Welcome to the show, everybody! In this very special episode of Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan sits down with Bruce Vilanch—Emmy-winning writer, cultural historian of kitsch, and the man behind some of the strangest, most infamous moments in television history. You may know him as the guy who put Bea Arthur in a space cantina or paired Paul Lynde with KISS on national TV, but there’s so much more to Bruce’s story.

Together, they dive headfirst into the murky glitter of The Star Wars Holiday Special, exploring its Wookiee problem (they don’t talk, dance, or sing), its sultry Diane Carroll fever dream, and the fact that Life Day was somehow born from this madness. Bruce offers behind-the-scenes stories of writing for characters who don’t speak, persuading Art Carney into a deep V-neck, and navigating George Lucas’s peculiar brand of control. And yes, there’s a lot of love for Bea Arthur.

But it doesn’t stop at Star Wars. Bruce reflects on his Broadway turn as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, his doomed but delightful musical Platinum, and the strange power of camp television to unify audiences in an era before narrowcasting. He’s candid about working with legends (and some disasters), about walking the line between comedy and cruelty on awards shows, and about why he finally wrote a book about all of it: It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time.

This episode is a love letter to nerds of all stripes—musical theater nerds, comedy nerds, pop culture archivists—and an essential listen for anyone who ever found beauty in a bad idea done well (or at least weird). Bruce Vilanch doesn’t just tell stories—he is a story.

🛒 Links & References:

• 🎧 Libro.fm Audiobook Version – narrated by Bruce Vilanch himself
• 📖 Bloomsbury Books – support Mandy’s favorite local shop
• 🖥️ Bruce Vilanch on IMDb
• 🎭 Avenue Q School Edition – yes, it’s real

🎉 Bonus Content Reminder!

Love this episode? There’s more! Join us at makemeanerd.com/join to become a member and unlock bonus content—like Bruce playing rapid-fire word association about his legendary collaborators. Plus, members get early, ad-free access to every episode.

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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.

Do you remember a time when David Bowie’s pants were tighter than your schedule, owls were CGI nightmares, and puppets had a suspicious amount of emotional range? No? WELL, YOU’RE IN FOR A TREAT. Because this week, Mandy steps right into the sparkly, slightly confusing fever dream that is Labyrinth. And she does so with none other than fan-favorite, tattoo-wearing, La Croix-powered 80s movie expert Krissy Lenz.

Yes, Krissy is back, and she’s brought the power of voodoo (who do? SHE DO.) along with enough trivia and nostalgia to flood the Goblin City. Together, Mandy and Krissy explore everything from Jennifer Connelly’s “emotionally lasagna” acting to the unsettling truth about baby Toby’s stripes (fashion crime? Or subtle form of goblin-initiated Stockholm syndrome?).

They break down why Labyrinth flopped harder than a toddler on a trampoline, only to rise from the VHS ashes like a glitter-dusted phoenix of cult status. We talk peach-induced amnesia, helping hands that are, frankly, too helpful, and why Ludo is the emotional support monster we all need. And in the greatest mind-meld since Vulcans became a thing, Mandy and Krissy simultaneously declare Lady Gaga as the only possible heir to the Goblin King throne. Bowie would approve. Probably.

Also on tap: the terrifying truth about The Dark Crystal, the trauma of ‘80s puppet animation, and Mandy’s theory that Sir Didymus is somehow a Gonzo cousin on a gap year.

Links & Notes

• 🎧 The Most Excellent 80s Movies Podcast
• 🍸 Gank That Drink: A Supernatural Drinking Game Podcast
• 🌐 Join our Nerds at makemeanerd.com
• 📸 Follow Mandy on Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
• 🐦 Find Mandy on Bluesky: @MandyMiscast
• 🐦 Find Krissy on Bluesky: @KrissyLenz

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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.

Welcome back, nerdlings, to Make Me A Nerd — the show where one mainstream mom dares to plummet headfirst into the gelatinous pit of sci-fi anthologies, death anxiety, and…digital pigs. This week, Mandy Kaplan reunites with podcast übermensch Pete Wright and returning mensch Tommy Metz III to tackle Black Mirror — that show that asks the critical question: “What if your phone hated you as much as you hate yourself?”

Together, Mandy, Pete, and Tommy trudge through techno-paranoia, pastel dystopias, virtual beach towns where nobody drinks a full cocktail, and simulated space-faring hellscapes hosted by Jesse Plemons’ terrifying smirk. From “Nosedive” to “San Junipero” to “USS Callister,” they unpack it all — social media dystopias, afterlife existentialism, toxic masculinity with a side of laser guns — and yes, the entirely correct revelation that polite behavior toward Alexa might just save your life one day. Plus: why influencer culture is just Yelp for your soul, how CGI turns your eyes into dead fish orbs, and an accidental seminar on the Jewish concept of hell.

It’s dark. It’s funny. It’s deeply unsettling. It’s basically the perfect Monday.

Links & Notes

• 🌐 Join our Nerds at makemeanerd.com
• 📸 Follow Mandy on Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
• 🐦 Find Mandy on Bluesky: @MandyMiscast
• 🙀 Catch up with the new season of All The Feelings with Pete and Tommy as they tackle Adulting!

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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.

What do you get when you cross a mainstream mom, a Time Lord, and the Spice Girls? A deliriously joyful trip through time, space, pop culture, and puppets. This week on Make Me A Nerd, Mandy welcomes back the dazzlingly encyclopedic Manny Patel—Doctor Who superfan, mashup artist, and the human equivalent of a well-timed sonic screwdriver—for an energetic deep dive into the “three-boot” of Doctor Who on Disney+. Together, they attempt the nerdy equivalent of catching a greased pig: explaining The Giggle, The Church on Ruby Road, and The Devil’s Chord to someone who has maybe seen three episodes and still calls Van Gogh “that guy who painted starry stuff.”

Manny brings the receipts—from Neil Patrick Harris channeling every villain trope with chaotic glee, to the Doctor’s new bi-generative regeneration twist, to goblins who serenade babies before sautéing them. Mandy, meanwhile, lobs perfectly timed WTFs and deeply relatable mom-level questions (“Why isn’t anyone scared of the goblins?” “Why does the TARDIS look like a 90s karaoke screen?”). By the end, you’ll be asking yourself the real questions: Is Doctor Who too woke? Is crying the new sonic screwdriver? And will Mandy ever stop calling herself a “whobie”?

Also: Jinkx Monsoon is serving Maestro menace, UNIT is basically the British Avengers, and somebody please give Manny a consulting credit already.

Links & Notes

• Watch Manny Patel’s mashups on YouTube: @MannyPatel
• Support Make Me a Nerd
• Find Mandy on Instagram
• Find Mandy on Bluesky

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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.

In 1977, George Lucas introduced the world to a galaxy far, far away—a universe filled with lightsabers, Jedi mysticism, and the eternal struggle between the forces of good and evil. In the decades since, Star Wars has alternately soared and stumbled, expanding its mythos with prequels, sequels, spin-offs, and animated series. Some of these additions have been embraced with fervor. Others have been met with a sigh. And then, in 2022, something unexpected happened. A show emerged that defied the formula, stripped away the familiar iconography, and ignored the Skywalker lineage entirely. Andor was not a story of destiny or prophecy. It was a story of people—flawed, desperate, ordinary people—trying to survive in the shadow of an empire.

On this episode of Make Me A Nerd, Mandy takes her first step into the world of Andor. Her guide? Yoshi Stone, a television producer, cocktail enthusiast, and lifelong Star Wars devotee who has spent years navigating the vast and varied terrain of nerd culture. Together, they explore the show’s grounded realism, its moral ambiguity, and its surprising ability to make an intergalactic rebellion feel like a gritty political thriller.

Why does Andor feel more like The Bourne Identity than The Empire Strikes Back? What does it mean that its characters drink from mismatched cups, wear scuffed boots, and worry about bureaucratic red tape? And how did a show with no Jedi, no Sith, and no lightsabers become, in Yoshi’s estimation, the best Star Wars project of the last two decades?

This is a conversation about a show that shouldn’t have worked. But did.

Links & References:

• Mandy Kaplan on Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
• Join the Community for ad-free episodes and bonus content: makemeanerd.com/join

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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.

This week on Make Me A Nerd, Mandy attempts to survive a full-blown fungal apocalypse—emotionally, spiritually, and occasionally by camouflage. And she’s not alone! She’s joined by three-time guest and ethics enthusiast Matthew Fox, who gently guides her through the cordyceps-infested wasteland that is The Last of Us. Think of them as a podcast Joel, if Joel read moral philosophy and didn’t shoot people in the face quite as often.

From clickers to conundrums, this episode dives into why this so-called zombie genre show is actually about love, loss, and whether saving one person is worth dooming humanity. (Spoiler: maybe!) Mandy—bless her emotionally-intact, pastel-colored heart—only made it through two episodes before waving a white flag made of tissues and trauma. Matthew, meanwhile, brings receipts, ethics, and a voice so reassuring it makes the end of civilization feel slightly cozy.

They tackle the big questions: Is Pedro Pascal’s Texan accent legally binding? Does Bella Ramsey have a resting post-apocalyptic face? Would Mandy survive five minutes in Boston 20 years after the fall of humanity? (Spoiler: No. And that’s fine.) They also explore how video games became the Shakespearean tragedies of our time, how the show contributed to the fall of the “video game curse,” and whether Joel is the reluctant dad of the decade… or just a really hot war criminal.

Plus, a tribute to the late Val Kilmer, a nod to Willow, and a moment of silence for Mandy’s sanity after trying to reconcile a brain fungus outbreak with pandemic PTSD. You’re going to laugh, you’re going to think, you’re going to want to rewatch episode two and sob into a throw blanket.

Links & Notes

• 🎧 Superhero Ethics Podcast
• ✨ Star Wars Generations Podcast
• 🌐 Join our Nerds at makemeanerd.com
• 📸 Follow Mandy on Instagram: @mandy_kaplan_klavens
• 🐦 Find Mandy on 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.

Ladies and gentlemen, Swifties and skeptics, gather round, for today we embark on a journey of seismic cultural significance. No, not another election cycle. No, not the discovery of yet another billionaire’s secret doomsday bunker. We are talking about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour—a three-and-a-half-hour pop music odyssey, equal parts spectacle, sermon, and strut.

Mandy Kaplan, self-proclaimed “mainstream mom on a mission,” has declared war on ignorance and invited back one of her favorite guests, Tommy Metz III, in a valiant attempt to indoctrinate him into the glitter-drenched, emotionally devastating and, at times, utterly perplexing world of Taylor Swift. Tommy, who entered this battle armed with little more than vague memories of Reputation and the mistaken belief that Taylor and Carrie Underwood might be the same person, emerges… changed.

Together, they probe the Eras Tour concert film, marvel at the wizardry of a stage that does absolutely everything short of launching Swift into orbit, and attempt to decode the many, many hidden messages that have turned Swift’s fandom into a full-blown Da Vinci Code situation. Why is there a countdown from 13? Why does a stadium full of people scream at the mention of a random name like “Betty”? How, exactly, does Taylor maintain that level of strut energy for 40+ songs without collapsing into a sequined heap? These are the questions, people.

Along the way, Mandy and Tommy discuss the sheer indecency of rhyming words with themselves, the ethics of handing a hat to a billionaire’s child instead of a Make-a-Wish kiddo, and whether or not the Reputation era was unfairly maligned by people who simply weren’t ready for Dark Taylor™. Also, there are snakes. Digital snakes. Massive, stadium-sized, Jurassic Park-worthy snakes.

So, whether you’re a lifelong Swiftie, a casual observer, or someone who has been actively avoiding this cultural monolith like it’s a student loan repayment notice, this episode is for you. Listen as Tommy slowly succumbs to Taylor’s undeniable power, Mandy achieves her ultimate goal of nerd conversion, and we all collectively marvel at the fact that this woman dropped a double album in the middle of a world tour.

Links & References:

• Become a member for bonus content: Monthy • Annually
• Follow Mandy on social media:
  • Instagram: @Mandy_Kaplan_Klavans
  • Blue Sky: @MandyMiscast
• Listen to All The Feelings!
• Watch Eras on Apple TV+

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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.

You wake up. You’re at work. You don’t know how you got there. You don’t know who you are outside of this fluorescent-lit, carpeted labyrinth. And worst of all—you have to attend a melon party. This week on Make Me A Nerd, Mandy takes a cubicle tour of Apple TV+'s Severance. Joining her is Jon Cassie, a certified nerd extraordinaire, former podcaster, and educational innovator, who has spent more time thinking about sci-fi and board games than most of us spend awake.

Together, they unravel Severance’s mind-melting mysteries—its eerie office culture, its unsettling cult parallels (Scientology, we see you), and its ability to make us question whether we should ever trust HR again. They marvel at the performances, particularly the shockingly terrifying Tramell Tillman (who, fun fact, is actually a warm and delightful human in real life) and the absolutely flawless Patricia Arquette, who could probably make reading a grocery list feel like a psychological thriller.

And because this show refuses to let anyone breathe, Mandy relives the moment her soul left her body upon discovering Miss Casey’s true identity. Spoiler: It involves screaming, existential dread, and a mild cardiac event.

And because no nerdy discussion is complete without a tangent, Jon drops some Black Mirror recommendations, Mandy reveals her undying obsession with cults, and they both agree that Severance is one of the most perfectly eerie shows ever made.

But wait—there’s more! For members only, Jon gives Mandy a crash course in Babylon 5, because why stop at one mind-bending sci-fi series when you can have two? Not a member? No worries! Just visit MakeMeANerd.com and join today! You’ll get to sign up to your very own personal podcast feed full of all the extended editions of the show!

So, grab your outdated work computer, stare longingly at your reflection in a darkened elevator, and press play. Welcome to Make Me A Nerd. You may not remember how you got here, but you’ll never want to leave.

Links & References:

• Become a member for bonus content: Monthy • Annually
• Follow Mandy on social media:
  • Instagram: @Mandy_Kaplan_Klavans
  • Blue Sky: @MandyMiscast
• Listen to Jon’s education podcast Many Windows
• Watch Severance on Apple TV+

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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.