It took us three tries to get this episode going; we had a little recording trouble with the site we normally use, so then we had to switch over to Skype and blah blah blah we're the Bad News Bears of podcasting. Hi, welcome to the podcast, now watch us get hit in the chest by a fly ball. Or maybe a microphone. Eventually, though, we found us a ...…

In this episode there is a very strange crackle-y noise that occurs randomly but consistently, and we have no idea what it is. I suggested to Melanie at one point that it was castanets, but clearly I was being sarcastic because as you all know we only play our castanets during the summer months. I don't even know what that means. Anyway, if you ...…

On this episode we talk about college football - specifically, the Bulldogs' misfortunes against LSU and the upcoming MSU / A&M match-up. We also discuss Harry and Meghan's baby news - along with their Australia trip. Besides that? Oh, just a couple of new strategies from Melanie in terms of fighting her sleep lines, and some serious over-think ...…

Well, if you have ever wanted to hear Melanie and me speculate about the source of a dog's cough, this is the episode for you. We also talk about college football, the relentless heat of early October, and our inability to keep up with teenagers' trends despite our best efforts. Parenting. It is humbling. Finally, we discuss the mystery of free ...…

There's a point in every college football season (at least for Aggies and Bulldogs) when disappointment, at least for a few minutes, obscures hope. Melanie and I found ourselves re-acquainted with some disappointment this past weekend, which definitely wasn't what we dreamed it would be. We break down all those feelings on this episode - along ...…

Since Melanie and I went to Chicago last weekend, this episode seemed like a great opportunity to recap our trip. We talk about our unforeseen hotel challenges, our night at Hamilton, and our many, many laughs at The Popcast Live. We also discuss college football at great length - and ponder the dynamics of sliding into someone's social media c ...…

Well, you will not be surprised to learn that we talk a great deal - A GREAT DEAL - about college football in this episode. There's some accountability in terms of how one of us managed to go to Starkville this past weekend despite some seemingly overwhelming writing obligations, there's all manner of optimism since the Aggies and the Bulldogs ...…

As you (might) know, I'm working with a different computer these days, and somewhere in this new-to-me version of Garage Band (which is what I use to edit) I have somehow changed myself to a setting that is likely called "DJ From The 1970s." Melanie sounds quite normal, but I have an echo that will take you straight to the disco, and I have no ...…

It's been a couple of weeks, so Melanie and I play catch-up in this episode. We talk about a unique challenge I'm facing this weekend, the technological heartbreak of late last week, and why a pep talk from other writers is a very sweet thing indeed. We also talk about the launch of Melanie's new book, Fearless Faith, and discuss this fall's fa ...…

Well, our good friend Travis Cottrell is back with us this week, and oh, do we have a fine time. However, since y'all know how we like to pride ourselves on technological excellence, you might as well be aware that apparently my microphone wasn't completely plugged in for this episode. So be forewarned that I sound considerably more tin-ny than ...…

Our good friend Travis Cottrell is with us on this episode, and we have ourselves a blast. We talk about workout needs of extroverts vs. introverts, we hear about Travis' recent regional airline experience, and we answer a bunch of fun questions that people asked on Instagram. Also, please excuse the many phone alerts / dings / beeps that occur ...…

All righty, y'all - this is our Very Special Southern Charm Finale Re-cap. We talk about so many things: Craig, Kathryn & Shep, white tie attire, Patricia's pet caftans, Chelsea & Austen, and last but not least - the train wreck that is Ashley and Thomas. WE HAVE SOME THOUGHTS. And then, after we wrap up our Southern Charm discussion, we talk a ...…

On this episode we talk about my unusually quiet house, the latest on Southern Charm, and a couple of Netflix movies that have renewed Melanie's faith in the romantic comedy. We also continue with the questions we didn't finish last week, and as it turns out, we talk a lot - A LOT - about parenting stuff (teenagers in general, only children in ...…

A few days ago some of the folks on our Big Boo Facebook page were kind enough to leave comments with some questions / topics that they wanted us to discuss, so that is exactly what Melanie and I do on this episode. We picked seven to start with, and my goodness: WE HAVE SOME THOUGHTS. I actually couldn't fit all of the answers into one episode ...…

In what is no doubt the complete opposite of a surprise, we had some sound issues with this one. We still don't know exactly why. What we do know, though, is that I sound like a loud talker and Melanie sounds like a soft talker who is trying to subtly communicate to me that I need to PIPE DOWN. So thanks in advance for bearing with us; we'll do ...…

On this episode of the podcast we talk extensively about Southern Charm and caftans. AS YOU DO. We also chronicle some of our current, um, hormone-adjacent frustrations, recap what's happened for our teams so far in the college baseball post-season, and discuss some of our summer reading plans. Plus, Melanie brings us all up-to-speed on some hi ...…

If you're in need of a little superficial to kick off your summer, this is the episode for you. We talk about nail polish, our nail-related frustrations, our favorite summer shoes, and all the reasons why we're embracing the caftan for summer 2018. We also discuss the fact that, in all of our Enneagram 9-ness, we are not ever concerned with any ...…

The Royal Wedding happened. And now we recap. (Spoiler: WE LOVED EVERY SECOND.) Here's where you can get more info on the stuff / products / places we mention: - Sofia Wellesley's dress - Kitty Spencer's dress - Victoria Beckham's dress - Amal Clooney's dress - Gina Torres' dress - Doria Ragland's dress - Queen Elizabeth's dress - Camilla's hat ...…

This one is all Royal Wedding. And no small amount speculation. Needless to say, we are giddy with anticipation. Here's where you can get more info on the stuff / products / places we mention: Harry & Meghan: Royal Rebels The Royal Wedding attendants Meghan Markle's father caused some drama The Royal We - a fun beach read about royalty that con ...…

We spend considerable time on this episode breaking down all the fun we had at The Popcast Live! Show (Melanie) and The Happy Hour Live (Sophie), and then somehow we manage to segue into a discussion about McDonald's chicken options, a topic that we feel certain we have never before covered. We also (apparently) have A LOT OF THOUGHTS about thi ...…

You'll be delighted (or not) to know that on this episode of the podcast we first discuss our respective struggles with our ongoing coughs. This is due to our combined age of 402. We also talk maybe a little too enthusiastically about the new royal baby (WE HAVE SOME THEORIES) before we spend some time revisiting Hazel's ACL situation. We also ...…

We kick off this episode with an update on Hazel (as Sophie's mama would have said: "God love her") and then segue' into a discussion about our new favorite clothing store that we had almost forgotten about (credit to Melanie, of course, for the re-discovery). Then, like we threatened to do on the last couple of episodes, we talk about some of ...…

Some of you may know that Mississippi State lost the NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship thanks to an incredible last-second shot by Notre Dame, so in the first part of episode 101, Melanie and I take some time to walk through some of the post-game emotions I felt last week in Columbus, OH. We also talk about our spring fashion frustr ...…

Well, well, well. This is our 100th episode of The Big Boo Cast, and it only took us 11-ish years to get to this point. Try not to be overwhelmed by our frenzied pace. Anyway, on this episode we talk about Spring Break travels, our sassy new podcast t-shirt, and a few new beauty favorites. There are also several moments where we laugh until we ...…

This is part two of our recent conversation with our funny, wise, loves-him-some-80's-music friend, Travis Cottrell. After we wrapped up lo, all of our many thoughts about 80's songs, we moved into some serious reminiscing (at least from Melanie and me) about the country music of the early 90s. And then we talked about at least twenty more arti ...…

As you can imagine, Melanie and I were delighted to have our good friend Travis Cottrell join us on Episode 98. We caught up on life in general - what's been going on with our kids, spring sports, Travis' feelings about the reboot of American Idol - and we also talked a little about Travis' FANTASTIC new worship album, The Reason. More than any ...…

Well, episode 97 is really a continuation of episode 96, and I even thought about calling it episode 96.5, but WHATEVER EVERYBODY WE ARE SO CLOSE TO 100 AND I WILL TAKE EVERY NUMBER I CAN GET. Therefore comma I am embracing episode NINETY-SEVEN with everything I have. SO, here's what's happening this go 'round. Melanie and I continue our discus ...…

This episode is the first of a two-part series, which all sounds very fancy until you realize that it's actually not fancy even a little bit. But here's what happened: first we talked about Melanie's car troubles and my new simple suppers plan. Then Melanie and I had a *very* lengthy discussion about some of our everyday favorites (coffee, runn ...…

I don't even know what to tell y'all about Episode 95, so how about some fun facts? Number of times we thought we'd worked out a time to record it: approximately 14. Number of times we actually recorded it: 2. Number of times we were able to retrieve the files after we recorded: 1. Number of times I wondered if we would ever complete Episode 95 ...…

Maybe the most important aspect of this episode is that Melanie has some very exciting news about her eyelashes. And honestly, why would any of us care about any other topic when clearly there have been some VERY IMPORTANT eyelash developments since the last episode? We do, however, talk about a bunch of stuff before we get to the eyelashes. We ...…

Well, for the first half of this episode Melanie and I talk about movies and TV, and for a big chunk of the second half of this episode, we talk about marriage. Yes. I know. MARRIAGE. Which we hardly ever talk about in any sort of detail. But we have us a fine conversation about it right here on episode 93. We also discuss our new favorite musi ...…

Well, it's our first episode of 2018, and true to form, we're all over the place. We analyze Hazel's behavior during Christmas break, we marvel at the fact that Melanie is smitten with a real-live musical (The Greatest Showman), and we decide we like Bruno Mars' new single more than Justin Timberlake's. As you do. We also talk college football ...…

A couple of weeks ago Melanie and I realized that by the end of this year we would have recorded TWENTY TWO EPISODES of the podcast in 2017, and if you think that hasn't blown our minds just a little bit, then clearly you missed the part where it took us NINE WHOLE YEARS to record the previous 68. We realize that for actual podcasting professio ...…

Our good friend Travis Cottrell is with us on this episode of the podcast, and we talk about all manner of unrelated topics. We dig into some Christmas traditions, discuss our favorite Christmas music, break down the college football play-offs (along with our coaching changes), and ponder the deep well of teenage sarcasm that is currently full ...…

On this episode Melanie and I talk to our (hilarious) (also deeply gifted) singer / songwriter / comedian friend Dave Barnes, and unfortunately I forgot to hit "record" for the first 15-20 minutes of our conversation. SO THERE'S THAT. And what that means for you, dear listener, is that when I finally did in fact hit the record button, we were s ...…

I know. We didn't expect to record a new episode this quickly, either. But our football coaches are no longer our coaches. And we found out this morning that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are engaged. As you might imagine, we needed to talk about these things. Please do enjoy. - The targeting call on Deshazor Everett (aka the targeting thorn i ...…

When we decided to do a Christmas Gift Guide for the podcast, we thought we'd pick five gift options a piece. Ten total. Easy breezy. Here's how many gifts we actually discuss: EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY NINE. That might be a slight exaggeration, but have mercy we talked about all manner of Christmas gifts and chased all manner of Christmas gift ...…

So, full disclosure - we recorded this podcast episode over a week ago, but then I (Sophie) went out of town last weekend for speaking stuff and this past week was jam-packed and I just got around to editing and recording the sponsor stuff and etc. Better late than never, I guess. And for your sake it's probably better that you don't have to li ...…

This time around we discuss the Mississippi State / A&M game, the Astros' win in the World Series, and the glory of a redemptive sports moment. (For example.) (This is the GIF Melanie texted Sophie during the State / A&M game.) (This is the GIF Melanie tweeted after the Astros' victory.) (You can see the contrast.) We also talk Sol Dance (edite ...…

We are all over the place in this podcast episode - from an exercise class that I recently tried to pajama leggings to hypothetical situations that would make us sprint to kombucha to football to mascara to essential oils to our feelings about scarves. BUCKLE UP, PEOPLE. Also, I sound more quiet than usual on this episode, and after troubleshoo ...…

It's been an exciting few days here at The Big Boo Cast because Melanie's fantastic new book, Church of the Small Things, released this past Tuesday. Yay, Melanie! Yay, everyone who gets to read it! So you might not believe it, but on this particular episode we actually stick with a theme and talk about some of our very favorite small things. I ...…

Well, the first thing I should probably mention is that we recorded this episode while we were having a thunderstorm in Birmingham, and Hazel was losing her fool mind over the weather. Just think of her barking as soothing background music. The second thing I should probably mention is that we talk a LOT about college football this time around. ...…

Well, first of all, we recorded this episode with Melanie talking on her phone because her microphone was in the guest room where P was napping. Sure, we could have waited until another day so that the sound quality was better, but when you've only recorded 80 podcasts over the last 10 years, you take the recording opportunities when they prese ...…

It's always a treat to have our friend Travis Cottrell on the podcast, and this episode is no exception. We cover a wide stretch of conversational ground: favorite football snacks, the wonder of an Amish donut, our ever-growing kids, current Bible study options, and, of course, our obsession with rose hip oil. (That last one was more of a discu ...…

I think it was last summer when Melanie and I first talked about Last Chance U. We both binge-watched season one of the Netflix series, and in addition to discussing it on the podcast, there were several times when we talked on the phone about it because we were so fascinated by a certain player or could not believe how someone reacted. Then, i ...…

Well, this super-sized podcast was a mighty memorable moment for Melanie and me. Because much to our delight, legendary football coach Jackie Sherrill and his super-talented daughter, Bonnie Bishop, join us at the beginning of this episode. Specifically, they share some of the challenges they faced in terms of forming a relationship after Coach ...…

In this episode we talk about our summertime travel, the life-changing hummus I recently enjoyed, our current struggles with our hair, and our lack of business vision or insight or skill. Melanie also states her very strong feelings about being on a boat in the middle of a large body of water (suffice it to say that a cruise is nowhere in her f ...…

On this episode we discuss my almost-here trip to Kenya, what I refer to as Melanie's enthusiastic opposition to khaki, and recent events at the SEC Baseball Tournament. Recent events may or may not have involved me approaching someone I believed to be a This Is Us cast member. Basically there's a lot of talk about sports - college baseball in ...…

Let's just get this out of the way: there are times when Melanie's internet is dicey on this episode. KEEP DOING YOU, AT&T. But if you can stick with us during the our internet troubles, then you'll hear our thoughts on Pippa Middleton's wedding (Melanie is our resident royals expert), the madness that is May, and my upcoming trip to Kenya. We ...…

Well, we start off recounting some difficult times we've experienced in excruciatingly hot conditions. Our passion about this topic will surprise approximately no one. But then, in an unlikely turn, we discuss exercise: power walking, Melanie's first yoga class, and a new fitness class that involves a mini tramp (Melanie may try it, so STAY TUN ...…