The Blerd Radio Time Machine gets fired up again! Big Money (me), Michael Parr and Dr. Z all hop in and travel back twenty (gulp) years to land in 1996 for the latest podcast!

1996 was a pretty big year in pop culture–it was an election year, and a watershed year for music (particularly for new artists). Here are just a few of the topics discussed during the show.

-The bombing at the Olympics in Atlanta

-The 1996 presidential election: Bill Clinton vs. Bob Dole, and the Whitewater scandal.

-Cloning takes its first step forward, courtesy of Dolly The Ewe.

-Radio deregulation, which led to every single terrestrial station you listen to being owned by either Clear Channel or the IHeartRadio family.

-The “East Coast/West Coast” hip-hop rivalry, and the death of Tupac Shakur on September 13th.

-An eventful 1996 for The Artist Then Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince: the icon severs ties with Warner Brothers, releases the 3-CD set Emancipation, gets married, and suffers a family tragedy.

-KISS reunites and slaps the makeup back on! Their first public appearance is opposite the aforementioned Mr. Shakur on the Grammy Awards.

–Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” becomes the longest-running #1 single of all time.

-The Fugees break through, becoming the world’s #1 cover band.

-Everyone does the God damn Macarena.

-Alternative rock is huge, and the term is vast enough to include Oasis and Metallica. During this conversation, I plug Steven Hyden’s new book Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me.

-Underappreciated music of 1996: De La Soul’s Stakes Is High, Chuck D.’s The Autobiography Of Mistachuck, The Heads’ No Talking, Just Head and Kool Keith’s Dr. Octagonecologist. Also, you should watch this video.

-The glorious one-hit wonderdom of “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods.

-New artists of 1996: a list that includes Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, Fiona Apple, No Doubt and more…with special focus on Jay-Z and Sublime’s enduring self-titled album.

-Big-name flops of 1996, and the cultural re-examination of Weezer’s Pinkerton; in addition to our own re-examinations of Pearl Jam’s No Code and George Michael’s Older.

-TV & movies of 1996: The debuts of TVLand and MTV2, as well as Robin Williams’ stellar year.

-How a movie about natural disasters spawned the angriest Van Hagar song ever.

-Finally, as it should be, a few words about anal leakage.

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