Nostalgic Nightcaps

A New Year's Eve Song Showdown: A best of song bracket for years ending in 5 (1965-2025)

All-4-One, James Brown, Fleetwood Mac, Tears for Fears...all iconic sounds of our lives. Now their hits from years ending in 5 go head-to-head in a song bracket showdown to close out 2025. Will Taylor Swift sneak in at the last minute? Will Kaycee talk way too much about One Direction? And most importantly… will you be listening along with us (do it! [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHSjM95MCUptVZgUWg614gexaBwpwC5dA&si=EcJvMrufA3cp2ZFK])? Happy New Year!!

Our Best of Pop Culture: Years Ending in 5 (1965-2025)

What’s there to say about the 5s? Well…we have a whole lot. We are exploring the past 6 decades of years ending in 5s including a very hot Christopher Plummer tearing up the Nazi flag, video games, an iconic Sweet Valley High reference for the ages, celebrity gossip, and more. Did we cover everything? Of course not. But these were the things and events that were important to us, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

The First Wives Club (1996) or Dianovember Part 2

This week, we’re very grateful for Diane Keaton and The First Wives Club (1996). What a movie! An absolutely stacked cast, starting with our favorite ladies Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler. We chat the sudden hunkiness of Dan Hedaya (aka Cher’s dad on Clueless), Leslie Gore’s iconic “You Don’t Own Me”, and the reasons why this movie is such a classic Girl Sleepover Joint. Plus, the Spice Girls-ification of our lives, and Kaycee learns some surprising new facts about Ashley. This movie is an important part of our lives, and we can’t wait to share it with you, too! Follow us on Instagram @nostalgicnightcaps [www.instagram.com/nostalgicnightcaps]

Dianovember Part 1: Baby Boom (1987)

We’re having a major Keat Down over Diane Keaton in the month of Dianovember…and we’re starting with the often overlooked film Baby Boom (1987). What’s a high-powered businesswoman to do when she’s suddenly put in charge of a baby? Diane Keaton delivers all the best laughs and typical breakdowns as she moves from her high-rise NYC apartment to a farm in small-town Vermont, and meets the very hot and maddening Dr. Cooper, all while trying to find her way in this world. We talk the importance of the home and domesticity, the current branding of wife and motherhood as conservative, and the new ways we saw this movie as thirty something year olds. Plus, we try to explore why in the world a young Ashley would be so into movies marketed for 40 year old divorced women, and the way Diane Keaton was a big part of our early friendship as thirteen year olds.

Scary Stories to Tell on the Pod: How Alvin Schwartz’s tales terrified us then… and how he fascinates us now

Back in elementary school classrooms on late October days, we (and so many others) were being scared silly by the works of Alvin Schwartz…and now we’re digging into why. From “The Green Ribbon” to “The Hook,” we’re revisiting Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and In a Dark, Dark Room, iconic horror collections that terrified an entire generation. We’re breaking down the stories that haunted us for years, potentially scarred us for life, and secretly taught us about fear, control, and the patriarchy. Grab your flashlight and your drink, because we’re talking folklore, fear, and the freaky genius (and fastidious research) of children’s author Alvin Schwartz.  For this episode’s sources & further reading, plus other nostalgia, check out Kaycee on Substack: Paperback Retrospective. [https://paperbackretrospective.substack.com/p/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark] Follow us on Instagram @nostalgicnightcaps [https://www.instagram.com/nostalgicnightcaps/]