mean to you to play for The Hounds?

NB: Playing for the Hounds is like playing for my home town team. My parents can make it to every home game and I love what the Hounds are doing to grow the game in the Chicago. I am extremely grateful to be a part of it.

CA: I love the Hounds. The community of rugby in Chicago is great. I’ve worked with heaps of the club teams around here. I love the games, I love the fans. Playing for fans in the Midwest is the best.

NA: After spending one season in Chicago with the Hounds, it means a lot more to me. I feel close to home in Chicago and have seen my immediate family more this past year than the last 5 years. I love to represent the Minnesota and the Midwest rugby communities in the league. I would love to win an MLR championship with this team.

AM: How do you take time for yourself?

NB: When I’m not on the field I have recently been making time for myself by having a little creative outlet. I have recently started making clothes with a sewing machine and it really calms me down after throwing my body into musclebound Hounds all day.

CA: I have three kids and I love to be around them and my wife Logan.

NA: I like to go for a walk with my dogs. I play my wife in board games and cards. I found an old Pokemon game at my parents, so I'm trying to catch them all. My wife and I play pickleball when it warms up and I coach on the side which is a good balance for me.

IG @noahbenbrown

@charlie_hors3

@nthanielchannel

@chicagohoundsrugby

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | United States of Rugby

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see RUGBY RISING THE UNITED STATES OF RUGBY in mag.

THE POWER OF YOUR HOME | HGTV'S EGYPT SHERROD + MIKE JACKSON

The beginning of the year makes us think about new projects we're taking on, our goals, and it's that time of year that you begin about getting your home in order for upcoming events and gatherings as Spring is on the way! We caught up with power couple Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson who we know from an array of HGTV shows including Married to Real Estate and Property Virgins. They talk with us on how they got into Real Estate, Interior Design, and construction. They also talk about how they work with one another, aesthetics in design for our homes and how they have partnered with TurboTax to keep their business flow on track.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It’s so great to meet both of you!

EGYPT SHERROD: You as well!

MIKE JACKSON: How are you?

AM: I am very good! I have been a fan of yours Egypt since your WBLS days.

ES: Oh wow! Thank you!

AM: Of course I have enjoyed seeing you on HGTV as well Mike.

It's great to see you guys on, Married to Real Estate to see your power coupleship, navigating properties, and projects. How did both of you come to working in real estate, home renovation, and design?

MJ: Okay. Well, for me, mine is pretty simple as it pertains to real estate. My wife said, “get your license or I'm not going to be your friend.” – no haha!

ES: It kind of went like that!

MJ: So you know, proximity, for me!

AM: Right!

MJ: On a serious note, you know, she came to me one day. We were having lunch, and she mentioned, “babe, I'm giving a lot of referrals away. Why don’t you get your license? This way, we can keep it all in-house and it will save us a lot of money and garner us a lot of money. So, in that moment, I thought about it. And the next day, I was right at it, you know, taking the classes getting the material and got my license to be a Real Estate Agent. My wife’s a Broker Agent, but however, at this moment, my license is parked so at any moment, I can unpark it and actually practice, right?

AM: Wow!

ES: But, he's so busy running the construction and that part of the business, that I think that that only allows all of us to super serve our clients.

MJ: Yeah, that's right.

I'm sorry. I got into all of that and looked at her and got flabbergasted.

ES: Whatever ha! Stop flirting, stay focused!

MJ: What was the rest of that question?

AM: Well, how well, just how both of you came to this because it's amazing?

ES: Yeah, well, you said, you remembered me from WBLS. I think that's a perfect example of how we don't have to be a one trick pony at all.

AM: Exactly.

ES: I was obviously a radio personality, but developed a passion and love for Real Estate investing so much that I got my license and became an agent, and I had a dual career which, is then, what led me to television because, as I would talk about on the radio all of my exciting exploits in real estate and making it funny for people, HGTV heard and came calling. That started Property Virgins and then Flipping Virgins and then together Married to Real Estate! Actually, it started on Mike's phone during the Covid years – Married to Real Estate did.

AM: Oh wow!

ES: Many people don't know that story, but you know, it was a natural evolution that really developed through a passion and a thirst for building and leaving a legacy for our family.

MJ: That’s right!

And for me as it pertains to, you know, because you asked for Real Estate, construction, and design, I have always been doing construction with my grandfather and uncle since I was a kid.

AM: Oh wow.

ES: They have their own construction company and they would pull me in and bring me on because they sat aside and saw that I was able to do this stuff without being asked to do it. They saw something in me and said, "listen, come along with us and follow suit,” which I did. And I'm so glad I did. I've always been a creative. I enjoy seeing something, start from nothing, and become something. And in construction, that's what we do all day, you know. We tear it down, and we build it back up. And it was, it was inevitable because I was doing construction while I was touring around the world as a DJ.

AM: Ok, now.

ES: It was like I was DJing at 4am and then at 7am, I'm on somebody’s construction site. It was always there for me and then in New York City, working with the Local 28 Trade and then coming to Georgia and owning my own company, it was like, inevitable.

AM: Well, are there 3 key design elements that are going to be trends in 2025? Whether you know you're here in New York and looking to renovate your space or maybe you're buying home. What are 3 trends that we should be keeping an eye out for?

ES: So number one, as a designer, I'm the principal of a design firm as well at Indigo Road. The one thing I tell all my designers is to be classic. Really embrace the client's aesthetic. Don't follow the trend. Why? Because trends come and go, and if we start designing our home based on trends, you're going to lose money fast every year, every 2 years you're going to want to redesign. But if you do something classic and timeless, then, you can change things up with art and pillows, which you know are a lot more affordable!

So what I will tell you that some of the things that I think are going to be timeless: #1 is, you can change a space, and this is becoming even more popular - you can change the space just with a can of paint. It's inexpensive, you can do it as many times as you want to and you can give the space a totally different feel. So, doing color drenches – color drenches are when the moldings, the walls, the ceiling, everything is the same color, and so you have this amazing, beautiful, colorful canvas to furnish. We're bringing color back, because we went through the years where everything was beige and everything was gray. Now, everybody is embracing color again. So you’re gonna see a lot more of that in 2025!

Arches. We’re bringing arches back (singing it to the melody of Justin Timberlake’s SexyBack).

AM: Nice!

ES: Yes beautiful arches are coming back and that’s coming back in with the wabi-sabi aesthetic (Editor’s Note: Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that embraces imperfection and transience. It’s a philosophy that encourages people to find beauty in imperfection and accept the natural cycle of life. In interior design, it focuses on natural and weathered materials. It often has a rustic and organic feel).

We're also bringing more of the outdoors in with organic luxe and I truly think and this is classic, right? When we were all locked inside for a few years, everybody wanted to get out, to feel nature, and touch.

AM: Yes.

ES: So now, this is being reflected in design where everybody's, like, open my house up. No, I don't mean open floor plan, I mean, open the entire house up. I want just a courtyard of plants in my house.

I want you to knock out the entire back of my house and make it a door that just opens up to the backyard, you know?

AM: Yeah!

ES: Let the outdoors in because I want to feel nature. So, organic luxe as an aesthetic I think it's here to stay, bringing plants and using natural wood.

AM: I love that.

Tell me a bit about the Marriage and Money podcast you guys have. I love this.

MJ: Oh wow, where do we start with that? So, the Marriage and Money podcast is exactly what you hear – we deal with marriage and we talk about money and everything in between. We've had a plethora of guests that have been amazing. It's another idea where you know, in the midst of nowhere I said, “babe, I think we need to reach a different audience, you know, let's create this podcast because we have more to say.”

ES: And I said, no. I said, do not give me another job. Please don’t put anything else on the plate.

AM: Yeah.

ES: Mike is full of ideas! He’s totally the idea guy. I’m the – what do you call me, the Wide Receiver or the Running Back?

MJ: Wide Receiver.

ES: Yeah, and he’ll get me on board with it and I’ll just start running it and working with it!

But no, I'll say this, he was right yet, again. It's fun. It's a catharsis for us and it’s where we let our hair down, because even though our guests and we're talking money, and we're getting into marriage - we have so much freaking fun on the show!

MJ: Yes!

ES: So, we’re very excited!

MJ: And our audience and our fans and our fams – F-A-M-S - fams that’s what we call them because they're more like family. They get to see a different side of us that they may not be used to to get familiar with, right? And one of the things that I love about the podcast is that, you know, it causes others to think and to look at each other when they're listening or watching the podcast because I can't tell you how many times folks have come up to us and say, “listen, I sat down with my husband or my wife and we worked it out because of that particular episode.”

ES: Yeah, or even you know what it allows us to do is teach people through the schools of hard knocks that we had to learn from. Be it in marriage, you know, but also in business, we have made a lot of mistakes, and we're very transparent about it. We could have done things easier and faster, but now we have resources and tools, whereas before we didn't.

MJ: Right.

ES: So on our podcast, we opened Pandora's Box by providing education and resources as well.

AM: You guys have partnered with TurboTax. So, in thinking of like, how important is transparency, especially in couples, you know when you're doing your taxes together? Why did you guys want to work with the brand? I mean transparency and finances is key!

ES: People often ask, how have y'all been together for over 21 years like you seem so perfect!

AM: Yup!

ES: The first thing that we do is chuckle because we've had our hard moments and a lot of them have evolved around business and money.

MJ: Mmm hmm.

ES: It's revolved around taxes. He's the doer, right? And then I'm the organizer. I’d be sitting at the kitchen table with receipts falling out of my ears and my hair just trying to dig us out and to make sense of it all.

MJ: We literally just said a few months ago, when we were doing taxes, that we need to let someone else do this for us from now on. And it made perfect sense for us to partner with TurboTax you know, moving forward.

ES: Then, when you learn, you're like, wait a minute? What have we been doing, all of our lives right? Like, why didn’t we know? So, for us, obviously, we are a champion for the spirit of entrepreneurship. We want people to step out, you know, step on faith and go after the life and careers of their dreams. We want them so we don't want to scare them, which is why we said, you know, what? Let's go out and let everybody know what tools are available. And so, what we loved about this partnership with TurboTax is that number one, they are experts, and they literally have folks who specialize in business taxes. TurboTax Business provides small business owners and solopreneurs access to unlimited live expert help to get your taxes prepared and filed.

That's not what many of us went to school for. We don't want to sit around here doing this. We don't know either. We don’t know all of the deductions that are available for us. So then we lose money because we simply didn't know, trying to save money and not wanting to pay somebody else. They're affordable so, even if you're smaller, just starting out and then they also offer year-round tracking. So, they give you that support year around, because you know with business, you have to file taxes more than once! They provides unlimited year-round expert support at no extra cost, and provides 100% audit protection and accuracy guaranteed. Businesses are matched with a small business tax expert who will securely prepare, sign, and file their taxes virtually.

AM: Exactly.

ES: These are some of the incredible tools that we found value in for our lives and for our business to help us simplify. In short, to get accuracy and peace of mind.

AM: That part.

MJ: I also love how they have the option of integrating their platforms between MailChimp. Turbotax and QuickBooks.

ES: Many people don't even know that they're the same company. But again, that's a business solution. That's an all-in-one package for you to be able to really level up your game and simplify.

I’d love to just kind of encourage everybody as my middle name is Bargain Value and I love giving value to others! So there's something going on that everybody needs to know about. So if you get your business taxes done with TurboTax, you can also get 20% off of your personal taxes right now. So you need to go to turbotax.com/business for more details on that.

AM: Are there any other projects coming up that we should keep an eye out for because I'm always seeing you guys doing tons of stuff?

ES: As far as what we have coming up – we’re talking about March 12th S4 Married to Real Estate is coming at you so put that on your calendar! The podcast.

MJ: The podcast, we’re getting ready to do more episodes of that!

A Thousand Women.

ES: A Thousand Women Owned is my non-profit that we were about to do the formal launch of next month! Our goal is to help, support, provide resources for, and encouragement for a thousand women-owned businesses.

AM: Wow!

MJ: Yes yes

ES: BY 2030, We want to help a thousand women own businesses level up to get the grants that they need to start or to continue running as well.

MJ: And then you can catch somebody I know on, HGTV's Smart Home 2025, as the host!

AM: Ok Mike!

ES: Mike is hosting!

AM: Oh nice, that's amazing. Well, it's always good to see you guys anf I look forward in seeing your upcoming projects.

IG @egyptsherrod

@djfadelf

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 113 PG Egypt Sherrod + Mike Jackson | PG 114 TurboTax

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see THE POWER OF YOUR HOME | HGTV’s Egypt Sherrod + Mike Jackson in mag.

ATHLEISURE LIST | THE CLASS

Taryn Toomey created The Class as a lifelong student of transformation and through her personal healing journey in 2011 which combines somatic healing and self-discovery. It incorporates yoga, psychodynamic therapy, EMDR, sound work, and trauma healing. She shared with us that, "over a decade in, I'm incredibly fortunate to step into The Class every day and have the opportunity to meet people where they are-inviting them to move through whatever they're carrying while building strength in both body and mind. The community we've built over the years is the deepest testament to its power - a shared experience that brings people together in ways that are both personal and profoundly collective."

Attend The Class In-Person at the NYC Studio in Tribeca and their LA Studio is based in Santa Monica. All offerings are available through The Class’s Digital Studio, where they can choose from a library of on-demand classes and daily live streams that are available in over 75 countries.

You can expect an immersive experience that blends repetitive movement, breathwork, and cathartic sound. Attendees often come to the studio to unlock stuck energy, reconnect with oneself, and cultivate mind-body awareness—all while breaking a sweat and having fun.

The Class offers a range of sessions (The Class, Sculpt, Yoga, Meditation), length and physical intensity. The Class even offers pre/post-natal specific programming. Studios offer daily, in-person Classes, many of which are livestreamed for the Digital Studio. Regular Community Classes with sliding-scale pricing ensure accessibility or all.

Attendees can enjoy a thoughtfully curated selection of skincare products, including face wash, serums, and moisturizers from brands like Routine and Om Organics. Water fountains are also available.

If this is your first visit, it is suggested that wearing comfortable exercise clothing and bringing a water bottle. Sneakers are not mandatory, but first-time students are encouraged to start with sneakers. Come to your mat with an open mind and willing spirit!

If you're looking to experience The Class for free via the Digital Studio, you can try their 14-Day Free Trial which is perfect for newcomers looking to explore its benefits.

You can take The Class Retreatment May 20-24 in Ibiza. This is a transformative 4 day retreat centered around movement, mindfulness, and community, set in the stunning backdrop of Ibiza.

THE CLASS

22 Park Place, 3rd Fl

NY, NY 10007

2433 Main Street

Santa Monica, CA 90405

theclass.com

IG @theclass

PHOTO CREDIT | The Class

Read the FEB ISSUE #110 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLEISURE LIST | The Class in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

MUSIC BOX: YACHT ROCK: A DOCUMENTARY

Max

HBO

Who doesn't love Yacht Rock? We all have our favorite songs and artists within in this genre. The team at Music Box tells us the ins and outs of this style of music in Yacht Rock: A Documentary. We learn how the term was coined, who is in and out of the genre, it's rise as well as decline and its enduring impact on the music industry as other artists sampled it such as Hip-Hop artists Warren G featuring Nate Dogg's Regulate which came from Michael McDonald's I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near).

NO GOOD DEED

Netflix Series

Netflix

Netflix's No Good Deed is a perfectly twisty series that continues to unfold like an onion as we see the intersectionality between a diverse series of characters that have interesting connections with one another that you continue to learn about. For those that love perusing real estate with a side of sardonic comedy crime, this is for you. We meet Paul (Ray Romano) and Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) who are looking to sell their home. We also meet the potential buyers who have their own backstories.

Over the course of 8 episodes we learn about the trauma, suspense, and hopes that bring the characters and the communities that they are intertwined into. We also solve a mystery that has loomed over specific character's lives while also having a resolution that places other characters into the exact place that they want to be in!

With a number of shows vying for attention over the holiday season, we can't say enough about how good this series is. It's even worth watching again with those that may not have seen it as you ended up bingeing ahead to know what took place. We're definitely hoping that there will be a second season as we feel that there is plenty of room for other storylines!

TRUTHLESS

A Spotify Podcast + The Ringer

Spotify

We enjoy a number of podcasts in The Ringer universe as they tend to be our go-to when it comes to delving into some of our favorite prestige shows. A few weeks back, we happened to catch an episode of Truthless which explores a story that involves a lie with a central figure which could be an everyday person or a celeb. This person tells the story and host Brian Phillips examines these stories, why they took place, what insecurity it highlights, and what drove the guest to do it. We truly enjoyed hearing Jesse Tyler Ferguson's (Ugly Betty, Modern Family, Cocaine Bear) episode where he shared his struggles when he was a young and unknown actor in New York who gets a life-changing audition. At that time he realized that he would need to create a new resume in order to secure the role that would take him to the next level.

Read the DEC ISSUE #108 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY STREAMING in mag.

BINGELY STREAMING

EMILIA PÉREZ

Netflix Original

Netflix

In Emilia Pérez, we follow 4 amazing women in Mexico that are on the path to finding what makes them happy. Throughout this movie, you'll enjoy songs, dancing, and vibrant visuals. We meet Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) who is a cartel leader and brings on Rita (Zoe Saldaña) who is a lawyer that feels that she is unappreciated as she is stuck in a job that is going nowhere. She is asked to work with her to fake her own death so that the cartel leader can finally lead a life where she can be her true self. In addition, the cast also includes Selena Gomez (Selena + Restaurant, LOUDER: The Soundtrack of Change, Only Murders in the Building), and Edgar Ramirez (The 355, MaXXXine, Borderlands).

CRUEL INTENTIONS

Prime Video Original Series

Prime Video

Growing up, many of us enjoyed seeing the original Cruel Intentions film that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Clerks III, Dexter: Original Sin), Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, The Morning Show, Big Little Lies), Ryan Phillippe (Crash, Shooter, Big Sky), and Selma Blair (The Sweetest Thing, Hellboy franchise, American Crime Story: Monica Lewinsky) which focused on elite highschoolers in NYC in a modern retelling of the 1872 novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Throughout this movie, we see how a pair of step siblings create havoc through their circle and social scene by manipulating others, having sex, and their use of drugs.

With the cult success of this movie, it's not a surprise that it has come back with the same focus in an updated way on Prime Video. This iteration of Cruel Intentions takes us to another elite social scene in college with a number of the antics and scenarios that appeared in the film.

Do you need to see the film in order to enjoy the series? No as the two can be enjoyed independently. Of course, if you have seen the film, you'll see certain iconic shots in the film, you'll enjoy the modern updates that have been included in this one and you can see how the plot has a bit of a different look and feel as it applies to the collegiate set versus when it focused on those in highschool. It's still a great watch that you can enjoy especially as we head into the holiday season.

THE BINGE CRIMES: LADY MAFIA

Sony Music

Spotify

We always enjoy a great true crime podcast and this is one that really lets you have an indepth look into the female Bernie Madoff as well as the Anna Delvey of the OC. We get to meet Sara King, who is known as Lady Mafia. We get to know more about how she got into this world of crime, her historic rise, and her inevitable fall as a loan shark. We get to hear how she made quickly and deals that were seen as shady at best in The Binge Crimes: Lady Mafia presented by SONY Music Entertainment.

Read the NOV ISSUE #107 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY STREAMING in mag.

NEW YORK COMIC CON 2024

This month, Athleisure Mag also hit New York Comic Con which took place Oct 17th - 20th. We enjoyed navigating the booths and experiences at the Javits Center, hearing about new series and movies that we can't wait to attend those press junkets that will begin over the next few months!

In addition to navigating the show floor, costumes, and large exhibits, we also sat in on a panel of Apple TV+'s Shrinking. To hear the cast share that the show has been greenlit for a 3rd season, to share a few minutes from an upcoming episode, and to just listen to them chat about this incredible show was a lot fun to listen to.

Other panels of interest included HBO's The Penguin, HBO's Dune Prophecy, STARZ's Outlander, and Prime Video's Cross. It was just as much fun to watch enthusiasts of the shows as they listened to the cast share their experiences and thoughts, how they truly enjoy being able to get to know more about these programs and to meet those that are involved.

We're defintiely looking forward to next year as it's a great opportunity to enjoy programs that have an avid and engaged fan base as well as to check in with some of the best prestige TV shows! For those planning ahead, mark your calendars for Oct 9-12th in 2025!

IG @newyorkcomiccon

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 186 + 190 Kimmie Smith | PG 188 The Penguin Panel + PG 192 Outlander Panel Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPop |

Read the OCT ISSUE #106 og Athleisure Mag and see New York Comic Con 2024 in mag.