{"podcast":{"title":"Beginnings","slug":"beginnings-712871","podcast_index_feed_id":712871,"rss_url":"https://beginnings.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://beginningspod.com/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/7/7/a/9/77a9ce61a5a84663e55e3c100dce7605/Beginnings_Logo_Perfect_Square_for_Libsyn.jpg","author":"Andy Beckerman","episode_count":500,"summary":"We all know the stories of how creative people get into the business of creating for a living, but how did they start using their imaginations in the first place? On the Beginnings podcast, writer and performer Andy Beckerman asks well-known and on-their-way-up comedians, musicians, writers, artists and thinkers about their earliest creative acts, their formative childhood experiences, and how they've developed both creatively and emotionally over the years. Beginnings is part therapy, part philosophy and almost all fascinating (95% according to FDA studies).","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T16:17:50.333758+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 705: Jen Bender of Cusp","slug":"episode-705-jen-bender-of-cusp","published_at":"2026-01-23T08:13:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871/episode-705-jen-bender-of-cusp","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871","url":"https://beginnings.libsyn.com/episode-705-jen-bender-of-cusp","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/beginnings/Beginnings_-_Jen_Bender_of_Cusp.mp3?dest-id=73019","summary":"On today's episode, I talk to Jen Bender of Cusp. Originally from Long Island, Jen and her bandmates formed Cusp a little over five years ago in Rochester, before moving to Chicago in 2022. A year later, they released their first album You Can Do It All, followed by the Thanks So Much EP in 2024, and their latest, What I Want Doesn't Want Me Back, which came out in October last year and was one of my favorite albums of 2025! This is the website for Beginnings , subscribe on Apple Podcasts , follow me on Twitter . Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here ! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here ! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore ! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace ! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers ! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee !","meta_description":"On today's episode, I talk to Jen Bender of Cusp. Originally from Long Island, Jen and her bandmates formed Cusp a little over five years ago in Rochester…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3959,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/beginnings-712871/episodes/episode-705-jen-bender-of-cusp/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/beginnings-712871/episode-705-jen-bender-of-cusp.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}