Dan & Manny welcome Author Ross Benes to discuss his book 1999 The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times.

“I chose [19]99 out of all the years because it was just the wildest and most wackadoodle year of [the 90s]. You can write a similar book on 98 [...] but I think 99 is just a little more insane in the membrane.”
-Ross Benes

This episode of Nostalgia 101 author Ross Benes takes Manny & Dan to school on all things 1999. His book 1999 The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times seems to have foreseen the times we find ourselves in and might hold key answers to some off questions about the cultural pickle we’re attempting to escape. They go from unpacking the impact of The Jerry Springer Show to The Insane Clown Posse, Juggalos, and Beanie Babies to Y2K, Napster, and the oversaturate porn industry.

This is the exact type of episode that The Nostalgia Test Podcast is built for and ross Benes more than delivered. Get Ross’ book. It’s the sort of pop-culture analysis that satisfies the academic audience, general fandom audience, and the high-strung 90s fanatic. Oh, and he gives us a really great Rocky franchise ranking.

So, grab your Trapper Keepers and pens, throw some scratch-and-sniff stickers on the pages, and get ready to learn something about the most important year of the 90s.

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Ross Benes is the author of 1999: The Year Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted OurBizarre Times. He's also a journalist and market analyst whose writing has appeared in Mental Floss, Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly.

Buy 1999 The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times

Approximate Rundown

00:00 Meet the Guest

02:03 Ross Background

03:39 Why 1999 Matters

04:55 Wrestling and Kayfabe

10:29 Ragebait Media Machine

13:02 Tech Shifts and Y2K

15:32 Talk Show Sensationalism

19:34 When Low Culture Wins

25:34 Upsides of Trash Culture

29:44 High vs Low Pop Culture

32:24 Juggalos and Belonging

35:57 Howard Stern as Conduit

41:17 Can Anything Shock Us

44:48 Doomscroll Desensitization

45:42 Faces of Death Then Now

46:09 Algorithms Versus Choice

48:56 NFTs Pet Rock Moment

49:36 Zombie Tech Nostalgia

51:09 TomTom GPS Horror Stories

53:05 1999 Mascot and Trends

57:08 Reality TV Wins Out

01:00:34 Todays Low Culture Shift

01:04:06 Why 1999 Still Matters

01:06:24 Rocky Movie Rankings

01:14:38 Reboots and Final Wrap

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The intro and outro music ('Neon Attack 80s') is by Emanmusic.

The Lithology Brewing ad music ("Red, White, Black, & Blue") is by PEG and the Rejected