👾 Ready to deep dive into the Gen X zeitgeist?

On this episode of Stupid Gen X Tricks, we’re breaking down what makes our generation tick. From movie matchups like Heathers vs. High Fidelity to the secret sauce behind nostalgia bombs like Stranger Things, we cover it all.

We’re joined by authors Melissa Lenos and Kevin Ferguson, whose upcoming book Generation X: The Popular Culture that Defined the MTV Generation offers fresh insight into how our formative years continue to echo through pop culture today.

We get into:

🎧 Mixtape romance & Ducky dilemmas
🎤 Mariah Carey, creative control & camera angles
🧨 Authenticity, apathy & selling out
🛼 Latchkey freedom & Gen X identity
🌀 Plus: wormholes on swearing science and Errol Morris’s Interrotron

Like, subscribe, skywrite—and stay tuned for our next big guest: Daily Show honcho Daniel Radosh. 🕶️😎

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Opening Banter

00:31 Defining Gen X Through Movies

01:05 Welcome to Stupid Gen X Tricks

01:30 Exploring Gen X Culture

05:47 High Fidelity and Gen X Identity

09:38 Special Guests: Authors of Gen X Culture

12:31 Gen X Nostalgia and Cultural Impact

29:52 Rock the Vote and Political Engagement

33:38 The Art of the Mixtape

37:17 The Melissa Story and Gen X Naming Trends

37:43 Hidden Tracks on CDs: A Nostalgic Discovery

38:54 Mix Tapes and Teenage Memories

40:53 Gen X Culture Today: Severance and John Hughes

45:23 Debating Gen X Media: Ducky and Reality Bites

49:40 Latchkey Kids and Free-Range Childhoods

01:03:18 Errol Morris's Interritron and Documentary Filmmaking