Episodes
The show dedicated to all things TWINS
Episode 1: Pilot
Julie and Katie introduce themselves and delve into their unique relationship growing up as identical twins and what it has meant to them. They also give listeners a sneak peak into future episodes.
Episode 2: Twins in Hollywood - part 1
In part 1 of this two-part episode, Julie and Katie sit down with Julie's friend (and fellow identical twin), Jo, to discuss Hollywood's portrayal of twins and share some of their favorite twin movies and TV shows. Topics include:
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How accurate are certain movies' depiction of twins?
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Twins on TV - Wrigley's Doublemint twins
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Why are twins in movies either treated as one person who do everything in unison or portrayed as complete polar opposites?
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Julie, Katie and Jo weigh in on their experience as twins compared to society and Hollywood's view on twins
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Jolayn Stein
Read More:
Articles/Movies/TV Series referenced in this episode, include:
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Doublemint Twins: https://www.ninjajournalist.com/entertainment/doublemint-twins/
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Twinsters: Available for rent on Prime Video.
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Twin Falls, Idaho: Available to buy on Amazon
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Sister, Sister: TV series
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Netflix's Living With Yourself with Paul Rudd
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The Island (Sci-fi Thriller, about clones): Available for rent on Prime Video
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Three Identical Strangers, Documentary: Available on Amazon Prime
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Harry Potter movies
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Parent Trap: Available to rent on Amazon Prime
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Full House, Modern Family: TV series using twins to play the part of
singletons. -
The Shining: Available on Amazon Prime
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Liv and Maddie: TV series, Amazon Prime
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I Know This Much is True: HBO series with Mark Ruffalo
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Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Jolayn Stein
Performing Twins, 1976
Episode 3: Twins in Hollywood- part 2 (Halloween Special)
This is part 2 of our "Twins in Hollywood" episode, which is our Halloween Special. The twins continue their interview with Julie's friend (and fellow identical twin), Jo Stein. For this very creepy episode, the twins discuss cultures where twins are feared as evil, Hollywood's portrayal of twins as scary, strange twin stories in the news, the Nazi's experimentation on twins during the Holocaust and bizarre coincidences between twins.
Hosts & Guests:
Read More:
Articles/Movies/TV Series referenced in this episode, include:
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Eva Kor, The Holocaust Twin Experiment survivor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCVZPSzTqZU
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Article on current day beliefs that twins are evil: 'They ensure each twin baby dies': the secret killings in central Nigeria: The Guardian. Fri 19 Jan 2018
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Article on town in Nigeria where twins are celebrated: Nigeria's twin town: Igbo-Ora has an unusually high birth rate of twins. BBC News. 27 October 2018
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Three Identical Strangers, Documentary: Available on Amazon Prime
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The Shining, Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Written by Steven Kin:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
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Japanese sisters certified as world's oldest twins at 107, The San Francisco Chronicle
Episode 6: Dr. Nancy Segal, Twin Expert
Julie and Katie talk with Dr. Nancy Segal, Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and Director/Founder of the Twin Studies Center, to discuss the results of their DNA test and what these results mean for them genetically and relationally with each other. The twins also talk with Dr. Segal about her twin research and most recent book, Deliberately Divided, which delves into the heartbreaking cases of twins purposely separated at birth and secretly studied by researchers and psychoanalysts.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Nancy Segal, PhD
Read More:
To learn more about Dr. Segal and her research or the documentaries mentioned during the episode, please see the following:
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Dr. Nancy Segal's Website: http://drnancysegaltwins.org/
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Dr. Nancy Segal on Twitter: @nlsegal
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Deliberately Divided on Amazon: Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart: Segal, Nancy L.: 9781538132852: Amazon.com: Books
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The Twinning Reaction Documentary: watch on Facebook DocPlay: https://www.facebook.com/DocPlayNow/videos/1726325600855679/
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Three Identical Strangers: Available on Hulu for free to subscribers or to rent on Amazon Prime or Apple TV: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7664504/
Episode 4: Raising Multiples - part 1
In this two-part episode, Julie and Katie interview Danielle Holaday, mother of quadruplet boys. Danielle's stories of struggling with infertility, and then finding out she was pregnant with multiples, and what her life has been ever since will both shock and delight you. Her joyful personality combined with unique insight and wisdom make this already amazing story one you won't want to miss.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Danielle Holaday
Episode 5: Raising Multiples - part 2
This is the second part of our interview Danielle Holaday, mother of quadruplet boys. In this episode we get to hear more about Danielle's life raising multiples, what the first few days and months with four newborns was like and what their life is like now that the quads are in school and making their own friends. This is probably our favorite episode to date.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Danielle Holaday
Episode 7: Twins Who Work Together
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Dani Charee
Lisa Frey
Julie and Katie sit down with identical twins, Lisa and Dani about their close bond and freaking people out at work at their various jobs (and riding a tandem bike to get there!). The two sets of twins discuss how spending time together is what feels most natural. For Lisa and Dani, twins are a family affair: Dani gave birth to fraternal boy/girl twins just three weeks before this interview and they have a TON of twins throughout their family tree. The twins also speculate about choosing husbands that subconsciously remind them of their "biological" other half. It's a twin pow wow you don't want to miss!
Episode 8: Twin Talk with Jess and Jo
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For this episode, Julie's friend Jo returns, this time with her identical twin, Jess, who is out visiting from the U.K. Julie and the twins talk about what twinship means to them, funny questions people have asked them, and much more. The sisters also play a round of "How Well Do you Know Your Twin?" and ponder how the famous quote, "Comparison is the thief of joy" relates to the experience of being twins.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Jo Stein
Jess Dinsdale
Episode 9: Professional Tennis Twins, Allura and Bella Zamarripa
Julie and Katie talk with 19-year-old identical twins Allura and Bella Zamarripa about their tennis careers and how being twins gives them a competitive edge playing professional women’s tennis (especially when playing doubles). The twins currently play for the University of Texas.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Allura Zamarripa
Bella Zamarripa
Episode 10: Twins in LOVE Series - Part 1: Married to Twins - what’s that like?
​For the first episode of their "Twins in LOVE" series, Julie and Katie bring their husbands on the show to weigh in on what it’s like being married to twins. This might be our favorite episode yet! The men had some interesting insights on how being married to a twin affects them. Plus: The twins read some very intriguing fan mail from twin sisters who have found love in an unusual way. During the wrap-up, Julie and Katie also read a message from a fan (and fellow twin) who shares in their excitement over their upcoming trip to Twinsburg, OH for the Twins Days Festival, where Twintopia will be recording their one-year anniversary episode!
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
David Doak
Derek Rayner
Episode 12: Twins in LOVE Series - Part 2:
Interview with twins Arlane and Delane
and their husbands
​Together with their husbands, identical twins Arlane and Delane from Louisville, Kentucky discuss everything from kids to wine and how the two couples operate together as one big team.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Delane Bracken
Arlane Taylor
Episode 13: How Well Do You Remember Our Childhood?
In this episode, Julie asks Katie 10 questions about their shared childhood and youth, to see if they remember things the same way. The twins also prepare for their upcoming trip to Twinsburg, OH where they've been granted media clearance to cover the event for the podcast and share what their costume will be for the twin parade. Plus, exciting news about former Twintopia guests, the Zamarripa twins!
Hosts:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 14: The Birthday Episode
Julie and Katie celebrate their birthday together and reflect on their favorite celebrations growing up and why being together on their special day is important to them; Katie reads Twintopia fan mail from listeners describing their memorable twin birthdays.
Hosts:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 15: Twinship Love and Loss -
A special interview with twin Kim Alameida Vialpando
​On this special twin episode we interview our high school friend and fellow identical twin, Kim Alameida Vialpando, who shares her joy in being a twin and getting to raise twins of her own; she also talks about how being compared affected her and her sister Kelly growing up and the struggles they (and their mother) have had with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Be prepared to laugh and cry in this super-sized special episode... we could have talked to Kim all day.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Kim Vialpando
Episode 16: Twin Royalty
Identical twins Heather and Christina were the Twins Days Festival 2021 queens. With 21 years invested in past festivals, they are able to give Julie and Katie helpful tips on how best to enjoy their first ever visit to this year's festival coming up in August. Plus, during the wrap-up, the twins discuss additional thoughts on some of their recent episodes.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Christina Luebke
Episode 17: Twins Days Festival - Julie and Katie go to Twinsburg!
​For this very special, super-sized episode, Julie and Katie go to the land of twins... the largest twin festival in the world... the TWINS DAYS FESTIVAL in Twinsburg, OH! You won't believe what they saw and the fellow twins they met while they were there. This podcast is about ALL things twins and the festival is also about ALL things twins, so it was the perfect place for Twintopia to go...and what an experience it was! This festival has been on Katie's bucket list since we saw it on television as little girls, so hooray for once-in-a-lifetime trips!! Plus, Julie shares some fun facts on Twinsburg and the history of the festival. If you've ever been curious about what it would be like to be surrounded by over 2,000 sets of twins, take a listen! Julie and Katie will tell you all about it!
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 18: The Anniversary Special
Katie and Julie celebrate the 1-year anniversary of their podcast by playing more amazing interviews from fellow-twins at the Twins Days festival about what the twin experience means to them. Twin interviews include:
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Eric and Jason, twin comedians and business owners from Pennsylvania
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Elizabeth and Victoria
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Brianna and Brittany
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Jaquada and Laquala
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Charles and James
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Julia and Marla
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Nathan and Adam
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Ava and Olivia
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Simmie and Sammie
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Morgan and Camille
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Dianna and Deanna
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Bridgett and Jessica
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Olivia and Ava
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Elizabeth and Victoria
Julie and Katie take a poll to find out what is the dumbest question people ask twins.... AND "Is twin telepathy real?" The results of these polls were almost 100% unanimous. We also find out why twin birth order is an important factor among twins at the Twins Days festival (and why Katie might have been right in her suspicions about this subject from day 1 of our podcast!)
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 19: Is there a twin gene?
In this episode, we interview twins Miriam and Sarah, who have twins running rampant throughout their family tree (both identical and fraternal), which begs the question: Are geneticists wrong about the heredity of twins? The ladies also discuss whether or not you should marry someone who doesn't get along with your twin. You can probably guess what we would say about that, but take a listen to this fascinating conversation between two sets of twins.
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Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Sarah deBoer-Hjort
Miriam Flannigan
Episode 20: The Name Episode
​What's in a name? In today's episode, Julie and Katie ponder the meaning of names and whether or not our personalities live up to our chosen names. Do you like it when twins have rhyming names, like "Brenda and Lynda" or sound similar like "Joseph and Josiah"? Is Katie's son happy she named him after her twin sister? Julie does a deep dive into the name "Katie" as well as the name "Julie," and also discusses the naming trends societies cycle through over time and how you can predict how old someone is based on their name (for example, if your name is Nancy, you're probably age 70 or older); and lastly, Julie shares her feelings on the tragedy that has occurred to anyone named "Karen."
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 21 - The Ghost Episode
For our Halloween episode, Katie and Julie interview twins Kristy and Jenny who lead a paranormal investigation team called Soul Sisters Paranormal. As a bonus, Katie joins the recording from the New York Public Library (in honor of the movie Ghostbusters). This insightful interview might just change forever the way you think about ghosts.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Kristy Sumner
Jenny Sumner
Read More:
Soul Sisters Paranormal - SoulSistersParanormal.com
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"Twinsburg" Gucci Show -
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University of Cincinnati freshman part of Gucci 'Twinsburg' show at Milan Fashion week article from WLWT5, OHIO
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Gucci Twinsburg Collection - Gucci.com
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Katie Recording from the New York Public Library
Episode 22 - The Honorary Twin
Twin enthusiast, J.W., discusses with Julie and Katie why he is so fascinated with twins and has over 100 sets of twin friends. J.W. was presented with a medal and the title of "Honorary Twin" by some of his twin friends and makes an effort to attend the twin festival in Twinsburg, OH each year. He has become a huge part of the twin community. Later, the twins discuss their thoughts on the recent news headlines about identical twins who won a lawsuit against their former college who accused them of cheating on an exam.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
J.W. Calinger
Episode 23 - Listener Poll: How Important is it to look alike?
​Julie and Katie wondered what lengths their fellow twins are willing to go in order to look alike, so we took an online poll and the Twintopia community had lots to say about the subject. Would you have plastic surgery if your twin did? Would you change your hairstyle? Listen as we share their stories and opinions as well as our own.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner
Katie Doak
Episode 24 - The Doppelganger Episode
In this episode, Julie and Katie discuss the phenomenon of look alike strangers and how scientists are now discovering that most Doppelgängers (aka "twin strangers") share similar DNA.
Hosts & Guests:
Julie Rayner