Small Talk: A Gen X Podcast

The 90s usually get called hip hop's golden era.

But the foundation was crafted in the 80s.

I went live with journalist and cultural critic Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, to talk about the records that changed the game — from Blondie's "Rapture" to It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, from Run-DMC to Eric B. & Rakim.

Then we talk about the greatest Gen X rappers of all time.

Jeff drops some science here. Straight from the dome. I thought I knew everything there was to know about 80s hip hop.

Man, was I wrong.

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MTV was the center of the pop cultural universe in the '80s and '90s. Then, just like that, it wasn't.

Dave Holmes had a front-row seat to both the meteoric rise and shocking fall of the network that defined Gen X.

As an MTV VJ from 1998 to 2003, Holmes hosted iconic shows like "TRL" and "120 Minutes," interviewing everyone from Tom Cruise to Joe Strummer during the channel's peak years.

But Dave also witnessed the critical mistakes that killed the video star—and they weren't what most people think. While many blame reality TV or changing viewer habits for MTV's decline, Holmes points to a corporate decision that sealed the network's fate.

Today, Dave has successfully reinvented himself as editor-at-large for Esquire and producer and host of the popular podcast series Who Killed the Video Star? and Waiting for Impact.

Dave is living proof that career pivots are possible even when entire industries collapse.

In this interview, we talk about:

• Being a closeted gay teenager in a conservative Catholic family in 1980s St. Louis

• His first memories of MTV and how it changed the way he saw the world.

• Dreaming of being an MTV VJ while DJing at a tiny local radio station as a 15-year-old.

• The 4 AM decision to audition for MTV's "Wanna Be a VJ" contest despite his inner voice saying "you're too old" at 27

• Losing to Jesse Camp but parlaying runner-up status into hosting TRL and 120 Minutes and more.

• Why MTV isn't what it was

• Reinventing himself from TV host to magazine editor and podcast producer.

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Andy Buckley never expected to become David Wallace, one of television's most recognizable bosses. But a chance encounter at a farmer's market changed everything. In this Small Talk conversation, the Gen X actor tells the story of his surprising second act from a financial advisor in corporate America to CFO of Dunder Mifflin on The Office. He also shares stories from the set working with Steve Carrell, Jenna Fischer, and Melora Hardin, why The Office continues to be so popular decades after it stopped production, particularly with Gen Z, and the current state of Hollywood production for 50-plus actors.

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