When, exactly, were the 'good old days'?

12:00: The year in podcasts

1:00: When, exactly, were the ‘good old days'?

More than a decade after “Serial” pulled mainstream Americans into the world of podcasts, what are the genuinely new and interesting podcasts on the scene? Our panelists share their picks, and we take audience submissions for the top podcasts of 2025. Our guests:

• Carl Nellis, senior producer and head of community for Good Egg Audio
• Jazzy T, founder of JazzCast Pros
• Veronica Volk, executive producer and director of podcast strategy for WXXI Public Media

Then in our second hour, a recent YouGov poll found that no matter how old you are, you likely think that the "good old days" were your teenage years. When was the best music released? The best movies? When were people the kindest? When was fashion at its peak, journalism the most reliable, and restaurants the best? The poll found a staggering consistency: whether you’re 80 years old or 30, you think the answer to most of these questions falls in your late teenage years. Why is that? What is it about our teenage years that evokes such a sense of optimism and positivity? Why can’t we retain that? And when were the best years for each of these questions? Our guests debate it:

• Tom Proietti, resident media scholar at St. John Fisher University 
• Norma Holland, former Rochester journalist

"Connections with Evan Dawson" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.