Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries

When mother Sheryl Leach set out to create a new type of children's entertainment for her son, she had no idea how big her creation would get, or how much people would grow to despise it.   This episode goes through the inception of the Barney character, highlights the men who brought him to life, and explores the unbelievable amount of hate that the character received from fully grown adults, a f...

Bratz, the popular fashion doll line, was once one of the top-selling fashion doll brands in the world, but then they suddenly disappeared from store shelves.  Find out what was happening behind the scenes at toy company MGA, and learn the details of the decade long legal battle they've been embroiled with against Barbie's creator, Mattel.   Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become...

Hosts Austin and Brenda connect with their inner child by watching the newest Paramount + release  “Blues Clues Big City Adventure”.  It’s a movie for kids!  But it also has a lot of heart and a lot of nostalgia.  Also, Warner Bros Discovery is getting sued by the state of Ohio. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

This week your host Brenda takes you on a deep dive into the history of the second highest selling children’s book franchises in history:  Goosebumps, the brainchild of writer RL Stein.  This episode features haunted masks, childhood traumas, lost media, and yes, another heated legal battle.  Listener beware, you’re in for a scare! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member a...

Full disclosure, this episode was so much fun for your host Brenda to edit. And if that wasn't enough of an incentive to listen, it’s about Harley Quinn! We promise it’s good, so please listen. Thanks! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

Since we took a week off, there is LOT of news to cover...but fear not...we’re here to weigh in on Lesbian Velma, Try Guys and Adult Happy Meal News.  After that hosts Brenda and Austin talk about the 2022 Predator Prequel “Prey”.  What did your host Austin, self-professed "big-fan-of-the-Predator-franchise" think of it? Listen and find out! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become...

Buckle in for a fairly long news segment this week, Mystorians!  We had the Emmys!   We had D23!  We had the passing of a prolific world leader!   Wowie!  To cool things down a bit, your host Brenda brought a shorter topic this week, Hallmark’s answer to Strawberry Shortcake...Rainbow Brite! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

After sharing one tiny scrap of good news, and talking about the latest Pokémon updates, your host Austin shares the story behind one of their guilty pleasure franchises:  The Predator.  Have you ever wanted to know how they achieved that invisible cloaking effect?  Or what the experience was like for the actor inside the iconic Predator suit? Perhaps you've lost sleep agonizing over what the Pred...

In this very special return episode, hosts Austin and Brenda try to make sense of exactly what Warner Bros. Discovery is doing these days; from canceling almost completely finished projects, to pulling dozens of cartoons from HBO Max with little warning,  things seem pretty dire. To lighten the mood a bit, Austin and Brenda answer a couple of questions from, you, the audience! Help support this sh...

Brenda is here to talk about the 1999 virtual pet website, Neopets, a subject that is near and dear to their heart.  Austin, meanwhile, knows very little about Neopets.  This is a story of controversial advertising and even more controversial religion.  It's about what happens when a website's existence is stretched out too long.  NFTs, black market scams, and sweet Armaldo Lewis (Brenda’s starvin...

You voted and we delivered.  Hosts Austin and Brenda are here to talk about the 2022 box office hit, Sonic the Hedgehog 2.  Has the curse of video game movies finally been broken?  Do video game movies just get to be good now?  And what do our hosts think the future of the franchise holds? Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

Today, Austin is here to talk about arcades and to answer the age-old question, just what is  an arcade anyway?  Is it a state of being, a laundromat?  What was the first arcade machine, and what is the highest selling arcade machine of all time?  What city in the United States declared itself the “gaming capital of the world”?  Find out the answers to these questions and more! Help support this s...

This week we’re talking about McDonaldland, the wacky world that McDonald mascot Ronald McDonald and his friends inhabit.  Learn about the evolution of the Hamburgler from "Lone Jogger" to weirdly sexy dad.  Witness the details of yet another corporate lawsuit.  And once again fear the unhinged visage of Ronald McDonald’s terrifying clown dog Sundae. Help support this show and unlock bonus content...

This episode sure is a big one, so hang in there.  Your host Brenda is also incredibly caffeinated, don’t worry about it, it’s fine. On this episode, Hosts Austin and Brenda talk about Pixar’s latest feature length film, Turning Red, a coming-of-age story about a preteen girl named Meilin who, upon the onset of furry puberty, starts turning into a Red Panda when her emotions get charged. It’s a st...

What’s up gamers!? After a news segment where hosts Austin and Brenda try to parse the existence of furry Xbox controllers to promote Sonic 2,  Austin has prepared an episode about Toonami! This late '90’s action programming block ran on Cartoon Network, where it brought animation to an older audience and introduced a whole generation to Gundam, Dragonball Z and…Hamtaro? Help support this show and...

This week we have a special treat for you, Mystorians!  Heather Antos, senior editor at IDW and professional penguin enthusiast joins us today to talk about how a little story that takes place in a galaxy far, far away has changed the landscape of pop culture, and society forever. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

"Goes to the Movies" is back, and Austin and Brenda are here to talk about the 2010 Dreamworks animated movie, Megamind.  While overshadowed by the releases of How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After in the same year, Megamind delivers an incredibly poignant, clever, witty, and funny take on the superhero genre, and makes a powerful statement about what it means to be a hero.  It’s good. ...

Brenda is here with the topic today, and the topic is the Walt Disney Company’s massive indoor interactive adventure flop...Disney Quest.  Once the pillar of Disney’s regional entertainment division, Disney Quest was opened in Orlando with very little fanfare, and was left to rot for most of its lifetime.  What was considered cutting edge in 1998, was definitely not cutting edge in 2017. Help supp...

Austin is here to talk about the rise and fall of the “toy store in the mall” KB Toys.  While Toys R Us was just a twinkle in its founder’s eye, KB toys was creating the modern toy store, moving into malls and developing unique strategies to make it stand out.  But after several business mishaps and a stinky leveraged buyout, KB Toys would find itself struggling to make it through the 2000s.  Does...

Hello everyone!  What a long break we had.  This episode has a couple announcements about the podcast going forward, and then Brenda and Ausin answer more user submitted questions?  What is the wildest comic storyline we’ve read?  What color unicorn would we have, and would we be able to eat it?  Who would win, Ash Ketchum, or Tai from Digimon?  All these questions answered, and more! Help support...

This is a shorter episode this week, but is no less jam packed.  This week, Austin and Brenda cover We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story, a 1993 animated movie produced by Steven Spielberg and animated by Amblimation.  This is a movie that hits the ground running and doesn’t let up.  Whether that's good or bad, you decide.  Brenda’s fake crying in this episode really worried her parents.  Oops! Help sup...

Episode 69 (nice) sees Brenda dive into the history of fanfiction, an often maligned and misunderstood art form.  How did fanfiction get its start?  What writer is notorious for sending DMCAs to their fans for creating fan works? Find out the connection between fanfiction and Russian journalists trying to find a place where they express themselves freely. And finally, are all fanfics really just h...

He’s a little dog with a big imagination and a thirst for knowledge.  Childhood friend or undefeated eldritch creature?  Find out, on this week’s episode featuring the 90’s PBS kids show:  Wishbone! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

Did you know that there was a movie based on the Disney ride Tower of Terror?   Host Brenda knew (because of course she did).  This month on Goes to the Movies, Host Austin and Host Brenda talk about two Disney Halloween movies, Tower of Terror and Hocus Pocus. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmysteries

Animal crossing fans, thou are eating well.  Hope you are having fun on your island.  Brenda is here to talk about once prolific animation studio Hanna-Barbera, who not only created beloved characters like Scooby Doo and the Flintstones (and Brenda’s favorite Top Cat) but revolutionized television animation as we know it. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://...