Howard alum Keith Benn, host of the Build Different podcast on the Watts Productions Network, returns to Black and Snerdy for the first time since episode 50 to sit down with Ode (@thatsod.e / @thatsod_e) and Mo “Kid” Licorish (@licorishislegit). Keith explains how a producer’s pitch for a politics podcast became Build Different, a show about perspective, Black love and late-night rabbit holes about life. The conversation moves from Black boy joy and the case for men to frolic more, to his uncle’s argument that Good Times was more realistic than The Cosby Show, to Howard University’s range of backgrounds and the professor who asked a full class who had been called “not Black enough.” Ode adds her childhood love of Avril Lavigne, Billie Holiday and Harry Potter, along with a pointed word about J.K. Rowling.

Pop Topics opens with the sentencing of Duane “Keffe D” Davis to 40 years to life for orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing, after his book and Vlad TV interviews, with Keith drawing a comparison to O.J. Simpson. The hosts honor RJ Mitte of Breaking Bad and an Atlanta teacher who died on the Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia, then celebrate Druski hosting Saturday Night Live. Ryan Coogler’s X-Files reboot with Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel gets a full breakdown, from Coogler’s mother’s love of the original to hopes for David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson cameos. The episode closes with the federal raid on Representative Ilhan Omar’s home, Howard Homecoming, Jools Lebron’s new teeth, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and John Boyega’s growing family.

Find Keith Benn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithingtonb

Find the Built Different Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@BuiltDifferentKB

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