It’s our first catch-up of the year and besties… a LOT has happened.

We’re unpacking summer break chaos — Christmas gifts, New Year’s Eve energy, camping for Sam — and deep-diving into pop culture, from the Stranger Things finale drama to Ashley Tisdale beef, Bruno Mars’ new era, and why Miley Cyrus teasing Hannah Montana has us spiralling.

We get a little woo-woo talking Year One numerology and the Fire Horse energy of 2026, set some big Bestie Boos goals (👀 sponsorships?? doubling listeners??), and make wildly confident predictions about the year ahead.

Plus: karaoke nights with Olympians, skincare obsessions, pink grapefruit cordial supremacy, baby announcement chaos, and why there’s always someone who announces things way too early.

Basically, it’s your classic catch-up with a side of main character energy — Bestie Boos officially back for 2026 💅✨

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand — an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture.

Join us for your weekly catch-up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word, besties xoxo 💕

It’s Christmas Eve and the gals are out here doing the most… emotionally, socially, and meteorologically. We kick things off with a super-quick pop culture spiral covering Nicki Minaj absolutely losing the plot online, Brooklyn Beckham blocking his parents 💀, and a fresh dose of Emily in Paris plus Taylor Swift BTS goodness because ’tis the season.

From there, it’s straight into festive chaos as we recap a Christmas party that had everything: sunshine pics, sudden wild weather, Sarah looking like a drowned rat courtesy of a bucket, and the gals very much on the go. Cousins, overstimulation, and big “it was a lot” energy included.

Sarah reveals the wedding anniversary gift she got Michael (10 years!! 🥹), before things escalate at Sam’s sisters’ end-of-year get-together… to the point where a police helicopter had to get involved (yes, really).

We also reflect on our powerful recent episode with Kendra Cocksedge, soaking up just how special and meaningful that conversation was. We finish with a Christmas shoutout to anyone feeling the heaviness this time of year — grieving, alone, dealing with family stuff, or just broke as hell — you’re not alone, bestie 🤍

Festive, feral, emotional, and very on-brand. Merry Christmas from your Bestie Boos xx 🎁✨

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand — an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture.

Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word, besties xoxo 💕

Besties… this one is truly special. 🩷

This week on Bestie Boos, we’re joined by Kendra Cocksedge. Kenj is a Black Ferns legend, trailblazer of women’s rugby, and one of the most respected leaders New Zealand sport has ever seen.

Kenj reflects on her incredible career in the black jersey, what it meant to represent Aotearoa on the world stage, and the legacy of the Black Ferns — from the pressure of elite performance to the pride, responsibility, and sisterhood that comes with wearing that jersey.

But this conversation goes far beyond rugby.

Kendra bravely opens up about one of the most devastating moments of her life: the loss of her nephew Jordy while she was overseas on tour. We talk honestly about navigating grief from afar, being expected to keep performing while your world has stopped, and how loss can fundamentally change how you view success, purpose, and identity.

She shares the support that carried her through, how she learned to hold grief alongside ambition, and what stepping into life beyond elite sport has looked like for her.

This episode is powerful, emotional, and deeply human — a reminder that even legends are navigating heartbreak, growth, and change behind the scenes.

Pop your headphones in, besties. This one will stay with you. 🎧✨

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand — an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture.

Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word, besties xoxo 💕

Christmas is basically next week 🎄

Are we ready?

Short answer: one of us is.

The other is absolutely vibing on panic.

This episode of Bestie Boos is festive, chaotic, and packed with pop culture - exactly how we like it.

This week, we get into:🎬 Pop Culture Chaos

• Is Warner Bros + Netflix still happening or nah?

• The Taylor Swift documentary on Disney+ - the first two episodes, the heavy moments, and the whiplash of Taylor also casually handing out huge bonuses

• Australia banning social media for kids 16 and under - thoughts, feelings, concerns - we are not on the same page BBs • A quick-fire countdown of the biggest pop culture moments of 2025 (top 8, no overthinking, just vibes)

🎤 Real Life, Zero Filter

• Sam’s latest guest speaking gig, featuring an elevator that chose the limelight during her presentation

• Teacher gifts - are they mandatory? Are we overthinking it? Who’s organised and who’s pretending not to stress

• Sarah announces Sam must issue a formal apology to LinkedIn after a major brand slid into our DMs there (turns out LinkedIn… works??)

• Are we doing too much with Christmas presents for the kids? • A genuinely ridiculous dilemma about a new neighbour and whether offering to lend your lawnmower is wholesome… or unhinged

✨ What Are You Vibing? - Best of 2025 Edition

• Best purchase of the year

• Favourite music of 2025

• Best TV show or movie

• Drink of choice for the year 🍸 (very on brand)

🎄 Coming Up

• Our Christmas party is locked in

• A special guest episode is on the way (you’ll have to listen till the end to find out who 👀)

• Plus, a Christmas Eve episode dropping because we love a festive overachieveUnfiltered, festive, slightly unhinged - welcome to Bestie Boos.

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand — an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture.

Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the Pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word Besties xoxo

Besties… buckle up, we’re backkkkk! 💅😭

This week we dive straight into the absolutely feral Sean “Diddy” Combs doco — the juror who is not a fan but also very much a fan, the storyline that has us side-eyeing the entire 90s music industry, and the unhinged royalty saga behind “I’ll Be Missing You.” That wasn't included in the doco.

Plus:

🎧 434 of you have Bestie Boos as your #1 poddy (EEeeeeeEEEeeeEEEEeeeee!!!!!!)

🤴 Does Prince Harry act now?? Is that… a thing??

🎬 Netflix & Warner Bros are MARRIED?! (We unpack the prenup.)

🎤 And seriously… who IS Olivia Dean?? The investigation begins.

Then Sam reveals her AI Wrapped, which is somehow both confronting and the cheapest therapy she’s ever had.

Meanwhile, Sarah has mysteriously won a Christmas giveaway — and it is so wildly not Sarah-coded we cannot cope

.But the pièce de résistance?

The funniest thing that has happened in Sam’s workplace.

A gig.

A bold request for free tickets.

And a coworker whose confidence is sky-high… right up until they take an absolute fumble at the final hurdle.

We wrap with our Christmas Gift Guide, shouting out these gorgeous small businesses:

🍾 @threefrenchvines (it’s champagne, darling)

🍬 Gingerbread houses from @thegingerbreadcompany_ (code BESTIEBOOS for a $10 discount off tickets!)

✨ Essential oils from @graceandgold_

📚 Meaningful kids’ books from @pink.is.just.a.colour

It’s a ride. It’s a mess. It’s festive. It’s Bestie Boos. 🎄💖

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand — an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture. Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the Pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word Besties xoxo

Besties… we can’t believe it’s DECEMBER!! From MAJOR pop-culture headlines (Stranger Things hype, Katy Perry’s huge court win, Royal Family updates 👀) to real-life chaos, grief, sunshine therapy, and a surprise public-speaking nightmare, we’re covering everything the internet is obsessed with right now…

This week we dive into:

✨ Sam’s exhaustion era + the 30-minute-notice public speaking gig that turned her into an accidental TED Talk girlie

✨ Sez’s emotional funeral week, saying goodbye — but blessed by sunshine 🤍

✨ Stranger Things — why the new season is already breaking the internet

✨ Sean Combs: The Reckoning — what to expect from the explosive Netflix documentary

✨ Katy Perry’s $15M mansion lawsuit — the viral case everyone’s debating

✨ Prince William & Kate Middleton commenting on Rob’s Dancing With The Stars win (???)

✨ Sonic the Hedgehog parade disaster — the memeable chaos returning from 1993 😭

✨

Music & life chats:

✨ Ed Sheeran’s surprise “Eject” album — 10 unreleased songs picked by his wife (!!)

✨ Why everyone needs a will — including a “death plan” for your sex toys 🫣😅

Plus…

✨ Location-sharing drama — exes, besties, and who REALLY gets access to your pin drop

✨ Black Friday & Christmas shopping check-in — deals, stress, and where we’re at

✨ Spotify Wrapped predictions — we’re ready to be EXPOSED

Grab a drink, plug in those headphones, and settle in. This episode is packed with trending stories, heart moments, unhinged laughs, and peak Bestie Boos energy. 💖✨

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand – an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture. Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the Pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word Besties xoxo

Besties… this week truly took us out. From pop culture updates (Wicked selling out, Charli XCX droppingThe Moment, and yes — Spice Girls whispers 👀), to Sarah having an absolute mare of a Wednesday, we uncover it all!

✨ Sam’s sleepover revelations with Miller & Luna

✨ The heartbreaking but beautiful farewell monologue Sam wrote for a dear friend

✨ Vandals and the weird things we’ve been noticing

✨ Christmas Gift Guides kicking off (tween edition is HERE!)

✨ And the story of Sam’s house… and the old owner popping up 👀

Plus… what’s coming up as we crawl toward the end of November, the last Mercury retrograde of the year, and the festive season chaos already brewing.

Grab a drink, chuck the headphones on, and settle in. This one is a little emotional, a little chaotic, and very us. 💗✨

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Sam Baxter & Sarah Direen. Two besties (& mums) from Aotearoa, New Zealand – an unfiltered podcast with hot takes, real talk and laughs about our lives, our friendship and pop culture. Join us for your weekly catch up with the gals!

• Instagram @bestieboosshow

• TikTok @bestieboosshow

• Watch the Pod on YouTube @BestieBoosShow

• Contact bestieboosshow@gmail.com

Spread the word Besties xoxo

Besties, we have had a WEEK. We’re recapping Cup Day (a huge local horse racing event here in Christchurch — basically our local Met Gala for our international girlies 🤣) and all its glory: the pre-drinks, the outfit selfies, the pickups, the time-out incident (👀), and why we didn’t end up reuniting until 9am the next day.

Then we dive into the world of pop culture mayhem: Cardi’s ever-growing family, Ariana Grande getting grabbed on the red carpet (?!), Meghan Trainor’s new health era, Kris Jenner’s iconic 70th, and the facelift trend that has us all looking forever 35.

We’ve also got kids’ sport stories — the too-cute moments, the softball chaos, and some iconic listener submissions. AND THEN… the outrageous moment a friend sent the most awkward message to a NZ celeb. Yes, we have the receipts 🤣

And because it’s November, we’re officially entering our Christmas check-in era 🎅💫

Think secret Santa drama, party themes, and festive movie reviews.