Board games don’t just bring families together — sometimes, they build something brand new. Teen creators Adam and Kiara Palma share the story behind American Dictator, a game that started as a cottage idea and evolved into a thoughtful, funny take on politics and human nature.

In conversation with Shane Hewitt, they explain how creativity, curiosity, and a love of family game nights led to 3D-printed prototypes, community feedback, and an unexpected entrepreneurial journey. It’s a story about play, perspective, and the kind of family project that sticks.

GUEST:
 Adam and Kiara Palma
e-upgames.com

Originally aired on 2025-10-21

Board games don&rsquo;t just bring families together &mdash; sometimes, they build something brand new. Teen creators Adam and Kiara Palma share the story behind American Dictator, a game that started as a cottage idea and evolved into a thoughtful, funny take on politics and human nature.
In conversation with Shane Hewitt, they explain how creativity, curiosity, and a love of family game nights led to 3D-printed prototypes, community feedback, and an unexpected entrepreneurial journey. It&rsquo;s a story about play, perspective, and the kind of family project that sticks.
GUEST: Adam and Kiara Palma e-upgames.com
Originally aired on&nbsp;2025-10-21

Shane Hewitt & The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world—always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.

From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane’s signature style—thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.

If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt &amp; The Nightshift is your late-night companion for real talk, bold ideas, and unfiltered conversations that matter. Hosted by Canadian radio veteran Shane Hewitt, each episode dives into the headlines, human stories, and hidden truths shaping our world&mdash;always with curiosity, compassion, and a sharp edge.
From politics and pop culture to mental health, technology, and everyday life, this podcast is where night owls, deep thinkers, and curious minds come to connect. Featuring expert guests, passionate callers, and Shane&rsquo;s signature style&mdash;thoughtful, fearless, and refreshingly real.
If you crave meaningful dialogue, smart perspectives, and late-night radio energy in podcast form, subscribe now and join The Nightshift.

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

Shane Hewitt is known for his engaging and relatable on-air personality, which captivates listeners. His ability to blend insightful commentary with humour and empathy creates a genuine connection with listeners.  Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift provides relatable content, informative discussions and expert insights – along with a balance of anecdotes and entertainment.

Shiftheads - How Two Teens Turned Family Game Night into a Business

Multiple Olympic opening ceremonies replace the single stadium tradition you remember. You're tuning in to watch Italy's Winter Olympics opening. It's happening in four different places simultaneously. You get to see part of the parade, not all of it. You watch some of the spectacle, miss the rest. Remember when everything happened in one stadium? When it was THE place to go, like the Super Bowl but for the opening ceremony? That's gone. The question: does spreading it across four locations welcome more people in, or does it fragment the experience so nobody sees the whole thing?

The hosts defend it as necessity and spectacle. Paris spread their Olympics across the entire city with performances at the Eiffel Tower and Versailles, creating a showcase of France. Italy faces a unique problem: the Olympics aren't in one space, they're in two major cities. Picking one would be unfair, like divorce parents fighting over custody. The compromise: scatter the ceremony. But here's the tension: for TV audiences, multiple locations show more spectacle and serve as tourism plays for cities that paid massive amounts to host. For people who remember the unified stadium experience, it feels like you're watching pieces of something that should be whole.

This might also be the first AI Olympics the way Vancouver 2010 was the first social media Olympics. AI could change how performances are measured, how data gets collected on athletes, how cameras capture 360-degree photo finishes. Two years from now at LA Summer Olympics, whatever seems cutting-edge today will look primitive. Italy as a winter destination wasn't obvious until you remember the north sits on the Alps. Next time you watch: are you seeing a unified ceremony or marketing materials from four competing tourism boards?

Topics: multiple Olympic opening ceremonies, Italy Winter Olympics, first AI Olympics, Olympic tradition changes, spectacle versus unity

Originally aired on 2026-02-02

Multiple Olympic opening ceremonies replace the single stadium tradition you remember. You're tuning in to watch Italy's Winter Olympics opening. It's happening in four different places simultaneously. You get to see part of the parade, not all of it. You watch some of the spectacle, miss the rest. Remember when everything happened in one stadium? When it was THE place to go, like the Super Bowl but for the opening ceremony? That's gone. The question: does spreading it across four locations welcome more people in, or does it fragment the experience so nobody sees the whole thing?
The hosts defend it as necessity and spectacle. Paris spread their Olympics across the entire city with performances at the Eiffel Tower and Versailles, creating a showcase of France. Italy faces a unique problem: the Olympics aren't in one space, they're in two major cities. Picking one would be unfair, like divorce parents fighting over custody. The compromise: scatter the ceremony. But here's the tension: for TV audiences, multiple locations show more spectacle and serve as tourism plays for cities that paid massive amounts to host. For people who remember the unified stadium experience, it feels like you're watching pieces of something that should be whole.
This might also be the first AI Olympics the way Vancouver 2010 was the first social media Olympics. AI could change how performances are measured, how data gets collected on athletes, how cameras capture 360-degree photo finishes. Two years from now at LA Summer Olympics, whatever seems cutting-edge today will look primitive. Italy as a winter destination wasn't obvious until you remember the north sits on the Alps. Next time you watch: are you seeing a unified ceremony or marketing materials from four competing tourism boards?
Topics: multiple Olympic opening ceremonies, Italy Winter Olympics, first AI Olympics, Olympic tradition changes, spectacle versus unity
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-02

Let The First AI Olympics Begin

Pet names friendzone signals happen before the relationship conversation does. You're trying to figure out if someone's interested. Listen to what they call you. Tedesco deliberately calls women "dude" when he wants them to know it's friendship only. Kirsch notices when romantic partners shift to "bro" or "buddy" and interprets it as disrespect or distance. The language isn't neutral. It's communicating relationship status whether you realize you're sending that message or not. What are you accidentally saying?

Here's Kirsch's test: does your romantic partner call you by your real name during intimate moments? She finds "Jen" offensive and formal because it signals they're not close enough for affection. Nobody's called her "Jennifer" since before kindergarten, so hearing her actual name from someone she's dating feels wrong. The top five pet names are babe, honey, baby, sweetheart, love, but custom ones from unique situations matter more. Tedesco's "Pookie" felt special compared to generic "babe." The problem: your private cute nickname might be publicly mortifying. Kirsch called her partner "Baby Hook" until a band offered to improvise a song about it and she realized strangers would interpret that very differently than intended.

Confidence determines what language you tolerate. Younger Kirsch got offended at "bro." Current confident Kirsch laughs at it because she doesn't take herself seriously anymore. But body nicknames stay dangerous regardless. Tedesco called an ex "Little Ham" in Italian (Prusotina) for her bum, acknowledges it's not appropriate in public. Names should come from positives, not insecurities about body parts. The signal you're sending matters more than your intention. Every time you use someone's real name instead of a pet name, you're creating distance. Every time you say "dude," you're drawing a boundary. Are you doing that on purpose?

Topics: pet names friendzone signals, romantic language, couple nicknames, relationship communication, dating boundaries

Originally aired on 2026-02-06

Pet names friendzone signals happen before the relationship conversation does. You're trying to figure out if someone's interested. Listen to what they call you. Tedesco deliberately calls women "dude" when he wants them to know it's friendship only. Kirsch notices when romantic partners shift to "bro" or "buddy" and interprets it as disrespect or distance. The language isn't neutral. It's communicating relationship status whether you realize you're sending that message or not. What are you accidentally saying?
Here's Kirsch's test: does your romantic partner call you by your real name during intimate moments? She finds "Jen" offensive and formal because it signals they're not close enough for affection. Nobody's called her "Jennifer" since before kindergarten, so hearing her actual name from someone she's dating feels wrong. The top five pet names are babe, honey, baby, sweetheart, love, but custom ones from unique situations matter more. Tedesco's "Pookie" felt special compared to generic "babe." The problem: your private cute nickname might be publicly mortifying. Kirsch called her partner "Baby Hook" until a band offered to improvise a song about it and she realized strangers would interpret that very differently than intended.
Confidence determines what language you tolerate. Younger Kirsch got offended at "bro." Current confident Kirsch laughs at it because she doesn't take herself seriously anymore. But body nicknames stay dangerous regardless. Tedesco called an ex "Little Ham" in Italian (Prusotina) for her bum, acknowledges it's not appropriate in public. Names should come from positives, not insecurities about body parts. The signal you're sending matters more than your intention. Every time you use someone's real name instead of a pet name, you're creating distance. Every time you say "dude," you're drawing a boundary. Are you doing that on purpose?
Topics: pet names friendzone signals, romantic language, couple nicknames, relationship communication, dating boundaries
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-06

NEW - The Nickname That Just Friendzoned You

Weird news stories pile up in your feed. You scroll past the Italian church where an amateur painter made an angel look exactly like the Prime Minister. Tourists disrupted mass to photograph it. Past the Nebraska school that locked down because a rodeo cow wandered onto campus. Past the company selling a revolutionary phone without social media apps.

The Meloni cherub wasn't intentional. An amateur painter touched up a Basilica fresco and captured Italy's Prime Minister's face so precisely that locals recognized it instantly. People lined up disrupting services. Meanwhile in McCook, Nebraska, the same emergency protocol that protects kids from actual threats got triggered by livestock. And Clicks Communicator is selling phones that just make calls, buttons you can feel, zero apps.

This isn't about strange news. It's about gaps between what we built and what actually happens. The next time your phone autocorrects you into nonsense, remember that 'smartphone without AI' is now innovative. That's progress realizing it ran past the exit.

Topics: weird news stories, viral moments, phone addiction, technology regression, modern absurdity

Originally aired on 2026-02-06

Weird news stories pile up in your feed. You scroll past the Italian church where an amateur painter made an angel look exactly like the Prime Minister. Tourists disrupted mass to photograph it. Past the Nebraska school that locked down because a rodeo cow wandered onto campus. Past the company selling a revolutionary phone without social media apps.
The Meloni cherub wasn't intentional. An amateur painter touched up a Basilica fresco and captured Italy's Prime Minister's face so precisely that locals recognized it instantly. People lined up disrupting services. Meanwhile in McCook, Nebraska, the same emergency protocol that protects kids from actual threats got triggered by livestock. And Clicks Communicator is selling phones that just make calls, buttons you can feel, zero apps.
This isn't about strange news. It's about gaps between what we built and what actually happens. The next time your phone autocorrects you into nonsense, remember that 'smartphone without AI' is now innovative. That's progress realizing it ran past the exit.
Topics: weird news stories, viral moments, phone addiction, technology regression, modern absurdity
Originally aired on&nbsp;2026-02-06

Shiftheads - How Two Teens Turned Family Game Night into a Business

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