Ever feel uneasy staring into deep, dark water? You're not alone.

In this episode of Mind Gap Podcast, Doug and Justin dive into the very real fear of deep water (also known as thalassophobia) and how it connects to other bizarre (and surprisingly common) phobias like submechanophobia (the fear of submerged man-made objects).

What starts as a simple conversation quickly turns into a deep (and slightly unhinged) exploration of:

- How movies like Jaws can create lifelong fears

- Why the ocean feels so terrifying even when nothing's there

- Horror games that tap into our deepest anxieties

- Weird, hyper-specific fears that make zero sense… until they do

From childhood trauma to real-life experiences in deep water, we break down why these fears stick with us—and why they might never fully go away.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

Are books being updated for modern audiences… or quietly rewritten?

We came across a debate that's been gaining traction: older books are being edited to replace outdated references (like TV shows) with modern ones (like TikTok). On the surface, it seems harmless, but does it change the story more than we think?

In this episode, we dig into:

- Should books be modernized to stay relevant?

- Where's the line between accessibility and rewriting history?

- Are we underestimating readers by making these changes?

- And what happens when technology updates break the original story?

It starts with one small change… but it raises a much bigger question: Are we preserving stories or reshaping them?

We also spiral into:

- Whether 90s games trained us to think differently

- The psychology of failure vs instant gratification

- And a completely normal question about taking $50 million… with consequences

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

At one point, the wait time hit 3 hours… and we got there at park open. Theme parks are supposed to be magical. So why does it feel like you're paying hundreds of dollars just to stand in line?

In this episode, we break down the modern theme park experience. From insane wait times and $300 Express Passes to overpriced food and the weird psychological game of "we've already waited this long, we can't leave now."

We chat about:

- Why theme park wait times feel worse than ever

- The truth about Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure

- Is an Express Pass actually worth $260–$340 per person?

- The stunning reality of Epic Universe and why it almost works

- The psychology of standing in line for hours

- When a ride is actually worth a 2–3 hour wait

- Why theme park food is usually a scam, except when it isn't

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

You find extra cash. The cashier undercharges you. Your ex's Netflix still works. Do you say something… or just accept that the universe has chosen you?

In this episode, we build The Morality Meter: a completely unscientific (but brutally honest) system for ranking everyday "victimless crimes." From free refills and password sharing to accidentally keeping things that definitely aren't yours, we're figuring out where the line actually is and how often we cross it.

Some of these feel harmless. Some of these will haunt you at 3am. And some… you'll defend way harder than you expected.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another Mind Gap Podcast! This week, Doug rejoins Justin as the two kick things off with a fun Reddit story which sparks a wide ranging discussion about work and how everyone is just making it up as they go. Doug then regales Justin with stories from his recent trip to New York, which also happened to be his first time there. Justin and Doug fawn over the city, cringe at some of the stuff Doug witnessed on his morning walks, and celebrate Doug finally meeting his friend of 22 years in person for the first time!

Things are wrapped up with a game inspired by Doug's trip where Justin gives him 3 New York city laws, but only one is real while the other two are fake. Doug must tap into his practical side to figure out which one would land him in jail.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another Mind Gap Podcast! This week, Justin is joined by Mind Gap all star, Chris Vellucci, while Doug is on special assignment in New York. They kick things off by Justin asking Chris a question he's been wanting to ask for quite some time, "how do you visualize a calendar?" This turns into a debate about how each season ranks against the others. Once that's settled, Chris tells Justin what he's been up to for the past 8 months and about a whitewater rafting trip he's going on in the Grand Canyon. Chris's upcoming adventure leads Justin to inform Chris of a truly wild race called the Barkley Marathons. It won't do it justice to elaborate here, you'll just have to listen to hear how wild this gets.

Things are wrapped up with a new game called 3 in 5, where Chris has 5 seconds to list 3 things belonging to categories Justin has curated.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another Mind Gap Podcast! This week, Doug and Justin dive into a "what would you do" based on another Reddit story, this one involving a student who accidentally submitted erotic fan fiction to their professor instead of their term paper. Doug then tells Justin a tale about an unwanted timeshare pitch that happened at a hotel while spending a weekend in the Wisconsin Dells. Needless to say, Practical Doug and Justice Doug were very much on edge. The dorks finally make it to the main topic, when a sequel accidentally rewrites the moral of the original. They discuss examples like Jurassic Park, Rocky, Rambo, Wall Street, Star Wars, and X-Men.

Things are wrapped up with a game of Tagline Trivia, where Justin reads three taglines for a movie and Doug has to pick which one is the real one.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another Mind Gap Podcast! This week, Doug and Justin kick things off with another Reddit story, this one involving a roommate's questionable use of peanut butter. We're going to leave it there. The dorks then find their way to the main topic, if superheroes had to follow real laws who is going to jail first? The guys cover the ethical conundrums that would face everyone from Superman to Punisher and Iron Man to Captain America.

Things are wrapped up with another round of the movie clip guessing game, where Doug plays clips from different movies and Justin does his best to guess which films they're from.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another Mind Gap Podcast! This week, Justin triumphantly returns from his hiatus! Doug and Justin dive right into a story shared on Reddit about a woman getting revenge on her cheating ex by involving his father. Woof. The dorks then move into their main topic, exploring media that made them feel dumb (maybe in a good way) as children. They discuss themes they initially missed in films such as Fight Club, Jurassic Park, Office Space, and Ghostbusters.

Things are wrapped up with another round of the movie clip guessing game, where Doug plays clips from different movies and Justin does his best to guess which films they're from.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!

It's time for another episode of MindGap podcast! This week, Doug is joined by a very special guest host - his brother, Dave! The dorks start by talking about awkward job interviews and personal blunders. Next, they explore the lessons that pop culture taught them that they had to unlearn as adults, such as misconceptions about hard work, the unrealistic portrayals of love in movies, and the idea of the lone genius or chosen one.

Things are wrapped up with a game made just for Dave, who is a huge fan of Warhammer 40k. Doug plays Fact or Fiction: Warhammer 40k edition to test Dave's knowledge of the lore.

Check out our YouTube channel! Be sure to like and subscribe for this content as well as episode highlights, Doug Watches Awkward Videos, Justin Plays Video games, and more!

We have MERCH now!

Follow us on all of our social medias and other platforms!