WHO REMEMBERS? The UK Nostalgia Podcast

Was life really better in the 90s? For once, we try to argue the opposite. In this anti-nostalgia episode, we each pick five everyday things that are better today than they were in the 90s. 

Things we debate:

• Holiday photos: online posting vs. an evening trapped looking at someone’s slides
• Shazam, and the lost art of humming a song at a mate
• Getting a taxi, from ringing a firm that never answered to tracking your driver on a map
• Arranging to meet people, and why plans meant more when you couldn’t cancel by text
• Maps, sat nav and Google Maps vs. the A to Z and the family argument in the car
• Instant facts, and whether the internet killed the great pub argument and the urban myth
• Catch-up TV, and the days of taping Sopranos and begging someone to record it
• Modern cars vs. the Mini Metro
• Light bulbs, which may be the most undefeated argument in this episode
• Never being bored, and whether having everything on tap is actually a good thing

Get in touch: [email protected], or find us on X and Bluesky at @WhoRemembersPod.

We rank the top 10 board games we played as kids, from Snakes and Ladders to Chess, with Mo Money Meakin joining us. Which childhood classic takes number one: Cluedo? Trivial Pursuit? Or something else? We also cover the Atmosfear VHS game, the Mousetrap setup nightmare, Go For Broke, honourable mentions like Hero Quest and Key to the Kingdom, and some Monopoly house rule arguments. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you'll remember most of these. 

Live from a caravan in Chapel St. Leonards, its the annual Who Remembers Roadshow and we go through your comments on the last few episodes. And yes, there is plenty of karaoke....

In this episode:

• Your Apple reviews, the Guinness Book of Records feedback, and the ongoing complaint that Andrew is too loud 
• First celebrity deaths you remember, the 1974 Guinness Book of Records, and whether cheetahs are getting slower
• Dream jobs that made sense when you were a kid: farmer (thanks, school career test), chef, fireman, skier, red coat
• Which TV show would you kill off? 
• Controversial TV follow-ups: Benny Hill, Heil Honey I'm Home and some Chris Morris Blue Jam
•  80s v 90s girl bands 
• Ricky Gervais vs Grant Bovey, the Comic Relief boxing match, and the real question: who is Britain's hardest comedian? 
• Your horse and dog shit stories.
• A 9/11 retrospective request, and whether Liam actually been to France for a day
• Caravan holidays, the state of seaside arcades, and the best fish and chips on the coast
• Pub observations: a gang of lads, and a man dressed as Hulk Hogan who was meant to be the Lorax
  
  ALL THAT AND MORE!

Have you ever been completely certain something happened, only to find there's no evidence it ever did? This week we go through the UK Mandela effects and false memories we can't shake, and ask whether anyone else remembers them too.

Topics include:

• A Radio 1 DJ who was sacked for a nuclear bomb prank. 
• The Rainbow innuendo episode.
• Drew from Neighbours and the drugs storyline.
• Was Doc Brown Marty McFly's uncle in Back to the Future?
• Walkers crisp packet colours. 
• Blue Riband or Blue Ribbon? 
• Newsround déjà vu.
• Goal music putting the away team off at Bramall Lane.
• Did Bob Geldof ever say "give us your f*ing money" at Live Aid?

If you remember any of these, or you can explain where we've gone wrong, get in touch. We'd love someone to say "I know what you've done there."

Contains strong language.

The World Cup of One Hit Wonders is back — and this time it's the Noughties under the microscope. We are joined once again by returning guest Adam Follett as we seed one-hit chart bangers into a 32-team tournament 

Songs featured (by group)

Group A: Zombie Nation-Kernkraft 400, Alexander Rybak – Fairy Tale, Lumidee – Never Leave You (Uh Oh), Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
Group B: Gary Jules – Mad World, Three of a Kind – Baby Cakes, Sam Sparro – Black and Gold, Cazals – Jerk It Out
Group C: O-Zone – Dragostea Din Tei, Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition, Hoobastank – The Reason, Phantom Planet – California
Group D: Rui Da Silva – Touch Me, Daniel Powter – Bad Day, Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms), Liam Lynch – United States of Whatever
Group E: Bodyrockers – I Like the Way, Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me, Las Ketchup – The Ketchup Song, Steve Brookstein – Against All Odds
Group F: Sweet Female Attitude – Flowers, Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah, Frankee – F.U.R.B., Tomcraft – Loneliness
Group G: Vanessa Jenkins & Bryn – Islands in the Stream, The Bravery – Honest Mistake, Metro Station – Shake It, Scantie Sandwich – Because of You
Group H: Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks, DJ Pied Piper – Do You Really Like It?, Nizlopi – JCB Song, I Monster – Daydream in Blue

Link to playlist 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3DuY0ZeWxMbvFSK173QFuQ?si=cb1afb14d54c40e1

It's a Rankers episode! We count down the top 10 celebrity scandals of the 1990s — from British tabloid stitch-ups to full-blown transatlantic media storms. Along the way we cover OJ Simpson, Bill Clinton, Hugh Grant, George Michael, Richard Bacon, David Mellor, Jarvis Cocker and Michael Jackson, Charles and Diana, Sinéad O'Connor, Robert Maxwell, Glenn Hoddle, and Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee — but who takes the crown as the biggest scandal of the decade?

 A trip back to the 90s, for anyone who remembers when a newspaper could destroy a career overnight. 

Andrew and Liam grab a battered copy of the 2020 Guinness World Records and go full "human encyclopedia" mode, tracing the book back to its 1955 origins as a way to settle pub arguments (top marks to founder Sir Hugh Beaver) and asking whether it still means anything now that you can just ask an AI how many pigeons fit in a wheelbarrow.

In this episode:

• The Guinness Book of Records vs Guinness World Records name change (and why it still counts as nostalgia)
• Norris McWhirter, human encyclopedia, and the records that got banned for being too dangerous — hunger strikes, longest kiss, gluttony records, and more
• A full tribute to Record Breakers, Roy Castle's 43 broken records, his upside-down trumpet playing, and the Chris Akabusi/Cheryl Baker/Linford Christie presenter lineage
• Three favourite records each, including: the most dogs in a conga line, the world's highest-ranking sheep (yes, really), giant knitting needles, the most M&Ms eaten blindfolded with chopsticks, and 65 concrete blocks broken on one head in a minute
• A genuinely uncomfortable detour into the "most prolific serial killer" record and why it was pulled, then reinstated
• Verdict: has the Guinness Book of Records had its day?

Get in touch: [email protected] | Twitter/X: @WhoRemembersPod | Bluesky: @WhoRemembers Pod 

This week we count down the jobs we actually wanted as 80s and 90s UK kids and how each dream got crushed. On the list: Beano illustrator (derailed by undiagnosed dyspraxia), policeman, bedroom video game coder, carpenter, goalkeeper, pilot (colour-blindness ended that one fast), UK Top 40 host, fireman/PE teacher, record shop worker, and civil engineer.

Plus: Helen Sharman's school visit, Peter Shilton appreciation, and eight hours a day of Andy's Records' Top Ten on loop.

Content warning: this episode discusses TV shows containing racist, offensive, and adult content, including material some listeners may find upsetting. Please check the chapters if you'd rather skip specific sections.

A different kind of episode this week — we take a look back at British TV shows that got made, aired, and in some cases ran for years... and ask whether any of them could exist today.

Covered in this episode:

• Heil Honey I'm Home — the notorious Hitler sitcom pulled after one episode
• Racial sitcoms of the 70s — Rising Damp, Love Thy Neighbour, Till Death Us Do Part — and the line between satirising bigotry and platforming it
• Benny Hill and the saucy-postcard humour of British TV's biggest ever export
• Banzai and its shockingly ill-judged betting sketches
• Chris Morris's Jam and Brass Eye — TV built to make you question whether you should be laughing
• There's Something About Miriam and the ethics of reality TV built on deception
• Fat Families, Shattered, and the shows that pushed contestants' physical and mental limits for entertainment
• Naked Jungle, Topless Darts, and the "lads' TV" era
• The Black and White Minstrel Show — one of British broadcasting's most uncomfortable legacies
• Minipops and Jim'll Fix It — shows whose reputations were forever changed

Not for kids, and not for everyone — but could still be fun.

It's your monthly dose of listener feedback! We work through your Apple reviews (Review), comments, and messages on everything from the 80s and 90s One Hit Wonders tournaments to the UK Caravan Holidays episode, the Unsolved Mysteries deep dive, and the fallout from their World Cup Review.

In this episode:

• A shout-out to Green Bay Blade, the lone Apple reviewer who came through
• Plans for a Champion of Champions one-hit-wonder tournament, with listener wildcards including Mental As Anything's "Live It Up" and The Dream Academy
• An update request on "the Sainsbury's bailer guy" 
• Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo, and the mystery of his invite to Scott and Charlene's wedding
• Caravan chaos: static vs. towed, Donkey Derby disputes and a dog-crap double disaster in Ingoldmells.
• The Dodleston Messages, Keith Chegwin's echoing cave fart, and a listener campaign for a full BBC Micro Computers episode
• Fallout from a viral World Cup clip that got us blocked and added to someone's "clickbait" list

 All (most) of your comments, being read out in our trademark remembering fashion