In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Eac…Social links:
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Update: Why the Menendez Brothers May Go Free
Since we originally published this episode in May 2024, there has been significant developments for Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers who were convicted of killing their parents in the early 1990s. On October 24th, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón requested that the brothers be resentence…
49:14
Madonna and the Making of a Cultural Icon (Pt 2)
When Madonna performed “Like A Virgin'' at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, she scandalized the audience and her own team. But she also stole the show, cementing MTV’s place in cultural history. In this episode, Susie and Jess look back at Madonna’s early years in New York, the events that…
40:15
Madonna And The MTV Moment (Pt 1)
In 1984, a relatively unknown 26-year old Madonna appeared at the first MTV Video Music Awards. Dressed like a rock and roll bride, Madonna sang “Like a Virgin.” The performance was considered so risque, so scandalous that many – including her own manager – predicted it would end her career. But fa…
47:39
What is ‘Girl Culture’?
Girl dinner. Hot girl walks. Weird girls. Clean girls. Rat girls. Snail girls. Everywhere we look, it seems, a certain kind of girliness is being celebrated – from Beyonce to Barbie to Taylor Swift to TikTok. But what really is girl culture? Jess and Susie revisit a seminal photography book from th…
36:09
How the Menendez Brothers Became Social Media Stars
Lyle and Erik Menendez, two Beverly Hills brothers, were convicted of murdering their parents in a tabloid case that captivated the nation in the 1990s. But in recent years, they have captured the attention of a new generation, becoming unlikely social media stars despite being in prison for the la…
49:42
Jessica Simpson, Monica Lewinsky, and Other Adventures in Journalism
Hanging out with Monica Lewinsky for her first profile in a decade. Booking Jessica Simpson for a weight loss reveal that never happened. Searching for Casey Anthony…. and not finding her. Wondering how many members of a polycule is too many to put on an expense report (!). In this episode, Jess a…
40:50
Vanessa Williams v Miss America: ‘I Won’t Let That Man Destroy Me’ (Pt 2)
She made history as the first Black Miss America, then dramatically lost her crown in a scandal that would see her branded as "the pageant's own Hester Prynn.” But Vanessa Williams did not just go away quietly, she fought back — going head to head with Penthouse, the magazine that published her pho…
34:28
Vanessa Williams v Miss America: The Rise and Fall of the First Black Winner (Pt 1)
You may know her as the Grammy-nominated singer, or for playing the cunning and iconic Wilhelmina Slater on “Ugly Betty.” But before all that, Vanessa Williams was a bright young college student from New York who would make history as the first Black Miss America, in 1984. And yet before she could…
35:41
Growing Up with Sally Field's 'Not Without My Daughter'
In 1991, America’s sweetheart Sally Field starred in a movie about an American woman’s desperate escape from her abusive Iranian husband. For Susie, and a generation of other Iranian-American kids, this was the only representation they saw of themselves in pop culture – and it was not great. It was…
45:27
The Rutgers Women Fight Back (Pt 2)
As we revealed in part one, the 2007 Rutgers women’s basketball team was having a Cinderella season when radio host Don Imus callously dragged them into a national firestorm with a racist slur, effectively stealing their moment. But the women of Rutgers didn’t just go away quietly – they fought bac…
39:48