Mouse and Weens

E87 – This is a fun one from under a blanket in LA! As we’re staring at kneecaps, we talk about shaving, tweezing and how it brings pleasure. Why? To find out, we fact-check plucking and trichotillomania and find out some interesting biology behind it. Then we recap a recent camping trip and have some amazing, simple advice for parents. Naturally, this leads us to talk about the Reels conspiracy theory and online dating. Weens is poking her hairless toe into the man pool and we talk all about Hinge and the fine folks popping up on the app. Then Julianne tells the story of her friend’s involvement with Dirty John. Holy crumb, no wonder she’s hesitant! Finally we get into feet, loafers, and Joelle’s ex-boyfriends who belong in them. It’s a funny episode that lets you peek inside the world of a couple of grown-up but not-so-grown-up sisters.

Song credit: “Love Is A Mess” by http://www.julianneeggold.com

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You can get this episode commercial free – plus bonus content, outtakes, and merch – for a mere $5 a month on http://www.patreon.com/mouseandweens Join the family!

E86 – We’re back to finish our fun interview with Alison Arngrim, the wonderful Nellie Oleson actress, turned stand-up comedian and New York Times best-selling author. She talks about real-life ‘Little House on the Prairie’ mean girl moments, on-set rumors, what Michael Landon was like, her ringlet HAIR!, and why she thinks Little House child actors grew up to stay on the straight and narrow. We talk about how Alison is the David Hasselhoff of France and the hilarious reason why French cultural differences work in her favor. Joelle recounts stories when she pretended to be tomboy Laura, learned how to be blind like Mary, and even re-enacted the famous Nellie wheelchair scene, sans duck poop and radioactive waste of course! Alison answers some listener questions about her tv episodes and we learn the truth behind certain famous scenes. We also discuss the fact that The Rock might have a crush on her of sorts!

Alison is the queen of reinvention and hustle, and tells us about her Nasty Nellie tours of Hollywood and her online stand-up shows. She is also a survivor of childhood abuse and now is a powerful advocate at the National Association to Protect Children www.Protect.org Hear her full story in her book, available on www.Bonnetheads.com. We talk about the anxiety during this stressful pandemic, but also the hopeful medical advances that are being made (llama vaccines?!), and how she copes by being a helper. She has found that daily readings of the ‘Little House’ books on her Facebook Live have helped her and her thousands of followers find comfort. Alison is such a positive force out there and we had a wonderful time learning her story, her causes, and getting to know her. Please follow her and do the same!

Find all things Alison at www.bonnetheads.com including her ‘Confessions of a Prairie Bitch’ book, and merchandise. Be sure to click on her newsletter for the latest updates

Join her daily live readings and listen to her radio show The Alison Arngrim Show. Links on www.facebook.com/alison.arngrim

Alison is also on Cameo and Coach The World, so please look her up for special 1-on-1 time

Song credit: “Weens Slide Guitar” by Julianne Eggold and “If I Had A Chicken” by Kevin MacLeod

Please follow and contact us via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @mouseandweens

The video version of this episode is available on www.YouTube.com search “Mouse and Weens”

You can get this episode commercial free – plus bonus content, outtakes, and merch – for a mere $5 a month on www.patreon.com/mouseandweens Join the family!

E85 – Part 1 of our interview with energetic Alison Arngrim who played original mean girl Nellie Oleson on the long-running tv series that 70’s and 80’s kids everywhere grew up on, “Little House On The Prairie”. She makes time for us between her stand-up shows and Facebook Live daily readings to tell us fascinating stories about growing up in Hollywood in the wild 1960’s and 70’s in a showbiz family. Hear what her family connections were to the fabulous Liberace and Debbie Reynolds, what it was like to live in the Chateau Marmont, and other mini tales from her book “Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated”. We hear what it was like to be a child actor at that time in Los Angeles and how her auditions in front of Michael Landon went before she earned the part of Nasty Nellie! Some listener Q&A’s reveal if her tv mother Mrs. Harriet Oleson, played by Katherine MacGregor, was really as mean as she played on the show, and how Alison’s real-life friends and fans treated her in public. Find out what she and co-star Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder, are up to during the quarantine, and why she thinks all things “Little House” are having the resurgence and relevance they are today. Stay tuned for Part 2 coming out soon!

–Livestream Nellie Oleson’s show at home “Confessions of a Prairie Terror”. We’ll be there too!

This episode is sponsored by www.HomeschoolBuyersCo-op.org

Please follow and contact us via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @mouseandweens

Song credit: “Keep It 98 Plus 2” by Rage and “If I Had A Chicken” by Kevin MacLeod

E84 – We are proud to have Ahmed Hassan back co-hosting with us, and to be a platform for these important voices. We put together a panel of California cops – a black female police officer, a white female police officer, and a black male police officer – to discuss what they’ve seen and what they know from their experiences in law enforcement. You’ll hear why they chose this career and their thoughts on brutality, protests, and defunding the police. You’ll learn their insights into quotas, racial profiling, sundowning laws, the code of silence, and what is really happening in the station and on the streets in their profession. How do the ‘bad apples’ make it onto the force and is this issue as prevalent as we’re seeing in the media? This is an eye-opening discussion spanning many years and many perspectives. We came out of it with a new viewpoint and wonder if you might too.

All links and a transcript of this episode will be available on www.MouseAndWeens.com

This episode is sponsored by www.HomeschoolBuyersCo-op.org

Podcast Promo: The Picture Show with Austin and Phil Rood

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E83 – During this quarantine shutdown time, many parents are faced with educational decisions for their kids including whether or not to homeschool. This is a conversation with Joelle’s childhood friend Ali, a former teacher and homeschooler of five kids here in California since 2004. She has a great perspective on the benefits and what it takes to homeschool, and talks Mouse through the whole process from her point of view. We cover why she chose to homeschool, whether to go with independent, private, or charter school education, her thoughts on ages and behaviors that are a good fit for homeschooling, which curriculum to choose, whether to use old school papers and books versus digital tools and computers, what is HSLDA and why it’s crucial, being under an umbrella school, filing a homeschool affidavit, hiring a teacher to oversee your paperwork and keep you accountable and on track, what a homeschool calendar and schedule looks like with grades, test-taking, field trips, outdoor learning, vacations, and structure, socialization and when it’s time for the kids to join outside classes, co-ops, or go back to public school, how to do science labs, language classes, SATs, taking junior college classes for credits, being on a 4-year college track, and what universities really think of homeschoolers.

Song Credit: “Things Aren’t As Bad As They Seem” by Dan Mahony and Julianne Eggold