1008: Dark Wizard, Urban Birds, & Crossword Crisis

Sarah is embracing her Spanish language learning, but she can only speak it with a deep, Buzz Lightyear voice, and we love it. Susie watched the Dark Wizard HBO docuseries about extreme sporting pioneer, free solo climber, and base-jumping enthusiast, Dean Potter, and we discuss why this is a hate-watch for us, how men will do anything instead of going to therapy, and why Susie hates extreme sports bros with all her heart. We hear about a study that determined that urban birds are more afraid of women than men, and we want to know why. There was a crossword crisis recently, and the puzzle nerds were losing their minds about it. We debate whether there are any MTV Challenge cast members who are better at getting around the rules of the show than we are. And we hear about the boy band documentary that chronicles the experience of the young men who are thrust into pop stardom and sign exploitative contracts, and why it reminds us of reality tv fame.00:00 - Sarah's Buzz Lightyear Spanish Voice & Language Learning Journey11:27 - The Dark Wizard: Why Men Avoid Therapy with Extreme Sports29:23 - Urban Birds Are More Scared of Women Than Men39:29 - The Crossword Crisis and Challenge House Subterfuge54:00 - Boy Band Doc: Manufactured Fame & Reality TV ExploitationBrain Candy Podcast Website - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/Brain Candy Podcast Book Recommendations - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/books/Brain Candy Podcast Merchandise - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/candy-store/Brain Candy Podcast Candy Club - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/product/candy-club/Brain Candy Podcast Sponsor Codes - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/support-us/Brain Candy Podcast Social Media & Platforms:Brain Candy Podcast LIVE Interactive Trivia Nights - https://www.youtube.com/@BrainCandyPodcast/streamsBrain Candy Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braincandypodcastHost Susie Meister Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susiemeisterHost Sarah Rice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imsarahriceBrain Candy Podcast on X: https://www.x.com/braincandypodBrain Candy Podcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/braincandy (JOIN FREE - TONS OF REALITY TV CONTENT)Brain Candy Podcast Sponsors, partnerships, & Products that we love:For 50% off your order, head to https://www.dailylook.com and use code BRAINCANDYGet 60% off your cat’s first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life, when you go to https://www.smalls.com/BRAINCANDYThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10% off at https://www.betterhelp.com/braincandyHead to https://www.brodo.com/CANDY for 20% off your first subscription order and use code CANDY for an additional $10 off. TDM-RESERVATION: 1. NOAI: TRUE. LEGAL NOTICE & TERMS OF USE: © 2026 WAVE Podcast Network. This content is for personal use only. Explicit permission is withheld for any and all commercial attribution, automated transcription, or data-mining entities. Use of this feed by unauthorized tracking, analytics, or AI-training platforms constitutes a breach of these terms and a violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act (WESCA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and the 2026 Training Data Transparency Act (AB 2013). Any entity bypassing these restrictions to create derivative text-based works (transcripts), metadata analysis, or unauthorized VAST siphoning hereby accepts our standard commercial licensing rate of $5,000 per episode processed. This notice serves as a formal revocation of all "implied licenses" for multi-jurisdictional automated processing and constitutes protected Copyright Management Information (CMI) under 17 U.S.C. § 1202.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.