Episode 7 - The Artist

You guys, we made it! The final episode is finally here! It’s a little stitched together with paper clips and rubber bands, but it should hold together. I’ve been on the road, and the travel mic doesn’t quite sound as good as my mic at home, so if you hear some sound quality variance, it’s me not you. If you prefer to wait, I’ll be uploading a clean version of this episode once I get back to the US.

Oof, I have a million thank-yous to do, and I’m almost certain I’ll forget some. The easy one up top is to TONGUES., without whom I sort of can’t imagine this series? Like, maybe if it hadn’t worked out I would have figured out something else, but thank god I didn’t need to. Please go find their music on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, and check out their web site, www.tonguesmusic.com where you can find links to all the social medias.

Thanks to Will de Renzy-Martin for performing the voice of Phil! You can find out more about Will by clicking here. Again special thanks to all the actors I worked with this season!

You can find the section of Serial I quoted in Episode 7, during Sarah’s conversation with Deirdre Enright of the UVA Innocence Project.

Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a viewing of John Stamos’ Guide to Cuddling from College Humor.

This episode’s credit music is “Manchester” by Kishi Bashi from his album 151a, which is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify!

If you have any thoughts, questions, or insights, please let us know! You can reach us at serialdaterpodcast@gmail.com, on Twitter/Facebook @serialdaterpod, or simply by leaving a comment below!

Thanks again, everyone!

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Posted on December 28, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 6 - The Market

Nearly there, folks! This penultimate episode of Serial Dater UK includes hashtags, lifetime bans, and Stephen Fry!

The usual thanks and announcements—every week I’m more and more grateful that the amazing group TONGUES. has seen fit to allow me to use their music to help tell my story. Please go inflate their Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music numbers so that the giant corporations send them slightly larger checks. Or, bypass the middleman and just buy it for when the internet fails and the only music we have is the stuff we downloaded! Get so much more info on their web site!

Calum Barclay continues to do killer work in the role of Calvin—find out more about him here and here. And we’re thrilled to welcome back to the podcast Alastair James Murden playing the role of Jack! Check out Alastair’s website, www.alastairjamesmurden.com!

Looks like my only outside cultural reference this week is “Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me” by TISM, which is definitely worth 4 minutes of your time. Well, 3 minutes and 55 seconds.

This week’s credit music is “Epitaph for My Heart” by the Magnetic Fields from their album 69 Love Songs, which you can find on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

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Posted on December 14, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 5 - The Return

Are you guys getting whiplash yet? I am, and I already know what happens! This episode is chock full of anxiety, posturing, charming texts and echoing silences. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

You know what is fun: TONGUES.! If you haven’t checked them out yet, well—what are you waiting for? You can listen to their music on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music, and you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram!

Again, big thanks to Calum Barclay for playing the role of Calvin! Definitely check out more of Calum’s work by clicking here and here.

Another big thanks to Tara Brach for letting us to use clips of her podcast. The clip from this episode comes from the talk “My Religion is Kindness, Part 1.”

The clip from Sex and the City comes not from the Season 4 finale, as I said in the episode, but from Season 4, Episode 6, which you can watch online at Amazon Prime.

If for some reason you don’t already own “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z: Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music.

Definitely give Laura Marling’s album, Short Movie a try, which is where you can find the song, “Don’t Let Me Bring You Down.”

You can buy It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Amazon, if you want to see CB attempt the football. Also, definitely check out this amazing article about the football gag on Slate!

This week’s credit music is “I Really Like You” by Carly Rae Jepson, available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.

(Also, still working on the photos for this week… they’ll be up soon!)

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Posted on December 7, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 4 - The Downs

Happy Friday, everyone! Or whatever day of the week you happen to be reading this on!

So, first things first: this episode is heavy. For those of you who are friends with me, it might even be a bit hard, as I discuss some of my struggles with depression and suicidal ideation. For those of you who aren’t friends with me, it may still be hard, because these are tough topics!

Suffice it to say, it’s important for me to state here for the record that I’m doing really well now, and that I’m taking care of myself, getting the help I need. If anyone has any specific questions for me, feel free to email me, and I’ll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope that by taking you on the journey I went on, you’ll understand a little bit how I ended up where I did.

Before we get into the other episode things, a couple quick links: if you’re looking for mental health resources, visit the National Alliance for Mental Illness at www.nami.org. And you can always call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

This episode has a lot of stuff going on—maybe too much! It’s so long!

As ever, TONGUES. continues to do right by us by providing the music for this series. Have you checked them out yet? No? Why not? Do it! Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and on the web at www.tonguesmusic.com!

Another big thanks to Calum Barclay for continuing to provide the voice of Calvin; find links to more of Calum’s work here and here. And thank you again to Matthew Hall for voicing Robbie—find more of his work here.

You can find the enormous archive of Tara Brach’s past talks and meditations at www.tarabrach.com, or on Apple Podcasts. The talk referenced in this episode can be found here: “Loving and Losing.”

You can now watch Gavin and Stacey on Amazon Prime Video and on Hulu! The clip in this episode came from Episode 3.

You can watch the “Hamlet” Episode of Sassy Gay Friend by clicking here.

SPY can be found for purchase or rent on all the major services, including iTunes, YouTube, Google Play, Amazon, and many of the minor services as well.

Links to the music featured in this episode will be coming soon! This week’s credits music was Fiona Apple’s “Hot Knife”.

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Posted on November 30, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 3 - The Highlands

For those of you who are listening as these are released, Happy Thanksgiving! For those of you who are just finding this podcast weeks/months/years after it was released… uh, Happy Thanksgiving!

This episode has a lot of stuff going on! As always, I continue to be utterly delighted having TONGUES. providing the music for Serial Dater UK… make sure you check out their music and find out more info at Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and on the web at www.tonguesmusic.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

A big thanks to Calum Barclay who played the role of Calvin! You can find out more about Calum and his work here and here. Also, thanks to Alastair James Murden for voicing Paul, and to Matthew Hall for voicing Robbie.

You can (and should) absolutely watch the entirety of Eddie Izzard’s Dressed to Kill special, which you can buy on iTunes, Amazon, and a lot of other places.

This episode’s credits music is “If You Find Yourself Caught In Love” by Belle and Sebastian from their record Dear Catastrophe Waitress, available on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Check out the pics from Manchester and Scotland to the right!

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Posted on November 23, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 2 - The Firestarter

Has it only been a week since Episode 1 came out? I feel like it’s been at least a year. But hey! At least I’m not blowing the schedule yet! That’s very exciting!

In this episode, we repeat our too-many-dates-in-one-week past, get a little hot under the collar, and have to ask the existential question—is this even a date?

A bunch of extra thanks and nods here: first up, thanks to Alastair James Murden who played the roles of Sam, Tim and Joey. You can learn more about him at his web site. Major props also to Matthew Hall, who voiced Robbie—find more of Matthew’s work by clicking here.

Thanks again to TONGUES. whose tunes continue to rock our world. Make sure you give them a listen without me yammering over their awesomeness: you can find their stuff at Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music, and on the web at www.tonguesmusic.com.

If for some reason you haven’t seen Sister Act 1 or 2, they’re both available on Hulu, as is Die Hard 1, which is arguably the greatest Christmas movie of all time. Die Hard 2: Die Harder, is available to stream with a Cinemax Subscription through Amazon. You’ll have to pony up cash to watch the Muppet Christmas Carol, but it’s available to buy everywhere. You can stream the entirety of Queen Elizabeth II’s 2015 Christmas message on YouTube. You can find Autre Ne Veut’s Anxiety on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music.

Another tip of the hat to the folks of Prom Date who let me use their tune “Good Morning, Boyfriend” again as a throwback to season 1. You can still buy it at Bandcamp!

And of course, major thanks to friend of the podcast Anna Marquardt did our super sexy end credits theme! Check out Anna’s web site here, and you can also check out our greatest co-achievement, Fashion It So, the internet’s pre-eminent blog dedicated to the fashions of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which the two of us write together.

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Posted on November 16, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.

Episode 1 - The Newbie

Hey Everyone! What?! We’re back! Just like Beyoncé, I’m dropping the first episode without a lick of publicity. That’s how this works, right? Anyway, for those of you who stayed subscribed to the podcast or forgot to unfollow us on Facebook or Twitter (hmm, maybe not having posted in two years is finally paying off), hi!

As you may have gathered, this season of Serial Dater is going to be about my year of dating in the UK! And I have so many people to thank!

First, big shout-out to our new music partner, TONGUES., a Glasgow-based band who have agreed to lend their tunes to this season. You can check them out at www.tonguesmusic.com, and you can find their stuff on Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Big thanks to Sam Ford, who performed the voice of Kieron. You can find more of his work here!

“Rule Britannia” performed (ironically?) by the United States Army Strings, and made available on Wikimedia Commons. You can find the recording here.

You can read Blythe Roberson’s essay “Fulbright Proposal for Getting Away from New York Boys” in The New Yorker by clicking here.

The complete episodes of Gilmore Girls and Master of None can both be found on Netflix (in the United States, anyway). Our quoting of Follies came from the 1998 Cast Recording, which you can find here on Amazon.

End credits music: “Somebody Groovy,” by the 1991 Washington University Greenleafs from their album, It Ain’t Easy Being Green. Available for purchase on iTunes!

Please tell people on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram if you’re into that sort of thing. You can also tell them in real life! And please, click here to go to our page in Apple Podcasts and leave us a review if you liked it!

Check out all the crazy photos below!

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Posted on November 9, 2018 by Charlie Beckerman.