February 5, 2024 • 27 mins
Its time again to bust open our digital inbox and read messages from you amazing listeners, ranging from Disney Princesses, tabletop games, haunted houses, AI and asexuality.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm welcome to Stephan
I Never told you production of iHeart Radio and for
today's Monday Minnie, we are back with another listener mail.
Thanks as always for taking the time to write to us.
(00:25):
There's a bit of a backlog right now, I will admit,
but we are working through these messages so never fear,
we do get them, and so many of them are
so good, so really thank you. But I wanted to
start with one. We read a part of this one
in your two part first, the first part of your
(00:46):
two parter you did on Regina from Once upon a Time. Yeah, yes,
but I wanted to read the whole thing. Eldie wrote,
I have been a listener of Sminty for years now
and it's always a pleasure for me when you cover
pop culture topics I know a little about and also
love the episodes I know nothing about, so I feel
(01:06):
I can share your enthusiasm on your favorite topics. Is
really neat to listen to. I love every discussion on
fan fiction, slash fandom, star Wars and company. As a
former huge Potterhead and former member of Lots of Toxic fandoms,
I survived the super wholock area. Lol. Those are topics
(01:26):
I really enjoy thinking about. This was a huge part
of my early twenties. I'm thirty four now and talking
about the not so fun stuff surrounding these topics is
also really important and I appreciate it anyway. All that
to say, I really appreciate all the work you do
and when to dig up a meta analysis I posted
many many years ago on my tumplar account about Disney Princesses.
(01:47):
It's by no means exhaustive nor researched. It was just
my personal feeling at the time in response to all
the people bashing Disney Princesses because it's old, does not
include Moana, a personal favorite of mine, North Frozen, But
I think it does shine a light on what you
said in the later part of episode two. Not everyone's
focus is on romance, even in older, more traditional Disney
(02:08):
princess movies. I'd even argue that the movies themselves do not,
as the Prince often arrives like in the third act
of the movies, or have little impact on the movie
as a whole except for the ending, and we all
know the journey matters as much, if not more than
the destination, and when the princes are present, it serves
as showing off the development of a burgeoning relationship, and
(02:29):
the princess often has another primary goal apart from romance. Yes,
and Led sent us the link. I love this. This
is something I absolutely would do. So I feel like
we're yes, yes that I just write that. No one
reads I never post anywhere, so kudos to you. I
(02:53):
love it, but it is true. Okay, First, I love
how many people wrote in about Frozen. I was kind
of a but I'm very happy about it. It's really
funny to me. One of the things about our jobs
is after you research something, you get a lot of
updates about it, and it's really hard to tell if
it's because you researched it or if there are a
lot of updates that are happening arts both. But I'm
(03:14):
getting a lot of updates about Frozen. I love that.
I love it too. I'm like, oh, okay, I.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Think I sent you a TikTok about cicadas, so you did.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
How they are coming? Everybody prepare tennessee. I do think
this is a really good point, and we did talk
about it in our Frozen episode that a lot of
the story. You know, I think the issue is a
lot of it is, you know, at the end, you
get married, you have your happy ending, but so much
(03:49):
of the stories like before that, and so maybe a
part of the conversation we're not really having the nuance
when we're discussing, is maybe you do want that thing,
but it shouldn't be the thing. Yeah, that defines you,
like because they yeah, they do spend most of the
movie doing something else that comes in at the end.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know, we never talked about a majority of those movies.
There's always like the sin of the parents that always
is the cause typically, Yeah, or at least a big misunderstanding,
because Frozen has that too.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, just that's true. That is true anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Okay, So moving on, Sarah wrote, I am writing in
response to your recent episode entitled Tech Things to Leave
Behind in twenty twenty three. I certainly learned a lot
during that episode, so I wanted to chair with y'all
a powerful AI tool that has answered a question that
I've been wondering about for at least ten years. To begin,
I am legally blind. I do have some vision, but
(04:53):
I cannot see you well enough to read print or
find details my entire life, I had problems of finding
solutions to get around my ability to read print, such
as learning braill and listening for the sounds of my
water boiling when I'm making tea. Ever since my high
school years, I wondered how I would do an at
home pregnancy test if the situation ever came up. I
(05:13):
do not think I would want to involve one of
my family members who can see to avoid judgment for
being in that situation. There are apps that can connect
blind users to volunteers who can see, and their job
is to describe what is visible through the blind person's
a smartphone camera. While I could use one of those
apps to do it to do an at home pregnancy test,
(05:33):
I would not feel comfortable doing that for privacy's sake.
While I might be able to find a person in
my life who can see that I trust well enough
to help me with this situation, other blind women might not,
particularly if, like me, their partners are also blind. All
of this to say that this year, a revolutionary tool
called be my AI was released and has finally answered
(05:54):
my question. It is an extension of an app called
be my Eyes. This is one of the apps that
could blind users to volunteers who can see to describe
things for them. The b my AI describes pictures with
immense accuracy. It's useful for things like getting expiration dates
from grocery items to online shopping, and describing family photos.
(06:15):
A user can also chat with the AI tools to
get more specific details that they are looking for in
the image and provide additional images to get a satisfying answer.
As this tool was just released to the public in
the fall of twenty twenty three, the developers are still
working out some books with how it describes images. With
that said, it is still an immensely powerful tool for
myself and the millions of people around the world who
(06:37):
have limitations with their vision. Now I know that if
I was ever in a situation where I needed to
do an at home pregnancy test, I would be able
to do it independently and discreetly without involving an individual
who can see. That is immensely powerful for myself and
I'm sure for thousands of other blind women. Wow, that's incredible.
I didn't know that existed. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I didn't know that either, And I responded and said,
you know, to my shame, I have never ever thought
me though about the pregnancy test, right at home pregnancy test,
So that is yeah, I mean that's an example of
technology filling a need. I love that.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Thank you for letting us know because that's such an
amazing discovery for a lot of people that like I
wouldn't have even thought to look for so suggesting this.
So thank you so much, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yes, thank you. Friend of the show, Amanda, who has
written in before and is the person who suggested that
we play way Haven, Yes, wrote in, I hope even
(07:49):
Samantha are doing well and both had a wonderful life day.
Our Christmas are whatever else you feel like celebrating. I
want to thank you both for your episodes. They have
kept me sane as I was moving to my new
home in coming Georgia. It's been funny because every episode
seemed to be like a mirror of what I was
going through, and it was so comforting to know I
wasn't the only one going through rough times. First Halloween
(08:13):
Horror Nights, I loved your episodes on them, especially since
it was my first time back at Halloween Horror Nights
Orlando in about fifteen years. I absolutely went for the
last of us and stayed for the Dueling Dragons and
Yettie Houses. But seriously, I really hope you all get
to go again next year and make reports on them
a more frequent outing Samantha, I will volunteer as tribute
(08:40):
if Samantha is too scared to go loll thank you.
I also highly recommend if you get a chance next time,
to do the Horror Unmask, which lets you walk through
the houses with the lights on. You also get about
thirty to forty five minutes in six random houses to
take pictures, ask questions of the guide, and learn about
how each house was designed, and really get to appreciate
(09:02):
all the artistry. This may have been where my love
for the Yetti House came in. Here's some of the
pictures I was able to take next. I was super
excited to hear about your interest in board games. I've
been rekindling my love for them recently, and there's so
many more to choose from. Though it absolutely made me
realize the disparity between how many are women made versus not.
(09:24):
Here are a few fun games with solo modes that
I recommend, though I can't promise they're all made by women.
Final Girl only a Solo mode has multiple versions based
around popular horror tropes and all female protagonists. It's a
solitairel like game where you are trying to save victims,
to get power ups, get rid of the killer, or
escape with an item. Bark Avenue a dog walking game
(09:47):
that recently came out. It's all about trying to walk
as many dogs as you can in a single day.
Apparently all the dogs are based on real pups, and
the art warms my heart every time I open. It
also has two player and multiple the initiative this is
all about being thrown into a comic book where you
have to break codes to uncover the mystery of the
(10:08):
neighbor down the street. Scooby Gang meets Spy Kids can
also be played with multiple people. Okay, and now to
the topic that brought me to message you both in
the first place. Way Havevid. I was so happy to
hear your second episode on it, covering books two and
three and no Worries to Samantha, I completely understand. We
have to criticize the things that we love. Aha. To
(10:29):
answer a question, you both pose the differences and the
character's genders are determined by your sexuality preference. In the
first book, so heterosexual will get you all of the
opposite gender, while bisexual, asexual or pan sexual will get
you a mix of inverse with the Nate slash Natalie
and Adam slash Ava always being the same for that
wonderful love triangle mess. I'm glad you both are enjoying it,
(10:53):
and encourage you to do several playthroughs, especially with the
different characters, to learn more about them and test the
limit of the sometimes annoying choice of game systems. Anyway,
this has been super long already, but thank you both
again so much. I hope you get some well deserved
time off leading into the new year. I'm also planning
on going to DragonCon this year, fingers crossed I'll get
(11:15):
a chance to say thank you in person. We need
to do yes, oh yes, I love this.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Definitely, Oh way, heaven. I've already forgotten to go through
all of them a bank at one sitting.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I started the first one again, and it's just really
hard for me to like make different choices of looking
all that one.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's that's it, Instinctually, I think I know for that
same choice, I'm like, wait, I need to do something different,
But which one?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Which one? Yeah, but I did start it again. I
think it will still be similar, but it'll be different. Yeah,
but I think like I'm not going to go like
way far off, but it will be a different outcome.
So many times when we send these to Christine and
I listened to them again, because we do it for
quality QA as we call it, I'll listen to it
(12:06):
and be like, why didn't I talk about that. I
do have a I have a theory about what's gonna happen,
and that's all I'll say. But there's something suspicious that
happened in mind that when you were talking about what
happened in yours, I was like, oh, I might have
stumbled on something. Then Okay, well.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Because like, yeah, I really do need to go try
it again, because I was so like, you can do that.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That lets you WHOA, Yeah, I was very confused. I
stumbled on something. Okay, I'm gonna have to go back
and look at it. That could be Dillar, right, but
it's just it's fun. It is funny. I love that
you brought this to his Amanda. We have joy out
of it. Yes, I will admit I bought I already
bought some of the Final Girl games, and I bought
the comic book based one to buy the Puppy Dog one.
(12:49):
I knew you would get that. To do that, I
need to see dogs. It's it's great. All game recommendations
appreciated clearly. We actually do take them into a convey excited. Yes. Also, yes,
the pictures of Halloween Horror Nights were great. I did
(13:11):
want to do that. We would see that group doing
it and I'd be like, Oh, I'm jealous of you
going into the behind the scenes and stuff. That was
really cool. I heard so Universal is like completely changing
their theme park next year, like they're doing it now.
But anyway, I heard five nights that Freddy's will be
(13:31):
there next year. Yeah, oh that's the hell. That would
be a good way. I know that Hell would be good.
Come hang with us. Yeah, I might have to take
Amanda up on this. I hope that your move to
Coming Georgia went well. I spent a lot of time
there as a child, because that was the quote, big
city near me close.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
My niece works over there, so hi, neighbor, Yeah yeah, hello. So.
And then we have Debbie who wrote I'm fifty. I
was never on the pill until forty. Mom had breast
cancer in the early nineties, and it was assumed back
then the pill could raise my risk. When I started
the four periods a year pill, heaven, My period sucked.
Even for a year sucked. I never wanted kids, and
(14:15):
I got it every three weeks when not around women
on the pill to sink me up the seasonique three
periods a year pill is amazing. I don't know why
every woman who can take the pill isn't on it.
I was changing to another pill to help keep my
hormones from being nutty, was going to stop for a
while and see what happens naturally. And haven't had my
period since the last one from the pill in August. Yay,
(14:36):
I was finally getting the perimenopause. And then I got
breast cancer. Oh I'm fine. It was found in August
at Memmo, had a lumpectomy and just finished radiation treatment
last week. Now just starting to maxifen the estrogen blocker
as a preventative measure and have to take it for
five years.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
So unfair.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
After being scared of it by the goofy women who
talked about it dramatically had very mild hot flashes. I
didn't even realize I was having them for a few months.
Now after a few days on the tamox I seem
to be having more intense ones and more frequent And
this is it for five years. It's not unbearable, it's
just annoying. I like the cold. So the last four
(15:15):
years or so, I've been learning a little bit more
about the pause, not that it helps much, other than
knowing there was help if I had the natural one
and it was harsh, and I have a great ghano
who was ready to help me with my hormone therapy
if needed. Here's some great resources I came across doctor Jenkunter,
she posts on Instagram, has a newsletter as she wrote,
the Vagina Bibble and the Menopause Manifesto Menopause Taylor on
(15:39):
YouTube aka Menopause Barbie.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Oh yeah, that's really good information because, as you know,
I'm pretty sure this stems from my perimenopause what conversation,
because I'm still.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Going what.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And looking at all the options, and yeah, I think
this is why. I know a lot of people have
issues with the IUDs and talk about like really being
scared of them, really having painful experiences, and the floating
IUD is the fright, and yes I still check my
string often for that, but not having a period. The
(16:14):
first year of my IUD was very painful, but after
that worth that pain. Because I have not had that issue,
I will have some like PMS feelings, but it's.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Not anywhere near what I was going through.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I told you, I think I had like clots the
size of nickels and quarters, and apparently that's that of normal,
and I didn't know that, and all I was given.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Was ibuprofen and sent to school yep.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And like people didn't understand until they had to experience pain.
People would have different types how painful it was. And
I think because of that, the insertion of the IUD
was like okay, Like it really didn't bother me at all,
Like I went and running and everything. And then I
have had friends who were like taking all kinds of
medication and vomiting and I was like, what what's happening?
Which we two of us and I just had a
(17:02):
local anesthetic. But all of that to say is like yeah,
I like, but I understand, like pills are really concerning.
When I was first getting on the pill, I was
sick as a dog. They were so like it was
so all for me that I could not stand up
straight and then had to get it changed it But
because I'm like, it's fine as fine, my body is adjusting,
I waited two weeks to say something was wrong even
(17:25):
though I couldn't stand up. But yeah, like I definitely
all of that was like so many of that is
that concern. I need to get a mammogram and I
haven't done that yet. I don't know the history for
my family at all because I'm adopted, you know, And
then seeing all this is something I'm like, I really
do need to take care of that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So, Debbie, thank you so much for writing in yes, yes,
when we've heard a lot of it from a lot
of people about this as well, and I feel like,
once again, unfortunately the general consensus was no one talked
to me about it. I didn't know what it was
the thing. Everyone expects me to deal with it. And
then you compare yourself to your friend and they're having
a completely different science. So I have learned that too,
(18:08):
like sometimes your friend and you are not the same.
Both are legitimate, but you were not experiencing not all
the time, No, not all the time. Cale wrote, First off,
(18:30):
I'm not finished reading your book yet, because it takes
me forever to read things, but I perched it the
day A came ouh, thank you. During that time, I
had just helped my best little pal across the Rainbow Bridge,
and your book was one of the only things that
brought me joy. So thank you both so much for
all the work you put into it. It's fantastic so far,
and I can't wait to finish it. Second, I just
(18:51):
finished the section where Annie shares her experiences of being
a sexual and bi romantic, and I just had to
put my thoughts down while they're still fresh in my mind. Annie,
I resonate with what you went through and go through
so much it's almost uncanny. I think I've shared before
that I am a trans man when it comes to
my sexuality, having lived as a woman for twenty six years.
(19:11):
I appreciated what you said about feeling like you can't
even trust yourself to know what you want. I find
myself wandering that all the time these days. But what
I really wanted to share is that you discussing asexuality
on Sminty was really the first time I'd ever thought
about it critically. It was the first time I ever
considered that to be something I might identify with, and
so I wanted to thank you for your vulnerability and
(19:33):
sharing that on your platform. I know some days we
all wonder the work we do really matters. So I
wanted to tell you and Samanthe two that the work
you do matters to me in more ways than one.
I'm thirty one and just now exploring who I am
in some ways, and I too find it quite exciting.
Thank you, Klee, Thank you Cale. I'm sorry bout you boo. Yeah,
(19:56):
Kale sent a picture of coconut. I believe, very very cute,
very very cute, very sorry.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Coconut is such a good name.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It's really good and it fits. It fits coconut corn.
But yeah, thank you so much for writing it about this.
I know I talked about it before, but I was scared.
There were certain things I was scared to write down
and have people read, even though we talk about on
the show. But that was a that section was up
(20:27):
there with I don't know what. I don't know how
people are gonna react to this. I don't know what
they'll think. I hope that in some way people connect
with it. Vulnerable. Yeah, So thank you so much for
relating that it is something that like, I don't know.
I just really appreciate you writing this, because some days
(20:48):
I'll be like, this doesn't matter, really, I mean what
am I doing? And then I had a conversation with
a friend recently who was like, I didn't know what
a sexuality was until you started talking about it, and
now I'm really thinking about it in my experience, and
I think it really resonates with me. And so thank you.
(21:08):
We really do appreciate all your listeners taking this time
and being vulnerable with us and Cale You've been such
a delight in so many messages, things ranging from Star
Wars to things as deep ass that think, well star
Wars is deep? What am I saying? Insulting yourself from this?
I know what am I saying? Thank you, thank you?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And then Jude wrote, first off, I read the book
A good job. Well, thank you, But I was thinking
a lot about ethical purchasing like this last happy Hour
was about uh. One time trying to buy a frame,
I wanted to avoid Amazon, so I ordered off eBay
and when I received the frame, under the first layer
of packaging was an Amazon Prime envelope. So it felt
(21:55):
like I paid more just for someone to buy something
off Amazon. For me, Regarding the problem at Midtlely, I
have not bought off this site yet, but artists co
op or artists do co op. Seems like it may
be the solution to Atsy's awful stances. I want to
purchase ethically, and I know there's that meme about no
ethical consumption under capitalism, but it's so frustrating. My sympathy
(22:17):
is regarding the ad problem, I hear a lot more
podcasters complaining about how podcast ads work in the dynamic
ones I mean yes, and the fact that it pays
for our bills.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I do feel like the most cynical, like old detective
hearing this from you, which I appreciate, thank you for.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
No.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
No, I mean like, because I've been dealing with this
problem for a long time, so I like you knew
podcasters coming out complaining about it. Oh, like that, welcome
to the party.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Honestly, I'm more frustrated at the fact that our cash
flow has everything to do with what we're willing to
speak for, and there's.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Not a lot of great company I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Like, like when we talk about how Etsy was, once
upon a time a great company, and now, yeah, we
have people much like what you're talking about with the
eBay thing, buy off of Amazon and send it. They
have more big companies advertising on Etsy pretending to be
small companies and they're not, and then they're overcharging the
small businesses that are legitimately trying to make it. So
(23:24):
it's one of those things of like it's getting worse.
The ones that we think are good are not good.
I actually bought a gift for a friend in Canada.
It's a Canadian company and it says it's ethically grade
and then you go through and get the scores and
it's not that great and it's like son of a Yeah,
but like it's just it's just really annoying because you know,
(23:46):
you really want to try to do these things, but
it's so limited. And again it's also very privileged to
be able to do those things because the cost or availability,
Like it's just a sort but artists co op coop,
which was what I was calling it previously until aie
told me otherwise.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I could still be wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I'm pretty sure, so Jude, if you know, if you
hear us and you're like, y'all are wrong, please let
us know.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But yeah, so that sounds amazing. I want to check
that out for sure. Yes, me too, I probably do that.
I'm curious. Yeah. And lastly, Jordan wrote, Hey, Annie and Samantha,
I hope that you're both doing well. I just finished
the most recent Monday Mini on Board Games, and I
wanted to give you guys some more information on mennon
(24:35):
Nights and answer Samantha's question about how they feel about queerness.
I'm excited. My mother grew up in a fairly small
men and Night community in northern British Columbia, Canada. Her
whole life, she was taught that queerness was something bad
and sinful. Later in life, her brother, my uncle, came
out as gay and he was banished from the men
and Nite church. He moved down south to Vancouver and
(24:57):
doesn't have a great relationship with his parents anymore. Most
people in the community haven't talked to him since he
came out. My mother is the only one who fully
supports him. My mom describes the Mennonites as in quote
ultra Christian cult and they are very into heteronormative ideas.
On the bright side, they do make some pretty good
food lol. I think it would be great if you
(25:19):
guys considered making an episode about them and their culture.
Thanks for reading. I love the show. Okay, somebody answered
your call. That's thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I really was curious because it's sadder than I wanted
it to be. But I was really hoping because you know,
sometimes I think about Quaker people and they're amazing people,
but I don't know their stands on queer community either.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So hopefully you know about Quakers, let me know.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
But it seems like, yeah, that makes sense, like any
conservative ideals. It is really hard to not see that
and then but it makes me sad a little bit
on my ally. So thank you Jordan. That really does
answer my question. That's thank you. Yeah, on again. We
appreciate so much because we don't have this experience. We
(26:04):
didn't know, and I love that someone in the audience
was like, I can answer, I can help.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
That is amazing time. Let's go. I love it so much,
and you're right, that is a good episode we could do.
That's great, we do topic well. Thank you again all
of you listeners for writing in. We really do appreciate it.
It does influence where the show goes. It answers our
(26:30):
questions and then it gives other listeners more resources or information.
So thank you so much. We are we're working through
the backlog, but it's happening, yes, and please please write
in for any of these future listener mail episodes. We
love these, or just any topic you have in general,
(26:52):
any topic, any thoughts, any anything. You can write us
at Stephanie mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at my Stuff podcast or on
Instagram and TikTok at stuff I Never Told You. We
have a tea public store, and yes we have a
book and we do appreciate you buying it. Thanks to
the people who said that they did you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always to a
super produced Christina or executive producer Maya and our contributor Joey.
(27:15):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Stuff I
Never Told You is production by Heart Radio. For more
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favorite shows.
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm welcome to Stephan
I Never told you production of iHeart Radio and for
today's Monday Minnie, we are back with another listener mail.
Thanks as always for taking the time to write to us.
(00:25):
There's a bit of a backlog right now, I will admit,
but we are working through these messages so never fear,
we do get them, and so many of them are
so good, so really thank you. But I wanted to
start with one. We read a part of this one
in your two part first, the first part of your
(00:46):
two parter you did on Regina from Once upon a Time. Yeah, yes,
but I wanted to read the whole thing. Eldie wrote,
I have been a listener of Sminty for years now
and it's always a pleasure for me when you cover
pop culture topics I know a little about and also
love the episodes I know nothing about, so I feel
(01:06):
I can share your enthusiasm on your favorite topics. Is
really neat to listen to. I love every discussion on
fan fiction, slash fandom, star Wars and company. As a
former huge Potterhead and former member of Lots of Toxic fandoms,
I survived the super wholock area. Lol. Those are topics
(01:26):
I really enjoy thinking about. This was a huge part
of my early twenties. I'm thirty four now and talking
about the not so fun stuff surrounding these topics is
also really important and I appreciate it anyway. All that
to say, I really appreciate all the work you do
and when to dig up a meta analysis I posted
many many years ago on my tumplar account about Disney Princesses.
(01:47):
It's by no means exhaustive nor researched. It was just
my personal feeling at the time in response to all
the people bashing Disney Princesses because it's old, does not
include Moana, a personal favorite of mine, North Frozen, But
I think it does shine a light on what you
said in the later part of episode two. Not everyone's
focus is on romance, even in older, more traditional Disney
(02:08):
princess movies. I'd even argue that the movies themselves do not,
as the Prince often arrives like in the third act
of the movies, or have little impact on the movie
as a whole except for the ending, and we all
know the journey matters as much, if not more than
the destination, and when the princes are present, it serves
as showing off the development of a burgeoning relationship, and
(02:29):
the princess often has another primary goal apart from romance. Yes,
and Led sent us the link. I love this. This
is something I absolutely would do. So I feel like
we're yes, yes that I just write that. No one
reads I never post anywhere, so kudos to you. I
(02:53):
love it, but it is true. Okay, First, I love
how many people wrote in about Frozen. I was kind
of a but I'm very happy about it. It's really
funny to me. One of the things about our jobs
is after you research something, you get a lot of
updates about it, and it's really hard to tell if
it's because you researched it or if there are a
lot of updates that are happening arts both. But I'm
(03:14):
getting a lot of updates about Frozen. I love that.
I love it too. I'm like, oh, okay, I.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Think I sent you a TikTok about cicadas, so you did.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
How they are coming? Everybody prepare tennessee. I do think
this is a really good point, and we did talk
about it in our Frozen episode that a lot of
the story. You know, I think the issue is a
lot of it is, you know, at the end, you
get married, you have your happy ending, but so much
(03:49):
of the stories like before that, and so maybe a
part of the conversation we're not really having the nuance
when we're discussing, is maybe you do want that thing,
but it shouldn't be the thing. Yeah, that defines you,
like because they yeah, they do spend most of the
movie doing something else that comes in at the end.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know, we never talked about a majority of those movies.
There's always like the sin of the parents that always
is the cause typically, Yeah, or at least a big misunderstanding,
because Frozen has that too.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, just that's true. That is true anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Okay, So moving on, Sarah wrote, I am writing in
response to your recent episode entitled Tech Things to Leave
Behind in twenty twenty three. I certainly learned a lot
during that episode, so I wanted to chair with y'all
a powerful AI tool that has answered a question that
I've been wondering about for at least ten years. To begin,
I am legally blind. I do have some vision, but
(04:53):
I cannot see you well enough to read print or
find details my entire life, I had problems of finding
solutions to get around my ability to read print, such
as learning braill and listening for the sounds of my
water boiling when I'm making tea. Ever since my high
school years, I wondered how I would do an at
home pregnancy test if the situation ever came up. I
(05:13):
do not think I would want to involve one of
my family members who can see to avoid judgment for
being in that situation. There are apps that can connect
blind users to volunteers who can see, and their job
is to describe what is visible through the blind person's
a smartphone camera. While I could use one of those
apps to do it to do an at home pregnancy test,
(05:33):
I would not feel comfortable doing that for privacy's sake.
While I might be able to find a person in
my life who can see that I trust well enough
to help me with this situation, other blind women might not,
particularly if, like me, their partners are also blind. All
of this to say that this year, a revolutionary tool
called be my AI was released and has finally answered
(05:54):
my question. It is an extension of an app called
be my Eyes. This is one of the apps that
could blind users to volunteers who can see to describe
things for them. The b my AI describes pictures with
immense accuracy. It's useful for things like getting expiration dates
from grocery items to online shopping, and describing family photos.
(06:15):
A user can also chat with the AI tools to
get more specific details that they are looking for in
the image and provide additional images to get a satisfying answer.
As this tool was just released to the public in
the fall of twenty twenty three, the developers are still
working out some books with how it describes images. With
that said, it is still an immensely powerful tool for
myself and the millions of people around the world who
(06:37):
have limitations with their vision. Now I know that if
I was ever in a situation where I needed to
do an at home pregnancy test, I would be able
to do it independently and discreetly without involving an individual
who can see. That is immensely powerful for myself and
I'm sure for thousands of other blind women. Wow, that's incredible.
I didn't know that existed. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I didn't know that either, And I responded and said,
you know, to my shame, I have never ever thought
me though about the pregnancy test, right at home pregnancy test,
So that is yeah, I mean that's an example of
technology filling a need. I love that.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Thank you for letting us know because that's such an
amazing discovery for a lot of people that like I
wouldn't have even thought to look for so suggesting this.
So thank you so much, Sarah.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yes, thank you. Friend of the show, Amanda, who has
written in before and is the person who suggested that
we play way Haven, Yes, wrote in, I hope even
(07:49):
Samantha are doing well and both had a wonderful life day.
Our Christmas are whatever else you feel like celebrating. I
want to thank you both for your episodes. They have
kept me sane as I was moving to my new
home in coming Georgia. It's been funny because every episode
seemed to be like a mirror of what I was
going through, and it was so comforting to know I
wasn't the only one going through rough times. First Halloween
(08:13):
Horror Nights, I loved your episodes on them, especially since
it was my first time back at Halloween Horror Nights
Orlando in about fifteen years. I absolutely went for the
last of us and stayed for the Dueling Dragons and
Yettie Houses. But seriously, I really hope you all get
to go again next year and make reports on them
a more frequent outing Samantha, I will volunteer as tribute
(08:40):
if Samantha is too scared to go loll thank you.
I also highly recommend if you get a chance next time,
to do the Horror Unmask, which lets you walk through
the houses with the lights on. You also get about
thirty to forty five minutes in six random houses to
take pictures, ask questions of the guide, and learn about
how each house was designed, and really get to appreciate
(09:02):
all the artistry. This may have been where my love
for the Yetti House came in. Here's some of the
pictures I was able to take next. I was super
excited to hear about your interest in board games. I've
been rekindling my love for them recently, and there's so
many more to choose from. Though it absolutely made me
realize the disparity between how many are women made versus not.
(09:24):
Here are a few fun games with solo modes that
I recommend, though I can't promise they're all made by women.
Final Girl only a Solo mode has multiple versions based
around popular horror tropes and all female protagonists. It's a
solitairel like game where you are trying to save victims,
to get power ups, get rid of the killer, or
escape with an item. Bark Avenue a dog walking game
(09:47):
that recently came out. It's all about trying to walk
as many dogs as you can in a single day.
Apparently all the dogs are based on real pups, and
the art warms my heart every time I open. It
also has two player and multiple the initiative this is
all about being thrown into a comic book where you
have to break codes to uncover the mystery of the
(10:08):
neighbor down the street. Scooby Gang meets Spy Kids can
also be played with multiple people. Okay, and now to
the topic that brought me to message you both in
the first place. Way Havevid. I was so happy to
hear your second episode on it, covering books two and
three and no Worries to Samantha, I completely understand. We
have to criticize the things that we love. Aha. To
(10:29):
answer a question, you both pose the differences and the
character's genders are determined by your sexuality preference. In the
first book, so heterosexual will get you all of the
opposite gender, while bisexual, asexual or pan sexual will get
you a mix of inverse with the Nate slash Natalie
and Adam slash Ava always being the same for that
wonderful love triangle mess. I'm glad you both are enjoying it,
(10:53):
and encourage you to do several playthroughs, especially with the
different characters, to learn more about them and test the
limit of the sometimes annoying choice of game systems. Anyway,
this has been super long already, but thank you both
again so much. I hope you get some well deserved
time off leading into the new year. I'm also planning
on going to DragonCon this year, fingers crossed I'll get
(11:15):
a chance to say thank you in person. We need
to do yes, oh yes, I love this.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Definitely, Oh way, heaven. I've already forgotten to go through
all of them a bank at one sitting.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I started the first one again, and it's just really
hard for me to like make different choices of looking
all that one.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
That's that's it, Instinctually, I think I know for that
same choice, I'm like, wait, I need to do something different,
But which one?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Which one? Yeah, but I did start it again. I
think it will still be similar, but it'll be different. Yeah,
but I think like I'm not going to go like
way far off, but it will be a different outcome.
So many times when we send these to Christine and
I listened to them again, because we do it for
quality QA as we call it, I'll listen to it
(12:06):
and be like, why didn't I talk about that. I
do have a I have a theory about what's gonna happen,
and that's all I'll say. But there's something suspicious that
happened in mind that when you were talking about what
happened in yours, I was like, oh, I might have
stumbled on something. Then Okay, well.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Because like, yeah, I really do need to go try
it again, because I was so like, you can do that.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
That lets you WHOA, Yeah, I was very confused. I
stumbled on something. Okay, I'm gonna have to go back
and look at it. That could be Dillar, right, but
it's just it's fun. It is funny. I love that
you brought this to his Amanda. We have joy out
of it. Yes, I will admit I bought I already
bought some of the Final Girl games, and I bought
the comic book based one to buy the Puppy Dog one.
(12:49):
I knew you would get that. To do that, I
need to see dogs. It's it's great. All game recommendations
appreciated clearly. We actually do take them into a convey excited. Yes. Also, yes,
the pictures of Halloween Horror Nights were great. I did
(13:11):
want to do that. We would see that group doing
it and I'd be like, Oh, I'm jealous of you
going into the behind the scenes and stuff. That was
really cool. I heard so Universal is like completely changing
their theme park next year, like they're doing it now.
But anyway, I heard five nights that Freddy's will be
(13:31):
there next year. Yeah, oh that's the hell. That would
be a good way. I know that Hell would be good.
Come hang with us. Yeah, I might have to take
Amanda up on this. I hope that your move to
Coming Georgia went well. I spent a lot of time
there as a child, because that was the quote, big
city near me close.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
My niece works over there, so hi, neighbor, Yeah yeah, hello. So.
And then we have Debbie who wrote I'm fifty. I
was never on the pill until forty. Mom had breast
cancer in the early nineties, and it was assumed back
then the pill could raise my risk. When I started
the four periods a year pill, heaven, My period sucked.
Even for a year sucked. I never wanted kids, and
(14:15):
I got it every three weeks when not around women
on the pill to sink me up the seasonique three
periods a year pill is amazing. I don't know why
every woman who can take the pill isn't on it.
I was changing to another pill to help keep my
hormones from being nutty, was going to stop for a
while and see what happens naturally. And haven't had my
period since the last one from the pill in August. Yay,
(14:36):
I was finally getting the perimenopause. And then I got
breast cancer. Oh I'm fine. It was found in August
at Memmo, had a lumpectomy and just finished radiation treatment
last week. Now just starting to maxifen the estrogen blocker
as a preventative measure and have to take it for
five years.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
So unfair.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
After being scared of it by the goofy women who
talked about it dramatically had very mild hot flashes. I
didn't even realize I was having them for a few months.
Now after a few days on the tamox I seem
to be having more intense ones and more frequent And
this is it for five years. It's not unbearable, it's
just annoying. I like the cold. So the last four
(15:15):
years or so, I've been learning a little bit more
about the pause, not that it helps much, other than
knowing there was help if I had the natural one
and it was harsh, and I have a great ghano
who was ready to help me with my hormone therapy
if needed. Here's some great resources I came across doctor Jenkunter,
she posts on Instagram, has a newsletter as she wrote,
the Vagina Bibble and the Menopause Manifesto Menopause Taylor on
(15:39):
YouTube aka Menopause Barbie.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Oh yeah, that's really good information because, as you know,
I'm pretty sure this stems from my perimenopause what conversation,
because I'm still.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Going what.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
And looking at all the options, and yeah, I think
this is why. I know a lot of people have
issues with the IUDs and talk about like really being
scared of them, really having painful experiences, and the floating
IUD is the fright, and yes I still check my
string often for that, but not having a period. The
(16:14):
first year of my IUD was very painful, but after
that worth that pain. Because I have not had that issue,
I will have some like PMS feelings, but it's.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Not anywhere near what I was going through.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
I told you, I think I had like clots the
size of nickels and quarters, and apparently that's that of normal,
and I didn't know that, and all I was given.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Was ibuprofen and sent to school yep.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And like people didn't understand until they had to experience pain.
People would have different types how painful it was. And
I think because of that, the insertion of the IUD
was like okay, Like it really didn't bother me at all,
Like I went and running and everything. And then I
have had friends who were like taking all kinds of
medication and vomiting and I was like, what what's happening?
Which we two of us and I just had a
(17:02):
local anesthetic. But all of that to say is like yeah,
I like, but I understand, like pills are really concerning.
When I was first getting on the pill, I was
sick as a dog. They were so like it was
so all for me that I could not stand up
straight and then had to get it changed it But
because I'm like, it's fine as fine, my body is adjusting,
I waited two weeks to say something was wrong even
(17:25):
though I couldn't stand up. But yeah, like I definitely
all of that was like so many of that is
that concern. I need to get a mammogram and I
haven't done that yet. I don't know the history for
my family at all because I'm adopted, you know, And
then seeing all this is something I'm like, I really
do need to take care of that.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
So, Debbie, thank you so much for writing in yes, yes,
when we've heard a lot of it from a lot
of people about this as well, and I feel like,
once again, unfortunately the general consensus was no one talked
to me about it. I didn't know what it was
the thing. Everyone expects me to deal with it. And
then you compare yourself to your friend and they're having
a completely different science. So I have learned that too,
(18:08):
like sometimes your friend and you are not the same.
Both are legitimate, but you were not experiencing not all
the time, No, not all the time. Cale wrote, First off,
(18:30):
I'm not finished reading your book yet, because it takes
me forever to read things, but I perched it the
day A came ouh, thank you. During that time, I
had just helped my best little pal across the Rainbow Bridge,
and your book was one of the only things that
brought me joy. So thank you both so much for
all the work you put into it. It's fantastic so far,
and I can't wait to finish it. Second, I just
(18:51):
finished the section where Annie shares her experiences of being
a sexual and bi romantic, and I just had to
put my thoughts down while they're still fresh in my mind. Annie,
I resonate with what you went through and go through
so much it's almost uncanny. I think I've shared before
that I am a trans man when it comes to
my sexuality, having lived as a woman for twenty six years.
(19:11):
I appreciated what you said about feeling like you can't
even trust yourself to know what you want. I find
myself wandering that all the time these days. But what
I really wanted to share is that you discussing asexuality
on Sminty was really the first time I'd ever thought
about it critically. It was the first time I ever
considered that to be something I might identify with, and
so I wanted to thank you for your vulnerability and
(19:33):
sharing that on your platform. I know some days we
all wonder the work we do really matters. So I
wanted to tell you and Samanthe two that the work
you do matters to me in more ways than one.
I'm thirty one and just now exploring who I am
in some ways, and I too find it quite exciting.
Thank you, Klee, Thank you Cale. I'm sorry bout you boo. Yeah,
(19:56):
Kale sent a picture of coconut. I believe, very very cute,
very very cute, very sorry.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Coconut is such a good name.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
It's really good and it fits. It fits coconut corn.
But yeah, thank you so much for writing it about this.
I know I talked about it before, but I was scared.
There were certain things I was scared to write down
and have people read, even though we talk about on
the show. But that was a that section was up
(20:27):
there with I don't know what. I don't know how
people are gonna react to this. I don't know what
they'll think. I hope that in some way people connect
with it. Vulnerable. Yeah, So thank you so much for
relating that it is something that like, I don't know.
I just really appreciate you writing this, because some days
(20:48):
I'll be like, this doesn't matter, really, I mean what
am I doing? And then I had a conversation with
a friend recently who was like, I didn't know what
a sexuality was until you started talking about it, and
now I'm really thinking about it in my experience, and
I think it really resonates with me. And so thank you.
(21:08):
We really do appreciate all your listeners taking this time
and being vulnerable with us and Cale You've been such
a delight in so many messages, things ranging from Star
Wars to things as deep ass that think, well star
Wars is deep? What am I saying? Insulting yourself from this?
I know what am I saying? Thank you, thank you?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
And then Jude wrote, first off, I read the book
A good job. Well, thank you, But I was thinking
a lot about ethical purchasing like this last happy Hour
was about uh. One time trying to buy a frame,
I wanted to avoid Amazon, so I ordered off eBay
and when I received the frame, under the first layer
of packaging was an Amazon Prime envelope. So it felt
(21:55):
like I paid more just for someone to buy something
off Amazon. For me, Regarding the problem at Midtlely, I
have not bought off this site yet, but artists co
op or artists do co op. Seems like it may
be the solution to Atsy's awful stances. I want to
purchase ethically, and I know there's that meme about no
ethical consumption under capitalism, but it's so frustrating. My sympathy
(22:17):
is regarding the ad problem, I hear a lot more
podcasters complaining about how podcast ads work in the dynamic
ones I mean yes, and the fact that it pays
for our bills.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I do feel like the most cynical, like old detective
hearing this from you, which I appreciate, thank you for.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
No.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
No, I mean like, because I've been dealing with this
problem for a long time, so I like you knew
podcasters coming out complaining about it. Oh, like that, welcome
to the party.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Honestly, I'm more frustrated at the fact that our cash
flow has everything to do with what we're willing to
speak for, and there's.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Not a lot of great company I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Like, like when we talk about how Etsy was, once
upon a time a great company, and now, yeah, we
have people much like what you're talking about with the
eBay thing, buy off of Amazon and send it. They
have more big companies advertising on Etsy pretending to be
small companies and they're not, and then they're overcharging the
small businesses that are legitimately trying to make it. So
(23:24):
it's one of those things of like it's getting worse.
The ones that we think are good are not good.
I actually bought a gift for a friend in Canada.
It's a Canadian company and it says it's ethically grade
and then you go through and get the scores and
it's not that great and it's like son of a Yeah,
but like it's just it's just really annoying because you know,
(23:46):
you really want to try to do these things, but
it's so limited. And again it's also very privileged to
be able to do those things because the cost or availability,
Like it's just a sort but artists co op coop,
which was what I was calling it previously until aie
told me otherwise.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I could still be wrong.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I'm pretty sure, so Jude, if you know, if you
hear us and you're like, y'all are wrong, please let
us know.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But yeah, so that sounds amazing. I want to check
that out for sure. Yes, me too, I probably do that.
I'm curious. Yeah. And lastly, Jordan wrote, Hey, Annie and Samantha,
I hope that you're both doing well. I just finished
the most recent Monday Mini on Board Games, and I
wanted to give you guys some more information on mennon
(24:35):
Nights and answer Samantha's question about how they feel about queerness.
I'm excited. My mother grew up in a fairly small
men and Night community in northern British Columbia, Canada. Her
whole life, she was taught that queerness was something bad
and sinful. Later in life, her brother, my uncle, came
out as gay and he was banished from the men
and Nite church. He moved down south to Vancouver and
(24:57):
doesn't have a great relationship with his parents anymore. Most
people in the community haven't talked to him since he
came out. My mother is the only one who fully
supports him. My mom describes the Mennonites as in quote
ultra Christian cult and they are very into heteronormative ideas.
On the bright side, they do make some pretty good
food lol. I think it would be great if you
(25:19):
guys considered making an episode about them and their culture.
Thanks for reading. I love the show. Okay, somebody answered
your call. That's thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I really was curious because it's sadder than I wanted
it to be. But I was really hoping because you know,
sometimes I think about Quaker people and they're amazing people,
but I don't know their stands on queer community either.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So hopefully you know about Quakers, let me know.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
But it seems like, yeah, that makes sense, like any
conservative ideals. It is really hard to not see that
and then but it makes me sad a little bit
on my ally. So thank you Jordan. That really does
answer my question. That's thank you. Yeah, on again. We
appreciate so much because we don't have this experience. We
(26:04):
didn't know, and I love that someone in the audience
was like, I can answer, I can help.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
That is amazing time. Let's go. I love it so much,
and you're right, that is a good episode we could do.
That's great, we do topic well. Thank you again all
of you listeners for writing in. We really do appreciate it.
It does influence where the show goes. It answers our
(26:30):
questions and then it gives other listeners more resources or information.
So thank you so much. We are we're working through
the backlog, but it's happening, yes, and please please write
in for any of these future listener mail episodes. We
love these, or just any topic you have in general,
(26:52):
any topic, any thoughts, any anything. You can write us
at Stephanie mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at my Stuff podcast or on
Instagram and TikTok at stuff I Never Told You. We
have a tea public store, and yes we have a
book and we do appreciate you buying it. Thanks to
the people who said that they did you can get
wherever you get your books. Thanks as always to a
super produced Christina or executive producer Maya and our contributor Joey.
(27:15):
Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Stuff I
Never Told You is production by Heart Radio. For more
podcast from my Heart Dio, you can check out the
Art Radio ap Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
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Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Samantha McVey
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