The Latchkey Kids

Listen this week as Aaron and Dr. Amy go SCRIPTLESS and play a wild game of 1980s pop culture word association! What comes to mind when you think of senior prom, favorite teachers, or BFFs? Also, are you ready for another Latchkey Kids True Confession? This one has to do with certain misdemeanor crimes Aaron may or may not have committed at the local Thrifty grocery store.

Which is the more talented, good-looking, and successful pair of siblings: The Batemans (Justine and Jason) or Aaron and Dr. Amy? Learn the answer to this question - and also whether or not Ricky Schroder is still riding around on his mansion train - on this very special sequel on child stars of the 1980s. And also ... does anyone remember gleeking?

The 1980s were truly a Golden Age for child stars. We had the diminutive, wisecracking Gary Coleman, the precocious yet worldly Drew Barrymore ... and who can forget cute little Ricky Schroder tooling around on his mansion train with his blonde hair waving in the breeze? But where are all these kids now? Some of their stories (Corey Haim and basically the entire cast of Diff'rent Strokes) are...

The 1980s was a transformative time for Broadway musicals. With the spectacle of The Phantom of the Opera, the unbridled joy of La Cage aux Folles, and whatever the heck was going on in Cats, Broadway was bigger, better, and more expensive than ever! But, unfortunately, all of this grandeur was completely lost on Aaron, who is the type of person who eats baked beans out of a can.

Can you believe it's been FIVE YEARS since The Latchkey Kids showed up in a DeLorean and took over the world of 1980s nostalgia podcasts? Join Aaron and Dr. Amy as they share some of their favorite fashions, music, and celebrities of the 80s, and take a look back at some favorite Latchkey Kids moments from the last five years.

As the 1970s came to a close and disco was pronounced officially dead, the music world stood on the cusp of great change in 1980. The world had not yet been introduced to the genius of Prince, the many bracelets of Madonna, or MTV (which would debut in 1981), but Michael Jackson was beginning his solo career, Ozzy Osborne forged a path beyond Black Sabbath, and bands like The Clash were redefining...

Have you ever wanted to start your own cult? In this episode, Aaron and Dr. Amy research the many cults of the 1980s, hoping to learn more about what makes them tick, and the many steps needed to convince a large group of people that its necessary to wear color-coordinated outfits while preparing for the impending global apocalypse. Are you ready to join the Latchkey Kids Cult yet?

Remember in the 5th grade, when they would separate the boys and the girls, and give everyone an extremely uncomfortable and rudimentary overview of human sexuality? Well, in Aaron and Dr. Amy's family, this was about the only "sex talk" we ever received, and along with Judy Blume and whatever we heard from our extremely knowledgable peers, it made up the entirety of our sex educatio...

Do you have a guilty pleasure movie? The 1980s were chock full of movies - like Ishtar, Mac and Me, or Leonard Part 6 - that maybe sounded appealing ON PAPER, but were complete and total flops at the box office. For Aaron, the pinnacle of 1980s bad movies is a certain cult classic that involves Lea Thompson (Marty McFly's mom from Back to the Future) making out with an animatronic duck.

In this second installment of the "Bad Entertainment" series, Aaron and Dr. Amy turn their attention to the almighty television (aka our babysitter and third parent)! Of course, we all love and still fondly remember classic TV shows of the 1980s like Cheers, The Golden Girls, and Dallas ... but what about the BAD TV shows? Does anyone remember Small Wonder? Or The Brady Brides? Or Supert...

For a description of this week's episode of The Latchkey Kids, please click this link: https://tinyurl.com/yx4kxfm6

Over the years, the great people of Great Britain have exported a great many things to the USA, including the Beatles, Yorkshire pudding, and sexy but difficult-to-maintain automobiles like the Jaguar. But perhaps Britain's most influential export is the unabashed silliness of Monty Python. Do you - like Dr. Amy - have a favorite Monty Python quote you like to use in semi-appropriate situation...

If you're a regular Latchkey Kids listener, chances are you've experienced the following scenario: you and your spouse/sibling/urologist have been chatting away and (INSERT RANDOM CELEBRITY HERE) comes up in conversation. And straight away, the question on your mind is ... is that person still alive? Well, in true Latchkey Kids tradition, Aaron and Dr. Amy have turned this question into a...

Alternative titles for this truly wild Latchkey Kids exploration of drugs and alcohol in the 1980s include "Blood Is Thicker Than Zima" and "Only Commit One Crime at a Time." Cheers, everyone!

Under normal circumstances, education was the LAST thing children of the 80s wanted when they sat down with their bowls of cereal to watch Saturday morning cartoons. But tucked in between Inspector Gadget and Thundercats was a little slice of learning called Schoolhouse Rock! In short bursts, these musical cartoons accomplished their goal of teaching America's youth about adverbs, astronomy, a...

For all the archeologists in the Latchkey Kids audience, we have a question: when you are seeking important artifacts from world history, how common is it to experience tumbling boulders, pits of snakes, deadly spikes, blowgun attacks, and high-speed car chases? And also ... do you all wear fedoras to work every day, or is that look just for weekends?

Were you a 1980s metalhead? Were you rockin a mullet, faded jeans, and a black T-shirt proudly displaying your love for Metallica, Guns N' Roses, or Motorhead? If your musical tastes go a little harder than Tiffany and Debbie Gibson - or if you really want to hear Aaron perform an inordinate amount of terrible singing - today's episode is the episode for YOU!

It's the 1980s and the OG of TV talent shows - Star Search - has invited you to compete for the grand prize! Ed McMahon has introduced you and the spotlight is bright! What talent will you be sharing with America? Singing? Dancing? Stand-up comedy? Spokesmodeling? Whatever you choose, make sure you come in second place, because that's where stars are born.

When you were a kid growing up in the 1980s, which superstar athlete did you love the most? Did you want to master the floor routine for a perfect 10 like Mary Lou Retton? Did you want to be like Mike? Or did you, like Aaron, pretend to catch Super Bowl touchdowns by tossing throw pillows into the air and jumping into an overstuffed bean bag chair?

From the coming-of-age classic 'Stand By Me' to the dreamy fantasy world of 'The Princess Bride' to the GOAT of all rom-coms 'When Harry Met Sally,' Rob Reiner's films always emphasized humanity, and the breadth of human emotion. Join Aaron and Dr. Amy as we celebrate the life of one of the world's most unique and talented filmmakers.

As we start off a new year full of hope and promise (?), it's time to hop in the DeLorean with Aaron and Dr. Amy as we head back 40 years to January 1986! Join us as we relive the music, movies, toys, and cultural events that made that month so special, including Dr. Amy's PTSD-inducing experience of being home sick from school on the day of the space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Yikes!

Picture this: it's a random Thursday night in 1983, and you have an hour to kill before your parents kick you out of the living room to watch Simon & Simon. What do you do? Well, you consult the TV Guide, of course! This most important of sacred texts will soon let you know what's happening on the latest episodes of Gimme A Break, Family Ties, and Magnum, P.I., so that you can optimize your TV...

What are your time-honored holiday traditions? Do you bedazzle your Christmas tree with scratch-off lottery tickets, like Aaron's family? Do you leave personalized awards for neighborhood light displays like Dr. Amy? The 1980s were a simpler time, when all we had to do to ensure a perfect Christmas was listen to "Last Christmas" by Wham! 9,000 times and watch all of the very special...

In 1972, as the Vietnam War wore on, a military-themed sitcom debuted on CBS. M*A*S*H was based on the 1970 film of the same name, which was based on the 1968 novel "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors." The show featured an ensemble cast of characters who drank and flirted and played pranks on each other when they weren't tending to casualties and otherwise experiencing the daily...

PARENTAL ADVISORY: This episode, which contains references to gerbils, rib removal, and certain questionable sexual practices, is not approved for all audiences, including Best Friend Doug, Jake, Mimi and Kristin, and ESPECIALLY COUSIN JANA!