This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy is joined by someone who has been part of her life nearly forever—voiceover legend and dear friend Tara Sands. You might know Tara from her work bringing Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and countless anime characters to life, but today she’s here to get properly nerdy about Black Mirror. Yes, the series that makes you both fascinated and slightly horrified about the future of technology, also known as “Tuesday” in Silicon Valley.
Together, Mandy and Tara dive into some of Black Mirror’s most unforgettable episodes: the pastel-colored nightmare of “Nosedive,” the darkly hilarious “USS Callister,” and its follow-up “Into Infinity.” Along the way, they debate whether fake niceness is better than no niceness, confess to cyberstalking sins (don’t pretend you haven’t done it), and admit that VR gaming makes them feel like toddlers lost in a Best Buy. It’s a conversation about friendship, fandom, and how being a nerd isn’t about what you love—it’s about how much you love it. Also: Tara may or may not call Mandy perfect. Several times. We’re still fact-checking.
By the end, Mandy has officially made Tara a nerd… or at least made her watch Black Mirror without hiding under the blanket. And if that isn’t cultural progress, I don’t know what is.
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