Look, I need to tell you something about a children's television program featuring animated dogs, and I need you to stay with me here because this is going to sound absolutely bananas. There exists—right now, in this timeline, on this increasingly nightmare-inducing planet—a show called Bluey that has achieved what can only be described as "weaponized wholesomeness," and somehow, somehow, it's making grown adults weep into their throw pillows while their children ask them why they're crying about a cartoon dog going camping.This week, Mandy sits down with actress, writer, and content creator Kelly Vrooman—a woman whose professional credentials include talking to a chicken puppet on morning television, which is either the most or least qualified you can be to discuss children's media, I genuinely cannot tell—to explore why this Australian import has become a global phenomenon. Kelly, who has actual human children (her own, she specifies, which is a concerning clarification but we'll let it slide), walks Mandy through three episodes of this seven-minute existential comfort food. They watch "Magic Xylophone" (teaching sharing through possibly-real magic and parental commitment to the bit), "Camping" (featuring Jean-Luc, a French dog who GHOSTS Bluey without saying goodbye and makes you feel feelings you didn't consent to about animated dogs), and an episode about dad desperately trying to watch sports while his daughter stress-cleans her pretend house using beer koozies as babies.And here's where it gets weird. Because Bluey isn't just good—it's disturbingly, almost suspiciously good. Created by one man, Joe Brum, who writes every single episode himself (which should be a red flag for quality but somehow isn't), the show manages to be both an accurate documentary of parenting's soul-crushing exhaustion AND a joyful celebration of childhood imagination. It's animated "on the ones"—meaning twice as many frames as normal animation, which costs twice as much money—and the child voice actors are kept completely anonymous to protect them from fame, which, AMERICA, ARE YOU LISTENING? Kelly reveals the show has actually made her a better parent, not because it sets impossible standards, but because it reminds adults that play doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be present. Even Joe Brum responded to complaints about unrealistic parenting by essentially saying, "They're dogs. Dogs love to play. Calm down."But what makes Bluey genuinely fascinating is how it operates on multiple levels without condescending to anyone. Kids get silly games and talking dogs. Parents get jokes about hangovers and wanting to watch the game. Everyone gets emotional moments that hit like a truck carrying feelings. The show depicts single parents, same-sex parents, and families of all configurations without ever stopping to collect applause for being inclusive—it just is inclusive while telling stories about magic xylophones and camping trips. Mandy describes it as "being coated in caramel that is sugar-free and cannot make you gain weight," which is either perfect or evidence that Bluey has broken her brain. In a world that feels increasingly designed to make us miserable, Bluey offers consistent, high-quality comfort—not escapism, but a reminder that goodness and creativity and family connection still exist, even when everything else is on fire.The conversation takes delightful detours (Kelly admits to crushing on the animated dog dad, they debate whether Jean-Luc is a dick for leaving, they're briefly joined by Kelly's three-year-old who wants to talk about monster trucks), but ultimately lands on something important: this is a show where the main characters are all female and nobody cares because they're just kids having adventures. It's medicinal. It's necessary. And if you don't feel moved by it, well, Kelly insists you might not have a soul—which Mandy clarifies is just her being a dick and not the official position of TruStory FM, though they both stand by the sentiment. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go question why a podcast about cartoon dogs has made me feel more hopeful about humanity than any news broadcast in the last five years.Links & Notes

• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content
• Kelly Vrooman on social media: @KellyVrooms (Instagram/TikTok)
• Kelly Vrooman's YouTube: Kelly Vrooman
• Bluey on YouTube

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This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan asks the big, baffling question: how does a grown man in his forties, with a child, a career, and a functioning brain, become obsessed with Twilight? Enter Ben Raffle—software executive by day, nerd savant by night, and unapologetic devotee of sparkly vampires. What follows is a gloriously chaotic conversation about Stephanie Meyer’s cultural juggernaut, the film that launched a thousand “Team Edward vs. Team Jacob” T-shirts, and the angsty blue-filtered fever dream that made Forks, Washington, a tourist destination.Mandy and Ben cover it all: Robert Pattinson’s “did he just poop his pants?” acting choices, Kristen Stewart’s mayonnaise-adjacent performance as Bella, and why Jasper—yes, Jasper!—is the true hero of the saga. They dissect why teenage girls everywhere believed they could “fix” the bad boy who wants to murder them, how Catherine Hardwicke’s low-budget direction gave the film its signature mood, and why vampire baseball is somehow the franchise’s high point. Along the way, they veer into bison make-outs in Port Angeles, Grease 2 supremacy, and the existential question of whether anyone, anywhere, would actually choose Forks as a vacation spot.It’s silly, it’s biting, it’s surprisingly affectionate—and by the end, you may find yourself agreeing with Ben that Twilight is the Sour Patch Kids of cinema: nutritionally worthless, wildly addictive, and impossible not to binge.
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This week, Mandy Kaplan discovers that “family road trip” in Japan doesn’t mean stopping at a rest area for gas and Funyuns. No, it means your parents turn into pigs and you’re suddenly employed at a haunted bathhouse run by a chain-smoking witch with the voice of Suzanne Pleshette. And who better to guide Mandy through the bewildering fever dream of Spirited Away than returning guest, film professor, and actual delight, Kynan Dias?Together they unpack everything: how Disney’s doe-eyed Snow White accidentally inspired anime’s giant eyes, why a sludge monster is secretly about environmentalism, how “No-Face” manages to be both terrifying and adorable, and why Miyazaki’s entire vibe can be summed up as “life is fleeting, please cry into your ramen now.” Mandy, of course, raises the obvious questions: is this secretly a cult film, why does it feel like a divorce metaphor, and how is any of this for children? Kynan, patient as ever, explains concepts like mono no aware while Mandy wonders if this movie is just better enjoyed while high.It’s chaotic, hilarious, and unexpectedly moving—basically the cinematic equivalent of a fever dream where origami tries to kill you. And honestly? You’ll come away realizing that maybe being “spirited away” isn’t such a bad thing… provided you survive the pigs.Links & Notes

• Find Kynan on his shows: Every Minute of Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Devil's Details, Sitting in the Dark

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This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy is joined by the magnificent, the glamorous, the slightly crop-top-obsessed Patrick Gomez—yes, that Patrick Gomez, the Editor-in-Chief of Entertainment Weekly. Together they dust off the spell book, step into a suspiciously San Francisco-looking Paramount backlot, and dive headlong into the world of Charmed.Patrick confesses his original entry into the fandom was less about WB primetime devotion and more about syndicated reruns sandwiched between USA High and “some other show whose title he swears is real.” What followed was a lifelong affection for the Halliwell sisters, midriff tops, and the idea that maybe, just maybe, witchcraft was a safe place for a Texas teen trying to figure out who he was.From Lori Rom’s mysterious disappearance from the unaired pilot to Aaron Spelling’s tyrannical hair rules (no updos for six episodes, thank you very much), Mandy and Patrick relive the highs, the spell-casting lows, and the “why is there suddenly so much blood” shocks of the series. Along the way, they geek out over soap opera casting crossovers, Julian McMahon smoldering in the underworld, Rose McGowan’s fierce arrival, and that whole “season seven was secretly the finale, season eight is just a glamour we all politely ignore” situation.It’s nostalgia, it’s camp, it’s actual tears at Shannon Doherty’s swan song. Plus: paparazzi tangents, Britney theories, and the eternal truth that if you’re not hot for Alyssa Milano, you probably don’t have a pulse.So light a candle, chant “The Power of Three Will Set Us Free” approximately 9 billion times, and join Mandy and Patrick as they prove that sometimes being a nerd means admitting you cried at Charmed.
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This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy is joined by someone who has been part of her life nearly forever—voiceover legend and dear friend Tara Sands. You might know Tara from her work bringing Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and countless anime characters to life, but today she’s here to get properly nerdy about Black Mirror. Yes, the series that makes you both fascinated and slightly horrified about the future of technology, also known as “Tuesday” in Silicon Valley.Together, Mandy and Tara dive into some of Black Mirror’s most unforgettable episodes: the pastel-colored nightmare of “Nosedive,” the darkly hilarious “USS Callister,” and its follow-up “Into Infinity.” Along the way, they debate whether fake niceness is better than no niceness, confess to cyberstalking sins (don’t pretend you haven’t done it), and admit that VR gaming makes them feel like toddlers lost in a Best Buy. It’s a conversation about friendship, fandom, and how being a nerd isn’t about what you love—it’s about how much you love it. Also: Tara may or may not call Mandy perfect. Several times. We’re still fact-checking.By the end, Mandy has officially made Tara a nerd… or at least made her watch Black Mirror without hiding under the blanket. And if that isn’t cultural progress, I don’t know what is.Links & Notes

• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan welcomes actor, drummer, writer, and all-time Blue Man Grouper Jeffrey Nicholas Brown—yes, an actual Blue Man.The two dive headfirst into Freaks and Geeks, the show that lasted only one season but somehow altered the DNA of television comedy forever. Jeffrey confesses he was both a freak and a geek in high school—which is really just a polite way of saying “I was constantly confused and occasionally sticky”—while Mandy proudly claims her kinship with Millie, the choir-loving buzzkill who warns that French kissing too soon will send you straight to hell. Together they relive dodgeball terror, disastrous crushes, and the eternal question: how much would you need to be paid to do the “blender challenge” now? (Spoiler: more than scale.)They don’t shy away from calling out the show’s one-note characters or its lack of diversity, but they also revel in Martin Starr’s deadpan, Linda Cardellini’s flawless sincerity, and Jason Segel’s gloriously mediocre drumming. Along the way you’ll get behind-the-scenes tidbits about Busy Philipps’ billing, Franco’s inexplicable accent, and why Freaks and Geeks is still considered to have filmed the most accurate Dungeons & Dragons scene in television history. It’s nostalgia, it’s critique, it’s two grown-ups confessing their teenage traumas on mic—and it’s glorious.
Links & Notes

• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy welcomes fellow TruStory podcaster and kaiju enthusiast Riki Hayashi for a dive into one of the most critically acclaimed monster movies in decades: Godzilla Minus One. If you’ve ever thought Godzilla was just a big lizard with anger issues, think again.Riki brings his lifelong passion for Japanese nerd culture to the table, from his days as a Magic: The Gathering judge to his Twitch battles in Pokémon Go. But it’s his love for Godzilla that takes center stage here. Together, he and Mandy break down how Godzilla Minus One is not only a triumph of visual storytelling and emotional depth, but also a sharp departure from the campy traditions of kaiju past. Mandy, entering the Godzilla-verse for the first time, is floored—not just by the monster’s expressive eyes or bejeweled back spikes—but by the profound humanity at the movie’s core.The conversation covers everything from the history of the Godzilla franchise and its shifting eras, to the film’s subtle criticism of wartime nationalism and kamikaze legacy. Mandy and Riki explore how Minus One balances terrifying spectacle with unexpected tenderness, including a found-family storyline and a main character who’s more haunted than heroic. They celebrate the film’s quieter moments—the Spielbergian tension on the open sea, the war-torn melancholy of post-1945 Tokyo, the critique of institutional cruelty—and gasp together at that final chilling neck bruise (yes, they talk theories).It’s a rich discussion full of history, heartbreak, and atomic breath, peppered with rom-com ethics and a pitch-perfect Rock impression. And if Riki has his way, Mandy’s next nerdy adventure might involve tear-jerking anime and body-swapping teenagers.Links & Notes

• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

What happens when comedy meets ethics, performance art meets aviation safety, and a TV host decides to build an airport just to see what happens? This week, Mandy is joined by her brilliant and ever-curious friend Megan Parlen to dig deep into The Rehearsal — Nathan Fielder’s surreal and provocative HBO series that defies easy categorization. Is it satire? Is it social commentary? Is it trauma with a laugh track? Mandy isn’t sure, but Megan has some thoughts, and the two wrestle through their opposing reactions in a wildly entertaining exploration of cringe, consent, creative license, and the cost of curiosity.From $60 million airplane sets to uncomfortable experiments on unsuspecting hopefuls, the conversation pulls back the curtain on what Fielder’s strange vision might really be saying about humanity, neurodivergence, and our need to feel in control. Bonus: Mandy coins the term “disgustipating,” and Megan wins a metaphorical mic drop with a Game of Thrones budget comparison. This is not a rehearsal — it’s a must-listen.Links & Notes

• 📖 Bloomsbury Books – support Megan’s Bookstore!
• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

Mandy Kaplan has never seen Jurassic Park. We know. Breathe. She’s finally corrected this cinematic sin, and to walk her through the prehistoric magic, she’s joined by Pete Wright, Andy Nelson, and Tommy Metz III—three full-grown nerds whose love for Spielberg’s dinosaur masterpiece borders on religious. This is the movie that changed blockbuster filmmaking forever, and the guys are here to help Mandy understand the science, the spectacle, and the T. Rex-sized cultural impact.They dive into Stan Winston’s groundbreaking effects, John Williams’s unforgettable score, and the tightrope Spielberg walks between horror and adventure. Mandy confesses what really scared her (spoiler: it was the car), learns what the deal is with Sam Neill’s accent, and discovers a whole new appreciation for Jell-O quivering in fear. Whether you’re team Velociraptor or ride-or-die for the Triceratops, this episode is your guided tour through the park. And yes—hold on to your butts.Find the Guests!

• Pete Wright (Headstone, Sitting in the Dark): trustory.fm/headstone
• Andy Nelson (CinemaScope, The Next Reel): trustory.fm/cinemascope
• Tommy Metz III (Sitting in the Dark): trustory.fm/sittinginthedark

Links & Notes

• 📖 Bloomsbury Books – support Megan’s Bookstore!
• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.

What do you get when you cross Elizabeth Berkley, a pile of glitter, and the worst pool sex scene ever committed to film? Showgirls, of course — and this week, Mandy dives headfirst into the chaotic, cringe-glittery mess with TV producer and camp connoisseur Jessica Jimenez. Jess has seen the cult classic more times than she can count (or admit), while Mandy might have lost a small piece of her soul watching it for the first time. What follows is a cocktail-fueled breakdown of the film’s misguided ambition, baffling dialogue, and bizarre legacy as both a Razzie-sweeping disaster and beloved queer cult staple.The two unpack every absurd plot twist, every sequined meltdown, and yes — even Penny’s from Heaven. Is it empowering? Is it exploitative? Is it secretly genius? (No.) Is it fun to yell “Versayce” in public? (Yes.) Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a horrified first-timer, this episode is a campy celebration of a movie so bad, it’s iconic.Links & Notes

• Watch Storage Wars!
• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram (@mandy_kaplan_klavins)
• Join Make Me A Nerd for Bonus Content

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Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.