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Welcome back to This Is My Circus — the podcast where vacation stories turn into survival tales, dating apps require emotional support, and somehow we end up talking about capybaras, fireworks, hot soccer players, Kanye telepathy, and murder books all in one episode.

This week, Meredith is back from the Gulf Coast with stories about non-cuddly capybaras, a pontoon boat adventure that almost became an accidental trip to Cuba, and the kind of vacation reset she didn’t realize she needed.

Meanwhile, Stefanie has entered a brand-new phase of life: Facebook dating. After being out of the dating world for 27 years, she’s learning the rules, Googling first-date expectations, and realizing that suggesting a hike with a stranger may not be the safest plan.

🎙️ In This Episode:

We’re talking about:

• Meredith’s Gulf Coast vacation and the capybara experience that was less snuggly than expected
• Renting a pontoon boat with almost no instructions and accidentally heading toward the Gulf
• Why clear water, sand dollars, and starfish beat Dirty Myrtle every time
• Stefanie joining Facebook Dating after 27 years out of the dating world
• Awkward dating profiles, first-date anxiety, and why a picnic in the woods may not be the move
• Fourth of July fireworks, stressed-out dogs, and why fireworks are beautiful but also kind of terrible
• World Cup updates, attractive soccer players, and why Nigeria’s goalkeeper may convert Stephanie into a soccer fan
• Freddy from Germany still living his best American vacation life
• A mama beluga whale escaping captivity to find her baby
• Weird news involving Kanye West “telepathy,” Gorilla Glue revenge, and a nursing home party queen
• Taylor and Travis wedding talk, charity donations, and why we definitely weren’t invited

💬 Am I The A-Hole?

This week’s AITA story takes us onto a crowded bus where a woman reclines her seat directly into a teenage boy’s lap while he’s traveling for heart surgery.

📚 Book Club Review: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay

This week’s book review is The Night Shift by Alex Finlay, a twisty thriller that starts on New Year’s Eve 1999, when four teenage girls working at a Blockbuster Video are attacked and only one survives.

Fifteen years later, another group of teenage employees is attacked at an ice cream shop in the same town, and once again, only one person makes it out alive.

📖 Spoiler Warning

We go deep into spoilers for The Night Shift, including the killer, the connection between the victims, and the twists that tie the two timelines together.

📚 Next Book:

The Island Club by Nicola Harrison

Next week’s read takes us to 1956 on Bulba Island, just off the California coast, where three women, hidden secrets, tennis, marriage drama, and society expectations collide.

🎬 Next Documentary:

Maternal Instinct on Netflix

We’ll also be talking about the Netflix documentary Maternal Instinct in next week’s episode.

✨ Join The Circus

If you love funny podcast conversations, parenting chaos, dating after divorce, weird news, documentary reviews, true crime energy, BookTok-style book reviews, and two friends who can turn absolutely anything into a rabbit hole, you’re in the right place.

Listen to This Is My Circus on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Buzzsprout, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow, leave a review, and tell a friend to join the circus.