Teen Beat: "More Time With: Nicole Byer"

Host: Danielle Fishel
Guest: Nicole Byer
Date: February 13, 2026

Episode Overview

This bonus episode features Danielle Fishel and comedian Nicole Byer sharing and responding to embarrassing teenage stories, centering around first kisses, summer camps, and vacation disasters. They read a real listener submission, reflect on their own formative and awkward moments, and banter about the horrors (real and imagined) of cruises. The tone is nostalgic, self-deprecating, and frequently laugh-out-loud funny, offering a heartfelt but hilarious look at the universally cringey side of growing up.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Listener Story: Dana’s First Kiss at Sea

• A listener named Dana sends in a voice memo about her first kiss experience:
  • At 14, on a family cruise in Alaska, she sneaks out to meet a boy at the "teen club."
  • The first kiss is described as “slimy” and immediately results in her vomiting—prompting a year of questioning (“Does this mean I’m gay?”).
• Danielle and Nicole react with empathy—and loads of humor—discussing how awkward first kisses can be and speculating about the poor boy’s lifelong trauma.

Notable Quote (Dana’s story, paraphrased):

"I had my first ever kiss in which this boy slimily popped his tongue in and out of my mouth. The combination of my disgust response to a stranger’s saliva in my mouth, my deep anxiety about sneaking out, and the queasiness of being on a ship turned out to be the perfect recipe for vomit."
[07:31]

Danielle and Nicole’s Cruise Debate

• Danielle reveals intense feelings against cruises—citing germaphobia, food storage doubts, the logistics of being “stranded,” and the horror of malfunctioning plumbing at sea:

  “You simply couldn’t pay me to be on a cruise. You’re in the middle of the ocean with the same people day after day. These freaks at the buffet, not washing their hands… And then what if the toilet stopped working? You're in the middle of the ocean smelling shit. I could be at home.”
  [03:39] - [04:10]

• Nicole is intrigued by cruises for their mindless, all-inclusive nature, but Danielle tries to persuade her a travel agent is the better route.

• The two joke about the cult-like experience of cruise “teen clubs” versus more luxurious yacht life.

First Kiss Confessions

• Both hosts share stories of their awkward first kisses and their own misunderstandings about “the dance of the tongues.”

• Danielle recalls her first memorable kiss with a man who had a “cold tongue” outside a NYC dive bar:

  “There was a man with a feather earring. I was like, I like your earring. And he was like, put it in your ear. And then we just, like, started making out on the street. That was the first time a tongue was in my mouth, and I was like, huh, your tongue is cold. I was like, I feel like I’m kissing a kimono dragon.”
  [18:26] - [19:11]

• Nicole’s first kiss happened on set for “Boy Meets World,” in front of a live studio audience and her family, making it neither personal nor romantic. She laments not remembering any “real” first kiss off-camera:

  “My actual real, the first time my lips had ever touched another person’s lips… is in the moment when I slam him up against a locker. By the way, as a 12-year-old handcuff…I plant one on his face with all the confidence in the world and inside shaking like a leaf.”
  [23:18] - [24:06]

Teen Clubs, Camp, and the Teenage Social Experience

• Danielle discusses never getting to attend “sleepaway camp,” while Nicole reflects on her plus-one Girl Scout camp adventures and learning gossip about kissing from peers.
• The conversation playfully examines how teen vacations and camps force you to create mini-societies, form fleeting friendships, and fuel lifelong stories and cringe.
• Both hosts agree that teenage years were riddled with insecurity, and that, looking back, everyone feels they were the awkward one.

Working as a Child Star

• Danielle shares her unique school schedule, balancing “Boy Meets World” filming with attempts at regular high school life:

  “I was back and forth between Boy Meets Week and my regular school. So I was only there on hiatus weeks… But I couldn’t really like, be a cheerleader or do any sports or be a part of any clubs. But I did go to all the football games.”
  [21:38] - [22:01]

The Salient Kisses: Magic vs. Obligation

• Nicole and Danielle discuss how the “memorable” first magical kiss is more important than the technical first:

  “Do you remember the first time you were kissed where you were like, that was magic?”
  “Yes, I do actually.”
  “I think that’s more important.”
  [24:38] - [24:45]

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Danielle on Cruises:
  “There’s lawless. It’s lawless out there.”
  [05:51]

• Nicole attempting to rationalize a cruise:
  “I love the cult feeling of a cruise where, like, I just have to get myself to the ship. And then I walk out and you show me where the food is. I eat what’s there, I leave. There's an itinerary. I look at the itinerary.”
  [05:04]

• On the awfulness of vomit-covered first kisses:

  • Danielle: “If you vomit on a person, there's no coming back from that.”
    [16:03]

• On teenage insecurities:
  Danielle: “I was zitty and chubby and had wild hair all the time—like, I truly was a mess.”
  [18:26]

• Nicole on obligatory on-screen kisses:
  “My actual real…first time my lips had ever touched another person’s lips…is in the moment when I slam him up against a locker…as a 12-year-old…with all the confidence in the world and inside shaking like a leaf.”
  [23:18]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Listener Dana’s story & reaction: [03:21] – [08:17]
• Cruise horror rants & debate: [03:36] – [06:56]
• Teen club and camp comparisons: [09:15] – [10:46]
• First kiss stories (Nicole & Danielle): [18:01] – [20:38]
• Child star school-life balance: [21:38] – [22:20]
• On the memorable first magical kiss: [24:38] – [25:03]

Recurring Themes & Takeaways

• Growing up is universally mortifying, but those awkward moments become funny, cherished stories with time.
• Nostalgia through the lens of humor is healing. Both celebrities and regular people share the same embarrassing rites of passage.
• The importance of sharing and normalizing cringe-worthy teenage tales—helping listeners feel less alone in their awkwardness.

Final Thoughts

This episode perfectly embodies the mix of laughter, pain, and perspective that comes from growing up. Danielle Fishel and Nicole Byer create a space where embarrassing memories turn into points of connection. Their willingness to laugh at themselves—and at the absurdity of adolescent rituals—feels warm, inclusive, and deeply relatable.

For more tales, updates, and interaction, listeners are encouraged to follow @teenbeatpod, send in their own awkward stories, and check out new merch.