In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Fights to the death between clay versions of celebrities? Some of the weirdest but true news stories of the 1970s? My favorite athletes of the 90s? How could so much fun nostalgia be stuffed into one show? Carefully. Episode 158 starts with news stories from the 1970s that are weird for different reasons. Some are hilarious, some are horrifying, some are so bizarre but one thing t...

Send us Fan Mail Getting paid full-time to sit at home for 9 months. The brief resurgence of Swing music in the 1990s. The top-ranked 80s movies as chosen by the people. Episode 157 of the podcast ranges from the unbelievable but true, to the meta nostalgia of nostalgia itself. It kicks off with Restaurant Storytime 9 . In this installment, I tell the tale of being paid full-time to sit at home an...

Send us Fan Mail A sequel to a beloved music festival. The OG of reality TV shows. Some of the weirdest video games Atari could create. Episode 156 of the podcast will combine the warm and fuzzy with the confusing as we travel through the halls of nostalgia. It kicks off with a trip back 30 years. The original Woodstock was a seminal moment of the 20th century. The artists who played it became leg...

Send us Fan Mail Memories of visiting local county fairs. The 1970s teach you about bus safety. Some classic 1970s teen movies. Episode 155 of the podcast is making a pit stop in the swinging 70s. It all starts with the history and memories of county fairs . On Cape Cod, the Barnstable County Fair has been a summer staple for well over 150 years. What makes a classic county fair? Food? Rides? Musi...

Send us Fan Mail 50 years ago in July 1974, Ruth Marie Terry , the woman who would be known as The Lady of the Dunes for most of that time, was murdered and left in the remote dunes of the Province Lands in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Longtime listeners of the podcast know of my connection to this case. I wrote a book, Searching for the Lady of the Dunes , which I released in February...

Send us Fan Mail Don't catch dysentery on the Oregon Trail. What spelled doom for McDonaldland? Some of the most accomplished musicians nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award. Episode 153 brings all the nostalgia you could possibly want. The show kicks off with a favorite memory of many school-aged kids of the 1980s and 1990s. Oregon Trail was more than just a fun game that taught kids to avo...

Send us Fan Mail The anniversary of the OG of found-footage movies, Blair Witch Project. The trailblazing but ultimately failed attempt of the Sega Channel. The best As-Seen-On-TV products. Episode 152 is like an infomercial for nostalgia. We start with the ingenious trauma caused by the Blair Witch Project . 25 years ago this groundbreaking film expertly blurred the ones between fiction and reali...

Send us Fan Mail A look back at the second half of 1994's year in music. Some beloved children's clothing brands of the 1980s. Iconic ice cream truck treats. Episode 151 of the podcast is diving headlong into the Fourth of July weekend with boatloads of nostalgia. It starts with a look at how we dressed in the 1980s . Several quintessential brands adorned countless children of the 80s. W...

Send us Fan Mail It's Listener's Choice as we celebrate 150 episodes of the podcast! All that is a part of this week's show was chosen by you, the listeners. Episode 150 kicks off with a new edition of the vintage employee training videos segment. This time we are going all the way back to 1988 to find out what goes into making pizzas at Pizza Hut . Special drinking game: Have a dri...

Send us Fan Mail The brief time when Boston had it's own music television station. The financial catastrophe of the bursting of the dot-com bubble. The highest-rated television show episodes ever. Episode 149 of the podcast turns up the heat with nostalgia as summer kicks off. As MTV was conquering cable television in the early 1980s a Boston -based radio personality thought it would be a goo...

Send us Fan Mail A pet story that needs to be heard to be believed. The anniversary of the world's most popular Napoleon. Some people who had their 15 minutes of fame in the 1980s. Episode 148 of the podcast is a crazy collection of nostalgic fun. We kick the show off with an anniversary. 20 years ago this week a small, low-budget indie flick burst onto the scene. It was insanely quotable and...

Send us Fan Mail Could a mascot really tank a fast food franchise? Some of the weirdest jobs ever, including ones you can apply for today. The parody stickers Gen-X kids loved. Episode 147 starts June off with some fun and unusual nostalgia. Some advertising mascots become iconic. They seep into the very fabric of our consciousness. Then there's Mr. Delicious . An attempt at an 'adult&ap...

Send us Fan Mail A new battle for supremacy with AI. A time before bloopers and practical jokes went viral. TV shows that were here and gone in the blink of an eye. Episode 146 ushers in the unofficial start of summer with plenty of blistering nostalgia. It kicks off with the return of Blink & You'll Miss It Retro . In this installment, we look at a six-pack of television shows that were...

Send us Fan Mail Sharpening young minds with some 1980s kids' television shows. Melting young minds in the 80s with Tetris. Some television channels that are no longer around. Episode 145 rings in summer (unofficially) as Memorial Day Weekend approaches. The show kicks off with some of the shows that helped teach the youth of the 1980s. Spanning math, science, and overall basic skills there w...

Send us Fan Mail The 30th anniversary of the movie The Crow. Some amazing diet and exercise fad fails of the 1970s. MTV shows that came and went in the 1980s. The very first McDonald's restaurant. Episode 144 will super-size your nostalgia cravings. It kicks off with a look back at the movie The Crow on the week of its 30th anniversary . Marred somewhat by the tragic on-set death of star Bran...

Send us Fan Mail The beloved Sweet Pickles books. Some forgotten 90s musical acts. The most toxic workplace I've experienced. Episode 143 of the podcast has a bit of everything. It begins with the return of a podcast staple, Restaurant Storytime . This 9th installment is a segment 143 episodes in the making. Toxic workplaces are unfortunately all too common. This segment reveals the most toxi...

Send us Fan Mail Celebrating the 90th anniversary of the iconic comedy group The Three Stooges. An educational short film about life in 1800. Some long-forgotten discontinued sodas. Episode 142 of the podcast covers a lot of ground. It begins with a look at the Three Stooges and their legacy in comedy as their very first short film Woman Haters debuted 90 years ago this week. Though it is nearly i...

Send us Fan Mail Was the Winnebago Man truly the Angriest Man In America? Were any of these board games on your family fun nights in the 1980s? How about some of the forgotten 1970s cartoons? Episode 141 of the podcast is unique in a few ways. It includes a first, that being a review of a full documentary, The Winnebago Man . Jack Rebney became a viral sensation in the early days of YouTube thanks...

Send us Fan Mail The rise and fall, and rise again(possibly) of Ames Department Stores. Old school trips to the mall to get professional photos taken. The best-selling Atari 2600 games ever. Episode 140 returns after a week off filled with fun nostalgia. It begins with the story of a Northeast staple for decades. Generations of those who grew up in that part of the United States likely have fond m...

Send us Fan Mail The death of a Gen-X icon 30 years later. Memories of Old Country Buffet plus tips on how to be a meat carver. Some heavy-hitting stores that closed in the 1980s and 1990s. The legacy of TV Guide magazine. Episode 139 of the podcast runs the gamut from heavy to light but is filled with nostalgia. 30 years ago this week the world of music, the world of pop culture, and a generation...

Send us Fan Mail Some of the biggest failures of 1990s products. Some of the most dangerous vehicles ever created. The rise of Napster and the dawn of music downloading in general. The nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island. Episode 138 of the podcast has warm and fuzzy nostalgia, horrific and scary events, some laughs and some head-shaking all in one show. It begins with a look back to the bygone...

Send us Fan Mail Products that were here and gone in a flash. A serious 70s educational short film with some underlying humor. One of the most infamous unsolved crimes of the 20th century. Some of the best long songs. Episode 137 has nostalgia in bloom as the calendar turns to spring. It begins with a look at some products that were here and gone so fast that they barely had time to leave a mark....

Send us Fan Mail Memories of when a trip to the video store was a must on a Friday night. What were the original games released with the Nintendo Entertainment System? How about the bad guys of advertising? Episode 136 is chock full of all of that and more! It begins with a time when renting movies was as much fun as watching them. In the days before streaming and on-demand features if someone wan...

Send us Fan Mail The Goonies as writing inspiration. Urban legends 1980s kids will remember. What music played on MTV's first day? Everyone has their origin story, how they ended up where they are or doing what they are doing. In Episode 135 of the podcast, I share my story of how I first got interested in being a writer. It goes all the way back to 2nd Grade, my favorite teacher ever, and a...

Send us Fan Mail Some of the most memorable commercial jingles of the 90s. A trip back to Cape Cod's beloved Bassett's Wild Animal Farm. Historical Leap Day events. Episode 134 takes a trip back to simpler times. First, it begins with a trip back to the days when a petting zoo was popular entertainment. In the time before the Internet and smartphones, young people had fewer options for f...