Can you understand U.S. cultural history without understanding Axe Body Spray? Listener, you cannot. In this mini-episode, Jess and Susie trace the scent that infiltrated school hallways and telegraphed wannabe masculinity for a generation of Y2K kids. Featuring a special appearance by Jess’s husband.

Can you understand U.S. cultural history without understanding Axe Body Spray? Listener, you cannot. In this mini-episode, Jess and Susie trace the scent that infiltrated school hallways and telegraphed wannabe masculinity for a generation of Y2K kids. Featuring a special appearance by Jess’s husband.

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

Smells Like Teen Puberty

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2a0769b3-83c6-4309-8fbe-b0a400f8020b/transcript

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 the early 2000s, Lauren Greenfield’s “Girl Culture,” to ask: What does it mean when girlhood is being glorified but individual girls are more miserable than ever?    

FOR MORE:
The joy of communal girlhood; the agony of teen girls (by Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2024)
Being 13 (By Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2023)
This Is 18 (By Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2018)
Girl Culture, by Lauren Greenfield (TIME, 2002)

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 the early 2000s, Lauren Greenfield’s “Girl Culture,” to ask: What does it mean when girlhood is being glorified but individual girls are more miserable than ever?    
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/opinion/girlhood-mental-health-taylor-swift.html">The joy of communal girlhood; the agony of teen girls</a> (by Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2024)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/20/well/family/13-year-old-girls-social-media-self-esteem.html?smid=rd">Being 13</a> (By Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2023)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/11/style/this-is-18.html">This Is 18</a> (By Jessica Bennett, NYT, 2018)</li>
<li><a href="https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2042670_2042639,00.html">Girl Culture, by Lauren Greenfield</a> (TIME, 2002)</li>
</ul>

What is ‘Girl Culture’?

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 last 34 years. In this episode, Susie and Jess look at the dedicated fan accounts advocating for a new trial and the new evidence that might actually free them. 

FOR MORE:
The New Menendez Defenders  (The New York Times)
Ex-Member of Menudo Says He Was Raped by Father of the Menendez Brothers  (The New York Times)
New evidence may back Menendez brothers’ sexual abuse claims. But can it free them? (The Los Angeles Time)

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 last 34 years. In this episode, Susie and Jess look at the dedicated fan accounts advocating for a new trial and the new evidence that might actually free them. 
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/style/menendez-brothers-social-media-defenders.html">The New Menendez Defenders  (The New York Times</a>)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/arts/television/menendez-brothers-menudo-roy-rossello-documentary.html">Ex-Member of Menudo Says He Was Raped by Father of the Menendez Brothers  (The New York Times)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-17/menendez-brothers-vacate-convictions-new-hearing-evidence">New evidence may back Menendez brothers’ sexual abuse claims. But can it free them? (The Los Angeles Time)</a></li>
</ul>

How the Menendez Brothers Became Social Media Stars

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a0f4d033-33bd-45e5-9864-b1730013f5b3/transcript

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 and Susie revisit some of their most memorable, and sometimes cringey, adventures in journalism.

FOR MORE:
Polyamory: The Next Sexual Revolution? (By Jessica Bennett, Newsweek, 2010)
Monica Lewinsky Is Back, But This Time It’s On Her Terms (By Jessica Bennett, NY Times, 2015)
Jessica Simpson Reveals Post-Baby Body on Katie Couric’s New Show (People, 2012)

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 and Susie revisit some of their most memorable, and sometimes cringey, adventures in journalism.
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/polyamory-next-sexual-revolution-82053">Polyamory: The Next Sexual Revolution?</a> (By Jessica Bennett, Newsweek, 2010)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/style/monica-lewinsky-is-back-but-this-time-its-on-her-terms.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare&amp;sgrp=c-cb">Monica Lewinsky Is Back, But This Time It’s On Her Terms</a> (By Jessica Bennett, NY Times, 2015)</li>
<li><a href="https://people.com/health/jessica-simpson-reveals-post-baby-body-on-katie-courics-new-show-katie/">Jessica Simpson Reveals Post-Baby Body on Katie Couric’s New Show</a> (People, 2012)</li>
</ul>

Jessica Simpson, Monica Lewinsky, and Other Adventures in Journalism

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b141b1f8-6aae-48d0-92df-b16b01206b4b/transcript

Smells Like Teen Puberty

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