The (Mostly) 80s Music Podcast: What Difference Does It Make?
by Dave Sloan and Holly Cantos
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
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Est. Listeners
Based on iTunes & Spotify (publisher stats).
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
25,001 - 50,000 - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
75,001 - 150,000 - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
15,001 - 40,000
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
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Total Plays
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Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 10 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Gina Gershon Survives The San Fernando Valley
May 1, 2026
38m 33s
JayQuan Is Raising Hell For Run-DMC
Apr 24, 2026
58m 38s
Steve Berlin Is A Rhythm Pig
Apr 17, 2026
58m 19s
Steve Spears Is Forever Stuck In The 80s
Apr 10, 2026
59m 06s
Danny Goldberg Bumps Into Genius
Apr 3, 2026
1h 02m 39s
Social Links & Contact
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/1/26 |  Gina Gershon Survives The San Fernando Valley | Growing up in the San Fernando Valley meant something very different depending on who you ask. For Holly and Dave, it's a place of warm memories and deep roots. For Gina Gershon? It was somewhere she couldn't wait to leave, and leaving turned out to be the best thing she ever did.Gina joins us to talk about her memoir, AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs, a candid and wildly entertaining look at coming of age in the '80s, finding her voice, and building a career on her own terms. We get into standing up for yourself, the art of the strategic fib when auditioning, and the moment her real story began; the moment she escaped.And yes, there are rock and roll stories. Bob Dylan. Lou Reed. Prince. You'll want to hear these.We sit down with Gina Gershon for a conversation that's equal parts nostalgia, survival story, and Hollywood memoir gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 38m 33s | ||||||
| 4/24/26 |  JayQuan Is Raising Hell For Run-DMC | Old school is in session as JayQuan, author of the coffee table book, RUN-DMC and Raising Hell: 40 Years, joins the podcast. As we learn JayQuan's story, we receive an education on the origins of hip-hop. Artists from the Cold Crush Brothers to William Waring to The Mizell Brothers were essential to the sound of Run-DMC, as were the beats of Take Me To The Mardi Gras by Bob James and Walk This Way by Aerosmith. It's no wonder JayQuan is the curator for the National Hip-Hop Museum in Washington DC, as well as a consultant for The Hip-Hop Museum in the Bronx. So let's start Raising Hell, and learn from the masters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 58m 38s | ||||||
| 4/17/26 |  Steve Berlin Is A Rhythm Pig✨ | musicsaxophonist+4 | Steve Berlin | Pigus, Drunkus MaximusLos Lobos+7 | LA | Pigus, Drunkus MaximusCathay de Grande+2 | — | 58m 19s | |
| 4/10/26 |  Steve Spears Is Forever Stuck In The 80s✨ | 80s musicpop culture+1 | Steve Spears | Stuck In The 80s: 20 Years of Conversations with Pop Culture Icons Who Defined a DecadeStuck In The 80s | — | Stuck In The 80sThe 80s Cruise+1 | — | 59m 06s | |
| 4/3/26 |  Danny Goldberg Bumps Into Genius✨ | music businessartist management+2 | Danny Goldberg | Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside Rock 'N' RollBillboard+9 | — | WoodstockLed Zeppelin+9 | — | 1h 02m 39s | |
| 3/27/26 |  April Fools' Day Music Favorites✨ | April Fools' Daymusic+4 | — | — | — | smilegoofy dance+2 | — | 58m 57s | |
| 3/20/26 |  Harold Bronson Reconnects With His Savage Young Winos✨ | musicband history+1 | Harold Bronson | Savage Young WinosRhino Records+6 | — | Rhino RecordsUCLA+5 | — | 53m 09s | |
| 3/13/26 |  St. Patrick's Day 80s Music Favorites✨ | St. Patrick's Day80s music+1 | — | — | The Emerald Isle | Liam Ó MaonlaíCathal McGarvey+1 | — | 41m 34s | |
| 3/6/26 |  Steven Blush Was Raised On Disco, Reggae, Hip-Hop, And Rock✨ | discoreggae+4 | Steven Blush | When Rock Met DiscoWhen Rock Met Reggae+3 | — | Rick RubinThe Beastie Boys+2 | — | 43m 16s | |
| 2/27/26 |  Paul Rees Was Raised On Radio✨ | Album Oriented RockAOR+3 | Paul Rees | Raised On Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola – the AOR Glory Years 1976-1986Album Oriented Rock+5 | Scotland | Raised On RadioPower Ballads+6 | — | 46m 42s | |
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| 2/20/26 |  Please Refer To Roddy Bottum As The Royal We✨ | Roddy BottumFaith No More+4 | Roddy Bottum | The Royal WeFaith No More | San Francisco | The Royal Wecoming-of-age+1 | — | 55m 44s | |
| 2/13/26 |  Valentine's Day 80s music favorites✨ | Valentine's Day80s music+1 | — | — | — | 80smusic+2 | — | 48m 02s | |
| 2/6/26 |  Arielle Nissenblatt Podcasts On This And That | Arielle Nissenblatt, Founder and Head Curator of Earbuds Podcast Collective AND a 2026 Podcast Hall Of Fame Inductee, joins our podcast to share her origin story, and insights into the industry. She then steps out of her comfort zone and into our favorite topic, 80s music! Arielle offers up her Millennial opinion on music from 1989 based on Los Angeles radio station KROQ's year-end playlist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 01m 45s | ||||||
| 1/30/26 |  Andy Greene: Rolling Stone Magazine's Secret Weapon | Andy Greene, Senior Writer for Rolling Stone, has been with the storied magazine since 2004. Andy shares with us his origin story of how a shy, young boy from the suburbs of Cleveland finds his way to New York City to write about his idols and rub shoulders with artists like Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen. We also asked his opinion on the music played on Los Angeles radio station KROQ in 1989, specifically songs 100 to 91 from their year-end playlist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 10m 46s | ||||||
| 1/23/26 |  1989 KROQ Countdown | And so it begins again, as we start our look at the top 106.7 songs played on radio station KROQ in Los Angeles in 1989. Upcoming episodes will feature ten songs each and a special guest, but for this episode, we’ll look at the bottom seven songs, 106.7 to 101, based on the station's year-end playlist. It's quite a start to the last year of 80s music, and a fine intro into the type of music featured on The World Famous KROQ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 39m 53s | ||||||
| 1/16/26 |  Pop Culture In 1989 | The year 1989 was more than just the number...another summer...the sound of the funky drummer. It was the year we first fell in love with The Simpsons, the Game Boy, and The Arsenio Hall Show. It was also the year of amazing movies, and of course, music. While we can't do a "We Didn't Start The Fire" type of song with the year, we can revisit as much as possible in under sixty minutes. Tune in and bust a move! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 51m 29s | ||||||
| 1/9/26 |  80s Rock Star Commercials | Back in the 80s, we thought they were selling out. Turns out, they were ahead of the curve. Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene rounded up some of his favorite commercials featuring 80s rock icons from David Bowie and Genesis to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. We revisited those ads, plus a few more we couldn’t forget, to bring you this special episode celebrating 80s music commercials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 39m 52s | ||||||
| 1/2/26 |  Bill Janovitz Lets The Cars Story Be Told | New York Times Bestselling author Bill Janovitz is a founding member of the Boston-based band Buffalo Tom. Bill's latest book on fellow Boston musicians is called The Cars: Let the Stories Be Told. It features a foreword from The Cars’ Greg Hawkes, and full participation from all three surviving band members. It’s the definitive book about The Cars, and Bill joins the podcast to share some details about this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band. There's still time to get on https://the80scruise.com/https://the80scruise.com/ waitlist, sailing February 27 to March 6. Use the promo code WDDIM to get $250 in onboard credit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 51m 57s | ||||||
| 12/26/25 |  New Year's 80s Music Favorites | Another holiday classic filled with some great 80s music! We celebrate our new year's traditions, new year's resolutions, the history behind toasts and of course, all our favorite music we play to usher in the new year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 43m 02s | ||||||
| 12/19/25 |  Christmas Music Favorites | What Difference Does It Make, the 80s music podcast, celebrates our favorite 80s Christmas songs. Holly tells us how she wooed her future husband with some skiing lessons and we also do a wrap on a couple old school hip-hop classics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 33m 56s | ||||||
| 12/12/25 |  Happy Holidays 80s Music Favorites | It's the holiday season once again so Holly and I present to you this timeless classic episode...now with actual music! Dave's favorite holiday song is "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. Holly goes all in on Chanukah music with Matisyahu, The Maccabeats and we talk about how the names mentioned on Adam's Sandler's classic tune by remarking that many names might be lost on a younger generation. Do you think people in their 20s might know Ann Landers or Dear Abby? Get three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 33m 05s | ||||||
| 12/5/25 |  What Difference Does It Make Best Of 2025 | As we look back at our 34 new podcast episodes from 2025, we realize each one is uniquely special. We've talked with artists, music industry insiders, authors, filmmakers, and friends. Now, we present this best-of episode. It's a great way to sample just a bit of what we feel makes our (mostly) 80s music podcast so special. If you haven't already, please like and subscribe, and if you have a moment during your holiday revelry, we’d love a nice review as a holiday present. Cheers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 51m 17s | ||||||
| 11/28/25 |  Paul Myers and John Candy | Paul Myers has just completed his Canadian trilogy. Previously, he authored the definitive biographies on Barenaked Ladies and Kids In The Hall. He now takes on one of the most popular Canadians ever, with his latest book, John Candy: A Life In Comedy. Paul discusses the process of getting to know the larger-than-life personality that was John Candy, and learns that John was more than just a comedic genius. Paul is also the host of the Record Store Day Podcast, and he's got a few amazing stories to share with us, including his encounters with Neil Finn of Crowded House. This episode is sponsored by The 80s Cruise. Use promo code "WDDIM" to receive $250 in onboard credit. Go to The80scruise.com for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 1h 04m 41s | ||||||
| 11/21/25 |  Thanksgiving Music Favorites | We talk turkey....and pie...and candy and occasionally about songs that make us think about Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving episode from 2018 reminds us of how fortunate we are to have food, friends and music in our lives. We talk about Golden Girls, hippies throwing away trash and learn about the word "mondegreen". We are also very thankful to you for listening. Be thankful for three FREE months of Amazon Music courtesy of your 80s music aficionados at What Difference Does It Make. We are a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 50m 10s | ||||||
| 11/14/25 |  Russell Hitchcock Gives Us Fifty Years of Air Supply | Russell Hitchcock, the legendary lead singer of Air Supply, is having quite a moment. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the band is soon to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an Air Supply feature film is currently in production. Russell joins the podcast to share what these milestones mean to him, to reflect on Air Supply’s enduring legacy, and to reveal how he and bandmate Graham Russell have kept their musical partnership—and friendship—strong for five decades. Los Angeles Fans: We’re giving away a pair of tickets to see Air Supply in Los Angeles at the YouTube Theater on November 28th! It’s easy to enter. Simply like us on Instagram and tell us your favorite Air Supply song. Winner will be chosen November 17 This episode is sponsored by The 80s Cruise. Use promo code "WDDIM" to get $250 in onboard credit. Go to The80scruise.com for all the info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 31m 16s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
3 placements across 3 markets.
Chart Positions
3 placements across 3 markets.