...Miss America! *Waves hand elbow to elbow, wrist to wrist.* Erin and Nicole take a surface-level dive into the pageant pool this week, talking about the origins of the "beloved" Miss America competition, as well as some of the most f*cked up stuff to happen at the Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants throughout the years!

A few episodes back, Erin and Nicole briefly mentioned the not-so-fun fact that Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, is often questioned as the true writer of the science fiction masterpiece, which meant it was only a matter of time before our hosts dedicated an episode to such f*ckery. Cut to this week, when an article in the New York Times disregarded Shelley's contributions to the origins of Sci-Fi, giving the credit instead to a bunch of dudes who were all born literal decades after Shelley penned Frankenstein, and it's on the fast-track to Pod Town, baby! Mary Shelley's life was complicated, tragic and macabre, but it was also pioneering, political and metal as f*ck.

"Let's have a better 2022." "I mean, it couldn't be worse." And thus, Erin and Nicole have effectively cursed the upcoming year. But no matter, because it's the holidays and we're all ready to eat our feelings. So grab some sort of brined meat or casserole topped with slivered almonds, pop a Pepto, and listen to the story behind some of Thanksgiving's (and other holidays') most notorious dishes.

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We'd like to thank this week's sponsor, "BIC Pens for Her: because she isn't smart enough to use a man's pen!" JK. But for reals, circa 2011 BIC thought it was a good idea to make "Pens for Her," and they weren't the only ones who have been driven by capitalism to gender products for a profit. In this episode, Erin and Nicole make fun of the dumbest products they can find, while discussing the very real, very dumb pink tax.

Our Dudes couldn't name this episode "IUD Saloon" because it wouldn't have made any sense (not that that has stopped them before), but know that they wanted to. Erin and Nicole discuss the career of Philippe Petit, the French, self-taught high wire artist and all around rascal. Is his career impressive? You bet - the man walked between the World Trade Center Twin Towers on a cable, for Petit's sake. Is he also kind of an a**hole? Also yes.

Why did artists from the Medieval times paint cats with such disdain? Why did all of the babies in Medieval portraits look like forty year old men? Erin and Nicole try to get to the bottom of those questions in this episode, while surprising and delighting each other with the worst and weirdest works of art they can find from the Medieval era!

'Tis the reason for the spooky season, Dudes! This week's episode is a mash of monsters, vampires, werewolves, and zombies, as Erin and Nicole visit the lore of the creature, discuss whether or not they could exist in real life, and of course, rank their hotness on a scale of "meh" to "I would."

As more of the world population gets vaccinated and it's safe to travel again, you may find yourself at the Denver International Airport. And while it may seem like a regular airport from the outside- wait, there's a gigantic cobalt statue of a horse out front with demon eyes. It's not normal from the outside. Actually, there's a lot going on at this airport, so naturally Erin and Nicole had to comment on it.

Speaking of Denver, Casa Bonita Extravaganza with DTFU in 2022, anyone?!?!

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Thank you to the listener that suggested this topic, because neither of our esteemed hosts realized this was an actual historical event. In this week's episode, Erin and Nicole recount the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, which had devastating, long-term effects locally, and a significant impact worldwide. They also send their apologies to the people of the Netherlands for knowingly spreading false information for comedic effect (and for their poor pronunciation of Dutch names).

Erin's back with a new bebe this week, so our dudes are KIC (keepin' it casual)! Erin starts with a recap of her labor, before joining Nicole with some thoughts on a few pop culture events they missed, including: the Texas abortion ban, the California recall, the Met Gala, space exploration, and more!

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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dude-thats-fd-up8/support