Episode 23: The New Monkees

The Monkees are a pop culture anomaly, a multi-platinum selling band created by television producers. While The Monkees hold a special place in American music history, their rebooted counterpart, The New Monkees do not. The New Monkees are all but forgotten and with good reason. We don’t need reboots of everything and this proves it. 

Episode 22: 10 Cent Beer Night

We go back to the ballpark this week with Ten Cent Beer Night! One of the wildest nights in baseball and sports history in general. What could go wrong giving thousands of heated baseball fans unlimited ten cent beers during a grudge match? Well, a riot for one. Also stick around for the end to hear a drunk Eddie Vedder sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!” 

Episode 18: Y2K

As the year 2000 approached, the world was in a panic. It was believed that the computer systems that were heavily relied upon for almost all basic functions of modern society would seize to exist. Planes would fall from the sky, banks would lose all their money, nuclear reactors would fail. Well, that didn’t happen. Guess it’s good thing canned foods last a long time, because people had tons of it in their at home bunkers. 

Episode 17: Osiris D3

If you lived in the suburbs in 2001 chances are you owned or wanted a pair of Osiris D3’s. The most infamous skate shoe of all time was not so well known for its design or usefulness in the world’s most popular extreme sport, it was well known for being the biggest most god awful shoe the booming skate apparel market had ever seen. But, as with all our dumps, there is much more to the story. Ryan is joined this week by Hardtimes co-founder Bill Conway to discuss. 

Episode 16: Nipplegate

Janet Jackson was one of the biggest stars on the planet in 2004. She was also booked to perform at the biggest annual televised event America has to offer. Millions upon millions of album sales and her established reputation of being an icon were not enough to protect her from public scrutiny after the most notorious “wardrobe malfunction” of all time. This is Nipplegate! 

Episode 13: The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults

Live television is risky, especially when gangsters are involved. In 1986 Geraldo Rivera entered the basement of a run down Chicago hotel in hopes of discovering lost treasures of the golden age of gangsters. What he found was a successful career and the biggest joke in live television history. Spoiler alert, THERE WAS NOTHING THERE!

Episode 9: Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup

Our friend Andy Paz joins Ryan for the third installment of Culinary Dumps. We try and make sense of Heinz’s notorious EZ Squirt line. In the early 2000’s Heinz took major risk by releasing a newly designed ketchup bottle as well as a slew of new colors of the world’s most beloved condiment.  Green, Teal, Purple, Orange, and Pink ketchup? What could go wrong? We also got to talk about Shrek so that is a plus!

Episode 8: Disco Demolition

The Disco Demolition has gone down as one of the most negative reactions to a seemingly innocent cultural movement. Filled with racial and societal implications, the Disco Demolition is as sad as it is ridiculous. Join us as we revisit the night when thousands of rowdy baseball fans gathered to blow up a giant crate of disco records.