Jason Yeung spent more than a decade working in video stores — not Blockbuster, mind you, but Hollywood Video, a distinction he holds with the unwavering intensity of a man asked to sing a rival team's fight song. (Mandy asks. It does not go well for the show.) He knows the smell. He knows what the drop box looked like on a Tuesday morning. He knows exactly which customers will get physical over a two-dollar late fee, and he can tell you the demographics.So this one is an exhumation. Somewhere between the story about the woman who wanted to discuss her gallstones and the part where Jason explains what "no late fees" actually did to a company already drowning in debt, this turns into an argument about what we lost — whether the video store was genuinely culturally rich for how a generation learned to talk to strangers, or whether that's just nostalgia doing what nostalgia does. (Mandy has a theory about boredom. Jason has one about dopamine. They are describing the same problem.) There's also a first date ruined by a shark movie, and a phone call that does not go according to plan. Press play.Guest Spotlight Jason Yeung is a voiceover artist and returning Make Me a Nerd guest who spent ten-plus years in video and game retail, working his way from a first job at sixteen to general manager — which makes him, essentially, Sandi Harding with an Arizona accent and a grudge against Blockbuster. He is a fantasy football lifer currently dreading the first overall pick, a man who once drafted a kicker in round one and nearly won the league anyway, and the only guest to date who has answered a retail phone in a full Moviefone voice for years without anyone catching on. Links & NotesThe MovieThe Last Blockbuster (2020) — LetterboxdThe Last Blockbuster — Wikipedia. Directed by Taylor Morden, written and produced by Zeke Kamm.The film on Rotten Tomatoes — worth a look, for reasons covered in the Fact-Check Corner The Store Itselfbendblockbuster.com — the official site, including the merch Mandy could not stop talking aboutLast Blockbuster — Wikipedia. 211 NE Revere Avenue, Bend, Oregon. Opened 1992 as a Pacific Video; became a Blockbuster franchise in 2000; last one standing since 2019.The Callgorithm: (541) 385-9111. Call it. A real human gives you a real movie recommendation. Mandy tried it live on the air and got the phone tree, so maybe call during business hours.Airbnb's announcement of the 1990s sleepover — the $4-a-night promotion Mandy digs up as a fun fact The People in ItSandi Harding — general manager since 2004, and the heart of the filmLauren Lapkus — narratorKevin Smith, Adam Brody, Ione Skye, Doug Benson, Paul Scheer, Brian Posehn, Ron Funches, Samm Levine, Jamie Kennedy, Lloyd Kaufman, and James Arnold TaylorJared Rasic — the superfan Mandy singles out, a Bend-based film writer, and the source of the line about video stores being his church The Rise and FallBlockbuster — Wikipedia. Roughly 9,000 stores at its 2004 peak.Hollywood Video — Jason's alma materMovie Gallery — the chain that acquired Hollywood Entertainment in 2005, creating the roughly 4,700-store competitor Jason describes, and the merger he calls a nightmareRedbox and Netflix — the usual suspects, though the documentary argues the real killer was the debt Also MentionedThe Big Bang Theory — Wikipedia. Mandy's casting observation, which is sharper than she knew at the time.Stuart Fails to Save the Universe — the Big Bang spinoff, premiered July 23, 2026 on HBO Max, with both Lauren Lapkus and Brian PosehnCheers — the reference that stumped twelve teenagers on a training callSpaceballs (1987) — Letterboxd. The instant-cassette gag Mandy compares the ending to.Sharknado (2013) — Letterboxd. Allegedly a date movie.Waterworld (1995) — Letterboxd. Mandy's hypothetical bomb, chosen at random and immediately affirmed.Singin' in the Rain (1952) — Letterboxd. What Mandy would have put on the store screens, given another chance.Pilotwings — Wikipedia. Jason and Mandy would like you to know it is a garbage game. This is their opinion and not the position of TruStory FM.Moviefone — Wikipedia. Hello, and thank you for calling. Fact-Check CornerWhere we love our guests and also look things up.Lauren Lapkus's new show is Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, the Big Bang Theory spinoff that premiered on HBO Max on July 23, 2026 — not Stuart Saves the World. And here's the part that makes Mandy's original point better: Brian Posehn is in it too, reprising Bert. Two of the three interviewees she flagged as Big Bang people are currently starring in the same Big Bang spinoff.Sandi Harding manages the store; she doesn't own it. The Bend location belongs to Ken and Debbie Tisher, who opened it in...
