When lifeguard CJ Parker, played by Pamela Anderson, ran in slow-mo down a sandy California beach in her iconic cherry red swimsuit — you know the one, low in the front, hiiiiiigh on the sides — she didn’t just turn “Baywatch” into the number-one TV show in America, she became the enduring symbol of 90s sexuality. In this episode, Jess and Susie trace that swimsuit’s surprising history — and its ripple effects.

Guests:
Pamela Anderson, actor, activist and author 
Susan Douglas, professor of media studies at the University of Michigan and author of “Enlightened Sexism”

FOR MORE:
Pamela Anderson Doesn’t Need Your Redemption. She’s Just Fine. (NY Times)
How Baywatch Went from Early Belly Flop to the Big Screen (NY Times)
Pamela: A Love Story (Netflix)

When lifeguard CJ Parker, played by Pamela Anderson, ran in slow-mo down a sandy California beach in her iconic cherry red swimsuit — you know the one, low in the front, hiiiiiigh on the sides — she didn’t just turn “Baywatch” into the number-one TV show in America, she became the enduring symbol of 90s sexuality. In this episode, Jess and Susie trace that swimsuit’s surprising history — and its ripple effects.
Guests:
<ul>
<li>Pamela Anderson, actor, activist and author </li>
<li>Susan Douglas, professor of media studies at the University of Michigan and author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Enlightened-Sexism-Seductive-Message-Feminisms/dp/080508326X">Enlightened Sexism</a>”</li>
</ul>
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/13/opinion/sunday/pamela-anderson-pamela-and-tommy.html">Pamela Anderson Doesn’t Need Your Redemption. She’s Just Fine.</a> (NY Times)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/movies/how-baywatch-went-from-an-early-belly-flop-to-the-big-screen.html">How Baywatch Went from Early Belly Flop to the Big Screen</a> (NY Times)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81590934">Pamela: A Love Story</a> (Netflix)</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

Pamela Anderson & That Iconic Red Swimsuit

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5bc68aeb-1d7c-4a9f-acf1-b08a015c76c3/transcript

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