Starting this Monday, the boys are going to be discussing a new romance novel every single week, beginning with "Red, White, and Royal Blue," by Casey McQuiston. Join us on a wild, wicked, and surprisingly sexy ride as we explore this brand-new world of literature together. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jack-shepherd8/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bad news, Steve Wakefield: Your girlfriend Tricia has heard the sweet song of the cows; the clarion clucks of the chickens; the beckoning cries of the piggies. That's right, it's the farm life for Tricia this week, but that's not all! Jessica's harassing people in the hospital, Elizabeth and Todd are trying to solve the world's most confusing mystery, and Rattlesnake Jake's up to his old tricks again. Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab "Nostalgic Memories," by Story Shop "Serious Sad Emotiona...
Hide your precious jewels, your boyfriends, and your favorite teachers because the wicked Suzanne Devlin is in town and she's going to burn them all to the ground! To make matters worse, Jessica's in New York where the bad people are, so Liz is going to have to handle this one on her own. On the bright side, Rattlesnake Jake is here to amuse you with his hilarious snakey antics! Hooray for Rattlesnake Jake! Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab “Typewriter Blues,” by AllenGrey Subscribe to our P...
This week, Jessica is mean to a cheerleader, Elizabeth is nice to a cheerleader but not particularly helpful, and a gruesome, tentacled, otherworldly entity tries to engulf the town as a first step towards world domination. Meanwhile, the boys get utterly stymied by a profound existential question regarding Sweet Valley High and have to call on the services of an expert. Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab Subscribe to the Sweet Valley Diaries podcast and get Marissa Flaxbart's newsletter at f...
The fabulous Mr. Kiss and his awkward sidekick are here to talk about what everybody in Sweet Valley is doing with their mouths these days, and the boys take a frankly dangerous look at whatever it is that Ned Wakefield is reading at the moment. This Dickensian rags-to-riches story has everything: Heart-pounding footraces, eyebrow-raising foot-pounding, and, as suggested up top, various types of mouth-wrestling that certainly feel kissing-adjacent. Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab “Chopstic...
We've all been doing kissing all wrong and this week's book is going to set us straight on the optimal technique, but first we have to do a power ranking of the "Cars" movies and figure out what, specifically, we're going to haunt in the afterlife, and dish about whether Jessica's going to be the next big Hollywood star! Things we will not be talking about this week: 1.) Liz was in a coma quite recently. 2.) Is she OK? 3.) Liz almost died and then she basically turned into another person and NO ...
The Twin Singularity has produced a Uni-twin and Elizabeth has taken on Jessica's personality and vice versa and this is definitely "Fight Club," isn't it? Meanwhile, Bruce Pac-Man is getting punched a whole lot, Bill Chase is getting extremely poetic about the moon, Jess and Danny are going to do a big murder, and Sweet Valley gets a visit from everyone's favorite Naboo bad boys. Enjoy all this madness while you can, because Liz is gonna get bonked on the head in the end and everything will be ...
Todd got a brand-new hog and he wrecked it while Elizabeth was on it and now there's only one twin in Sweet Valley, but folks: We have to talk about the Hot Clam Special. At Dairi Burger? What the hell is going on with this dish? It's completely bonkers. What is actually in it and why do people keep ordering it and ... just ... we have so many questions about this thing. Anyway, Liz is dead. Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab "Tango for Two," by Allen Grey "International Nurses Day," by Crazy...
This week, Jessica Wakefield stays up all night long thanks to a mustachioed creep named Scott. Elizabeth Wakefield accidentally wears a cursed artifact that causes her to transform. Todd Wilkins shops for an accessory to help him float better. And the Joke Doctors drive their Ha-Ha-Ha-mbulance to the scene of a badly injured joke to revive the patient and save the day for everyone! Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab "International Nurses Day," by Crazy Tunes “Typewriter Blues,” by AllenGrey ...
The Sweet Sweet Valley Boys continue their dangerous reading spree through the Sweet Valley books this week with a deep dive into the life and times of Robin Wilson, a character who frankly deserved better. (Please be careful not to confuse this discussion about the novel "Power Play" – about a bunch of young people using their superior numbers to gang up on an isolated member of the group – with the hockey term "Power Play," which is about the same thing, except with a lot more ice.) Music cred...
After realizing just how out of their depth they are in the dangerous narrative universe of Sweet Valley High, the Sweet Sweet Valley Boys call in an expert to help them navigate these choppy waters. And not a moment too soon, because Bruce Pac-Man is being aggravatingly perverse, Jessica Wakefield is not helping at all, and pretty much everyone from Todd Wilkins all the way to some guy called Tony is playing, this week, with fire. Music credits: “Chopstick Slapstick,” by OurMusicBox “Vibe,” by ...
Sweet Valley Jack and Tanner are back to investigate who's keeping secrets and who's telling lies in this scintillating novel by Francine Pascal about a world where sentient cars battle for supremacy with hideous creatures made of amorphous flesh and teeth. Also, Ronnie's going to the dance with Jessica, and it kind of looks like George Wallace and Enid are an item? Scandalous! Music credits: “A Sitcom,” by HitsLab "Secret," by Audio Library "For Scary," by Silverhoof “Chopstick Slapstick,” by O...
The "Dark Library" is a collection of forbidden texts composed by Ann M. Martin before it was given to her to weave the great Sitters' Cycle. It is unknown what words of power are writ inside the hidden tomes of the Dark Library — all that is known is that anyone who dares to read them is driven mad. This Scholastic-approved biography of Ann M. Martin was written by Margot Becker R., one of the few living beings to have seen the Dark Library and witnessed its macabre secrets, and as such, it's a...
Five years ago, two men made a solemn promise: They would tell the story of Agent Associate Baby-Sitter Shannon Kilbourne the way Ann M. Martin always intended it to be told. Almost immediately, one of those men fully delivered on that promise, but literally no one noticed, primarily because of an almost overwhelming lack of interest from the other man. But now, in full technicolor, you can finally hear the breathtaking tale of danger and intrigue known in Baby-Sitters Club-associated circles as...
In 1992, the brilliant but reclusive game designer Milton Bradley created what was to become his masterpiece, a game so compelling and so dangerous that few have ever dared to play it. Nearly 30 years later, two of the world's foremost Baby-Sitters Club experts sat down with an accomplished, brave, and highly credentialed Dungeon Master to immerse themselves in Bradley's legendary role-playing experience. This is their story. Prepare yourselves for an epic, shocking, and occasionally quite sexy ...
The boys are joined by a very, very, very special guest to discuss a little-known MTV Buzz Bin act called Ednaswap. Also, the novel Karen’s Unicorn. This is a bonus episode from our Patreon. To get an episode like this every week for just $5 a month, subscribe to the show here! We love and also kiss you! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jack-shepherd8/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this special one-off episode, Dan Brown scholars and archivists Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring collaborate to painstakingly recreate the first chapter "The Da Vinci Code" for posterity. This astonishing oral history will be part of the living memory of our culture for as long as humans tell stories to one another, and as an act of public service for a world community that hungers to collectively remember this vital text, it is unparalleled. Music credits: "Cinematic Victory," by Florews "...
Kind of a frantic energy about this one. Tanner reveals a big secret. Karen disgraces herself. Jack is ... distracted. This is a bonus episode that aired on our Patreon on April 16, 2020. To get an episode like this every week for just $5 a month, subscribe to the show here! We love and also kiss you! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jack-shepherd8/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Some fun (and let's be honest, quite sexy!) spoilers for the classic baby-sitting novel (she's a governess!) "Jane Eyre" in this episode — a book you've had 174 YEARS to read. What else do you need to know ... let's see ... Team Jane all the way, Rochester's a mega-creep, and the name of the First Century British queen who led an uprising against the Romans can in fact be pronounced "Bo-Di-See-A" — I looked it up — so eat it, Tanner. We can also officially reveal that this book is very good and ...
The boys will be back next week with Jane Eyre, but in the meantime, here's the latest episode of Tanner's OTHER podcast. The idea here, I think, was, wouldn't it be fun to have an episode of something with Tanner in it but where Jack wasn't invited even though we've had Josh on our show and also, hey, let's ask Jack to write the description? Anyway, in this one, Tanner and his best friend ~Josh~ do some kind of Pokémon nonsense. If you like the show, you can subscribe at expsharepod.com or wher...
Perhaps the most highly anticipated babysitting movie of all time, "The Phantom Menace" proved to be a showcase of just how bad babysitting can be when left in the hands of a director with no one nearby to rein in his worst impulses. As a result, baby Anakin is allowed by the Babysitters Club consisting of Obi Wan and his friend Jim to do dangerous driving and age-inappropriate flirting, which leads him inevitably to become an insufferable teenager and, later, a dark lord of evil. Nonetheless, s...
It takes a lot to surprise two boys who've encountered every form of babysitting from leopards to Tiny Yoda to that time Jake Kuhn fell down a well and had to babysit himself for a few days. But even these hardened babysitting veterans were put through their paces by this literal island of babies (plus, this one dude), who are sat — within an inch of their tiny lives — by the unflappable, incandescent force of babysitting that is the sisters Mary and Jean Wallace. We frickin' loved this one. Mus...
Our sexiest episode yet. This is a bonus episode from our Patreon. To get an episode like this every week for just $5 a month, subscribe to the show here! We love and also kiss you! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jack-shepherd8/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
One huge fan, one reluctant cohost, and one perfect babysitting movie makes for one particularly fine day over here at BSCC headquarters, where we're talking about a surprisingly polarizing 1996 Rom-Com starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. This one has a deep dark chocolate layer, LSD, and a surprising visitor from Stoneybrook! Music credits: "TV Show Opener," by Shorties “You Gotta Have Theremin and Ukulele,” by Squidlord "Life Is Fun," by J Hunger "Monsters Are Coming," by Tunes To G...
What do you do when your baby is an actual leopard and the man you love is kind of a chicken? Is the question this fascinating babysitting film from the olden times seeks to answer with about a hundred hijinks per minute. The boys, and extremely special guest Sarah Morgan, are on hand to provide thoughtful, professional, and erudite analysis in an entirely non-screwball manner. Music credits: "Jazz," by Texas Brother "Jazz It Up," by Allen Grey Thanks as always to original Baby Boy Scott Lamb fo...
No jokes or digressions this week, because we've got an imposing amount of critical theory related to the seminal '80s babysitting text, "He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special," to cover. Buckle your seatbelts and strap in for a dry but informative disquisition on themes of duality and identity in the Kingdom of Eternia, a wearisome but exhaustive analysis of the embedded power structures on Horde World, and a lengthy historical account of the origins of "Snout Spout." Music credits: "He-Man ...
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. Along the way, he did some pretty heavy-duty babysitting, took a bunch of mescaline, and shot everyone in a town. This week, the boys dive deep into the first book of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series in their ongoing quest to ferret out babysitting wherever it may lurk. Music credits: "Western Background," by CineMedia "Spaghetti Western," by Luca Francini “You Gotta Have Theremin and Ukulele,” by Squidlord "Western Movi...
The boys (and special guest Jaime Green) make a valiant effort to keep the rating on this one down and appease the censors, but end up with what can only be described as a raunchy, titillating, supercharged s*x romp. "The Governess Game" is a very naughty novel that does indeed have some babysitting in it but really is mostly frenching and groping and generally getting to third base. Draw up a warm bubble bath, light some candles, and settle in for a legitimately wild ride. Music credits: "Bocch...
The year is 1988 and it is prophesied that a bikini baby will bring about the downfall of an evil sorceress named Bad Mother. Consequently, Bad Mother attempts to steal the foretold child for a ritual murder, which is very bad babysitting. After the child escapes, Bilbo Baggins and his best friend Val Kilmer look after her until she can fulfill her destiny. This is very good babysitting. And when there's good babysitting happening, you can be certain that the Babysitters Club Club will be there!...
Can you babysit your own children? What if you're pretending to be someone else? Is it in any way creepy to disguise yourself as an elderly nanny and spy on your ex-wife? These are just a few of the nuanced and complex babysitting questions that are posed by the iconic 1993 babysitting film Mrs. Doubtfire, and as usual, the boys bring their sensitive and thoughtful insights to bear on this important cultural artifact in a way that is both thought-provoking and intelligible. Music credits: "Cute ...
