Like Whatever

Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr
  • 5.0 (6)
  • COMEDY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Join Heather and Nicole as we discuss all things Gen-X with personal nostalgia, current events, and an advocacy for the rights of all humans.  From music to movies to television and so much more, revisit the generational trauma we all experienced as we talk about it all. Take a break from today and travel back to the long hot summer days of the 80s and 90s.  Come on slackers, f**k around and find out with us!

  1. 1D AGO

    Yes Virginia There Is A Boogeyman

    Serial killers weren’t just “true crime” to us. They were a constant hum in the background of growing up: news anchors saying names like Bundy and Gacy, parents warning about strangers, and that sinking feeling that danger could look normal. We start with our usual Gen X catch-up (pollen season, the revived “The More You Know” vibe, and why April Fool’s pranks are a crime), then we jump into the big question: why did serial killing peak in America from the 1960s through the early 1990s? From there, we break down the conditions that let serial offenders thrive: fractured law enforcement across jurisdictions, the lack of centralized databases, and a culture that didn’t always treat every missing person as urgent. We talk about how media coverage and the rise of true crime books and TV didn’t just reflect public obsession, it helped shape it, sometimes turning violent criminals into twisted celebrities. We also get honest about why the psychology of serial murder is so fascinating, and why the “genius killer” myth falls apart when you look at what really happened. Then we get into what changed everything: DNA profiling, CODIS, better data sharing, cell phone records, and surveillance everywhere. We also explore how modern violence has shifted toward spree killers, mass shootings, and online radicalization, plus the uncomfortable reality of human trafficking. Finally, we dig into the lead crime hypothesis and the Pacific Northwest “killing fields” idea, asking whether toxic exposure helped fuel aggression and crime trends in ways we’re still reckoning with. Listen, then tell us what you think actually drove the decline. Subscribe, share Like Whatever with a friend, and leave a rating or review so more Gen X weirdos can find us. Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 33m

  2. MAR 27

    Nicole’s International House of Hijinks

    Nobody warned us that menopause could look like this: 3 a.m. wakeups, brain fog that steals your words mid sentence, and a “frozen shoulder” that makes taking off a T shirt feel like a full contact sport. We start from that real place, laughing because we have to, and comparing notes in the way only two Gen X best friends can. Then we whip the conversation into culture and chaos: the temptation of Rocky Horror on Broadway, the dread and thrill of New York driving, and a frank talk about separating art from the artist when a performance hits but the person behind it comes with controversy. From there, we get serious about everyday infrastructure, why the USPS should be treated as a public service, and why airport lines keep getting worse when staffing and training are treated like optional expenses. After the ranting, we settle into pure nostalgia with a curated list of childhood TV shows that still live in our heads: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Barney Miller, The Benny Hill Show, Hee Haw, and Taxi. Along the way we share surprising facts, representation wins, and the strange comfort of rewatching old series now that streaming and even single show “channels” make it easier than ever. Subscribe for more Gen X nostalgia, pop culture commentary, and real talk about midlife, then share the episode and leave a review. What TV show from your childhood still feels like home? Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 10m

  3. MAR 20

    Talk Dirty To Me

    Daytime talk shows didn’t just entertain us, they trained a whole generation to watch strangers confess, fight, reconcile, and melt down before dinner. We’re Nicole and Heather, and we dig into how talk shows evolved from Phil Donahue’s audience-driven, single-topic conversations into the tabloid talk TV era where shock value became the product. Think Oprah’s cultural power, Sally Jesse Raphael’s human-interest tone, Geraldo’s controversy, Jerry Springer’s chaos, Jenny Jones’ ambush-style reveals, Ricky Lake’s youth focus, Montel’s mix of uplift and spectacle, and Maury’s paternity-test obsession that turned “You are not the father” into a permanent meme. We talk about the business mechanics too: first-run syndication, ratings pressure, and why producers kept pushing further into infidelity, secrecy, humiliation, and on-air conflict. Then we get honest about the darker side of this media history, including how marginalized people sometimes gained visibility while also getting exploited for entertainment. If you’re interested in media ethics, reality TV origins, and Gen X nostalgia, this is the rabbit hole that connects it all. Some stories still hit hard: we unpack two tragedies tied to the genre, the Jenny Jones case involving Scott Amedure and the Jerry Springer case involving Nancy Campbell-Panitz, and what they changed about guest screening, consent, security, and aftercare. We also throw in a practical PSA on lie detectors and why “ask for a lawyer” is always the move. Subscribe for more Gen X deep-dives, share this with a friend who used to keep Springer on in the background, and leave a review with your hottest take: were talk shows a guilty pleasure, a cultural mirror, or something we should’ve shut down sooner? Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 18m

  4. MAR 13

    Raised By Resistance, Raising The Reckoning

    Dinosaurs turning into birds shouldn’t make you think about feminism, but somehow it does when you’re a Gen X woman with a cranky “tiny T-Rex” bird, a Netflix queue, and zero patience for pretending history is settled. We start with real life: birthday week wins, weird weather, and the shows we’re binging. Then we pivot hard into Women’s History Month with a topic we’ve been turning over for a while, because the timeline is both empowering and infuriating. We walk through second-wave feminism from the 1960s to the 1980s and name the laws and court cases that still shape women’s rights today: the Equal Pay Act, Title VII and the EEOC, Griswold v. Connecticut and contraception, Title IX, Roe v. Wade, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. We also talk about what didn’t happen, like the Equal Rights Amendment, and why “it was fun while it lasted” hits so hard when rights can be rolled back. Along the way, we get honest about movement splits, who got centered, and why that matters. Then we jump into third-wave feminism in the 1990s, led by Gen X, including Anita Hill, Rebecca Walker, intersectionality, and the shift toward a wider, more inclusive view of identity and power. We hit the culture too: riot grrrl energy, reclaiming words, and the ways we raised kids who are louder, freer, and less interested in rigid gender rules. Finally, we say the quiet part out loud: menopause and perimenopause are real, they’re messy, and talking about HRT, hot flashes, and midlife revolt is part of taking our bodies back. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs the history and the laughs, and leave a rating and review so more Gen X listeners can find us. Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 25m

  5. MAR 6

    Public Ally Not All Heroes Wear Clocks

    What if the loudest hype man of an era was also one of its most surprising humanitarians? We pull back the curtain on Flavor Flav’s wild, complicated arc—self-taught musical prodigy, Public Enemy’s essential counterweight, chaotic reality TV architect—and land on a twist that made us cheer: a devoted advocate for women’s sports who quietly funds training, travel, and real recognition. This isn’t a rebrand story; it’s a blueprint for using fame as a tool. We start with awe. Will Smith’s Pole to Pole sparks a meditation on silence and scale—standing on a glacier, hearing water run beneath your feet, remembering how small we are and why that matters. That frame makes Flav’s early life pop: Roosevelt roots, piano at five, fifteen instruments, church choir, trouble, culinary school, and a fateful link with Carlton Ridenhour that forged Public Enemy. Chuck D brought granite, Flav brought spark; together they turned politics into momentum. 911 Is a Joke proved humor can punch hard. Then came the VH1 era, where Flav didn’t just chase relevance—he rewired unscripted TV and birthed a new meme language. The heart of this episode lives in Flav’s present-tense purpose. From funding the U.S. women’s water polo team to bankrolling celebrations for women’s hockey champions to amplifying bobsled and skeleton athletes, he’s channeling attention and dollars where they’re needed most. It’s logistics-as-love: flights, rooms, dinners, and a megaphone for parity in sports that rarely get prime-time shine. We connect those moves to a broader Gen X ethos we live by—learn a trade, improvise when the tools aren’t there, move the eight-hundred-pound grill with milk crates if you have to, and keep going with humor, candor, and grit. Come for the cultural reframe, stay for the pizza-fueled tangents, diary nostalgia, and unfiltered parking lot wisdom. If you’re ready to rethink a pop culture icon—and maybe your own playbook for showing up—hit play, share it with a friend, and leave a review to tell us what surprised you most. Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    55 min

  6. FEB 27

    We Tried to Beat It… We Did Not

    Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 19m

  7. FEB 20

    A Miracle In The Midst Of Madness

    A cold rink, a loud crowd, and a country craving something to believe in. We take you back to Lake Placid for a cinematic, breath-by-breath retelling of the Miracle on Ice—how a roster of college kids, shaped by Herb Brooks’ ruthless vision and welded together from rival programs, toppled the most feared hockey machine on earth. Along the way, we rewind to the mood of late-70s America—stagflation, hostages, the long shadow of the Cold War—and explain why one winter night in 1980 felt like the nation’s heartbeat coming back. We dig into the players who defined the moment: Jim Craig turning into a wall under siege, Mark Johnson finding rebounds that shouldn’t exist, and Mike Eruzione arriving in the high slot when history called. Then we sit with those final ten minutes: blocked shots, dumped pucks, the Soviets refusing to pull their goalie, and Al Michaels’ voice breaking into the line that became American folklore. Not the gold medal game, but the game that made gold possible, and the one Sports Illustrated later called the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. This episode also traces the afterlives—who went pro, who coached, who raised families—and how Al Michaels rode one perfect call from Lake Placid to decades of championship broadcasts. We connect the dots to today’s Olympics, why winter sports still captivate us, and how stadium roars turn strangers into a single voice. Hit play for hockey history, Cold War context, and a reminder that underdogs sometimes do the impossible. If this story moved you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us your favorite Olympic moment—and whether you still believe in miracles. Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 3m

  8. FEB 13

    The Real Mandela Effect

    A rumor sparks the mic and the conversation swerves—first through a tabloid-scented headline and a fresh round of Cobain speculation, then straight into sunlit confessionals from an all-inclusive in Punta Cana. We trade strawberry mojitos for social x-rays: the charm of perfect hospitality, the quiet grind of the staff who make it look easy, and the odd theater of “rich people problems” that bubble up around buffets and pool chairs. Even beachside, the world intrudes—politics at parties, tracking apps that start as jokes, and the uneasy truce between safety and freedom when a trinket seller shifts to whispered offers. Then we plant our feet. Nelson Mandela’s story reframes everything: student organizer to political prisoner, the Rivonia Trial speech that declared a life’s purpose, 27 years behind bars, and the audacity to negotiate the end of apartheid without a civil war. We walk through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, why facing harm in public mattered, and how policy—housing, education, a new constitution—attempted to turn ideals into daily life. Along the way, we debunk the “Mandela Effect” and talk about why memory needs evidence, why journalism matters, and why democracies erode when we outsource our thinking to outrage and algorithms. What ties it all together is a Gen X heartbeat: curiosity, skepticism, and a refusal to pretend the small stuff doesn’t shape the big stuff. From resort etiquette to national healing, the lesson holds—attention is action. If you’ve been feeling whiplash between joy and dread, laughter and worry, you’re not alone; we’re right there with you, trying to make meaning without losing the thread. Hit play for travel tea, hard history, a few rants, and a clear nudge toward power that’s still in our hands: show up locally, vote, support an independent press, and keep talking to each other like neighbors. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review so more curious folks can find us. Send us an email Support the show #genx #80s #90s https://youtube.com/@likewhateverpod?si=ChGIAEDqb7H2AN0J https://www.tiktok.com/@likewhateverpod?_t=ZT-8v3hQFb73Wg&_r=1

    1h 9m
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About

Join Heather and Nicole as we discuss all things Gen-X with personal nostalgia, current events, and an advocacy for the rights of all humans.  From music to movies to television and so much more, revisit the generational trauma we all experienced as we talk about it all. Take a break from today and travel back to the long hot summer days of the 80s and 90s.  Come on slackers, f**k around and find out with us!

Information

  • Creator
    Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Like Whatever
  • Show Website
    Like Whatever