PODCAST

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast

Jason Ek

Welcome to Stuck in the Middle - the podcast about the music, movies, and culture of Generation X.

society & culture music history

All Episodes

43:14

Captains of Industry

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/10/02

Will Gen X ever truly “arrive”, Slackers? With the Boomers basically holding on to power with every bit of strength they have left and the Millennials seemingly leapfrogging us, when do we get into those top power positions? While we have not made the impact in the political sphere that I would like, we have several members of our generation seated at the heads of many well known corporations. Unsurprisingly, many of them are in the tech field.Sure everyone knows Elon Musk, but did you know that

68:51

Scandals!

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/09/25

This is a scandalous episode, Slackers!While we see a new scandal hit the news seemingly every day, this is nothing new. This week I take a look at the biggest scandals of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.There are tawdry affairs, criminal activities, murder, mayhem and much more!Names like Madonna, Jane Fonda, Roman Polanski, Jerry Seinfeld - and yes, even way back in the 90’s, Sean Combs - they all had their fair share of scandals making the front page news. To think that back then “social media” was

63:48

Gen X Filmmakers - Part 1

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/09/18

Sure, everyone has heard of Coppola and Scorsese and Spielberg. But those guys are two silent generations and a Boomer!What about those Gen X filmmakers that have really made an impact on Hollywood? It turns out that there were way more notable directors from our generation than I had originally expected. This is only part one.Part 1 covers those directors born between 1965 and 1969. You may recognize names like Michael Bay, Wes Anderson, Antoine Fuqua, James Gunn, Zack Snyder, and Denis Villeneuve

48:48

Time Warp - '74, '84, '94

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/09/11

Let’s take a trip into the past, Slackers.What was happening in the world, 30, 40, and 50 years ago? Was the world that different of a place?On this episode, we take a look at the economy, the political climate, top TV shows, music, movies, and general pop culture from 1974, 1984, and 1994. While many things are different, the general themes of the day never seem to change all that much. Between election year craziness, dark times with war, terrorism, and crime, it all seems so familiar.I’m sure the

55:21

One Season TV Shows

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/09/04

Time to access the memory banks, Slackers.A few weeks ago we covered one hit wonders, but what about those one season TV shows? Why does a show that was barely on our TV screens have such a strong imprint in our memories?Regardless of quality, shows like Misfits of Science and Manimal have somehow endured in pop culture. Was it because they were actually terrible, were they any good, or were they just a product of their time? They were probably terrible, but some shows that only got one season

57:45

Gen X Loves A Good Comeback

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/08/28

Who doesn’t love a comeback, Slackers?Many huge stars of the 80's & 90's had their careers stalled at some point. Some due to substance abuse. Some had legal issues. Others just made poor business decisions. While for many, Hollywood just no longer viewed them as bankable stars.One example is Winona Ryder. Ms. Ryder was one of the most popular and successful stars of the late 80’s and early 90’s. But after an arrest for shoplifting, her career came to a grinding halt. After year of smaller

60:37

One Hit Wonders - 80's Edition

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/08/21

All it takes is one, Slackers.One hit is all a band really needs to leave a lasting impact on music history. More importantly, one hit song can sustain a band for many, many years. The so-called “one hit wonders”, have often found lasting success, just from fans wanting to hear “the big one”. Now the main source for this episode didn’t exactly vet their information - shame on me for not vetting their information! Some of the artists mentioned have actually had one, if not several additional hit

55:31

High School Cliques

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/08/14

Where did you fit in, Slackers?Were you a jock? A nerd? A theater kid? Or did you just kind of blend in? Some of us were definitely rockers, with a side of dragger, and some geek mixed in. Maybe you were a drifter? Or maybe, just maybe, you were a punk/goth?It’s strange to think how little of this was in our control. We liked what we liked, wore what we wore, and hung out with the people that made us feel comfortable - at a time in our lives when many of us were really unsure of where we fit in. At

61:55

WW4: Revenge of the Whatever Wednesday

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/08/07

Howdy, Slackers!The Whatever Wednesday has returned. What does that mean, you ask? It means a muddled mass of disparate - but still Gen X related - topics.We have some less than stellar health news, both my own and of our whole generation, a little retirement talk, a Gen X icon continues being both inspiring and cringey at the same time, we discover which demo rules the box office, and some of the big concerts tours for Summer 2024.Oh, and some college kid went off on Blink-182 for

58:25

The 1984 Olympic Games

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/07/31

USA! USA! USA! One thing about getting older that kind of sucks is not being as excited about things as we did as kids and young adults. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched any of the 2024 Olympics - but as a kid, the 1984 games in Los Angeles was a major event. I can remember where I was that summer and some moments are forever etched in my memory.I clearly remember the amazing Carl Lewis dominating, Mary Lou Retton becoming “America’s Sweetheart”, Greg Louganis sweeping the diving events, and the men’s

68:01

Stephen King - 70s & 80s Film Adaptations

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/07/24

Heeere's, Johnny!Everyone knows author Stephen King. And while I have read many of his books, purely based on my age, I saw the movies adaptations long before I started reading his novels.It is crazy how quickly Hollywood caught on to his work. His first novel was Carrie, published in 1974 - resulting in his first movie treatment just two years later - followed by the TV mini-series Salem's Lot in 1979. That one gave me nightmares for years!From this point on, King's published works we almost

59:32

Another Gen X Icon Gone Too Soon

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/07/17

It's been a somber week, Slackers.The world has seemingly gone crazy, and we lost a true Gen X Icon - Shannen Doherty.Her career is filled with movies and TV shows that were a part of our childhood into young adulthood - from her early role in Little House on the Prairie, the family drama Our House, the cult classic (and one of my favorites) Heathers, the Gen X primetime soap opera, Beverly Hills 90210, another cult classic in Mallrats, and finally her starring role in Charmed - Shannen Doherty was

53:07

What's in a (Band) Name?

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/07/10

What's in a band name, Slackers?Isn't amazing how some bands can have the absolutely stupidest name and go on to sell millions of records? I mean, who thought FOO FIGHTERS was a good name? Certainly not Dave Grohl, who once said it's "a stupid f'n name"!On this week's episode I'll break down some of the oddest names for bands that had some measure of success, in spite of - or is it because of - the name.We're talking about ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK, OINGO BOINGO, and of course BUTTHOLE

60:34

BRATS: The Documentary

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/07/03

The past can be a difficult thing to face, and in the documentary “BRATS”, Andrew McCarthy tackles his past head on.Through interviews with other members of the “Brat Pack”, McCarthy explores the impact that being part of this group of super famous, but very young, movie stars had on their lives.While some viewed being labeled part of the “Brat Pack” as a negative influence on their careers, others found it to be a positive experience. It is interesting how the documentary serves to chronicle a

71:03

1994: A Great Year for Music

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/06/26

It’s been 30 years, Slackers! After watching a studio performance by WEEZER, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their amazing debut record, I looked into what other music dropped in 1994. Holy cow, that was a pretty good year for music! Records from RANCID, THE OFFSPRING, and GREEN DAY all came out in 1994, moving past the “grunge/punk” aesthetic into the pop-punk era that would drive the later shift into emo.Under the mainstream radar, were bands like BLACK TRAIN JACK, DOG EAT DOG, and LIFE OF

53:10

UHF Television

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/06/12

Time to adjust the old rabbit ears, Slackers!This week is dedicated to the old ultra high frequency television channels of our youth. Kids these days have no idea what VHF or UHF even mean, because even broadcast TV went digital in 2009! But we had two dials, one on top and one on the bottom.The cool stuff was always on the lower dial and in New England we had channels like 25, 38, and 56. Some of my fondest memories are of watching TV on Saturday afternoons - after the cartoons were over - and

62:17

Late Night Talk Shows

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/06/05

Here’s Johnny, Slackers!Starting all the way back in 1954 with the Steve Allen led “The Tonight Show”, there has been a steady succession of late night talk shows - and hosts. What is so surprising is how much behind the scenes drama occurred, particularly when it comes to that “Tonight Show” gig.Starting with the retirement of Johnny Carson, much has been said about the internal struggles at NBC, ultimately leading to the departure of Dave Letterman from the network after not getting the “Tonight

64:27

Browsing r/GenX

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/05/29

Hey, Slackers! This is one of those, “I couldn’t decide on a topic” episodes - so why not take a look at the latest posts on r/GenX?If there is a social media platform that feels both morbidly right and intuitively wrong for Gen X, Reddit is the one!I tried to keep it light - because you can go down some dark paths on that site - and it was mission accomplished. Some nostalgia, personal anecdotes, music, movies, a little bit of everything, really. Just what you would expect from r/GenX!

65:45

BON JOVI

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/05/22

Raise your hands, Slackers!After being prompted by a listener to check out Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story, this week I give my thoughts on this legendary band and try to answer the question, “were they a hair band or just lumped in with them”?This is actually a really good question, and to be honest, it’s hard to ignore the time in which they broke through, the sound of albums like Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, and the bands they toured with, when making that assessment. I think a case

53:57

Jingle Time!

Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast ·

2024/05/15

I don't wanna grow up, Slackers!This week is dedicated to the some of the best jingles from the 70s & 80s. I don't know about you, but I consider jingle writing to be an art form. Some of these are instantly recognizable and many actually occupy a place in my jaded little heart. From the Toys R Us theme to the the classic "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke", many of these jingles have stood the test of time. Sure, they were written to help sell some consumer goods, but when the songs are this

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