The Brain Candy Podcast

Sarah had an unusual live comedy experience at the Demetri Martin special taping, and it took her back to her Real World days. She claims she did badly in her hip hop dance class despite being in the "top 25% of dancers." We learn about Sarah's traumatic and morbid Coachella experience, and we can't believe she's never shared this story before. We are fuming about the men who thought they should destroy a national monument...

Susie wants Sarah to have a Costa Rican tropical getaway, and Sarah agrees, but she is also thinking of going fly fishing and doing cold plunges, so this could go downhill fast. We talk about Charles Shultz, the creator of Peanuts and Charlie Brown, and Susie had an ugly cry watching the documentary about him. We celebrate a man who has the world record for longest marathon time in history (which Susie believes she could t...

Sarah wants a dog and Susie thinks it's because Sarah prefers chaos. New York City is trying to curb their rat problem by giving them birth control, but we have some logistical questions. A little boy who is obsessed with octopuses (octopi?) convinced his parents to let him adopt one, but it turned out their little spineless adoptee was with child, well children, 50 of them, and now they have a real aquatic problem on thei...

We are still recovering from our reunion in Pittsburgh and Philly, and we're sharing our adventures at WrestleCon, seeing the eclipse, and having a girls road trip. Susie talks about an investigation into a little girl who raised a goat for the 4H club, begged to have its life spared from slaughter, and then someone killed it during the investigation. We debate whether she had a right to keep the goat. We learn a new trend...

Today we hear about Sarah's experience at a comedy show where she sat next to, ugh, a friendly man. Heaven help her. And Susie got to check another comedy legend off her bucket list of shows to see. Sarah tells us some good news about organ donation as some people would like to incentivize live donation with money, but some people think that's a slippery slope that could have unintended consequences. We debate whether peop...

Susie ain't getting any younger and she wants to prepare for the footwear of her future and find out why older gals wear flats. We learn about a man who has made it his job to pick up the excrement left by dogs on a hiking trail and shame their owners. We discuss the Steve Martin documentary and his storied career as a standup comedian and an actor, and debate whether he has some romance issues that need to be sorted. Susi...

Susie got injured on the high seas, but she wants everyone to know her injury was due to a rogue wave, not alcohol because she's had some mishaps lately and apparently in there's a name for this in the addiction recovery world. Sarah watched Quiet on Set, so we discuss the abuse allegations, toxic culture, and reasons it wasn't stopped. Sarah discusses the difficult transition from child to adult star. She tells us about a...

Susie watched the Nyad documentary and was inspired, but also was wondering, what makes her different from our friend in the hamster wheel who tried to cross the ocean. Not much. We discuss the woman who completed the 200 mile ultramarathon and described the mental trick she uses to do it called the "pain cave." Are these people self-centered or amazing athletes (or both??). We learn about the man who checked into a Manhat...

Sarah talks about the history of babysitting, how it's changed, and why it's a thing of the past. Another sinkhole opened up, and this time it swallowed a man in his bed, and now we're traumatized. Sarah is playing video games that act as amazing couples therapy. A preposition with which you end a sentence can now be a preposition you end a sentence with! We discuss how the political identities of men and women are growing...

We discuss the Quiet on Set docuseries recounting the toxicity of Nickelodeon productions in the 90s, the difficulties of child stardom, and why show business lends itself to exploitation. We talk about the totally normal and not suspicious death of the Boeing whistleblower who was testifying against them and why the high road might not be worth the risk. The "man in the iron lung" died recently, so Susie shared his story ...

The theme of today's episode is "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up,' and we're looking at you Kate Middleton. A hotel had a "chef created" room service menu, but it turns out the chef was Trader Joe. Some cities want Spring Breakers to buzz off, and we don't blame them. Sarah explains why Johnny taking all the money on the Rivals 3 Challenge changed her relationship to money. We debate whether people should be able to ...

We start with a rummage through the old mail bag with some feedback from listeners about recent episodes. Yikes. We hear why some people think Over the Rainbow was plagiarized, but others think it's similarities are a coincidence. We discuss some famous musical thefts and how all the songs have been written. We learn about the old Hollywood star, Rock Hudson, his life in the closet, death from AIDS, and the controversial l...

We discuss Ruby Franke, a parenting influencer who was convicted of child abuse, which is a reminder to keep in mind that influencers aren't always what they seem. We learn why the recent moon landing didn't go as planned, and despite our complete lack of understanding about aeronautics, physics, and rocket science, we think we could've done better. We hear about recent changes to sports uniforms that have fans questioning...

Susie is suddenly interested in WWE wrestling and wants to know why they aren't clear about whether it's real or not. But the Dark Side of the Ring docuseries has her wondering if there's a NOT dark side of the sport. Sarah had a bad operatic experience, and she's wondering if the best part of the genre is the costumes. We discuss the Where is Wendy Willams documentary, and how the gossiper became the gossip when she was e...

People are suing dating apps for trapping them in a loop of doom dating instead of helping them find love. Sarah describes a newly viral phrase called Rebecca Syndrome that refers to retroactive jealousy towards your partner's exes, and she is mad that people are stigmatizing and stereotyping with its use. We discuss the ways culture has been flattened by digital media and young people are reduced to cultural experiences t...

Sarah was denied entry to a museum and we are fascinated by the reason. The birding community is psyched out of their mind about a bird that was thought to be extinct reappearing. Susie talks about the McMillions docuseries, which covers the McDonald's Monopoly game scandal and how the people who "won" ended up being the losers. We learn about the Franciscan friar who became the Vatican's "AI guy," and what he is worried a...

We are celebrating the stingray who became pregnant without a male partner in her tank, and decide intersex folx are pretty much superheroes. Andrew Keegan would like to set the record straight about being a cult leader, and wants us to know he's a hippie not a religious zealot. A teacher sold his students's artwork, and now the parents are taking him to court. Susie and Sarah realized they both participated in and "won" a...

Have you ever wondered what space smells like? Well, we have the answer, and it makes no sense. We hear why Guy Fieri has infiltrated the skiing world (at long last). We debate whether the lottery should pay a man for an invalid ticket and Sarah explains why she can't handle the emotional quagmire of "scratchers." We discuss the documentary They Called Him Mostly Harmless and how we are baffled by the online sleuthing comm...

Remember when we were optimistic? Well, we do, so Sarah wanted to find out what makes some people optimistic. Susie thinks she's a realist, but that might be code for "pessimistic." But Susie and Sarah have a crazy role reversal today, and we're wondering if Sarah is becoming less emotive in her menopausal era. We learn why some countries are passing laws to help people get out of work. Susie is wound up about people who b...