Bring Back DVDs! w/ Kristen Meinzer

Summary

The Nightly Podcast: "Bring Back DVDs!" w/ Kristen Meinzer

Date: July 8, 2026
Host: Kristen Meinzer (on behalf of Hatch Podcasts)
Guest: Callum, caller from Washington, DC

---

Episode Overview

This cozy, late-night episode of The Nightly centers on nostalgia, the sensory experience of owning physical media (books, DVDs, vinyl), and why tangible collections matter in our increasingly digital world. Kristen Meinzer and caller Callum discuss their changing relationships with books, movies, and music, the precariousness of digital ownership, and accessible ways listeners can dive into rekindling their passion for DVDs and other forms of physical media.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Signs of Adulthood: Nostalgia & Changing Rituals

• Kristen opens the episode with fond childhood memories of voting with her mother, writing checks at the grocery store, and the adult-ness signaled by high heels.
  • Memorable Moment [01:32]:
    "All these grownups in all of America decided on the same day we're gonna show up at this place and we're all gonna go behind these shower curtains and we're gonna do something important." —Kristen

2. Letting Go of Physical Media: An Era Lost?

• Kristen describes downsizing her book and DVD collections after reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, shifting mostly to library usage and digital media ([04:47]).
  • "At one point... we donated over a thousand books." —Kristen ([04:47])
  • "I can't remember the last time I had a CD in the house. Like 20 years ago maybe." —Kristen ([05:07])

3. Callum’s Case for Physical Media Ownership

• Callum shares a key experience: an iTunes purchase disappearing from his library—the impermanence of digital “ownership.”
  • Notable Quote [05:43]:
    "Anytime that you buy a movie on any service, they can just eventually remove that movie from the service, even though you bought it. I found this a little troubling." —Callum
• Callum advocates for collecting movies, music, and books physically:
  • Owning DVDs, Blu-Rays, CDs, and cassettes provides reassurance your favorite content is always accessible ([06:25]).
  • Collecting can be modest or extensive, but fosters a sense of intention and ownership.

4. Kristen’s Reaction: The Oddity of Digital Ownership

• Kristen expresses shock about digital content being revocable:
  • Quote [07:06]:
    "Can you imagine if I bought a book at the store and somebody just came into my house in the middle of the night and took the book away?" —Kristen

5. Sensory and Community Aspects of Physical Media

• Callum and Kristen discuss the tactile joy—touching, flipping, unboxing—physical media provides.
  • Callum [08:06]:
    "It's not just scrolling through 30 titles on a streaming service... You're really getting a little more personal feeling out of it."
• The conversation highlights how record stores, DVD collectors, and specialty companies (e.g., Criterion Collection, Vinegar Syndrome, Arrow) foster communities around film and music ([08:38, 16:24]).
• The joy of rediscovering old favorites is heightened by physical presence; it's more deliberate than streaming’s algorithms ([10:13], [11:48]).

6. Accessible Ways to Start Collecting

• Callum recommends libraries as a great entry point for DVDs and Blu-Rays ([12:38]).
• Advice for beginners:
  • Don’t obsess over getting the best (e.g., 4K) immediately; it’s about meaningful ownership ([13:05]).
  • Used players and discs are widely available—no need to spend much.
  • Start by picking up something you loved as a child.
  • Record/CD/DVD shops, plus online stores, can make the process fun and communal ([14:24], [16:24]).
  • Quote [14:24]:
    "You don't have to break the bank. You can get a secondhand player and just dip your toes and dabble." —Kristen

7. Gatekeepers & Tastes: Overcoming Intimidation

• Kristen raises concerns about “gatekeepers” in shops potentially intimidating new collectors ([14:38]).
• Callum addresses this head-on:
  • Ignore snobs—own what you love without apology ([15:24], [16:14]).
  • Quote [16:21]:
    "Other people might try to yuck your yum, but you gotta be you." —Kristen

8. Wrapping Up with Encouragement

• Both agree that reconnecting with physical media isn’t just nostalgic—it’s a source of real joy.
• Kristen is inspired to visit a record store or library in person ([17:20]).
• Callum jokes about “apologizing” to Kristen’s husband for reintroducing physical clutter, ending on a warm, communal note ([17:48]).

---

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Kristen [01:32]:
  “All these grownups in all of America decided on the same day... we're gonna go behind these shower curtains and we're gonna do something important.”
• Callum [05:43]:
  “Anytime that you buy a movie on any service, they can just eventually remove that movie from the service, even though you bought it.”
• Kristen [07:06]:
  “Can you imagine if I bought a book at the store and somebody just came into my house in the middle of the night and took the book away?”
• Callum [08:06]:
  “It's not just scrolling through 30 titles on a streaming service—you're really getting a little more personal feeling out of it.”
• Kristen [14:24]:
  "You don't have to break the bank. You can get a secondhand player and just dip your toes and dabble."
• Kristen [16:21]:
  “Other people might try to yuck your yum, but you gotta be you.”

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00–04:19] – Kristen’s nostalgia about adulthood and media rituals
• [04:19–07:06] – Callum describes his physical media collection and the shock of losing digital purchases
• [07:06–10:13] – Why physical media matters: sensory and ownership arguments
• [10:13–12:09] – Rediscovering old favorites, memory, and the limitations of streaming
• [12:09–14:24] – Advice for beginners: accessible entry into physical media
• [14:24–16:14] – Dealing with gatekeepers and owning your taste with confidence
• [16:14–End] – Closing encouragement and friendly banter

---

Tone & Atmosphere

Warm, inviting, and gentle—ideal for bedtime listening. The conversation is lighthearted, tinged with nostalgia, and focused on empowerment and simple joys. Both Kristen and Callum encourage listeners to honor their own tastes, embrace tangible pleasures, and revive meaningful habits from the past, all while sidestepping intimidation or elitism.

---

Summary

This episode makes a passionate, practical, and encouraging case for bringing back DVDs (and other physical media) as a means to reclaim ownership, nostalgia, and sensory joy in a digital age. It’s an episode that reassures listeners: your collections—and your tastes—are worth celebrating, no matter what anyone else says.

Transcript

[A]

Audio for sleep by hatch. Hey out there. This is Kristen and this is the nightly a late night call in show to help you get to sleep each night. All of you out there share whatever is on your mind before bed. A worry, a random observation, you know, whatever's keeping you up at night or whatever's got you thinking. And I love talking with you about it. So if you're one of those folks who wants to call in, you can reach out to us at thenightlyach. Co. We have a great caller tonight to talk to. But before we get to that, I just wanted to tell you what's on my mind here in New York City. We just had our primary elections and I gotta tell you, every time I vote, it just makes me feel nostalgic for my mother because when I was a little kid, I thought of voting as the most grown up thing in the world. I remember going with my mother to the elementary school nearest to us and she would hold my hand and walk me into that little curtained booth and she would close the curtain and she would tell me how she was voting and then the we would leave the booth afterward, you know, move that curtain back and my mother would turn in her ballot. And I just thought it was the most amazing thing in the whole world. All these grownups in all of America decided on the same day we're gonna show up at this place and we're all gonna go behind these shower curtains and we're gonna do something important. And I didn't really understand what was going on, but I thought of it as the height of adulthood. And I still kind of get shivery every time I vote, thinking I'm a real grownup. And anywho, all of this got me to thinking about some of the other things that growing up I thought of as very adult. And I started pondering this just today, what was something that I thought was very grown up and how many of those things am I doing still? So one of them was my mother would write a check at the grocery store. They would scan all the groceries, they would tell her the total and then she would write a check and she would write in the back of the checkbook in her ledger how much it was to keep her checkbook balanced. And I thought, well, that's not something I do. I don't even know if I have a checkbook at this point in my life. But as a little kid I really saw it as a sign of adulthood that you're writing checks at the grocery store. Another thing that my mom did was she wore high heels. And I remember as a little kid, I would hear her in the kitchen, click, click, clicking on the linoleum floor in her high heels before she would go to work. And as a little kid, I also thought, wow, that is being an adult wearing those high heels, click, click, clicking in the kitchen as you make your black coffee. And I don't do that either. I do not wear high heels. I consider them very uncomfortable, but I still think they look great. If you're somebody who wears high heels, go on with your bad self. Enjoy those high heels. I'm sure you'll look fantastic in them. I hobble in them. I don't look so good in them. But I do see them as almost a sign of another era, of what adulthood looked like. And I think adulthood has changed so much over the years. But one thing that hasn't changed is I still vote. And I still think of voting as very adult. And I hope everybody out there that you have warm feelings for whatever those signs of adulthood were for you. And maybe you're following through on some of them now and having a really good night. But enough about what's on my mind. Let's get to our caller tonight. We have somebody on the line right now. Callum. Callum, where are you joining us from?

[B]

Hi, Kristen. Yeah. I'm joining you from Washington, dc.

[A]

Oh, Washington, DC Somebody wants referred to it as Disneyland for diplomats. Thank you for joining us from Washington, dc. What's on your mind tonight?

[B]

Yeah, my pleasure. So I wanted to start by asking you, what is your physical media collection? Like music, movies, what's your setup?

[A]

Okay, so at this point, I have maybe only 100 books left in the house because at one, at one point, my husband and I did that life changing magic of tidying up book and we donated over a thousand books.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And we decided we were gonna try our best not to buy new books after that. New books still enter the house from time to time, but we do try to mostly stick with the library. So we got rid of most of our books back then. And at the time, we also got rid of all of our DVDs. We had lots of DVDs with lots of movies and TV shows on them and so on. We got rid of all of. And I can't remember the last time I had a CD in the house. Like 20 years ago maybe. We used to have a lot of CDs, but I don't have any anymore. But why do you ask?

[B]

So I probably in the last, I'm going to say five years or so I've been sort of going down this rabbit hole of physical media. My wife and I also keep a lot of books. Nowhere near a thousand, but we have a lot of books. And it started a few years ago. We went to watch something that my wife had bought on itunes a few years ago, and we looked and we saw that it wasn't available anymore. Oh, that's funny. And then I. I looked into it, and I found out that anytime that you buy a movie on any service, they can just eventually remove that movie from the service, even though you bought it. And I found this. Oh, yeah, I found this a little troubling. And I thought, okay, well, I think maybe it's important for me to own the movies that I love, then to sort of keep them around, because some things go out of print, you can't get them, and you're waiting for various companies to put them back into print. And my wife feels very strongly about that books as well. And so, yeah, I have a small CD collection, a few cassette tapes, and probably about 100 movies. So not a huge collection of people with way more, you know, who are way more into collecting than I am, but it's something that I've gotten into, and it's a little bit of a soapbox for me sometimes. I'm hopeful that people, you know, we'll maybe want to go out and buy one or two discs after. After they hear us chatting today.

[A]

Well, first of all, I have to say I'm in complete shock that when I buy a streaming movie that it's not mine forever. It can disappear at any point. That makes no sense to me. I paid for that.

[B]

Well, yeah. I mean, so it's. It's like anything. It's basically hosted on some computer somewhere, and so they can just delete it off of that computer, off of that server, really.

[A]

But can you imagine if I bought a book at the. At the store and somebody just came into my house in the middle of the night and took the book away?

[B]

Yes, exactly.

[A]

That's what it feels like to me.

[B]

It's just like that. And. And I think it's. I think it's also. I think it's that. It's the ownership element, which I really care about, but it's also there's something about. Of intentionality, about having your own, like owning your own things. I mean, I think that's why vinyl is getting really popular again. There's something so nice about being able to look at a stack and then pull one out and maybe some of these Vinyl, they come with, you know, other back matter or booklets or, you know, those kind of special editions and things like that. I also think it creates more community around these things. I mean, there's Record Store Day is becoming more and more popular all the time, it feels like, which is, you know, sort of, you know, if people don't know, is basically an annual day where people are going to record stores and they buy special prints that are out. But it's also getting more and more popular with films. You know, I pulled a few off of my shelf because I thought it would be fun to sort of look at a few. And one of them I have is Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa. And that gets put out classic. Yeah, it's lovely. And I have the addition from Criterion Collection, and if you're familiar, you know, they do really nice additions with booklets and some of the history of the film and special features and stuff. And so I think the other reason I like it so much is that element of you're pulling something off of the shelf and it's not just scrolling through 30 titles on a streaming service or something. You're really getting a little more personal feeling out of it. And I really like that.

[A]

Oh, I totally understand that. There's something about the current world we live in where everything almost feels ephemeral, like nothing is permanent. And in a digital world, what is real, what is not, and how often are we actually enjoying something that is using our physical senses where we can touch it and feel it, open it, close 100% through it, and so on. And I'll say I'm guilty of that. Even with how I use the library, I only check out ebooks or audiobooks, and those are ephemeral. As soon as, you know, if I don't finish the book before my checkout time, it just disappears from my phone and the book itself, I'm never actually touching it. I don't actually ever run my fingers across the COVID or page through the pages. And so what you're talking about is a more sensory experience. And for all of our visual capacity being overdone in our digital world, our physical, like whatever, our fingers touching, what are we paging through? I feel like we have a lot less of that nowadays.

[B]

Yes, I agree, for sure. I mean, I think that's why, yeah, vinyl is getting more popular and films are getting more popular. There's this sort of growing community and discussion about this kind of stuff online. And there's lots of cool podcasts you can listen to and stuff about It. But yeah, there's really a ton to come back to in terms of being able to just look at yourself and pick something. And I think it's also that thing of sometimes it's nice to maybe almost be limited in your choice and just look at yourself and say, what do I have? What do I want to put on? And is this something that it makes it easier to return to things? You know, we moved in May into a new house and the first thing that I moved because I wanted to move myself was my record player, which also I can play CDs out of. And the first thing I played in my new house, which had nothing in it except for my little media player. Yeah, it was just that. And so I pulled out Quadrophenia by the who, which I have. And this is. Yeah, it's a two disc, you know, little box that I've had for, I don't know, probably, if not 20 years, maybe 15 years or something like that. And it was cool to put it on in my empty house and just hearing it playing and thinking, oh, this is something that was so important to me when I was 13 or 12 or whatever. And it's such a, you know, I wouldn't necessarily have thought to return to it in that moment had I not looked into my collection and pulled it out. And it made moving in a little bit nicer. Because you're listening to this disc that brings you back to old memories and it's something you can sort of physically interact with. So it's kind of nice.

[A]

Yeah. And a streaming service, they're not going to feed that to you. They're going to try to push a new release to you or what's currently on the Billboard charts or whatnot. They're not necessarily thinking, here's something from the who that is 50 years old that you should listen to at this exact moment. They're probably not going to be pushing that to you.

[B]

Exactly. Yeah, it's about. Yeah, it's exactly that. It's taking control and it's just trying to take ownership over the things that you like and the things that you want to consume.

[A]

Ah, I really love your passion for this. So I'm curious if you have any advice for people out there. Let's say somebody listening tonight is thinking, yeah, I really would like some more concrete, tangible media that I can touch and feel in my house. And I don't really know where to start. What advice would you give them?

[B]

I think the thing for me is you touched on the library before a lot of Libraries have really good DVD collections and Blu Ray collections. I think the thing for me as well is sometimes a lot of people that are interested in sort of collecting, especially movies, are really interested in quality. They really want the latest 4K or the latest Blu Ray. And for me I think it's more about just again the ownership and having your items. So if you can only go out and get a DVD or you can only get a Blu Ray instead of a 4K, then that's fine. It's more about watching things that you like and maybe even exploring some new things. If you go to the library and look at everything that's available. A lot of now record stores and CD stores will also have a DVD section or Blu Ray section. Go and take a look at those. And there's a lot of very affordable players out there that you can go and find for your tv. So I think my recommendation would be if you don't have something that can play this media, look into that, don't break the bank or maybe try to find something used or something and then just go check out the library and see what they have or maybe look back and think what's something I really loved from my childhood and maybe pick that up in a Blu Ray or DVD format. I also pulled out, I have my old, incredibly old DVD of Hoover named Roger Rabbit because I thought this is such a fun movie that I loved so much as a kid and it's cool to have it now and think, oh, you know, this is something that I've loved so much for my whole life. And you know, yeah, I would say that, you know, get, get a way to play these things and then you know, go out and check out if you're from your library or. Yeah. See what you can find, unused sites, things like that. Yeah.

[A]

Well, I love this advice because you're making it sound really accessible. You don't have to break the bank. You can get a secondhand player and then just dip your toes and dabble. What used to give you joy when you were a little kid. Go to the library, peruse things.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

I do have a question though, like I think some folks out there might be a little bit intimidated by. What should we call them? That the people who maybe consider themselves self appointed experts or gatekeepers either at record stores or comic book stores or bookstores. Do you know what I'm talking about? People who might make some folks out there might feel a little intimidated, like, oh, I'm going to be embarrassed if the thing I'm getting at the record store is Debbie Gibson's out of the Blue when everybody else is here looking at original Rolling Stones albums. And is there a fear that they should have or an approach they should have about dealing with their fear as far as dealing with gatekeepers and so on?

[B]

I mean, to be honest, I think that's something that I was thinking about when I was thinking about this question before we started today in terms of. I think a lot of people get into it and they say, oh, you have to have the best quality. Or, oh, you know, or some people might feel like, oh, well, I only have four discs in my collection. And it's not really about that. It's kind of what I'm saying. Maybe if you have three movies that you really love, that you've always loved, maybe just go online and see does Criterion Collection have them. There's a lot of other, you know, Blu Ray purveyors that you can get without going to one of the big box stores and see what they have. If you don't want to go in person, maybe. But also, yeah, I would say just sort of have confidence that, you know, the pick that you want or the thing that you want, that maybe it's on your want list or something, if you find it, then it's something that's important to you and you can't really let somebody else, I guess, dictate your taste, you know, I guess that would be my advice.

[A]

But that's great advice for life, period. That's such good advice. Period in life.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Truly, only you can be you, right?

[A]

I mean, other people might try to yuck your yum, but you gotta be you.

[B]

Yeah, yes, exactly. But, yeah, there's. There's a ton of online resources to go and find stuff. And truly, anybody that hasn't checked out the Criterion Collection seen all the movies they have on there. There's so much good stuff. I mean, and a big part of their whole mission is to bring things back into print that might not be in print anymore and make those available for people. So, you know, they also have a huge Wes Anderson collection on there. I have a few of his movies on Blu Ray from them. So there's such a wealth of stuff out there. You know, there's websites like Vinegar Syndrome and I think Arrow, as well as another one of the big Blu Ray companies. So there's so many places to go if you don't necessarily want to go to your local shop or something. But also, yeah, go to your local shop and check it out and engage with the community. Because you also might find that you'll go somewhere and meet people who are also excited to tell you about this stuff and have better advice than I can give you.

[A]

Well, Callum, this has been so fun and so encouraging and you're really making me think. Now I want to go to a record store or just go to the library in person as opposed to how I do it now. I'm always visiting the library remotely. But I really love this because I think it's going to make a lot of people happy, add a little bit of joy to their lives and maybe make them go down memory lane a little bit. So thank you so much, Callum. This is.

[B]

And yeah, apologies, apologies to your husband for reintroducing, you know, physical things back into your house.

[A]

I think it's something he and I can do together. I think it'll be fun.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Have a great night, Callum.

[B]

Yeah, you too.

[A]

Thanks so much and good night. Also to everybody out there listening, it has been such a pleasure spending the evening with you. If you want to be on the show, if there's something keeping you up at night or an opinion you want to share with us, don't be shy. Reach out. We're henightlyatch Co. Please reach out. We love hearing from you. And I also just want to, before I sign off, say a good night to everybody out there who's wearing high heeled shoes. Because as I said at the top of this episode, I'm not one of those people, but I love how they look. Hats off to you, walking around, possibly uncomfortable, but looking very, very good. Sweet dreams, everyone.

[B]

Sa. Sa. Sa. Sam.

[A]

To learn more about our phone free light and audio experience, head to Hatch Co. You can also follow us at Hatch Podcasts.