The Basement Yard #522 – Is The Mandela Effect Real? (September 29, 2025)

Podcast: The Basement Yard
Hosts: Joe Santagato & Frank Alvarez (with Ant)
Date: September 29, 2025
Episode Theme: Are our memories playing tricks on us? Joe, Frank, and Ant dive headfirst into the Mandela Effect—those curious "false memories" that baffle the internet. Along the way, they riff on game shows, language oddities, and the wacky quirks of popular culture.

Episode Overview

In this highly energetic and comedic episode, the Basement Yard crew tackles the phenomenon of the "Mandela Effect," where large groups of people remember details about pop culture, brands, or history differently than how they actually exist. Joe and Frank debate their own possibly "false memories," take a deliberately frustrating online Mandela Effect quiz, and explore how shared misconceptions get started. True to Basement Yard style, the journey meanders through game show fantasies, galactic trivia, public restroom etiquette, and the importance of premium toilet paper—all with their signature quick wit and open mockery.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Warm-up Banter: Cancel Culture and Game Shows (00:15–14:44)

• Cancel, Fire, or Delete?
  Joe and Frank riff on society’s obsession with “canceling” celebrities:

  • Joe: “Cancel, you get kind of fired.” [01:10]
  • Frank: “It’d be so much funnier if we called it firing and not canceling.” [01:04]

• Family Feud Dream Team & Game Show Skills:
  The hosts draft their ideal Family Feud team for Santagato Studios and rank their hypothetical prowess on various shows, such as Wheel of Fortune, Password, Jeopardy, and Deal or No Deal.

  • Joe worries about the pressure of hitting the buzzer fast enough.
  • Frank insists he’d dominate “Legends of the Hidden Temple”—especially as a Silver Snake or Purple Parrot [09:51].
  • Ant wishes Joe went on "Big Brother" for voyeuristic entertainment:
    • Frank to Ant: “You’d like to be, like, a voyeur, you freak!” [07:52]

2. The Mechanics of Game Shows & TV Production (14:44–21:30)

• Game Show Audition Experience:
  Joe & Frank share an anecdote about being nearly cast in a game show (“Best Time Ever” w/ Neil Patrick Harris), revealing how audience “randomness” is engineered for maximum TV energy.
  • Frank describes the “intense, concentrated version of people trying to make it”—everyone’s cringey self-intros, and the realization that it’s all a setup.
  • Frank: “You had to have like a thing. ‘I’m a screenwriter and actress and producer…’” [15:22]
  • They skewer the artificiality (“seals out there” [17:08]) and stress of forced reactions.

3. Language, Grammar, and Their Comic Potential (21:30–29:00)

• Riffing on Grammar Terms:

  • Rapid-fire wordplay about “subconjugation,” “pronouns,” and “adverbs.”
  • Frank (joking): “Dominate me, grammar. Make me a subconjugate.” [20:39]
  • They debate the value of learning grammar via inclusive pronoun discussions, with a self-deprecating nod to their own ignorance:
    • Joe: “Once the pronouns thing became very prevalent, I’m like, now I know what those are!” [21:20]

• X is for Everything Awesome:

  • Joe confesses his love for the letter X—X marks the spot, cartoon eyes, and Triple X references (23:36–24:00)

4. Galactic Names, Translation Oddities, and Cosmological Speed (29:00–49:00)

• International Names for the Milky Way:

  • Fascinated by the idea that "Milky Way" isn't a universal name:
    • Chinese: “Silver River” [43:13]
    • Finnish: “Path of Birds” [43:27]
    • Hindi: “River of Heaven” [44:00]
    • Sanskrit: “The Divine Way” [44:09]
    • Frank: “That is a really good one.” [43:19]

• Planetary Names:

  • They wonder whether other countries call planets by different names. Ant confirms most languages use similar (Roman god-derived) names.

• Fun with Space & Relativity:

  • Trivia about Earth’s movement:
    • Ant: “Our entire solar system is orbiting...the Milky Way at about 400 to 500,000 miles per hour.” [40:51]
    • Milky Way itself: “moving through the universe at about 1.3 million miles per hour.” [41:01]
  • Frank and Joe both agree on the absurdity of this knowledge:
    • Frank: “Shut the fuck up with all this stuff...Shut up.” [41:10]
    • Joe: “Great name for a galaxy. Delicious!” (referring to Milky Way) [41:33]

5. Bathroom Habits, Toilet Paper, and ‘Little Luxuries’ (52:50–67:41)

• China’s QR Code Toilets:

  • Frank shares a story about Chinese public toilets requiring an ad view to access toilet paper [52:55].
    • Joe: “Let’s be very honest about something. It’s me. Hello. I’m in China. I Won’t notice that this thing isn’t available until I am already done crapping.” [53:34]
    • Ant admits: he prepares his “bird’s nest” of toilet paper to avoid “splashback.” [54:13]

• Toilet Paper Preferences:

  • The trio rants about the hardship of cheap, single-ply toilet paper, waxing poetic on “little luxuries” like premium rolls and hot towels on flights.
    • Frank: “If I can put it over a picture in a coloring book of Tweety Bird and draw it perfectly, then we got a problem.” [61:18]
    • Joe: “Being able to hoard a piece of toilet paper...roll of toilet...in my car right now.” [63:14]

• Moist Towelettes and Hot Towels:

  • They rave about hot towels as travel luxuries and debate whether “recycled” steamed towels are weird.
    • Frank: “Steaming hot towel...I do a little...I put it on my face, sometimes.” [65:40]

6. The Mandela Effect Quiz & Pop Culture Misremembrances (68:10–87:08)

• Introducing the Mandela Effect:

  • Frank brings up how the Captain Crunch mascot and its branding led him down the Mandela Effect rabbit hole, triggering a team quiz fest. [68:36]

• Rapid-fire Mandela Effect Quiz Playthrough:

  • Jiff vs. Jiffy?
  • C3PO’s Silver Leg? (turns out—yes, he had one! [84:38])
  • Chuck E. Cheese’s vs. Chuck E. Cheese? [77:07]
  • Target logo, Laughing Cow’s nose ring, Alaska(n) Airlines, etc.
  • Most questions spark debate, joke explanations, or stories about childhood stationery rivalries or favorite cereals.
  • On “What does Morpheus from The Matrix actually say?”—they solve the meme mixup:
    • Frank: “If they’re asking if he says it...then it’s not that he says it that way, it’s that he says it another way...” [79:40]
  • Results: 13 out of 17 correct (76%)—“That’s passing in my high school!” [86:46]

• Why "Mandela Effect"?

  • The origin is quickly explained:
    • Ant: “Because of false memory phenomenon surrounding the death of Nelson Mandela.” [87:36]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Dominate me, grammar. Make me a subconjugate."
  — Frank Alvarez (20:39)

• “Once the pronouns thing became very prevalent, I’m like, now I know what those are!”
  — Joe Santagato (21:20)

• “If you take the last three minutes of this episode...and you played it for someone that existed in 1941, they would put their head in a blender.”
  — Frank Alvarez (26:16)

• “That’s why we have ridges and fingerprints, because that’s what helps us grip. If it’s completely smooth, it’s gonna fly off your bung.”
  — Frank Alvarez on ribbed toilet paper (62:11)

• “All of our planets are named after Roman gods...how the hell did they know that was up there?”
  — Joe Santagato (47:17)

• “If you brought a motorcycle to the Middle Ages, they’d learn how to use it. But they wouldn’t be able to replicate it because they don’t have the technology. Same thing with a gun.”
  — Frank Alvarez (48:27)

• “Cracker. Daddy wants a cracker.”
  — Frank Alvarez (68:07)

• “This quiz is fucking sucks. We're crushing.”
  — Joe Santagato (78:11)

• “Frank, where can they find you?” (classic ending)
  — Joe Santagato (87:43)

Highlight Timestamps

• [01:04] Frank on “firing” vs. “canceling”
• [09:51] Frank as “Legends of the Hidden Temple” all-star
• [21:20] Pronoun discussion and accidental grammar lessons
• [23:36] X as the coolest letter
• [40:51] “Our solar system is orbiting the Milky Way at 400–500,000 mph.” (Ant)
• [52:55] China’s QR code toilet paper story
• [61:18] “If I can put it over a coloring book… then we got a problem”—Frank on bad toilet paper
• [68:35] Connecting Captain Crunch, parrots, and Mandela Effect
• [79:40] Frank deductive logic on Mandela Effect quiz
• [86:46] “76% is passing in my high school.”—Joe on quiz result
• [87:36] Origin of the Mandela Effect (Ant)

Episode Tone & Style

As always, the Basement Yard is fast, irreverent, and full of inside jokes and playful insults—blurring the line between wild riffing and genuine curiosity. Frank is the exuberant storyteller; Joe, the sarcastic straight man; Ant, the dry fact-checker and wildcard.

If you’re looking to learn about the Mandela Effect while also hearing about international galactic naming conventions, game show strategies, and inexplicably passionate discussions about the superiority of Charmin Ultra Soft, this episode is a must-listen!

Bottom Line:
The Mandela Effect is real…ly funny, at least when the Basement Yard takes it on. This episode balances pop culture trivia, cosmic perspective, and relatable life rants with rapid-fire comedy. Even if your own memories are wrong, the laughs here are unforgettable.