The NeuroNerds: A Brain Injury Recovery & Pop Culture Show

The NeuroNerds is a podcast for stroke and brain injury survivors and anyone who loves nerd culture. Subscribe now.

Off the cuff and jazzy, co-hosts Joe and Lauren scat their way through this uber nerdy episode with a focus on the MCU and all things Marvel. They’re talking potential Marvel spin-off shows with Loki and Bucky Barnes, the future of Netflix Marvel shows and their predictions for future films. Sort of Spoilers ahead! What are your predictions and hopes for the MCU in 2019?

Co-host Lauren is our resident twerking, dragon Kahleesi, mother of concussions and in this episode she and our host Joe dive deep into her concussion recovery journey as well as her initial experience of being diagnosed with a severe concussion after a car accident. She shares the main signs of a concussion, tips on recovery and how she copes with her “new normal” post-concussion. Playing computer games was really relaxing for Lauren during her recovery. What are some tools and activities that helped our concussion survivor listeners?

Join our host Joe Borges for our very first live episode of The NeuroNerds interviewing celebrity Chef Jamie Gwen and Chef Ally at the festival Live On Green in Pasadena leading up to the Rose Parade. Joe hosted their Culinary Cues stage all three days of the festival from December 29th-31st this year and was given the opportunity to record and film a live episode with the chefs. They talk about Joe’s recovery and how eating healthy makes a big impact in the recovery of all stroke and brain injury survivors. Both chefs offer tips and tricks to make healthy food yummy and serve up some delicious brain healthy recipes. They also offer tips to incorporate healthy foods into your daily routine. What are some of your favorite healthy foods?

It’s New Years and our host Joe is doing a special solo episode reflecting on all the things he is grateful for in this past year. Plus he shares his goals and plans for 2019! What are your goals for 2019?

It’s Christmas Eve and The NeuroNerds are going full holiday in this episode! Co-hosts Joe and Lauren talk about Christmas, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice and other winter celebrations from around the world. Plus they talk about their plans for NeuroNerds YouTube videos in 2019 and setting goals for the new year. What are you plans for the holidays and goals for the New Year? Happy Holidays from The NeuroNerds!

Co-hosts Joe and Lauren offer tips and techniques for coping with the stresses, depression, anxiety and overstimulation often caused by the holidays. The holidays can be tough for anyone not to mention someone with a brain injury so they give a unique perspective to enjoy this happy time of year to the fullest and of course sprinkle in some holiday nerdom. What are some ways you cope with the holidays?

The new ‘Avengers: Endgame’ trailer just released a few days ago and co-hosts Joe and Lauren have lots of feelings about it so of course this episode is all about it! Joe and Lauren dive deep into their predictions and theories for the upcoming movie. What do you think the endgame is going to be for the Avengers!? ***Warning: Spoiler Alert! ***

This is Part 2 of last week’s episode with host Joe Borges interviewing AVM survivor, Thomas Mejia. Thomas is also our December Patreon Donation spotlight supporting his 4th craniotomy surgery and recovery. This is our first month donating a portion of the proceeds from our Patreon supporters to causes and individual survivors like Thomas. Every month we will be featuring a different donation spotlight and we’re happy to kick this off with Thomas! So take a listen as Joe and Thomas continue this final half of their interview exploring and reflecting on Thomas’ journey as he prepares for what will hopefully be his last craniotomy surgery this December.

It’s our 40th episode! So of course this is an extra special episode. It’s host Joe Borges’ first interview with a fellow brain injury survivor in-person! But it’s really less of an interview and more of a candid talk between two brain injury survivors. This episode’s interviewee is AVM survivor Thomas Mejia. Thomas is also our December Patreon Donation spotlight supporting his 4th craniotomy surgery and recovery. This is our first month donating a portion of the proceeds from our Patreon supporters to causes and individual survivors like Thomas. Every month we will be featuring a different donation spotlight and we’re very excited to kick off this new initiative with Thomas! So take a listen as Joe and Thomas explore and reflect on Thomas’ journey as he prepares for what will hopefully be his last craniotomy surgery this December.

This episode is a tribute to the late, great, king of the nerds – Stan Lee. Co-host Lauren is out due to her recent pup, Destiny passing away (we love you Destiny!) so host, Joe reflects on Stan Lee and all of his achievements with guest (and NN producer/girlfriend) Felice LaZae. Together they walk down memory lane and discuss all of the amazing Marvel characters and stories, Stan created. Plus Felice serenades us with an acapella rendition of Spider-Man theme song; they talk about the future of the MCU; character and story predictions; how Stan’s characters are an inspiration to stroke and brain injury survivors on the hero’s journey and oh yeah, SPOILER ALERTS ahead! What’s your favorite Stan Lee memory, character or story?

Lauren explains the symbolism behind the turtle carrying the world on its back which gets to the heart of this episode where Joe talks about the pressure and guilt he puts on himself when he compares his recovery journey to others. Lauren reminds him that ultimately comparison is the thief of happiness. Our hosts examine better ways to reframe and have compassion for others while still feeling good about their recovery process at the same time.

Co-hosts Joe and Lauren discuss change in this episode. They mainly focus on change post brain injury, during recovery including its challenges, how it affects relationships and how it can help prevent future health issues. They discuss their own personal experiences with making health and lifestyle changes post brain injury and compare the differences between recovering from a traumatic brain injury like Lauren’s concussion and an acquired brain injury like Joe’s stroke. What are some changes you have made post brain injury or after a similar life changing experience?

It’s almost Halloween and fresh off of seeing the new ‘Halloween’ movie, host Joe Borges discusses the movie with fellow horror movie connoisseur, friend and hit producer Sleep Deez! Sleep has been a guest on the show before and is the producer of our NeuroNerds theme song. The two scary movie junkies talk about everything from Chuckie, Friday the 13th to ghosts and their favorite bad scary movies. Plus Joe is super excited about his new sound fx sampler! Can you guess who’s laugh that is playing throughout the episode? And what’s your favorite scary movie?

It’s October so co-hosts Joe and Lauren are talking about their favorite vampire lore in this episode! They go through vampire lore over the centuries from Dracula’s origins to Marvel’s Morbius. Joe’s favorite is ‘Blade’ and Lauren ‘s favorite is ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’. What’s you’re favorite vampire lore? The more obscure, the better!

This episode is all about post-stroke and neuro-fatigue. Co-hosts Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano discuss their experiences with this condition and how they manage and cope with it. They give tips from seeing a therapist, seeking a community even if it is long distance and the importance of being patient with yourself and your progress throughout recovery. Plus, Oct 15th (the day of this podcast release) is the 3-year anniversary of Lauren’s concussion so we are celebrating her recovery and how far she has come!

Co-hosts Joe and Lauren talk about imposter syndrome, the irrational fear of being exposed as a fraud. This condition is talked about a lot in business, but Joe and Lauren talk about how it can affect survivors. They both reflect on their own experiences with this feeling and how it has affected their recovery. Plus they relate this condition back to DC, Marvel and even The Addams Family. And Joe talks more about the new NeuroNerds Patreon and the YouSoRock Facebook Support Group. Have you joined yet?

Co-host Lauren is out kicking ass so Joe’s partner and girlfriend Felice LaZae is our guest host for this episode. Joe revisits and updates us on his mental health journey with his therapist. Plus they discuss the YouSoRock Facebook Support Group and The NeuroNerds new Patreon page! Have you become a part of the NeuroJedi High Council yet?

It’s another nerd heavy episode all about Kaiju monsters! Co-hosts Joe and Lauren dig into Godzilla, King Kong and other classic monsters discussing their film adaptations both good and bad. Plus they talk about their favorite devil cinematic adaptations and anime. And they hint at some big news that will be announced in the coming weeks, The NeuroNerds are getting a Patreon page where you can support the show and get cool insider stuff to connect you to the show even more so. More details coming soon!

Co-host Lauren is back to nerd out with host Joe about their mutual love of nerd king, Viggo Mortensen. What makes an actor a nerd king? Any actor who has been in movies with big nerd fandom and is almost irreplaceable as the character they played like Viggo in *Lord of The Rings* as Aragorn, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Hugo Weaving in pretty much any role he’s played. Who’s your favorite nerd king?

With co-host Lauren out for a pole dance competition, this episode features host Joe Borges with special guest co-host Bethany Noelle aka BooBoo. Bethany is very special to The NeuroNerds because she is our art department! She created The NeuroNerds logo and is currently designing our t-shirts which are coming soon. In this episode, Joe and Bethany discuss their quests for new psychological therapists to help with PTSD, anxiety and more. They talk about their coping mechanisms like meditation, leaning on support systems and how service and therapy dogs are great for psychiatric support.

Host, Joe Borges is interviewing not one, but three amazing guests in this episode. These guests are the Three Stromies – three women who connected through their common experience of surviving major strokes at young ages. They share their experiences from suffering their strokes to recovery to their lives after stroke. Plus they talk about how they found purpose in sharing other stroke survivor’s stories as well as their own to inspire and empowering our stroke survivor community.

The NeuroNerds are getting physical in this episode and discussing the importance of fitness and exercise during the brain injury recovery process. Joe and Lauren both maintain workout regimen and give tips and advice on how to start and stay consistent. In true nerdy fashion, they somehow connect fitness to video games and super heroes as well.

To continue Joe’s August month-long Stroke-iversary, he continues the talk about his recovery with co-host Lauren. They get real about their hang-ups and issues with admitting their disabilities and deficits from their respective brain injuries and how important it is to accept it and face these challenges head on.

It’s a special 25th episode of The NeuroNerds celebrating our host, Joe’s 2-year Stroke-iversary! It’s a celebration because since suffering a major hemorrhagic stroke on August 4, 2016, Joe has gained a new lease on life and made it his mission to live his Best Life. With his partner, girlfriend and caregiver Felice guest co-hosting this episode, they both go down memory lane and reflect on Joe’s stroke recovery journey offering tips, advice and lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Joe and Lauren are talking all about their favorite Disney Princesses from the classics like Snow White to the new school like Mulan to the newly inducted Star Wars Princess Leia! What’s a Disney Princess without magical hair? They talk about their favorite hair powers and how important hair becomes when facing surgery for brain injuries. Who’s your favorite Disney Princess and if you could have any hair power, what would it be?

This episode features our first remote interview! Our first interviewee is with fellow brain injury survivor, Mimi Hayes. Mimi is currently living in New York living the creative life as a comedian and soon to be published author just a few short years after suffering a cavernous angioma that hemorrhaged in her brain. Defying all odds, Mimi is flourishing and her book “I’ll Be OK, It’s Just a Hole in My Head” will be published on September 18, 2018. Listen to co-host Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano interview this inspiring NeuroNerd superstar!

It’s a special San Diego Comic Con 2018 episode of The NeuroNerds! Not only is this episode is jam packed with nerd news from Comic Con, but also on-location interviews with our NeuroNerd adjacent correspondent, Ashley Hopson who attended Comic Con and gave us some inside news, scoops, reactions and fun from the convention in-person. Joe and Lauren give lots of their reviews as well plus theories and hopes for what’s to come in the world of nerdom. Joe also discusses PTSD and dealing with overstimulation at large events like Comic Con.

IT, H.P. Lovecraft and all things Cosmic Horror are the focus of co-hosts Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano in this scary edition of The NeuroNerds. They talk about their favorite horror movies, the varying types of horror genres and dissect the novel turned movie, IT at length so major spoiler alert! What are your favorite horror movies?

Lauren is back just in time for The NeuroNerds’ 20th Episode! This is extra special because it’s the first time Joe and Lauren are recording an episode at Joe’s new home. They discuss the importance of family in the recovery process along with their favorite and least favorite families in nerdom. What’s your favorite nerdy family?