Dust off your leg warmers and pull out the VCR, this week, PCPS is sweating it out Gen X–style. We’re diving headfirst into the neon-soaked world of 80s fitness, where high-cut leotards, terry cloth headbands, and very enthusiastic instructors ruled our living rooms.From the unstoppable energy of Jane Fonda to the joyful, glittery motivation of Richard Simmons, we revisit the VHS workouts that somehow turned our family rooms into aerobic studios. Along the way, we’re breaking down the iconic fashion (spandex, anyone?), the pulse-pounding music, and the movies that turned aerobics into a full-blown cultural moment.Join us as we laugh, reminisce, and maybe even get a little winded remembering a time when “feel the burn” was a lifestyle—and sweating to the oldies was basically a personality trait.

Watch "Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter"

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In the continuation of Episode 263, we’re chatting more about Helen Reddy’s songs, fame, and her lasting impact. Which song did little Michelle always think was about her and her mama? In which memorable movie about an invisible dragon did Helen Reddy appear and sing an equally memorable song? And we’ll debate the age-old question: Did Angie Baby kill someone or just keep him as a sex slave? (We're not afraid to tackle the hard stuff here at the Pop Culture Preservation Society!)

Watch Helen Reddy biopic "I Am Woman"

Great podcast episode from Amy Lively's podcast For the Record: The 70s "The Softer Side of 70s Rock"

Subscribe to our favorite magazine and get 83% off just by being a PCPS listener. Click here for a year of Remind Magazine for only $12.

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

Subscribe to the PCPS email newsletter, "The Weekly Reader" here

Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

In 1972, a single song shifted the cultural landscape forever. This week, we’re diving into the life and career of Helen Reddy, the "Queen of 70s Pop" who became the reluctant — yet resolute — voice of the second-wave feminist movement and gave us all a powerful anthem to shout-sing out loud for decades. We’re taking you through the fun details of some of Helen’s greatest hits (and our favorites) and we have so much to say (and sing!) that we couldn’t contain it in just one episode!

Watch Helen Reddy biopic "I Am Woman"

Great podcast episode from Amy Lively's podcast For the Record: The 70s "The Softer Side of 70s Rock"

Helen Reddy and Carol Burnett skit

Subscribe to our favorite magazine and get 83% off just by being a PCPS listener. Click here for a year of Remind Magazine for only $12.

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

Subscribe to the PCPS email newsletter, "The Weekly Reader" here

Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

Quick: make a list of your movie theater memories. Family outings, fun with friends, first dates and iconic movies that went on to make history are all part of our Gen X history. Could you make a similar list for movies you've streamed at home? Hmmmm. Probably not. In today's episode, we discuss a New York Times opinion piece in which the CEO of Sony Pictures argues for rescuing the movie theater experience and lays out a plan for doing so. Not surprisingly, your pop culture preservationists have no shortage of movie theater memories to share -- Star Wars, Kramer vs. Kramer, The Breakfast Club, She's Having a Baby, Ghost, the Herbie movies and more -- and it becomes very clear that we've suffered a huge loss in the era of streaming. But the good news is that Gen Z might be feeling this loss, too, and they could be the ones to push the culture back to the theater. Even if you haven't been to the movie theater since the pre-pandemic era, today's discussion might have you buying tickets again.

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

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Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

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Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

Kick off your Sunday shoes and dive deep with us into the soundtrack that made all us GenXers cut loose, (want to) dance in the sheets, and give the boy a hand. The iconic Footloose soundtrack is jammed packed with hit after hit, and every single one of them was written for the movie. We’re going track by track discussing the importance of every single song to its corresponding scene. Why don’t we like Ariel? Which Olympic gymnast has a family connection to the movie? And which one of us had never seen Footloose until a few weeks ago (and is lucky she’s still a card-carrying member of the PCPS)?

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

Subscribe to the PCPS email newsletter, "The Weekly Reader" here

Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

In today’s episode we’ll be saving all the residents of Walnut Grove by testing our knowledge of all things Prairie. Because that show was on for nine years – that’s the entirety of our childhoods. We grew up with those people. And we all wanted Pa to be our dad and we wanted Ma to be our mom and we wanted to wear little caps on our heads when we went to bed. And so today we’re testing the LHOP IQ of the PCPS. We’ll be quizzed about prairie facts but also about behind-the-scenes scoop; backstories and secrets we never knew when we were watching the show. Let’s see how we do, shall we? Are we worthy of being full time residents of Walnut Grove? Or are we just passing through town like Willis from Different Strokes in the episode about racism? Wish us luck!

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

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Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

Today we’ll be saving the 70s version of mixtapes with a tribute to the most beloved KTEL record of all time: No, it’s not Full Tilt. It’s not Hot Nights and City Lights . It’s not even 24 Great Truck Drivin’ Songs. It’s Music Express.

KTEL records were compilation albums full of the hit songs of that very moment – and how did we know about them? Because they were advertised incessantly on TV. And they helped create a lexicon of words and phrases that may be best known by Gen Xers: “20 original hits! 20 original stars!” “As seen on TV!” And, most importantly, “But Wait! There’s more!” Packed with twenty current hits from the radio, each KTEL album was like a precursor to the homemade mixtapes that became staples of 80s culture. SO WHAT WAS THE MOST POPULAR KTEL ALBUM?

If we only knew! But if we can judge by the internet, and how often people talk about it, that would be MUSIC EXPRESS, the 1975 album featuring The Captain and Tennille, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Disco Tex and the Sex-o-lettes – “and many more!!!!” Join us as we walk through this album song by song, sharing the vibes and fun facts like only your pop culture preservationists can.

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

Subscribe to the PCPS email newsletter, "The Weekly Reader" here

Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com

Be our guests at the GRAND OPENING of our GenX Museum’s first exhibit, “Scratch-n-Sniff: Smells Like GenX,” where we lead you and your nose through rooms and places of your youth, and tickle your olfactory glands with fragrant things like Noxema, Sweet Honesty, mimeographed worksheets, and Bain de Soleil. Sure, you’ll be surrounded in a cloud of cigarette smoke and the tour may take up most of your day, but we’re confident you’ll enjoy your visit. WARNING — there WILL be (slightly graphic) talk (amidst hysterical laughter) of powdering your privates. So.Much.Powder. Please proceed with (very relatable) caution.

Shop our link at bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and the PCPS.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Follow the Pop Culture Preservation Society on Instagram, Facebook an TikTok

Support the PCPS by becoming a patron on Patreon. Check all the extra perks you get here.

Help the PCPS keep on truckin' by making a one-time donation here

Subscribe to the PCPS email newsletter, "The Weekly Reader" here

Send us an email at hello@poppreservationists.com