The Nostalgia Test Podcast

Dan & Manny are joined by Prof. Josh Grant-Young, PhD candidate at the University of Guelph in Canada where he studies our past and contemporary conceptions (medical, political, and popular) of mental differences, using the genre of horror film to point both longstanding cultural anxieties and myths surrounding mental differences and new possibilities for shifting discourse around them. This i...

Dan & Manny are joined by Dr. Douglas C. MacLeod, Associate Professor of Communications at SUNY College at Cobleskill in New York to open up a deep conversation about all things comedy. They get into comedy history, some of the early television sitcoms, how the American art of stand-up comedy is growing in many other parts of the world, how Dr. MacLeod uses comedy in his writing courses, and s...

Dan & Manny invite Jen Sopchockchai Bankard & Greg Cass from The Long Take Review Substack & Podcast to put the 1981 adventure film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This is an old school deep-dive, tangent filled, super nerdy episode. They get into their favorite scenes, the Indiana Jones humor, what really is archeology, what didn...

Dan & Manny put the 2023 Super Mario Bros. to the ultimate test—THE NOSTALGIA TEST (NOW!) The guys go Mario crazy. They talk about Mario’ missing butt, why an animated Mario movie works better than a the 1993 live action Mario movie, and where’s the Mega Man movie, the Metroid movie, Zelda movie, the… you get the idea. This is a jam packed, tangent filled nostalgic journey!   Some Episode Note...

Dan & Manny put MxPx’s 1996 album Life in General to the ultimate test—THE NOSTALGIA TEST! The guys have a lot of fun talking about the origins of the name MxPx, trying out their own emo/punk lyrics, comparing this album with Blink 182’s Take You Pants Off and Jacket, and trying to understand why emo/punk cover songs were so popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. A special congratulations to...

Dan & Manny are joined by Dr. Clarice Greco, professor at the Post-graduation Program in Communication at Paulista University (UNIP, São Paulo, Brazil). Clarice takes Dan & Manny on a deep-dive into what makes a television show or movie cult, she shares her recent research about cult TV, expanding the definition, and so much more. Dan & Manny could talk to Dr. Greco forever!!! This is one of those...

Dan & Manny hang out in person for the first time in almost three years to put Dan's childhood toys to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This is a classic Nostalgia Test hang, it's loud, it's filled with sound problems, and Dan & Manny totally forgot they were recording an episode. They talk about Transformers, Micro Machines, GI Joes, Xpanders, Ghostbusters everything, and so much mo...

Dan & Manny continue their Robert Palmer journey by putting an entire day of Robert Palmer to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! After listening to Robert Palmer's music for an entire day, Dan & Manny attempt to reassemble their sanity. They try to figure out what sort of music Robert Palmer plays, why anyone would listen to his music, what sort of sandwich is Robert Palmer's music, and why wo...

Dan & Manny are joined by Dr. Jen Sopchockchai Bankard, Associate Professor at USC & creator of the blog The Long Take . Jen takes Dan & Manny on a very nerdy journey in and out of the many Marvel franchises, and the ever-expanding Star Wars universe, she talks about her growing blog, fandom, her nerd coming-of-age, and so so much more. In fact, Manny couldn't stop talking even after w...

Dan, Manny, & their longtime friend and Nostalgia Test Royalty, Billy D'Elia, conclude the WWE ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! In the final part of this epic three-part series, the guys put an electrifying list of matches to the ultimate test, they compare matches from the Golden Era and Attitude Era, is the classic Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan match still good, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker...

Dan, Manny, & their longtime friend and Nostalgia Test Royalty, Billy D'Elia, continue the WWE ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! In the second part of this epic three-part series, the guys talk best hype people, ridiculous characters, call out a lot of the issues with the Golden Era, best pay-per-view events, greatest moves, DX, Repoman, justice for Virgil, and so much more. It just gets bett...

Dan & Manny welcome back Nostalgia Test Podcast Allstar & longtime friend Billy D'Elia to put their WWE memories to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This is the first of an epic three-part series, so get ready, because they try to cover it all. In this first ep, they argue what the best wrestling era is, talk about wrestling superstars, and announcers, what makes a pure good guy and...

WHAT'S UP 2023!!! Dan & Manny welcome the new year by answering your questions. This episode is so random, so tangent-filled, and so classic Nostalgia Test Podcast that you'll be begging for more. They talk WWE wrestling music and superstars, living in a movie or TV show, comparing the Back to the Future DeLorean to Bill and Ted's phonebooth, who they'd cast in the infamous masterpiece Face/Off, a...

🎃HAPPY HALLOWEEN NOSTALGIA FAM!!! On this special Nostalgia Test Now episode, Dan & Manny welcome self-described Hocus Pocus expert Lauren Malott to put 🧹Hocus Pocus 2 to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST (NOW)! This is a classic Nostalgia Test Podcast episode filled with tangents, hot takes, everyone yelling over each other, and SPOILERS (BE WARNED)! Lauren & Manny team up to fight Dan's ne...

Dan & Manny put the 1993 cult classic 🧹Hocus Pocus to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! Manny has a really hard time trying to figure out if the movie is fun, if it's scary, why people love this movie, and creates a brand new drop, "He Casper-kissed her." Dan is confused by Sarah Jessica Parker's entire performance, is extremely tired from fighting with technology to get this episode edited...

Dan & Manny see which of Robert Palmer's biggest hits, " Addicted to Love " or " Simply Irresistible ," reign supreme in this totally 80s episode. Find out which one will pass the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This episode has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait because Manny FINALLY agreed to put Over the Top to the ULTIMATE TEST, yet Dan has to watch the Sarah Michelle Gellar...

Dan & Manny are joined by Ms. Tracy Jose, an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Stella Maris College, Chennai, India, to learn all about the impact that American culture had on the experiences of a post-liberalization India. This was such an unbelievable learning experience. Ms. Jose brought not just academic points to the pod, she provided personal context from her own life. This...

In the first 📚Nostalgia 101 episode, Dan & Manny invite Georg Csarmann to do a deep dive into the complexities of nostalgia, how it works to create community, the ways we experience nostalgia through different pieces of media, and how the term was coined. It's time to go to school!  Georg Csarmann Bio: Narratives and the contextualization of information are at the heart of Georg's life purpose, e...

Dan & Manny get into it with The Adult Babies Podcast to put the 1991 classic 🏴‍☠️ Hook to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This episode is a beautiful collage of chaos, yelling, and insane laughter, meaning it's a classic Nostalgia Test Podcast experience. The guys dig deeply into 🏴‍☠️ Hook and try to figure out if Neverland causes amnesia, all the surprise cameos in 🏴‍☠️ Hook , the fact...

Dan & Manny put 🧑‍✈️Top Gun: Maverick to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST (NOW!) This episode is just a Tom Cruise lovefest from top to bottom. They talk about every minute of 🧑‍✈️Maverick so be warned, THERE ARE SPOILERS! But get with the program and see this movie, NOW! They talk about the 80s of it all, the homages to 🧑‍✈️Top Gun 1, how Tom Cruise is the last action star, that there sho...

Dan surprises Manny with a random assortment of useless 90s toys/knick-knacks/things-we-did-as-kids/etc., to put to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! The random 90s list is: 📣 The Yak Bak 😂 Troll Dolls 🌊 Water Talkies 📒 Trapper Keeper 🚴 Putting a Soda Can on the Back Wheel of Your Bike 🐇 Lucky Rabbit Foot 🐾 Furby 🐣 Tamagotchi 💣 Minesweeper They talk about why The Nostalgia Test Podca...

Dan & Manny welcome their longtime friend Jeremy Madson (aka 🦆The Duck) to put the 1993 classic 👵Mrs. Doubtfire to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! Dan, Manny, & Jeremy get into the most heated battle in Nostalgia Test Podcast history. Manny tries to take down Sally Field's character, Dan rips apart Robin Wiliams' character, and Jeremy tries to keep the peace. They also talk about why Robi...

Dan & Manny welcome Ryan Pak from Soundtrack Your Life into the nostalgic fun to put 3 🤪🎶Ridiculous Music Videos to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! The three videos being put to the test are:  Manny's video:  David Hasselhoff music video - "Hooked on a Feeling" Ryan's video:  David Bowie & Mick Jagger - "Dancing in the Streets" Dan's video:  Bonnie Tyler – “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Thi...

Dan & Manny welcome Jenn & Austin from I Hate Your Taste In Movies to put the 1992 Disney classic 🧞 Aladdin  to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This episode is an OG tangent-ridden episode that dives into if Abu is the real evil of this movie, why is Disney obsessed with dead moms, Disney needs to release the Robin Williams Cut of🧞Aladdin, how old are the Disney princesses... And so much...

Dan & Manny welcome Brandon from the Namely 90s Podcast into the nostalgic chaos to put four 90s power ballads to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! The four songs being put to the test are:  Manny's song: November Rain by Guns N Roses Brandon's song: Say Hello 2 Heaven by Temple of the Dog Dan's song: It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion Andrew's song: I Would Do Anything for Love (B...