The Two Vague Podcast

Amaya is in the “studio” this week with Ben and the pod-cats.  Amaya and Ben are eager to talk about the topic word and their individual healing journeys, but first, Amaya sets a challenge for herself (for the record the tally was “one hundred percent”=1 and “totally”=4, so only 5 punches were required).  It should go without saying, but as always with these two, there will be a wide assortment of...

This special episode represents a new direction that we are going in the future (since our “Only Fans” page didn’t take off like we expected).  Since the pandemic reaction videos have been all the rage, and we’re feeling a little left out, so we are announcing our switch to Two Vague Reactions: audio only reactions to video content!  You can follow along or just listen to us react to stuff! Amaya...

This week Ben takes Norah on an adventure with a word she has no interest in, but first Norah talks about three games she tried playing while she was visiting her nephew.  After the pleasantries, Norah fastens her seatbelt and prepares to be bombarded with Ben’s research.  Subjects and diversions include: memories of historical news moments, “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimens...

Ben is joined by Norah this week, and cooperatively they investigate this week’s word.  Things out a little slow conversationally, but then their on-brand rampant digression kicks in with topics such as television procedurals, the “cozy” genre of mysteries, the movie adaptation of Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka’s black humour thriller novel “Maria Beetle,” Ben’s favorite Chris Columbus movie script,...

This week, Norah joins Ben to talk about a subjective… subject.  The word is art, so prepare yourself for a more philosophical episode than you're used to.  The hosts share their love of observing, appreciating, making, and talking about art.  Ben tells a few stories, Norah brings her research, and they both drop many artist and architect names.  For details about the episode’s "video game bookend...

Joining Ben in the studio this week is Melody… a retired Marine, a student at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, and an amateur bodybuilder in the Women’s Figure Division working toward getting her pro card!  She’s a very busy person, but she was able to make some time to talk to us about this week’s word fit and to educate us about the often misunderstood sport of bodybuildi...

Paul is back in the studio with Ben this week to talk about his passion for the Moops, which is NOT the sound produced by a cow after making a mistake!  We’re joking, but if you know “the Moops” reference is from the 47th episode of Seinfeld, “The Bubble Boy,” then you are probably very familiar with this week’s word… and a standout at most parties.  To Paul’s delight, the show is liberally pepper...

Arden is back in the “studio” along with Ben and his lovable pod-cats to discuss the word chaos… a concept that Mango personifies.  Predictably the conversation starts with Bash causing an avalanche in the Himalayas and then gains entropic momentum.  Ben shares information on his favorite movie True Romance, chaos theory models, the band Luscious Jackson, the Kids in the Hall skit “Jazz Schmazz,”...

For the last episode before the first full week of 2023 Ben is sans co-pilot, but he still has a lot to share.  He talks about Boxing Day and memories of his Canada pants before playing a clip of the warmup portion for a forthcoming show featuring returning cohost Paul.  Norah joins their conversation while they discuss trivial facts, and midway she (correctly) points out that they are acting like...

After a refreshing holiday respite, Ben is back with his amazing autistic friend Andrew to talk about his latest creative endeavor.  Andrew shares the deets on the contents of and inspiration behind his latest zine, “An Actually Autistic Window on Economics.”  After the definition formalities have concluded, the masters of “stream of consciousness” type conversation, Ben and Andrew, talk about EVs...

Carl, the coordinator for the Games and Online Harassment Hotline and all-around good guy, joins Ben this week to discuss a word introduced in print by psychologist Edward Tichener in 1909!  They talk about their personal stories of processing their emotions, what harassment looks like in the digital age, toxic masculinity, the power video games, and what the hotline is doing to make the online la...

Cheyenne joins Ben in the studio this week to discuss intelligence… human, biological, artificial, or otherwise.  To get the conversational juices flowing (eew!), they talk about the games they are currently playing: Project Zomboid and Cult of the Lamb.  Upon becoming adequately lubricated (again… eew!), they talk about the definition of the word intelligence and the “types” of intelligences.  Al...

Journalism major Amaya joins Ben this week to discuss our habits… good, bad, and otherwise.   While enduring an impromptu cat cuddling session, Amaya shares her struggles with ADHD, her recently discovered haircare regimen, how she expresses herself with social media, her knowledge of astrology, and an interesting tattoo idea.  Ben has a few “dad humor” moments, but he also talks about how he appr...

Norah joins Ben this week to talk about ancient art of food assembly.  We do it for fun.  We do it to impress.  We do it when we are hungry… sometimes.  The hosts share their fond memories of family cooking for Christmas gatherings, the cooking shows they watch, the memorable dishes they have prepared, and an assortment of cooking techniques.   For the games portion of the show, Norah talks about...

Brittney (Mom / barista / photographer) joins Ben this week to talk about a word that brings her much joy.  The two hosts discuss photography past, present, and future.  Subjects include: the art of photography, personal connections to photos, baby books, camera technology, Purikura (photo booths), and how we will “record” our memories in the future.  Then it’s on to video games.  Brittney talks a...

This week Ben and Norah are discussing the food we consume to tide us over to our next full meal.  Yummy SNACKS!  Sprinkled throughout the episode are salty stories and discussions about electric boats, happy hours, ice cream bar diets, snakes, potato salad, and “sleepy chicken.”  After Norah reveals her cookie addiction, Ben reveals his Bacon number!  Finally, the proverbial cherry(s) on top for...

We’ve hit another 30-ish episode milestone, so it’s time for another “cutting room floor” show!  This never before heard material is a potpourri of trivia, news discussions, personal stories, and it all starts with a joke from my Aunt!  We hope you enjoy the smorgasbord of clips from episodes 33, 35, 43, 48, 50, 53, 54, and 55.    00:00:21 - Starting the clip show with what Ben has been noodling w...

Norah’s been watching Cuphead on Netflix and Ben has been playing a number of toon-centric games, so it seems to be fitting that the word is flyswatter.  Not really… it’s cartoon!  The hosts reminisce about the theater and television cartoons of their youth before moving on to video games.  Cartoon oriented video games mentioned include: the Kingdom Hearths franchise, Mane 6’s “Them’s Fightin’ Her...

Norah and Ben recommend that you prepare yourself mentally and physically for this week’s topic… adventure!  Ben has lots of questions for Norah about her adventures overseas.  They discuss a possible forthcoming adventure for each of them… running a bookstore in Scotland!  They briefly touch on the meaning of adventure in visual media before moving on to video games.  Norah talks about enjoying h...

ASAP, AFK and sonar walk in to a bar.  The bartender says, “As Soon As Possible… Away From Keyboard… who’s your friend?”  If you don’t understand this “joke,” don’t worry; you will before the end of the show.  This week Ben and Norah discuss the difference between acronyms, anacronyms, and initialisms.  Other topics include: a recent TikTok trend, commonly used acronyms, a comedy bit by Gary Gulma...

Norah leads the conversation about the word generation while Ben sits comfortably in the cohost chair.  Norah shares her research on the meaning of the word, provides a breakdown of the social generations, and explains the personality tendencies of Boomers, X-ers, Millennials, and  Zoomers.  Ben contributes a summary of console generations, some marketing statistics about gamers from the social ge...

Tracy joins Ben this week to converse about the word role!  From jobs, to theatre, to games, the word role plays important… um… role in our day to day lives.  However, these two love games, so this conversation revolves mostly around tabletop games and RPGs.  Discussion topics include: acting, the now defunct Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (by Paizo), Betrayal at House on the Hill (2004 Avalon Hil...

This week John joins Ben to talk about the importance of the word cooperation in two of his hobbies.  John talks about his college experience so far, playing lacrosse, and precision first-person shooters.  For once Ben tries to keep up, asking John questions about a sport (lacrosse) and a game (Riot Games’ Valorant) he’s not very familiar with. 00:00:40 - Thoughts on cooperation, and learning “the...

Norah joins Ben this week to talk about the bodily fluid responsible for oxygen transport to and from the heart.  They each have research to present on the components that make up blood, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood types.  After those “lectures,” Ben talks about blood type bias in Japan and why blood types appear in old arcade game character bios.  He then moves on to describing the gam...

Norah joins Ben this week to talk about the word pin!  It’s a fastener!  It’s a connector!  It’s a target!  It holds things in place!  Is there anything “pin” can’t do?  Topics include: chess, pin phrases, bowling, punk rock, pin collections, pinball, laserdisc games, and the TWEWY franchise 00:01:06 - Seasonal fruits, fascinating cloth, plugs, and sockets 00:04:39 - The word pin in chess, Adam th...