This week we're spotlight Dance Dance Party Party, an international freestyle dance session where women of all backgrounds can refresh and embrace themselves!

The Nerdologues' new podcast mentoring program got me thinking about my own process for piloting shows -- which inspired me to unearth the never-before-released pilot episode for Blank Cassette, featuring fellow Nerdologues member Katie sharing a really, ah, focused mix CD she was given in 2001. Hope you like Hanson. 

Show favorite Ben Rathert is back again with a look back to pretty much the very beginning of his ever-growing series of volumes and a quest to find anything that he can call his own.

From a couple's activity to a Kickstarted game, we follow the journey of Earworm and help unlock some inner rockstars with this infinitely mouthable songs.

This week we dive deep into the emotive side of playlist-making with a set of songs used by actor Madison Boan to help explore one of her favorite character's inner life. 

It's playlist-as-communion on this week's Blank Cassette, as we feature what originally was a soundtrack for an Easter show but ends up digging into some deep religious questions.

Fourteen days til Valentine's Day -- it's Fortnight time again!

Mixmaking favorite Ben Rathert returns to the show with an audio chronicle documenting a crisis of faith. 

As some folks turn their minds towards resolutions, we thought this would be a great time to feature the show's first-ever workout playlist, along with some great advice from its creator about the best mindset for exercise. 

It's Eric's favorite tracks of the past year, plus a story about his life if you care!

A holiday episode. You knew this was coming. 

December means time for Best Ofs! This week, coproducer Ian Williams shares his favorite tracks of 2017 plus some reflections on the year that was and the year to come. 

Let's take a trip to Orlando -- or Anaheim, as is your preference -- with a dive into some obscure and diverse Disney tunes compiled by a lifelong fan who sometimes needs a musical getaway. 

Do you Only Listen to the Mountain Goats? Then this episode in which three returning guests draft their top 5 favorite MG tunes will surely help get you through this year. 

Listening to Elton John is one of Eric's favorite Thanksgiving traditions. In that spirit, today he and friend/friend of the show Ben Rathert put together a collaborative playlist of Elton John favs.

In addition to this podcast, Ian also produces beats. This week, he and mentee James (aka Tr3asy From The Chi) share a collaborative playlist of their favorite samples - along with the original songs that gave birth to them. 

Looking back -- and looking forward -- with an election judge and the music he used to get through the day. 

This week: a mix CD that takes us back to the beginning of filesharing on the internet and also takes us through guest Bill Nielsen's last 15 years, from basement sessions of Super Smash Bros to digital philanthropy. 

Once upon a time (6 years ago), Eric wrote for a covers blog called Cover Me. That blog is now a book, and we've got the book's author running down some of the greatest covers in history plus his own personal journey from music fan to blog editor to published author and expert. 

This week: a story of marriage, loss, fatherhood, God, and Boston (the band).  

Past guests, listeners, and friends share their feelings on the rock icon. 

We're putting together a collaborative tribute and we'd love your help!

This week: A podcast discussion of a playlist tribute to a podcast about an iconic band (mostly). 

Our dear friend Ben becomes the first Blank Cassette three-timer with a story about the work it requires to be there for your family. 

Lots of life events can produce the same feelings a breakup does. This week, theater producer Kelly Opalko shares a breakup mix that isn't, cuz you gotta have something to get those feelings out. 

In the summer of 2007, at 22 years old, Jon Lester had hit all his life goals. Now all he had to do was not mess it up. This week, we dive inside the playlist that helped him with that. 

Season two, baby! Blank Cassette's back, and we've got a new coproducer, the wonderful Ian Williams. This week, to launch the second season, Ian and Eric share their top ten side 1-track 1s. From Kanye to Boston to Kanye again, this playlist is pretty sweet. 

We end Comics Month on Blank Cassette with a response mix of sorts! A couple weeks ago, Kevin Budnik shared a mix he made for his girlfriend Meredith Park. Now Meredith's back with a mix she made for Kevin! From reconciling a relationship to post-election anxiety, this is a sweet mix with some sweet tunes. 

For this Comics Month installment, we talk to the artist who made our super-cool graphic about a mix delivered at a very heartbreaking time in her high school life. Sometimes you just wanna fly. 

Comics Month marches on with the return of one of our favorite Chicago cartoonists, Kevin Budnik, who shares a recent playlist he put together for his girlfriend and talks about how mixes work as means of communication in a long-distance relationship. 

Blank Cassette is back from hiatus for a very special set of episodes celebrating the intersection of sequential and musical art. It's Comics Month, y'all! We're kicking things off with the fantastic Kieron Gillen sharing the integral role music has played in his comics via a snippet of his mega-popular playlist from The Wicked + The Divine. 

Writer/producer Gary Lucy (hot off the new Nerdologues podcast LET'S GET IT ON) shares a mix and a story about how soul music actually saved his life. A perfect primer for Let's Get It On as well as for anyone who needs a sonic pick-me-up!

We wrap up our look back on the first season of the show with more tributes to our guest mixologists plus songs from Paul McCartney, Wolf Parade, Rilo Kiley, and more!

A Best Of episode? WTF is this?!

It takes two, baby... two guests to share a playlist they co-created at the beginning of their relationship! This episode is as sweet as Def Leppard's biggest hit (but there is, adamantly, no metal on it. Pretty much.)

It's not uncommon on this podcast -- or in, like, real life -- for folks to look back on their past mixes with a combination of shame and regret. This week, Chicago media producer Aaron Amendola tackles that idea head on as he confronts his musical choices on a rampantly emo 1999 mix CD -- and he also has to confront the kind of person who made that CD. 

This week, Eric shares another one of his own mixes, a friend-requested overview of his very favorite performer. 

This week, musician, instructor, and friend Jim Snedeker shares a crucial tape he got at a young age that changed the course of his guitar playing and also changed how he thought about family.

This week, iO Creative Director Alex Honnet shares his All-Timers, a playlist that tracks the evolution of his music taste -- and, well, pretty much everything else in his life. 

On this week's Blank Cassette, game designer Will Hindmarch gives us a musical crash course in living with oneself. 

Ian Williams came to the show with a request to press shuffle on his tightly curated, massive Spotify playlist and chat about what came up. What resulted was a story about friends, family, relationships, and the power of music to facilitate genuine human connection. Now that's rock & roll (and hip-hop! And other stuff too!). 

This week, Charlie Madsen returns to discuss the timing of mixtapes, the unpredictability of pop music, his favorite artist of all time, and more!

This week, on the first Blank Cassette two-parter(!), LA-based writer Charlie Madsen shares side A of a 2006 tape, his first involving (then) popular music, and offers us insight into his visual method of maxing mixes. 

This week, incredibly talented Chicago comics artist Kevin Budnik shares a playlist he made last Valentine's Day and discusses aesthetics, gender norms, nostalgia, genuine connection, and David Bowie -- sounds like Modern Love to me.

We spend all December hearing Christmas carols. Shouldn't Valentine's Day have carols of its own? Oh wait, it does. \m/ \m/

Turning 16's already a cultural milestone, but what happens when you add a taboo mix tape to it? 

This week, London mixmaster Livia Cruz shares a primer for women in rock and roll. 

This week, Chicago designer Sharlene King tells her story of growing up intertwined with the story of this mix. 

On this week's Blank Cassette, returning mixologist Dr. Benjamin Rathert shares a CD he burned all about Superman that helped him process some difficult times in fall 2001 and continues to inspire him still. 

This week, the host shares his own favorite tracks from this horrible, horrible year. 

Happy Everything! The Nerdologues made you a holiday mix. 

Or is it? (Yes. Mostly. Listen to the episode.)

This week, "mix guy" David Munk shares one of his most memorable concoctions, a study of the breakup song. 

Longtime Nerdologues member, podcast logo designer, Holiday Hole mastermind, and friend Claire Friedman shares a selection of songs put on playlists for her boyfriend -- appropriately timed since they're moving to New York City together today!

No ep this week, just thanks, well-wishes, and a shout out to great Turkey Day listening. 

A Blank Cassette first! This week, two guest mixologists, Joanna Troutman Bergkoetter and Travis Wayne Hurt (also known as DJsFutureBabyMrSweatersMommyDaddyDotCom), share the DJ set they used to say goodbye to a Champaign, IL institution. 

This week, guest John Craig works us through using a mix to mourn and move on. 

This week, Chicago theatrical talent Fin Coe explores the concept of playlist-as-diary from one of the "most life-changiest of months" he's ever faced. 

What does a man craving adventure do with 64 MB of space? 

This week, Andrew Bentley dives into the pretty unique type of mix that's been a big part of his social life. 

Mixtapes are indelibly connected to relationships. This week, Chicago comedian Brandon Kirkman looks back on some of his. 

Can a mix bring you happiness? That's what Ben hopes to find out. 

This week, podcaster and friend of the Nerds Gary Lucy shares an uber-mix that covers all the mixmaxing stages of his life!

This week, the host becomes the mixmaker!

This week, med school student Laura Burkett shares a playlist of songs she used to help get through her undergrad freshman year of college at Loyola Chicago, which also happened to be her first extended time away from home/in a big city. Lots of life changes bring on lots of emo.

On this week's Blank Cassette, Nora Seidman shares a CD she made for a college mix exchange group entitled "Everything Is a Love Song," except almost nothing is a love song. OR IS IT??

For the pilot episode of Blank Cassette, our friend Chris Crotwell shares the first mix CD he ever created once he gained the awesome power to download music off the internet. Well I guess this is growing up.

An introduction to Blank Cassette.