Kid Nation Nation: The Pioneer Podcast

Daniel Kyri, best known to Kid Nation fans as DK, joins us on an amazing Pioneer Chat this week! Now a successful actor who stars on NBC’s Chicago Fire, the Chicago native rolls back the clock to discuss his time as a 14 year old in Bonanza City. Daniel dishes about the children’s gospel choir performance that got him cast, what Guylan told him on the night he threatened to leave town, and what REALLY went down with the whole “bleach drinking” incident you’ve probably read about online. Let’s just say we were VERY wrong about it being overblown.

All good things must come to an end. And to an end they must come in “We’ve All Decided to Go Mad!” The kids are woken up by a Moses-like image of a burning bush, only its the job board/caste system! And that ain’t the only iconic Bonanza City item going up in flames. This episode has it all. Parents! Pasta! Four gold stars! That’s right, FOUR, and three of them are a lot heavier than usual if you catch my drift. Take a listen and join Pablo and Stevie as they say goodbye to Kid Nation.

In “Where’s Bonanza, Dude,” arguably the most beloved Kid Nation kid finally wins a gold star. But hold up, partner! Before that revelation, this episode is jam packed with some cool ideas that show what a season 2 could’ve been like. Newly elected Sheriff Sophia takes charge of the town and is a big step up from the Town Council. Speaking of the Big Boys, they are sent by the journal out into the wilderness where they meet a Native American tribe who teaches them about leadership. Back in town, the Big Boy-less teams struggle with the most strength-dependent Showdown yet. And when it comes to the prizes, there’s a controversial (to Stevie and Pablo) choice that has us becoming believers of The Mandela Effect!

True Kid Nation heads know that the answer to “Remember the chicken killing episode?” is “Which one?!” In “I Just Like the Recess Part,” the kids of Bonanza City are roped into yet another chicken killing controversy, although this one has a bigger focus on eugenics. After Jonathan Karsh drops a hint about the Showdown being a quiz, the kids (except Taylor) hit the books and we get some of the most adorable scenes yet. This is a jam packed episode featuring Dance Dance Revolution, Taylor doing dishes, Sophia being elected Sheriff, and we meet Hunter’s dad, the chillest dad in America. Better listen to this episode quick before Sophia padlocks your favorite podcast app of choice!

Fascism comes to Bonanza City in “Let Me Talk,” one of the darker episodes of Kid Nation. Now that Greg and his crew of Big Boys have taken power in Bonanza City, things take a turn as they lead the Nation in a weird game of introductions (despite knowing each other for over a month) with dire consequences for laughing. After Greg and Blaine spend an afternoon catcalling the girls of Bonanza City, Michael realizes he has to take a stand against his fellow council leaders. On the lighter side, we get a fun, if predictably convoluted, Showdown involving pies and one of the best Gold Star phone calls yet involving a fan favorite!

In this week’s Pioneer Chat, we have one of the green team’s standout kids, MORGAN ANITA WOOD! Now a member of the Los Angeles production of Hamilton, Morgan joined us for an incredible chat about her time as a 12 year old in Bonanza City. Did you know that the show’s producers edited Hunter out of the religion episode in order to give her the gold star? Or that she had a crush on Greg? Or that she went to Jared’s Bar Mitzvah with other members of Kid Nation?! If you’re dying to find out what Jared’s Bar Mitzvah theme was, click that play button!

For this week’s Pioneer Chat, we talked with Executive Producer MICHELLE KONGKASUWAN! Michelle worked in post as a story producer on Kid Nation and we had a blast chatting with her and getting an adult’s perspective of Bonanza City. If you’re a Bonanza nerd, this behind the scenes interview with someone who turned raw footage into television gold is just what you’ve been dying to hear!

Fans of the 2014 Kevin Costner/Jennifer Garner NFL film “Draft Day,” rejoice! In this week's episode “Not Even Close to Fair,” the Town Council leaders are drafting new kids to join their team. Well, all of them except Laurel, who causes a huge controversy by choosing to keep her team intact. Then we have one of the most arduous showdowns in Kid Nation history featuring wheelbarrows full of rocks. Can little kids get hernias? Were the show’s PAs up all night spray painting rocks? We ponder these questions and more in episode 9!

It’s the talent show episode!!! In “Starved for Entertainment,” the Town Council tries to raise morale by putting on a show. But first, we meet Natasha and Migle, the “Paris and Nicole of Bonanza City,” and learn, sort of, about a homesick Savannah’s Kentucky Dinner. After a Showdown featuring THE biggest missed prize opportunity in the show’s run, it’s time for the talent show. We got piano performances, a Shakespearean monologue, a drag show, and not one but TWO stand-up performances with strong Flappers Burbank energy. You know an episode is good when Blaine crip walks to a fake version of “Freak-A-Leek” and it isn’t even part of the talent show!

“The Root of All Evil” is all about MONEY. If you love cash, dough, bread, moolah, Benjamins, simoleons, smackers, and guap, then this episode is for you. Controversy arises early in the episode when Divad starts a peach cobbler business using supplies in the town’s pantry. This leads to one of Kid Nation Nation’s biggest arguments as Pablo and Stevie debate whether Divad is a savvy businesswoman or a bloodthirsty capitalist. Meanwhile, Sophia briefly turns into Jigsaw from the Saw movies with yet another twisted social experiment. Jared uses the profits from his woodcarving enterprise to dress like a pimp. And we meet Nathan, the most homeschooled boy in the world!

Our latest Pioneer Chat is with the one and only ANJAY AJODHA! The Blue Team leader dishes on how a 12-year-old Eagle Scout and Spelling Bee champ got cast on Kid Nation, why he turned down a chance to be on Survivor, his thoughts on the infamous religion episode, and much more! Did you know that Olivia wrote Anjay an apology letter after Kid Nation aired? You will after listening to this episode!

It’s garbage day in Bonanza City! In “Bonanza is Disgusting,” the stinky kids of Kid Nation clean up their stinky town, which is covered with rotting food and rats that were clearly placed by production. But that’s not the most disgusting part of the episode. In this week’s Showdown, the producers make the kids dive into a giant cast iron pan filled with pigs and gallons of beans. Guess what other wet brown item is in this giant pen full of live pigs? If you want to find out, be like Greg and dive headfirst into this ep!

We’ve reached “Viva La Revolucion!” or as it’s known to Kid Nation fans: The one where we find out they haven’t brushed their teeth in two weeks. There’s a revolution brewing in Bonanza City… well, not really a revolution. It’s more like electoral politics but revolution sounds much more fun! In this ep, Zach, Guylan, and Olivia make their case to replace Taylor, Mike, and Anjay on the Town Council. We got canvassing, we got electioneering, we got stump speeches! If 2020 ends up being the last presidential election in American history, at least we’ll have this episode as a reminder of what that whole “voting” thing was all about.

It took four episodes but Bonanza City finally got some of that ol’ time religion! In this iconic episode, all HECK breaks loose as the kids debate how religion should factor into the town… or more specifically, WHICH religion should play a role. Pablo, a member of the Jew Crew, and Stevie, an ex-Catholic School Girl, dive deep into their own religious upbringings. And we’re introduced to Cody, a kid who gets a wartime letter from his 11 year old girlfriend that shatters his determination to stay in Bonanza City. Which religion is the correct one? Listen and find out!

The first Pioneer to join us in our chats with the cast and crew of Kid Nation, is the Green Team’s own mighty captain LAUREL MCGOFF! Laurel joins Stevie and Pablo to talk about her time in Bonanza City. The Boston native explains how she got cast on the show, dishes on behind the scenes gossip as a Town Council leader, and lets us know if she’d go back to Bonanza City in an Adult Nation reboot. She also shows off those incredible pipes with a soaring rendition of Amazing Grace. Royalty free music, baby! You gotta love it.

It’s bedtime for Bonanza City in “Deal With It!.” In this episode, a bedtime is instituted by the Town Council, a decision that has the rowdy kids of Bonanza City, drunk off Bonanza Bombs, ready to mutiny. Things get wild as Cowboy Colton charges a 2,400lb bull and Greg the Big Boy calls someone a bitch. But as the kids bicker over the Showdown prize options of a Microwave + Hot Cocoa vs 40 Pizzas, Mother Nature returns in the form of a tornado. These kids can’t catch a break!

Pablo and Stevie dive into one of the most controversial episodes of Kid Nation, “To Kill or Not to Kill” AKA the one where they kill chickens. Oh yes, it’s THAT episode. Kid Nation almost collapses when Emilie, leader of Bonanza City’s Animal Liberation Front chapter, tries to save the town’s chickens from being slaughtered by Greg, the town’s Big Boy. But the kids have bigger problems than not starving to death: There’s a sandstorm coming their way and we’re not talking about the hit 1999 trance song by Finnish DJ superstar Darude!

Pioneers, gather up! It’s time for your next showdown: Kid Nation Nation, a gold star podcast worth its weight in gold hosted by Stevie Anderson (What’s Your Sign? podcast) and Pablo Goldstein (Vulture). In Episode 1, we meet the 40 brave pioneers who travel to Bonanza City, NM in order to build a new society run by kids (and story producers and CBS executives), for kids. Will they succeed? Will they run home crying to their mommy? Will President George W. Bush be name dropped by the kids 17 times per episode? Watch and listen to find out!

*(At the 1min50second marker we mentioned being the only Kid Nation Nation podcast which was true back in January 2020 when we recorded this. But now there are other Kid Nation Nation podcasts and we salute our fellow pioneers!)