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Make Me A Nerd with Mandy Kaplan

Make Me A Nerd with Mandy Kaplan

By: TruStory FM
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About this listen

 Hey folks. Mandy Kaplan here. I’d like to share a bit about my intentions and mission for MMAN if you’ll indulge me. You will? Huzzah!

Look, I am a lot of things. I’m a writer, actress, mother, and lover of musicals and cats, but NOT Cats, The Musical. Give me a little bit of credit, would ya? So...throughout my life, I’ve been surrounded (and intrigued) by all things nerd. A sister who plays D&D, a Star Wars-obsessed husband, friends who love anime, comic books, video games, and...well, you get the picture. Somehow, I have always held it all at arm's length. Not to get too deep, but maybe I never thought I was smart enough to follow it. Or maybe I have control issues and have never been able to embrace fantastical things like dragons and time travel. Until now!

So, with an open mind and heart, I am ready to join this massive (and beautifully inclusive) club and GEEK THE #%$ OUT! It’s time for all my wonderfully strange friends to baptize me into NERD-DOM. Please join me on this journey. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover or remember a side of yourself along the way. Or at least make fun of me as I try!© TruStory FM Art Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Return to Oz with Jessica Jimenez

    Return to Oz with Jessica Jimenez
    Dec 8 2025
    There are childhood movies that sparkle like nostalgia-soaked comfort food… and then there’s Return to Oz, the 1985 fever dream that terrified an entire generation and somehow ended up beloved anyway. This week, Mandy reconnects with returning guest — and one of her favorite humans on planet Earth — Jessica Jimenez, a TV producer, musical-theater mischief-maker, and scholar of the pop-culture deep cut. Together, they dive into the gloriously weird, unexpectedly dark, and unmistakably cult-classic world of Oz’s most misunderstood sequel.Jessica grew up watching Return to Oz on repeat in the Caribbean, where VHS tapes were the lifeline to American pop culture. Mandy, meanwhile, had never seen it — and approaches this movie armed only with her dog-breed expertise, her deep fear of tornado-adjacent bicycle women, and her ongoing emotional recovery from having watched Showgirls for Jessica’s last appearance. The two quickly tumble down the yellow-brick rabbit hole (well… rubble), unpacking everything from claymation rock-faces spying on Dorothy to the Wheelers and their nightmare Cirque du Soleil energy.They marvel at Fairuza Balk, who somehow channels Judy Garland while delivering a performance that’s shockingly grounded for a nine-year-old navigating hallways full of severed heads. They explore why Disney made a sequel that feels more like a Tim Burton acid trip, why Piper Laurie should never be allowed near impressionable Kansan farm girls, and how TikTok (the character, not the app) remains one of the most charming robot sidekicks in 80s fantasy filmmaking.Make Me a Nerd:
    • Website: makemeanerd.com/join
    • Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
    • TikTok & Bluesky: @mandymiscast

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    54 mins
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Steve Sarmento

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Steve Sarmento
    Dec 1 2025
    If there was ever an episode that proves how deeply a movie can tattoo itself onto someone’s soul, it’s this one. Mandy is joined by beloved TruStory FM collaborator and film analyst Steve Sarmento, a man whose heart has apparently been shaped like Devil’s Tower since 1977. Together, they dive into Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg’s symphonic ode to curiosity, obsession, government lies, blinking lights, and questionable parenting. It’s a conversation equal parts nerdy reverence and incredulous side-eye.Steve opens by explaining why this film imprinted on him. He recalls watching space capsules dock overhead in the actual sky (because he is deeply old by his own admission) and feeling the first spark of fascination with what might be “out there.” From there, 7-year-old Steve was primed for Spielberg’s grounded sci-fi portrait of ordinary people caught in extraordinary encounters. For him, Barry had the same toys he did. Roy looked like every dad in the Midwest. The entire film felt possible in a way that forever marked his imagination. Mandy, meanwhile, approaches the movie as an adult for the first time and has… questions.A lot of questions.They unpack a lot... and of course, they talk aliens—spindly little dancers in silhouette, equal parts eerie and endearing—and what it meant to young Steve to finally see them emerge from that overwhelming light. For him, it was pure awe. For Mandy, it was: “Wait, did they just kidnap a kid and everyone’s cool with this?”In the end, what emerges is a conversation about joy. How a film can be full of fear, family collapse, government conspiracies, and chaos, and still somehow leave you feeling hopeful. Steve calls Close Encounters one of his top five films of all time, and by the time the mothership lifts off, you can hear why. It’s a story not just about aliens, but about longing, wonder, and the hunger for connection in a chaotic world. Mandy may have arrived late to the party, but by the end, she understands exactly why this movie meant—and still means—so much.Make Me a Nerd:
    • Website: makemeanerd.com/join
    • Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
    • TikTok & Bluesky: @mandymiscast

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    Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
  • Game Changer with Kyle Olson

    Game Changer with Kyle Olson
    Nov 24 2025
    This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan welcomes back certified nerd-whisperer Kyle Olson—creator of The Swashbuckling Ladies Debate Society and co-host of Craft and Chaos—to induct her into the gloriously absurd and deeply inventive world of Game Changer on Dropout TV. And if you’ve never heard of Game Changer, think of it as Whose Line Is It Anyway? if it were run by a slightly deranged Willy Wonka with a subscription model and a vendetta against YouTube algorithms. And also: there’s a lot of butthole jokes.Kyle walks Mandy through the origin story of Dropout—the phoenix that rose from the ashes of CollegeHumor—and how Sam Reich, comedy’s least threatening puppet master, created a game show format where the rules change every single episode.¹ We start with Sam Says, where Mandy finds herself increasingly charmed by the players, increasingly unnerved by the absence of a studio audience, and deeply offended by a COVID gag that hits a little too close to home. But then we get to Original Cast Recording, where Mandy goes full musical nerd as Zach and Jess (of Off Book fame) improvise an entire musical that’s so good you’ll want to buy the cast recording and name your next child Mountport. And finally: we Beat the Buzzer in a full-blown improv escape room where contestants sprint through studios, flirt with witches, and try not to break into someone’s bedroom to slam a buzzer.Along the way, we talk about pandemic-era creativity, low-budget brilliance, the science of contagious yawns, the economics of performer equity, and how Kyle’s daughter Zoe is singlehandedly enriching the family’s streaming diet. Kyle also reveals which Game Changer episode was his gateway drug (thanks, Zoe!), which one he’d totally fail at (spoiler: Sam Says), and which cast members he’d happily run from studio to sidewalk for. And Mandy? She makes a strong case for climbing into bed with two strangers in the name of game show victory. Naturally.Whether you’re already deep in the Dropout fandom or just learning what a “game samer” is, this episode will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe—just maybe—subscribe. No cap. Low key. We have the riz.Links & Notes
    • 🎥 Game Changer on Dropout TV
    • 🎙️ The Swashbuckling Ladies Debate Society
    • 🎨 Craft and Chaos Podcast
    • 🎧 Off Book: The Improvised Musical Podcast
    • 🧙‍♀️ Dimension 20 (D&D on Dropout)
    • 📚 Station Eleven – HBO Max
    • 🎮 Erika Ishii – Ghost of Yotei
    Make Me a Nerd:
    • Website: makemeanerd.com/join
    • Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
    • TikTok & Bluesky: @mandymiscast

    ¹ Yes, Sam Reich is the son of economist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. So while his father spent a career fighting corporate greed and income inequality, Sam opted to fight butthole jokes and buzzer-based chaos. Honestly? Same energy.
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    Learn more about supporting this podcast by becoming a member. It's just $5/month or $55/year. Visit our website to learn more.
    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
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