Devil's Playground: The Satanic Panic and Its Gen X Legacy
Want to weigh in? Send us a text!Remember when your Dungeons & Dragons dice might summon demons and heavy metal albums contained secret Satanic messages? If you grew up in the 1980s, you lived through one of America's strangest cultural moments – the Satanic Panic.We're taking a deep dive into this bizarre phenomenon that had parents checking under beds for devil worshippers and police departments training officers to spot "occult crime" using horror paperbacks as manuals. From the infamous McMartin preschool trial that cost taxpayers $15 million without securing a single conviction, to the demonization of everything from rock music to role-playing games, we unpack how mass hysteria shaped an entire generation.This wasn't a random occurrence – we trace the pattern of moral panics from ancient Rome through medieval blood libel accusations and into modern times, revealing how fear of shadowy cabals has been recycled throughout history. The targets change, but the template remains eerily similar.For those of us who grew up during this era, the Satanic Panic wasn't just headline news – it shaped our relationship with authority, media, and moral crusades. Yet ironically, Gen X didn't just survive these fears – we reclaimed and transformed them. The very things once considered gateways to hell became celebrated cornerstones of our culture. Dungeons & Dragons experienced a renaissance, heavy metal thrived, and the aesthetic elements once deemed "Satanic" now feature prominently in nostalgic pop culture.Join us for a fascinating exploration of how the devil went from terrifying America to rocking out with Jack Black – and what this strange chapter in our cultural history reveals about the cyclical nature of fear. When you understand the Satanic Panic, you might just recognize its patterns in today's headlines.Support the showGet your hands on our MERCH!!! DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization! Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights March-April - Planned Parenthood May-June 2025 - Indy Pride July-August 2025 - WFYI September-October - ACLU November-December 2025 - Second Helpings Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know! SUPPORT THE POD HERE! Want to continue the conversation? Sign up for our newsletter! HERE Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD Send us your Dear GenX Women letters! Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social ClubL.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group. Follow us on ...
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A Gen X After School Special: Grab your Garanimals & Lunch Boxes! It's Labor Day Weekend!
Want to weigh in? Send us a text!Remember when summer vacation actually lasted until Labor Day? When your biggest back-to-school worry wasn't active shooter drills but whether your Trapper Keeper matched your folders? We're diving deep into the nostalgia of Gen X school experiences this week as we honor the passing of Loni Anderson and reflect on the holiday weekend that once marked the true end of summer.Our conversation meanders through the hallowed halls of department stores past – from Lazarus to Montgomery Ward, from Air-way to the early days of Target when we all thought "what a dumb name." We unpack the critical importance of metal lunchboxes adorned with our favorite TV characters, those big pink erasers that never quite worked, and the wide-rule paper with its blue lines and dotted middle line that guided our early handwriting attempts.The Garanimals clothing system perfectly encapsulates the self-sufficient nature of our generation: "Match your animals, get a Pop-Tart, get to the bus, and I'll see you at 3 o'clock." This hands-off approach to childhood would horrify many modern parents, but it was simply the norm for us latchkey kids. We compare our half-day kindergarten experiences (complete with mandatory nap time!) to today's academic pressure cooker that somehow starts in July.For Gen X parents who've navigated the vastly different back-to-school landscape with our own children, this episode offers a comforting reminder that we survived and thrived with far less structure and supervision. So whether you were the kid with the perfectly organized Trapper Keeper or the one desperately trying to hide that you hadn't done your homework, this episode will transport you back to a time when school started after Labor Day and summer actually felt like summer.Share your own school memories with us! Call 1-888-GEN-X-POD or visit genxwomenpod.com to connect and keep the conversation going.Support the showGet your hands on our MERCH!!! DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization! Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights March-April - Planned Parenthood May-June 2025 - Indy Pride July-August 2025 - WFYI September-October - ACLU November-December 2025 - Second Helpings Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know! SUPPORT THE POD HERE! Want to continue the conversation? Sign up for our newsletter! HERE Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD Send us your Dear GenX Women letters! Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social ClubL.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group. Follow us on ...
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Tupperware Dreams and Vitamin Schemes
Want to weigh in? Send us a text!Remember that moment when your neighbor invited you over for "just wine and apps with the girls," only to ambush you with a sales pitch for overpriced leggings or miracle vitamins? You're not alone.In this episode, we dive deep into the cultural phenomenon of multi-level marketing schemes that targeted Gen X women throughout the 80s, 90s, and beyond. From Tupperware parties our mothers hosted to the Mary Kay consultants with their pink Cadillacs, these pyramid-shaped businesses promised financial freedom while delivering financial ruin for 99.6% of participants.Lesley shares her family's personal journey with Shaklee vitamins, including her grandfather's run-in with the IRS after some creative accounting with his vitamin business. We explore the awkward social dynamics of being invited to jewelry, candle, or kitchen gadget parties in our twenties when our bank accounts were running on fumes, and the guilt trip of saying no to friends who desperately needed to make sales.The conversation covers a nostalgic tour through the MLM landscape - Amway, Avon, PartyLite, Pampered Chef, Silpada jewelry, LuLaRoe leggings, and dozens more that promised riches but mostly delivered debt. We analyze how these companies specifically targeted women with products related to beauty, home, wellness, and childcare, capitalizing on both financial needs and social connections.As we reflect on these experiences, we question whether today's social media influencer marketing has simply become the digital evolution of the MLM hustle. Has anything really changed, or are we just seeing the same exploitation with new packaging?Share your own MLM horror stories with us! Call our hotline at 1-888-GEN-X-POD or visit our website at genxwomenpod.com to connect with other Gen X women who survived the pyramid scheme era.Support the showGet your hands on our MERCH!!! DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization! Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights March-April - Planned Parenthood May-June 2025 - Indy Pride July-August 2025 - WFYI September-October - ACLU November-December 2025 - Second Helpings Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know! SUPPORT THE POD HERE! Want to continue the conversation? Sign up for our newsletter! HERE Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD Send us your Dear GenX Women letters! Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social ClubL.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group. Follow us on ...
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When Heroes Fall: Childhood Icons Gone Bad
Want to weigh in? Send us a text!What happens when the stars who shaped our childhoods turn out to be deeply flawed, problematic, or even criminal? Megan and Lesley dive deep into the emotional complexity of reconciling nostalgic memories with disturbing revelations about our once-beloved celebrities.Fresh from their summer break, they tackle this thorny subject through the lens of recent celebrity deaths – particularly Hulk Hogan, whose passing stirred up complicated feelings given his history of racist comments. This kicks off a fascinating exploration of how we process disappointment when our heroes fall from grace.The hosts compile an eye-opening list of over 40 celebrities from the 70s, 80s and 90s who've been "canceled" or revealed to have committed harmful acts – from Bill Cosby to JK Rowling, Michael Jackson to Johnny Depp. Some made offensive comments, others faced serious criminal allegations, and many simply couldn't adapt to changing social standards. The question isn't just whether these figures deserve forgiveness, but how we as fans reconcile our emotional connections to their work."You can have this complexity of thought," Lesley notes, offering a path forward that acknowledges both our cherished memories and the disappointing reality. This isn't about making excuses for bad behavior, but rather developing the emotional maturity to hold contradictory truths simultaneously – a skill that serves us well beyond just processing celebrity scandals.Have your own 5 Minutes of Fame story to share? Call 1-888-GEN-X-POD to leave us a message we'll play in a future episode!Support the showGet your hands on our MERCH!!! DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization! Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights March-April - Planned Parenthood May-June 2025 - Indy Pride July-August 2025 - WFYI September-October - ACLU November-December 2025 - Second Helpings Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know! SUPPORT THE POD HERE! Want to continue the conversation? Sign up for our newsletter! HERE Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD Send us your Dear GenX Women letters! Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social ClubL.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group. Follow us on ...
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Wet Hot Summer Soaps REWIND! We will see you in August!
Want to weigh in? Send us a text!Enjoy this episode from last summer while we get our shit together and take some vacations! We take a nostalgic dive into the world of soap operas and their impact on Gen X women's lives, exploring both daytime dramas and primetime sensations that dominated television from the 1970s through the 1990s.• Daytime soaps like General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Young and the Restless provided entertainment primarily for stay-at-home mothers• Famous stars including Rick Springfield, John Stamos, Demi Moore, and Mark Hamill got their start on General Hospital• The "Who Shot JR?" Dallas storyline in 1980 was such a cultural phenomenon that one mother asked if her daughter's hospitalization was "serious enough to miss Dallas"• Primetime soap operas including Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing featured wealthy families, glamorous settings and high drama• Soap operas evolved in the 90s to include supernatural elements with shows like Passions and Dark Shadows incorporating vampires, witches and paranormal adventures• The shift from traditional melodrama to supernatural content parallels changing interests as Gen X women entered adulthoodFind us at genxwomenpod.com, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Call 1-888-GEN-X-POD to share your "five minutes of fame" story for a future episode.Support the showGet your hands on our MERCH!!! DONATION SCHEDULE! We donate $1 per item sold with a minimum of $200 to each organization! Jan-Feb 2025 - Center for Reproductive Rights March-April - Planned Parenthood May-June 2025 - Indy Pride July-August 2025 - WFYI September-October - ACLU November-December 2025 - Second Helpings Love the pod? Love us? Love GenX? Let us know! SUPPORT THE POD HERE! Want to continue the conversation? Sign up for our newsletter! HERE Tell us your own 5 Minutes of Fame story or call it in at 1-888-GEN-XPOD Send us your Dear GenX Women letters! Join us for Meet-Ups and Expert led Discussions JOIN US in L.Y.L.A.S a GenX Women's Social ClubL.Y.L.A.S (Love You Like a Sis) is our paid membership platform where you can have real-life conversations while supporting this podcast and the work we do in the Facebook group. Follow us on ...
GenX Women are Sick of This Shit is a nostalgic nod to the humans of GenX in the Midwest. Each episode, co-hosts Megan Bennett and Lesley Meier, have an ADHD driven conversation about GenX history and pop culture using their own lives and experiences growing up in Indianapolis as the backdrop. The podcast is a creative project inspired by the Facebook group 'GenX Women are Sick of This Shit', created by Megan Bennett in 2023. "Five Minutes of Fame" stories and "Dear GenX Women" letters are sent in by listeners and members of the Facebook group and are shared with consent. The original Facebook group is a mosh pit of menopausal women talking about all things GenX culture and life in the 70s, 80s and 90s as well as being a GenXer today. GenX Women are Sick of This Shit is part of Latchkey Kids Media, LLC where we make things we like because we want to. Copyright 2025, Latchkey Kids Media, LLC
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