Nostalgia Club

Achoo! Awoo? We’re talking about Virals, the YA mystery books by Kathy and Brendan Reichs! A group of kids have been infected with dog-themed-superpowers, and one of them is having a distinctly worse time of it than the rest. Victoria explores how this series interacts with the popular genre tropes of the time. Michael finds the villainous heel turns fascinating, and Jino makes some tory-ble puns....

Heads up, Team. Your next assignment is as follows: Discuss the 2010 animated superhero show Young Justice. Jino and Michael return to a childhood favorite and realize that the concept of Doctor Fate is more messed up than they remember. Victoria compares Red Arrow to Sasuke and finds Robin's tiny glasses hilarious. Gear up and prepare for sociopolitical intervention, an absurd number of villa...

Gather your courage as we join Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH! Victoria read this classic as a child. Now older and wider-read, she relishes all the hallmarks of rodent media woven through its telling. Michael compares the book to the (literally) magical animated adaptation, and Jino basks in the glory of a world where giant birds of prey and powerful rats are just... nice, actually! So hunker d...

Holey Cheese! We’re covering the exploits of our favorite paw-thur, Geronimo Stilton! This beloved Italian children’s book series is full of quests, family, and an atrocious amount of puns. Jino is deeply frustrated at Geronimo’s relatives and their dangerously adventurous instincts. Victoria seriously considers the benefits of hiring a mercenary to act as her clone, while Michael marvels at the g...

Finally, a worthy “pod.” This “cast” will be legendary! This week we’re revisiting a beloved Dreamworks classic in Kung Fu Panda! We’ve got a lot to say about this movie and the trilogy that it created! From the plotting and scene construction that Victoria analyzed way back in college, to the nuanced character depictions Jino found on a rewatch, to the plants and pay-offs that Michael gushes over...

Heads up! We’re heading back to the volleyball court for Seasons 3 and 4 of Haikyuu!! Victoria can finally, FINALLY talk about that Tsukki moment and Kenma’s backstory without spoilers. Jino is obsessed with Hinata’s Ball Boy Arc, and Michael is convinced that Tanaka fumbled. Together we will wonder, what’s up with that Seagull Kid? Jump in as we rank our favorite players, ponder Ushiwaka’s textin...

Grab a flashlight (or a candle, as the Builders intended), and dive below ground to The City of Ember! Victoria read this coming-of-age tale as a young’un, and fondly recalls her wish to don a messenger’s cape and dash around her hometown like the protagonist. Michael compares the book to the movie adaptation starring Saiorse Ronan. And Jino? Well, Jino’s got some questions for the city’s so-calle...

It's meeeeeeeeee! Today we're donning our pointy black hats and talking about Wicked, both the 2024 movie and the original Broadway musical (but mostly the movie, live theater can be expensive!). The original cast recording had a significant influence on young Victoria's theatrical aspirations, and now she acts as our guide analyzing the twisted prequel-sidequel plot and the wizardly propaganda of...

Penderwick family honor! We’re back with the second installment in our discussion of Jino’s favorite children’s book series. This coming-of-age masterpiece is both timeless and contemporary, with plenty of life lessons and charm to boot. After reading the first book, Victoria entered a fugue state and woke up two weeks later having scoured every local library in the area for the rest of the series...

We’re all in this together! Get your head in the game! And a third cool line from the High School Musical movies, which dominated both the Disney Channel and our hearts back in the mid-2000s. Joining us is Shannon, Michael’s sister and karaoke queen whose constant renditions of the soundtrack when they were kids wormed their way into the permanent canon of their lives. Jino’s first time watching H...

We’re back with the second and final part of our Season 4 Recap, covering our episodes from Mulan to Madagascar. Michael recounts a harrowing tale of facing his daemons, Victoria shares some final thoughts on the various Little Women adaptations, and Jino declares that pizza is soup. Plus, some hints for what Season 5 has in store!  __________________________________________ Hosted by Michael Kean...

Season 5 is coming soon, so let’s wrap up Season 4! For newer listeners, we always end each season by revisiting previous episodes and commenting on things we may have forgotten to mention or new updates since the episode’s release. In Part 1, we cover our episodes from Ratatouille to The Goose Girl (spoiler warning for any series mentioned in the episode). Tune in to hear all about our favorite c...

It’s time to move it, move it to our final episode of Season 4, because we watched all three Madagascar films in a row and we have a lot to say about it! This Dreamworks franchise started with the 2005 film that introduced us to Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman. The series subsequently took us from New York City to the titular island, to Africa, and eventually all across Europe! Jino watched the fi...

Get ready for a Whale of a Wash because we’re swimming with the fish today in the 2004 Dreamworks classic: Shark Tale! Joining us is Nikki Spina, here to tell us all the easter eggs we missed and provide some important animation industry context to this movie. Michael and Jino thought they’d never watch this movie all the way through, but here they are. Victoria enjoyed rewatching this film with f...

Cowabunga dudes! This week we’re diving into the sewer to meet the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of crime-fighting fame! After watching the live-action 1990 film and animated 2007 film, we’re running at full Turtle Power! Jino grew up reading the original comic books, and offers unique insights on the tone, lore, and development of the brand to a very Turtle-poor Michael. Meanwhile, Victoria relive...

Don’t you miss being a kid in the summer? The Penderwick siblings sure know how to take advantage of the season, running around with a soccer ball and breaking expensive garden vases. The first book in this series by Jeanne Birdsall perfectly captures the simple joys, but also high-stakes drama, of summer vacation. Jino loved The Penderwicks as a kid, but didn’t even know there were four other boo...

Brush up on your 1860s slang, because today we’re revisiting an American classic! Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is a novel that’s inspired generations of writers and sparked numerous adaptations. Victoria has read the book from cover to cover at least five times now, with a deep love for the March Sisters and a 2017 PBS Masterpiece adaptation. Michael and Jino enjoyed the 2019 film directed by...

Look up, and you may see a city in the Northern Lights! We’re so excited to be joined once again by Isabella Miller for this deep dive into The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. This was a childhood favorite for Victoria and Isabella, and a brand new journey for Jino and Michael to embark on. In this first book, we searched for answers to the series’ gre...

Hold onto your hats and get ready to move with Howl’s Moving Castle! We’re revisiting a collective favorite today in this 2004 animated Studio Ghibli film. No matter how many times we’ve watched it, there’s still a new way to interpret the film’s message. Victoria felt seen in the character of Old Lady Sophie, with some additional insights from the original book by Diana Wynne Jones. Michael loved...

Let’s get down to business! Today, we’re talking about the 1998 Disney animated film, Mulan, whose songs could always quickly get kids hyped up. This is a particularly personal episode, as both Jino and Michael were involved in theatrical performances based on Mulan - who would’ve thought! Victoria unfortunately had no such stage experiences, but she similarly grew up loving the movie, as well as...

Honk! Did you understand that? If not, maybe you just have to spend more time listening to geese. Today we are journeying to the kingdom of Bayern with Princess Ani in Shannon Hale’s “The Goose Girl”, a truly wonderful and comforting read. As a big fan of fairy tale retellings, Victoria read all the Books of Bayern as a kid. Upon re-reading The Goose Girl, she was reminded once again of how the au...

This episode is about to be yoicks because we’re talking about The Guardians of Ga’hoole! If you read this series as a kid, then you must know a lot about owls, including all the unique vocabulary of this owl society created by the talented Kathryn Lasky (make sure you don’t go yeep!). For this episode, we read the first two books - The Capture and The Journey, where we follow Soren and his friend...

Oya? Oya oya? We’re returning to the intense world of high school volleyball in today’s episode where we’re covering Season 2 of Haikyuu!! (Be sure to check out Episode 43 where we began the saga if you haven’t already.) This is Victoria’s all-time favorite season, with high stakes volleyball games and a lot of great character development too. Jino was happy to finally have context for all the mem...

When there’s trouble you know who to call - it’s the Teen Titans! In this episode, we dive deep into this iconic animated series. The first episode Michael ever saw was Date With Destiny, which quickly got him invested in the Robin & Starfire dynamic. Jino tried to watch the series in college and couldn’t get into it, but the characters still became familiar to him through fanart and other DC...

Have you ever wondered if you might be related to a famous person? How about every famous person in history? Well, if you’re part of the Cahill family, you don’t have to wonder - you definitely are! That’s right, today we’re talking about The 39 Clues. These adventure novels not only taught kids about history and (somewhat questionable) science, but they also marketed themselves as an immersive ex...