Nostalgia Club

Turn off that TV and test your way into the Mysterious Benedict Society! Victoria, Michael, and Jino are joined by special guest and certified podcast expert Isabella Miller, for whom the Benedict Society’s audiobook is a relisten tradition. These clever books asked us to question everything and think outside the box in order to save the world, although it wasn’t enough to save the show’s adaptati...

Take a seat at our lunch table and join our clique as we gossip about Mean Girls (2004), the most quotable movie of its generation, and Mean Girls (2024), which is also a movie. Jino and Victoria are joined by special guest Michael Wilkins, who walks us through what went right and what went wrong with this latest musical retelling. Tune in to hear about practical stunts, letting scenes linger, and...

If only, if only… We’re digging Holes by Louis Sachar! This is one of Victoria’s all-time favorites, with its satisfying planting and payoff storytelling (It’s like poetry. It rhymes.) Jino approves of Stanley Yelnats as a mindful, deliberate protagonist, and Michael celebrates the movie’s environmental storytelling and how each hole tells a story. Tune in to hear about injustice masquerading as j...

Yip yip! We’re back with Season 3 and one of if not the best shows Western animation has to offer – Avatar: The Last Airbender. Michael breaks down Zuko’s arc and why it can feel like he’s been part of Team Avatar all along. Jino (perhaps foolishly) compares the show to Citizen Kane, and Victoria breaks down her frustration with the 2024 live action adaptation, AKA Fire Nation propaganda. Join us...

So… what did we really think about the Percy Jackson TV Series? As fans who grew up with the original book series and felt disappointed by the early movie adaptations, it’s difficult not to have high expectations for an adaptation. For us, there was a lot to enjoy - the cast was fantastic and the show brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. At the same time, making the jump from text to screen c...

In Part 2 of our Season 2 recap, we’re covering A Series of Unfortunate Events to Percy Jackson. Michael talks about what it was like to return to the world of Prydain through reading The Foundling, which was written by Lloyd Alexander specifically for fans who grew up and felt nostalgic for the series (*gasp* we said the word). Victoria does a deep dive into the vast catalog of Nancy Drew video g...

We’re back to wrap up Season 2 with a recap episode, except this time, we’re splitting it into two parts! We had so much to say that we only got through half of the season - from Warriors to Redwall. We discuss what Warrior Cat clan we’d be in, Victoria shares about a middle school social experiment done by her English teacher, Jino tells another field trip story where he found an ammonite fossil,...

Grab a taxi ride from the Gray Sisters, because today, at last, we are traveling to Long Island, NY and revisiting the world of Greek gods and demigods! Percy Jackson and the Olympians was a fixture in Jino’s childhood — he traveled across the US with these books in hand and they’re well-weathered to prove it. Victoria felt like she grew up with Percy, since she started reading the books at age 12...

We’re getting analytical this week as we explore Lloyd Alexander’s high fantasy novels and dive deep into what it really means to be a hero (the sword and sorcery kind, put that cape away). You might know them as those books that got adapted into Disney’s “The Black Cauldron,” but for Michael they were formative coming-of-age stories that pack in a surprising amount of moral depth and insight. Jin...

Power up! We’re backflipping into the world of the Power Rangers to fight stunt actors in rubber suits and save the day! Dino Thunder was a definitive experience for Victoria, who as a kid somehow managed to binge multiple action-packed seasons in rapid succession without totally melting her brain. Michael and Jino quickly fell in love with the explosive acrobatics and deep, deep, deep lore (despi...

Have you heard of Giant Country? Sophie certainly hadn’t until the Big Friendly Giant whisked her away for a grand adventure full of dream magic, frightening human-eating giants, and some good ol’ British propaganda. All three of us read “The BFG” as kids, but upon re-reading, we quickly realized that any sort of real world context went over our heads back then. As a result, we’re approaching this...

I’ve got a hunch… that another mystery is right around the corner! We’re wrapping up our detective/spies episode run with the classic Nancy Drew series. Victoria came prepared to share everything she knows about this girl detective, including a big art book with fun facts from all of Nancy’s most iconic cases. Michael’s family members love Nancy Drew, so he had some background coming in, particula...

Are you an American Teen Against Crime? Then maybe you belong in ATAC with agents Frank and Joe Hardy! Jino was an early inductee into the Undercover Brothers series and its high-octane assault on low-stakes crime. Victoria only knew the boys from classic Nancy Drew crossovers, but these mid-2000s Hardys are a far cry from those. Michael came in fresh, but any expectations he had were quickly burn...

Welcome to WOOHP! Join us as we follow three teenage spies - Sam, Clover, and Alex - on their wacky missions. Will they save the world in time to go on dates with cute boys? Will they pass their biology tests? Victoria was an avid fan of the series as a kid, watching episodes on YouTube when she was supposed to be sleeping. Michael had seen the show before, but not enough to get the full, Y2K aest...

Watch out for Count Olaf! He’s bound to be lurking around any corner as we begin our unfortunate journey with Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. Victoria read this series from beginning to end when she was young and always particularly resonated with Sunny (“Pietrisycamollaviadelrechiotemexity.”) Jino read at least half of the books, but found that they were even more dour as an adult. Michael a...

We Are That Is! Nostalgia Club returns to the Abbey in Brian Jacques’ epic novel Redwall, in which medieval mice monks must muster against an attacking army of very vicious vermin. This is Michael’s first foray into Mossflower Wood and he was taken by the ruthless destructive intellect of Constance the Badger. Jino waxes poetic about the size ratio of mouse to cat, and Victoria celebrates the dele...

Who decides the definition of a word? The answer lies within a classic American school story: Frindle, by Andrew Clements. Even if you didn’t read this as a kid, you’ve probably seen the cover, with a red-haired kid holding a pen in the foreground. Jino read many of Andrew Clements’ novels as a kid, and even had some similar experiences in his own education. As a kid, this book felt a lot longer f...

Watch out for the Trunchbull! On today’s episode, we’re following the footsteps of a very small child named Matilda, from being misunderstood by her parents to facing the terrifying headmistress of Crunchem Hall. Jino and Michael watched the various musical/movie adaptations, so some of the original source material caught them by surprise. Victoria is mostly familiar with the book, but recently wa...

You won’t want to stay home for this field trip! Join us today as we board the Magic School Bus and travel to outer space, create thunderstorms, and literally dive into the human body. We all watched at least some episodes of this show, as it was a staple of the American schooling system, but we wondered if we could still learn from Ms. Frizzle and her wacky teaching style as adults! Tune in to he...

Open the wardrobe and join us in the world of Narnia! Today we’re focusing on the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Victoria always dreamed of visiting Narnia herself, but after reading this book again she realized she has a few bones to pick with C.S. Lewis. Michael also read the book as a kid, but there were certainly some aspects of the lore that went...

Get ready for Weirdmageddon! That’s right, today we’re visiting the wacky town of Gravity Falls. This TV series, created by Alex Hirsh, is one of the most influential works of animation that certainly had us hooked for all 2 seasons. Jino lurked in online communities when Season 2 was airing, so he got to see all the reactions unfold in real time. Michael and Victoria somehow didn’t watch this sho...

We’ve done it! We read the entire first Warriors series: The Prophecies Begin. The last three books were a roller coaster of emotions and plot points: forest fires, dog attacks, leadership changes, and the infamous BloodClan. How did these cats attach dog teeth to their claws and collars without opposable thumbs? Only the Erin Hunters know. Tune in to hear our thoughts on cat vaccines, being overs...

Whenever we record an episode of Nostalgia Club, there’s never enough time to go into as much detail as we’d like! So while you wait for Season 2, here’s a special recap episode where we look back on Season 1, expand on certain plot details, and share more fun stories centered around this nostalgic time in childhood. Jino tells us about the story he wrote that was inspired by Warrior Cats, Victori...

Yes, you read that title right. Today, we’re talking about the highly acclaimed 2007 Jerry Seinfeld movie - endorsed by Steven Spielberg himself! Jino had never seen the movie before, although a lot of his friends in film school made Bee Movie parodies, so that was close enough. Victoria watched the movie as a young kid and probably enjoyed it at the time, but all she remembers is the tiny bee on...

Prepare your pentacles and summon an alternate history where modern-day London reigns supreme over an empire built on the backs of enslaved magical spirits from another dimension. For young readers aged ten and up! Young Michael marveled at the magical mayhem, while modern Michael highlights the political nuance and world-building. Victoria celebrates a Djinni’s Play of the Game, and Jino imperson...