Goodbye America Online

Before Facebook, before smartphones, before Wi-Fi—there was America Online. AOL brought the internet into our homes with trial CDs, dial-up screeches, and the unforgettable words: “You’ve Got Mail.” In this episode of The Middle of Fun, we log back into the world of chat rooms, buddy lists, and away messages—and reflect on the end of an era, as AOL officially shuts down for good in October 2025.