Stuck In The Middle - A Gen X Podcast

Jason Ek
  • 4.7 (18)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to Stuck in the Middle - the podcast about the music, movies, and culture of Generation X.

  1. FEB 4

    200 Episodes! So, What Now?

    Welcome to episode 200, Slackers! Perhaps you were expecting bells, whistles, pomp, circumstance? Well, not quite. Reaching this milestone has left me asking: what's next?  What is the future of this show? Or, is there even a future for the show? Probably not as it is today, but there will be something coming down the road.  For those of you who keep listening each week - THANK YOU! Stay tuned...

    35 min

  2. JAN 28

    Snow Days Used To Be The Best Days

    It's a snow day, Slackers! This episode is all about some of the wildest weather moments the U.S. has seen from 1965 right up to now. The standout blizzards, hurricanes, and tornado outbreaks that have hit hard, shut down cities, reshaped coastlines, and left people talking about them for decades. These storms actually changed lives and showed just how powerful nature can get, especially in places you wouldn’t always expect. Take the Great Blizzard of 1978—snow piled so high (I took a sled out a second story bedroom window), screaming winds, and basically ground the entire region to a halt for days. Or jump ahead to Hurricane Gloria in ’85, which rolled up the coast and knocked out power across a big chunk of New England, including right here in Massachusetts. And then there’s the 2011 Springfield tornado, a rare beast for this part of the country that tore straight through towns and downtown areas, reminding everyone that even the Northeast isn’t immune to serious twisters.The takeaway is simple: these events keep teaching us tough lessons about staying ready. Weather doesn’t mess around, and the more we remember the big ones, the better we can handle whatever comes next. It’s a mix of respect for the Old Mother Earth and a little hope that we’re getting smarter about facing it.

    46 min

  3. JAN 21

    The Best of the Worst - The Razzies!

    Movies can suck. But movies that suck, are often the best! The Golden Raspebery Awards, aka, "The Razzies" started in the 1980s. This was the perfect time for Hollywood to get called out for its most excessive, over-the-top, and sometimes disastrous output, complete with a smirk and a deliberately tacky trophy made from a spray-painted golf ball. The deliberate anti-Oscars began as a sarcastic living-room gathering in 1981, sparked by a terrible double feature of Can't Stop the Music (fair) and Xanadu (how dare they!). It quickly turned into the annual roast of the decade's biggest cinematic failures. Disco musicals that should never have been made, bloated blockbusters that collapsed under their own weight, vanity projects, and action pictures that swung for the fences and missed badly. The 1980s supplied the Razzies with plenty of targets. It was a modest start - founder John J. B. Wilson passing out ballots in his Hollywood apartment, using a broomstick with a foam ball as a mock microphone. The event grew into something the press actually started covering by the middle of the decade. There were some recurring themes: musicals gone wrong, jungle-set misadventures, big-name stars stepping far outside their comfort zones, and the sheer nerve it took to release some of these films. No look at the Razzies of the 1980s is complete without Sylvester Stallone. He collected Worst Actor awards the way some people collect trophies: Rhinestone, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV in the same year, Rambo III, and several others. He eventually earned Worst Actor of the Decade at the 1990 ceremony, covering the full 1980s output. His female counterpart for worst of the decade? The one and only, Bo Derek! Maybe the Razzies were right, but those same movies were the ones that played endlessly on VHS, get quoted in conversations, and still have some die hard audiences. This episode is about the laughs, the sheer absurdity of some of those productions, and the reminder that even in its most ridiculous moments, Hollywood in the 1980s was actually pretty awesome.

    50 min

  4. JAN 14

    Sci-Fi TV of the 70's & 80's

    Nanu nanu, Slackers! This week is all about classic sci-fi and fantasy TV shows from the 1970s and 1980s. There was prime-time epics with space fleets on the run, bionic agents taking down threats, aliens settling into family life, talking cars outsmarting crooks, lizard-like invaders, starship crews solving cosmic problems, mysterious islands granting wishes with a catch, and anthology stories full of wonder. The conversation centers on the American series that dominated screens during those decades, in particular in the world of syndicated programming. Plus, there are several BBC productions included - seriously, what the heck is Blake's 7 or Doomwatch!? Admittedly, the British do sci-fi pretty well. These shows combined practical effects, ambitious ideas squeezed into weekly episodes, and characters that felt grounded even amid the extraordinary. Many of these were essential viewing at the time, but would they be as engaging and rewatchable today?

    41 min

  5. JAN 7

    Variety Shows - A Lost Form of Entertainment

    It's 2026, Slackers! This episode kicks off with the usual New Year's Eve roundup - flipping between Dick Clark's countdown and the Nashville show, while my daughter belts out every word to today's country hits but shrugs off Dwight Yoakam like he's ancient history. My oldest came home early from Boston's First Night, which is basically a senior-citizen version of Times Square. We toasted anyway with sparkling grape juice and cider, all together before midnight, even if he wasn't home for the Stranger Things finale.   Quick side note on Stranger Things: those classic 80s kid movies - Goonies, Stand by Me, Lost Boys, even Stephen King's IT—the kids always make it home safe, no matter the adventure. Stranger Things has always been an homage to those stories - something online critics should keep in mind.  The main part of the show is all about those old-school variety shows from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the ones that packed everything into one hour: comedy sketches, big musical numbers, dancers, surprise guests, the whole deal. Back then, a major star or family would anchor the night and give you this glorious mix of entertainment. Simpler times. The Carol Burnett Show is the gold standard - those wild characters, the way she'd lose it laughing with Tim Conway or Harvey Korman, the bits that still crack me up thinking about them. My personal favorites were the Mandrell Sisters! A little steel guitar, a little fiddle, and plenty of comedy, what's not to love? As the years went on, things started to change: music drifted off to MTV, comedy got sharper (meaner?) on SNL, and the talent-search format took over with shows like the original Star Search. It's a fun walk through when television variety meant anything could happen on any given week.

    34 min

  6. 12/31/2025

    Looking Back At 2025

    Happy (Almost) New Year, Slackers! This episode is still about looking back, but much more recent events! 2025 was a year of extremes, surprises, and seismic shifts across the globe and in culture.  Political headlines dominated with a high-profile return to the White House, sweeping policy changes, ongoing international conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, fragile ceasefires, and Gen Z-fueled protests toppling governments in unexpected places. Natural disasters, historic leadership firsts, and bold geopolitical moves kept the world on edge. Entertainment delivered record-breaking moments: a Chinese animated sequel shattered global box office records, Disney sequels and live-action remakes crossed billion-dollar milestones, while viral sensations, creepy-cute collectibles, and chaotic theater experiences lit up social feeds. Music saw Latin urban dominance, major Grammy wins, and streaming milestones, with some epic series finales and new hits. Sports brought dynasties, breakthroughs, and drama - back-to-back titles in hockey and baseball, first championships for rising basketball powers, and even some Premier League history with Liverpool claiming the crown in commanding fashion. Gaming thrived too, with critically acclaimed RPGs, metroidvanias (exploration games, who knew?), and massive sales from shooters and remasters. From global resets to pop culture moments, 2025 proved anything but predictable. I am really looking forward to 2026!

    36 min

  7. 12/24/2025

    It's a Christmas Episode!

    Merry Christmas, Slackers! It’s hard to believe, but this year marks the 35th anniversary of Home Alone, a film that remains one of the most fun (and durable) Christmas flicks. It is made that much more interesting with Macauley Culkin back on a press junket for this season of Fallout, along with the just completed Home Alone tour. We also lost several influential figures from film, television, and music in 2025. Legends like Gene Hackman and Ozzy Osbourne, icons like Val Kilmer, and the more recent and tragic passings of Rob Reiner and James Ransone. Getting back to the holiday festivities, let’s take a look at the “hot gifts” of 1975, like Pet Rocks, Mood Rings, and the excitement around early Atari systems - and from 1985, with Teddy Ruxpin, Cabbage Patch Kids, and the first wave of Nintendo home gaming dominance.  The episode closes with an overview of what’s driving wish lists this Christmas in 2025 - the Nintendo Switch 2 leading the way, alongside interactive toys, viral collectibles, smart tech, cozy lifestyle items, and other high-demand gifts.  Thanks for listening, and I wish you a warm, peaceful Christmas.

    54 min

  8. 12/17/2025

    Gen X is the Greatest Generation - According to the NYT?

    We've made into the New York Times, Slackers! In this week’s episode, I start by giving some love to our own John Cena, who wrestled his retirement match this past Saturday. He’s not the only one, since over the past few years, it seems like most of the Attitude/ Ruthless Agression era stars from our generation have hung up their boots for good. Next, I debut a new segment called "Weird News Weekly," rounding up some truly odd stories from the past week - including the bizarre fact that MUG root beer now has its own cologne for sale. But it's only available on TikTok? The main discussion centers on Amanda Fortini’s December 2025 article in T Magazine, “Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?”. The article digs into how we shaped music, film, television, and cultural attitudes in the pre-digital era - from grunge and hip-hop to indie films and animated series like The Simpsons. It’s a bold claim (made with tongue firmly planted in cheek), and while there’s a lot to be proud of, there are definitely some things from our era we need to own up to as well.

    54 min
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Welcome to Stuck in the Middle - the podcast about the music, movies, and culture of Generation X.

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