GenX Stories

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Apparently GenX Women are "Queenagers" now. Oh HELL, no. This week on the podcast we take a crowbar to the label and everything behind it: corporate age discrimination, tokenism vs diversity, Hollywood's woman issue & how they are dealing with it, and the media's habit of "discovering" women over 50 who've been here the whole time. Plus meet our (not-so) new guest co-host who you will be hearing a lot more from. For the love of Pat Benatar, don't even think of skipping this one.

Episode links

• What is a ‘Queenager’?
• Halle Berry on Drew Barrymore Show
• Anne Hathaway and Tom Cruise’s new movie
• Female film & tv producers
• Hello Sunshine
• Reese Witherspoon's Speech at Glamour's 2015 Women of the Year Awards
• Reese Witherspoon’s Book club
• Nicole Kidman Has Now Worked With 27 Women Directors in 8 Years; She Urges ‘Financial Mentors’ to Invest in Unknown Female Filmmakers and ‘Take a Risk’
• Women Over 50 on TV: Don’t Call Us Golden Girls
• Is Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s agelessness the real trick of Practical Magic 2?
• Women over 50 in music
• Whoopi Goldberg & All women sports network
• Geena Davis Institute
• Erykah Badu’s Queenager era
• 50 Women over 50

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Since we last saw you, a lot has happened: AARP published us in their magazine. Everyone listened to our drunk episode (ouch). Court and Chris's kids went off to college. Lori mastered the lazy river. And Eve broke some plates (creatively, of course). 

Oh - we also have a brand new merch store you’re gonna go nuts over (yes, seriously).

So what could possibly follow all that in our first episode back? 80s trivia, with questions from Lori and our Facebook group. Duh.

Get your "ding" ready, 'cause season eight starts right now. Brace yourself.

Episode links

• Our NEW store!
• Our drunk episode
• AARP’s The Girlfriend online article featuring us
• AARP Print Mag page
• Eve’s mobility scooter
• What is the rapture?
• Eve’s Chicken Mosaic
• Mosaic tools
• The 80’s trivia game Lori used
• Season 2 episode where Chris shares his love for Mary Tyler Moore

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The crew is all here for a completely unscripted, barely coherent, deeply sincere Season 7 wrap-up. And yes, we're getting drunk. (Well, maybe not all of us.)  Expect the usual but even better: meandering tangents, unsolicited hot takes, deeply felt assertions on stuffed animals and confessions about drunk scooting. Oh, and potential  equipment damage.  Pour yourself something tasty & press play. You know how this goes.

Episode links

• S7 Ep: Kiss, Marry… Wait, What Are the Rules Again?
• S7 Ep: The One Where Gen X (sorta) raises Gen Z
• S7 Ep: The soundtrack of 1983
• S7 Ep: Trick or Trauma? GenX Childhood “fears”
• S7 Ep: Burying more than our feelings: the time capsule episode
• Forest Lawn Cemetery
• Our First Episode together
• When Chris said he loved Mary Tyler Moore
• S7 Ep: The Episode when we decided we were Vagtastic
• S7 Ep: The episode we had to pivot to the sex talk

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Creativity peaking in your 50s more than your 20s? Yup, that tracks. This episode digs into what that actually looks like and it's got nothing to do with taking a pottery class or learning how to square dance. (again.). 

You know that we rarely do guests on the show BUT when a fellow Gen Xer (Laura LeBleu) channels her creativity into a gorgeous, 90+ page, three-times-a-year print magazine - for us, by us - we make an exception. While we're a little divided on its controversial name - Geezer - we're totally sure of this. Creativity in every form is a way to "kick ass in our second half". Tune in today.  Or not. Whatever. 

PS - we even have a discount code for YOU! GXS15 gets you 15% off a Geezer subscription here: https://www.geezermagazine.com/subscribe

Episode links

• At What Age Does Creativity Peak?
• Creativity peaks in your 20s and 50s
• Indulging in the Arts Is Proving to Have Major Health Benefits. Could Creativity be a Hidden Longevity Hack?
• Creative Reinvention in 50s and Beyond
• Jane Pratt Substack

Geezer Magazine Info

• Geezer Magazine
• Geezer Substack
• Geezer IG

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Congratulations, you've found the one podcast episode that finally settles whether extraterrestrial life exists. Spoiler: we don't know either. 

Thanks to Lori, we're talking aliens this week -  the pop culture kind, the Cold War paranoia kind, and the-cops-told-Eve's-mom-in '58-it-was-a-weather-balloon-but-it-was-definitely-not kind. From Close Encounters to Alien to ET to Project Hail Mary to things on the moon in Roman times, we have ALOT of thoughts. New episode. Stuff to hear. You know what to do.

Episode links

• Aliens and UFOs still fascinate. ‘Project Hail Mary,’ ‘Disclosure Day’ are proof
• How Steven Spielberg Pitched Project Hail Mary's Close Encounters Easter Egg
• Alien.gov mystery grows after White House says 'Stay tuned'
• Neil Dregrasse Typson’s point of view
• NASA and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
• What Really Happened at Roswell?
• What is Area 51 and what goes on there?
• Why So Many Aliens in Pop Culture Look Familiar
• How pop culture has shaped our understanding of aliens
• The most memorable pop culture aliens and extraterrestrials
• The 40+ Most Famous Alien Characters of All Time

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Ever wondered what happens when an entire cruise ship full of Gen Xers decide to relive the greatest decade? Wonder no more. 

In this week's episode, we're taking you aboard the 80s Cruise - where the fanny packs are unironic, the hair is big, and the hits just keep on coming. 

We're talking live concerts, old-school heartthrobs, neon everything, and a crowd that still knows every single word to every single song. Whether you're a die-hard cruise lover or someone who swore they'd never set foot on a ship, this episode may have you reconsidering your stance fast. 

Plus we have a kick ass guest sitting in with us  who just came back from her second 80s cruise and is already signed up for her third (and planning for her 4th so she can offically “graduate”.)

So is the 80’s cruise totally rad or totally bogus? Listen now and you can be the judge.

Episode links

• 80’s cruise official website
• Best Moments of the 2025 80’s cruise
•  The 80s Cruise: Why A Music Theme Cruise is the Best Party at Sea
• Videos from the 80’s cruise
• Instagram for #The80scruise

Reada Kessler info

• Instagram
• Threads
• Facebook
• WTOP Radio
• WTOP Profile
• Telling the traffic story with Reada Kessler

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Before Google Drive, Gen X processed artifacts the way we handled most everything else: by burying it and hoping future people would care. Yup, you guessed it - this episode is all about time capsules — a concept so ironically Gen X it practically comes with a side of Twinkie and the sense of impending doom. From bicentennial school projects we definitely forgot about, to NASA flinging a gold record into deep space like 'here, aliens, have some Chuck Berry,' to Nickelodeon's pop culture treasure trove sitting somewhere underground until 2042, get comfy.  We have a ton to talk about. Tune in like, NOW.

Episode links

• A Brief History of Time (Capsules)
• Time in a Box
• Blasts from the Past: 7 Cool Historical Time Capsules
• 30 Interesting And Cool Historical Time Capsules
• Time capsules are more popular than ever, as Americans take history into their own hands
• How to create a time capsule
• Andy Warhol’s Time Capsules
• For America’s 250th Year, a Time Capsule to Stay Buried for 250 More
• How engineers designed the America250 time capsule to last a quarter millennia

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From Lorde going full existential on Tears for Fears to Johnny Cash making Nine Inch Nails cry to Luke Combs taking us for a ride, it's time for some real GenX talk about cover songs. 

This week we're going deep on interpretations of the music we grew up on. and duuude. We have opinions. Beacause what do you mean the songs we love were ALREADY covers?

Be a fly on the wall as the podcast gang debates what makes a cover work (or spectacularly fail), while trying to figure out if these songs are tributes, travesties or nostalgia with a new coat of paint.

Episode links

• All songs referenced in this episode
• Do Cover Bands Pay Royalties: Bringing the Truth to Light!
• QUIZ: Is This ‘80s Song An Original Or A Cover?
• Classic ’80s Songs You Didn’t Know Were Covers
• Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the Grammys
• Dolly Parton hearing Whitney Houstom singing “I will always love you”
• The Best '80s Music Covers You'll Play on Repeat
• Top 20 80s cover versions
• 10 alternative artists who gave iconic '80s classics a modern update
• The Top 10 best metal covers of 80s pop songs

Other Playlists

• Indie covers of 80’s songs
• Best 80’s covers

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Forget everything you thought you knew about "aging communties." The Gen X Stories crew is talking the next step in housing (and it's not your parents' retirement home.) From rethought 55+ communities with actual cocktail bars, co-housing, walkable villages, and yes, converted malls, it turns out our options are way more interesting than a room in a “facility”.

Lori,  Courtney, Eve (and a guest she'worked with 30 years ago at AOL!) break down how Gen X is rewriting the rules of where we live next. Less isolation, more fun, and the best music. Obviously.

Episode links

• Five People in Their 60s, 70s, and 80s Share How They Plan to Age at Home
• Is a 55+ Community Right for You?
• The Villages in FL
• Sex in the village? Why do residents in The Villages put loofahs on their vehicles?
• Leisure World in MD
• Old Malls Are New Homes To Senior Living Communities
• Co-living for women
• 25 Senior Discounts You Probably Don't Know About, But Should

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The Gen X Stories podcast crew gets brutally honest about our sex ed through school classes, books & movies, the AIDS crisis, Dr Ruth and parents who never had “The Talk” with us. You may recognize the funny (and often uncomfortable) experiences that followed, including feeling like needing a federal clearance to buy condoms. PLUS we get into being open about it all with our own kids now. It’s awkward. It’s cathartic. It might make you text your therapist. But hey — at least we can finally talk about it. (although maybe not with our moms...)

Episode links

• Why the Sex Talk with Kids Is a Myth (And What Works Better)
• History of Sex Education in the US
• How AIDS Changed the History of Sex Education
• The History Behind Judy Blume’s Most Controversial Novel, Forever
• When Dr. Ruth Doled Out ‘80s-Era Sex Advice
• Risky Busness Movie Train Scene
• “Where Did I Come From?” book
• “What’s Happening to me?” book- Girls edition
• “What’s Happening to me?” book- Boys edition
• “This is so awkwzrd: modern puberty explained” book

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