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Free Nights And Weekends

Free Nights And Weekends

By: Scott
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GenX stories from the 1980's Oklahoma suburbs.

© 2026 Free Nights And Weekends
Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • We Can Come Out From Hiding! Columbia House Is Tits Up!
    Aug 28 2026

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    Oh, and so is Dolly! RIP

    Columbia House is finally calling it quits, so we’re taking a look back at the legendary mail-order music club that promised a dozen albums for a penny and somehow became a part of growing up in America.

    Eddie and I both signed up. We both have stories. And apparently, we had very different interpretations of how this whole thing was supposed to work.

    We talk about where Columbia House came from, why the deal was so irresistible, and what it was like getting music in the mail back before the internet made everything instantaneous.

    Plus, there’s a little Gen X nostalgia, a couple of questionable decisions, and one very important question:

    How did my genius plan fail?

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    Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame

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    36 mins
  • A Plastic Steer, the Crime, and Growing Up Gen X: The Sirloin Stockade Murders
    Aug 14 2026

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    In 1978, something horrific happened inside an Oklahoma City Sirloin Stockade.

    Six employees went to work that night. They never came home.

    For those of us who grew up in Oklahoma in the late '70s and '80s, the story became part of our collective childhood memory. We knew the name Roger Dale Stafford. We knew what had happened at Sirloin Stockade. We saw the news footage.

    And we remember that giant steer out front.

    48 years later, the story is back in the news. Verna Stafford, who was convicted for her role in the crimes, appeared before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board this week. The board voted 3-2 to recommend parole on one of her two life sentences.

    But this isn't a true-crime episode.

    Scott and Jason talk about the Stafford murders, the victims, the restaurant, and the terrible story that became part of growing up in Oklahoma. More importantly, they talk about how Gen X learned about horrible things before the internet, social media, smartphones and the modern true-crime machine.

    We heard about bad things.

    We processed them the best way kids knew how.

    And then we went outside.

    Oh, and there's a 15 foot steer involved. 🐄

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    Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame

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    39 mins
  • Back to School: Hostage Negotiations In The Store Aisle
    Aug 7 2026

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    Every August, Gen X kids hit the reset button.

    The new school year meant fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, new sneakers if you were lucky, and the annual gamble of whether your backpack would survive until Christmas. It was the smell of a brand-new Trapper Keeper, hunting for your locker, trying to figure out where your classes were, and hoping your teacher wasn't "the mean one."

    This week, we relive everything that made heading back to school unforgettable, from school supply shopping and first-day disasters to cafeteria lunches, bus rides, locker combinations, and the little traditions every kid remembers.

    Grab your No. 2 pencils and join us for another trip back to the decade when school pictures had feathered hair, book covers were mandatory, and everyone secretly hoped their best friend was in the same homeroom.

    Show Sponsor

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    Original music provided by a few of the gentlemen of Supernal Endgame

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    38 mins
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