The Rendog Story! Pt 2 | Imp And Skizz Podcast (Ep84) 

we gotta get etho on the pod. even if it's just an audio call, it'd be awesome

“You are only ever home, when you are home" is such a powerful statement, thank you for sharing your story Ren.

"It's not dirt, and I have eyebrows" 🤣 Never imagined that would be the strong start to an episode, but here we are.

I already loved Ren, but after these two podcasts I have even more love and respect for him. Such a dear person.

What I have said about hermitcraft, is Minecraft is the burger and fries. The hermits are the special sauce. Rendog in particular is one of the most refreshing hermits. His content is geeky in nature, but it is also very wholesome and genuine. From his over the top theatrics, to his sci fi inspired story lines and builds. He is the simply the best at what he does. Rendog has created a niche. He does it so well, no one can take his throne. 👑 Ren will always be the king in our hearts. Doc might be the goat, but Ren is the KING. Whether he is the Red King, or the King of Hermitcraft, he deserves to wear his crown. Long live King Ren! 👑

As someone who has struggled with home sickness, I felt this so much. Once you lose your sense of “home” it’s so disorienting… and there is no peace everything exhausts you. What’s worse too is if you stay away long enough… even going back doesn’t feel like home anymore either. Thanks for sharing this Ren.

I love Skizz with the words here… “I don’t want to take away from you being so flippant about it” referring to Ren helping out people of South Africa. Ren’s over here sponsoring kids and seeing their report cards as if it’s nothing. Wow. What a beautiful person. Thanks, Ren. You’re an inspiration.

29:25 The word you are looking for is stoic. Not getting moved by small things, that you cannot control. Inner peace. Sounds about right.

👏👏 👏 I can't say how much this episode has hit me. Ren's stories and outlook on life are so refreshing. This has pulled at my heart so deeply and emotionally in the best ways. As a 40 year old man, I've been feeling the huge urge to resist change. It's definitely time to jump in the river. Thanks for the episode.

As and immigrant from South Africa to the UK, I wholly identify with the feelings shared here. The idea of not being not ever truly being home is a feeling I've felt often, but not been able to put into words quite like how Ren expressed. My family is also spread across he globe which is such an isolating experience, so hearing and relating to someone who has had a similar life to me who I've also looked up to, and am now able to see a portion of myself in, is incredible. thankyou for sharing your story.

I loooove hearing Ren talk about his background in South Africa. I’d love someone to dive in deeper on it, he definitely hinted at being “in a bubble” growing up which I take to mean his experiences on the white side of apartheid. I want to know more!!!

As a South African, who is also Afrikaans. I love Ren so much so when he talks about South Africa I love it so much. Him telling Karelis about a Braai which is amazing. I am from Cape Town and if you get the chance to visit South Africa, visit Cape Town.

54yr old Minecrafter here. Ren, keep doing you! I watch all the Hermits and will continue to do so. You are all entertaining and I think there are a lot of mature viewers who want you Hermits to last forever. How old was TFC? And how many of us enjoyed watching him mine? Tons. Keep going as long as you want to and for as long as you are having fun.

I've been a longtime Joel Smallishbeans fan and Ive always enjoyed the interactions you guys have with each other through his videos but let me just say that after Hermitcraft S10 started, I decided to check out more of Impulse and Skizz's work which eventually led me to this podcast channel, which I now have been listening to everyday while I work at my desk job. And through Impulse and Skizz having other hermits as guests and listening to them talk, I've gained more appreciation of each of their work and efforts and subscribed to Tango, Gem, Ren, and Mumbo since then. Thank you Impulse and Skizz for the amazing hard work you two put into and it's so enjoyable to see genuine friendships and the mutual respect that the Hermits have for each other.

wow, just wow. I listened already on spotify, but came in to leave my little mark here. Such an inspiring and wonderful human being, Ren. This might be one of the top podcasts of all. The river analogy is so fitting, mostly because everyone has their own river, we start with a little creek as we are born, we cross rivers with people we love and at the end we all end up in a ocean of people that lived their life. I have a difficult relationship to my parents, because they didnt want to accept my feelings to another girl, so I moved to the furthest part of my country to seperate myself and live my life. But of course I miss the "home" that Ren talked about. And I think like me moving away felt like my parents kicked me out from the peaceful, loving, slow river I was in and put me in the crazy, new, faster river without them. It was 12 years ago and fortunately I can call this place Im in now home, with the same girl the joyrney started and with our feminine strenght we slowed this river to our pace and it feels warm and nice now. And as Im older I see now that my parents were out of their rivers for so long I think they forgot it even exists, I have left them so far behind now. Im glad I didnt lose my years being stubborn along side them. Thank you guys for this and all of the podcasts, Impulse if you read this: sending so much love for you and Skizz, I hope you let your river meander more, as I think you try to dig so that it goes more straight for stability ;) and Skizz I hope he remembers that his kids are on their river too and believes and trusts that they surely start to make their way on their own in their rivers too. Much love from Poland! ✌🏻

Ren's story about the play and the janitor sketch, and the versimilitude of going out and putting mud in his hair, brought back a flood of memories from a kid's theater program I was in from late elementary through middle school. One year (I think I was in like 5th grade), we did a show about Home, and I was supposed to be playing one of two siblings who were living in a refrigerator box. First scene with me, someone comes up to the box, I open a 'window' in it and yell at them to go away. I'd gotten instruction from the professor not to wash my hair for a few days before the show, but on the actual night I took it a step further and literally tied my hair up into frizzy knots when the other actors couldn't see me; so that when the scene happened and I burst out the window, I looked wild and crazy, and the shock on the other actor's face was real. I haven't thought about that show in probably a decade now. There really is something about Going the Extra Mile in theater that can just make it so good. Thank you guys for bringing that memory back to me.

I haven’t seen many videos of Ren irl, his body language and way of speaking just give me the vibe that he’s such a genuine and sweet guy? It’s been really nice to hear more about his journey and way of living. These podcasts have been amazing. I probably have nothing in common with Imp and Skizz or any of the guests other than minecraft, and it’s been so fascinating to learn about life from other peoples perspectives and gain advice I didn’t even think I needed!

i really like hearing ren talk about his upbringing in south africa. i barely know anything about countries or continents that aren’t europe/north america so it’s very interesting!

"I want as few human beings around me as possible, but I also want to show off all the time" 😂😂😂 omg Ren you just summed up my entire personality. Loved this podcast. Ive been a Ren-fan for a long time and it was so fun to hear even more fun tidbits about him. Ren, thank you for giving back, for your charity work, for sponsoring those kids. You are an amazing and wonderful human being ❤️

I hate South Africa but I love South Africa. I want to leave but I dont want to loose my parents. My brother's left last year forever but I can't leave without my mom and dad. The hardness Ren explained when leaving is real. It is so difficult to abandon your family.

sending love from south africa ! 🩷

As an autistic, chronically ill person change is literally the thing I fear the most. But hearing your perspectives really comforted me in a way I cannot describe. This was such a down to earth gem of an episode. Thank you

As a South African and an avid Hermitcraft fan, I love that we also have someone "like us" :) Dankie Ren!

Ren is someone I could listen to for hours hes got such a cool outlook on life and fascinating experiences, I'm so glad you guys had him on the podcast and would 100% love to see him back in the future. Really great episode!!!

I am from South Africa (Cape Town) living in the Netherlands. Ren took the words out of my mouth... 100% agree with everything he said. Its not easy at all.

Listening to Ren talk about his family being so far brought tears to my eyes. Most of my kids are settling into their adult lives, moving away from our hometown, one moving out of state soon, the last one leaving for college in a few years… and I have been FEELING it lately. ❤

I feel Ren when it comes to feeling hard. I also live a solitary life, and that hardness doesn't come out toward other people. But I think the hardness comes when we're dealing with our own problems. I often say 'If I don't deal with it, it doesn't get done' cause there's literally no one else in the house to deal with whatever has come up. My therapist says that a lot of people like us look around and don't want others to feel the things we feel so in a lot of ways we're even gentler with those around us.

Also adding re: aging and change -- as someone who is older myself, I LOVE having Minecrafters about my age to watch and listen to. It's so relaxing for me.

It's been a long wait... Finally part 2 is here!

I remember this clearly because it was my first time on a hermit stream, and my first time saying something: during a Hermits Helping Hermits, where ren was talking to cleo while they were collecting terracota, I typed "seeing them interact and say nice thin gs about eachother is the BEST" (or something like that lol) and they read it! and Cleo was like "it's so easy to please them!" - but really, I think this is one of the best stuff about these podcast interviews

I moved over 3000km away from my family at 19 for uni and maybe have a chance at a better life than I would have had back home. I started a whole new life in a foreign country with a different culture, wasn't confident in speaking their language and left all my friends behind. I was depressed for a long time, lost motivation in anything I did if I went a long time without an opportunity to visit home. hearing ren share his experiences of going through the same thing both humanizes him for me and makes me like him even more but it also reminds me that I am not the only one who had to go through this. so thanks a lot for sharing ren

Ren being Afrikaans makes me love him even more! I love South Africans. Could listen to him talk all day.

Every once in awhile I find myself getting particularly emotional about these podcasts, but it's always involving things that are close and important to me. Ren's story is just SO POWERFUL that it has caused my eyes to sting and my heart to hurt. You are a really amazing person, and I wish you every happiness and deep fulfillment you can have.

Here's my episodic plea to invite Joe Hills on the podcast! 🙏

Totally understand and identify with Ren's experiences of "hardening." As we grow, we learn to protect ourselves, our feelings, and the desires of our hearts. This is the human experience. But... Ren is a teddy bear. His honesty in these interviews is inspiring.

I saw the thumbnail and was like "what does that even mean lol" but with the context I actually feel that so much. I've never immigrated somewhere permenantly, but I lived on the other side of the world for half a year and that was enough to make me appreciate home 1000x more than I did before. Really interesting to hear that it never really goes away

I never thought I would empathize so much with Ren. I haven't immigrated anywhere (emigrated? Idk which is more appropriate). But moving thousands of miles away from your family and home definitely hardens your heart. And bumping heads is definitely the right way to describe how it can be sometimes

I know a lot of people tell you how much “What’s stopping you” has changed their life so I thought I’d shake it up. The episode “Hard Work” has changed my life. I listen to it often to keep my motivation up. Especially when Skizz said, “Strive to be better than the person next to you.” I repeat that in my head whenever I feel lazy or discouraged. So thank you! If it weren't for these podcasts who knows what gutter I'd be sitting in (emotionally)?

This podcast has been on my mind every day this week!!! So excited thats its heree

Is it too much to want to see a part 3 and 4? This has been one of my absolute favorite interviews and would love to see more of Ren. Keep up the amazing work.

As a Zimbabwean born, South African matured and English settled person, “you’re only home when you’re home” hits deep. Ren you a awesome!

As I'm listening to Ren's take on immigration, I would suggest that rather than thinking of it as a hardening of one self, a better term would be shielding yourself. Moving far from your family is tough, and there is a bit of shielding yourself from the inevitable heartache of not being able to make it to all the birthdays or weddings or funerals or even the weekend family meal. And going into a big move like that it's just good to be aware of what your giving up, not just the excitement of what's to come.

I think what Ren said about learning to be 'hard', I feel like he means being tough, resilient. I never immigrated but I did lose both parents quite young... my Dad when I was 6 and my mum when I was 24, and the rest of my family is remote - there is definitely something about realising you have to stand on your own two feet and not get caught up in the small stuff. It really makes you more mentally tough, in a different way, and that's what I feel as though Ren is meaning.

Man I was not expecting this side of ren you are an inspiration it was refreshing to hear all of this more for power to you ren

I am from South Africa and finishing High School this year. I have been thinking a lot about immigration and whether or not I should leave South Africa. This conversation with Ren was very interesting.

“You are only ever home, when you are home" - so true. not a full immigration story, but i recently (3 weeks ago) moved back to where i grew up and spent 30+ years and everything feels so at ease now.

I'm going to have to watch in 2 parts, but its so great to put a real person with these Hermits. Makes HC even better

Ren, you deserve to have your person, who is just as kind, generous and fun as you and both of you will balance each other out and understand each other. Even create Little ones like you! You deserve the best!

As a Londoner I really enjoyed hearing about the city from other perspectives!

yess part 2, gonna sit down with a cup of coffee and give this a watch

About change, I just want to point out that even though change is inevitable and that we shouldn't try to fight change, we also shouldn't try to FORCE change. If you have done something for a time, and you've done it well, and it's still working very well for you and you enjoy it, you don't suddenly have to think "maybe I should quit this and do something else". Change for the sake of change is bad (Never thought I would quote Delores Umbridge, but there you go 😄). However the moment whatever you do doesn't work for you anymore, you shouldn't fear change. And change doesn't always have to throw your entire life around. A lot of the time just a tiny shift is enough.

Totally on board with another episode of Ren! What a sweetheart and genuine guy…I wish him all the happiness and success in the world and there is a young lady out there who will appreciate a nice guy!

This whole interview with Ren is just fantastic. Huge respect.

Finally my weekly therapy session is here

These episodes have truly warmed my heart. It's incredibly uplifting to witness such kindness in the world. I hope you're able to pay it forward in whatever way you see fit, Ren! Wishing you all the best!

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Ren is clearly a thoughtful and kind person and while I always enjoyed his art, I have a whole new level of respect and admiration for him. The conversation about change hit me profoundly and made me reflect on a lot I had been avoiding. Great episode guys, every guest you have on is wonderful!!

This was an extremely engaging and philosophic episode. Ren is such a great person and story teller, his story is really interesting. And of course Impulse and Skizz are great at keeping things flowing and adding extra insight to Ren's narration. I just watched both episodes, it felt like 5 minutes but lasted 2 hours. Huge props 🫡

I started watching Hermitcraft in season 5 and I've enjoyed every season and have watched so many POVs. This season, so far, has been so real. Seeing you all be yourselves and playing as a group of friends has been so relatable. These pods with the Hermits have been amazing to watch because it gives us a little insight to you all as people and it's been great to been able to relate to people we've watched for all these years. You guys are doing great things! Thanks for all of these!

This is the best episode i've listened to. Don't know how, but Ren has a magical way and I was just fascinated by his stories

That balance of strength and resilience but still caring about things, its quite impressive. A sense of purpose and using love and kindness around to fuel that strength is nice. I personally care a lot, just an unhealthy, medically disabling amount. I love so much, every little thing is precious to me, every life, I used to be more resilient before burnout, now I can't really do too much on my own. I overwhelm quickly, so idk if I could grow a thick skin, but im not sure I want to, its a lot of suffering, and loneliness, but also a lot of beauty and connection, its like I can feel everyone being a part of me... so if I could not sure I would lose that to gain the strength Ren also has In highschool, quite different from other grades, my place in the hierarchy was "legend" not necessarily in the good way, people knew who I was but I didnt know them, they would be so confused by my existence, like I won the dance thing at the winter ball, and I make strange unusual jokes people laughed at most of the time, and I would make strange conversation, and I was a "long-haired boy"... No one knew what to make of it lol (56:43 wow im mentioned in the captions hehe) he really does have that dog in him hehe

As a fellow very light half-eyebrow person, I feel you Ren

I already loved Ren’s content and now love his personality and who he is. He is just a huge inspiration and has such good advice and wisdom.

I have the same eyebrow problem 😭 just half of them and they're very light so you can't see them 🥴

Starting an episode with a smashing of the ol' twig and berries, instant thumbs up. Ren is such a standup guy (aside from when he took a shot to the jewels).

Ren is such an amazing guest!! I love hearing his stories and how extra human he is wherever he is.

My parents are immigrants and we've talked about this before, it can be so hard to not be "home" for so many years. But for them it helped that they had each other and then had us kids. They helped their parents immigrate as well! Hopefully Ren can have a family of his own one day and help fill that hole that only home can fill!

I already loved ren... but now... i love him even more. I understand where he comes from as my dad came from NZ to the Netherlands. Just getting to know the person behind the player is something imp and skizz do so fantastically. Kudos!

Probably my favorite episode of the podcast so far

The shows with Ren have been my favorite interviews so far, and that's saying something! Ren is a phenomenal conversationalist, and the energy and conversation felt very organic. Thank you to all 3 guys, and would love to see Ren on the podcast again!

Ren, you are truly an amazing human! I love listening to you talk especially about South Africa and your family, you have so much passion about it. I really do hope you know how special you are. I hope you get everything you have ever dreamed of in life. You keep being the amazing Ren.

The final episode of Hermitcraft Season 10 for Skizz should be standing on the riverbed next to the pyramid with the decision whether to jump or not.

I think this has been my favorite interview by far. Ren is so incredibly thought provoking and relatable at the same time, I'd love to see another session with him.

As soon as I ran into Ren I have been a loyal fan. I love his energy, love his blunders, love all the videos he has ever created, I just cannot get enough Ren. Thank you imp and skiz for having such an incredible soul spotlighted in your podcast.

I could listen to all three of them talk about nearly anything, I think, with how interesting all of the insights and takes were. I really appreciate how much Ren appreciates fun but doesn't seem to shy from really diving to the heart of things. Thank you for sharing all of this with us!

As a fellow immigrant to England, I brought my home with me. I'm home whenever I'm where they are. Enjoy your visit home, Ren. And much love to your brother. Your parents raised some amazing artists and humans.

As an immigrant in a country far away from "home", Ren is so on point on the struggles, so relatable. "you are only ever home, when you are home" is such a huge statement, and the worst part is that after time has passed, even going back, never feels like home and it torns you apart. Ren has a heart made of gold, and he is such a talented entretainer. Thank you Imp and Skizz for having him.

Ren is by far my favorite guests that you guys have had. I'm not going to lie, I haven't watched him very much due to time reasons. But wow, just wow. So chill, so profound, and tells his stories in such a humble, yet, down to earth way. What an awesome dude!

Speaking of things older than Countries, I remember going to a University for a tour back in 2001 and finding a bunch of newspapers in their collection that were older than Australia...Not to mention seeing the Magna Carta and several of the B&B's we stayed at being older than Australia too...

already can't wait for the music podcast! love the 2 part series w Ren. So inspirational

Ren is one of those hermits that I didn't follow, but enjoy a lot of his work and collabs. This was a lot of fun and so good to get to know him more!!! Thank you for having him on!

21:21 i believe this bond that ren is talking about is part of the reason it's hard to break from abusive relationships ... you feel the "home" dispite any bad experiences so one needs to force a reason to break that invisible bond

I’ve always loved watching Ren. He brings his own style to the game. After watching this video the best phrase I can come up with to describe him is “humble generosity “ Thank you Ren.

I love Imp and Skizz interviewing hermits, because hermits seem to be so genuinely nice group of people. I would love if you guys could have @JoeHills in one of your episodes, because he is also genuinely very interesting character!

This podcast got deeper than I thought.

A week of waiting has finally passed 🎉 Can't wait more, ditching all the plans as I want to watch!

three cheers for Rendog!! thank you Impulse and Skizz for facilitating this awesome episode. so much respect for Ren, thanks for coming on the podcast!

yesssss part 2. oh how we’ve waited patiently🫶🏻

What an absolutely amazing podcast! I have to say, out of every person you guys have had on the show, Ren has been, hands down, the best. Ren, you're so great! It would be 100% AMAZING to get a podcast of you three talking about 90's music! One other note, talking about changing the level of energy of videos: As an older viewer, it's really great to see creators changing their video energy as time goes on. I don't have the patience for half the energy levels I did even 10 years ago, and the change is really appreciated and enjoyable! Thank you guys for such an amazing podcast!

I would love to see a podcast focused on music!

We are meant to change in this life, as freedom of choice is ours, and choice leads to change. We need to learn how to have love, how to have kindness and charity, be peaceful, and as we follow Christ we will have light, hope, and acceptance.

I could listen for another 10 plus hours. Thank you for allowing us into your personal lives. It was so much fun.❤

What an opener😂

Ren said it so well about immigration. I am one myself, in England (for almost has long) and it can be very taxing and lonely missing those left behind, trying to fit in with the new home, but never quite.

I think a good example of when Ren was talking about being scared of changing the content he creates, even in the moment it was happening, was earlier season when Cleo was live streaming and they wandered over to Grian and some other hermits fishing. In that moment they said “I’m streaming. My chat doesn’t want to see me fish.” Then they started fishing and they were shocked at how their chat was eating up the fishing because it was relaxing and they were interacting with other hermits. We get that everyone might want to see megabuilds, but what we want is everyone to enjoy themselves. It doesn’t matter if you fish, if you chop down trees, if you do whatever, just be happy doing it. This was a fantastic episode of this podcast.

Phew what a great episode! Didn’t expect to well up with tears, you guys are so refreshing and relatable and just a joy to watch and listen to. Ren is such a cool human I’m so happy we got to learn so much about him!! 💕

The first half of the interview being YT-related and the second half of the interview being a personal background is such a great format. Really enjoyed hearing Ren’s story as an immigrant and the kicked in the nuts story lol

HO-A-LY CRAP. This is podcast gold. That's shallow in reference to the actual conversation, but it's podcast gold because of the amazing guest, his amazing message, and your amazing hosting and format. A Rendog fan can intimate this personally or behavior, and it's nice to get why one instintually knows this about him. Truly, truly good show you guys! I am a new regular, thank you. It's funny how Minecraft can become so important in our lives in a way that doesn't apply to other video games. It's more than a game. It's a platform.

This was such a wonderful episode on Imp and Skizz. Really. It really hit CLOSE to home.

Your comments about home are spot on for me as well. I have never lived outside the US or even outside of Midwestern states but where I grew up has always been home no matter where I have lived and my parents and brothers are still there and I want to move back.

I would really love to see a part 3 with these three because the rapport between them is just amazing.