Grew Up In a Small Town and When The Rain Would Fall Down...

with Shawn Eric Jones 🌾

Oct 06, 2022

Shawn Eric Jones is featured on this week's episode of Nicstalgia. We answer questions like, when those true crime documentaries take place in a “small town”, how small are we really talking here? Is the sense of community in Friday Night Lights like real life?

Shawn shares how he developed a love for 90s movies to see what the world was like outside of working on his grandparents’ farm in rural Missouri. He also realized that life is not like the movies when he moved to LA and was in movies. I dive into my favorite extracurricular activity of high school: eating bagels and reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

We play ‘Rent or Return’, Southern US Edition, and I share about my crushing childhood (and adulthood??) fear of scary movie posters. (There was really nothing scarier as a child than a poster falling off the wall while you’re sleeping.) We talk about the light side of pop culture and how nostalgia helps foster belonging, inclusion, empathy, and kindness.

Watch/listen: YouTube • Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Website

🛼 Haven’t You Heard?!

My fav things from the internet rn:
Melanie C’s memoir (called Who I Am in the UK and The Sporty One in the US) is officially available stateside! I am deep into this book right now, as anything having to do with Sporty Spice is my top priority. Deeply saddened by not attending her book signing in NYC, but I did love this press piece that dives into the memoir. Reunion Tour 2023??? 👀👀👀

You’ve all heard the story of my ill-fated (or so I thought) Tamagotchi Saga™️, but 1. I will be talking about her again on the podcast next week 2. I couldn’t help but be entertained by this article where a tech reviewer who had never had a Tamagotchi before (🤨) talking about the BTS Tamagotchi. The fandom/parasocial relationship aspect is a very cool filter to apply to the gaming technology.

Speaking of parasocial relationships, I was really intrigued by this NPR PCHH article. Inspired by the Try Guys controversy, it dives into how online storytellers build such a compelling narrative around their personal lives, readers feel entitled to know every detail. (TLDR: a YouTuber who made his entire online personality around his wife/family cheated on his wife.)

“I'm not sure you lose your YouTube job because you cheated on your wife, exactly. And I'm not even sure the real issue is that your likability is damaged, even though that's probably part of it. I think you lose your YouTube job when you shatter the illusion that you are a character defined by your…content. When you remind people that, in fact, you are a person defined and limited by your messiness, a person who people might or might not like if they knew you. You have blurred the line between your real self and your persona so thoroughly that now, seeing your real life blow up is like Jim Carrey bumping into the wall in The Truman Show.” -Linda Holmes, Pop Culture Happy Hour

Happy Mean Girls Day (October 3rd) to all who celebrate! 👚 ICYMI, LiLo announced the debut of her upcoming Netflix Christmas movie with Chord Overstreet (aka. Trouty Mouth. Glee is cursed lol but that’s another story) premiering on 11/10!

⏮ Let’s Go Back….Back to the Beginning

A time capsule of this week:

In 1999, SNL spin-off Superstar was released. I remember watching this movie countless times in middle school; it was my Mean Girls before Mean Girls came out. (Not an overstatement.) I don’t want to rewatch it because it likely doesn’t stand the test of time, but Molly Shannon (and Elaine Hendrix) will always be an icon to me!

In 2004, Desperate Housewives premiered, and the ladies of Wisteria Lane were introduced to the world. My favorite line is from Gaby, “I love therapy! It’s like a talk show where I’m the guest and the only topic is me!” This show has SO many cameos it is incredibly satisfying, i.e. Mary Alice’s widower is Blanche’s secret stepson on Golden Girls; Gaby’s hot gardener is John Tucker; Orson is Trey MacDougal; Angie is Adriana La Cerva; and Juanita is Demi Lovato’s IRL half-sister.

In 2013, Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz was released. Say what you want, but considering the usual former child actor pipeline, this era was aptly named. We were graced with “We Can’t Stop”, “23”, and the everlasting “Wrecking Ball”.

💿 Hey Mr. DJ, put a [playlist] on

Playlist of the week:
Meg and I have been friends since we met in 6th grade. We were science fair partners and incessantly passed each other notes in class. We were buddies on AIM and wrote about our days on Xanga. Meg’s music taste is very consistent; she specifically likes primarily 90s-00s adult contemporary/alt rock/pop rock. Therefore, I’ve come to lovingly call this genre of music Meg Songs. Enjoy!!

F This Movie!: '90s Kids Movie Club: ANGUS

🏆 Nicstalgia Trivia

One of Shawn’s favorite movies is a 1995 coming-of-age comedy film, where the main character ultimately learns how to thrive (or survive?? idk I didn’t see it myself yet lolol) by being himself. It also stars a pre-Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues (fellow Connecticut native) James Van Der Beek. What’s the movie called?

Find the answer in this week’s episode of Nicstalgia!

Last Week’s Answer
“Sweet Dreams My LA Ex” was a song written for Britney Spears in response to JT’s “Cry Me a River”. It was turned down by her team and instead was the 2003 debut single from which British singer?

The one and only Rachel Stevens, of S Club 7 fame.

Watch last week’s episode, Zack Morris is (Still) Trash with Susanna Gore, on YouTube!