Touring History 6-22-25

Touring History Podcast Script - June 22nd, 2025

Opening

LANE: Welcome back to Touring History, the podcast where we prove that any random date can make you question everything you thought you knew about linear time. I'm Lane—

DAVE: And I'm Dave, and today we're trying something new. This is our first episode of Touring History "X, Y, and Z"—a shorter format designed to entertain and educate across the three largest generations.

LANE: Instead of our usual deep dive into everything that happened on a date, we're focusing on three events that specifically resonate with Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z. Same irreverent historical analysis, but more targeted and digestible.

DAVE: Think of it as history's greatest hits, but organized by who's most likely to care about each story. And before we dive into a day that gave us everything from educational opportunities to voting rights to legendary soccer controversies, we need to talk about Ike's Love & Sandwiches.

LANE: Are we really segueing from generational targeting to sandwich shops?

DAVE: Lane, when you're about to discuss educational policy, civil rights victories, and Diego Maradona's most controversial goal all in one condensed episode, you need sustenance that understands complexity. Ike's Love & Sandwiches doesn't just make sandwiches—they craft edible narratives.

LANE: Since 2007, they've been turning simple ingredients into something extraordinary. Over 600 sandwich combinations, each one named after someone who matters—from "The Tony Soprano" to "The Menage a Trois."

DAVE: Check them out at ikessandwich.com, because when history gets this focused, you deserve food that's equally intentional.

LANE: And today's history is definitely intentional. June 22nd—the day America opened college to veterans, lowered the voting age, and watched a soccer player literally hand his way into immortality. Three events, three generations, one surprisingly coherent narrative about opportunity and authenticity.

Birthdays

DAVE: Let's start with birthdays, because June 22nd produced some serious generational icons. Meryl Streep turns 76 today—arguably the greatest actress of our time, definitely the person who made award show speeches into performance art.

LANE: Plus we've got Cyndi Lauper at 73, who didn't just want to have fun—she wanted girls to have fun, specifically, which was apparently a revolutionary concept in 1983.

DAVE: Lindsay Wagner's 77—the Bionic Woman herself, proving that strong female characters existed long before the term "strong female character" became a marketing buzzword.

LANE: And Graham Greene at 74, one of Canada's most respected Indigenous actors, bringing depth and authenticity to roles that too often went to... well, not Indigenous actors.

DAVE: Oh, and some TikTok creators are celebrating today too—Zach Clayton, the Moody Unicorn Twin, and someone called Chex. I don't know what any of those names mean, but I assume they're very important to people under 25.

LANE: Sometimes the birthday list is a perfect snapshot of how entertainment evolved. From bionic women to viral dances in fifty years.

1944 - FDR Signs the GI Bill

DAVE: June 22nd, 1944, FDR signs the GI Bill into law, and honestly? This might be the most Gen X relevant thing we could possibly discuss.

LANE: Oh, here we go. Dave's got theories about generational impact again.

DAVE: No, seriously! Think about it—the GI Bill sent millions of World War II veterans to college who never would have gone otherwise. Working-class guys suddenly getting engineering degrees, business degrees, becoming doctors and lawyers.

LANE: And those veterans bec