Free Nights And Weekends
GenX stories from the 1980's Oklahoma suburbs.
Episodes
Before Amazon wish lists and two-day shipping, there was a thin paper flyer, a crumpled order form, and a check your mom wrote with mild suspicion. The Scholastic Book Club wasn’t just about books. It was about waiting. About forgetting you even ordered anything. And then one day, the teacher opened a giant cardboard box and the classroom turned into Christmas morning (for some of us). More on that later.
This week on Fr...
In the 1980s, history didn’t arrive on your phone. It arrived on a rolling television cart that wheeled into your classroom and got parked next to the chalkboard like a sacred object.
On the day the Space Shuttle launch was shown live in schools across America, some kids watched in stunned silence. Others cracked jokes. Some had to catch the news at lunch because they were in some nerd math class.
Today, we welcome Chad ...
We were going to be chased into quicksand by Bigfoot during an earthquake! And Spock was there learching around to narrate our demise. Marc joins us this week as we look back at these GenX myths and some closer to home.
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame
Somewhere between the Diamond Ballroom and the North Canadian River in OKC lies Mecca for a 12 year old boy. The double space before the beginning of each sentence here lets you in that a guy who remembers ET in the theaters is typing this. But with that (a-hem) experience comes a wealth of "knowledge". Like, where to get cheap jumper cables and some sweet nunchakus. Let's go back to the mid-80&apos...
This week on *Free Nights and Weekends*, we get ready for The Grammys! We welcome in longtime friend and veteran musician Rick Toops — and the two dive headfirst into one of the wildest pop-culture stories of the late ’80s: the rise, fall, and unexpected comeback of Milli Vanilli. Yep. You read that right. Fab Morvan — one half of the most infamous duo in pop history — is nominated for a Grammy. Again. And it just so ...
See he was a bird and he was big, get it? That’s important. In this episode, we dig through the tucked away memories of Sesame Street, touch on the future of *America’s 4,230th favorite podcast about growing up in the 405.
*estimate.
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame
And that’s a wrap on 2025! From Sesame Street to Toys ‘R’ Us treasure hunts to the white-knuckle thrill of Driver’s Ed, VBS, and an eighth grade year that was really hard to believe are included too! We relived it all.
Quick links
Drivers ed Walk-a-thon Flea market My bully Paper route That one where you know, coach killed his wife VBS The Day After Sesame St Lawnchair Larry State fair Yugo Back To the Fut...
A look back at the Christmas specials we grew up with and a heartwarming tale of an Ohio Christmas. Featuring a familiar voice and Scott schooling a Buckeye stater about the greatness of the BC Clark jingle. Merry Christmas!
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame
A Charlie Brown Christmas has been airing for 60 years, and we all agree it’s a classic. What we don’t agree on is how a cartoon with no visible adults, a depressed eight-year-old, and a dog eating what looks suspiciously like a pile of femur bones ever became “appointment viewing.”
This week on Free Nights and Weekends, Scott sits down with his brother, Phil, a Nashville, TN area therapist whose license is probably mo...
This week on Free Nights and Weekends, we step back inside the cathedral of 80s childhood: Toys “R” Us. If you grew up in that era, this wasn’t just a store — it was the place where your pulse spiked, your hopes soared, and your parents quietly questioned every decision that led them into that building. Those sliding glass doors opened like the gates of Oz, releasing that unmistakable cocktail of plastic, rubber, card...
This week on *Free Nights and Weekends*, Scott is joined by longtime friend and veteran musician Rick Toops — and the two dive headfirst into one of the wildest pop-culture stories of the late ’80s: the rise, fall, and unexpected comeback of Milli Vanilli. Yep. You read that right. Fab Morvan — one half of the most infamous duo in pop history — is nominated for a Grammy. Again. And it just so happens Rick was there, i...
This week on the Free Nights and Weekends Podcast, Scott dives straight into the retail mayhem of a true Gen-X Black Friday — back when parents fought strangers for Cabbage Patch Kids, Atari games were stacked like sandbags, and leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches were the fuel that powered America’s bravest shoppers.
From 1983’s infamous Cabbage Patch riots to bargain-bin Atari cartridges and the sacred post-Thank...
Scott takes a solo dive into 1980s photography: Fotomat drive-up kiosks, disposable cameras, one-hour photo labs, and the unforgettable feeling of opening a yellow envelope filled with freshly developed prints. From mystery film rolls to the family photo album era, this episode explores what we lost when photos stopped taking time — and why those imperfect old snapshots still matter.
Michael Knight is back on the highway—whether we asked for it or not.
In this week’s episode of Free Nights and Weekends, Scott and Adam dust off the Trans Am, fire up the red scanner light, and dive head-first into all things Knight Rider. We break down the original 1980s phenomenon, the cultural impact of KITT (television’s sassiest AI long before Alexa got snippy), and the bizarre but real announcement of a Knight...
Did you have a ridiculous drivers ed experience in high school? I can't imagine it tops this. Hang on as some voices from the past come together to retell how we all survived the craziest drivers ed story I've ever heard of. And I was right there!
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame
This week we welcome the guys from Fried Okla to unwrap Halloween. — when every parent swore there were razor blades in apples, LSD in Smarties.
Scott revisits trick-or-treating in suburban Oklahoma — the haunted houses, the good candy, and the one neighbor who gave out full-size bars and nightmares. Then Marc storms in and adds a dash of New England for contrast, and together they uncover what really matters, bravi...
Fire up the flux capacitor, because Back to the Future just turned 40—and we’re feeling old.
Scott and Marc hop in the time machine to revisit 1985, when Michael J. Fox ruled the screen, Pepsi Free was a thing, and where’s our hoverboards? From the guitar-shredding Enchantment Under the Sea dance to Doc Brown’s wild-eyed inventions. Ronald Reagan?! Who’s the Sec of the Treasury? Jack Benny?
We also hit on why Back to the...
MTV didn’t just play music videos—it invented pop culture. From “Video Killed the Radio Star” to “The Real World,” we look back at the rise and inevitable collapse of MTV as YouTube and reality TV took over. In this episode of Free Nights and Weekends, Marc Boucher joins as we revisit the VJs, the early days, and the moment the music died—again.
*Update: a quick Google search tells me that I was spectacularly wron...
Remember the Yugo — that infamous box of bolts from the 1980s Eastern Bloc? Turns out, it’s back. In this episode, Scott and Chase Cammack take a joyride through the history, the hype, and the horror stories of the world’s most mocked automobile. From Cold War car factories to Craigslist comeback attempts, we explore how the Yugo went from punchline to cult classic. It’s nostalgia, bad engineering, and Free Night...
Napster is in the news again. We didn't even know there was still a Napster!
This week, Scott welcomes Rick Toops to the mic. They discuss how Napster revolutionized music sharing and just what even is a Napster. Or was.
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Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame
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