Flashback: November 23, 1988

The Feast We Remember

It’s November 23, 1988. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and Ronald Reagan has just given his final holiday address as president, reflecting on eight years of peace and prosperity before handing the keys to George H. W. Bush in January.

At the mall, everyone is wrapped in oversized sweaters and smelling like Exclamation!, Drakkar Noir, or whatever fragrance sample the JCPenney counter lady waved their way.

Holiday shoppers are weaving through crowds with pretzels from Auntie Anne’s, teenage mall rats are circling the arcade waiting for a turn on OutRun, and the Santa line is already stretching past the food court.

Parents are hunting for a Nintendo Action Set with the Zapper. Kids are begging for the brand-new American Girl doll, Molly.

In short… it’s peak late-80s. Big hair. Big feelings. Big shoulder pads. Big everything.

And now that we’re grown, with bodies that crack, ache, or make noises they never made back when New Edition was still together, this week hits a little differently. Back then we thought 40+ was ancient. Now we’re the ones telling our knees they don’t get to tap out.

Let’s rewind.

This Mixtape Memory Lane is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

🎧Mixtape Memory Lane 

“Bad Medicine” – Bon Jovi

In its second week at #1, Jon Bon Jovi and the band were prescribing glam metal as the cure for anything that ailed you. The lyrics weren’t exactly doctor-approved, but the power chords and that shout-along chorus made the song irresistible. It was peak arena rock swagger… with a wink.

“Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby)” – Will to Power

Only the ’80s could turn a mashup of Peter Frampton’s soft-rock ballad and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern rock anthem into a synth-pop love song. Will to Power’s freestyle production blended the two classics into something that was part nostalgia, part neon-lit romance. Sacrilegious? Maybe. Catchy? Absolutely.

“Desire” – U2

Fresh off Rattle and Hum, “Desire” proved U2 could do raw, blues-soaked rock as easily as sweeping arena anthems. The track had grit, swagger, and a pulse that felt alive. The guerrilla-style video shot on the streets of LA only added to the song’s restless energy.

“Giving You the Best That I Got” – Anita Baker

Anita Baker was ruling the R&B charts, and this velvet-smooth ballad showed why. It was grown-up, candlelit, “real dishes instead of paper plates” romance. Her voice wrapped around every line like a silk robe, making the entire late ’80s feel a little more elegant.

“Posse on Broadway” – Sir Mix-a-Lot

Years before “Baby Got Back,” Sir Mix-a-Lot was putting Seattle on the map with this cruising anthem. It wasn’t a mainstream smash, but it was a regional classic with serious underground cred. The track hinted at the tidal wave coming for hip-hop as it moved from niche to national.

👆 Watch the full throwback video playlist on YouTube Music.

📺 Screen Time Rewind 

The box office in late November 1988 was built for families, and Big was still packing theaters months after its June release. Tom Hanks’ turn as a 12-year-old in a grown man’s body had become the sleeper hit of the year, pulling in more than $150 million and earning him his first Oscar nomination. It was the rare movie that felt just as magical on the tenth viewing as the first.

The Land Before Time was the movie everyone was talking about that week. Littlefoot and crew had us crying in the first ten minutes, then cheering by the end, and it quickly became the unofficial kickoff to holiday-movie season. Kids loved it, adults pretended they weren’t emotional about it, and Don Bluth proved he could still land a hit.

Down the hall at the multiplex, Oliver & Company was giving Disney a needed spark during its pre-renaissance slump. Billy Joel voicing a street-smart dog felt like the most 1988 casting imaginable, and the film mixed attitude with heart in a way that hinted at the studio’s comeback just around the corner.

If you wanted something less wholesome, Child’s Play was delivering the opposite. Chucky arrived with a vengeance, instantly turning every Cabbage Patch Kid into a potential threat. It wasn’t prestige cinema, but it was unforgettable… and it helped cement horror’s late-80s revival.

On television, we were deep in the comfort-food phase of network TV.  The Wonder Years was in its prime, giving us weekly nostalgia long before nostalgia became an industry.

Roseanne dominated the ratings by showing a working-class family that felt messy and real, something sitcoms rarely gave us at the time. And Cheers continued to own Thursday nights with a cast that made you want to pull up a barstool and stay awhile.

If you wanted something edgier, 21 Jump Street delivered undercover high-school drama and a young Johnny Depp trying very hard not to become a teen heartthrob… and failing spectacularly.

Between the sitcoms, the dramas, and the mall-cinema blockbusters, this was a week when the screens in front of us didn’t just entertain us… they shaped the world we remember.

This Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs apparel.

Life Reboot: Body

When Your Body Rewrites the Rules

In November 1988, you could crush turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and three kinds of pie and wake up the next day feeling exactly the same. Your body was a machine that quietly did its job, no maintenance schedule required.

Fast forward to now, and everything hits differently. A sleeve of Oreos feels like you swallowed a brick, and skipping the gym for a week shows up on the scale like a bad surprise. Nothing “broke”… your metabolism just changed its operating system.

The Math That Betrayed Us

After age 30, we lose 3–8 percent of our muscle mass each decade, and muscle is what burns calories even when we’re doing nothing. Less muscle means a slower metabolism, and the same meals that kept us steady at 25 now stick around at 45. Hormones shift too… testosterone dips, estrogen fluctuates, and fat starts showing up in new ZIP codes. Your body isn’t malfunctioning. It’s adapting. We’re the ones still expecting it to follow the rules from 1988.

Three Ways to Work With Your New Metabolism

• Strength training isn’t optional anymore.
  Cardio helps your heart, but weights help your metabolism. Two or three short sessions a week—dumbbells, resistance bands, or bodyweight moves—are enough to rebuild the muscle you’re losing. Start simple. Stay consistent.

• Portion smarter, not smaller.
  You can’t eat like you did in your twenties, but you also don’t have to live on salad. Make protein the anchor of every meal, load up on vegetables, and choose carbs with intention. The goal is satisfaction, not restriction.

• Eat with your rhythms, not your schedule.
  Your metabolism slows at night, so heavy late dinners don’t do you any favors. Try a bigger breakfast, a moderate lunch, and a lighter dinner. A 12–14 hour overnight break helps regulate blood sugar and inflammation… think of it as resting your engine.

And yes… alcohol lands harder now. Fewer drinks mean better sleep, steadier hunger, and clearer mornings.

Here’s what November 1988 never warned us about: your body isn’t failing you… it’s asking you to evolve with it. Work with the version you have now, not the one that powered you through pep rallies and roller rinks, and you’ll feel stronger than you think.

Visual Feature: From the Archives

Ronald Reagan's Final Thanksgiving Address

On November 19, 1988, just days before our flashback date, President Ronald Reagan delivered his final Thanksgiving radio address. It was classic Reagan… warm, steady, and full of gratitude. He urged Americans to gather close, give thanks, and remember the tradition’s deep roots. And without ever saying the words “farewell,” he closed with a gentle sendoff that said it for him: “Happy Thanksgiving! And until next week, thanks for listening, and God bless you.”

Life Reboot is sponsored by La’Merde Designs.

Mixtape Memory Lane is sponsored by 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover.

The Gratitude We Hold

So here we are, 36 years after Reagan was signing off and America was settling in for another week of Roseanne, The Wonder Years, and leftovers. We were lining up for Big for the tenth time, and blasting Bon Jovi, U2, and Anita Baker on cassette decks that rattled the dashboard. It was the kind of late-80s week that felt ordinary then but looks iconic now.

And tucked inside all of it was a truth we didn’t recognize yet. Our bodies were effortless machines, our metabolisms were loyal, and aging was something that happened to other people.

But November 1988 reminds us that change is the most reliable part of growing older. The frustration is real… but so is the opportunity. Once we stop expecting our bodies to act like they did when Nintendo cartridges needed blowing on, we can finally work with the version we have now.

What that week really taught us is that gratitude doesn’t wait for perfection. It shows up in the middle of change… in new limits, new aches, new rhythms, and new ways of caring for ourselves. It’s not about the size of the feast, but the ability to sit at the table at all.

And as Reagan said in his final Thanksgiving address, “We Americans have so much for which to be thankful.” We feel the same way about you. Thank you for reading, for sharing, and for being part of this community every week.

If this rewind brought back a memory, pass it along. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s the perfect time to pull up a chair and stay awhile.