Behind the Scenes Minis: Jane and the Clicker

Summary

Stuff You Missed In History Class: Behind the Scenes Minis—Jane and the Clicker (September 5, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this Behind the Scenes Minis episode, hosts Holly Frey and Tracy V. Wilson reflect on two distinct topics covered earlier in the week: Jane Cunningham Croly (aka Jenny June), a pioneer in women’s organizations and journalism, and the invention and cultural impact of the television remote control (“the clicker”). The conversation is filled with personal anecdotes, nuanced reactions, and historical asides, offering listeners a deeper, candid look at the research process and the social contexts surrounding both subjects.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Jane Cunningham Croly (Jenny June) and Women's Clubs

[03:00–15:03]

• Naming Panic and Identity Confusion
  Tracy shares initial confusion upon receiving Holly’s email titled “Jenny June” due to another historical figure with the same pseudonym, raising concerns about accidentally repeating an episode topic.

  • “I opened my email this morning and I just saw a file name called Jenny June, I was like, oh no. Did we accidentally repeat an episode topic? No, it is in fact a different person.” – Tracy (04:06)

• Jane Croly’s Personality & Writing Style
  Holly describes her mixed feelings toward Croly—admiring her energy and drive, but often finding her snobbish or condescending. Croly’s language is called out as stilted, shaped by her time and personal background.

  • Holly analogizes Croly’s tone to Imelda Staunton’s acting.
  • Croly’s brother’s remark on her “physical timidity” sparks confusion about 19th-century language ambiguity.
    • “Her brother said a couple of different times…‘her physical timidity was great and at times painful.’…Is he literally saying she was shy and that was painful…or some physical ailment?” – Holly (04:19)

• Women’s Club Movement & Double Standards
  The episode discusses how Croly’s founding of Sorosis, a women’s club, was met with skepticism in the press—questioning its purpose in a way rarely directed at men’s clubs.

  • Holly enthuses over a contemporary letter to the editor arguing that only women’s initiatives are questioned for their “social benefit.”

• Croly’s Contradictions and Prescriptions
  Both hosts remark on Croly’s advice—often patronizing—about women, teaching, and domesticity. Holly points out Croly’s demanding standards for homemaking, especially as laid out in her cookery book, noting the disconnect between Croly’s advocacy for women and her sometimes restrictive or elitist advice.

  • “Her writing is often very condescending. And it is…It’s like the advice columnist kind of thing. She was very well respected, but she definitely took that to heart and was like, I’m the expert on all the things. So you are clearly a ding dong, my darling child.” – Holly (09:09)

• Relating to Domestic Chores
  Discussion turns lighthearted as the hosts joke about the exhaustive schedules Croly promoted (e.g., ironing sheets and linens). Both admit little patience for such domestic fastidiousness now.

  • “No one cares if your sheets are ironed.” – Tracy (11:30)

• Ironing as a Modern Relic
  The hosts share their rare use of irons, emphasizing a generational shift in expectations and priorities for home care.

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2. The Television Remote Control (“Clicker”) and Cultural Change

[19:14–40:48]

• History and Earlier Adoption Than Expected
  Tracy is surprised to learn that TV remotes date back to the 1950s (not the '70s or '80s as they expected based on personal recollection), mainly because remote controls were luxury items for decades.

• Technology in Their Own Families
  Both hosts reminisce about early television technology:

  • Tracy recalls physical dials and the tactile memory of changing channels before remotes.
  • Holly remembers Saturday morning cartoon blocks (Smurfs/Snorks), and both hosts discuss TV-watching rules from childhood.

• How Remote Controls Changed TV and Attention Spans
  Holly cites James Gleick’s book, Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, to highlight the impact remotes had on TV production:

  • “Every television programmer works in the shadow of the awareness that the audience is armed.” – via Holly quoting James Gleick (24:21)
  • Remote controls made shows “snappier and more engaging,” prefiguring today’s short attention spans, now bemoaned as a byproduct of smartphones and TikTok.

• Agency and Accessibility
  Tracy describes fighting to maintain remote control technology in speech devices for accessibility, underlining how important such agency is for independence (22:27–23:36).

  • “This is one of the very limited ways that my mother can have control over her own environment. And if you take this away from her, she is reliant on other people in a way that she would not have been…” – Tracy (22:57)

• Changing Domestic Roles and Sedentarism Panic
  The hosts discuss the moral panic that remote controls (and TV dinners before them) would make people sedentary or “ruin life,” but argue such social changes are always multifactorial (26:28–27:04).

• Technical Tangents
  Holly expresses joy that early remotes (like the “space command”) required no batteries, musing that such an option would be snapped up quickly today (35:02).

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3. Remotes, Media Habits, and MTV

[31:33–35:08]

• Eugene McDonald’s Belief About Muted Ads
  Holly recalls Zenith founder Eugene McDonald's belief in the 1950s that if commercials were muted, they would become ineffective and vanish—an idea subverted decades later.

• MTV’s Silent Commercials Experiment
  Holly tells of MTV running silent commercials in the 1980s, which paradoxically led to higher engagement since viewers would return to the room to investigate the sudden quiet.

  • “They actually got better viewer engagement on commercials because people would get up, go in their kitchen…when they heard no sound…they would run back in thinking something was wrong.” – Holly (32:00)

• Personal Media Rituals
  Holly and Tracy contrast their current TV habits:

  • Holly’s household keeps multiple TVs on, often muted, for background—and mourns losing Cartoon Network to premium cable, with Golden Girls now a go-to fallback.
  • Tracy prefers TV off except for intentional viewing.
  • Holly: “TV is never turns off at our house…Keep it on all the time here. The cats like to watch it at night.” (37:14)
  • Tracy: “It's off most of the time…Otherwise, it's off a lot of the time.” (37:30)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Croly/Jenny June’s Writing:
  “Her writing is also not an easy read. Aside from it being of the time. It’s extra. The phrasing does not read naturally to me at all.” – Holly (09:41)

• On Conundrums of Women’s Work:
  “If a woman starts an enterprise, the first thing that gets asked is, who are you helping? How is this of benefit to anybody? What is the point of this? But men can start a club and you're like, cool...Like, nobody asked them what their bigger purpose and social benefit is.” – Holly (06:32)

• On Agency via Remote Technology:
  “If you take this away from her, she is reliant on other people in a way that she would not have been…” – Tracy (22:57)

• On Remotes and TV Culture:
  “Now every television programmer works in the shadow of the awareness that the audience is armed.” – Holly quoting James Gleick (24:21)
  “You have to recognize that there is rarely just one thing that is responsible [for social change]. And when you oversimplify, you are creating a problem of understanding…” – Holly (26:28)

• On Changing Domestic Rituals:
  “No one cares if your sheets are ironed.” – Tracy (11:30)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 – Tracy’s panic about “Jenny June” and name confusion
• 04:19 – Holly discusses Croly’s complex personality and writing
• 06:23 – Women's clubs, Sorosis, and double standards in the press
• 08:57 – Discussion about Croly’s condescending advice to women
• 11:30 – Rejecting Croly’s domestic fussiness (ironing sheets)
• 19:14 – Beginning of remote control discussion
• 24:21 – James Gleick quote on remotes and TV programming
• 26:28 – Sedentarism panic and cultural change
• 31:33 – Muted commercials: Eugene McDonald and MTV
• 36:05 – Remotes without batteries and technical simplicity
• 37:14–39:40 – Remotes and present-day TV rituals in Holly and Tracy's homes

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Episode Tone

• Conversational, candid, frequently humorous and self-deprecating
• Occasional jumps between earnest critique (especially on gender and accessibility) and friendly banter
• Rich with personal anecdotes relating history to the hosts’ lived experiences

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode offers a freewheeling but insightful “backstage” view of two subjects: the contradictions and legacy of journalist and women’s club founder Jane Cunningham Croly, and the cultural shift set in motion by the humble television remote control. Expect a mix of historical digressions, thoughtful analysis about agency (for women and for those needing accessible technology), some gentle mockery of 19th-century fussiness, a touch of nostalgia for unruly TV habits, and the ongoing struggle to make sense of history’s quirks.

By the end, listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation of the complexities behind both Croly’s work and the “clicker” that changed the way we interact with our screens—and each other.

Transcript

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Holly Frey]

Listen to your elders, honey. You might know them from their viral videos, but now the old gays are pulling back the curtain with their new podcast, Silver Linings with the Old Gays, brought to you in partnership with iHeart's Ruby Studio and Veeve Healthcare, hosts Robert, Mick, Bill and Jesse serve their lifetime of wisdom when it comes to love, sex, community and whatever else they've got on the gay agenda. So check out Silver Linings with the Old gays on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Curly]

The Super Secret Bestie Club Podcast Season four is here and we're locked in. That means more juicy cheesement, terrible love advice, evil spells to cast on your ex.

[Maya]

No, no, we're not doing that this season.

[Curly]

Oh, well, this season we're leveling up.

[Maya]

Each episode will feature a special bestie and you're not going to want to miss it. My name is Curly.

[Holly Frey]

And I'm Maya. Get in here.

[Curly]

Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Honey German]

Hi, it's Honey German, and I'm back with season two of my podcast. Gracias. Come again. We got you when it comes to the latest in music and entertainment with interviews with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition.

[Holly Frey]

No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned like over 25 years.

[Honey German]

Oh, wow. That's a real G talk right there. Oh, yeah, we'll talk about all that's vi viral and trending with a little bit of Cheeseman and a whole lot of LAUGHS and of course, the great Bibras you've come to expect. Listen to the new season of Gracias. Come again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Holly Frey]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartradio. Hello and happy Friday. I'm Holly Fry.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Holly Frey]

We talked about Jane Cunningham Crowley, AKA Jenny June this week.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. And I can tell listeners about the full on panic that I had getting your email because I don't remember her being mentioned in the Paper Patterns episode. If she did, it was not in my head anymore. But when I saw the name Jenny June, what was in my head instantly was someone we have talked about on the show before who also knew used the name Jenny June and that was the person who wrote under the names Earl Lind, Ralph Werther and Jenny June. And one of the things we mentioned in that episode, which I'd also forgotten that one detail, was that he said he did not know at the time when he started using the name Jenny June, that that name was already being used by someone else. And so like we mentioned, we mentioned Jane Cunningham Crowley in this other episode. I had forgotten that one detail. So when I just, I opened my email this morning and I just saw a file name called Jenny June, I was like, oh, no. Did we accidentally repeat an episode topic? No, it is in fact a different person.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. I am very, very fascinated by Jane Crowley.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Because there are ways in which I'm like, I get you, baby. I gigged. And there are other ways when I'm like, you are a snit. I will confess throughout all of the research in my head, everything she wrote as I was reading it was read in the voice of Imelda Staunton, which is all you really need to know. There was a phrase that I read that her brother said a couple of different times. I don't know what he means. This is one instance of may surprise even those who knew her well to learn that her physical timidity was great and at times painful. Now, I don't know if he's literally saying she was shy and that was painful or that he is literally saying she has some physical ailment that is painful. Like he and she both wrote in very stilted language where things like timidity might not mean what you think it means.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. When you read it, I interpreted it as painfully shy, but also in addition to both of them writing in kind of a stilted way, like language use evolves over time.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So if I went and looked at like the Oxford English Dictionary or something, would I find earlier connotations of any of that that we don't really use as much in it now? Who knows? Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

I mean, I kind of squirreled around and I never found anything satisfactory. But again, also, his writing style.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Is not. His writing style is exactly what you might anticipate of someone who was a minister in the 1800s who was used to writing sermons. Do you know what I mean?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Not bad.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Not an easy read either.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Right. Like probably easier than some people, but. Cause after all, he was Unitarian. One of those untrustworthy Unitarians, according to their fellow.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

According to their English detractors that they fled.

[Holly Frey]

There are so many things in here that kind of tickled me. And a lot of the stuff that I ended up reading I really enjoyed. Like especially the back and forths in various newspapers. One of the things that I thought was really interesting that I read was not written by her, but by another woman. That was like a letter to the editor thing in response to something the newspaper had written about Cirrhosis when it had first formed. Because apparently it had been a big thing of like, what is the point? Why are you even doing this? What good are you doing? And this woman wrote this very lengthy but very pointed response of like, do you recognize that if a woman starts an enterprise, the first thing that gets asked is, who are you helping? How is this of benefit to anybody? What is the point of this? But men can start a club and you're like, cool. I guess they just want to smoke cigars together. Like nobody asked them what their bigger purpose and social benefit is.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Sure.

[Holly Frey]

And I, I was like, oh, bless you, 1868 lady who's real mad at this guy.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I think we've talked about a couple of people on the show who were members of Cirrhosis.

[Holly Frey]

Oh yeah. I mean it was huge. And particularly in New York, a lot of very well known people became members.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I feel like one of them was maybe Emily Warren Roebling.

[Holly Frey]

Probably not. Would not be surprising at all.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Frey]

I didn't look up the full roster because I got very bogged down in reading people argue in newspapers. It just became fun. It wasn't even sources at that point. It was just like woo. And then what'd she say? There was also a moment in that very not cool. There are several not cool passages when she's talking about like, what are you gonna do as a woman? Like teaching. You don't know anything to Teach yet. And her point was that, like, you are so young, you don't have the life experience to be able to be a teacher. But knowing that she, as a young woman, her first job was a teacher, I'm like, do you just remember feeling like you didn't know what you were doing and that's what this is, or were you conceited enough to think that you were the exception that was ready to be teaching? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. I can't go back and interrogate Jane Cunningham Crowley. Ma', am, what is your point here? Fascinated. Fascinated. You mentioned, I don't know how you put it, that her writing is often very condescending. And it is.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I found that passage in particular about, you know, don't be a teacher because you don't know anything. I. I was like, well, what do you want me to do, man? And also, this is a little patronizing, the way you just wrote that. Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

I mean, in that. That is very much in the style of her writing as Jenny June, where it is very like, I know better. It's like the advice columnist kind of thing. And especially at that point, she was an older woman and she had really. She was very well respected, but she definitely took that to heart and was like, I'm the expert on all the things. So you are clearly a ding dong, my darling child. Which is kind of funny. Makes me laugh.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No, thanks.

[Holly Frey]

I'm like, oh, honey bunny. Yeah. Her writing is also not an easy read. Aside from it being of the time.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Sure.

[Holly Frey]

It's extra. The phrasing does not read naturally to me at all.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay.

[Holly Frey]

But it's still interesting.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I remember one of the things. I don't remember which specific thing, but one of the things that I was reading that was a quote in the episode. I remember getting partway through and my brain kind of like slipping between the gears.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Having to go back and be like, wait, what am I saying right now?

[Holly Frey]

Jenny June, what are you getting at? Yes. Her books, that cookery book. It literally would make you irate. Because a lot of it is like, why are you so stupid? Stupid? Be a smart. Be a smart girl. Learn how to cook. Which is kind of fascinating to me.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Because she was clearly in many ways at odds with her own ideology, but didn't recognize that, as is often the case, it's easy for us to see it with the passage of time. But, you know, she was somehow thought. I mean, clearly this is a woman that had a lot of energy Right. You can raise four kids, keep a house. And, like, when I tell you about how she includes in that book her schedule of housekeeping, I'm exhausted. It's like. And then you have to iron the sheets and blankets, but put them away carefully so that, you know, they won't get wrinkled. And I'm like, mm, mm, no, ma', am. That's not gonna happen here. And then that she was writing often till the wee hours of the morning to keep up with her schedule. And then, you know, scheduling meetings with other women to form this group and keep it running. And Stu. I was just like, I don't.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I. I'm just like. It can feel really good to get into a bed with a nice, crisp sheet, but no one cares if your sheets are ironed.

[Holly Frey]

No one. No one. I mean, admittedly.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Frey]

This is a time before everybody had washers and dryers, so.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Frey]

You know, my thing is, like, pull your sheets out of the dryer, fresh fold them. Then they'll be nice and crisp for, you know, when you need them, which was not the case then. But I can't even. No, no, no. I would not be ironing the sheets, blankets, table linens, etc.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Because Holly's lacy.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

In this way. Yeah. She seems like a dynamo.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I might iron the table linens if I was having a fancy party immediately before the party. Yeah. But I don't think I actually even own any table linens that could be ironed, so this is moot.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. I'm a steamer person. In instances such as that I don't. I will use an iron when I sew, but I don't really like it for my clothes or my steamer.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I own an iron, and somewhere in our home, there is an ironing board. I feel sure. But I could not tell you the last time I used them. I actually think the last time our iron has been used. My spouse has this battle vest that he wears when he works at conventions that has all these different patches sewn on, and a lot of them are patches that have an iron on component. But he also sews them.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But he will sometimes position them and iron them first to get them secured to that place rather than trying to pin them where he wants them to go. I'm pretty sure that is the most recent iron usage in our house.

[Holly Frey]

See, I do have the good fortune, when it is kept clean, which it often isn't, of having a 3 foot by 7 foot ironing surface in my sewing room. Like, that's my cutting table, which you may or may not recall is very big and it's covered in like stuff that can handle thermal so I can iron right on it but I still don't ever want to do it. I also never will iron on a patch even if it has the iron on stuff. Because in my ding dong head I'm always like what if I want to take that patch off one day and put it on something else and I don't want the adhesive to mess with the now listen, when I make patches like on my embroidery machine for other people, do I always put an iron on backing on it? Yes, because I know not everyone else wants to hand sew patches on stuff. Yeah, but I will always stitch it on. I don't know, just one of my weird things ever preserving I bet that Jane Crowley would not approve of iron on patches for some reason.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Probably not. Probably not.

[Holly Frey]

She wouldn't approve of a lot of things, but you know, you better know how to cook or you're going to jail. Apparently I'm gonna go to a restaurant and have somebody else bring me food because there's no greater joy than sitting down and having someone bring me a delicious beverage and a meal. I love it with my whole soul.

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[Curly]

The Super Secret Bestie Club Podcast Season four is here and we're locked in. That means more Juicy Cheeseman terrible love advice evil spells to cast on your ex.

[Maya]

No, no, we're not doing that this season.

[Curly]

Oh well, this season we're leveling up.

[Maya]

Each episode will feature a special bestie and you're not going to want to miss it.

[Holly Frey]

Get in here.

[Maya]

Today we have a very special guest with us, our new super secret bestie is the diva of the people.

[Holly Frey]

The diva of the people.

[Maya]

I'm just like Texturex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay, that's us. What the heck?

[Maya]

That's us. My name is Curly.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And I'm Maya.

[Maya]

In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heartbreaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets.

[Curly]

Listen to the super secret bestie club as a part of the Microtura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Honey German]

Hola, it's honey German. And my podcast, Gracias Come Again is back. This season we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition?

[Holly Frey]

No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned like over 25 years.

[Honey German]

Oh, wow. That's a real G talk right there.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, yeah.

[Honey German]

We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success. You were destined to be a star. We talk all about what's viral and trending with a little bit of Cheeseman, a lot of laughs, and those amazing vivas you've come to expect. And of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity struggles and all the issues affecting our Latin community. You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you have to do the code switching.

[Holly Frey]

I won't say whitewashed because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me. Yeah. But the whole pretending and coat, you know, it takes a toll on you.

[Honey German]

Listen to the new season of Gracias. Come again as part of Michael Tura podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Jacob Schick]

I had this like overwhelming sensation that I had to call her right then and I just hit call, said, you know, hey, I'm Jacob Schick. I'm the CEO of One Tribe foundation. And I just wanted to call and let her know there's a lot of people battling some of the very same things you're battling. And there is help out there.

[Ashley Schick]

The good stuff. Podcast season two takes a deep look into One Tribe Foundation, a non profit fighting suicide in the veteran community. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, so join hosts Jacob and Ashley Schick as they bring you to the front lines of One Tribe's mission.

[Holly Frey]

I was married to a Combat army veteran, and he actually took his own life to suicide. One tribe saved my life twice. There's a lot of love that flows.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Through this place, and it's sincere.

[Holly Frey]

Now it's a personal mission. Don't want to have to go to any more funerals.

[Jacob Schick]

You know, I got blown up on a react mission. I ended up having amputation below the knee of my right leg and a traumatic brain injury because I landed on my hood.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Welcome to season two of the good stuff.

[Ashley Schick]

Listen to the good stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Frey]

Talked about the invention of the television remote control this week.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. A thing that was slightly earlier than I thought, based on my own memory of my childhood. Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

And some of that is because it was still a luxury item when we were kids.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

My parents didn't have. My parents didn't even have a VCR until, like, well, after everybody else had one.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

So I remember when the VCR was purchased for our household, which was later.

[Holly Frey]

When I was already in college.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I was not already in college.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But I was at a point where, like, most of my classmates had a VCR already by the time we got. We were early adopters of some other stuff. Like when a lot of classmates had a Nintendo, we got a computer. So that was sort of like a little different track of technology in the house. But, like, I remember the televisions with a dial that you had to physically crank, crank it around. You get up on Saturday morning, you want to go watch your cartoons, it's on the wrong channel. You just grab it and fling it around. And I, like, remember the ratcheting sound of that. I have a tactile memory of wrenching the TV dial around.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. I mean, I was lucky because my favorite cartoons were running in a block.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

So it was like, you know, you got your Smurfs and Snorks. Well, that's two hours of your morning set up right there.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Correct.

[Holly Frey]

Happy as a clam barbarian. And then G Force.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I've talked before about how our household had a number of rules and we were only allowed, I think, two hours of TV on Saturday morning. It might have been longer than that, but there was an hour, a number of hours that was allowed. And the reason I think it was two hours is that I feel like we were watching four different cartoons in that time. And Smurfs and Snorks was definitely a block of that time.

[Holly Frey]

I love. I feel like at some point I should do an episode about Snorks. And how they are not a copy of Smurfs. I feel very strongly about this issue. They came out around the same time in Europe.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I really thought you were about to say, I think I should do an episode on all of Tracy's weird rules from her childhood.

[Holly Frey]

No, I don't feel nearly as strongly about that as I do Snorks and Smurfs. Listen, man, give me Casey and All Star all day long.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

All day long. I also remember the first remote control that we ever got that was pretty basic with on and off and different numbers for the different channels. And I also remember the facing of it kind of delaminating from the body of it over the over time. Yes. My parents house now has so many remotes for different purposes. And my mom's speech generating device has the ability to be the remote control for the things that are related to the tv.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, that's cool.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is actually something I had to write letters. I don't remember if it was letters to my, like, Congress people or if it was commentary on a proposed rule change, but there was a discussion of how Medicare and Medicaid were going to stop allowing that technology on speech generating devices because it was seen as, like, a luxury. And they weren't even gonna allow people to, like, add that on out of pocket.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, weird.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It was gonna be like, if you added remote control technology, the entire thing was not gonna be covered. And it was like, okay, but this is like one of the very limited ways that my mother can have control over her own environment. And if you take this away from her, she is reliant on other people in a way that she would not have been if she could just control the television herself via.

[Holly Frey]

It removes her agency.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. So. And that was a change that did not happen, if I remember correctly. So anyway, that's a very sophisticated remote control because it can control all of the television stuff and then also communicate.

[Holly Frey]

I was gonna say, and also the weather, just to be funny.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But wouldn't it be great if we did just have remote controls to control the weather?

[Holly Frey]

We don't need to fish. Do it.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay.

[Holly Frey]

Anyone? It's a Lilo and Stitch.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Oh, yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Pudge controls the weather. There was a great quote that I read while I was doing research for this. I did not. I have not read this person's book. James Gleich. I'm not sure of pronunciation. It's G, L, E, I, C, K. Wrote a book called Faster the Acceleration of Just About Everything and was quoted in one of the articles I was looking at in terms of how the remote control changed television programming.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay.

[Holly Frey]

And the quote was, now every television programmer works in the shadow of the awareness that the audience is armed. And this was one of those things. It was tied to a bigger discussion in that article about how once people had remote controls and they could control what they were watching from their chair, a lot of TV writers, editors, et cetera, executives, became keenly aware of the fact that they didn't keep every. If they didn't keep everything really snappy and engaging all the time, people would turn away. And so, like, when you think about the short attention span that people have today, often attributed to smartphones, YouTube, TikTok, et cetera, like, the roots of it go way go back to the 50s, though. So we can't only blame the modern stuff. You have to recognize that, like, these shifts were happening in ways. Way before we ever got there.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Way before we ever got to where we are today. So it was just very, very interesting, the idea that that had added a different type of choice agency to people's entertainment and leisure time. Whereas before they might have been like, man, just leave it on. I'm tired then. Now they don't do that anymore.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

You have the youngest person in the room. It's their job to change channel.

[Holly Frey]

Yes.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It then became their job to go get the clicker.

[Holly Frey]

Yes. I will also say too, that the remote control, as you mentioned in your house. Right. And Everybody in the 80s, there was a lot of discussion as it became really. Because the infrared remote controls also entered the market at a much more comfortable and achievable price point than their predecessors. So suddenly a lot of people were getting them very quickly. And there was so much discussion about how it was going to ruin everyone's life and make them sedentary. But like, TV dinners have been around since the 40s. Is that when I first went. Maybe that's when I'll look into. They've been around a long time. Like, it's not only this one thing.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Almost any time you want to discuss, like a shift in cultural norms, you have to recognize that there is rarely just one thing that is responsible for any of them. And when you oversimplify, you are creating a problem of understanding where if you wanted to try to solve the situation and you only address that one thing, you're not going to fix. Jack. It's just. There's nothing. It's important to remember. Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. Also, the amount of physical effort it takes to get up and change the channel on the television is definitely not.

[Holly Frey]

Going to counteract all four calories that you burn doing that. If you're extra energetic about it. Yeah, it's, it's a false, false way to consider it.

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

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[Curly]

The Super Secret Bestie Club Podcast Season four is here and we're locked in. That means more juicy Cheeseman terrible love advice, evil spells to cast on your ex.

[Maya]

No, no, we're not doing that this season.

[Curly]

Oh well, this season we're leveling up.

[Maya]

Each episode will feature a special bestie and you're not going to want to miss it.

[Holly Frey]

Get in here.

[Maya]

Today we have a very special guest with us. Our new super secret bestie is the diva of the people.

[Holly Frey]

The diva of the people.

[Maya]

I'm just like texturex. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay, that's us. What the heck?

[Maya]

That's us. My name is Curly and I'm Maya. In each episode we'll talk about love, friendship, heartbreaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets.

[Curly]

Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Microtura Podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Honey German]

Hola, it's honey German. And my podcast, Gracias. Come Again is back. This season we're going even deeper into the world of music and entertainment with raw and honest conversations with some of your favorite Latin artists and celebrities. You didn't have to audition.

[Holly Frey]

No, I didn't audition. I haven't auditioned like over 25 years.

[Honey German]

Oh, wow. That's a real G talk right there.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, yeah.

[Honey German]

We've got some of the biggest actors, musicians, content creators and culture shifters sharing their real stories of failure and success. You were destined to be a star. We talk all about what's viral and trending with a little bit of chisme, a lot of laughs and those amazing vivas you've come to expect. And of course, we'll explore deeper topics dealing with identity struggles and all the issues affecting our Latin community. You feel like you get a little whitewashed because you have to do the code switching.

[Holly Frey]

I won't say whitewashed because at the end of the day, you know, I'm me. Yeah. But the whole pretending and coat, you know, it takes a toll on you.

[Honey German]

Listen to the new season of Grass has come again as part of Michael Tura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[Jacob Schick]

I had this like overwhelming sensation that I had to call her right then and I just hit call, said, you know, hey, I'm Jacob Schick, I'm the CEO of One Tribe foundation. And I just wanted to call and let her know there's a lot of people battling some of the very same things you're battling and there is help out there.

[Ashley Schick]

The Good Stuff Podcast season two takes a deep look into One Tribe Foundation, a non profit fighting suicide in the veteran community. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, so join hosts Jacob and Ashley Schick as they bring you to the front lines of One Tribe's mission.

[Holly Frey]

I was married to a combat army veteran and he actually took his own life to suicide. One Tribe saved my life twice. There's a lot of love that flows.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Through this place and it's sincere now.

[Holly Frey]

It's a personal mission. Don't want to have to go to any more funerals.

[Jacob Schick]

You know, I got blown up on a react mission. I ended up having amputation below the knee of my right leg and a traumatic brain injury because I landed on my head.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Welcome to season two of the Good Stuff.

[Ashley Schick]

Listen to the Good Stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Frey]

I was very fascinated by this idea from the 1950s that Eugene McDonald, founder of Zenith, had that if you muted commercials, they would eventually go away because they were ineffective.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Frey]

And the reason this struck me as hilarious was, do you remember in the 1980s when MTV started muting their commercials?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No. When was this?

[Holly Frey]

It was in the 1980s. I'm pretty sure it was. It had not been around very long. They just played their commercials without sound. But what happened was they actually got better viewer engagement on commercials because people would get up, go in their kitchen to get their beverage, their popcorn, their snack, whatever. And when they heard no sound coming out of the tv, they would run back in thinking something was wrong. And so they actually pitched it to advertisers. Is my understanding, as this is actually a benefit, because people are actually looking at your ad now, whereas when we run them with sound, people just tune the whole thing out.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I have no memory of this and I don't know, it could be because we were also. It took a while before there was cable at our house.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, we didn't have cable forever. I watched it at a friend's house.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. In part because we like lived in the country and so there wasn't cable at all for a while. And then once we did get cable, we had a very basic cable package that didn't include some of that at first, at least. So I don't remember it.

[Holly Frey]

I'm looking at a Reddit discussion right now where someone had written in and said, I have a memory of watching mtv. When the network first launched, all of the commercials were silent. That is the sound cut out when it broke away from music videos for commercials. And this person is like, I've been asking other people and they said, that wasn't it. That didn't happen. But other people are like, oh, no, I remember that, but I think I don't know how long it lasted, which might be why the confusion arises where people are like, that's not my experience. It's like, well, here's for you watching. I think that was like early in the launch of MTV when it was brand new. And if you signed up for cable when it was brand new, you would get the MTV button. Do you remember that?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

No.

[Holly Frey]

Oh, the coveted mtv. Listen, I was not cool enough. My family was certainly not cool enough. We were not signing up for cable and I was not getting the cool MTV button. But now I look back and go, that was so important to like 12 year old me. And now I'm just like, who cares?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I have a vague memory of like one friend having MTV at their house and like barely having any experience with it until it had been around for a while. Oh, no.

[Holly Frey]

The amount of sleepovers skyrocketed as we all wanted to go to the MTV houses. And then like, don't even get me started on 120 minutes because that was my bible as a teenager. Do you know what I'm talking About.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

On Sunday nights, they would run 120 minutes of kind of alternative new wave stuff. Give me all of it. Give me all of it. That's the first time I ever heard Elvis Costello Strict Time, which is one of my favorite songs of all time. Amazing. Oh, my God. All of Yaz. Yeah. Those are good times. Like you. This happened a little sooner than I would have anticipated.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

In terms of. Of it going on 1950.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I would have put it in the 70s just because of, like, when it was available at my house.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. But that was. That was the need for, you know, LEDs to be developed and infrared to happen and LEDs to become inexpensive enough that they could be used for such things. It's very fun looking at the diagrams on the patent applications for these because, like, the one for the space command. Listen, I've looked at a lot of patent applications, and I will be the first to tell you that when you get into electronic circuitry, my brain kind of blips out of the situation. It's like, I don't know. I don't know what any of this is, but that one is one where I'm like, oh, I can actually parse what this is because it was a little bit simpler. It was sort of ingeniously and elegantly simple in its design, and it needed no batteries, which I'm. That's a. If you introduced a no battery remote today, I think people would snap it right up. Right.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. We had very recently had an issue where the battery died in the. The remote that we use for almost all television applications at our house. And I turned on the television, and then it sent some sort of signal without me pressing anything that put it onto some channel that was coming over the cable, which is 99% not what we use the TV for. And then the batteries were dead, and so the TV was on. It was on some random cable channel. And it took me a minute to be like, why won't this work? Oh, it is the batteries.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And fortunately, we had spare batteries in the house. Otherwise I would have had to fish around trying to find where the buttons are that are invisible on there.

[Holly Frey]

That's very funny. Oh, tv. What is the Homer Simpson line? Teacher, mother, secret lover, Television. Listen, I love it. TV is never turns off at our house.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Never turned off at my house growing up. Keep it on all the time here. The cats like to watch it at night. All good.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

We are the opposite.

[Holly Frey]

Your TV's off all the time.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It's off most of the Time. It turns on. Periodic. It usually turns on. There are things that we watch together as a couple. We turn it on to watch that often, as I am kind of winding down in the evening, I will watch some kind of chill television show that is not causing me any stress or anxiety. But otherwise, it's off a lot of the time.

[Holly Frey]

No, on all the time. Muted most of the time. But it's on.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

If we're playing a game. If we're in a phase of some game that is being played on a console, TV is on for that. But I rotate.

[Holly Frey]

No, that's the downstairs tv that. That's.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I was gonna say we only have one, but we technically have two. But the second one I like. I never interact with. It is in the upstairs attic space where I rarely go.

[Holly Frey]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. We have five.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Living room, lounge. Our little gym. That one doesn't get used very much right now because the plants are living in there. One in my sewing room. And then I have another one that's not plugged in anywhere.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I have an iPad.

[Holly Frey]

TV emergency.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I have an iPad that serves the purpose of a TV that is on the exercise bike.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

On a little stand that I used to watch a TV show while I try to exercise.

[Holly Frey]

We used to always have the TV that was turned on. This is more personal. Sad times to Cartoon Network. Just all the time.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Oh, yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Cartoon Network is no longer part of our cable package. It has now moved to a premium cable package. And I have the SADs, but now it's just Golden Girls kind of constantly on. The channel, which I've discovered runs Golden Girls at all hours, day and night.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I didn't know it either is. Or until very recently, was also in one of the streaming services.

[Holly Frey]

What do you mean?

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Golden Girls. Yeah. Was on? Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

But I'm not streaming all the time. I'm. I just have TV on all the time.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It's on the tv. Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Yeah. And I had to figure out where the TV on all the time needed to be tuned because cartoons.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Because. Not cartoon anymore. Yeah.

[Holly Frey]

Cartoony. Sad. So this is your weekend coming up, and you want to veg out in front of the television. Rock on. I believe in you. Sometimes it's the best. Listen, I'll put on a thing that's going to run a million hours of ongoing content when I'm trying to clean the house or do chores. And it's the best. I'll watch andor over and over seven times a month. I don't care if you get to watch TV and that is what delights you. Wonderful. If that's not interesting to you, I hope whatever it is that you love is something you get to engage in a whole bunch this weekend. If your weekend in terms of your time off doesn't line up with the weekend calendar, I hope that you still have the best possible couple of days ahead and that everyone is kind to you and that you eat delicious things and you feel joy and that the troubles of the world are not so great that you cannot find delight in your everyday we will be right back here tomorrow with a classic and then on Monday we'll have something brand new.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

There's nothing like sinking into luxury. At washablesofas.com, you'll find the Annabe sofa which combines ultimate comfort and design at an affordable price. And get this, it's the only sofa that's fully machine washable from top to bottom. Starting at only $699, the stain resistant performance fabric, slipcovers and cloud like frame duvet can go straight into your wash. Perfect for anyone with kids, pets or anyone who loves an easy to clean spotless sofa. With a modular design and changeable slip covers, you can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair, loveseat or a luxuriously large sectional, Annabe has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Right now you can shop up to 60% off store wide with a 30 day money back guarantee. Shop [e-mail] Add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I'm Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, host of the Psychology Podcast. Here's a clip from an upcoming conversation about how to be a better you. When you think about emotion regulation, you're not going to choose an adaptive strategy which is more effortful to use unless you think there's a good outcome. Avoidance is easier.

[Holly Frey]

Ignoring is easier.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Denial is easier. Complex problem solving takes effort. Listen to the Psychology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Annabe Sofa Advertiser]

Hi, I'm Jenica Lopez and in the new season of the Over Comfort podcast, I'm even more honest, more vulnerable and more real than ever. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? Join me for conversations about healing and growth, all from one of my favorite spaces, the kitchen. Listen to the new season of the Overcomer podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Curly]

The Super Secret Bestie Club podcast. Season four is here, and we're locked in. That means more Juicy Cheeseman, terrible love advice, Evil spells to cast on your ex.

[Maya]

No, no, no. We're not doing that this season.

[Curly]

Oh, well, this season we're leveling up.

[Maya]

Each episode will feature a special bestie, and you're not gonna wanna miss it. My name is Curly.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

And I'm Maya.

[Holly Frey]

Get in here.

[Curly]

Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

This is an iHeart podcast.