In this episode of The 90s Rewind Report host Michael Reagan explores what it meant to grow up at the exact crossroads of analog childhood and digital adulthood.

Kids born in the ’80s and ’90s didn’t just witness technological change — they lived through it. From rabbit-ear antennas and appointment television to dial-up internet, AIM away messages, and a time when AOL was the internet. From Friday nights at bowling alleys and sleepovers fueled by pizza and forbidden horror movies, to SNICK, TGIF, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel shaping a shared cultural language.

This episode dives into why this generation feels such a powerful pull toward nostalgia — not just emotionally, but physically. Why ’90s toys now sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars. Why we rebuy movies and albums we already own, even while paying for multiple streaming services. Why ownership still matters to a generation raised on finite media and off switches. At its core, The In-Between Generation isn’t about longing for the past — it’s about presence. About what was lost when everything became instant, infinite, and always on.

In this special bonus minisode, The 90s Rewind Report spotlights a solo episode hosted by Michael Reagan, taking listeners on a nostalgic deep dive into the rise, evolution, and eventual fall of some of the most iconic communication devices of the 1990s. From payphones on every corner to pagers clipped proudly to belts and backpacks, and early cellphones that made texting feel more like decoding than typing, this episode covers it all.

Michael also shares a personal throwback story about his very first phone — a model that many teens in the late ’90s will instantly recognize as one they likely owned themselves.

Along the way, the minisode tackles the important questions:

• What’s the real difference between a standalone payphone and a phone booth?

• Is it called a pager, or is it actually a beeper?

• And how did ’90s kids manage to text without a touchscreen or virtual keyboard?

Whether you grew up with these devices or are just fascinated by how quickly technology evolved, this bonus episode is a fun, nostalgic look back at a pre-smartphone world.

Stay tuned for more bonus content as we transition into Season 3!

In the Season 2 Finale of The 90s Rewind Report, hosts Michael Reagan and Nate Lane ring in the New Year by spotlighting three underrated New Year’s Eve–themed films from the 1990s: Dick Tracy, The Hudsucker Proxy, and Four Rooms.

Breaking their usual decade-only rule, the hosts also make a special exception for an ’80s classic that holds a sacred place in the hearts of many ’90s kids. That’s right—Ghostbusters II. Trust us, you’ll forgive them.

The episode also clears the air on why the originally planned Season 2 finale, “ANOTHER Very 90s Podcast Christmas Special,” didn’t air as scheduled, making this episode a proper (and overdue) makeup finale to close out the season.