Episode Details

Up+Adam for March 31, 2026 Sponsored by Portabidet

What happens when you stop telling a story… and start questioning it?

In this episode of Up+Adam, Adam sits down with Rider Strong, best known as Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World, to talk about his bold new podcast The Red Weather, and what unfolded was a genuine, wide-open conversation about memory, storytelling, nostalgia, and what we owe the people whose stories we decide to tell. Rider grew up in the redwoods of Northern California, surrounded by communes and communities he didn't fully understand until he was well into his 40s. That curiosity became the engine behind The Red Weather, an eight-episode autofiction series from iHeartPodcasts that blends a fictional 1995 cold case with real documentary-style interviews featuring his actual family, his childhood best friend Ocean, and his own unfiltered past.

They go deep on the ethics of true crime storytelling and who gets to be the hero of someone else's tragedy. They unpack the "cracked nostalgia" of the 90s, the warm glow we all feel, and the casual misogyny, homophobia, and blind spots hiding inside it. Rider gets real about why he stopped acting, what it felt like to be a teen idol he never wanted to be, and why playing himself in The Red Weather felt more freeing than playing any fictional character ever did. Adam also brings his own story to the table, his connection to the Jimmy Farris case, a real conversation with the man convicted of his friend's death, and the two find common ground in what it means to carry a story that belongs to someone else.

Oh, and Rider Strong's name. They go there. Boogie Nights, laser discs, and all.

• The Red Weather on iHeartRadio: The Red Weather Podcast
• Rider Strong on Instagram: @rider_strong
• Pod Meets World (Rider's Boy Meets World rewatch podcast): Pod Meets World

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