• Newsmakers
  • TV
  • Film
  • Music
  • Books
Random musings on entertainment and publishing.
The home of The Hollywood Beat podcast, created by veteran entertainment journalist Tandy Culpepper
  • Newsmakers
  • TV
  • Film
  • Music
  • Books
© 2025 by Tandy Culpepper
Menu
  • Newsmakers
  • TV
  • Film
  • Music
  • Books

Tandy Culpepper

I am a veteran broadcast journalist. I was an Army brat before my father retired and moved us to the deep South. I'm talkin' Lower Alabama and Northwest Florida, I graduated from Tate High School and got botha Bachelor's degree and Master's in Teaching English from the University of West Florida, I taught English at Escambia County High School for two years before getting my m's in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Auburn University. Following graduation, I did a 180 degree turn and moved to Birmingham where I began ny broadcasting career at WBIQ, Channel 10. There I was host of a weekly primetime half-hour TV program called Alabama Lifestyles. A year later, I began a stint as a television weathercaster and public affairs host. A year later, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida and became bureau chief at WPTV, the CBS affiliate. Two years later, I moved to Greensboro, North Carolina where I became co-host of a morng show called AM Carolina. The next year, I moved cross-country and became co-host and story producer at KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada. I also became the medical reporter for the news department. Three years later, I moved to Louisville, Kentucky and became host and producer of a morning show called today in WAVE Country at WAVE-TV, Channel 3, the NBC affiliate. Following three years there, I moved to Los Angeles and became senior correspondent at the Turner Entertainment Reportn, an internationally-syndicated entertainment entertainment news service owned by CNN. I went back to school afterwards and got an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Oh, yes. I won a hundred thousand dollars on the 100 Thousand Dollar Pyramid, then hosted by Dick Clark.
<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks Writing and War Correspondence with Veteran Broadcast Journalist Don Dahler</b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks Writing and War Correspondence with Veteran Broadcast Journalist Don Dahler

Books, NewsmakersNovember 6, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

  I’d been trying to schedule an interview with veteran broadcast journalist Don Dahler (most recently of CBS News) for weeks. We finally found a…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks Israel, Hamas, and Politics with Award-winning <i>Christian Science Monitor</i> Correspondent Francine Kiefer</b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks Israel, Hamas, and Politics with Award-winning Christian Science Monitor Correspondent Francine Kiefer

NewsmakersOctober 18, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

For several months, I had been trying to pin down journalist Francine Kiefer for an interview regarding her award-winning work as West Coast bureau chief…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks with Singer-Songwriter Lauren Calve about her Debut Long-form Album, <i>Shift</i></b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks with Singer-Songwriter Lauren Calve about her Debut Long-form Album, Shift

UncategorizedSeptember 21, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

 Recently I had the opportunity to interview the D.C. based singer-songwriter Lauren Calve. By her own wry admission, she’s something of a late bloomer. In…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks with Judy Lev about her Groundbreaking New Memoir, <i>Our Names Do Not Appear</i></b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks with Judy Lev about her Groundbreaking New Memoir, Our Names Do Not Appear

BooksAugust 18, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

  Judy Lev (the pen name for Judy Labensohn) is an American-Israeli writer whose new memoir — Our Names Do Not Appear —  breaks new ground…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks Menopause, Mayhem & Mirth in Pamela Skjolsvik’s Darkly-Comic Novel, <i>Forever 51</i></b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks Menopause, Mayhem & Mirth in Pamela Skjolsvik’s Darkly-Comic Novel, Forever 51

BooksAugust 8, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

  Pamela Skjolsvik and I met in 2008 at Goucher College where we both were enrolled in the Creative Nonfiction MFA program.  We’ve kept in…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks Painting and Poetry with Chris Arvidson, Author of <i>The House Inside My Head</i></b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks Painting and Poetry with Chris Arvidson, Author of The House Inside My Head

BooksJuly 24, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

I caught up recently with a woman who, like me, graduated from Goucher College’s MFA program in Creative Nonfiction. She and I have been Facebook…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks with New Grammy Member Dr. James Michael Stevens, Educator and Prolific Composer</b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks with New Grammy Member Dr. James Michael Stevens, Educator and Prolific Composer

UncategorizedJuly 22, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

I knew him eons ago when I was a high school English teacher and tennis coach in a Atmore, Alabama. He was on my tennis…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks to the “Queen of the Hollywood Press Junket,” Reba Merrill, About Big News Regarding the Oscar Folks</b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks to the “Queen of the Hollywood Press Junket,” Reba Merrill, About Big News Regarding the Oscar Folks

Books, Film, TVJuly 22, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

Reba Merrill is an author, lecturer, and broadcast journalist. Reba and I crossed paths several decades back when I was host of a TV show…

<b>Tandy Culpepper Talks Clinical Psychology and Hypnotherapy with Dr. Nancy Irwin</b>

Tandy Culpepper Talks Clinical Psychology and Hypnotherapy with Dr. Nancy Irwin

NewsmakersJuly 9, 2023by Tandy Culpepper

Dr. Nancy Irwin is a Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist and hypnotherapist. A longtime mutual friend thought I’d enjoy interviewing Dr. Irwin, and our friend was…

Posts pagination

1 … 5 6

About The Hollywood Beat

The Hollywood Beat is produced and reported by Tandy Culpepper, a veteran Hollywood-based broadcast and online journalist. Contact us at tandy@TheHollywoodBeat.com.

Website design by Corin Hirsch. Logo design by Scott Williams at Pembrook Creative. Reach him at scott@pembrook.tv or 323-807-0634.

Featured Posts

  • Lisa Johnson Mandell and Tandy Culpepper Offer Their Take On 2 Limited Series: Disclaimer and Adolescence May 9, 2025
  • Lisa Johnson Mandell And Tandy Culpepper Review Award-winning TV Comedies Ted Lasso and Hacks May 6, 2025
  • Pope Francis Suffers Stroke And Dies Only Hours After Blessing Throng Of Some 50 Thousand On Easter Sunday April 23, 2025