In this week's MVC Weekly, we cover the games played over Thanksgiving break. We focus on Illinois State men's basketball's high powered offense and their defensive struggles, along with the success of other MVC powerhouses. On the women's side, we focus on ISU's early struggles and the continued dominant play of Missouri State.

MARISA MEDINE | Copy Editor | @Marisa_Medine | | KYLIE HAGMANN | Copy Editor | KATHRYN EVENSON | Copy Editor | @KathrynE8

Hosts Elizabeth Urban and Sandra Esparza could go on and on about any topic, from politics to the latest movies. On their podcast 'Tea Time,' they cover weekly topics that change depending on school, the season or even their moods. In this episode, they talk about recent court cases and their thoughts on the U.S. justice system. With so many high-profile court cases happening currently, Elizabeth and Sandra offer their thoughts on what police, politicians, judges and even regular citizens could be doing to help make the system equitable. They also touch on the wealth gap, offering their thoughts on what the top 1% should be doing with their earnings.

Sports Editor Jake Sermersheim is joined by reporters Mikey Fornelli and Eric Schweizer along with a special guest to break down the state of Illinois State men's basketball. The crew also touches on volleyball, Loyola's realignment to the Atlantic 10 and ISU football's loss to North Dakota.

Hosts Kylie Hagmann, Kathryn Evenson, and Marisa Medine are back again. The three, who are also copy editors for Videtteonline.com, call their podcast series the BookBirds. They admit they could talk for hours about books, writing, life and everything in between. This week, they discussed the classics. They go over their favorite classic books, who their favorite classic authors are, and which books from today they think could be considered classics in the future.

Discussed the opening to the season for MVC teams, including the season-ending injury to Indiana State star Tyreke Key, Antonio Reeves' hot start, and Northern Iowa's early season struggles. Touched on Illinois State women's 1-1 start and what to expect going forward.

Hosts Marisa Medine, Kylie Hagmann, and Kathryn Evenson are back again with episode nine. The three, who are also copy editors for Videtteonline.com, call their podcast series the BookBirds. They admit they could talk for hours about books, writing, life and everything in between. This week, they will discuss Wattpad, an online social reading platform that allows users to read and write original stories. Wattpad is changing the lives of so many writers. They will discuss some of their favorite stories and the benefits of a platform such as Wattpad that allows a more personal environment to write. They also dive into how Wattpad is changing modern day publishing and that it gives anyone who wants to write the opportunity to do so and get feedback along the way from readers. Wattpad, where stories live.

Hosts Elizabeth Urban and Sandra Esparza could go on and on about any topic, from politics to the latest movies. On their podcast 'Tea Time,' they cover weekly topics that change depending on school, the season or even their moods. In this episode, they talk about the Astroworld tragedy that occurred over the weekend where eight people died at a music festival and several more remain injured. They share their thoughts on who should be held responsible, what venues should learn from this and conspiracy theories surrounding the event. Elizabeth and Sandra extend their hearts out to anyone who has been affected by the tragedy.

Sports Editor Jake Sermersheim and reporter Mikey Fornelli break down the start to Illinois State men's and women's basketball, before moving on to football and volleyball.

Sports reporters Scotty Prerost, Jacob Urish and Ken Kanoon sit down to break down the Missouri Valley Conference Women's basketball preseason standings, Illinois State men's and women's basketball's exhibitions.