Midlife Crisis Podcast – Episode 38 (Final Episode of 2025) is a reflective, heartfelt, and culture-packed conversation featuring Jeff’s dad, longtime high school teacher Rodney Warren, as the crew looks back on life, careers, friendships, and pop culture while staring down their 30s—and a new year—a little wiser.

The episode opens with intergenerational perspective, as Rodney reflects on turning 60, navigating marriage, fatherhood, cancer survival, and a 35+ year teaching career. He shares candid wisdom on relationships, work, retirement, and why long-term friendships matter more as life evolves. The conversation explores how priorities shift with age, the realities of burnout, and what truly lasts when careers, locations, and identities change.

From there, the show shifts into its signature blend of current events, pop culture, sports, and nostalgia:

• The future of podcasting as Netflix enters the video podcast space
• Spotify’s new AI-generated playlists
• TikTok’s U.S. sale and cultural relevance
• Reactions to major TV and film moments including Stranger Things Season 5 and Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme
• A fun debate around “your song to escape Vecna” (Stranger Things fans will get it)

Sports fans get plenty of love with NFL playoff talk, Patriots nostalgia, college football matchups, NBA all-time starting fives, and classic wrestling debates featuring Stone Cold, The Rock, and Attitude Era icons.

The episode closes with emotional “What Hurts / What Feels Good” reflections—covering career changes, moving cities, new jobs, friendships drifting, and the excitement (and fear) of fresh chapters—followed by End-of-the-Year Picks spanning movies, music, TV, games, and cultural moments.

This episode opens with “slop” being named Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year, sparking a deeper conversation about AI-generated content, algorithm-driven culture, and why imperfect, human creativity may matter more than ever. That theme continues with reactions to Disney’s reported $1B partnership with OpenAI, raising questions about the future of film, intellectual property, and creative jobs. The hosts also discuss Adobe integrating ChatGPT into Photoshop, unpacking how AI is reshaping design, productivity, and creative workflows.

From there, the conversation shifts to modern consumer life, including Instacart’s alleged AI price discrimination, the ethics of dynamic pricing, and how convenience apps are quietly costing people more. The hosts also react to a study claiming Americans spend nearly two years of their lives hungover, using it as a springboard to talk about drinking culture, aging, Gen Z vs. millennial habits, and whether hangovers are “worth it” for real human connection.

Work culture takes center stage with a debate on remote work vs. salary, as new data shows many workers prefer flexibility over higher pay. This is paired with reactions to Meta ending remote work, signaling a broader shift back to the office and what that means for younger workers, parents, and work-life balance. The episode also touches on screen time, phone addiction, and parenting, including how kids—and even dogs—are pushing back against constant phone use.

In entertainment, Adrian and Jeff review Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man, discuss the IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, react to 21 Savage’s new album, and revisit why Breaking Bad remains one of the greatest TV shows of all time. They also weigh in on rumors of Chris Evans returning as Captain America, debating nostalgia vs. creative fatigue in Hollywood.

Sports coverage includes John Cena’s emotional retirement, NFL chaos (Chiefs’ collapse, MVP talk, fantasy football heartbreak), NBA Cup reactions, and a heated breakdown of Michigan football’s coaching scandal, blending sports analysis with real-time cultural fallout.

The episode closes with personal reflections, a holiday-themed draft of “worst things to say at an office Christmas party,” and previews a special upcoming episode featuring Jeff’s dad for a year-end reflection.

Midlife Crisis continues to be a podcast for millennials navigating aging, ambition, culture, and chaos—with humor, honesty, and just the right amount of overthinking.

This week on Midlife Crisis, Adrian and Jeff are joined by special guest Victoria Rose Warren (a.k.a. Jeff’s Wife) for a rapid-fire breakdown of everything stressing, confusing, and entertaining millennials right now.

The crew starts with Spotify Wrapped reactions—debating Drake vs. Kendrick supremacy, judging each other’s music taste, and roasting suspiciously high listening minutes. From there they pivot into the huge Netflix vs. Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition drama, unpacking what mega-streaming mergers mean for creators, competition, and the future of filmmaking.

They react to Time’s upcoming Person of the Year odds (spoiler: AI might beat out actual humans) before diving headfirst into financial reality—nearly half of Americans are working multiple jobs, everyone’s shopping on credit, and Black Friday “deals” might just be perfectly disguised debt traps.

Dating doesn’t escape the criticism either, with a jaw-dropping stat revealing more men over 25 are virgins than ever, leading into a discussion about post-pandemic social anxiety, dating apps, and why approaching strangers now feels like extreme sports.

On the culture front, the crew debates Australia banning social media for kids under 16, the internet’s collective meltdown over Pantone naming “Cloud Dancer” (aka off-white) the Color of the Year, and the wild impact of the viral Diddy documentary executive-produced by 50 Cent.

Sports chaos dominates the second half:

• The Chiefs’ playoff panic (are they actually dead?)
• Indiana shocking Ohio State in college football
• The unlikely hero run of NBA’s Pat Spencer (yes, the lacrosse guy)
• Philip Rivers returning to the NFL at 44 years old because why not
• And the emotional hype around John Cena’s final WWE match

The episode wraps with spicy hot takes on hustle culture, influencer delusion, and why passion—not clout—is still the real fuel for doing creative work that actually lasts.

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