Sharp Black pop culture commentary with gossip, jokes, and blunt advice.
The Read runs on quick reactions, sharp reads, and affectionate chaos. Recent episodes move from Black Excellence shout-outs to celebrity controversy, political side-eye, city complaints, and dog-parent exasperation without losing pace.
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The Read is built around the chemistry between Kid Fury and Crissle, two hosts who treat celebrity news as both comedy material and cultural evidence. A typical episode opens with personal banter or a Black Excellence segment before moving into entertainment headlines, social media drama, awards shows, sports-adjacent stories, and listener advice. The show is especially strong when a celebrity incident becomes a larger conversation about money, access, family obligations, public image, or boundaries. Recent episodes have covered Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show, Cardi B and Stephon Diggs rumors, Glorilla's feud with her sister, Kendrick Lamar's Grammy success, and Michael Jordan's Daytona 500 behavior. The hosts are comfortable being flippant, skeptical, affectionate, and cutting, often in the same segment. Their humor is direct and adult, with a strong sense of Black pop culture literacy and internet fluency. The show also makes room for serious or vulnerable moments, especially in listener letters and health or grief discussions. Episodes are long, usually around 90 to 115 minutes, and feel like a full weekly hangout rather than a tightly edited news brief. Listeners should expect celebrity gossip, cultural commentary, profanity, sexual references, and occasional discussion of lawsuits, family conflict, medical issues, and abuse allegations. The appeal is less about neutral recap and more about hearing two trusted, funny voices say the thing plainly.
Made for: Best for listeners who want funny, opinionated celebrity-news commentary rooted in Black culture and internet conversation.
What sets it apart: The Read turns messy entertainment headlines into fast, personal, culturally specific comedy without losing its advice-show heart.
Join bloggers Kid Fury and Crissle for their weekly podcast covering hip-hop and pop culture's most trying stars. Throwing shade and spilling tea with a flippant and humorous attitude, no star is safe from Fury and Crissle unless their name is Beyoncé. (Or Blue Ivy.) As transplants to New York City (Kid Fury from Miami and Crissle from Oklahoma City), The Read also serves as an on-air therapy session for two friends trying to adjust to life (and rats) in the big city. The Read is part of the LoudSpeakers Network and is published every week on iTunes, iHeart Radio T...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The Read finds the social rules beneath celebrity chaos, pairing precise cultural judgment with the ease and bite of an intimate conversation.
The Read turns celebrity news into a fast, funny conversation about reputation, power, family, and Black public life. The two voices move easily from Beyonce and Megan to Ray J, online political allegiances, legal disputes, and the obligations fame can create between relatives.
Kid Fury and Crissle turn celebrity mess into the group chat you wish had microphones.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A messy, fast-moving gossip ride with sharp reads and little patience for fake innocence.
The Read opens in riff mode, drifting from South Park chatter and zodiac banter into celebrity mess and political side-eyes. Alex Newell and Mars keep the talk moving with quick cackles and constant interruptions, so even the detours feel like part of the point.
The Read's Black History Month episode opens on a career worth celebrating and works its way to a silence Jordan has yet to explain.
The opening segment rolls out a Black Excellence tribute to Dr. Willie Underwood III -- Morehouse, SUNY Upstate, University of Connecticut, University of Michigan -- and lands his incoming AMA presidency with the kind of stacked-credential enthusiasm that works because the hosts…
A messy family-money story turns into a sharp, funny argument about boundaries and work.
The episode starts with a funny Laney bit, then settles into a brisk family-money dispute around Glorilla. It keeps coming back to who gets asked for cash, who actually carries the load, and why some relatives seem to expect access to money they did not earn.
Fast, funny culture talk that turns sincerely personal when listener mail arrives.
The Read stays brisk and scrappy, moving culture chatter and sports talk through a funny back-and-forth that rarely settles for long. The hosts trade movie quotes, quick dismissals, and corrections, while also poking at the grind of constant reporting, which gives the…
Snow, gossip, and brisk banter keep the conversation moving.
A January check-in starts with snowy New York and the practical mess it makes for sidewalks, bus stops, wheels, and assistive devices. From there, the hosts move into celebrity and relationship gossip with a quick, nosy rhythm that stays funny without losing its warmth.
Funny, quick, and sharp, with Dr. Gladys West getting a proper spotlight.
The episode starts with a playful Eartha Kitt riff, then shifts into a Black excellence salute for Dr. Gladys West and the math that helped make GPS possible.
Awards season, celebrity memoirs, and new music picked apart with host Louis Fertel and guests.
Comedian Chris Gethard takes one anonymous call a week and can't hang up first.
Isa Calderón and Lucía Lijtmaer riff on feminism and TV history from Spanish stages.
Graham Clark and Dave Shumka turn one small topic into a full episode of tangents.
"Howdy-ha" starts the mess.
Kid Fury introduces his new podcast 'Furious Thoughts', describing it as a platform for his rapid-fire, unfiltered comedic rants on topics ranging from pop culture to personal life.
The Read opens Black History Month by naming Dr.
On The Read, the hosts open with dog-owner banter and Kid Fury marking 20 years going by that name, then move into Super Bowl coverage, praising Bad Bunny's halftime show for its staging and cultural references.
The Read opens with quote-heavy banter and a warm, slightly chaotic welcome back to the studio.
January is already doing the most.
The episode opens with an Eartha Kitt bit, and the hosts quickly turn that into a joke-heavy run for the rest of the show.
Kid Fury and Crissle joke about the new year being over and tease a discussion about a TD Jakes clip, blending humor with pop culture commentary.
The host humorously recounts a frustrating week involving relationship issues and technology problems, particularly with internet-dependent devices like a printer.
A drill rapper from New York hosts a holiday-themed episode discussing the cold December weather in the city and personal anecdotes about the season.
The host introduces her podcast as a space for honest, humorous conversations about life, blending entertainment with mental health insights from her counseling background.
Kid Fury and Crissle discuss hip-hop and pop culture's most trying stars with humor and shade, while also sharing personal experiences as transplants in New York City.
Kid Fury and Crissle open the show with a humorous intro, discuss the current political climate, and transition to celebrating Black excellence.
Kid Fury and Crissle humorously discuss pop culture and hip-hop stars, throwing shade and sharing personal anecdotes.
The host apologizes for a major audio error that destroyed the beginning of this week's episode, expressing frustration and humor while acknowledging listener disappointment.
Kid Fury and Crissle discuss pop culture and hip-hop news with humor and social commentary, starting with a Black Excellence segment honoring a Florida A&M drum major.
Kid Fury and Crissle humorously discuss hip-hop and pop culture stars, throwing shade and spilling tea.
Kid Fury and Crissle humorously discuss Janet Jackson receiving the Icon Award and Quinta Brunson getting the key to Philadelphia.
This episode highlights Black Excellence by celebrating Simone Biles receiving an honorary degree and Beyonce setting a new tour record.
Kid Fury and Crissle humorously discuss pop culture and hip-hop stars, starting with LaVar Burton's Howard University commencement keynote.
Kid Fury and Crissle humorously discuss hip-hop and pop culture stars, throwing shade and spilling tea with a flippant attitude.
The hosts discuss Euphoria Season 3, Trump's second term, and celebrate Morehouse College's boxing club winning national titles.
This episode discusses Cheney Ogumake, a two-time WNBA All-Star, who is developing a new comedy series called 'The W' about the WNBA, marking the first scripted TV show on the topic.
The hosts discuss Black Excellence of the Week, highlighting Bailey's historic NCAA basketball achievement and Angel Reese's defensive player of the year award in Unrivaled.