The Topic: Do you have a favorite murder? Life of the Pahty's Shanna Shrum and host Ana Marie drink champagne and talk murder, close calls and constantly planning how to not get murdered. Talking about the things that scare you can be so cathartic! Shout out to Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark of My Favorite Murder for awakening this juicy chat! 

The Guest: This is Shanna Shrum's second time on Champagne & Snark. She is comedian and creator of the web series Life of the Pahty. Her new spin off series, In Someone Else's Kitchen with Fuschia features the world's first Mediocre Sized Model in her own cooking show. It's my favorite!

THE TOPIC: What is death and why are we so driven by it? In this week's episode, founder of Great Lakes Lumber Meegan Czop drinks champagne and gives her ideas. Host Ana Marie talks with Meegan about what happens when we die, funny death stories and what we think it's going to be like. Morbid? Sure. Interesting and honest? Double sure.

THE GUEST: Meegan Czop is a total bad ass, which I don't say lightly. She is a pioneer behind the reclaimed building materials movement, the founder of Great Lakes Lumber...and...let's just go ahead and say it...she's a she who is an industry leader in a industry with very few shes.

It's the new year! What better time to drink champagne and start talking about The Big Picture in this week's episode with performer Brandon Markell Holmes. What is the bigger picture? How do we fit into it and how do we find our own? Brandon discusses exploring his bigger picture, his career and what motivates him to create.

Samantha Bailey is the Chicago-based filmmaker behind the popular You're So Talented and the hugely buzzed about upcoming web series, Brown Girls. On this week's episode of Champagne & Snark, we talk about Sam's relationship to religion and how it has evolved throughout her life.

What is overlanding exactly? Well, as E-Six aka Emilio Abadia describes it, overlanding is about self-reliance and getting away from the noise of city life...and doing it in a big truck. In this episode, we drink champagne with the DJ and music pro and talk about his love for overlanding and how sometimes the journey is the most important part of the trip.

Food is a way to communicate without words. What we eat says a lot about who we are and who we want to be. We show our appreciation. We share honor our heritage. We commune with our friends and loved ones. It's also generally delicious. 

In this week's episode, Brandon Smith of BrewHouse Music talks favorite foods, death row meals and what food means to him.

Are you hungover?

Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs made a historic return to the World Series. And for those who took advantage of all of those celebration shots, this is a special edition of Champagne & Snark.

Have you ever thought about somebody only to have them call you minutes later? If you think about your pet, do they come wondering over to you? Have you had a dream about somebody in your life and woken up to really feel like it happened? These are the types of psychic phenomeon that Ricardo Gamboa and I discuss in this week's episode of Champagne & Snark. 

Ricardo Gamboa is an academic, artist and activist. His most recent project Brujos is a web series following four gay Latino grad students as they try to survive the semester and a witch-hunt. Brujos needs funding to be as amazing as the vision and Ricardo is hosting an Indiegogo to achieve that. Your donations can get you music from former Champagne & Snark guest Sadie Rocks, personal horoscopes and other exclusive experiences. Get involved here.

To say that feminism is a hot topic during this election year would be an understatement as vast as as the toupee jokes I want to make right now. Although feminism represents a virtue, ideal and basic human right that I believe is always in style, we're currently seeing a lot more main stage and open debate about whether women are capable of public or personal positions of power.

In this episode, host Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with recording artist Skela and discusses what feminism means to her and how it shows itself in her life and art. We also get a sneak peak of her newest single Always, Always before it's official release tomorrow, October 14.

Health is more than just eating an apple every day. Health is a careful alchemy of your mind, body and spirit. In this week's episode, host Ana Fernatt talks with artist Julia Haw about how to maintain a healthy body and a healthy mindset. They also dive a little more deeply into experiences with sobriety and creativity.

For centuries, mental health issues carried with them a life-altering social stigma. In recent years, however, mental health is something that we are beginning to talk about openly and without fear. This, in itself, is good for mental health, because it means that we are more willing to ask questions, treat and maintain it. That's where Nicole Knepper, author of Moms Who Drink And Swear, comes in. Known for her direct, real and humorous take on motherhood, Nicole is also a practicing clinical therapist. In this week's episode, Nicole talks about mental health and the variety of ways we see it play out in our lives.

A teacher and a rapper, Lamon Manuel spends his life reaching minds. In this week's episode, Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with the Chicago native and talks about his passion for teaching and arts education. 

If you think Harry Potter is just some children's book, you haven't talked to comedian and writer Hope Rehak. This episode takes J.K. Rowlings fantasy series and approaches topics like fandom, female-written fan fiction and how art and literature serve as allegories in our non-fantasy lives.

Emma McKee is a hip hop cross-stitcher. Recently, her work appeared on Chance The Rapper in Billboard magazine. What you may not know about the Oklahoma native is that she also has read every English language book about North Korea. In this week's episode, host Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with Emma McKee, aka the Stitch Gawd, and discusses the various legends, lore and defector-described facts surrounding the highly secretive North Korea.

Skyler Mendoza, also known as KillSkyler, is a Chicago-born DJ now living the dream of non-sucky Mondays in LA. In this episode of Champagne & Snark, Skyler and host Ana Fernatt talk about Skyler's lifelong love of skateboarding and Ana's decades long career as an occasional skateboard poser.

Self-love was a hard won battle for self-described "famous for being on the internet" and "aspiring Instagram hunnie" Allie Wachowski. The comedian, podcaster and poet drinks champagne with host Ana Fernatt and talks about what self-love means to her, how she lives it in her daily life and what discovering self-love has done in the various areas of her life.

Take care of yourself, okay?!?!?! In this episode of Champagne & Snark, host Ana Fernatt talks with the head make up artist and owner of City Lights Makeup Artistry, Paula Heckenast about self help and how we can work wellness into our everyday lives.

Runners always talk about how training for a marathon or other long distance run is equally painful and meditative. The runner's high is said to enhance perseverance. In this episode, Ana Fernatt drinks champagne with performer Shanna Shrum and talk about how running plays a role in Shanna's life and career.

Shanna Shrum is a nationally touring solo artist, writer, performer, recovering sorority girl and the brains behind the popular web series Life of the Pahty.

Creativity lives in everything we do. In this episode, host Ana Fernatt talks with Chicago Tribune Food & Dining Reporter Joseph Hernandez about what creativity means, how to develop it and how to manage being creative and productive.

Sharks are terrifying and fascinating at the same time. In this episode, creative Sebastian Hart of Blind Color Hats discusses his love for sharks, his theory of abundance and how he includes manifesting in his daily life. This is the first Champagne & Snark where host Ana Fernatt travels to a new city to drink champagne with the interesting people in that area code. Hope you enjoy!

What is happiness and how do we find it? Sadie Woods, aka Sadie Rock, drinks champagne with host Ana Fernatt and talks about what it means to be happy and what she does to both find and maintain it.

What is the difference between needs, wants and desires? Rapper Cody DeCamry and host Ana Fernatt drink champagne and discuss their own desires, how to define them and where they manifest in their lives via sexuality, dating, career, and wellbeing.

Dating, love and relationships can be hard. In this week's episode, Ja'bowen Dixon drinks champagne with host Ana Fernatt and talks about relationships, romantic and otherwise, and how to find, identify and grow the right ones. Ja'bowen is a professional entertainer and tap dancer who, in 2010, was on Ana Fernatt's well-published list of top 10 Chicago Guys I'd Totally Make Out With. Pop the champagne, skip the Netflix and let's cheers to coupling up....eventually...or never...or whatever.