PODCAST · society
The Latchkey Kids
by The Latchkey Kids
Relive the magic of growing up in the American suburbs during the 1980s with siblings Aaron Selbig and Dr. Amy Besler. Every week, Aaron and Amy shine a spotlight on cultural artifacts from the era while processing what it was truly like to grow up a latchkey kid. And maybe they'll talk about their parents' divorce. Things could get weird.
Episodes
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Episode 185: Child Stars, Part Two
Which is the more talented, good-looking, and successful pair of siblings: The Batemans (Justine and Jason) or Aaron and Dr. Amy? Learn the answer to this question - and also whether or not Ricky Schroder is still riding around on his mansion train - on this very special sequel on child stars of...
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Episode 184: Child Stars, Part One
The 1980s were truly a Golden Age for child stars. We had the diminutive, wisecracking Gary Coleman, the precocious yet worldly Drew Barrymore ... and who can forget cute little Ricky Schroder tooling around on his mansion train with his blonde hair waving in the breeze? But where are all these...
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Episode 183: Broadway Musicals
The 1980s was a transformative time for Broadway musicals. With the spectacle of The Phantom of the Opera, the unbridled joy of La Cage aux Folles, and whatever the heck was going on in Cats, Broadway was bigger, better, and more expensive than ever! But, unfortunately, all of this grandeur was...
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Episode 182: A Very Special Latchkey Kids Fifth Anniversary Spectacular!
Can you believe it's been FIVE YEARS since The Latchkey Kids showed up in a DeLorean and took over the world of 1980s nostalgia podcasts? Join Aaron and Dr. Amy as they share some of their favorite fashions, music, and celebrities of the 80s, and take a look back at some favorite Latchkey Kids...
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Episode 181: Music Moments of 1980
As the 1970s came to a close and disco was pronounced officially dead, the music world stood on the cusp of great change in 1980. The world had not yet been introduced to the genius of Prince, the many bracelets of Madonna, or MTV (which would debut in 1981), but Michael Jackson was beginning his...
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Episode 180: Cults of the 1980s
Have you ever wanted to start your own cult? In this episode, Aaron and Dr. Amy research the many cults of the 1980s, hoping to learn more about what makes them tick, and the many steps needed to convince a large group of people that its necessary to wear color-coordinated outfits while preparing...
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Episode 179: Dr. Ruth
Remember in the 5th grade, when they would separate the boys and the girls, and give everyone an extremely uncomfortable and rudimentary overview of human sexuality? Well, in Aaron and Dr. Amy's family, this was about the only "sex talk" we ever received, and along with Judy Blume and whatever we...
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Episode 178: Bad Entertainment, Part 3: Bad Movies
Do you have a guilty pleasure movie? The 1980s were chock full of movies - like Ishtar, Mac and Me, or Leonard Part 6 - that maybe sounded appealing ON PAPER, but were complete and total flops at the box office. For Aaron, the pinnacle of 1980s bad movies is a certain cult classic that involves…
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Episode 177: Bad Entertainment, Part Two: Bad TV Shows
In this second installment of the "Bad Entertainment" series, Aaron and Dr. Amy turn their attention to the almighty television (aka our babysitter and third parent)! Of course, we all love and still fondly remember classic TV shows of the 1980s like Cheers, The Golden Girls, and Dallas ... but...
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Episode 176: Bad Entertainment, Part One: Bad Songs
For a description of this week's episode of The Latchkey Kids, please click this link: https://tinyurl.com/yx4kxfm6
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Episode 175: Monty Python
Over the years, the great people of Great Britain have exported a great many things to the USA, including the Beatles, Yorkshire pudding, and sexy but difficult-to-maintain automobiles like the Jaguar. But perhaps Britain's most influential export is the unabashed silliness of Monty Python. Do…
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Episode 174: Are They Alive?
If you're a regular Latchkey Kids listener, chances are you've experienced the following scenario: you and your spouse/sibling/urologist have been chatting away and (INSERT RANDOM CELEBRITY HERE) comes up in conversation. And straight away, the question on your mind is ... is that person still...
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Episode 173: Just Say Yes to Drugs!
Alternative titles for this truly wild Latchkey Kids exploration of drugs and alcohol in the 1980s include "Blood Is Thicker Than Zima" and "Only Commit One Crime at a Time." Cheers, everyone!
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Episode 172: Schoolhouse Rock
Under normal circumstances, education was the LAST thing children of the 80s wanted when they sat down with their bowls of cereal to watch Saturday morning cartoons. But tucked in between Inspector Gadget and Thundercats was a little slice of learning called Schoolhouse Rock! In short bursts…
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Episode 171: Indiana Jones
For all the archeologists in the Latchkey Kids audience, we have a question: when you are seeking important artifacts from world history, how common is it to experience tumbling boulders, pits of snakes, deadly spikes, blowgun attacks, and high-speed car chases? And also ... do you all wear…
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Episode 170: DJ Aaron's Mix Tape: Heavy Metal!
Were you a 1980s metalhead? Were you rockin a mullet, faded jeans, and a black T-shirt proudly displaying your love for Metallica, Guns N' Roses, or Motorhead? If your musical tastes go a little harder than Tiffany and Debbie Gibson - or if you really want to hear Aaron perform an inordinate…
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Episode 169: Star Search
It's the 1980s and the OG of TV talent shows - Star Search - has invited you to compete for the grand prize! Ed McMahon has introduced you and the spotlight is bright! What talent will you be sharing with America? Singing? Dancing? Stand-up comedy? Spokesmodeling? Whatever you choose, make sure…
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Episode 168: Superstar Athletes of the 80s
When you were a kid growing up in the 1980s, which superstar athlete did you love the most? Did you want to master the floor routine for a perfect 10 like Mary Lou Retton? Did you want to be like Mike? Or did you, like Aaron, pretend to catch Super Bowl touchdowns by tossing throw pillows into…
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Episode 167: A Tribute to Rob Reiner
From the coming-of-age classic 'Stand By Me' to the dreamy fantasy world of 'The Princess Bride' to the GOAT of all rom-coms 'When Harry Met Sally,' Rob Reiner's films always emphasized humanity, and the breadth of human emotion. Join Aaron and Dr. Amy as we celebrate the life of one of the…
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Episode 166: Time Capsule: January 1986
As we start off a new year full of hope and promise (?), it's time to hop in the DeLorean with Aaron and Dr. Amy as we head back 40 years to January 1986! Join us as we relive the music, movies, toys, and cultural events that made that month so special, including Dr. Amy's PTSD-inducing…
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Episode 165: TV Guide
Picture this: it's a random Thursday night in 1983, and you have an hour to kill before your parents kick you out of the living room to watch Simon & Simon. What do you do? Well, you consult the TV Guide, of course! This most important of sacred texts will soon let you know what's happening on…
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Episode 164: A Very Special 80s Christmas
What are your time-honored holiday traditions? Do you bedazzle your Christmas tree with scratch-off lottery tickets, like Aaron's family? Do you leave personalized awards for neighborhood light displays like Dr. Amy? The 1980s were a simpler time, when all we had to do to ensure a perfect…
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Episode 163: M*A*S*H
In 1972, as the Vietnam War wore on, a military-themed sitcom debuted on CBS. M*A*S*H was based on the 1970 film of the same name, which was based on the 1968 novel "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors." The show featured an ensemble cast of characters who drank and flirted and played pranks…
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Episode 162: Celebrity Rumors
PARENTAL ADVISORY: This episode, which contains references to gerbils, rib removal, and certain questionable sexual practices, is not approved for all audiences, including Best Friend Doug, Jake, Mimi and Kristin, and ESPECIALLY COUSIN JANA!
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Episode 161: DJ Aaron's Mixtape: New Wave Music
What music do you think of when you hear the term "New Wave?" Is it the blistering post punk of Elvis Costello? The synthesizer-driven, radio-friendly pop of New Order? Blondie? Talking Heads? Devo? Whatever your flavor, New Wave was everywhere in the 1980s, and Aaron and Dr. Amy are here to sing...
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Episode 160: Ghostbusters
If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? The Latchkey Kids! If there's somethin' weird, and it don't look good, ho you gonna call? Aaron and Dr. Amy!
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Episode 159: Celebrity Spotlight: Robin Williams, Part Two
If you listened to our last episode (and if you haven't, do so immediately!), you know that Oscar winning actor, comedian, and superstar Robin Williams got his start playing the lovable, eccentric alien Mork from Ork in a one-off episode of Happy Days in 1978. On this episode, Aaron and Dr. Amy...
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Episode 158: Celebrity Spotlight: Robin Williams, Part One
In 1978, a new comedic actor from the San Francisco Bay roared into our national consciousness "like a hurricane," in the words of David Letterman. In the red spacesuit that he would soon make famous, Robin Williams guest starred as the wild and lovable alien Mork from Ork in a single episode of...
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Episode 157: Totally 80s Parenting!
Raising children is tough no matter the time period, and perhaps that's why 80s parents seemed to let their kids parent themselves. Were you free range when you were a kid? Did you have to be home before the street lights came on? Join Aaron and Dr. Amy as they relive the best - and maybe not so...
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Episode 156: The Karate Kid
Wax on! Wax off! We hope you've been training hard because it's time to dive deep into the surprise sleeper hit of 1984, "The Karate Kid," starring baby-faced Ralph Macchio and the great Pat Morita as a pair of unlikely friends. Join Danny LaRusso as he fights off bullies (so many bullies!)…
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Episode 155: 80s Weddings
Do you remember weddings in the 1980s? Thanks to the absolutely unattainable fairytale precedent set by Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981, weddings took a turn for the big and bold, with multi-tier cakes, chocolate fountains, and poofy hair that was only outdone by poofy sleeves! Let's...
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Episode 154: Music Moments of 1987
What was your soundtrack in 1987? For Aaron and Dr. Amy, '87 was the year of our parents' divorce (see Episode 100 for all the gory details on that) so we sought solace in fun pop hits like "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by the great Whitney Houston or "Walk Like An Egyptian" by The Bangles. But...
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Episode 153: Ice Cream
I scream! You scream! We all scream for ice cream! Or, if you were unlucky enough to be involved in The Glasgow Ice Cream Wars of the 1980s (a real thing), perhaps your screaming was due to ice cream-related violence. Whatever the case, we can all surely agree that nothing beats the summer heat...
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Episode 152: The Circus
A time-honored form of entertainment that goes back more than 200 years, the traveling circus was still popular in the 1980s, at least for Aaron and Dr. Amy, whose beloved grandmother - a stoic woman who was inexplicably enraptured by the colorful, bombastic affair - took them to the circus every...
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Episode 151: Rocky
When it first came out in 1976 (the year of Dr. Amy's birth), "Rocky," the gritty tale of up-and-coming boxer Rocky Balboa, was a surprise hit, winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Screenplay. But for Aaron and Dr. Amy, it was the 1980s sequels "Rocky 3" and "Rocky 4," featuring archvillians...
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Episode 150: Sibling Q&A With Aaron and Dr. Amy
In honor of the 150th episode of The Latchkey Kids podcast (can you believe it?), Aaron and Dr. Amy go DEEP into each others psyches to uncover our innermost feelings, most cherished memories, stongest convictions, and ... favorite "Corey" of the 1980s. If you are a true TLK fan, test your...
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Episode 149: Yacht Rock
It's Memorial Day weekend and there's nothing Americans love more than honoring their war dead and then spending a long weekend relaxing in our Polo shirts and Sperry Topsiders, cool drinks in hand and groovy, jazzy tunes floating in the summer air. On this week's episode, Aaron and Dr. Amy dive...
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Episode 148: Pets!
If you're a longtime Latchkey Kids listener like Cousin Jana, you already know all about Mikey, the sweet little Miniature Schnauzer that loved nothing more than spinning around in a pillowcase and then eating French fries in the back of the car. For Aaron and Dr. Amy, Mikey was our very own…
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Episode 147: Gilligan's Island
We latchkey kids have SO MANY QUESTIONS about the hit 1960s TV show "Gilligan's Island," which we watched religiously all through the 80s thanks to the miracle of reruns. For instance, if the castaways could make coconut cream pies and build elaborate huts, why on earth could they not just patch...
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Episode 146: Celebrity Spotlight: Prince
Dearly beloved, where were you when you first heard the eternal, genre-bending music of Prince? Aaron remembers where he was: sitting in the bleachers at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, watching a semi-pro Arizona Wranglers football game. In that hazy, sun-parched environment, where the air...
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Episode 145: The Muppets
From the brilliant mind of the legendary Jim Henson, our childhood was filled with the zany and hilarious antics of the Muppet gang, who graced many a TV and movie screen in the 1970s and 80s. Did you have a favorite Muppet? Which member of the house band was the coolest? And how healthy was...
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Episode 144: Crime Spectacular, Part 3: Moral Panics
Are you concerned about Satan worshippers corrupting the nation's youth? How about communists who have infiltrated the government? Or suit-wearing, scooter-riding "mods" who are starting violent brawls with the ne'er-do-well "rockers?" If these scary scenarios get your blood pumping, you would've...
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Episode 143: Crime Spectacular, Part 2: Serial Killers
The 1980s was truly the golden age of the serial killer. With no DNA evidence, interconnected police databases, or multitudes of cameras everywhere, deranged psychopaths like Joseph DeAngelo, Dennis Rader, and Jeffrey Dahmer were free to roam about the country, committing their heinous crimes…
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Episode 142: Crime Spectacular, Part 1: Totally 80s Crimes
Who is the most 1980s criminal you can think of? Is it John Gotti of the Gambino crime family? Perhaps John DeLorean, with his penchant for flux capacitors and cocaine? Or are you more of a serial killer kind of person? Whatever your flavor of crime, McGruff the crime dog says you should listen…
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Episode 141: School Book Fairs
OMG the anticipation of the school book fair ... counting the days until they opened the makeshift little bookstore in the cafeteria, begging mom to load you up with dollar bills like you were headed to a strip club, and THAT AMAZING ORDER FORM! Dive into the past and present of school book fairs...
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Episode 140: The Cold War
Dr. Amy had her doubts about this episode. "The Cold War is not FUN!" she said over and over. But you know what? This is unequivocally the MOST FUN podcast episode about the Cold War you are ever likely to hear! It has everything: sporting event drama, hit songs in the gorgeous German language…
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Episode 139: Time Capsule: January 1985
Do you remember what you were doing 40 years ago, in January 1985? While much of the country shivered under a historic cold snap that derailed plans for President Reagan's second inauguration, Madonna climbed to the top of the pop music charts. Jump into the Latchkey Kids time machine this week…
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Episode 138: Infomercials
There's a couple of days left before Christmas so you still have time to pick up a few last-minute gifts for your treasured loved ones. You know, something they'll love ... like the Thighmaster, or The Clapper, or the miraculous Flowbee vacuum-powered haircutting machine. These are products you…
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Episode 137: 'Wallace & Ladmo' and Regional Kids TV Shows
Did your city have a quirky, wacky local kids TV show that ALL the kids watched before school every morning? Did it feature a clown or a sheriff or a salty sea captain as its host? Growing up in metro Phoenix in the 1980s, Aaron and Dr. Amy had "Wallace & Ladmo," one of the longest-running…
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Episode 136: TLK Salutes Our Military, Part Two: Military Comedies
This episode, which showcases a few classic 1980s comedy films that parody life in the military, is an official VERY SPECIAL EPISODE in several ways. First, it was recorded live in front of a studio audience, just like "The Facts of Life." Second, Aaron and Dr. Amy were in the same room together...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Relive the magic of growing up in the American suburbs during the 1980s with siblings Aaron Selbig and Dr. Amy Besler. Every week, Aaron and Amy shine a spotlight on cultural artifacts from the era while processing what it was truly like to grow up a latchkey kid. And maybe they'll talk about their parents' divorce. Things could get weird.
HOSTED BY
The Latchkey Kids
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Latchkey Kids have?
The Latchkey Kids currently has 184 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Latchkey Kids about?
Relive the magic of growing up in the American suburbs during the 1980s with siblings Aaron Selbig and Dr. Amy Besler. Every week, Aaron and Amy shine a spotlight on cultural artifacts from the era while processing what it was truly like to grow up a latchkey kid. And maybe they'll talk about their...
How often does The Latchkey Kids release new episodes?
The Latchkey Kids publishes regularly with 184 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Latchkey Kids?
You can listen to The Latchkey Kids on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Latchkey Kids?
The Latchkey Kids is created and hosted by The Latchkey Kids.
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