The Score

I mean they both seem to be all rage these days, right? Welcome to another episode of THE SCORE, dear Scorekeepers. This week we're catching up with the current events both in the culture and in our personal lives. So join us for a quick Drag Race postmortem, a little trans euphoria, a sexy round of icebreakers, and so much more! Plus, a little Pure Black Joy to sweeten the deal. Let's do it to it, y'all!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige Reynolds

Producer: Rocky Jones

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Hey hey, THE...

Happy spring, Scorekeepers! This week, in honor of it finally being spring picnic season, we're gonna call this our "Picky Bits" episode. Since there's so much going on in the culture right now, we're just gonna cook for an hour and a half, jumping from topic to topic and hopefully, we'll hit on something that interests you! The MAGAfication of Black celebrities! Kanye! Drag Race! Traitors! Ciara Miller and Black representation on reality television! And so much more! Plus, since you deserve a sweet treat, we'll end with a little PBJ to keep you going til the end of...

Good day, Scorekeepers! It's time for another jam-packed episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE. This week, we're once again tackling the somewhat mystifying career of Mr. Tyler Perry. Recently Youtuber F.D. Signifier released a scathing 4-hour critique of Perry's oeuvre and we were sat for the whole thing. Highly recommend it! And with so much material to work with, naturally there were some things we agreed with, some we didn't, and some that just straight up confused us. Let's talk about it! Plus, some current events up top and, as always, a little PBJ at the end...

Dearly beloved Scorekeepers, we are gathered here today to join these two in a good ol' fashioned dragging. First up, we haven't had an episode since Mr. Chalamet said what he said about ballet and opera, and if you know us, then you know we have some opinions about that. (But those opinions just might surprise you!) And then we turn to Ms. Banks. We watched the new docu-series Reality Check: America's Next Top Model over on Netflix, and let's just say we weren't impressed. In fact, we found Tyra's performance and lack of accountability for the harms done...

Hola Scorekeepers! It's been a tough couple of weeks, huh? ICE is still in Minnesota. Trans folks in Kansas are under attack. World War 3's officially breaking out. And if that wasn't enough, Rocky was actually in Puerto Vallarta last weekend when the cartel violence broke out and had to take shelter while cars and buses and things exploded around him. Let's talk about it. Plus, a little Traitors, a little Drag Race and a little Pure Black Joy!

Oh, and it's our 5th anniversary! Can you believe it? Happy birthday us! And thank you all so...

Oh, hello Scorekeepers! We're back! Apologies our little hiatus went longer than we planned. As many of you know, we started this show in the Twin Cities back in 2021. Paige and Rocky are both still based there and, to say the absolute least, it's been a lot. Let's talk about it.

We love you, Minnesota. Fuck ICE.

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige Reynolds

Producer: Rocky Jones

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Living Queer (Podcast)

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Happy holidays, Scorekeepers! 2025 was quite the rollercoaster, wasn't it? It had some high highs and some very low lows, so for this episode we're taking a look back and taking stock of the year that was. First, we'll chat about the news and events that affected us individually and collectively. Then, we'll take a look at the culture that shaped 2025, both the stuff we loved and the stuff we didn't love quite as much. (And, yes, that means, another conversation about Sinners! We can't get enough!). Plus, our last PBJ for the year! Let's do it to it!

Good day, Scorekeepers! It's a very special week! Why? It's Rocky and Paige's birthdays! And it's also time for another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! On this edition, we're recapping episode 2 of our new fave, Carnival Catwalk. "Pan Melody Couture," finds the designers teaming up to create fashions inspired by the steel pan. Join us as we dissect every bead and bauble and take the mansplaining bullies down a peg. Then, as always, we end with a supersized edition of Pure Black Joy. Let's do it to it!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige Reynolds<...

Oh my goodness, Scorekeepers! We're back with another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! This week, we chat through some of the big news items of the past few weeks. First, we get grossed out by the Epstein emails, but then we cleanse our palates with a little update on House of Masks. Lee then gives us some hope about this year's Grammy nominations, followed, of course, by a little Sinners-flavored Pure Black Joy! Let's do it to it, y'all!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige Reynolds

Producer: Rocky Jones

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Dear Scorekeepers, we've got an announcement to make. We simply couldn't finish Season 11 of RDPR. The shade stopped being fun, our eyes were starved for eleganza and we so were tired of getting on here and complaining at you. So you can imagine our delight when Lee found a little show on Peacock called Carnival Catwalk, a Project Runway-inspired competition show where 10 contestants from Trinidad and beyond create fashion inspired by Carnival! Black people, queer people and West Indian people making clothes for us to judge? Where do we sign up? So as we close the book on our...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! On our off weeks for the next few months, we're revisiting ART CLASS, the 12-episode series all about arts and arts education that we released last year. We hope you enjoy taking this stroll down memory lane with us!

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This episode was originally released on March 26, 2024.

Let's get straight to it, Classmates! Today on ART CLASS, we are honored to be talking with a bonafide legend! Whom you ask? How about the ambassador for New Orleans bounce music, who's also an iconic entrepreneur, and a fierce advocate for racial...

Hello, dear Scorekeepers! On today's very special episode of THE SCORE, we celebrate an amazing milestone in the career of our very own Paige Reynolds! A few months ago, we were so thrilled to announce Paige's selection as one of Pillsbury House and Theatre's 2025 Naked Stages Artist Fellows. Well, now their performance, House of Masks, is premiering at Pillsbury House and Theatre in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 13! House of Masks invites audiences to “The Porch,” where three Black queer ancestors come out to play through the Afro-diasporic cultural tradition of masquerade. Tricksters, sirens, and aunties share stories that call us to...

Morning, dear Scorekeepers! It's time for another pit stop on our journey through season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race. This week, it's episode 7: "From Farm to Catwalk," a design challenge where the queens must take "all-natural" materials like straw, feathers, tree bark, and eggs(?) and turn them into haute couture. The results? Well, as the legendary Alyssa Edwards says, "The fantasy is... interesting!" So come for the terrible fashions and Ru's werkroom mind games, but stay for Alyssa being an absolute delight in an all-to-brief cameo. Let's do it to it, y'all!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige...

Greetings, dear Scorekeepers! And congrats to the Rapture Class of 2025! "It's a Different World" couldn't be more apt for today's political climate as well as today's episode. As is now customary, we start off with a little rant about this week's Republican shenanigans, but this time it's tempered with a chat about some of the art-making we've been doing in our spare time to stay sane. And then, for years now, we've been wanting to talk about one of our favorite things, but haven't had the chance. Until now! Hopefully, you love Black 90s sitcoms as much as we...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! On our off weeks for the next few months, we're revisiting ART CLASS, the 12-episode series all about arts and arts education that we released last year. We hope you enjoy taking this stroll down memory lane with us!

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This episode was originally released on March 12, 2024.

Howdy, Classmates! It's time for another episode of your favorite podcast all about decolonizing the arts and arts education, Lincoln Center's ART CLASS! This week, we're talking all about Black folks' contributions to folk and country music, which we're told is very much...

Happy Tuesday, Scorekeepers! Welcome to another episode of THE SCORE! This week, we take another step on our journey through Season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race and this week's stop is Episode 6: The Draglympics (0:38:52). And if the Trump episode was the worst episode we've ever seen, this one is definitely the most confounding. Now we aren't left speechless very often, but this one left us with more questions than answers. Namely, why? Also, how dare you? But before we get to all that, what started as a little RFK, Jr. shade turned into the rant of all rants (0:04:00). So if...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! On our off weeks for the next few months, we're revisiting ART CLASS, the 12-episode series all about arts and arts education that we released last year. We hope you enjoy taking this stroll down memory lane with us!

This episode was originally released on February 27, 2024.

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Good morrow, dear Classmates! For today's episode of ART CLASS, we're thinking about how the art of the future intersects with the art of the present. Have you ever wondered what art will look like in the age of artificial intelligence? Well, so...

What it do, Scorekeepers?! Have we got a guest for you today! At long last, we are joined once again by our dear friend, chef and Executive Director of The Black Feminist Project, Tanya Denise Fields! You may recognize Tanya (aka Mama Tanya) from her numerous appearances on The Food Network, but did you also know that she's an activist, philanthropist, philosopher, community builder and all-around badass? It's true! This week, she's here to chat with us about Cardamom & Thyme, BFP's new social justice cafe in the South Bronx and how she's fighting injustice and white supremacy with love...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! On our off weeks for the next few months, we're revisiting ART CLASS, the 12-episode series all about arts and arts education that we released last year. We hope you enjoy taking this stroll down memory lane with us!

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This episode was originally released on February 13, 2024.

Happy Black History Month, Classmates! This week's ART CLASS is all about healing and self-care. As Black folks and Black artists especially, it's so easy to over-extend ourselves during the month of February, so this week we devote the first part of the...

Hi Scorekeepers! Have we got a spicy one for you today! We're back to our coverage of RuPaul's Drag Race and this time we're diving into Season 11, Episode 5: The Monster Ball. Join us as we dissect all 33 looks from this (underwhelming) supersized runway. Plus, we finally break down our feelings about this last season of All-Stars and dare to ask the question: Gen Z, what is up with your shoe game? All that, plus a quick Pure Black Joy to get you through the week! Let's do it to it, y'all!

Hosts: Lee Bynum, Rocky Jones, Paige...

Hey, Scorekeepers! On our off weeks for the next few months, we're revisiting ART CLASS, the 12-episode series all about arts and arts education that we released last year. We hope you enjoy this stroll down memory lane!

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This episode was originally released on January 30, 2024.

Welcome back, Classmates! And thank you so much for joining us for episode 2 of Lincoln Center's ART CLASS! This week is all about preserving the legacy of Black art and culture, specifically Black music. COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd in 2020 brought about a racial reckoning...

Happy Tuesday, Scorekeepers! It's time for another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! This week, we examine the strange turn to the right taken by several Black American celebrities and institutions of late. From Laverne Cox coyly revealing her MAGA ex-boyfriend to the backlash to this year's Essence Festival, it seems like there are some influential Black people who are using their platforms to (both wittingly and unwittingly) parrot conservative talking points, prop up the broken status quo, and/or create division between different members of the African diaspora. And it seems rather sinister and frustrating and unnecessary...

Originally aired January 16, 2024.

What's up, Classmates?! Class is officially in session! Welcome to the first episode of ART CLASS, a provocative, thoughtful and often humorous podcast all about art and artists creating at the intersection of beauty and innovation. This week, hosts Lee Bynum, Paige Reynolds, and Rocky Jones are joined by author, activist, and multi-disciplinary artist Junauda Petrus, whose novel The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, has appeared on multiple banned books lists in the past few years. We talk art and censorship, other influential, inspirational artists who have also showed up on banned book...

Good day, Scorekeepers! It's time for another step on our journey through Season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race. This week, we're covering episode 4, and we must have all memory-holed this one, because we had all completely forgot it existed and, quite frankly, it just might be the worst episode of Drag Race ever. Of course, we are talking about the dreaded "Trump: The Rusical." So come for the weak satirization of modern history's greatest existential threat to the entire planet and stay for the absolutely hideous all-orange runway! 'Cause If you like it when we throw shade for an entire...

Good tidings, dear Scorekeepers! Have we got a show for you today! We've finally all seen Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan's latest cinematic masterpiece, Sinners, and we can't wait to talk about it. From the music to the history to the messages the movie sends, we loved it all - a few small critiques notwithstanding, of course. (Spoilers abound!) But before that we have a little chat about reality TV and what we're currently watching. This time around we're covering Love Island, RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars, and so much more! Plus, we'd never leave you without a little...

Greetings and salutations, dear Scorekeepers! It's time for another installment of our journey through season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race! After a quick chitchat about some hot topics, including our wrap-up of last week's Tony Awards, we dive into episode 3, "Diva Worship". This week the queens are tasked with creating "she-vangelical" talk shows devoted to the pop diva of their choice, and let's just say... one team does fine and the other is a train wreck the likes we haven't seen before or since. All that, plus a fringe-tastic runway and questionable lip sync, make for a juicy, messy, hilarious...

Greetings, dear Scorekeepers! This week, it's another one of those situations where we were hoping to have a guest join us, but sadly it didn't work out. So we're kind of winging it. But these unexpected conversations always turn out to be some of our favorites and this one is no exception! Basically, this week's show is about assholes and America's obsession with them. From Donald Trump to the Black conservatives who grift in his name to Diddy, why do we give these people so much of our time and attention. We should maybe stop doing that. Anyway, just...

What's shakin', Scorekeepers?! It's time for another episode of THE SCORE and another step on our journey through season 11 of RuPaul's Drag Race. This time we'll cover episode 2, "Good God Girl Get Out", in which the queens divide into teams to spoof the films Black Panther and Get Out. The results are... ummm... interesting. It's all worth it, however, because afterwards we are blessed with a runway full of our two favorite things: fashion and astrology!!! But before that, we dive into some current events and hot button political issues. Have you heard about the co-opting of the phrase "...

What's up, Scorekeepers? It's time for a fresh episode of THE SCORE and have we got a jam-packed episode for you today. First up, we have a chat about this year's Tony nominees, including the incredible Kara Young, who's been nominated now four years in a row (0:16:45)! Talk about Pure Black Joy! Then, we have an important and timely conversation about DEI in the arts (0:31:40). In light of the poicy shifts of the new administration, all over the country we're seeing arts organizations slash their DEI programs and DEI professionals like Rocky getting restructured out the door. We take...

Start your engines, Scorekeepers! It's time for us to dive into the show we were born to recap: RuPaul's Drag Race! In this episode, we kick off our new series with a deep dive into RPDR Season 11. (It's the one with Yvie, Brooke, Vanjie, Silky, and them!) Join us as we break down Episode 1 from the runway look, to the questionable judging, all gag-worthy moments, and, of course, all the drama. And we're looking at it all through our unapologetically Black, queer lens. We'll start the ep off with a little drag herstory lesson from Dr. Bynum before we...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! Huzzah! For it's a day of jubilation here at THE SCORE! You may have heard already, but our dear Dr. Lee Bynum has a new full-time gig and what a dope gig it is! So since some of you may have seen the news and are therefore new to the show, we thought it would be nice to take a trip down memory lane. So join us as we give you a little insight into who we are as humans, how the three of us became friends, and just what it is we've been doing around...

What's shaking, Scorekeepers?!?! It's time for another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE. It's a bittersweet day for us, because it's the last episode (for now) in our series revisiting 2006 and the classic queer, Black sitcom, Noah's Arc. We'll be covering episodes 8 and 9 of the second season and y'all it's a whole mess. But a fun mess with a wild cliffhanger. So come along for the ride as we take a walk down memory lane and celebrate this seminal work of gay, Black art one last time. Plus, a little Pure Black Joy to get you through the...

Good tidings, Scorekeepers! It's time for another episode of THE SCORE! For the past few months, the three of us have been going it alone, but recently we thought wouldn't it be nice to add another voice to the mix for a change? So we are over the moon to welcome back our dear friend and past guest, Pablo Siqueiros! Pablo is a brilliant singer, arts advocate, and all-around talented, lovely person and the perfect first guest for THE SCORE 2.0! We had great conversation with him about what supporting artists looks like in 2025, how to rekindle a lost creative...

Hey Scorekeepers! It's time for another episode of THE SCORE! This week, we continue our journey back to the mid-2000's and the groundbreaking queer dramedy, Noah's Arc. And if you can believe it, in this batch of episodes, things somehow get even messier for our four intrepid friends. Join us as we examine all the love triangles, the psycho closet cases, and the devastating reads. Plus, a look back at the queer politics of the time from the two geezers who were actually there! If you like to watch along with us, check out the links below. Let's...

Well, hey there, Scorekeepers! Have the last few weeks got you feeling scared? Anxious? Overwhelmed? Well, much like any rational, thinking human being living in 2025, we are feeling that way too. So we thought about it and figured that one thing that we could do is bring a little bit of joy into the proceedings, because even in these darkest of times, it's important to remember there's still joy to be had. So ladies and germs, we're doing an episode-long edition of Pure Black Joy! All episode we will be highlighting the beautiful Black people, art, and culture that...

G'day, lovely Scorekeepers! And welcome to another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! It's been quite a year so far to say the least, so up top we take stock of the first week of Trump II. Spoiler alert: It's not great. But then things get happy, because we're on to season 2 of Noah's Arc (0:12:39) and things are getting juicy, y'all! Come along with us as we take a trip back to 2006 with more shambolic exes, secret lesbians and questionable childcare decisions than you can shake a stick at! And finally, as always, a bit of Pure Black...

Happy new year, Scorekeepers! It's the first episode of 2025 and have we got spicy one for you today. First, there's a new season of RuPaul's Drag Race upon us, so you know we have to have a chat about these new girls (and drag Katy Perry)! Then, Rocky recently tried dipping his toe into the fiction pond with presumptive Oscar contender Emilia Pérez and... it didn't go well. It got us thinking that, of course, representation of minoritized groups in art is important, but what happens when the things being represented are tired stereotypes and problematic tropes? Who o...

Habari Gani, Scorekeepers! And Happy New Year's Eve! We hope you've all had a wonderful holiday season and we are so excited to be back with our recap of the last three episodes of season 1 of Noah's Arc (0:17:30). We're very happy to report that it gets juicy and very, very messy and y'all know we love some mess! But before we get into that, we break down the queen's Christmas Day gift to us all, the Beyoncé Bowl, and make some resolutions for 2025 (0:04:14). And then of course, we couldn't end the show without one last Pure Black Joy for 2024 (1:14:36). L...

It's the most wonderful time of the year, Scorekeepers! Welcome to another episode of your favorite podcast, THE SCORE! This week, we're talking about the holiday season (0:23:29). What are we celebrating this year? What are we definitely NOT celebrating this year? And how do our identities inform those feelings and decisions? But first, we finally wade into the Wicked discourse and Lee gives us their review of the new all-Black production of Gypsy on Broadway, starring the legendary Audra McDonald (0:00:32). Last but certainly not least, for PBJ we celebrate the life of Black and queer artist, activist and icon...

Hey there, Scorekeepers! Apologies for our tardiness, but we've been going through it, y'all. I mean we all have, of course, but your hosts had some personal emergencies to tend to these last few weeks that meant putting the show on the back burner for a sec. But we're back and so happy to be with all of you lovely people! This week, we start with a quick chat about how we're all feeling about the state of the world. Spoiler alert: NOT GOOD (0:47:07). But if you want to skip to the fun part, go right ahead (0:11:33), because we're...