Ep 28 - The 80s Church: The Rules We Grew Up With | The Radke Show cover art

Ep 28 - The 80s Church: The Rules We Grew Up With | The Radke Show

Ep 28 - The 80s Church: The Rules We Grew Up With | The Radke Show

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📝 Show Notes

Melissa and David take a hilarious, heartfelt walk back to their childhood church days in the 1980s—when “rules” ruled and every youth pastor had a cautionary tale.

From “fire and brimstone” sermons to Halloween trunk-or-treats, record burnings and youth-group rumors of backward masking, the Radkes remember it all.

Melissa shares the college crush her professor called her parents about, while David recalls Ozzy Osbourne’s bat legend and the razor-blade-in-the-apple warnings that terrified every church kid.

It’s a nostalgic, funny look at the rules we grew up with—and how far we’ve come.

🔹 Episode Highlights
  • Remi’s long FaceTime chats from college and how Melissa wrestles with missing her daughter.

  • Melissa’s first impressions of David at freshman orientation—train-conductor pants included.

  • The difference between loneliness and simply being alone.

  • Church culture in the 80s & 90s:

    • “God hates divorce” sermons and the fear of being shunned.

    • Halloween trunk-or-treat and “razor blade in the apple” scares.

    • Record burnings and the panic over backward-masked Satanic messages.

    • Ozzy Osbourne’s infamous bat story and other youth-group myths.

    • Interracial dating—why it was so taboo it wasn’t even discussed.

  • Eating disorders, mental health, and the “don’t talk about it” generation.

  • A laugh-out-loud TikTok fast-food game to close the episode.

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