The Rithm (formerly The BlacLife Pod)

California's minimum wage is up.  Fast food prices are up. Home prices are up. Cancer in people under 50 is up. But are they stuck? We break all of that down as only we can, plus the obnoxiousness of storage units, secret sauce, if we’re doing a good job of preventing Cancer, and crazy news headlines. 

On the latest episode of The Rithm, national stories regarding the proposed Tik Tok ban, a confident rendition of the National Anthem, rescheduling marijuana and refined carbs making us ugly, leads to debating the best social media sites, telling your kids the truth about their capabilities, crazy inebriated stories and what makes us unattractive. All of that plus the best donuts, public speaking...

On today's wild episode of The Rithm, the upcoming Mike Tyson fight, a Tik Tok internet sleuth and the latest findings regarding Ozempic and other diabetes medications lead to stories about Markus' schoolyard beatdown, why Alex never loses an argument and whether or not Bryan's cravings are actually addictions. All of that plus PNC, creating news stories based on real headlines and a wild question...

Allow them to introduce themselves!   Wendy's introduces dynamic pricing Kelloggs introduces cereal for dinner Microplastics are introduced in placentas Tik Tok introduces body dysmorphia to the male population.   We tackle those topics plus the best fast food breakfast, plastic habits, giving kids diabetes, skinny Bryan and Big Al, Bryan’s Island murder and whether or not we achieved our goals fo...

After an extended hiatus, we're back with a new Monday show titled: The Rithm. Every Monday we'll take a look at the serious and silly news stories topping the social media algorithms, add additional insight and see where the stories take us! Hint: Its the hilarious personal stories, honesty and overall fun you've come to expect from us!   For the inaugural episode topics include the AT&T outage,...

**Daddying with Markus and Alex is available on its own podcast feed. Click here to find it on your platform of choice   On today's show, we dissect a list from parenting.com of 10 phrases you should NOT say to your kids. Naturally, we've said them. Do we agree with the adverse effects suggested in the article? Will we change our ways? Plus, the "Daddy Did That" segment has Markus and Alex trying...

**Daddying with Markus and Alex is available on its own podcast feed. Click here to find it on your platform of choice Alex loves when his daughter fails, Markus questions if he shows his children how to persevere and why father's refuse to help their kids on today's show discussing how to build self-confidence in your child. Plus, a "Daddy Did That" segment showing how a father's responsibility i...

**Daddying with Markus and Alex is available on its own podcast feed. Click here to find it on your platform of choice The average American child spends at least 3 hours per day watching TV, while all types of screen time totals 5-7 hours per day. So for today's show we take a look at ways to reduce screen time, whether or not we comply with these rules, how our kids try to be sneaky with the rule...

**Daddying with Markus and Alex is available on its own podcast feed. Click here to find it on your platform of choice   On the inaugural episode of Daddying with Markus and Alex, an Instagram post leads to a discussion on teaching your child body autonomy. The guys go on to dissect each point of the post and decide if they agree or disagree with the ideas, as well as offer personal anecdotes rela...

After last week’s abrupt ending, Markus decides to share the diagnosis revealed by his bloodwork. This leads to a discussion about our struggles to remain healthy, procrastination and how your health affects the people you love. All of that plus Bryan is an egoist, Markus is going to leave his family and Alex breaks down old vs. older.

On today's hysterical episode, Markus opens up about his recent Doctor's appointment. He reveals his unfortunate diagnosis, how race plays a part in his diagnosis, and the importance of being honest about his health.  All of that plus Bryan races for the Race, potential prostate exam issues and Markus receives his blood test results in real time.

See trigger warning (TW) before listening The hiatus is over and we're back with a vengeance as we breakdown a variety of (potentially) problematic song lyrics. Are they really that bad? Are they simply a product of their time? Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Miguel, and many others get taken to task for their pen game. All of that plus Bryan almost got taken home against his will, why Markus knows who Tay-T...

On today's gem-filled episode, Markus recaps his father's day weekend full of self-reflection leading to a raw, revealing conversation about emotional intelligence, self-criticism, and the pressures family life. Also, responsibility exhaustion, frustrating coping mechanisms and taking care of others. All of that plus Markus' kids don't really give him gifts, Bryan falling into holes and Alex's dem...

Due to the tragic events at Michigan State University, we decided to re-release the episode we recorded in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting. While some details obviously differ, the problems and frustration discussed in this episode remain the same: Children are being murdered at school.

On today's hilarious inaugural episode of Daddying, we focus on the conundrum that is getting your child to sleep by answering the question 'should you let your child stay up on New Year's eve?' We detail the potential issues with letting your child stay awake too long, the magical capabilities of a car ride and whether or not you should let your child sleep in your bed (hint: you shouldn't).   Fo...

What would we do if we won the Powerball lottery?

Markus hit the groupchat with a personality test. We bring the personality test to the pod. Hilarity ensues. Alex gives you the background and explanation of the test before we get into it. What do our answers reveal about ourselves? Why did we make the choices we did? Do we believe the answers match who really are? All of that plus Bryan skinned a cow, Markus slept with his dog and Alex sells an...

Alex and Markus begin by discussing their favorite Beyonce songs (03:25) before breaking down her new album Renaissance! They risk the sting of the Beyhive by critiquing the lowlights (09:29) before debating the highlights of the album (24:35). All of that plus Markus’ mind is blown when he realizes why he loves the song “Heated”(21:22), Alex deconstructs his guilty pleasure (27:42) and explains t...

On today's unfortunate bonus episode, we have a passionate, nuanced conversation centered around the events of January 6th 2021. We begin by discussing our initial reactions to the violence, the President's role in the chaos, and how people become radicalized. Bryan uses his military knowledge to school us on the problems with law enforcement's presence at the Capitol, Alex breaks down links betwe...