Will This Be On The Test?
A podcast where we talk about the things you should have learned in school but didn't learn, didn't learn fully, or didn't learn correctly. We also chat about about our cats, our haunted house, cryptids, and recent events. Hosted by a married pair, Mattie and Austin, who are a former teacher and a current librarian. We met when Mattie picked Austin out of the audience during a performance (which he was skipping class to attend), screaming at him for causing all her life's problems. It really set the tone for their 17+ years of friendship and, now, marriage.
Episodes
if you are like us, you think a lot about words and where they come from. and if you're like Mattie you spend weeks researching them. this week we talk about the word dude, where it came from, how it has been used, and how it changed. we also read a VERY long poem.
have you ever played the boardgame Monopoly and wanted to flip the board in frustration? well, what if I told you that you can feel that powerlessness and hopelessness in real-life? all you need is a corporation to form a real monopoly and listen to Austin talk about what happens in real-life monopoly (I'll give you a hint, you can't buy Taylor Swift tickets and suddenly phone companies start acting like fools.). I promise this epi...
This week Mattie takes us back to Ancient Alexandria and tells us all about the OG woman in STEM Hypatia.
hear all about how she learned philosophy, and astronomy, and the creative way she fended off unwanted suitors.
we also discuss unions and why we now hate Drew Barrymore more than Ross Geller.
you aren't imagining things, Will This Be On The Test is back!
and in classic Debbie Downer style, we are celebrating our triumphant return with a tragedy that shook the nation when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed student protestors.
so fun...
We also talk about finding cats, rescuing cats, and since we recorded this, adopting yet another cat. So that is the first part of the episode before we get to be our usual bu...
This Week Mattie tells us all about the amazing Sarah Biffen. the disabled woman artist that did portraits of multiple royal families in the late 18th and early 19th century.
That's right, Mattie is doing an art episode this time. everything has gone mad. will Austin do one that contains actual educational value next?
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We're Back!
after a long break, we come in with the unofficial themes of our podcast! Animals that kill and the atrocities committed by Europeans.
Austin goes into The Lions of Tsavo, the real actual killer lions that inspired The Ghost and The Darkness and whatever that Idris Elba movie that came out last year was.
Twitter: @onthetestpod
Facebook: Facebook.com/onthetestpod
Insta: @onthetestpod
TikTok @onthetestpod
...This week Austin fell down a rabbit hole and ended up riding the rails with all his possessions wrapped up in a handkerchief on a stick. (or a Bindle as Mattie helpfully pointed out.)
After a brief discussion about how our ghost threw a ceramic pig across a room (oh yeah, there is a MAJOR ghost update.) Austin talks about Hobos, a bit of their culture, and their self described King, Leon Ray Livingston. who was the analog equivalen...
Its a solo episode this week and Mattie goes into labor.
Let me rephrase that.
Mattie talks about the Labor Movement. Like the last 200 years of progress, how Reagan made it all worse, and how in the last 2 years American workers have gone through almost a microcosm of the entire fight for labor again.
We also discuss quiet quitting, how unskilled labor is a misnomer, the great resignation, and Pete Davidson. Obviously.
Twitter: @o...
This week Mattie and Austin discuss literature. really, we both read the same book and talked about it, you should read I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, we both liked it.
Then Austin starts to talk about Pickleball, but it angers Mattie (she thinks Pickleball is made up,) so he talks about Matthew Hopkins. The Witchfinder General.
Then Mattie takes us North to Edinburgh Scotland and tells us all about Mary King's Close and...
Hello Party People!
that was weird, lets try again.
This week Mattie and Austin are back to their usual routine with a pretty great Episode
Mattie talks about an influential figure in film and makeup that we don't learn much about, Lon Chaney. He pioneered a lot of early film makeup and became one of the first faces of the horror movie genre.
Then Austin dredges up a national unpleasant memory and talks about The Presidential Fitne...
This week Mattie and Austin switched things up.
instead of painstaking research over multiple days to put out an episode Mattie and Austin gave each other an unknown topic and then had to research it in only half an hour.
that is right, we combined the thrill of video game speed runs with the excitement of reading and taking notes.
we are legends.
Twitter: @onthetestpod
Facebook: Facebook.com/onthetestpod
Insta: @onthetestpod
after being super exciting and trendy and taking their cats to the vet Mattie and Austin had enough time in their busy lives to record a new episode!
Mattie starts us off by talking about those adorable lil bandits Raccoons (aka Trash Pandas) and how they are an incredibly destructive invasive species that is on an unstoppable march across Japan and Europe. we also get a bunch of cool facts and Austin has to answer a true or false ...
ok, we are a little late getting this episode out, but it is still Tuesday in a few time zones so Mattie and Austin both agree that this episode is on time. mostly.
Austin starts this week talking about Zoos. and just a bunch of wholesome animal facts with just a light sprinkling on the exploitative nature of colonialism. He also talks about his new hero Ken Allen. Just a wholesome episode that nobody could object to.
Mattie talks ...
This week, Mattie and Austin have a return guest! you know him, you love him, you want to give him belly rubs, Fezzik returns to purr aggressively right into the microphone while we shout facts and tangents at you!
Mattie starts by teaching us about the Hearst family and the exploits, wars, and sensationalism of an American media dynasty. We also try and remember what the Spanish American War was. we know it was with Spain, and aft...
This week Mattie and Austin decided to keep it chill and talk about what they thought were light topics where nothing could possibly be sad.
they were both wrong.
Austin tells us about Godzilla. a 1954 monster movie loved by millions that has a much darker deeper meaning than he anticipated when he started. He also ruins King Kong while he's at it.
Mattie then talks about the history of fathers day and how it is celebrated. It quic...
This episode Mattie and Austin both decided to cover a disease. this was not planned. we just share a single brain cell and it does this to us some times.
Mattie starts off by talking about the Bubonic Plague. specifically the American outbreak in the 1900s. that was covered up by the government. that we were never taught about.
Then Austin lightens the mood by talking about Tuberculosis. you know, the slow wasting disease that mad...
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