Advertise on podcast: Hot & Bothered

Subscribe on YouTube - https://bit.ly/3PVfdBS Watch more Hot & Bothered - https://bit.ly/40TK87U Follow the Podcast: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hotnbotheredpodcast/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hotandbotheredpod/ X - https://x.com/hotnbotheredpod Follow Melyssa: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/melyssaford Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melyssaford/ X - https://x.com/MissMelyssaFord #hotandbotheredpodcast #melyssaford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vic Mensa on Suicidal Thoughts, Plant Medicine & Becoming a Father Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Funky Dineva Unfiltered: Prostate Cancer, Cocaine & Calling Out Black Men Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boys Are Emotionally Neglected—Then Blamed as Men | Kier Gaines Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood wouldn’t make room—so Jeff and Nicole Friday built their own table. The powerhouse couple behind the American Black Film Festival joins Melyssa Ford to unpack 30 years of championing Black storytellers, the industry’s retreat from culturally defining Black films, and ABFF’s major move to Los Angeles in 2027. They also get candid about building a business while sustaining a 24-year marriage, surviving financial crises and the pandemic, and why working with your spouse can either strengthen the partnership—or consume it. Plus: the compliment that changed their relationship, the truth about streaming residuals, and their essential advice for the next generation of Black creatives. Like, comment, subscribe, and ring the notification bell for more honest conversations from Hot & Bothered with Melyssa Ford. Subscribe on YouTube - https://bit.ly/3PVfdBS Watch more Hot & Bothered - https://bit.ly/40TK87U Follow the Podcast: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hotnbotheredpodcast/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hotandbotheredpod/ X - https://x.com/hotnbotheredpod Follow Melyssa: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/melyssaford Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melyssaford/ X - https://x.com/MissMelyssaFord #hotandbotheredpodcast #melyssaford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe on YouTube - https://bit.ly/3PVfdBS Watch more Hot & Bothered - https://bit.ly/40TK87U Follow the Podcast: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hotnbotheredpodcast/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hotandbotheredpod/ X - https://x.com/hotnbotheredpod Follow Melyssa: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/melyssaford Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melyssaford/ X - https://x.com/MissMelyssaFord #hotandbotheredpodcast #melyssaford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Men Have Purpose” — Dondré Whitfield on Masculinity, Love & the Crisis Between Men and Women Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe on YouTube - https://bit.ly/3PVfdBS Watch more Hot & Bothered - https://bit.ly/40TK87U Follow the Podcast: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hotnbotheredpodcast/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hotandbotheredpod/ X - https://x.com/hotnbotheredpod Follow Melyssa: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/melyssaford Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melyssaford/ X - https://x.com/MissMelyssaFord #hotandbotheredpodcast #melyssaford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Monogamy Natural? Shan & Jared Brady Get Honest About Open Marriage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love Didn’t Find Me Until 50” — Yvette Nicole Brown on Timing, Faith & Letting Go Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“They Tried to Make Me the Villain” — Jess Hilarious on Fame, Motherhood & Surviving the Internet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Claressa Shields on Papoose, 50 Cent Lawsuit & Being "Famous and Broke" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our Season Finale, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to sit down with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley inside her office in the historic Cannon House Office Building — standing at the very center of American politics. Being in those halls carries a weight, and that gravity shaped our conversation.We spoke about her journey into politics, the responsibility she feels to her constituents, and how her roles as a wife and a mother inform the way she leads. Congresswoman Pressley also shared her experience as a survivor of sexual assault, and how she has transformed pain into purpose — using her platform to advocate for other survivors.This conversation is a reminder that policy is personal, and that real leadership is rooted in empathy, courage, and lived experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices