How Stranger Things and Pokemon Go are poking around in your childhood

The Off Topic podcast discusses media built on nostalgia, and the strange case of Marina Joyce


Stranger Things is Netflix's latest successful series and cleverly mines the cultural memories of today's millennials to create a brilliant mix of sci fi, horror and 1980s period drama. The real kick in the cocktail, though, is its 1980s nostalgia for all things Americana, and how it reflects on our own Irish childhoods spent running around on everyday adventures.

Somewhat similarly, Pokemon Go uses cutting-edge augmented-reality technology, but very old-fashioned notions of game playing and community, to recapture hearts that have been hardened by our modern, cynical internet age.

So is this all a coincidental bit of storytelling? Is Stranger Things simply a great TV show? Or is it more focused media marketing by all concerned and the triumph of the algorithm over simply great game design and film-making? Discussing this and more are Sarah Maria Griffin, Rosie Gogan-Keogh and Caomhan Keane.

In the second part of the show, we look at the strange case of Marina Joyce. The fashion vlogger alarmed fans with her increasingly odd videos. But when the reality didn't match up to the dramatic narrative being put on it, the online search party quickly became a witch hunt