It's Leslie's turn to share her favorite something with us, and that something is the 2016 version of the cowboy classic but with more Denzel, "The Magnificent Seven". We talk why a western with a multiracial cast would be based in reality, villains so bad you can't wait for them to get got, why it doesn't bode well for a character when he is played by an uncredited recognizable actor, and why Ethan Hawke is everything. We hope you love it.

Born in hood-adjacent Baltimore City, Leslie Streeter is a columnist for the Baltimore Banner, and the author of the 2020's memoir Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title and 2025's novel Family and Other Calamities. Her next novel, "Beignets and Big Feelings", comes out in October 2026 and is available for pre-order right now. She is the cohost of this here podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses, and a frequent speaker on grief. She is also a slow runner, an amateur vegan cook, and a fan of Law & Order. Leslie lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her son, Brooks. Follow her on Facebook, Threads and Instagram.

Love is in the air this week as co-host Lynne becomes the guest to talk about one of her all-time favorite movies! It's Baz Luhrmann's 1992 colorful, wacky and heartfelt "Strictly Ballroom". We talk joy and gatekeeping and what it looks like to be you doing things that you love. It was a really good time and we hope you love it.

Lynne Streeter Childress is a playwright, actor, teaching artist, singer, director, and the founder and artistic director of Building Better People Productions, a professional theater company based in Annapolis, MD (but they travel!), that does shows for young audiences all based in themes of empathy, kindness, respect and the things that make us all better people. Lynne has been in professional theatre for over 30 years, with much of that experience in theater for young audiences. This includes performing at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and Adventure Theatre, and teaching for institutions like the Folger Shakespeare Library, Everyman Theatre, and Baltimore School for the Arts. Through all those experiences, Lynne has seen firsthand how theater can communicate the most important things in the clearest and most interesting of ways, especially to young people. Lynne is on the Arts In Education roster for the Maryland States Arts Council and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, and through Building Better People Productions, has served students served by the Arlington (VA) Humanities Project, Arts Every Day, and the Howard County Arts Council. Lynne, along with fellow teaching artists Khaleshia Thorpe-Price and Jennifer Ridgway, facilitates Empathy Works, a program that helps organizations discover how empathetic thinking can change their company for the better. She co-hosts this here podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses with her twin sister Leslie Gray Streeter and their producer, Sam Lewis. Lynne lives in Annapolis, MD, with her family.

You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn, and you can find Building Better People Productions here to book one of their shows, workshops, residencies and professional development sessions.

Our hearts WILL go on, darn it, because this week, we talk all things Titanic with author, podcast host, and entertainment journalist Nelson Aspen. We discuss the ship, its sinking, the 1987 hit movie based on all of that, as well as Nelson's personal enthusiasm and connection to the doomed ship. This was a TRULY fun episode and we hope you love it.

NELSON ASPEN is one of Entertainment's most charming and popular personalities, having spent three decades on morning television outlets around the world, bringing the latest in entertainment and pop culture to millions of viewers! But there's a lot more to this Showbiz Insider than just empathy, wit, A-list contacts and masterful storytelling ability. You'd be hard pressed to name a celebrity he hasn't interviewed or an entertainment story he hasn't covered, which is why in 2020, the 5-time Publicists Guild of America nominee was recognized as International Media Journalist of the Year. A lifelong Titanic enthusiast, Nelson co-hosts the popular "Titanic Talk" podcast and speaks frequently on the subject of the Ship of Dreams. His 2025 historical fantasy, "Kindred Spirits: A Titanic Tale," has taken the Titanic world by storm with its unique perspective on the classic story. Reviewers say "it weaves history with wit and charm" and "one of the most unusual love stories you'll ever read with the bonus of being an intriguing mystery."

You can find more about Nelson at nelsonaspen.com, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube!

Producer Sam has hijacked the format, as Fine Beats and Cheeses records our very first round table podcast! Funk and funk related music is the topic! See more of Sam at http://www.madebysam.com

Today we are invite you in to this episode about vampires! Our guest is friend of the show and returning guest, author and herbalist Rissa Miller. She talks about movies that bring vampires outside of their castles: specifically "The Lost Boys", "Near Dark", the Twilight series and recent winner of multiple Oscars, "Sinners". This was a really cool conversation and we hope you love it.

Rissa Miller is an editor, author, herbalist, seer, and storyteller. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and her website, Teaandsmoke.com. You can also check out her children's book, "Room With a Boo".

We would be in Misery if we didn't take a Stand about the genius that is the writing of Stephen King, and today, we talk his influence with return guest Analese Alvarez. Don't be scared! It's a good one :).

Analese Alvarez is a high school principal, Buffy fanatic and cohost of Nerd Best Friends, the podcast that covers all of the NERDY conversations you are already having.... OR WISH YOU COULD!

You can find her and the show on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

We just can't get enough of today's episode, where we talk 80s Synth Pop music with theatre veteran Thembi Duncan. We talk our favorite songs of the era, but also about what this music meant to us and how it still means something now!

Thembi Duncan is an award-winning theatre practitioner, educator, and speaker with over 25 years of experience captivating audiences through storytelling, performance, and insightful discourse. She has served as a keynote speaker, panel moderator, workshop presenter, and event host for organizations in Washington, D.C., New York City, Western New York, and beyond.

You can find her at Thembiduncan.com, on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

We WILL talk about Bruno, because today is all about the music of Bruno Mars, and our guest is our good friend (and frequent visitor to Fine Beats and Cheeses) Elicia Marie. Elicia is a Hooligan (what fans of Mr. Mars call themselves), and we had a wonderfully joyful conversation. We hope you like it!

Elicia Marie is a licensed clinical social worker/therapist in private practice. She enjoys shaping the future of the profession as an adjunct professor in a master of social work program. She is a federal worker by day, working on mental health awareness campaigns and health communications. In her spare time, Elicia loves travel, cooking, music, reading, writing, movies, and talking pop culture and observational humor with her witty friends.

It's a different world than where you come from, but it's the same delightful podcast as we talk classic HBCU sitcom, "A Different World" with returning guest, Kelly Macias! This was a really fun discussion about college, growing up, and seeing yourself in the shows that you watch, which was absolutely our experience with this show. We hope you enjoy it!

Kelly Macías (she/her) is a writer, researcher, and storyteller. The multidisciplinary arts-based approach to her work is inspired by the many lived experiences of Black women and what emerges from their wisdom and magic across time and geographies. Her writing has appeared in Prose Online, The Sunlight Press, Newsweek, The Baltimore Sun, and elsewhere. She is the creator of Toogood Stories, a platform dedicated to documenting, preserving, and making visible the many facets of Black women's lives. When she isn't engaged in her mindfulness meditation practice or binge watching Netflix, she can be found somewhere in the world dancing Argentine tango in a pair of Chuck Taylors.

You can find Kelly and her work at toogoodstories.co and on Instagram.

Travel with us today to a small town with quirky people who drink a lot of coffee and talk really fast and are all in each other's business but love each other! We talk iconic 2000s-era show "Gilmore Girls" with our guest, Nicole Howze. This was such a fun conversation with a wonderful friend and we hope you love it.

Nicole Howze is a mom of three, wife of over 20 years, Music lover and I mean all kinds of music, singer, and movie/TV fanatic. Don’t like horror movies though.