The Imagine Neighborhood

Latest Episodes:

No Filter with Lauren Ashley Smith May 22, 2022

Show notes

Hey there, friends! It’s me, Count Vacula, with a fresh No Filter just for you!

I’m really happy because this week you get to meet Lauren Ashley Smith. She’s a television writer and producer, and in fact, Lauren was the first-ever female African American head writer of a sketch comedy TV show! She’s smart and funny, and best of all, she’s very kind.

When you’re trying to make a new friend, it’s helpful to ask them questions about themselves and then really listen to what they tell you. I asked Lauren a lot of questions, and she answered them all! She told me about her dogs, Jelly and Rowdy, and about her sisters, and about her new robot vampire vacuum cleaner (hi, Florida!), and about how writers can make the actors on their shows say all kinds of silly stuff!

One thing we have in common is that we both host audio shows—even though mine is a podcast and hers is on the radio. We also both love to tell funny stories and joke around. Lauren told me a hilarious knock-knock joke, and a really great made-up story about how our shoes decide how tall we are, and then we made ourselves LOL all over the place pretending that we didn’t know each other. It was really fun!

You know, I used to be really nervous about meeting new people, but now every time I practice making friends I end up having a great time! I think you’ll have a great time getting to know Lauren, too!

Have you made any new friends lately? Or is there someone you want to make friends with, but you’ve been feeling shy? Tell me about it and maybe we can come up with some things you can do to get to know them better. In the meantime, I’m really glad that you’re my friend, and I’m really glad that we got to spend some time together today!

Talk to you again soon!

Your pal,

Vac

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EnvyKazambra May 15, 2022

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If you’ve had envy, you know it doesn’t feel very nice. And in today’s episode, Alakazambra really wants to stop feeling envious of her friend, Barbara Cadabara. It all begins when Barbara gets chosen as Wizard of the Year by Merlin Monthlymagazine, and instead of feeling happy for her friend’s success, Alakazambra gets upset!

She tries using magic to make her envy go away, but when the spell accidentally creates a terrible evil twin—EnvyKazambra—Alakazambra realizes it’s going to take something even stronger than sorcery to handle an emotion like envy!

Will Barbara Cadabara spend the rest of her life smelling like minestrone?

Will Irving the bodega werewolf receive enough skritches?

Will Alakazambra learn that to deal with a difficult emotion, you have to claim it to tame it?

For the answers to these and more, there’s only one spell to cast . . . Ready? . . . Set?

Podcasticus Playicus!

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It's Gonna Be May: Q&A May 2022 May 09, 2022

Show notes

Hello, listeners!

This week we’re delighted to bring you—YOU!

You’ve been writing in all year with really thoughtful questions for your friends in The Imagine Neighborhood™, and today we’re going to try to track everybody down and get the answers you’re looking for!

Wondering about wizard powers, or musing over why Macho needs to know if things are macho?

Curious why we confronted Rick Fryer in “Doc Apoc Has a Beef”, or hoping for help on how to handle feeling bad when you make a mistake?

Want to know if I can eat an extra-large mushroom bacon green pepper pizza all by myself and not get a terrible tummyache . . . ?

If so—we’ve got your show!

I’m really excited for you to tune in today and join Vac, Alakazambra, Macho, and me as we read and reply to letters from listeners just like you.

And hey, did you know that getting your messages and questions is our very favorite thing? Well, it is! So, if there are things you’d like to ask us—about the Neighborhood, or about big feelings, or about anything at all—you can email us, or you can have your grown-up post your questions in the reviews section of your podcast provider.

We can’t wait to read what you have to say, and don’t forget to tell us—how were you kind today?

Talk to you again soon!

Scotty

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No Filter with Molly Birnbaum May 01, 2022

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It’s me, Count Vacula, sharing my newest No Filter—and my newest friend—with you!

This week I got to meet Molly Birnbaum! If her name sounds familiar, it might be because she was in The Imagine Neighborhood™ just a few weeks ago, helping Macho and Mitsy understand each other better in “The Gourmetborhood.” But today, she and I got to just hang out and make friends!

Something Molly and I have in common is that we both have podcasts! Molly hosts Mystery Recipe, where you can learn how to make tasty treats at home. But even though we both really like to try new foods, something we don’t have in common is that she has never eaten lint from underneath the couch! Not even the tiniest piece. Can you believe it?!

Molly really loves to cook delicious food, and her favorite thing is helping kids learn how to be creative and safe in the kitchen, so that they can cook delicious food too. She also likes cardboard creations, and drawing treasure maps, and reading. Plus, she’s super kind, and she told me a very sweet true story about hugging her son when he was feeling frustrated, and a very sweet made-up story about whales and all their big feelings!

I really liked getting to know Molly and learning about the things that interest her—and after you listen to this episode, I think you might feel the same way!

With all this practice, I’m starting to get pretty good at meeting new people. Have you had the chance to try making friends with someone new and different yet? Email me to let me know how it’s going. Maybe your new friend can be my new friend, too!

See you soon!

Vac

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Journey Into Macho Apr 24, 2022

Show notes

Doing interesting things uses up a lot of our attention, and that’s okay—but it’s important to keep checking in on ourselves, because what our body is feeling can change how we feel! And if we let ourselves get too tired, or too hungry, or we wait too long to go to the bathroom, we can start to feel bad, or sad, and we can spoil our own fun.

In today’s episode, Macho is doing a very interesting thing! He’s been working hard for weeks and weeks to put the final touches on his brand-new spaceship, the Mach Mini, and now he’s invited Vac and Scotty over to see its first launch!

It’s an exciting day, but Macho doesn’t seem excited. In fact, it seems like something is very wrong. He’s getting upset easily and behaving rudely and unkindly. The Mach Mini is amazing, it’s a great day for a spaceship launch, and two of his best pals are there to celebrate with him . . . so, what’s making Macho so unhappy?

Is Macho annoyed that Vac needs to take a break to recharge his batteries?

Is Macho embarrassed because he doesn't seem strong enough to yeet Scotty today?

Is Macho’s Boo-Boo Module connected to the Flex Axis, and is the Flex Axis connected to the Potty Region?

It’ll take a pint-sized probe and a Macho Body Check-In to get the important answers on today’s stellar installment of The Imagine Neighborhood™!

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No Filter with Robin Slonina Apr 17, 2022

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It’s me, your good pal Count Vacula—bringing you another awesome new friend on another awesome No Filter!

This week I get to introduce you to the amazing Robin Slonina! She’s a multi-disciplinary artist, which means she makes lots of different kinds of art. Robin makes sculptures, and she paints giant murals on the sides of buildings, and she even paints on people! She’s painted people to look like zebras, and puzzles, and trees, and she’s even painted people to look like paintings!

Robin’s favorite thing is art. And one of the things I learned from talking to her is that art is everywhere! Museums are terrific for finding art, but Robin taught me that you don’t have to go to a museum. Wherever you are, if you just look around you, you can discover art. Plus, anytime you want to, you can make your own art! And best of all, whenever you have big feelings, you can just grab some paper and draw about them. When you’re done, you’ll have a beautiful piece of your very own art—and you might even understand your feelings a little better!

Robin told me a really great true story about kindness, and a really great made-up story about how seed kisses make flowers, and she talked about how she makes whole rooms filled with art that you can touch and explore! Robin and I both love puppies, and we both agree that making new friends is always a good idea. I especially think that making friends with Robin is always a good idea, and I’m excited for you to make friends with her!

Have you made any other new friends lately? I’d love for you to write in and tell me about them, or share some of your art with me, or just let me know—how were you kind today?

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Your friend,

Vac

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The Gourmetborhood Apr 10, 2022

Show notes

A MACHO SUPREME™ episode.

This week, Molly and Mitsy from America's Test Kitchen's Mystery Recipe podcast are joining up with us to make a Neighborhood cooking show, and everyone’s getting involved! But when Macho Supreme and Mittsy get together to create some tasty treats, there's a spatula showdown about how to make a cake, and things in the kitchen get a little kooky!

Is Macho Supreme macho enough to try something new? To find out, take a great big bite out of this week’s scrumptious MACHO SUPREME™ story!

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No Filter with Tom Toro Apr 03, 2022

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Hello again, friends! It's me—Count Vacula, back with a brand-new episode of No Filter with Count Vacula!

This week, my guest is the very friendly, talented, and fun Tom Toro, who has one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever heard of. Tom is a cartoonist, which means his job is to draw! How great is that?

Your grown-ups may recognize Tom’s name because he draws a lot of cartoons for a magazine called The New Yorker, but he’s also put out two terrific books for kids. One is called How to Potty Train Your Porcupine, which Tom wrote and illustrated all by himself. The other one is called I’m Terrified of Bath Time, which was written by Tom’s friend Simon Rich—but Tom drew all of the pictures!

Tom and I have a lot of things in common. We both like cats—even though he mostly likes to play with them, and I mostly like to eat their hair off the floor (black cat hairs are the tastiest!)—and we both like to read cartoons. Something else we share is that we both live far away from our families. A lot of my family lives on the continent of Asia, and a lot of Tom’s family lives on the continent of Europe!

Tom talked to me about drawing, flying, hiding from imaginary monsters, and the “little library” he has at his house—and he also made up a great story about how cats use their whiskers to communicate with other planets! I had a great time learning about my new friend Tom, and I think you’ll have a great time, too.

We’ll be seeing each other around The Imagine Neighborhood™, but I also have more No Filter episodes coming up, with more new friends for you to meet. In the meantime, I hope you’re making some fun new friends of your own! You can write in and tell me all about it—or just let me know, how were you kind today?

See you soon!

Your pal,

Vac

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Bozelba For Beginners Mar 27, 2022

Show notes

It's awesome when we can share the things we enjoy with other people! But it’s not so awesome when the person doing the teaching isn’t being patient or laughs when we make mistakes. It can feel hurtful and frustrating, and it definitely takes the fun out of playing together.

This week, Scotty and Vac are over at Preston Changeo’s house, learning Bozelba—the most popular board game in the wizard world! Preston is a Bozelba champion, and he’s very excited to get his friends involved . . . but he’s not doing a very good job of explaining how to play. He’s going very fast, he’s behaving rudely, and worst of all, he’s making fun of Vac for not getting things right the first time!

Will Preston do a Switcheroo, to help him remember what it felt like when he was first learning to play the game?

Will Vac be able to catapult the 100-Foot Chicken at the Power Pedestal to release the Bozelba?

Will Scotty eat up all the pizza muffins?

There’s only one way to find out!

For fun episode activity ideas, have your grown-up sign up for our weekly Wednesday newsletter—but right now, get ready to roll the (16-sided) dice on today’s exciting episode of The Imagine Neighborhood™!

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Food Fight: Live from SXSW Edu Mar 20, 2022

Show notes

Do you remember the episode called “Food Fight”? Well, recently we had a chance to get on stage and share that story in-person with a new group of friends at an event called SXSW EDU (pronounced “South by Southwest ee-dee-you”). It’s a big gathering in Texas where people from all over meet up to share the things they like—and we really like sharing stories about the Neighborhood!

What was extra fun about telling the story of “Food Fight” to our new friends is that our team got to pretend to be different people in the story! Vac got to be himself, but Michal pretended to be me, Melly pretended to be all the pirates, and Bilal pretended to be Captain Deen. We had a blast using our imaginations and making the story fun and exciting for the audience. We hope it’s fun and exciting for you to hear it in this new way, too!

Thanks for checking out this special episode, and remember, you can use your imagination and play out stories from The Imagine Neighborhood, too—and if you do, we’d love to hear about it!

Food Fight is part of our 'Imagine Equity' project. Imagine Equity is supported by a generous grant from The Allstate Foundation; working to empower youth to reach their full potential and build the just, equitable, and healthy world we all deserve. To learn more, visit AllstateFoundation.org.

Have a great week, everyone!

Scotty

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