Gen X Pop Culture Meets Real-Life Reflection- Episode #817

Gen X Pop Culture Meets Real-Life Reflection- Episode #817

Author: Todd and Cathy Adams May 27, 2025 Duration: 0:00

Todd and Cathy share the upcoming changes to their podcast, Zen Parenting Radio, which will be renamed Zen POP Parenting starting June 1st! Cathy and Todd share the story behind Zen Parenting Radio’s evolution into Zen Pop Parenting—a podcast where mindful living, emotional awareness, and Gen X pop culture come together. From the music, movies, and moments that shaped them to the real-life experiences of parenting kids (young or grown), they explore how connection and communication help people better understand themselves and each other.

For longtime listeners of Zen Parenting Radio, there’s no need to worry, they’re still the same Cathy and Todd. They’ve kept a strong focus on parenting and self-awareness, continuing to explore how to stay connected to their kids and true to themselves. This is simply an update—a way to build on what’s always worked and view it through a fresh lens.

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    1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
    2. Order Restoring our Girls
    3. Join Team Zen
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Time Stamp

Links shared in this episode:

11 mistakes I have made as a husband (and why I’m better for it)

Listen, Allow, Support, Repeat Podcast #244

Listen To This One With Your Partner- Podcast #378

A Call To Men Podcast #449

Real-Time Emotional Labor- Podcast #440

The Profound Loneliness of American Men- Podcast #429

How Do I Get My Partner To….- Podcast# 423

The Gift Of Failure- Podcast #407

The Five Invitations- Podcast #406

Emotional Labor is an Unpaid Job- Podcast #405

The Joke- Podcast #469

Connection Is Everything Podcast # 483 (Gottman)

Wounds & Triggers- Podcast #528

Emotional Neglect: What Your Feelings Are Saying- Podcast #512

The Enneagram- Podcast #508

Managing Screen Time Part 1- Podcast #558

Managing Screen Time Part 2- Podcast #559

Spiritual Bypassing & Race- Podcast #551

Women’s Rights are Human Rights- Podcast #616

Getting To Zero- An Interview With Jayson Gaddis- Podcast #621

Dr. Dan Siegel- The Power of Showing UP- Podcast #526

A Discussion With Dr. Shefali Tsabary (Replay) Podcast #289

“All Teenagers Are Amazing” – Dr. John Duffy Podcast #264

“All Teenagers Are Amazing” Part 2- Dr. John Duffy Podcast #266

Setting Boundaries With Love

Outliving Cancer with Tears, Wit, and Grace

10 Habits To Turn Your Marriage Around

10 Mistakes I Made as a Wife (And Why I’m Better For it)

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

Other Ways to Support Us

AI Summary
Zen Pop Parenting Podcast Launch
Todd and Kathy introduce their new podcast format, Zen Pop Parenting, which will blend pop culture discussions with their existing focus on self-awareness, mindfulness, and parenting. They reflect on their 15-year journey with Zen Parenting Radio, sharing statistics on listenership and international reach. The hosts express excitement about the new direction, emphasizing that it will maintain their core values while incorporating more fun, nostalgia, and pop culture references to better connect with their audience and their children’s experiences.
Reflecting on Podcast Themes
Todd and Kathy reminisce about various podcast episodes they’ve recorded over the years. They recall a story about a young ballet dancer named Soren, whose father was inspired by their “Zen parenting” approach. They also discuss episodes on understanding women, emotional labor, loneliness in men, and the importance of connection in relationships. The conversation touches on personal experiences, including dealing with perimenopause and losing parents, as well as their discussions on death and analyzing song lyrics.
Understanding Emotional Neglect in Relationships
Todd discusses several relationship and psychological concepts. He mentions the “Four Horsemen” in relationships: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, with contempt being the most detrimental. Todd also talks about emotional neglect, explaining how it can affect children’s development when their feelings are ignored or dismissed by parents. He references the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) test, which includes questions about various forms of childhood trauma, including emotional neglect. Todd emphasizes the importance of recognizing and naming these experiences to understand personal struggles, particularly for Generation X who may have experienced emotional neglect in their upbringing.
Zen Parenting Podcast Evolution
Todd and Cathy discuss their previous podcast, Zen Parenting Radio, and their new podcast, Zen Pop Parenting. They reminisce about past episodes, including discussions on the Enneagram, Buddhism’s eightfold path, and interviews with various guests. The couple explains that their new podcast, Zen Pop Parenting, has a more structured format with specific categories, but still maintains their conversational style. They also mention Team Zen, a subscription-based community where they continue to engage with listeners through discussions and Q&A sessions on parenting topics.
Zen Pop Parenting Podcast Structure
Todd and Kathy discuss the structure of their new podcast series called “Zen Pop Parenting.” They outline various categories for each episode, including “Set the Scene,” “Remember When,” “Random Fact,” “WTF,” and several Zen parenting-related segments. The podcast will explore how pop culture has shaped their generation and parenting, using sound effects and music clips to introduce each category. They plan to cover topics such as MTV’s influence, iconic movies, and 90s music. The hosts also mention upcoming episodes and their daughters’ future participation in a Hunger Games-themed episode.


Think of a song that instantly transports you back to a specific moment, or a movie line that perfectly captures a feeling you couldn't name. That's the territory explored in Zen Pop. Hosted by Todd and Cathy Adams, this podcast isn't just a review show; it's a conversation that uses the shared language of pop culture-from classic films and TV to the soundtrack of a generation-as a starting point for something more personal. Each discussion begins with a familiar piece of music, a film, or a cultural moment, then gently unfolds into a deeper look at our own emotional blueprints, relationships, and the ways our past informs our present. The tone is grounded, often humorous, and carries a distinctly Gen X perspective, treating the artifacts of our collective memory not as mere entertainment, but as mirrors reflecting our patterns, blind spots, and ongoing growth. Listening to this podcast feels like having a thoughtful, nostalgic, and surprisingly insightful chat with old friends who believe that the movies we quote and the songs we replay have a lot more to teach us about who we are and how we connect. It’s about finding the quiet wisdom hidden in the noise of popular culture.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Zen Pop
Podcast Episodes
Rocky III- Episode #865 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:44
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky 3, the 1982 sequel where Stallone ditched everything that made the first two movies feel real and ended up with the biggest hit of the franchise anyway. They talk about where Mr. T came from,…
Rocky II- Episode #864 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:55
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky II (1979), the Sylvester Stallone-written and directed sequel that earned $200 million worldwide and briefly became the highest-grossing sequel ever made. They break down the film’s best behi…
Rocky- Episode #863 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:17
Cathy and Todd discuss Rocky (1976), a film that feels more like a documentary than a traditional sports movie, set in the working-class neighborhoods of Philadelphia and made on a shoestring budget by writer and star Sy…
Major League- Episode #862 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:52
To celebrate spring and baseball season, Cathy and Todd discuss Major League, the 1989 baseball comedy that wasn’t supposed to be a huge hit but ended up sticking around for decades. They get into the cast including Tom…
Dirty Dancing- Episode #861 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:11
Cathy and Todd discuss Dirty Dancing and how a low-budget film about a summer romance became a cultural phenomenon and why it still resonates. They explore how it’s not just a love story between Johnny and Baby, but also…
Billy Elliot- Episode #860 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:56
Cathy and Todd discuss Billy Elliot (2000), the British film set during the 1984–85 miners’ strike about a working-class boy who secretly pursues ballet while his community expects him to box and follow the rigid rules o…
Flashdance Episode #859 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:34
Dance month continues as Cathy and Todd discuss the 1983 film Flashdance, directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Tom Hedley and Joe Eszterhas, a movie that helped define the early-1980s MTV-style of filmmaking with its f…
Footloose- Episode #858 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:40
Jump back! Cathy and Todd discuss Footloose to kick off Dance Month! Directed by Herbert Ross and released in 1984, Footloose made Kevin Bacon a star and helped define the MTV-era teen movie. But beneath the music this $…
The Wedding Singer- Episode #857 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:50
Cathy and Todd discuss The Wedding Singer and why this Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore rom-com lived fully inside the 80’s, the music, the clothes, and all that emotional earnestness. They talk about the chemistry that made…
Misery- Episode #856 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:00
In this episode of Zen Pop Parenting, Cathy and Todd dive into the psychological thriller Misery and explore what makes it so deeply unsettling decades later. Through the intense dynamic between Paul Sheldon and Annie Wi…