Is Kermit a Zaddy? Could Kurt Loder be my Dad? Who's old? Not us!

Megan and Lesley dive into the surprising disconnect between celebrity ages and our mental images of them, sparked by discovering Kurt Loder recently turned 80 years old.

• Lesley shares her harrowing experience with a stomach virus that left her with a "puke baby"
• Discussion of the new American Pope Leo XIV, his Midwestern roots, and what his selection might signify about America's changing global position
• Revelation that Kermit the Frog is 70 years old while Miss Piggy is only 50, creating a surprising 20-year age gap between the Muppet couple
• Exploration of how MTV VJs including Kurt Loder, Martha Quinn, and Nina Blackwood are now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s
• Call for listeners to share which celebrities' ages have shocked them the most

Support public television! Visit genxwomenpod.com to share your "five minutes of fame" stories or call 1-888-GEN-X-POD to leave a message that might be played on the next episode.

Transcript

Lesley's Stomach Bug Saga

Megan 0:00

I'm Megan Bennett, I'm Leslie Meyer and this is Gen X. Women Are Sick of this.

Lesley 0:05

Shit.

Megan 0:10

Hi Leslie.

Lesley 0:11

Hi, Megan. How the hell are you? I'm great. How are you Well? You're well now. I am well now, Hallelujah. Last weekend I was sick as fuck I'm going to say sick as fuck from Saturday evening until Wednesday night. Okay, I, finally I went back. I did a half day on Thursday. I saw like three clients because that was all the energies I had, and then I remained scared of food until Tuesday.

Megan 0:41

How much did you lose? I don't know. Probably 10 pounds. I bet it was insane. It's the worst diet ever.

Lesley 0:49

In my whole life. Wow, I had a puke baby at one point, and that's all we need to say about that, did you? Name the puke baby. It was baby puke Baby.

Megan 1:05

It was I threw I had nothing to throw up in other than my t-shirt which I had to take off of my body to hold the puke baby.

Lesley 1:15

It was surreal and I just am going to share that because that's life. Is that one of the two dolls?

Megan 1:21

you're allotted.

Lesley 1:21

It is one of my two dolls, my puke baby, you can't have 30. And I don't know what the other one would be like my toothbrush. Maybe that those were the two things that.

Megan 1:32

I would be allowed.

Lesley 1:34

I just didn't understand that a body could do all of those things.

Megan 1:38

I bet your ribs hurt. It was awful.

Lesley 1:41

Everything hurt, yeah, and I just had no confidence that anything would ever stay in my body again. Zero confidence. Do not get any kind of stomach virus. It is I boo. Wash those hands. Don't recommend, don't like your hands Wash everything, all the time, every restaurant that you go to. Do not fuck around, don't get cocky. No, no.

Megan 2:04

Don't get arrogant. So this is I can't. I I'm a big fan of going on cruises and my family's been going on cruises for a long time. Sure, sure we, we won't sail out of the United States at this point, at least for the next three years, and 200 and a half days because they decided they're not going to do ship inspections anymore. Oh shit, the norovirus is like a real problem All the time, like all the time you hear about cruises, just like people being quarantined and like and it's so contagious, who cares?

Lesley 2:38

What if everybody gets sick? No, it's ridiculous. There are certain public health measures that protect the public, all of them, every part of the public. That should just remain in place. It's like it's just too hard, well you know, fuck those rules because they're not my rules, right.

Megan 3:01

They're somebody else's rules.

Lesley 3:02

And only my rules can be here.

Megan 3:06

I'm glad you're not dead. Me too. High fives, high five, not dead. Not dead. Here's to not dead. So there that's just that's just some gossip, here's to keeping your lunch down. I'm very happy for you, thank you. Oh, I guess I should should ask when you started feeling better, did you have like a half, like a meal that was like your. Oh god, no I have had no you just work, you're just working, your way very gingerly. I was sort of like eggs, saltines, okay, protein.

Lesley 3:37

I was a little scared of vegetables because what the fuck? I thought I was gonna be fine. Baby had like, and I went to the tiny egg root with like a couple of saltines. I was like, okay today. Then I got really bold and I had some of a protein like pre-made protein smoothie. Okay, oh no, that's what led to the puke. Baby, ooh. Okay, I think it just activated puke babyness somewhere in my upper GI tract. Here we are. This is what we talk about.

Megan 4:07

We talk about puke babies.

Lesley 4:08

We age. What's happening in our bodies?

Megan 4:13

Or not happening the way that it's supposed to, anymore what's happening?

Lesley 4:15

in our bodies, ew puke baby. But you know it's not so bad. I mean it recovered and fine, it's all good.

Megan 4:22

Your body probably needed it. You just needed a little break. You need a little time on the toilet and a lot of time.

Lesley 4:27

So many ways I could get a break. So many ways that would be better. It was the worst kind of break because I couldn't even like watch tv or read or anything.

Megan 4:38

I was out like my head was gone asleep, and that was all you could do the worst sick in probably the last 12 years.

White Smoke: The New American Pope

Lesley 4:45

We could talk about it for 45 more minutes let's not do that or we can talk about transition to uh, what's the hot goss right now? So white smoke, white smoke, white smoke. Wait, what does that make me think of? Uh, oh uh, the thing you say when you're around the fire and the smoke's coming at you Like white rabbit, white rabbit white rabbit, oh, white rabbit, or something like that.

Megan 5:09

Yeah, there we go. I think white rabbit's the thing you say first thing in the morning of the first day of a new month, is it? Yeah, it's for good luck. I've learned something new today. First thing, when you wake up, you're supposed to say, on, like the 1st of June or whatever, is White Rabbit. This is why this is why I can't say it White Wabbit, white Wabbit, white Wabbit. Would you like to talk about the Wackley Wabbit?

Lesley 5:36

That explains why I never win at gambling, because you don't say that Because I have not said that, not even in 51 years of my life, not even one time I fixed it. June is coming, here we go. I'll try it out, and then I'll go get a lottery ticket.

Megan 5:49

It's no good morning Tim. None of that shit. Nope, it has to be White.

Lesley 5:52

Rabbit three times. Okay, but you were saying White Smoke.

Megan 5:57

White Smoke, white Smoke we got a new. We got a new on a rope, pope on a rope yeah, I mean, we don't know if he's on a rope, but he seems nice, he seems pleasant, he's american, he yes, he's midwestern.

Lesley 6:10

We will hear the homily in english for the first time, which is sort of interesting from chicago, chicago uh, don't put.

Megan 6:18

Don't put no ketchup on that pope's dog. Nope, don't do it.

Lesley 6:22

I hope the pope would say that pope leo the 14th, which if you followed from the beginning, you know about dr leo marvin, yes, and we're certain that that pope leo wanted to name himself after our cat.

Megan 6:34

He chose that name just for yeah absolutely, as he knows about dr leo I saw somebody say on twitter and it made me laugh a whole lot but because he's the first American, but he's also a Midwestern pope.

Lesley 6:48

Yes.

Megan 6:49

And so they said instead of pope, he's an oop, oop, I'm on board with that. Oop, I think that's great, and if you're listening to us from anywhere else besides the Midwest, you don't get that joke. The Midwest, you don't get that joke. But whenever a overly polite Midwesterner accidentally bumps into somebody or something, they can't help themselves. They say oh, oh yeah, we have t shirts to prove it, we do it's kind of silly, but that's, that's a Midwestern thing, pope Leo's come out.

Lesley 7:18

you know kind of punching a little bit, naming some names dropping some things, dropping some nuggets. I was reading sort of his uh like resume on different things. Um, you know, he's kind of misaligned with the lgbtq stuff in my opinion but so was the pope before him at the beginning okay, fair, fair point I and I am open like there needs to be a space of gray and like we don't. It's not like we have a fucking choice.

Megan 7:44

Right, this is the Pope, this is who we hope, leo, and there could have been much worse choices, absolutely so I do think in order to be considered to be Pope, you have to temper your beliefs verbally out there, you know, in order. I just don't think if you came off and you said, right, I am uh 100 pro lgbtq, trans, everything, um, you know, I mean, he's already said he's pro migrant, he's pro immigrant, he's you know all these things human dignity of all people right you take it one more step though, and you're like, oh no, I'm not going to do it too much More women in positions of power in the Catholic Church.

Lesley 8:27

He wants to be popular.

Megan 8:31

Popular. He wants to be popular Okay.

Lesley 8:37

So there we go.

Megan 8:38

Two theater dorks with. Who are non-Catholic by the way, non-catholic theater dorks with microphones.

Lesley 8:45

I apologize, but we appreciate a good Pope Absolutely, and you cannot deny the influence in the world. And so here we go. We're going to see what happens. Right after I saw the announcement of the Pope being Pope-ified, I then read that the reason that there had not been an American Pope Did you read this?

Megan 9:05

No.

Lesley 9:05

Up until this point. One of the theories is because-.

Megan 9:09

We're all a little gauche.

Lesley 9:10

The United States had a lot of political power and financial power in the world and one of the theories was that you would not see a pope in the United States until the United States was in decline Because they did not want to give that much power to one.

Megan 9:28

I think I totally see that. I see it as a balance which I can absolute balance act here Really fascinating.

Lesley 9:36

I don't remember where I read that, but when I read it I said that's true.

Megan 9:39

Well, that seems like now it's set on the internet, and now it's a fact. It's a fact.

Lesley 9:41

Well, that seems like it's tracking, and now it's set on the internet. And now it's a fact, it's a fact.

Megan 9:45

Just keep JD Vance away from him, because JD Vance kills popes. I said it, I mean it, he does it.

Lesley 9:54

He did it. We don't want to spread misinformation, okay. Nothing, everything on this podcast is true, we rarely share misinformation.

Megan 10:10

True man, all of it, JD Vance's original. It checks out, see, see, see we have been fact-checked.

Is Kemit a Zaddy?

Lesley 10:18

He's trying really hard to say something. He kept pushing the button and I was like what's happening? Okay, but this isn't the only thing we're talking about today. No, what else we talk about today? Oh wait, do we have anything we're sick of? Oh, I was sick of being sick. God, so many things. Sick of being sick. That was one of the things. Sick of it being cold. It's starting to improve it alcohol. I wrote something down oh people fucking going after public television. Oh yeah, defunding PBS and. Npr because we're the Mr Rogers generation.

Megan 10:56

Don't you think that if Fred Rogers were still alive and this shit was going down, he would probably rip off his little bow tie and just fucking?

Lesley 11:04

And he would say it wasn't a bow tie, was it? It was a straight tie. But still Now listen, we need to talk about who is living in our neighborhood.

Megan 11:13

Yeah, I feel like he would probably, in the sweetest possible way, just hand it right back to the Trump administration.

Lesley 11:23

Take that trolley and knock you out. Using words that they would not know the meaning of probably.

Megan 11:29

So he's defended it before there's, I know footage of him defending pbs.

Lesley 11:34

So the day that the funding was removed was the anniversary of that moment in congress where fred rogers sat in front of congress and defended of, of course, Because performative cruelty is what 2025 is all about. Yeah. So in reaction, which we should have been donating all along, we did start donating to our local public television station. Yes, because we watch a lot of public television and it's important and we need it.

Megan 12:05

And that's all I have to say. And you can get a copy of Les Mis. If you give them a certain amount of money, they will send you a copy the public television fundraising-a-thons but, prizes.

Lesley 12:19

I would always be like, okay, but what's the next thing?

Megan 12:22

What about if I hold out just a little bit?

Lesley 12:24

longer they might. What if I get two free tickets to the symphony I?

Megan 12:28

really need those watching. Watching les mis for one of the one of the telethons.

Lesley 12:34

Uh was the first time that gillian saw the british version of les mis like we watched it and of course, they interrupt every, you know 15 minutes or whatever, like six hours long, right, and you're like holy jesus like oh my god, just get on with your next french revolution already it's the longest revolution ever, god it's in real time. It's in slow motion, it's sort of like it's a real time french revolution so anyway, uh, give to public, yes, public television. Donate to your local station watch Mr Rogers. Be a good person and Sesame Street and Sesame Street.

Lesley 13:15

Support your Sesame Street Bob Ross, even though he never got a dime.

Megan 13:19

Someday we will know how to get to Sesame Street.

Lesley 13:24

I don't know At 51,.

Megan 13:26

I'm thinking, I'm not giving up the ghost.

Lesley 13:29

I don't think we're going to ever know I won't get there. It's sort of like the Yellow Brick Road I'm not going to get there, but I'm okay with it. The adventure is in the journey.

Megan 13:38

It's in your mind. Yeah, sesame Street is beautifully positioned somewhere in your mind.

Lesley 13:43

Yeah, sesame Street is beautifully positioned somewhere in your mind.

Megan 13:47

Yeah, there are many things Gen X Women Are Sick of. This Shit is supported by Lylas Love you like a sis A Gen X Women's Social Club. What's Lylas, megan? Lylas is our off platform, off the books of faces, off all of the other traditional social media. It is our space and place for genic women to come together, have conversations, meet each other.

Lesley 14:13

it's a social club it is a social club. It's a membership-based club. Memberships are ten dollars a month. That does help support us in growing the platform. We purchased a platform that would host a network of women so that you could come together and meet each other in real time.

Megan 14:33

In a safer space right than a traditional social media platform and a much more personal space. So what do we do there, Leslie? We?

Lesley 14:43

host movie nights where we live stream some of our favorites as they are available to us for group watches of films from the 70s, 80s and 90s. We host a space for a monthly book club. We host trivia nights once a month. We host trivia nights once a month. We have a live text chat.

Megan 15:06

Four prizes even.

Lesley 15:07

Four prizes. That's true. The space is able to host weekly text chats so that you can kind of check in in real time with people. I would say the critical difference between kind of what this space is and any other social media space that I've experienced is that it is active. You will have to engage in it or be engaged in it by other people, so it's not like a passive consumption thing.

Megan 15:36

It's like making connections, yep, and if that's what you're looking for the opportunity to meet other people, to find people who are maybe in the same similar spaces as you are. Like-minded, same time phase of life, navigating all of those transitions, then this might be the right place for you. So check out Lylas. You can learn more about it at genxwomenpodcom.

Lesley 16:15

I love robin robin, that frog robin, der frog robin, he was the nephew of kermit der frog.

Megan 16:17

I do remember that. I think it's just kermit that frog, it's winnie der poo. Get my, get my critters mixed up. Kermit the.

Lesley 16:25

Frog.

Megan 16:26

Kermit the Frog. Let's see Winnie the Pooh. You know, Winnie the Pooh is super old.

Lesley 16:37

Yeah, these were like the gosh. They're not. I mean, they're puppetsets, cartoons. Winnie the pooh was a cartoon. Winnie the pooh is 103 years old. I'm into. I'm into that yeah I'd tap that. I'd tap that bear. I'd tap that honey honey pot. I have always loved winnie the pooh. I like winning Pooh too. It was like my favorite when I was probably like one or two. My grandmother and my mom took me to Sears and Roebuck. This is a story I've been told because I was an infant, I have no memory.

Lesley 17:17

And to get me to shut up, they handed me a Winnie the Pooh.

Kurt Loder Turns 80

Megan 17:21

And oh my golly, when they tried to take that away. You did not give that Winnie the Pooh and oh my golly when they tried to give that away, hell no.

Lesley 17:27

So my grandmother ended up purchasing me a Winnie the Pooh and from that day forth. Winnie the Pooh. Oh, I love that. So that was my jam. What was your childhood jam? In terms of like, was there like a kind of iconic Sesame Street character, Muppet?

Megan 17:47

I loved Robin Hood from Disney. Yes, still kind of have a crush on him.

Lesley 17:55

Not going to lie. Total hottie, hot fox Down with that.

Megan 17:58

Loved him. And then I'm trying to think what the other Robin Hood was a big deal.

Lesley 18:06

I have those. Do you remember the Disney story records? Yeah yeah, I have that.

Megan 18:11

I have Robin Hood. Love it, and the Aristocats was one of my favorites those good music on that one. That was really good oh gosh.

Lesley 18:19

So good yeah. Do you know what I saw today?

Megan 18:23

What's up?

Lesley 18:24

I was scrolling the Instagram and I happened to see that it's Kermit the Frog's birthday.

Megan 18:32

Really Kermit the Frog the.

Lesley 18:34

Frog Kermit. The Frog Kermit's birthday is May 9th 1955. I'm doing math. Good job, I'm proud of you Ouch.

Megan 18:46

And it's 1925. 70?

Lesley 18:47

70 years old, that little frog 70. Okay, has had a lot of spa days, no shit.

Megan 18:55

Well, that blows my mind Like I can get behind Winnie the Pooh being 103. Yeah, Like that because the book was old and it makes all kinds of sense, kermit the Frog should not be 70 years old. How old do you think, kermit?

Lesley 19:09

the Frog is.

Megan 19:10

Well, so Jim Henson was like just a regular adult person when we were little kids, right? Yes, he's probably in his 30s. He wasn't an old guy.

Lesley 19:19

Okay, so this is the question that we're answering today. What makes someone old? Like when did you become aware of old? Or when what people were considered?

Megan 19:31

old. I mean, weren't I don't know like your grandparents were old? Grandparents were old. Your parents at some point were old.

Lesley 19:38

You know like Well, your parents are always old because they're your parents, Right? So, no matter what, it doesn't matter You're going to think of, I always thought of them not as old people, but they were old I don't know. But then my mom died when she was young, so I have a little cognitive dissonance. But no, I mean grandparents are old.

Megan 20:00

And, of course, your parents are old.

Lesley 20:01

When you're five, everybody's old. And of course, your parents are old. When you're five, everybody's old, Right. And so what delineates between like who we think even are old now? Like who do you think of as an old person now, like someone semi-famous?

Megan 20:16

Well, I don't know, because that bar keeps getting moved, the goalpost keeps moving. Like are we old Some days I don't think so, though old some days I don't think so. No, I don't think so either. I think we. I'm perpetually in my head, I'm perpetually in my young 20s. Oh, interesting, okay, and I think that's just like part of that is I. I couldn't name a new musical act that came out in the last five or six years. If forced to Truly, truly Like, like I could say, I could say I know, I know Beyonce, I know Taylor Swift, I know.

Lesley 20:57

But that's not new, like those people have been around for a while, billie Eilish.

Megan 21:02

Okay, billie Eilish, but she's, but even she is not within the last, like five years, right.

Lesley 21:07

More than five years.

Megan 21:10

There are Even like people like Megan Thee Stallion right. Like I couldn't couldn't pick out a song, but I know that she's that's older than five years for sure I'm a mess, seriously current pop probably yeah, got anybody I would not be the best about.

Lesley 21:28

I do find new artists. I would literally have to go through my spotify and tell you.

Megan 21:32

Though, yeah, because I don't retain any information. Now, that's the problem.

Lesley 21:36

That's why I don't sound cool because I'm like yeah, I know I've found new artists, but they're like no, I just in my head.

Lesley 21:45

And so many artists who, like when we were kids, are circling back around and touring or doing like yes, songs with younger artists, like that kind of thing, or artists that I listened to, like in the 90s, kind of in, like the dance club scene sort of, and there was like this resurgence of new wave it wasn't quite punk, I don't know, I don't know what you would have called it Like those bands are coming back around again.

Megan 22:12

Yeah, it's like Scissor.

Lesley 22:13

Sisters touring again.

Megan 22:15

Yeah, I loved them. Yeah, again like scissors, sisters touring. Again, yeah, I loved them. So inner pole things like that, like I like two generations of music.

Lesley 22:21

There was like high school and college and then probably like my 30s, early 40s, like I was still yeah, I was.

Megan 22:28

I was completely not aware of the 90s, like at all like it. Well, I can't say that there were like the cardigans were somebody I listened to. There was a band called the rentals. That were really fun, that I listened to um, elastica was another one, but they all had that kind of almost like an 80s sort of sound for sure so I didn't leave the sound, sort of like the sound left me. I did not get it grunge at all.

Lesley 22:56

It was not even a little bit. That was my whole world Because that was college, but you were a little bit ahead of me in college and that was prime. The Pearl Jam album releases were a big deal. I know where I was when Kurt Cobain his death was announced.

Megan 23:10

I do know that. I know where I was. But I know of one album they did. That's it Like seriously.

Lesley 23:18

Yes, yeah, the single soundtrack was pretty much my whole college experience. You know, that was kind of the height of like pop grunge, I would say, or popular grunge. I had it, I listened to it, yeah, but it wasn't like.

Megan 23:31

It just didn't define me at all. Like the 80s stuff stayed with me a lot longer it was that second british wave stuff that kind of was made up everything that I listened to for the longest time.

Lesley 23:43

So isn't that so interesting, just like a couple of years difference, yeah, and it's like when you kind of turn like 18, 19, 20 like those three years that music is so formative because you're like having more adult adult. We thought we were so fucking old experiences, right well, and like that shit. Right like I was 20, 21, oh, I got it this is it?

Megan 24:06

I got this. I figured my whole life. They gave me a credit card. Yeah, fuck yeah. I had like a dumb ass for my own.

Lesley 24:13

I had a whole 200 limit at first. Uh-huh, I had a montgomery ward credit card no way.

Megan 24:20

Oh yeah, that's fucking dangerous right there amazing, yeah, but like it's, you're right. Like you think you that's a formative time, you, yeah, that was your shit absolutely so this.

Lesley 24:31

We started having this conversation because we found out that kurt loader's birthday kurt loader mtv news formative years for us was just on. Oh, I wrote it down may 5th, and do you remember how old kurt loader turned?

Megan 24:50

yes, because you told me and I went shut the fuck up.

Lesley 24:53

Well, I think your, your spouse, found. Yeah, no, that internet, that's right you guys need to talk about this Right.

Megan 25:00

He's 80 years old. Eight.

Lesley 25:03

Zero Eight.

Megan 25:04

Zero. So here's my theory on this. Kurt Loder is one of those people that we is a snapshot in our time, right? Oh for sure, we know in the 80s and early 90s he was on MTV. Yes, we know what he looks like. We picture him as always forever being high 20s, low 30s, whatever, right, Ish, yes, I mean.

Lesley 25:30

I don't know that. We really knew.

Megan 25:31

Yeah right, we never really knew how old he was, right, but. But we never saw him age Like we didn't see the last 40 years of Kurt Loder's life. So he's in our head he's still 30 some years old. Now if we think about, like I don't know Mick Jagger.

Lesley 25:50

Oh yeah.

Megan 25:51

We watched that motherfucker age our entire lives Hardcore.

Lesley 25:54

Hardcore aging.

Megan 25:56

Right, but is it a surprise?

Lesley 25:58

that he's an old dude. No, no, agreed.

Megan 26:02

So I think that's my theory anyway.

Lesley 26:03

I think that's a valid theory, because you're absolutely right. They are just in their place in time internally and I think if somebody had just asked me off the street I would have been like, oh, maybe 60. Right, same 65. As if we were close to the same age.

Megan 26:20

Because you would have been doing the math a little bit right. You would have been like okay, well.

Lesley 26:28

I mean, like as a teenager, I just would have.

Megan 26:29

Well, you're older than me because you were on television in the 80s. Right.

Lesley 26:31

Like 81, 82, 83. And I would have been like eight, nine, 10 years old. So I'm like you've got to be at least 20. Right, and so that's what I imagine, but that is not true. Like my dad's going to be 84 this year. That means that my dad and Kurt Loder are the same generation.

Megan 26:50

Yeah, like.

Lesley 26:51

Kurt Loder is a boomer.

Megan 26:52

He's a boomer.

Lesley 26:53

But one of the coolest people ever.

Megan 26:55

I mean, they all were right, yeah, yeah, all that crew.

Lesley 27:00

I looked up all the MTV VJs because I was just like, how old is everybody? So, martha Quinn, 65. Okay, nina Blackwood 69.

Megan 27:11

So Kurt Loder was that much older than they were though, and you wouldn't if you picture them on MTV. You would never have thought that?

Lesley 27:18

Not at all. Not at all. Alan Hunter 68. Mark Goodman 74. And then JJ Jackson, who sadly passed away in 2004. He was 62. He would be 83. So exactly my dad's age. These were like our idols.

Megan 27:34

Yeah.

Lesley 27:35

With like MTV, yeah, I mean.

Megan 27:37

Wow, yeah, idols, yeah, with like mtv. Yeah, I mean wow. So here, I just looked this up because I was curious if michael jackson were alive today, how old do you think he'd be? Just in your mind, okay, okay okay, I would.

Lesley 27:49

He felt young to me, though even then. He was young then, so I'd probably put him in his 60s. Okay, he's sick, he would be 66. Okay, because my memory of Michael Jackson. There were so many pictures of him as a kid when I was a kid, even though he was more grown, he was more of an adult.

Megan 28:08

But he's still like kid version Little Michael Jackson from ABC.

Lesley 28:12

Yes, when I was looking at some of the Kurt loder stuff, uh, I looked. Oh no, never mind, I'm a liar, I did not look this up so I'm not even gonna say it. Um, I was just watching some of the videos of him and, like all of the news and how the news was delivered, it was hilarious it was just so like straightforward and deadpan. When he he announced Very serious Kurt Cobain's death, it was just like the most neutral, like I was like that man has no facial expressions.

Megan 28:44

I was just trying to hold it together.

Lesley 28:46

I yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people were.

Megan 28:48

Yeah.

Lesley 28:49

It was really.

Megan 28:50

Just really shocked by it.

Lesley 28:51

Yeah, so we went down kind of a rabbit hole, or you went down a rabbit hole, like we're kind of talking about who are people that are not the age that we imagine that they should be yeah, and I think kermit the frog is one of those like, wait a minute, like I picture mickey mouse is old, like because, yes, while disney was old, okay, and while disney created mickey mouse and you know, and he was like in the 30s and whatever.

Megan 29:15

so mickey sounds old to me and black and white cartoons.

Lesley 29:18

And he just had his 100th birthday.

Megan 29:20

Right, I think, but so Mickey's that age? How in the hell is Kermit 30 years younger than that? That's just wild to me.

Lesley 29:31

Really really good skin. I don't know, Maybe frogs don't age as quick. They age in frog years, and that's what's happening.

Megan 29:40

They use that snail goo that you know everybody's using. Go into the swamp, get themselves a snail, rub it on their face.

Lesley 29:48

Let's then beget another conversation that we had earlier. So if Kermit is 70, how old is Miss Piggy?

Megan 29:55

You looked this up. How old is Miss Piggy? Miss looked this up. How old is Miss Piggy?

Celebrities: Not The Age We Imagine

Lesley 29:58

We Miss Piggy is. Miss Piggy's birthday is 1974. Okay, Okay, Okay. Only one year older than me, so Miss Piggy would just be like 50. I got three years on the pig you got, and so 20 years almost ish, 18 years between Kermit and Miss Piggy.

Megan 30:21

Kermit is robbing the pig cradle.

Lesley 30:26

He's going high on the hog. He's getting high on the hog. Originally I thought it was 76, but it looks like it was first. She first appeared in 1974. So I think that's her birthday is like June 14th or something like that. I looked it up.

Megan 30:41

I love that. I love well, I like that she's a Gemini.

Lesley 30:45

Uh, hell yeah, oh, that's so on point. Well, so okay, we won't.

Megan 30:49

That's awesome, I was like.

Lesley 30:50

Does Kermit land? When's the cutoff? When does Gemini start?

Megan 30:54

Uh, when does Gemini start? End of May, end of May.

Lesley 30:56

Okay, so Kermit is whatever comes, before that nobody cares about.

Megan 30:58

He is a Taurus, okay there you go.

Lesley 31:00

I can't say nobody cares about it, they'll all get mad. My grandma was a Taurus, it's fine.

Megan 31:06

They're too stubborn to give up either. They'll be pissed if you don't acknowledge them.

Lesley 31:19

So other stars that you kind of grew up with that, you well, so I pulled up just out of curiosity some people because it just blew my mind, but like, okay, so I'll let me quiz you.

Megan 31:25

Okay, all right. Um, if you had to guess how old yoko ono is oh my gosh, I would put her in her 80s she's 92. Holy shit see. Holy wild right, super wild, like we both know how old William Shatner is.

Lesley 31:40

No, I don't, he's 94.

Megan 31:42

Oh, golly Yep.

Lesley 31:45

Tim loves the.

Megan 31:46

Shatner, clint Eastwood. In his 90s 94 also, is he yeah?

Lesley 31:52

Because he's been a crusty motherfucker for a while.

Megan 31:54

He has been a crusty motherfucker, but he was also a crusty motherfucker as an actor.

Lesley 31:59

Yes, always. Yes, just had an aged look, tommy.

Megan 32:03

Lee Jones. Tommy Lee Jones will always in my head. I don't care if it's young Tommy Lee Jones, he still looks like he's in his 70s. I have no idea how old he is. I didn't look him up. We don't need to know that.

Lesley 32:14

Sometimes you just don't need to know he's always going to be 70. How about Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie? Oh, she must be in her 90s, 93.

Megan 32:30

93? Because it was in the 60s right.

Lesley 32:32

I Dream of Jeannie being black. Early episodes were black and white, or were they?

Megan 32:36

That's a good question. I only remember color.

Lesley 32:39

But no, you're right, you're right, I can't remember a minute and everything about the tv show feels old to me, like kind of 50s, 60s because bewitched was black and white and then color, okay, so there it is. I dream of genie.

Megan 32:53

Okay, so it was yeah, it looks like maybe okay, so it was yeah it looks like maybe, oh, there's a pilot episode was in black and white okay interesting.

Lesley 33:02

Okay, yeah, so if I, if I remember something as like black and white, then I'm just gonna assume they're 90 or 100, because that must have been the ancient times way old, ancient times. Um, like, anyone who was on the Waltons is likely dead.

Megan 33:20

How about here's one? Okay, Do you remember Gene Shalit? No, he was on TV and he did reviews like book reviews and movie reviews.

Lesley 33:28

Oh my gosh and he had the big black mustache.

Megan 33:31

Yes, Mustache.

Lesley 33:33

What show was he on, though? I was like Good Morning or something, maybe G-N-E. Oh, there he is. Oh, yes, oh, very much. So. Okay, I would say I'm not going to look what he's in his, he's 99, he's 99. Wow, that is a picture of him in 1973. That was the year I was born he looks the same.

Megan 34:04

He looked the same all through our childhood, though. Okay, so here's the thing.

Lesley 34:08

He is a year younger than my grandmother, who would have been 100 this year. She was born april 21st 1925 crazy.

Megan 34:17

Huh. Yeah, I thought that was a really cool one thought of that.

Lesley 34:19

Oh, I do remember him delightful, he was funny. Yeah, I love that I agree all right. So let's do some younger people here um okay, well, my top three musical acts from middle school okay, cindy, lapper, madonna and prince. Okay, so we kind of talked about Madonna earlier. Do you remember how old she is? She's in her 60s, yeah, 66?.

Megan 34:43

She's like 66. Okay, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.

Lesley 34:45

So then, where would you put Cyndi Lauper?

Megan 34:48

I would put Cyndi in that same range, maybe a tick older. She is a tick older.

Lesley 34:57

She is a tick older. That is the truth. She is 71. Wow, but in your mind she looks good. She does look good. She's such a badass too, I fucking love Cindy Lauper, I met her. You did, I did.

Megan 35:10

Ooh cool, she's super sweet.

Lesley 35:11

That's so awesome, Okay. So then in your mind you put cindy lapper and share in the same decade like as you imagine them.

Megan 35:23

No, I would put share older okay, how like? Because share was such a thing in the 60s, like with she and sunny uh-huh, and then share and sunny like comedy hour or whatever it was, like yeah, absolutely. So you might say she's like in her 80s, like I would put her at least at least in her high 70s okay, early 80s high 70s is accurate.

Lesley 35:45

She's 78.

Megan 35:46

Okay, they're only like they're not that far apart. Not at all.

Lesley 35:50

Not for cindy being an 80s icon yes, but it does have to do with, like, like you said that time, that we remember seeing them and kind of those early images and how they like burn themselves into our brains and it's like, oh well, then you must be this old, it's wild.

Megan 36:10

How about? I mean everybody always. Well, how about Keanu Reeves?

Lesley 36:15

Oh, I actually know this. He's in his 60s, isn't he? No, how old is he? 59. 59.

Megan 36:21

Okay, yeah Well, I should say, let me double check he is 60. 60. 60. Okay, so just 60. Just 60.

Lesley 36:29

I felt like I had read that.

Megan 36:31

Okay, so he's just a tiny bit older than me. There's still a, there's still a chance.

Lesley 36:49

There's still a chance, there's hope hey, paul, if you're listening, paul red, megan bennett wants a date to be my husband loves him. He'd probably be like it's okay, Maybe Megan's husband wants a date.

Megan 37:04

I could get a pass, maybe If I got like his autograph or something.

Lesley 37:08

You'd be like I will get him to sign this t-shirt and my boob and this bra.

Megan 37:14

Let's you and I talk.

Lesley 37:16

To be fair.

Megan 37:17

Your husband is also aging very slowly. He has magnificent hair. We are, in our relationship, very blessed that way.

Lesley 37:28

We're blessed that way. Alright, here's a couple other ones just to blow your mind a little bit Jennifer Lopez, oh, golly Jennifer.

Megan 37:37

Lopez Jennifer.

Lesley 37:38

Lopez. Oh golly, Jennifer Lopez. She's also in her 50s. I would say 56, 58.

Megan 37:44

She is my age.

Lesley 37:45

She's 54. 54. Oh sorry, jen. Well she might be. I mean, you look amazing, she's a tick older.

Megan 37:49

She's 55 probably now.

Lesley 37:51

I just was assuming that you were an older person than me.

Megan 37:55

How about Gwen Stefani? Oh shit 62. Wow, you put her old. I put her way younger than she is. I thought she was significantly younger than me. She is 55. 55. So she's older than me. Okay, yeah.

Lesley 38:13

I have to stop imagining that everybody that was doing ska music was a lot older than wow. Yeah see, I would have because I'm feeling, I feel myself young from compared.

Megan 38:26

But also like, like, look at her. Like she looks super youthful. Yes, like absolutely, maybe you know, and there is zero shame in having the work done so like hair and clothes, like how you dress, how?

Lesley 38:41

Yes, absolutely looked old because everything they wore was from the 50s and that was old Yep the style of glasses, their hairstyles were of their youth, but they were so very specific.

Megan 39:05

Oh see, my grandmother went full old lady Like even I look at pictures of me, her holding me as a teeny, tiny baby. Yeah, her hair is old lady hair. It's permed and it's like with the little curly rollers but that was what they did when they were young.

Lesley 39:22

Well, I don't know.

Megan 39:22

I looked at, I looked at younger pictures of her like world war ii era stuff was really like you know, like, because it like my victory curls, the whole bit hair set and you would do all these things and that's what my grandma she had like.

Lesley 39:34

She got her hair set and it was like the thing to do at that age, but it's so like of a deck, I mean it's so I mean there I don't think there's a gen x woman who is getting their hair in those tiny little curlers and permed regularly, and like and sleeping in a scarf right, I don't think I don't do that, I don't think so, are we gonna have blue haired?

Lesley 39:54

ladies anymore. Not the same kind of blue. I don't think we're gonna have no anymore. I don't think so. Are we going to have blue haired ladies anymore? Not the same kind of blue.

Megan 39:58

I don't think we're going to have no, it'll be like some cool ass manic panic blue.

Lesley 40:02

Because it was like you had little blue haired ladies and purple haired and pink haired ladies because of the setting Right yeah, that was used in their hair and you had really white hair, hair to pink or blue, pink or blue.

Megan 40:15

Here's one for you. Yes, christy.

Lesley 40:20

Brinkley. Oh okay, I had to just like remember who she was.

Megan 40:22

You had to think about who she was. I had to go through my filing cabinet. She was married for a hot minute to Billy Joel.

Lesley 40:26

Yes, okay, and they probably were older than me.

Megan 40:29

She was a fashion model, she was an uptown girl, if you will. So she's 62.

Lesley 40:41

I want everybody to be 62. She's 71. 71? Oh, I'm terrible at this game. It's a fun game, though it's because I haven't said the white rabbit thing yet. That's why my luck still sucks.

Megan 40:47

Well, let's stick with the other fashion models Cindy Lauper or not Cindy Lauper. Cindy Crawford.

Lesley 40:52

Cindy Crawford probably also in that range in her 60s 60s.

Megan 40:57

She's 59. 59. Okay, so younger, but yeah, okay.

Lesley 41:02

Ooh, that's so funny to think about Christy Brinkley being a decade or more older.

Megan 41:08

Yeah, what was the model?

Lesley 41:10

competition, like Like you're like a 30-year-old model and there's this 20-year-old and you're just like shooting daggers oh brutal, brutal, like brutal, brutal, brutal, brutal.

Megan 41:19

Angela bass, it's another one that, first of all, that woman will never age. How old is she? She's fucking gorgeous. Angela bass is 66, okay, and she's stunning. That's amazing, stunning. She is stunning. Um, you know, I roll past some of these like super young whippersnappers.

Lesley 41:41

They are babies. Wee Bairns, halle Berry 58.

Megan 41:46

58. What Nice job you.

Lesley 41:48

No shit, Nice job you. That's my one poker hand. Jared Leto oh, uh, hmm, what came into my brain was like in his 30s. But that's impossible, right? But that's where I went to. Oh, interesting, I wonder why I was like what?

Megan 42:06

what's up with that little millennial shit? Oh, not that all millennials are shit, but jay leno's kind of a not jay leno, jay definitely a boomer, thanks, jay.

Lesley 42:18

And he has lots of cars? Yes, he does. And then I want to go 40s. He's got to be in his 50s.

Megan 42:27

So I swear to you I would have said he was 100% a millennial. He is a solid Gen Xer at 53. Okay, oh, okay, he's my freaking age. I would never have picked that in a gajillion million trillion years.

Lesley 42:44

So like totally your peer.

Megan 42:46

Basically, yes, wild I know super weird okay, this isn't so.

Lesley 42:52

okay, all these people who are kind of like gen x or or older, like gen X to Boomer, like many of these people, are still acting. Yes, and we were talking about this earlier. I was like, is this generation of actors going to continue like kind of A-listing as long as, like our members of Congress, have stayed in maybe jobs?

Megan 43:13

that they should have given up, or will they stop being like the it person?

Lesley 43:18

Right, I feel like, well, I don't know, I mean not everybody's an A-lister anymore, but like they keep coming back, I mean, does Hollywood, does the ethos of Hollywood, have that same feeling where they're like God, will some of these fuckers just retire already?

Megan 43:35

I mean, I don't know, give us the better parts, come on. I have the same problem, though, that I have with music. Okay, like, if I watched the Academy Awards I didn't watch this year, I probably should have Didn't Would not have known any, like really Many Any Of the award nominees, because they're young.

Lesley 43:57

Like I am so stuck on.

Megan 44:02

Sure, I'm just, I'm an old fuddy duddy, I'm an old fuddy.

Lesley 44:05

Duddy, I am a funny. You're gonna watch like rewatches of like bonanza. That was oh my god, that did not age well by the way, holy shit, my grandmother would watch cultural appropriation oh, I'm good that's so many problems, but we're not gonna vet shows made there and then no, I know but but I did watch an episode not too long ago.

Megan 44:25

It was just like wow, I clutched so many pearls I mean, it was not good, it was not good yes, anyway, perhaps, there are some things that should not have happened all kinds of all kinds of holes I could fall into, uh, yeah okay.

Lesley 44:51

So what do we want to know from our listening audience, if they have anything to say about this? Who are people that you loved and you could go look them up on the internet, give them a googs, yeah, who were you shocked by and find out?

The M*A*S*H Cast: Still With Us

Megan 45:03

how old they really are. So another one that I was thinking of, and this is this is one of those cases of people who I I saw in my childhood. Okay, so in my mind, they are never aging, okay alan alda.

Lesley 45:18

Oh yes, like hawkeye pierce will never age yes, and I almost I'm not gonna look it up. I don't want to know the hand, like ash in general.

Megan 45:27

Yeah, everybody in that show I mean, I think he might be one of the only people still living oh, should we.

Lesley 45:34

Well, I think, I think, hot lips about that, I think hot lips is alive.

Megan 45:38

I think she's still alive. Okay.

Lesley 45:40

I know I have seen Alan Alda do other things as an older person. So, I have a sense of him aging.

Megan 45:48

Okay.

Lesley 45:49

I could not 100% tell you how old he is, like I might guess he's in his 80s. He's got to be. Is that cool? Is that?

Megan 45:57

true, you're going to like click on people.

Lesley 45:58

We're going 80s. He's gotta be Cool, is that true? You're gonna like click on people.

Megan 46:01

We're gonna look, he's 89. 89. Okay, he's gonna be. Bless him. I just wanna hug him.

Lesley 46:06

We just said everybody in the cast is dead. I was gonna agree with you, but we don't know if that's true?

Megan 46:10

Well, I know, I mean, I know, harry Morgan's gone. Okay, sohoff was still alive, but 81. Look at that round little baby face he's always going to be that age and adorable Okay.

Lesley 46:23

Honeycutt, 86. Living. Okay, great Loretta Swift Houlihan 87.

Megan 46:31

Still alive.

Lesley 46:31

Wow, sorry cast of MASH. We really thought.

Megan 46:34

I'm sorry that you were Screw that.

Lesley 46:36

Okay, jamie Farr Nine Clinger is 90.

Megan 46:41

Oh, Harry Morgan's gone.

Lesley 46:42

I know, I know he's passed. Okay, oh yeah, of course, yeah, so he died in 2011. He was really old he was, he was he was like a grandparent when that show was on. I loved him you did, oh, was on. Loved him. You did, I did oh. This is a story for another day.

Megan 47:00

Yes, I could go deep into my love of mash uh, okay, and david ogden yeah, so he's, he's passed here we are, we could just go down, we could well, okay, so this is where so frank burns has passed, so so I yes, so some of these folks have gone william christopher who.

Lesley 47:19

Send us a postcard. We're super curious. Let the Pope know how you're doing.

Megan 47:24

Wayne Rogers, oh yeah, a lot of them. Okay, the Clean Stevens is gone, so yeah, got you.

Lesley 47:29

Wow, oh man Anyway. I guess it's like how old you were when you watched the show, saw the concert, watched MTV.

Megan 47:38

Yeah, the show.

Lesley 47:38

saw the concert watched MTV and then it went away from your brain and you never looked at it again. And of course, they have stayed the exact same. It's the same with friends.

Megan 47:46

Oh my gosh yeah.

Lesley 47:47

I have like seen friends in the past few years six years or so that maybe I haven't seen since high school, and I'm like oh my gosh. And then my second thought is do I look that different? Of course you do, but you see, yourself in the mirror every day, absolutely, and that person is exactly the age they were the last time we saw one.

Megan 48:05

Yeah.

Lesley 48:08

So I'm a little disappointed. There's a topic we didn't get to, but I think we should just tease it for next time. Oh, what's that? You remember our conversation? We were talking about ways that people make money on the internet, and that's all. And yeah, let's talk about that next time with, like you know, photos and and clothing, and it's.

Megan 48:29

This is enough, this'll be, it'll make it really tune in next time and you can hear us talk about ways that people make money easy money on the internet, and if you make money on the internet that way, you're interested in telling us about it.

Lesley 48:48

And the hook really there was. I said well, if I sold that to a serial killer I would charge double. Yes, and that's all you're going to get. Buffalo Bill Cody.

Megan 48:53

There's the tease, it's going to cost you more, Buffalo Bill.

Lesley 48:57

It is. I'm not opposed to selling it to you I am just I'm a little prudy, I'm a little prudy. I mean, we're never gonna know each other. I would have a pseudonym. Okay, we're gonna stop and we're gonna start talking about it.

Megan 49:10

We are, we are. We'll talk about it later. This was super fun. It was fun.

Lesley 49:13

I'm shocked shocked, I tell you I say these will continue to come up. I'm sure maybe I'm shocked will just be something that we get to do on the show I'm shocked. I'm shocked to find out right on. Well, uh, happy friday night. Happy friday out tomorrow, on a saturday.

Megan 49:31

Yes, it is and this must be a thing with this bar. We're just gonna hang out here on friday night and the bar.

Lesley 49:36

At some point we'll have a cocktail, but we always have to do something afterwards. We've got to be grown-ups.

Megan 49:42

Alright, then See you later, alligator.

Lesley 49:46

See you after a while, Crocodile, you have been listening to Gen X. Women Are Sick of this Shit. Hey Megan, hey Leslie. What do people do if they want to find us?

Megan 49:55

Well, we have a website that people can find us on, and that is genxwomenpodcom. We also have a Facebook page. We have an Instagram account as well. We have a YouTube account where we put YouTube shorts and other little tidbits up there. We have a TikTok account. I don't talk the dick or tick the tock. You don't tick the tock, I don't, I barely talk the tick, but I did put a TikTok up.

Lesley 50:24

We're explaining the internet to people again.

Megan 50:27

That's okay. Though it's great, we need to know how the internet works Can people buy merch. They absolutely can. We have a merch store on the website itself and we also have an Etsy store on the website itself, and we also have an Etsy store too. So it's just pretty easy to find. It's just Gen X Women on Etsy.

Wrapping Up and Next Episode Teaser

Lesley 50:44

And if you are listening to this podcast, presumably you found it somewhere. And while you're there, give us a review. Yeah.

Megan 50:54

Let us know what you think. Throw some stars at us, That'd be great. We'll take one, two, three, four or five. Ooh, five, maybe ten, and also make sure that you are hitting subscribe so that you're notified whenever a new episode drops. Most important, we also have a five minutes of fame that I think we should tell people about too.

Lesley 51:11

Hell, yes, we want to know your stories, your five minutes of fame stories. You can send those stories in on the website. Or you can send those stories in on the website, or you can call 1-888-GEN-X-POD and leave your story for us and we will play it live in our next episode we'll listen to it on a little red phone, just like batman that'd be cool, let's get a bad phone. I think that's it. That'd be great.