Season 2 has officially entered its guest era.

Meet Ally Prescott (aka Tango)! Jamie met them at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee and immediately thought they'd be a great addition to the pod. Tango is a graphic designer and gamer and has been gaming competitively since a young age.

At the start, we spend a completely reasonable amount of time discussing a deeply unsettling Furby-adjacent creature sitting on Tango's shelf. From there, it's old usernames and some convention chaos before getting into Tango's gaming journey.

From borrowing (ok, stealing) her brother's Team Fortress Classic account to sinking thousands of hours into Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch, Tango shares how grinding ranked can quietly turn into burnout. She also talks about navigating competitive gaming as a woman—always having to prove you belong, gatekeeping, and straight up harassment.

The takeaway? Find your people, mute the trolls, and if competitive gaming is making you miserable, it's probably time to log off and touch some grass.

You can find Ally online as @squashwaffle and SoggyTango.

In this episode:

• Tango's Peepy
• Peepy's theme song
• Sea of Thieves (game)
• Party Animals (game)
• Propnight (game)

Have a suggestion for our next episode? A burnout story to share? Send us a text!

Support the show

The Burnout Collective Podcast is hosted by Jamie Young and Rebecca McCracken.

New episodes every other Tuesday anywhere you get your podcasts!

Join our Discord community: discord.gg/ZwBjbmVfAF
Follow us on our socials: linktr.ee/burnoutcollective

Music track: Snap Your Fingers by Aylex
Source: https://freetouse.com/music

*to the tune of Conjunction Junction* Executive function…what’s your dysfunction?

That’s right. In this episode, we’re diving into executive dysfunction—time blindness, impulse control, and decision paralysis! Oh, my!

We talk about different coping mechanisms we’ve used in our lives (like doom piles and body-doubling) and how we’ve built some pretty elaborate accommodations for ourselves (making things feel more novel). But not only do those systems not work for everyone, sometimes these systems we’ve patched up with duct tape and toothpicks eventually collapse.

Then, what?

Well, we can't promise we have that answer. But we can promise you're not alone. So, come be not alone with us. (And find out more about our new business venture!)

Have a suggestion for our next episode? A burnout story to share? Send us a text!

Support the show

The Burnout Collective Podcast is hosted by Jamie Young and Rebecca McCracken.

New episodes every other Tuesday anywhere you get your podcasts!

Join our Discord community: discord.gg/ZwBjbmVfAF
Follow us on our socials: linktr.ee/burnoutcollective

Music track: Snap Your Fingers by Aylex
Source: https://freetouse.com/music

This one's for the ladies. But fellas? Listen closely.

On this episode of The Burnout Collective, we unpack how perimenopause collides with burnout—especially for neurodivergent women—starting earlier, hitting harder, and making ADHD/autism symptoms like brain fog and sensory overload feel cranked to over 9000.

Rebecca describes being dismissed by doctors until an endocrinologist ran labs showing near-zero estrogen, then shares the greatest hits of those “Am I dying?” symptoms: night sweats and hot flashes, general rage, forgetting words, hair loss, and libido changes. Rebecca also talks about how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) helped so much…it was like night and day.

We rage about all the misinformation we get about women’s health (if we even got any growing up) and insist on better education, self-advocacy, and doctors who actually listen. You shouldn’t suffer in silence for years. You shouldn’t feel like you’re going crazy and not know why. And you should know you are definitely not alone.

In this episode:

• Perimenopausal symptoms in women with and without ADHD: A population-based cohort study - PMC
• Understanding Perimenopause, ADHD, Autism, and AuDHD: A Comprehensive Guide for Therapy - Upward Behavioral Health
• “A perfect storm”: Autistic experiences of menopause and midlife - PMC
• Current treatment options for postmenopausal vaginal atrophy - PMC
• MenoVest™ | Empower Menopause Support
• The Splash Blanket (aka sex blanket)
• The Blanket With an Opening | Hunny Labs

Have a suggestion for our next episode? A burnout story to share? Send us a text!

Support the show

The Burnout Collective Podcast is hosted by Jamie Young and Rebecca McCracken.

New episodes every other Tuesday anywhere you get your podcasts!

Join our Discord community: discord.gg/ZwBjbmVfAF
Follow us on our socials: linktr.ee/burnoutcollective

Music track: Snap Your Fingers by Aylex
Source: https://freetouse.com/music