The Middle School Mind

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. After months of deliberation and soul-searching Father and Son publish their last and final episode of The Middle School Mind podcast.

After nearly 18 months and over 35+ episodes, on this episode:

• We say goodbye to our listeners
• We talk about what's next for Son
• We hear from some of our past guests
• Of course we get a little silly
• And we play one last game

So sit back, relax, grab the Kleenex and stick around for our very special goodbye episode.

We think kid's voices are under represented in the podcast space. Even though we are leaving, we encourage you to visit Kids Listen. This organization is a grassroots organization of advocates for high-quality audio content for children. The Middle School Mind is a proud member of Kids Listen and, with our show ending, we encourage kids and families to find other interesting and engaging podcasts for kids.

Through this adventure, we connected with the creator of Sound Carrot. This website was founded by a father/daughter team with the goal to help younger listeners find amazing children's podcasts. We hope this resource helps parents and kids find other kid's voices that you want to listen to and hear more from.

We also believe that kids can create their own podcasts! Last summer we launched a three-part series encouraging kids to make their own kids' podcasts. You can find the episodes here:

• 1.20 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 1
• 1.21 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 2
• 1.22 Make Your Own Kid Podcast 3

Thank you to The Middle School Mind listeners and even our future listeners. We enjoyed making these episodes together and sharing them with you. This time was special for us and we will look back at this show as an amazing point in time where we talked about what was on Son's mind or relevant pop culture during this time.

If you loved listening to the show and want to connect with us, e-mail us at: middleschoolmind.podcast@gmail.com. We are happy to connect if you want to talk about creating your own podcast for your child or, potentially, if you are interested in having your middle schooler take over The Middle School Mind, let's chat.

We always knew that The Middle School Mind was going to last at most, 3 years, with Son and I. But amazing shows like Star Trek had Star Trek: The Next Generation and Saved By The Bell had Saved By The Bell: The New Class introduced a new cast of characters while providing new stories and fresh perspectives. It would be amazing to have a Mother/Daughter voice leading the show or a parent/child from a different part of the country or even a completely different country! It's the unique perspectives that help us all learn and appreciate each other.

Enjoy The Goodbye Episode and thank you for being part of our show.

Sincerely,

Father & Son

The Middle School Mind podcast is taking a little break as we get into the holiday season and look out for new episodes from us in the new year.

In the meantime, we wanted to share some other great kids and family podcasts to our listeners. On this week’s Feed Drop, we wanted to share a very inspiring episode from A Step Ahead Tutoring Services' podcast, Hot Topics!. On this episode of Hot Topics!, we meet Sydney Fowler, a teen entrepreneur of a Single Soul online clothing boutique for teens.

Sydney talks about her life-changing injury she suffered at the age of 13 and how she started Single Soul with her love of fashion and the support of her family. We love listening to this young entrepreneur story and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

You can find A Step Ahead Tutoring Services Hot Topics! podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Middle School Mind podcast is taking a little break as we get into the holiday season and look out for new episodes from us in the new year.

In the meantime, we wanted to share some other great kids and family podcasts to our listeners. On this week’s Feed Drop, we wanted to share a recent episode of The Geeky Dad Podcast where the Geeky Dad and the Multiverse Kids visit New York and check out a Star Wars exhibition this fall. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

You can find The Geeky Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, we talk about tween gift ideas this holiday season with our own spin with wrong answers only. This is our attempt at sarcasm to talk about gifts parents and loved ones should NOT buy the tweens on their gift list this holiday season.

We rate these tween gift ideas on a scale of 1 to 5 empty presents, with 5 empty presents being a really bad gift and 1 empty present being a great, super useful gift.

Father and Son talk about the following tween gift ideas (wrong answers only):

• Jojo Siwa’s D.R.E.A.M. Tour front row tickets and a meet and greet session
• Underwear
• Carpool and dinner for Son and his bully (or bullies)
• Knock-off, bootleg products
• Cameo video to your crush from your parents
• Insult gifts
• Invite least favorite teacher to celebrate the holidays with the family
• Family members go way off your holiday wish list

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind, we talk about how Son learned the basics of football by playing Madden NFL 22 on XBox One.

Many middle school students are not into sports and Son is one of them. However, many kids have to attend sporting events to support their siblings, friends and family. Son’s older sister is in the color guard at her high school and she performs during halftime at the home football games.

Rather than complaining about going to the games or sitting in the stands bored and not knowing what’s going on the field, Father bought Madden NFL 22 on XBox One to teach Son the basics of football.

Football is an incredibly complex game. Many people complain that there’s more standing around than action in the games. Using Madden as a teaching tool, Father was able to talk Son through the high level basics of football from offense to defense and run plays and passing plays.

On this episode, we talk about the following:

• Son is not a sports kid
• Madden video game taught Son the basic rules to football
• We compare the video game with the actual game
• Did Madden help Son appreciate the game?
• Video games can be a good learning tool
• Wii Sports is a classic sports tutorial for novices

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On this episode, we featured our fellow podcaster, The Geeky Dad Podcast. This podcast highlights the trials and tribulations of a Geeky Dad trying to reclaim some semblance of sanity as he navigates parenthood and geek culture. Check out The Geeky Dad Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

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On this episode of The Middle School Mind, Son has a special guest, Raphael, who is here to talk about stage fright and how they prepare for theater performances.

They talk about the process to get into a show starting with the audition workshop, the audition itself, call-backs, practices, opening night and all the feels associated with the closing show.

Audition Workshops

The workshop is like the pre-audition audition. You are generally divided by age and taken through singing, dancing and running lines.

Auditions

It can get extremely competitive at auditions. Brother against brother, Friend against friend. And Raphael says it’s important to look “fly” to the auditions. It’s important to keep yourself busy like playing cards to keep yourself entertained during auditions.

Call-Backs

You have a short amount of time to prep for call-backs. If you bomb your call-back, you may have just missed out on making the show. It’s easy to psyche yourself out when you’re checking out your competition. The directors usually don’t provide feedback during call-backs which adds to the anxiety.

Practices

You made the show - good for you! Middle schoolers need to balance school, other activities, family time and other interests in addition to the show. Son and Raphael practice at home in front of their stuffed animals for their audience.

Tech Week

Tech Week is crunch time where you prepare for the actual shows. The number of practices ramp up and you need to do run-throughs with microphones and costumes. You need to lean on your friends and trust your directors to make sure the show comes together.

Opening Night

The guys play Super Smash Bros on the Switch to take the focus off the show. The cast and crew are in full costume and huddle together and talk trash to relieve stress.

Closing Night

It’s a mix of emotions. We’re excited that it’s over but we also got so close to our castmates that we get so emotional. We also want to go out on top and give our best performance. We celebrate our show with an awesome cast party.

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On this episode, we featured our fellow podcaster, If You Give a Dad a Podcast. This is a nerdy dad podcast where they interview everyone from wrestlers, musicians and even a chiropractor. Listen to their show for all things nerdy.

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We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind, we continue our review of Halloween candies that are safe for kids with peanut and tree nut food allergies. Halloween is a fun time for kids, and since we have family members with severe food allergies, we hand out peanut and tree nut free candies on Halloween.

On this episode, we pull random allergy-safe candy from a hat and we taste test each candy and tell you if we would Keep this candy, Trade this candy or Chuck this candy.

Here are the allergy-friendly candies we review on this episode:

Jolly Rancher Gummies - 2 in 1

• Son wants to Keep since he doesn’t think others would want to Trade him for it.
• Father feels like it has the consistency of Swedish Fish and sticks to his teeth.
• We talk about how people who hand out fruit snacks on Halloween are our heroes!

Goetze’s Bullseye Caramel Creams

• This one was a unanimous Keep!
• Once you hit the cream center, it was great. It reminded us of the Oreo cream center.
• This was a new candy for Son, but Father has enjoyed this for quite some time.
• We feel these candies are too small and not enough people hand these candies out on Halloween!

Jolly Rancher Lollipops

• Son said this meets his expectations for a Jolly Rancher candy. This is a Keep for him.
• Father chose to bite through his lollipop and noted that it was pretty sour.
• We talked about how you never see adults walking around sucking on lollipops.

Whoppers

• Son liked it, but would Trade this for an upgrade in his Halloween bag.
• Father loves Whoppers but too many in one sitting can get too sweet.

Sweet Tarts

• Sweet Tarts only had two distinct flavors - the Purple and Green and it was so tart with a bad aftertaste.
• Son said this is an automatic Chuck and would never wish this on anyone.

Oreos

• It’s great to end Oreos!
• This was another unanimous Keep for Father and Son.
• Father talks about his Oreo consumption style to combine two Oreos for one Ultra Oreo.

 was just our opinion and these candies are safe for Son’s allergies. Please make sure these candies are safe for you based on your specific food allergies.

This was a great episode since we got to eat candy and critique the Halloween candy that we will give out to our neighbors.

We finish the episode talking about middle schoolers and if they still go trick or treating in 7th grade.

Have a very safe and very Happy Halloween everyone!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind, we review Halloween candies that are safe for kids with peanut and tree nut food allergies. Halloween is a fun time for kids, and since we have family members with severe food allergies, we hand out peanut and tree nut free candies on Halloween.

On this episode, we pull random allergy-safe candy from a hat and we taste test each candy and tell you if we would Keep this candy, Trade this candy or Chuck this candy.

Here are the candies we review on this episode:

Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers Mini

• Son thinks Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers all taste the same
• Father notes these have a little sugar and look like the letter S with half the crawler one flavor and the other half another flavor
• Son would TRADE Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers

Laffy Taffy

• Each Laffy Taffy comes with a handful of groan-worthy dad jokes
• Son thinks this has a weird texture with smooth and hard spots and didn’t finish his piece
• Both Son and Father would CHUCK Laffy Taffy since there’s not a lot of street value to these candies

Jolly Rancher Stix

• Son didn’t enjoy his but it wasn’t the worst candy
• Father does not like Jolly Rancher since it stuck to his teeth and he can’t immediately chew this Jolly Rancher Stix
• Son would TRADE this candy since we think enough people like Jolly Rancher candy

Nerds

• Nerds are a classic candy!
• We both agree that Nerds are a KEEPER.

Milk Duds

• Son tries Milk Duds for the first time
• Father thinks Milk Duds are duds
• The caramel is chewy and the chocolate is meh
• We agree that Milk Duds are a TRADE if you can find a willing partner (sucker)

Rolo

• Son talks about his memories of Rolos that he finds in his stockings every Christmas at his grandparents house
• Father thinks Rolos are what the Milk Duds creators wanted Milk Duds to turn into
• We both agree that Rolos are a KEEP in every Halloween bag

We have a lot more candy to go and we don’t want to ruin our dinner. So we need to break this up into a follow up episode!

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son compares and contrasts his experiences with 6th grade and 7th grade so far.

Here’s what we cover on this episode:

• We are no longer charting in Anguilla as one of the top kids and family podcasts :(
• Respect your teachers, kids. Teachers are people too!
• 6th Grade and 7th Grade comparisons
  • Education and learning
  • Homework expectations
  • Teacher personalities
  • Overall enjoyment

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We miss our friends in Anguilla! We don’t know what happened, but please let us know what we can do to win you guys back. Credit to Music is Love Anthems rendition of God Bless Anguilla clip used in this episode.

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We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

In this episode we reference our previous episodes, 1.7 Fast Food Places Ranked, where Nate disagrees with Son’s rankings.

Thanks to our special guest on this episode, Star Wars Super Fan Nate! We hope to have him back on in the future to talk more about Star Wars and other sci fi movies.

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son’s friend, TB, is back to talk about video games nobody plays anymore. These are games that Son and TB have played in the past and the two discuss the replayability, graphics and why these games should get another look.

• Unravel 2 (2018) - sequel to the original Unravel. It’s a puzzle game with little yarn people that Son and Father play together.
• Minecraft Dungeons (2020) - it was great to play when it first came out during COVID. But the latest updates were more visual and didn’t enhance replayability. It just felt very repetitive. There’s no building or crafting which is different from the traditional, open-world Minecraft game.
• The two explain “grinding” for all the baby-boomers.
• Portal 2 (2011) - this game improves on the original Portal which has great use of imagination and physics. This game is relatively inexpensive and the two player function is fun to boobytrap and annoy your friends. The graphics are good for a 10+ year old game.
• Brawlhalla (2014) - it’s like Walmart Great Value brand Super Smash Bros. It’s better than Smash Bros in some ways.
• Job Simulator (2016) - it’s a fun game to get a newbie VR user accustomed to holding the controllers. TB had some controller issues when he tried playing Job Simulator. There are four basic jobs you can do in the game to try different challenges and learn new skills.
• We play a game about video game trivia.

Thanks to TB for being a guest on our show again. Catch TB’s first appearance on the show when Son and TB talked about a school lunch menu overhaul. We will definitely have him back on for future episodes of The Middle School Mind!

Check out our special sponsor for this episode! The Geeky Dad Podcast! The trials and tribulations of a Geeky Dad trying to reclaim some semblance of sanity as he navigates parenthood and geek culture. Hosted by Raphael Moran, a writer, producer and comic creator. His co-hosts are the "Multiverse" Kids. They've taken over his man-cave and now they want to take over his podcast.

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast and today we welcome “TB”, one of Son’s friends from school. TB is a vegetarian and the boys talk about school lunches and what menu options are available for vegetarians. At the end of the episode we play a quick game thanks to an Instacart quiz on fun food trivia.

Son and TB talk about:

• School lunches need a big change
• Options for vegetarians range from cheese pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, sunbutter and jelly sandwiches and tuna subs
• Eating habits and portion sizes are getting so super-sized
• Shout out to Olive Garden for a free Tour of Italy, please!
• Too much cheese leads to our gas and potty talk side tangent
• Son talks about a traumatic food experience from daycare. We also talked about this in our previous episode on food allergies.

Thanks to TB for being a guest on our show. We hope to have him back on for future episodes of The Middle School Mind!

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, we talk about one of our favorite games on the Xbox One, Gang Beasts. The game has multiple game modes for single and multiplayer local and online contests. The game has Jello-like characters punch and headbutt one another in a battle-royale where the goal is to throw your opponents off the level and be the last-man standing.

There are different modes that have up to 8 players battling each other online. This is  a game we can pick up for a quick best of 5 rounds series. We always laugh playing this game because of all the fun characters you can pick and the floppy movements can result in some awesome knockouts.

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

• We talk about the gameplay and where to get this game on Xbox.
• We talk about all the fun character costumes.
• We play a quick game and talk through the gameplay.
• It’s a violent game, but it’s like cartoon violence. Parents should review the game and see if it’s suitable for their kids.
• Here’s how Son rates Gang Beasts:
  • 5/5 for Replayability
  • 3/5 for Graphics
  • 3/5 for Sound
  • 4/5 for Gameplay
• Overall, Gang Beasts is 4.5/5 because it’s fun, we laugh at the characters. It’s a game you can pick up and play a round or two and relax over 15 to 20 minutes at a time. There’s not a story mode or anything to think of.

We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

We are back for season two of The Middle School Mind tween podcast and today we talk about anxiety leading up to the first day of a new school year. Son is starting 7th grade this year and we start the episode talking about our summer. We also talk about school related anxieties that can bring returning students some concerns heading back to school.

We wrap up this episode with Father asking Son some Would You Rather questions related to back to school!

Topics we cover in our First Day of School Anxiety episode:

• We are back

1. We are #1 in Kids podcasts in Anguilla! Thank you to our fans in Anguilla! We’d love to hear from you. Please drop us a line.

• How did we spend our summer?
• What are common fears with a new school year

1. Making friends can lead to anxiety
2. Wanting to be popular can lead to anxiety
3. Will my teachers like me
4. We go off on a side tangent about teacher’s pets

• Why is school a big source of anxiety for kids

1. School lunches, making school teams or plays may also be part of the anxieties

• Game - Would You Rather

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Check out Soundcarrot.com!

If you like The Middle School Mind and you want other funny, kid and tween-appropriate podcasts to listen to, check out SoundCarrot. Like The Middle School Mind, it is a father/daughter project that's gotten a little out of hand. SoundCarrot loves helping younger listeners find amazing children's podcasts. You can also check out all of The Middle School Mind episodes on SoundCarrot.

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We want to hear from you!

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

You can find our podcast, The Middle School Mind, on our website at themiddleschoolmind.com or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you enjoy listening to The Middle School Mind podcast for kids and you’ve wondered how easy it is to make your own kid’s podcast by kids for kids, we are here to help.

Making your own podcast is easy, fun and does not cost a lot to start. We are here to show you step by step how we make The Middle School Mind podcast in hopes that you will start your very own podcast. And, summer is the perfect time to start!

To get started, you will need the help of a parent or responsible adult to help you create your podcast on the podcast app, Anchor and download graphics and create your own podcast title card, you will need to access free sites like Canva and Pexels.

To make this process even easier, we recommend you download the attached PDF guide that shows you handy screen shots to walk through the process every step of the way!

Here's what we cover in episode three:

• Editing your audio
• Claim your podcast on Anchor.fm
• Are you ready to publish?
• 6 Truths About Podcasting (from our perspective)
• Congratulations new podcaster!

Thank you for listening to the show. We really appreciate our listeners and we hope this summer school series will inspire you to Make Your Own Kid Podcast this summer break.

We want to help our listeners with making your own podcast and we will be giving away a total of (2) Logitech Blue Snowball microphones this summer to two of our lucky listeners. The Blue Snowball microphone is the same one we use to record The Middle School Mind and hope you will use it to make your own podcast!

If you want to be part of the drawing, here’s how to enter:

1. Please leave us a 4 or 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or the podcast platform that you listen to.
2. Please go to our website at themiddleschoolmind.com/about us and at the bottom of the page you can Contact Us.
3. Send us your name, contact information and let us know where we can find your review. Once you send us this information, you will be entered into our drawing.
4. We will be pulling out two names at random and will be following up with those winners directly by August 1, 2022.

It’s that easy!

If you enjoy listening to The Middle School Mind podcast for kids and you’ve wondered how easy it is to make your own kid’s podcast by kids for kids, we are here to help.

Making your own podcast is easy, fun and does not cost a lot to start. We are here to show you step by step how we make The Middle School Mind podcast in hopes that you will start your very own podcast. And, summer is the perfect time to start!

To get started, you will need the help of a parent or responsible adult to help you create your podcast on the podcast app, Anchor and download graphics and create your own podcast title card, you will need to access free sites like Canva and Pexels.

To make this process even easier, we recommend you download the attached PDF guide that shows you handy screen shots to walk through the process every step of the way!

Here's what we cover in episode two:

• Register your podcast on Anchor.fm
• Make your first episode
• Check your microphone inputs
• This is your time to shine!
• Start building your first episode
• Name your episode and other episode options
• When do you want to publish your episode?
• Customize this episode
• Create awesome episode art for your show
• Upload your new episode art to Anchor
• Enter to win your own Blue Snowball microphone!

Thank you for listening to the show. We really appreciate our listeners and we hope this summer school series will inspire you to Make Your Own Kid Podcast this summer break.

We want to help our listeners with making your own podcast and we will be giving away a total of (2) Logitech Blue Snowball microphones this summer to two of our lucky listeners. The Blue Snowball microphone is the same one we use to record The Middle School Mind and hope you will use it to make your own podcast!

If you want to be part of the drawing, here’s how to enter:

1. Please leave us a 4 or 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or the podcast platform that you listen to.
2. Please go to our website at themiddleschoolmind.com/about us and at the bottom of the page you can Contact Us.
3. Send us your name, contact information and let us know where we can find your review. Once you send us this information, you will be entered into our drawing.
4. We will be pulling out two names at random and will be following up with those winners directly by August 1, 2022.

It’s that easy!

If you enjoy listening to The Middle School Mind podcast for kids and you’ve wondered how easy it is to make your own kid’s podcast by kids for kids, we are here to help.

Making your own podcast is easy, fun and does not cost a lot to start. We are here to show you step by step how we make The Middle School Mind podcast in hopes that you will start your very own podcast. And, summer is the perfect time to start!

To get started, you will need the help of a parent or responsible adult to help you create your podcast on the podcast app, Anchor and download graphics and create your own podcast title card, you will need to access free sites like Canva and Pexels.

To make this process even easier, we recommend you download the attached PDF guide that shows you handy screen shots to walk through the process every step of the way!

Here's what we cover in episode one:

• Podcasting is awesome!
• What kind of podcast do you want to make?
• Equipment checklist
• Name your podcast
• Plan your first episode
• Enter to win your own Blue Snowball microphone!

Thank you for listening to the show. We really appreciate our listeners and we hope this summer school series will inspire you to Make Your Own Kid Podcast this summer break.

We want to help our listeners with making your own podcast and we will be giving away a total of (2) Logitech Blue Snowball microphones this summer to two of our lucky listeners. The Blue Snowball microphone is the same one we use to record The Middle School Mind and hope you will use it to make your own podcast!

If you want to be part of the drawing, here’s how to enter:

1. Please leave us a 4 or 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or the podcast platform that you listen to.
2. Please go to our website at themiddleschoolmind.com/about us and at the bottom of the page you can Contact Us.
3. Send us your name, contact information and let us know where we can find your review. Once you send us this information, you will be entered into our drawing.
4. We will be pulling out two names at random and will be following up with those winners directly by August 1, 2022.

It’s that easy!

We also talk about an article from IDtech.com on Summer Vacation Ideas for Tweens. We talk about a few of these suggestions from the list and our ideas to check these off over summer vacation.

Son will be taking a break from the podcast as he enjoys his summer vacation for a few months. We will be releasing a summer school series called Make Your Own Kids Podcast in hopes kids can make their own tween podcasts over the summer. Don't worry, Son will be back for Season 2 starting in August!

Calling all future kid podcasters!

• We want to help our listeners with making your own podcast and we will be giving away a total of (2) Logitech Blue Snowball microphones this summer to two of our lucky listeners. The Blue Snowball microphone is the same one we use to record The Middle School Mind and hope you will use it to make your own podcast!
• If you want to be part of the drawing, here’s how to enter:
• Please leave us a 4 or 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or the podcast platform that you listen to. Please go to our website at themiddleschoolmind.com/about us and at the bottom of the page you can Contact Us.
• Send us your name, contact information and let us know where we can find your review. You will be entered into our drawing and we will be pulling out two names at random and will be following up with those winners by August 1, 2022.

It’s that easy!

The Middle School Mind is now a proud member of Kids Listen. Kids Listen is a grassroots organization of advocates for high-quality audio content for children. Kids Listen is creating platforms for producers to share ideas, and publish data and information relevant to creators, consumers, and supporters of podcasts for kids.

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

Thank you for listening to the show. We really appreciate our listeners and we hope you have a wonderful summer.

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast for tweens, we finish up our Ask a Teacher session with Mom, Aunt and Cousin! We have a great time laughing at some of the silly answers on this episode.

Mom has been a middle school teacher for 26 years while Aunt has been teaching middle school for 27 years. Cousin is new to education and has been teaching for one year.

On this episode, we ask the teachers about:

• If you changed your job, what would it be?
• What did you want to be when you were middle school age?
• How do your coworkers view you at school?
• I know learning during COVID was rough for me as a student, what was it like as a teacher?
• What gives you the motivation to keep teaching?

Mom and Aunt play a version of The Newlywed Game to see how many matches they can get during our game.

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast for tweens, we share some exciting news and Son’s guest segment on The Ten News podcast for kids! Son and Ryan Willard, head writer, of The Ten News talk about summer blockbuster movies! Ryan was a guest on episode 1.15 Ryan Willard on our show earlier this season.

You can find Son’s episode on The Ten News here!

We also want to wish everyone a very safe and happy Memorial Day holiday in the United States and want to recognize all the men and women who have served our country.

We also want to thank the following people who helped make Son’s appearance on The Ten News happen:

• Ryan Willard of The Ten News what a super nice guy and what a pro.
• Lauren Passell of Tink Media who manages the Swap Database and helps other podcasts find and collaborate with other pods.
• Finally to Aakshi Sinha of Tink Media who helped us coordinate our schedules and set up a time with Ryan to chat and record this episode.

As we are getting closer to summer vacation, we talk about our upcoming episodes and some exciting Summer School project for our listeners!

If you like listening to The Middle School Mind podcast and you’re a tween, middle schooler or kid who has a lot of ideas to get off your chest, we are going to teach you how we make our podcast in hopes that you can create and launch your own podcast this summer!

For 1-2 lucky listeners who leave us a positive review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or the podcast platform of your choice, you can contact us using the form at the bottom of our About Us page. Please let us know which comment you submitted, your user name that you used to submit the comment/review and where we can find your comment/review to be entered into the drawing.

We will randomly pick 1-2 winners who participate and will send you your very own Logitech Blue Snowball microphone to help you get started in your podcasting journey!

So please, like, follow, subscribe and leave a positive review of The Middle School Mind and we will produce those Make Your Own Podcast episodes in June and July.

As always, thank you for listening.

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast.

We also want to hear from you, our listeners! What kind of topics do you want to hear more about?

You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this very special episode of The Middle School Mind kids podcast Son interviews Ryan Willard, head writer, of The Ten News podcast. Ryan and Son talk about delivering news for kids age 8-12 on The Ten News podcast.

• Ryan and Son talk about their love of podcasting
• Our guest  reflects on his life as a middle schooler
• Ryan and Son talk about life in the media
• Ryan talks about the importance providing news to kids
• Son asks Ryan what his dream interview and dream event to report on
• Ryan fields Would You Rather questions from Son
• Ryan turns from interviewee to interviewer
• Son and Dad geek out about today’s episode and give thanks to all those who made this happen
• Ryan wraps up the episode and tells us how listeners can find The Ten News podcast

Thanks to all of you for making this a super special episode of The Middle School Mind!

• Ryan Willard - what a great guest. What a professional and thank you for your time and being that positive role model in the media. We need more people like Ryan making positive contributions to children’s media.
• Lauren Passell of Tink Media manages the Swap Database where we submitted our podcast and they connected us with The Ten News and Ryan Willard on this episode. This is an amazing way for other podcasts to collaborate with other pods.
• Aakshi Sinha of Tink Media helped us coordinate schedules and set up a time with Ryan to chat and record this episode.

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, we get awkward. Son brings up three awkward situations for us to discuss and we bring up two bonus awkward situations to review.

What does it mean to be Awkward?

• To start our episode, Son brings up a really far-off example of an awkward situation that has never happened and will likely never happen.

Son highlights three examples of awkward situations

• Potty talk - do you pee in the middle urinal? This article from metro.co.uk highlights the unspoken rules using public urinals
• Huggers - how do you handle huggers or people who encroach on your physical space when you’re not a hugger? This article from repeller.com highlights confessions from a non-hugger.
• Wedding invitations from long-lost friends - would you feel obligated to go? This Q&A from myneworleans.com answers the question if you have to go to your high school friend’s wedding.

Two bonus awkward situations presented by Father

• Seeing teachers outside of work, especially if it’s at their side hustle. Is it weird to see your teachers outside of school? EdSource.org published this article highlighting many teachers who work a second job outside the classroom.
• Friend-zoned in middle school! This article from wikihow.com lists 4 Ways to Escape the Friend Zone.

Of course we have to talk about Jeff Bezos on our Awkward Situations episode

• Is it getting awkward for our listeners that his name comes up as often as it does in our episodes? This businessinsider.com article talks about the years-long beef between Jeff and Elon.

For more Awkward Situations, check out this article from Lifehacker highlighting 10 Awkward Situations and How to Deal With It.

Please leave us a positive review and like and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. You can reach The Middle School Mind on our About Us page, Facebook page or Twitter (@TMSM_Podcast). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast for kids and tweens, Son talks about his interest in Dungeons & Dragons and his first-time experience playing D&D.

We talk about what Dungeons & Dragons is and how you can work with your party to build a new world and see how your character and your character’s choices play out throughout the game.

We talk about in-person versus web-based game play and we can’t just can’t stop talking about Jeff Bezos.

Thank you for all your support. Please like and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast provider.

• What is Dungeons & Dragons?

1. Define your character - your race, class, abilities
2. Son was a Ranger Elf
   • D&D, like life, is about choices
3. Basics of play
4. Ways to play

• Rolling Dice Explained…Sort Of

1. What does the dice do for us?
2. I think we need a refresher on probabilities

• Son describes his first time playing D&D

1. Played online via text through Discord

• Game play in person vs online
• WWJBD - What Would Jeff Bezos Do?

1. This episode’s sponsorship plea
2. What Would Jeff Bezos Do in D&D

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son introduces us to ASMR. Neither of us know what ASMR is and we go to our friends at youtube to help us find out!

1. What is ASMR?

• Wikipedia defines ASMR as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), sometimes auto sensory meridian response. It is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia and may overlap with frisson.

2. We find a youtube video from Gibi ASMR posted yesterday titled “ASMR that gets darker and darker so you can sleep :)” to help us understand what ASMR is all about.

• Gibi ASMR has 4.12m subscribers and this video has 363k views and it was released yesterday! She has an impressive following.
• We jump to Gibi ASMR’s introduction of the video.
• Gibi ASMR has a lot of great product placement as she uses products in her videos.

3. After our initial view of Gibi ASMR’s video, we give our initial thoughts.

4. We have more questions than answers still.

5. We can’t quit Gibi ASMR and go back to the video.

• Here’s Gibi showing her salt shaker she got from the Dollar Store with pink glitter hearts.
• We jump to Gibi crinkling her expired, store brand bag of lentils later in the video.
• Gibi then taps on a tube of foam beads.
• We jump to 23 minutes in to watch Gibi’s segment on the Toaster Coaster.

6. Final thoughts on Gibi’s ASMR video.

• Our thoughts, really boring, lots of tapping and lots of name dropping and product placement.

7. We didn't feel the tingles with ASMR, did you?

A special thank you to Gibi ASMR! Her video was definitely eye-opening and helped us understand what ASMR is all about. While ASMR does not resonate with us, it is clear from all the videos, all the views and all the followers for Gibi and other youtubers that ASMR has a big following! Please check out Gibi ASMR’s channel on youtube and see for yourself if ASMR is your thing!

10. Bulverde, Texas

9. Three Way Tie

• Bellevue, Washington
• Houston, Texas
• Steamboat Springs, Colorado

8. London, Kentucky

7. Sainte Genevieve, Missouri

6. Brentwood, Tennessee

5. Brandon, Mississippi

4. Colorado Springs, Colorado

3. Los Altos, California

2. Wenatchee, Washington

1. North Ridgeville, Ohio

Finally, we play a trivia game to see what we know about our Top 10 Listener Cities.

Thank you for listening, please drop us a positive comment or review or visit us on our website at themiddleschoolmind.com, click on the About Us page and complete the Contact Us form to let us know what you like and what you want to hear us talk about in the future.

We would really appreciate if you can share our podcast episodes to your family and friends. And if Jeff Bezos is listening, we would love to have you come on the show and talk to us about how you founded amazon.com!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, we talk about throwback SNES games that are available on Nintendo Switch Online. Son highlights his Top 5 SNES games available on the Nintendo Switch Online.

Here’s what we cover on this episode:

• How to access the SNES games through Nintendo Switch Online
• Son lists his Top 5 games he plays on the SNES

5. The Peace Keepers (1994)

• Beat ‘em up arcade game with sweet 80’s music.
• Son likes to play as Al who looks like Rock and uses a Rocket Launcher

4. Super Mario World (1990)

• You can hatch and ride Yoshi in this game
• This game also has the super cape option that lets you fly

3. Super Punch Out (1994)

• No Mike Tyson
• Your first fight is again 1-99 Gabby Jay, a grandfatherly figure that no boxing organization should allow to fight professionally

2. Super Tennis (1991)

• It’s fun to play this tennis game either with a friend or against the CPU
• We are not that great at this game and the graphics are a slight step up from the Original NES - I guess that’s what makes it Super Tennis

Before we list Son’s top SNES game available on the Nintendo Switch Online, we have a few honorable (or dishonorable) mentions:

• Baseball Simulator 1.000 (1991): You have power up abilities for hitters and pitchers
  • Natsume Championship Wrestling (1994) The game developers must have used a bad wrestling name generator to come up with these characters
• Demon’s Crest (1994) This game is so intense and Son can’t get past the first series. For 1994, this game has a great story and graphics.

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

• This is an old time Zelda game, not an open sandbox world like Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Son has invested a lot of time playing this game

Finally, Son has a final SNES game that will only frustrate you. Don’t play this because it’s crazy hard.

• Super Ghouls and Ghosts (1991) Eight super difficult levels. You will be frustrated at how hard this game is.

Thank you to all of our listeners! In a future episode, we want to recognize the cities and towns where listeners are finding The Middle School Mind! No, we are not stalking you. We are just curious who is listening to our show and please reach out to us and leave a positive review and feedback!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind kids podcast, Son and I provide an update from episode 1.4 Oculus Quest 2…a VR-yyy Special Episode.

• Son received an Oculus Quest 2 from his aunts and uncles last Christmas and it’s awesome
• Pro Tip #1 - quit out of a game before shutting down the headset. Otherwise, you’ll need to reset the headset
• Oculus Quest 2 games covered in this episode:

1. Vader Immortal: Episode 1
2. Richie’s Plank Experience - son rates is 10/10
3. Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister is really terrifying
4. Rec Room - multiplayer game without voice chat and you can play games with friends
5. Echo VR - voice chat can be turned off - space and floating mixed with frisbee. Sounds a lot like Quidditch from the Harry Potter universe!
6. Job Simulator - not surprisingly, gets boring and tedious, kind of like a real job
7. Beat Saber with Panic! At the Disco and Green Day expansion packs

• Netflix on the Oculus Quest 2 apps is amazing
• Son has another sponsorship plea :)
• Like, share and subscribe so you don’t miss any episodes of The Middle School Mind podcast!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son and I talk about our first experience with COVID. We quarantined together in the basement and lived like bachelors. We are doing well and getting back on the road to health. Hope you guys are staying healthy as well!

• We got COVID :(
• Son tested positive on at-home COVID test then I tested positive with a PCR test at urgent care
• Son’s theory is this guy who chose not to wear a mask at a show we attended
• What were symptoms?

1. Fever with hallucinations
2. Runny Nose
3. Sore Throat
4. Cough
5. Chest Pain
6. Loss of Taste

• What have we been doing with COVID?
• Guys’ week out (in the basement)
  • The Mandalorian season one and two - what took us so long?!?!
  • Super Smash Bros on the Switch
  • Fast-fooding it. Check out our previous episode on Son’s favorite fast food places ranked!
    • Our local McDonald’s got our orders all wrong
    • Portillo’s is still our favorite
    • We tried Little Caesar’s pizza and Son like it better than Domino’s. Detroit Style pizza is amazing.
• We’re doing ok because we are vaccinated

Thanks for all the support! Please subscribe to our podcast and we would appreciate a positive review. You can find The Middle School Mind podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and your favorite podcast platforms!

13. Chipotle-Chips with lime. Ick!

12. Papa John’s-Tastes great but does not sit well with Son’s tummy. He may be lactose intolerant. We should probably get that checked out.

11. McDonald’s-Coming in at #11, this may be pretty controversial for Mickey D’s.

10. Subway-The good: customizable to your tastes. The bad: their sandwiches.

9. Domino’s-Decent pizza and the breadsticks are a favorite.

8. Jimmy John’s-Son gets the Ultimate Porker and Dad gets the Beach Club.

7. Panera Bread-Son loves the mac and cheese and the bread. He can’t have a lot of other items at Panera because of his food allergies. Take a listen to our previous episode on why Food Allergies Bite!

6. Culver’s-Great burgers and son loves the real chicken in their tenders. The cheese curds and frozen custard make this a family favorite.

5. Wendy’s-More flavorful nuggets than McD’s. Son also likes their new breakfast offering Wendy’s launched in the last few years.

4. Taco Bell-The Doritos Locos tacos sound interesting and The Bell’s Freeze frozen drink selection are a summertime favorite.

3. Popeye’s-his one-time experience with the fried chicken was memorable. We talk about the Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich and the craziness it created when it was first introduced.

2. Boston Market-According to Son, Boston Market is everything you want.

1. Portillo’s-Son loves the char-broiled burgers, cheese fries and the chocolate eclair cake.

The Middle School Mind podcast is getting noticed! Feedspot.com listed our podcast #4 in their list of 35 Best Tween podcasts.

On this episode, Son talks about his food allergies to certain tree nuts and certain seeds like sesame and sunflower seeds. We talk about what food allergies are, how he manages his food allergies at school, how he keeps himself safe with his Epipen and that one time he was Epipenned years ago at daycare. Finally, we play a quick multiple choice game about food allergies.

In this episode, we talked about:

1. What is a food allergy?

• There are the "Big 8" allergens that companies in the US must report on in food labels. Milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans.

2. We go off on a tangent and talk about Soy Butter (we buy Wowbutter at home) versus Peanut Butter sandwiches.

3. Son talks about his food allergies to tree nuts and certain seeds (sesame seeds and sunflower seeds).

4. We talk about managing food allergies when he was in grammar school and challenges sitting at the "peanut-free table".

5. We go off on another tangent reminiscing about Beyblades and its popularity when Son and his friends were in 1st and 2nd grade.

6. We get back on track to talk about how managing food allergies works now in Middle School and how the lunch staff does not have the right training to communicate to kids with allergies.

7. Son talks about when to use an Epipen,  how to use an Epipen and what do do after using an Epipen.

• Epipens are an important part of Son's care plan and can also cost a lot of money. Here are some resources to help you get Epipens at a reduced cost.

8. We talk about that horrible experience at daycare when Son was 3 when he was given hummus and had to be Epipenned.

9. We play a quick game. Four multiple choices about allergens in every day foods.

Please note, we are not physicians or properly trained to dispense medical advice. If you have questions about food allergies, please consult a medical professional for advice. For additional information available online, the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) has amazing content.

Thanks for listening to The Middle School Mind podcast! We appreciate your positive feedback and reviews and helps our show be seen by more potential listeners. We are on all the major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify and more!

1. Happy New Year from The Middle School Mind podcast. Wishing you all a very safe, healthy and amazing 2022!

2. Who is the School Resource Officer?

3. What I learned about substance abuse from the School Resource Officer

* Reference information about inhalant abuse/whippets.

* More reference information about inhalants - sniffing glue, paint, etc.

* Reference information about underage drinking.

4. What I learned about smoking from the School Resource Officer

* Reference information about smoking and impacts to health.

5. What questions do students have for the School Resource Officer

6. We talk about the Tik Tok trend in late December 2021 that threatened safety in schools and how the School Resource Officer was on site that day

7. The School Resource Officer talks to us about staying safe online and being kind

* Reference information for Online Teen Safety Guide.

* Reference information for Cyberbullying.

* Ways to teach kindness to kids.

8. We play a game: Slang or Not Slang for Street Terms for Marijuana

* Articles we referenced for slang terms for marijuana, heroin and cocaine referenced in the game.

All I want for Christmas is an Oculus Quest 2

• What is Virtual Reality (VR)?

What are the popular games for the Oculus Quest?

• Beat Saber - kind of like Guitar Hero meets Fruit Ninja. Billie Eilish has her special edition Beat Saber music pack. If Eminem released a Beat Saber music pack, you would get a great workout.
• Oculus Rift vs. Oculus Quest vs. Oculus Quest 2.
• Blade & Sorcery - may not be for all ages as there may be blood and guts, try it before you buy it if there’s a demo version. Blade & Sorcery is also similar to another VR game called Boneworks.
• Job Simulator. Play as a robot to do these random jobs. Be a store clerk, a chef, an accountant or work at a car wash. Do the work and don't get paid.
• Vader Immortal - a Star Wars inspired game for the Oculus.
• Our regularly scheduled pitch to Mr. Jeff Bezos for sponsorship.

Games that have no business being made for the Oculus (or any gaming system for that matter)

• Sitting Chair Simulator - hold on to your seats, literally, hold on and have a seat. Sit and don’t be fit.
• Netflix TV Static Screen - imagine watching Netflix over someone’s shoulder on a blurry screen with bad audio.
• Poke Simulator - you are constantly being poked and poking other people.
• Fart Game - you make fart noises and you are rated on how it sounds.

Quiz Time: We Play "Game Or Not a Game" - which of these games are real VR games and which are made up?

• Moss - Game or Not a Game?
• Oculus Raft - Game or Not a Game?
• Werewolves Within - Game or Not a Game?
• Thumper - Game or Not a Game?
• Bob Ross' A Little Bit of Happy - Game or Not a Game?

Thanks to all of our listeners. We appreciate your support!

• The Middle School Mind podcast is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Please like, share a positive comment and subscribe to The Middle School Mind podcast!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son and I are joined by Son's cousin, The Magaladon (aka The Mag, Magz). On this episode, we talk about topics, trends and other things that are out.

• The Mag started us off and said the use of the word "Lit" tops this list.
• We devoted all of episode 1.2 to Minecraft and now Son claims that the open-sandbox game is now out.
• The Mag highlighted Mortal Kombat as a worthy entry to this list. For a game known for its almost-cartoonish violence and iconic Finish Him catchphrase, The Mag thinks Mortal Kombat should be "finished".
• Son talked about the recent bad haircut trends of bowl cuts as now being out and we wholeheartedly agree.
• Magz talked about 80's movies with bad dancing as being out.
• Son is way over the Among Us craze.
• Baby Shark is well over according to The Magaladon. Here's the link to the Tagalog (Filipino) version of Baby Shark for some international flavor.
• Honorable mentions go to the slime craze.
• The last honorable mention goes to Rickrolling and became widely popular to troll and prank others through the internet.

The Middle School Mind podcast is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Please like, share a positive comment and subscribe to The Middle School Mind podcast!

For more about us, take a listen to our first episode Hello World! Thanks for your support!

On this episode of The Middle School Mind podcast, Son and I talk about the open sandbox world of Minecraft.

In this episode, we talk about:

* Why Minecraft is so popular

* Different mobs or characters you can encounter in Minecraft:

- Creepers

- Villagers

- Axolotls

- Wolf pups getting shoved into Lava (you monster!)

* Differences in playing Minecraft on different formats (PC, Xbox, Switch, Playstation and mobile)

* We discover a free online sound board at myinstants.com and have a little fun playing guess the Minecraft sound effect

Please like, share a positive comment and subscribe to The Middle School Mind podcast! Thanks for your support!

1/6/2022 EDIT: What a pleasant surprise! The Minecraft episode of The Middle School Mind was featured as one of the 50 Best Minecraft Podcasts in 2021. We checked in at #9! Please take a read. Many thanks to Hrvoje Milakovic, co-owner of Fiction Horizon, a website created by a group of editors that love fiction and everything related to it.

• 0:00 Opening theme "One Day Soon" courtesy of Smith The Mister
• 0:08 Host Introductions
• 1:18 I am "Sun"
• 2:04 you're like Neil Armstrong who goes into space and I'm like the guys back in Houston
• 3:00 What our listeners can expect from The Middle School Mind podcast
• 6:16 Video game discussion: Cuphead is visually appealing but frustrating as heck
• 14:20 Video game discussion: Rage quitting is very real.
• 16:07 Video game discussion: Minecraft makes me rage quit too.
• 19:39 Video game discussion: What monster would rage quit during Animal Crossing?
• 20:11 Episode Closing theme "One Day Soon" courtesy of Smith The Mister