The Nerds Awaken

Dearest Gentle Listeners, we can't believe Bridgerton is already over for the next two years. But it's not really over until we break it down, so let's get into it.

Joined by frequent-friend-of-the-pod Andee, we discussed all the things from Season 4 Part 2. Was Benophie our favorite Bridgerton couple? How did we handle Francesca's heartbreaking scenes? Who do we think the next Lady Whistledown is? Tune in to find out!

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Dearest Gentle Reader...The Bridgerton family and their steamy hijinks are once again gracing our Netflix accounts, and you KNOW we had to talk about it.

We teamed up with Big Gold Belt Media to break down the first four episodes that make up Part 1 of Season 4. In this episode we give our thoughts on the main couple Benedict and Sophie, the numerous side plots, and what we hope to see in Part 2. Spoilers abound so make sure you've ...

In a world where music transcends boundaries and connects people, few artists have achieved the level of impact that Taylor Swift has. From her early beginnings as a country singer to becoming a global pop sensation, her career is a testament to talent, resilience, and connection. Julie is joined by her best friend and fellow Swifitie, Shannon, to celebrate Taylor's newest documentary, End of an Area, the Final Show, and the commun...

It's been a hell of a week for Ben Solo fans. 

In a recent AP interview, our fav Adam Driver dropped an atomic bomb on the Star Wars fandom: he had been secretly working on a Ben Solo movie for two years. Titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, it took place after The Rise of Skywalker and would have explored the mystery of what might have happened to Ben after he disappeared into the Force. The worst part? Disney execs Bob Iger and Alan...

Marvel dropped-albeit very, very slowly-a massive announcement about the cast of Avengers: Doomsday this week, and we had to immediately talk through our feelings about it!

Julie and friend-of-the-pod Andee talked all about the electrifying cast list and everyone it included (and everyone it mysteriously didn’t). They also talked theories, recent projects and the future of Marvel.

What did you think of the casting annou...

Every once in a while at The Nerds Awaken we sit down with no plan, no outline, no agenda; we just hit record and let the pop culture gossip flow. And that's what this episode is, our stream-of-consciousness thoughts on all the recent pop culture and entertainment happenings, plus all the books/movies/tv shows we're loving lately and the ones we're looking forward to.

Hear our various hot takes on the Oscars, the upcoming 20th anniv...

We return with our final batch of interviews with some of the cast of Outlander Season 7B! With Big Gold Belt Media, Janna was thrilled to speak with Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie) and Lotte Verbeek (Geillis Duncan) about their surprising return to Outlander after several years away (and after the pretty famous deaths of their both their characters).

We also got to ask the delightful Charles Vandervaart all about Lord El...

We recently had the absolute pleasure of interviewing some of the cast of the Starz hit tv series Outlander through our friends Big Gold Belt Media. Janna sat down with cast members from Season 7 to talk about Part 2 of the season, which premiered Nov 22 on Starz.

We chatted with John Bell (Young Ian), Rik Rankin (Roger MacKenzie), Diarmaid Murtagh (Buck MacKenzie), Steven Cree (Ian Murray Sr), Kristin Atherton (Jenny Murra...

Season 2 of The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime came to a thrilling (ish?) conclusion in episode 8 and we talked through all of our many feelings.

We chatted Julie's love for the epic Balrog fight in Khazad-dum, Andee's excitement at Berek's cameo, and the death that absolutely destroyed Janna emotionally. Plus, we repeatedly expressed our frustration at the pitfalls of 8 episode seasons. Stop it, studios! 

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It’s hard to believe that The Rings of Power is almost over!

Each week The Rings of Power is raising the stakes, and episodes 6 and 7 were no exception. From Celembrimbor’s slow descent into madness under Sauron’s abuse, to Galadriel and Adar’s continued but mysterious chemistry, and the incredible massive battle of Eregion, there was so much to talk about. We covered all the major storylines, compare...

We are back with more deeply insightful, highly educated and meta commentary on the Amazon Prime fantasy series The Rings of Power. Just kidding...you know we would never. As per usual there is language, lots of commentary on how hot people are, and hoping characters get kicked in the balls (looking at you, Kemen, and maybe Elrond).

We broke down episodes 4 & 5, which we unanimously loved. We chat our most/least favorit...

We had the great privilege of sitting down with Jennifer L. Armentrout, New York Times #1 bestselling author of over 70 books including the wildly popular Blood and Ash series. Her latest release Born of Blood and Ash, book 4 in the Flesh and Fire seriesis available now!

We asked Jennifer about her long and prolific writing career, from her writing habits and favorite tropes to her upcoming publishing schedule and the earth-...

After two long years The Rings of Power series is back on Amazon Prime with a three episode premiere. Joined by friend of the pod Andee, we broke down our reactions to the premiere (with lots of spoilers), from Hot Sauron's origins as black goo to Elrond being a dramatic biatch over some little ol' rings. We also play "Would You Rather: Sauron variant addition" and the results may surprise you.

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In this episode, Janna sat down with Nagier from Big Gold Belt Media to discuss the new Netflix Korean thriller The Frog, which premieres August 23rd.

Listen to our discussion of all eight episodes of the sinister and bloody thriller, with spoilers being discussed in the later half of the episode. We had high praise for just about everything in this drama, from the cast performances and music to the twists and turns that kep...

It's our final real quick recap for San Diego Comic Con! We give a rundown of everything we each did on Saturday-from Julie spending the entire day in Hall H and seeing the big celebrities, to Janna hitting some smaller panels with authors and fulfilling a dream of seeing another member of the LOTR Fellowship (listen to find out who!).

We also cover Sunday, which was a lowkey day and the ONLY time we attended a panel togeth...