Unlocking Core Memories
Toys, Games, Barbies, Makeup, and Nostalgic Things (Mostly) of the 90s 🪀
Where did all of our childhood toys go?? We’ll talk about those super random, niche, obscure things you may have forgotten about. The goal here is to unlock those core memories and have you be like — whoa, I literally forgot about that!! In this episode, we go through my Pinterest board, specific nostalgic things.
Did you run your own Fisher Price town? Do you remember end-of-the-analog-era electronics? To what beauty lengths did we go to in order to achieve middle school dance perfection? You know who really woke up and chose violence – people vying for Beanie Baby McDonald’s toys. Content warning for my sister: The Cabbage Patch Doll that ate kids’ hair!! (Don’t worry, I do not mention F*rby, but do mention an obscene amount of Barbies.)
We reminisce about games, books, outdoor toys, having MASH tell you you’d live in a mansion with Leonardo DiCaprio and 3 kids, and of course, the rainbow parachute from gym class. Times really were simpler then.
Watch/listen: YouTube • Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Website
🛼 Haven’t You Heard?!
My fav things from the internet rn:
In this week’s Lindsay Lohan news, our very own Cady “It’s Pronounced Katie” Heron is engaged! She is also the new Unexpected Athlete spokesperson for Allbirds’ new running shoes. I am fully obsessed w her Mean Girls references in this ad, as well as the the debacle regarding the pronunciation of her last name. (Lo-In or Lo-Han, much like the Tre-Mah-Lee-Oh vs. Tre-Mag-Lee-Oh debacle. Relatable.)
Loved this piece by Katie Rothstein (who I know of as one of the only other girls at the Goblins NFT NYC party lol) in Dirt: Hot regression summer. We talk about the end of the monoculture on Nicstalgia all the time, and this piece sums up wtf is happening in 2022 pretty well.
Avril Lavigne recreated her 20-year-old Let Go album cover while she was playing a show in NYC (that I didn’t go to bc I couldn’t be seen at a Machine Gun Kelly concert). Fun fact, this is on the Northeast corner of Broadway and Canal facing West if you were curious.
File this under Collabs I Didn’t See Coming. The special edition blink-182 x Flavortown merch collab benefits The Guy Fieri Foundation.
📚 Nicstalgia Book Club
But Enough About Me by Jancee Dunn
What a life!! Jancee has had a long-term career writing for Rolling Stone, interviewing every rockstar you can think of. She was one of the original on-air personalities for MTV2 and even a sex columnist at GQ. I loved reading But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous. It really inspired me to be thoughtful about how I interview Nicstalgia guests.
Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born by Evan Ross Katz
Despite having an affinity for pop culture specifically from 1997 (Spiceworld, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, “My Heart Will Go On”, Dharma & Greg, VH1’s Behind the Music), I’d never seen Buffy The Vampire Slayer. So when Sarah Michelle Gellar Historian Evan Ross Katz came out with Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born, I had to read it and start my Buffy journey. In short, I’m obsessed (and only halfway through season 5!) I really appreciate the book’s viewing of the past through a contemporary lens. My favorite quote was in response to its problematic creator, “How do I reconcile my fandom with my values, and how do I deal with this part of my identity?”
How Do I Un-Remember This? by Danny Pellegrino
This was such a funny book that I thoroughly enjoyed. If I write a book one day, it’ll be in this format – making jokes and highly relevant pop culture references. My favorites include: [Our] Lord and savior (Mariah Carey), the United States of Jessica Simpson, the iconic 2003 Vanity Fair Young Hollywood cover, Bring It On’s “cheerocracy”, The OC, Cher’s infamous tweet, “What’s going on with my career”, and of course, wooden Nickelodeon icon Stick Stickly.
💿 Hey Mr. DJ, put a [playlist] on
Playlist of the week:
Come on Barbie, let’s go party!! 90s Europop Dance Party will surely unlock some 90s memories. You’ll be like “OMG I know that song but I didn’t know what it was called!!” Back then, they didn’t have Shazam at Ministry of Sound (the London nightclub where Nicola went into labor in, believe it or not, one of the more unrealistic scenes in Spiceworld).
🏆 Nicstalgia Trivia
On the podcast this week, I mentioned a Barbie doll that reminded me of the outfits Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were recently seen wearing filming the Barbie movie. What’s the name of that neon wearing, rollerblading sk8er girl?
Find the answer in this week’s episode of Nicstalgia!
Last Week’s Answer
Keeping with this week’s theme of girl bands, which four-piece band played during the prom scene in the 1999 dark comedy Jawbreaker?
The Donnas, none of whom are actually named Donna, became friends in middle school and hit the peak of their popularity when I was in middle school. (Unfortunately, I did not have 3 other friends to start The Nicoles and achieve rock stardom with.) Interestingly, their music has been featured in a myriad of Lindsay Lohan movies, including Mean Girls, Freaky Friday, and Herbie: Fully Loaded.
🧨 Spice Up Your Life
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