Episodes

Cathy and Todd discuss the making of Toy Story, the 1995 film that changed animation forever. They explore the film’s massive cultural impact and the introduction of emotionally complex heroes like Woody and Buzz, who grew up alongside their audience. They also look at the creative forces behind the movie, including John Lasseter’s rise and fall and the way Pixar rebuilt its culture in the wake of industry reckonings. They dive into the random facts, hidden jokes, emotional details, and psycholo...

Cathy and Todd discuss Forrest Gump, a movie they’ve loved for years, one they even saw together when it first came out. They explore how this emotional epic serves as both parable and modern American myth, following Forrest’s innocence through some of the country’s most turbulent moments while Jenny’s life reflects a very different America marked by trauma, rebellion, and survival. They dig into the ongoing debate over whether Forrest Gump deserved to win Best Picture over Pulp Fiction and The ...

Cathy and Todd continue Tom Hanks Month with Cast Away, the 2000 classic that came out just as the world was speeding up with email, cell phones, and the dot-com boom. They talk about how this quiet, lonely movie made such an impact and why it hit so differently in an era obsessed with productivity and control. They go through their categories and favorite scenes to share what makes the movie so memorable, and then “roll in the deep” about what makes it so meaningful – from Chuck’s relationship ...

To kick off Tom Hanks month, Cathy and Todd revisit Big, the 1988 classic that made him a star and reminded us what it means to grow up too fast. The movie blends humor, heart, and magic (and a somewhat inappropriate romance), letting us laugh at the absurdity of adult life while remembering what it felt like to be young. They talk about why Big still matters, why friendship is at the core of the story, and how Penny Marshall’s direction brought depth to a wild premise. They also discuss what th...

Cathy and Todd discuss Se7en, David Fincher’s dark and unforgettable thriller. They talk about how the movie came together from the casting of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman to the decision to keep Kevin Spacey’s role a secret, and how Fincher’s style changed what crime movies could be. They also dig into the story’s moral questions, the infamous ending, and why Se7en still hits just as hard today as it did in 1995. They also talk about how the film shaped Fincher’s career and how the seven deadly...

Cathy and Todd discuss The Haunting of Hill House and how Mike Flanagan turned a classic ghost story into an emotional story of family trauma, grief, and repair. From the houses we grew up in to the ghosts we still carry, they talk about the energy that lingers and the monsters we end up sympathizing with. They discuss why Hill House hit Gen X so deeply, how it flipped horror into therapy, made the supernatural feel like emotional realism, and showed that the scariest hauntings are simply the th...

Released in 2008, Twilight dropped into a perfect cultural storm with Obama’s election, iPhones taking off, emo Tumblr in full swing, and the YA craze exploding after Harry Potter. Catherine Hardwicke’s film felt raw and indie with blue-grey filters, handheld cameras, and the emotional awkwardness of being seventeen. It wasn’t polished Hollywood fantasy; it was sincere and strange, which made it real to the girls and women who saw themselves in Bella’s clumsy intensity. The story of a human girl...

When Scream hit theaters in 1996, horror was stuck in a loop of sequels and fading scares. What made Scream different was its sharp, self-aware, and deeply Gen X voice. It mocked the rules of slashers while playing by them, spoke the language of VHS rentals and MTV, and turned Ghostface into an instant icon. In this episode, we look at how Scream captured a generation’s worldview, why Millennials later made it their own, and how it reshaped horror for everything that came after. Some Ways to Su...

Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty is rooted in Gen X pop culture, taking inspiration from 80s movies to the soundtrack choices that set the mood. In this episode, we connect Belly’s summer at Cousins Beach to the stories that shaped us, from Jane Austen to John Hughes, from Dirty Dancing to Taylor Swift. We’ll talk about the love triangles that defined movies, books, and TV, count down the best song moments ever, and dig into the easter eggs and symbolism that make this show so fun to watch...

Cathy and Todd discuss Netflix’s documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish and how texts and constant accessibility blur the line between connection and chaos. What started as “stranger danger” in Gen X childhood has become “tech danger” in our kids’ phones—cyberbullying, rumors, and anonymous numbers lighting up at all hours. The documentary shows how quickly trust can unravel and how phones have become symbols of both intimacy and manipulation. The deeper lesson is that parenting thr...

Cathy and Todd talk about two 90s political favorites, Dave and The American President, and how they captured Gen X’s wishful politics. From an ordinary guy running the White House with kindness to a widowed president balancing romance and leadership, both films imagined a world where decency could still win in Washington. They explore what these stories meant in the Clinton era, why they still feel good to watch, and how their themes of authenticity, vulnerability, and optimism show up in the w...

Cathy and Todd look at how groups like Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Boyz II Men, and One Direction shaped pop culture and redefined what young men were allowed to sing about. They created space for emotion, love, and vulnerability on stage, but always within a carefully controlled, marketable image. From Lou Pearlman’s factory-style boyband empire to Simon Cowell’s reality TV machine, they explore the rise, the nostalgia, and why boy bands are both cringe and classic at the same time, with Cathy off...

Cathy and Todd explore how 1980s glam metal, later dubbed “hairbands” in the ’90s, fused hypersexual, alpha-male posturing with makeup, teased hair, and flamboyant style, creating a theatrical masculinity that rose with MTV and collapsed with the arrival of grunge. From Def Leppard to Poison, these bands borrowed from femininity while reinforcing traditional masculinity, leading to a theatrical version of toughness built for MTV’s visual era. They discuss the rise, peak, and fall of the genre, i...

Cathy and Todd discuss 9 to 5 and Working Girl, two movies Gen X women grew up on that shaped how we think about work, power, and what it means to succeed. We watched women push through, keep their heads down, and prove themselves in systems that were never really made for them, and we learned to do the same. We’ve told our daughters they can be anything, but we also passed down burnout, perfectionism, and the pressure to keep it all together. Now girls are asking, “Why are we working so hard fo...

Our daughters Jacey, Camryn, and Skylar join us as we explore the themes behind The Hunger Games books and movies and what they say about power, survival, and the cost of being human in an inhumane system. We talk about the Capitol’s need for control, how hope threatens oppression, and what happens when kids are forced to grow up too soon. Plus, we connect it all to parenting—what it means to show up and why sibling bonds matter when systems fail. Some Ways to Support Us Sign up for Cathy’s Su...

Cathy and Todd discuss Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Big Lebowski, two films that ask the same question in totally different ways: what if we just stopped playing the game? They set the scene with the cultural vibes of the ’80s and ’90s including achievement culture, Reaganomics, slacker disillusionment and reflect on how Ferris and The Dude each push back against pressure and performance. From parade dancing and White Russians to teen burnout and existential shrugs, the share personal storie...

Cathy and Todd discuss Stranger Things Season 1 through a cultural, emotional, and psychological lens. They explore how the show’s 80s nostalgia, supernatural mystery, and strong character dynamics reflect deeper themes of trauma, shadow work, friendship, and resilience. Set against the backdrop of 2016 (Cubs World Series Win, presidential election, and personal turning points), they unpack why the Upside Down isn’t just a scary place but a metaphor for the parts of ourselves we avoid, and how l...

Cathy & Todd revisit the rise and fall of Milli Vanilli, one of pop music’s most infamous scandals, and discuss how their story became a powerful metaphor for imposter syndrome. In the late ’80s, image was everything—style often mattered more than substance. They take a look at what happens when performance is rewarded over honesty, and how that same pressure to “fake it” still shows up today: in parenting, work, and how we see ourselves. From cultural deception to personal doubt, this episode d...

Cathy and Todd discuss what 80’s nerd movies like Weird Science and Revenge of the Nerds taught Gen X and what those messages look like in hindsight. They break down how these films centered male fantasies, ignored consent, and portrayed women as tools for male transformation, all while positioning the “nerd” as a misunderstood hero. They discuss the cultural backdrop: Reagan-era ideals, latchkey independence, and a tech world just beginning to take shape. Then they look at how these stories sha...

Cathy and Todd discuss how two iconic shows—The Brady Bunch and Modern Family—reflect changing ideas about family across generations. They look at what made The Brady Bunch groundbreaking in the late ’60s and how Modern Family pushed those boundaries further by exploring race, sexuality, parenting, and identity. They compare how each show handles conflict, humor, and the realities of blending families, whether through remarriage, adoption, or shifting roles. They share personal stories, favorite...

Cathy and Todd explore the rise of 90s grunge and the tragic stories of its most iconic frontmen — Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, and others — whose music reshaped rock while exposing the industry’s deep neglect of mental health and addiction. From the breakthroughs of Nevermind and Ten to the cultural shift away from glam and pop, this show shares how Gen X’s disillusionment found its voice in grunge and what the deaths of its stars teach us about authenticity, vulnera...

Cathy and Todd dive into how 80s pop culture—especially the roles played by William Zabka—shaped Gen X’s early ideas about bullying, power, and masculinity. From The Karate Kid’s Johnny Lawrence to Just One of the Guys’ Greg Tolan, Zabka’s characters weren’t just villains—they were cultural blueprints. In this episode, they explore how these archetypes trained us to recognize bullying as loud, obvious, and physical, and why that old model leaves many Gen X parents unequipped to understand the qu...