For a certain generation of girls, the trading of lip gloss was akin to sharing secrets — there was hierarchy, and subtlety, and hidden messages all in one. In this mini episode, Jess reminisces about middle school makeup rituals and what they can tell us about female friendship, while Susie wonders how it’s possible to be so nonchalant about the spreading of germs (lol!).

FOR MORE:
Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and… Lip Gloss? (by Jessica Bennett, NYT)
Makeup As Meditation, Skincare As 'Girl Therapy' (by Jessica Defino, Substack)

For a certain generation of girls, the trading of lip gloss was akin to sharing secrets — there was hierarchy, and subtlety, and hidden messages all in one. In this mini episode, Jess reminisces about middle school makeup rituals and what they can tell us about female friendship, while Susie wonders how it’s possible to be so nonchalant about the spreading of germs (lol!).
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/opinion/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-lip-gloss.html">Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and… Lip Gloss?</a> (by Jessica Bennett, NYT)</li>
<li><a href="https://jessicadefino.substack.com/p/makeup-as-meditation">Makeup As Meditation, Skincare As 'Girl Therapy'</a> (by Jessica Defino, Substack)</li>
</ul>

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?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.

Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

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?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.
Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

Can Lip Gloss Teach Us About Friendship?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6c9c7752-87df-4fe0-b40f-b13f015e3e86/transcript