119: “Don’t Forget To Breathe” – Interview with Author Chris Clews

When We Were Young - an 80s and 90s pop culture podcast

The Karate Kid features one of the most beloved movie mentors of all time in Mr. Miyagi, who teaches young Daniel valuable lessons about patience (taking time to breathe), efficiency (putting the whole body’s strength into a single punch), and achievement (if you can catch a fly with chopsticks, you can accomplish pretty much anything).

In this special interview episode, When We Were Young talks to author and keynote speaker Chris Clews about more life lessons that can be found in ‘80s pop culture, whether in films with iconic movie mentors like The Karate Kid and Dead Poets Society, or those with much more questionable role models like The Lost Boys and Road House.

In his new book Raised on the ‘80s, Chris Clews identifies 30+ life lessons from the music and movies that defined pop culture’s most excellent and totally awesome decade, including Trading Places, Cocktail, The Breakfast Club, Die Hard, and the music of Prince. We talked to Chris about his favorite bits of wisdom from our favorite ’80s films, as well as his experience growing up in the ‘80s, why Patrick Swayze is the ultimate ‘80s icon, and the best way to reboot an ‘80s blockbuster while staying true to the original.

Follow When We Were Young on Twitter and Instagram at @WWWYshow, on Facebook at Facebook.com/WWWYShow and email episode suggestions to [e-mail]. Don’t forget to subscribe and review us on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts (or wherever you get your podcasts) so more folks check out the show! And after you check out this interview episode with Chris Clews, check out his new book Raised in the ‘80s here: https://chrisclews.com/books