This week, the Friends react to the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and the sudden death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman (who was also a playwright!). Then they discuss their experiences at Here We Are, a series of one-on-one plays produced by Theater for One where an actor performs, just for you! It's playing until Sept. 24.

Then Shaun Bengson and Abigail Nessen-Bengson, of the musical duo The Bengsons, call in. They're the duo behind the musicals Hundred Days and The Lucky Ones, and they've created a new work about their lives in quarantine called The Keep Going Song. They also appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, like NBD. The Bengsons discussed how they've managed to create not just new songs but a whole visual album for it, and what white artists can contribute to this racially charged time.

Here are links to the things mentioned in this episode:

• Lady Gaga's masked performance at the VMAs.
• Deep Azure, the play written by Chadwick Bosement (someone produce it so we can see it!)
• Chadwick Boseman's last tweet telling us all to vote.
• In the Penal Colony by Miranda Haymon
• The Keep Going Song by the Bengsons, produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville