Talks in Class

Since it's that time of year, this week we're talking about one of the most important and memorable moments of our teen years: graduation. I reflect on my own senior year, our traditions, the parties, and all the excitement and emotion that surrounded graduation. I also share a few listeners' own funniest memories from senior year and graduation back in the 2000s, including wild pranks...

In this episode we're talking about the golden age of rom coms in the '90s and early 2000s - the good, the bad, and the forgotten. I discuss why I think the rom com formula works so well, the famous rom com stars of my childhood, the many variations of rom coms during the '90s and '00s (from JLo movies to indie rom coms to musicals) and the possibility of a rom com resurgence.

This week we're doing a deep nostalgia dive into the 2001 sitcom "So Little Time" starring millennial teen queens Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. I talk about how deeply influenced I was by this short-lived show, the Fox Family Channel's programming around the year 2000, the girls' iconic outfits, and some of my favorite memories from this show. I also share my top 5 most influen...

We're finishing off our three-part journey through the cultural and fashion evolution of the 2000s with a discussion about the end of the decade. In this episode, I talk about the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on fashion trends and luxury, the odd combination of back-to-basics fashion items and flashy, tacky, neon styles, and the strong '80s influence on fashion at the time. And of c...

Welcome back to part two of our journey through the evolution of fashion & pop culture trends of the 2000s. This week we cover a lot of ground as we dive into the middle of the decade. I discuss the impact of post-9/11 rhetoric on pop culture and fashion, our obsession with celebrity, wealth, and designer labels during this time period, and I share some of the biggest shifts I experienced in f...

Welcome to a new series on the show where we will trace the evolution of fashion and cultural trends throughout the decade of the 2000s. This week we dive in to the Y2K era to discuss how technology, politics, and changing cultural attitudes impacted fashion trends and pop culture. I talk about the feeling of living in the "modern world" in the late '90s, the cautious optimism of Y2K...

Welcome back to part two of my audience Q & A episode! This week, I talk about life before social media, dating in high school, my content creation journey, how the economy and technology impacted millennials' lives, and some of the reasons I got grounded in high school (spoiler: I snuck out a lot). As always, I finish it off with a list: my top 10 favorite things I've uncovered in my...

Welcome to my first mail bag episode where I answer listener-submitted questions! In this episode, I talk about underrated 2000s trends and the ones I see coming back (plus 2000s things that sadly seem dead), social media perceptions, high school memories from the early aughts, and the infamous American Girl warehouse sale in the '90s. And of course, I share some of my most memorable moments f...

This week we're diving into the recent rise in popularity of '90s and 2000s fashion and nostalgia on social media and how the reality of life at that time differs from the current social media portrayal of it. I talk about some reasons for the "inaccurate" representations on social media, my memories of real 2000s fashion, technology, and everyday life, and some of the darker sid...

As nostalgic as I feel for many time periods in my life, there is one that will always make me feel equal parts nostalgia and cringe: middle school. In this episode I throw it back to 1999, when a little 12 year old Jenna started 7th grade, to reminisce on some of the worst (and best) fashion choices, most embarrassing moments, and all the time my friends and I spent obsessing over our crushes. An...

This week we're visiting the 2010s once again, this time to discuss the social (and social media) phenomenon of boutique fitness and luxury athleisure wear that took so many young women by storm - Jenna included. She talks about "wellness" trends, the "girl boss" mentality of the time, and how aspirational social media and a desire for community fueled an obsession with sta...

For 20-something millennials in the early to mid-2010s, Brunch was a lifestyle. In this week's episode, Jenna reminisces on the brunch craze, the social and economic factors that made it so appealing to millennials at the time, the reach it had in pop culture, and reflects on the evolution of the brunch *aesthetic* throughout the decade. She also shares some of her favorite memories (and outfi...

This week, Jenna shares some background (and possible origins) of a few seemingly random, but very universal, millennial experiences ranging from drawing the "S thing" to using the same Y2K school agendas to watching Channel 1 News in high school homeroom.

With so many IRl experiences moving to digital formats now, concerts are one of the few events that still generally rely on an in person audience - but that doesn't mean that the concert-going experience hasn't changed. In this episode, Jenna talks about how the process of securing concert tickets before online shopping was widespread, some of her favorite concert experiences, and counts d...

Happy New Year! We're going back to the most notorious new year of millennials' lives (so far, at least) to relive the excitement of the new millennium and the anxiety about the "Y2K bug". Jenna talks about her memories of conversations about the potential consequences of the Y2K computer problem, what it was, and how it was eventually fixed before the clocks struck midnight on 1...

They say smell is the sense with the strongest ties to memory, so it's no surprise that the iconic scents of our favorite 2000s perfumes and beauty products unlock can feel like they're transporting us through time. In this episode, Jenna talks about some of her favorite Y2K and 2000s perfumes and the vivid memories they unlock.

Media and pop culture has changed so much over the past decade or two, so this week we're taking it back to the '90s and early 2000s to talk about movies, music, and the perfect combination of the two, movie soundtracks. Jenna talks about three different types of movie soundtracks she remembers, some of the most iconic soundtracks of the '90s, and counts down her top 5 most memorable s...

If you were a '90s kid who watched Nickelodeon, there's a good chance you had nightmares about one show in particular: Are You Afraid of the Dark? In this episode, Jenna talks about her obsession with this kids horror show from the early '90s, some of the most iconic celebrity cameos, and counts down her top 10 favorite episodes from the classic show.

This week we're talking more about college life in the 2000s and exploring the culture of excess drinking and partying among college kids at that time. From college party movies like Van Wilder and Old School to activities like Beer Olympics or Tour de Franzia, partying was built into the college experience. Jenna talks about the various ways she and her friends found to party in college (snea...

This week we're talking about iconic advertising from the '90s and Y2K era that became an important part of popular culture in itself. From the Budweiser WASSSUPP commercials that were quoted for years, to GAP Khakis commercials igniting a swing craze nationwide, to scandalous innuendo campaigns from brands like Herbal Essences and Candie's, '90s advertising was definitely memorabl...

Happy one year anniversary to the podcast! We're celebrating with a story time episode where Jenna shares a few of her favorite stories from her teen years as a party girl in the 2000s, including the time she dropped a table on her foot before a Britney Spears concert and the lengths she went to in order to get into a teen dance club in 2003. She also breaks down the best types of parties she...

We're talking about one of Jenna's favorite topics this week: fashion trends. In this episode, Jenna talks about the impact of early social media, the internet, and fast fashion on trends she remembers in the early 2010s, the impact of hipster and business casual fashion trends, gives a rundown of various 2010s hipster subtypes, and counts down her top 5 favorite TV shows for early 2010s f...

Happy Halloween! This week we're headed back to the '90s when kids went trick or treating unattended and the hottest costumes were Spice Girls and Power Rangers. In this episode, Jenna reminisces on the Halloween season when she was a kid and lists some of the most '90s Halloween costumes she can think of.

We're taking it back to the days of bedazzled mini skirts and graphic tees to talk about one of the most influential (for better or for worse) stores of the 2000s, Abercrombie & Fitch. Jenna talks about the popularity of the store, her first experiences with A&F as a tween in the year 2000, other popular A&F brands, and shares stories from herself and listeners about the experience...

We have a special guest for today's episode, Jenna's husband, Joe, a movie-loving elder millennial who grew up with a special appreciation of horror movies. Jenna and Joe team up to count down their top 5 Halloween season movies from their childhoods, ranging from classic monster movies to '80s and '90s horror favorites.