Gen X Men Pod

Death is never easy. Funerals are never fun. But showing up to pay your respects and then being asked to help carry the casket? That’s an entirely different experience. Bill went to a funeral and somehow ended up as a pallbearer. He was honored to do it — but a little heads-up probably would have been appreciated. The guys also break down the latest retro comeback: pinball. The flippers. The glass...

It’s Halloween — still one of the best holidays on the calendar. Did you carry a pillowcase or one of those plastic pumpkins to collect your candy? While stores are already gearing up for Christmas — much to the boys’ dismay — Bill and Gary look back at a true Gen X Halloween: surviving those sweaty plastic masks, the old Halloween candy scares, and the question everyone remembers… did anyone actu...

In 2001 the iPod changed how we carried around our music. How we consumed our music--.99 a song on iTunes--and honestly how our music sounded. Yes it is portable. Yes everything is on your phone now. But it doesn't sound better. When CD's came along, the industry was asking listeners to sacrifice portable for playable. The CD is just the digital rendering. 1's and 0's making up the...

The future is here. Gary talks about having AI write a love song for his wife. Bill laments AI (replay) being over used in sports (Hockey offsides nearly a minute after it happens?!). And both guys look at what the future may be like. Bring on the headsets and the interactive talks with Thomas Jefferson in 1776. Will people 40 years from now be able to tell AI from human work? Would you read a boo...

Ditka passed away at 86 the night we recorded this, so we give a look back at the icon. Super Bowl winning player, assistant coach and of course head coach of "Da Bears". Ditka became a cultural icon and SNL with George Wendt (RIP NORM!) Chris Farley and others all discussion "Da Bears" will live on. Loved Ditka. Gary is dealing with all the "leaf peepers" invading Ma...

Gary went to Vegas (eventually) and hit the slots, the sphere and a bunch of really good restaurants. Even a celebrity sighting as well! Get the whole recap and why his son needs to start at a lower level blackjack room before he works his way up to the Vegas tables. It wasn't all roses though. A flight delay had them sitting overnight in Charlotte, which is never a good thing. Also, how is Sy...

That’s right, friends — Gary is taking his son to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday, so the guys talk about turning 21, the idea of a father-son Vegas trip, why Bill has never really been a “Vegas guy,” and whether Gary’s son can actually count cards like he claims. There’s also plenty of talk about blackjack, casinos, and what makes a Vegas trip memorable in the first place. In the second half of t...

The Gex X Men are joined by special guest Susan Morissette, the founder of Heart of American Quilt, a 9-11 tribute started from a small town in Central Maine. No big corporation behind it, no giant PR program. Just one mom of 4 from Maine deciding to find a small way to support after the events of 9-11. The Quilt ended up getting panels from around the world and today if you were to assemble it, t...

The Gen X Men celebrate the beginning of ESPN and stay out late to watch those west coast games. Or Aussie Rules Football. Or Strongman competitions. If it had a scoreboard, we were watching back in those early ESPN days. Now it's all just talking heads and yelling. Speaking of yelling...everyone yelled at Rachel "Ray Gun" after her Olympic performance in Paris back in '24. And N...

Ah, the good old days. Flipping open the Sunday paper, pulling out Parade Magazine and finding gold in the back pages: Columbia House Records and Tapes. Twelve of your favorite albums for one penny. CDs, cassettes, vinyl, even 8-tracks over the years. Sure, you had to buy a few more at full price—but to a Gen X teenager, that first package showing up at the door felt like Christmas. Bill and Gary...

Raygun, the 'Roo hoppin' B-girl stompin' failed break dancer from the 2024 Olympics is back and somehow has a special on Netflix. Not sure who green-lit this idea, but Gary is all in. Bill will wait for the reviews of this trainwreck. It's also, back to school time! Lunch boxes, trapper keepers, NEW SHOES! The glories of back to school shopping and why the kid with the peanut aller...

MTV didn’t just change television—it changed the music business. As MTV celebrates 45 years, Bill and Gary look back at the channel’s earliest days, including the first videos ever played and the surprising mix of current hits, older songs and whatever record labels happened to have available. The guys also discuss how MTV helped “silo” music into distinct audiences and genres, while turning image...

Everyone is clamoring for an "80s summer" or "90s summer" for their kids. The problem? Most parents don't actually want their kids to have a real Gen X summer. Back then there was no supervision. Just bikes, woods, creeks, neighborhood games, and one simple rule:"Don't come home until dark...and don't be late."Then there were the toys...Dangerous toys. How...

The Gen-X men are back. Bill and Gary discuss the trend of documenting every. little. thing. and why Gen X was smarter back in the day for NOT putting pictures to all our various shenanigans. There were SOME pictures, but we weren't documenting our entire lives and then getting busted by social media sleuths. The Coldplay CEO, Russini and Vrabel, Tiger Woods...it seems nobody learned anything...

Rocky. Terminator. Rambo. Commando. Predator. And on and on. The movies are Gen X classics and throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's the two biggest action movie stars on the planet were Sly and Arnold. Both are Hall of Famers. But who ultimately ruled the 80's action? Bill and Gary debate, break down and finally agree on which superstar they would watch if they could only pick 1. Who...

It's here. The Big 2-5-0. Happy Birthday America. The celebration doesn't look like it is going to be all that it should be, but the Gen X Men are talking old school traditions, new school problems and why America just keeps plugging along no matter what that small segment of society thinks. (You know the ones, no matter what happens, they aren't happy). We celebrate 250 years of the c...

You remember. Nervous. Voice cracking. Maybe saying a silent prayer the mom or dad of your crush didn't answer the phone. Dating as a Gen-Xer back in the day was no joke. Cell phones? No way. text her? with what? No. You had to man up, get her number. DIAL the number and then just gut it out depending on who answered the phone. And 3 way calling? The always present worry in the back of your mi...

Oh Hell Yeah! That sound you hear is tons of foreign fans coming to the US...and falling in love with everything. Scottish fans taking over Boston and drinking the city dry. Germany fans making friends with pretty much everyone they come across (JJ Watt, NASA, the ISS!). The US (with Mexico and Canada) are throwing the party and all the naysayers are looking pretty dumb right about now. The guys t...

Ah....summer is here....no more school...nothing but long days and sunshine ahead. If you were Gen-X that meant....probably having a summer job. We (mostly) weren't "get sent off to camp" kids. It was finding a ride to the pool, staying out until dark and watching those glorious game shows in the morning as you ate cereal. Gen-X summers were glorious. They weren't filled with pla...

Top Gun. Ferris Bueller. Aliens. Back to School. Just some of the movies that dominated the summer of 1986. The best summer Gen X had as far as hit after hit? It's up there for sure. Gary is also taking over code enforcement in his small town, so if you want anything built, you better "grease the skids" if you know what we mean. The Amish are on notice! The guys also wonder when the...

Those of us of a certain age remember how wild and wacky 1970's TV could get. Chuck Barris hosting "The Gong Show", Bob Eubanks and "The Newlywed Game." Both created by Barris and both left their marks in the TV history books. This week on the show, Bill and Gary take a look at those two shows with some infamous clips. Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) appearing on The Gong Sho...

Oh boy, the #80snostalgia runs deep in this week's episode. Pizza Hut is coming back in a big way bringing back the red and white checkered table cloths, those amazing red cups and the SALAD BAR! The guys can't wait to drop a few quarters into the Ms Pac Man table top or play any of the classic 80's hits on the jukebox (look it up Gen Z) while waiting for their pan pizza to cook. But o...

Well this was a surprise! Co-host Gary ended up in the hospital this week but at the last second was saved from being gutted open like a fish! It's the harrowing adventure of an EMT ending up on the other side of a emergency room visit, a transfer of hospitals and ultimately good news. But what does it say of the hospitals and health care in the US? Especially in smaller cities and towns like...

Episode 33 goes under the hood of a PR nightmare as crisis communications expert Jonathan Grella joins the Gen X Men to break down the growing Mike Vrabel–Dianna Russini story and why the PR handling has become such a major talking point online. How do stories like this spiral? What should teams, media personalities, and public figures actually do when controversy hits? And in the social media age...

A wild, all-over-the-place episode of Gen-X Men...because we like to ramble! Gary checks out the new "Michael" movie and we take a trip back through some of the biggest moments from the King of Pop and the conversations around them. Maybe we were wrong about some...um..."things" in MJ's past. Bill opens with reactions to Episode 31 (his cancer update) and a broader discussi...