Dolls of Our Lives

By Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney

Arts Comedy History

What's Dolls of Our Lives about?

The series you loved, book by book. Join Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney as they explore the wild world of American Girl fandom. In each episode, Allison and Mary will dive into an American Girl book from their (and perhaps your) childhood. Using their knowledge as professional historians and finely tuned instincts as amateur pop culture critics, they’ll take you back to a very different time—the 1990s. Formerly American Girls Podcast.

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115: Nights at the Museum (...

05.29.2023

Filing cabinet fans, here we go! For this Patreon episode, we are diving right into the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This 1967 classic features the Kincaid kids, who just need a break from home — and the ...

Dolls of Our Lives episodes:

05.29.2023 115: Nights at the Museum (Patreon Preview) Filing cabinet fans, here we go! For this Patreon episode, we are diving right into the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This 1967 classic features the Kincaid kids, who just need a break from home — and the ...
05.15.2023 114: Meet Josefina, Mourn for Selena (from our archives) Join us as we turn to our archives to bring you one of our favorite episodes: In episode nine, we turn our gaze to the American Southwest & the youthful, plucky Josefina Montoya. Our analysis of Josefina’s books begins with ...
05.01.2023 113: 1955: Maryellen's Red Era Would you give up a ticket for a midnight (overnight) train to Georgia to make someone else’s dreams come true? In watching “Maryellen 1955, Extraordinary Christmas,” part of the “American Girl Story” series of short films, we learned that Maryellen ...
04.17.2023 112: Two Celebrations, a Camper, and a Cold War Contest: Maryellen’s Taking Off Time for yet another tenth birthday and a great American road Tripp! In her second book, Maryellen celebrates her big day in style, throwing a movie star party that turns into a public health fundraiser. After doing her part to ...
04.03.2023 111: Cold Comforts: Maryellen, The One and Only Of all the questions put out into the world, some confound, others inspire, and a few just beg for follow up. But only Val Tripp would be bold enough to ask (through Maryellen Larkin): "how hard could it be to ...
03.20.2023 110: Dancing Dogs for Defense: Hula for the Home Front By the spring of 1942, so much has changed for Nanea Mitchell and her family. In the second book of her series, we find Nanea adapting to life under martial law, returning to school, and missing her dear friend Donna. ...
03.06.2023 109: The Spirit of Aloha: Meet Nanea Though she is only nine, Nanea just can't wait to grow up. Living with her family in Honolulu, Nanea dreams of being a teacher and sharing "the spirit of aloha" with others. Then, disaster strikes on December 7, 1941. Nanea's ...
02.20.2023 108: Talented and Nearly Ten: Meet Claudie, An American Girl Once upon a time, a reader turned writer named Brit put an idea out into the universe. She told American Girl that she should write a book in the same vein as the stories she’d loved as a child. Cut ...
02.06.2023 108: Stolen Hearts Trailer Sergeant Jill Evans is a small-town cop in Wales with an impressive record in her job, and a less than impressive record in her love life. After three engagements, two divorces and one affair, she’s beginning to worry that love ...
02.06.2023 107: Extra, Extra: Newspapers in Kit's World This just in: public historian Lauren Kennedy joins Dolls of Our Lives for a special supplement. Lauren works as Digital Projects Coordinator for Ohio Memory. In addition to being super knowledgeable about material culture and American Girl fandom, Lauren has ...
01.23.2023 106: Patreon Preview: All-of-a-Kind Sydney In 1951, Sydney Taylor introduced All-of-a-Kind Family to the world. Her novel about a Jewish family living on the Lower East Side in the early 20th century features five American girls: Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie. These tight-knit sisters ...
01.09.2023 105: Crossover Episode! American Girl Women We’re taking a break this month, and are bringing you our recent appearance on the American Girl Women podcast. Here is a description from their feed: Laura and Lindsey are joined by dream guests and fellow American Girl kindred spirits ...
12.26.2022 104: Big Schemes on the Big Screen: Kit Kittredge, An American Girl Some American Girls wear capes and some take part in capers. In Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, we meet a rising star who could do both. We talk about the fantastic cast of the Kit movie, how the film differs ...
12.12.2022 103: Changes for Kit In the final book of the Kit series, our hero is ready to become an agent for change. But first, she’ll have to deal with a cranky relative…again. When conservative Uncle Hendrick gets injured, he makes it everyone’s problem. The ...
11.28.2022 102: Covering Her Tracks: Kit Saves the Day As the old saying goes: where there's a Will, there's a way...to end up in jail? In book five of the Kit series, our hero wants nothing more than to hit the road. After meeting Will, a self-described hobo traveling ...
11.14.2022 101: No Party Like a Penny-Pincher Party: Happy Birthday, Kit How do you throw a party on a tight budget? In book four, we learn that Kit has set very low expectations for her tenth birthday. Then, everything changes when a mysterious stranger comes into town. Enter Aunt Millie, who ...
10.31.2022 100: Third Book's the Charm: Kit's Surprise It's Christmas time and time for a...quarrel? By December 1934, all was not well in the Kittredge household. Kit and Ruthie have been fighting, the mortgage hasn't been paid, and Uncle Hendrick was acting out more than usual. Still, Kit ...
10.17.2022 99: Hard Times: Kit Learns a Lesson Have you ever wondered why you even tried? In book two, Kit takes on new chores at home and fights about the first Thanksgiving at school. She also somehow finds time to hatch an interior design plan with Ruthie. Despite ...
10.03.2022 98: Kit Lit You know her, you love her, you may even be a bit jealous of her stunning haircut … at last, it’s time we all meet Kit Kittredge. In the summer of 1932, Kit is a comfortably affluent and (in AG ...
09.19.2022 97: Fact, Fiction, and Real Estate: Tenement Life in Rebecca’s Era Grace McGookey and Danielle Wetmore are museum professionals with very different relationships to American Girl. One was a huge fan, and one watched the rise of AG from afar. Years later, while working together at the Tenement Museum, they became ...
09.05.2022 96: Real Housewives of the Lower East Side For this Rebecca Rubin bonus, we chatted with Leah Sauter. Leah works as a historian, educator, and translator extraordinaire. In addition to generously sharing her own experience with Rebecca, Leah shed light on the significance of having Jewish American Girl ...
08.22.2022 95: AAAMA: Summer Mailbag Which American Girl would have the best Real Housewives tagline? Whose stories would most benefit from a rewrite? Is it possible to map 18" dolls onto seltzer flavors? During this episode, you'll hear our answers to these urgent questions and ...
08.08.2022 94: Acting Out: Changes for Rebecca A lot of ten-year-old kids wouldn't try to make a movie and participate in a labor strike. But Rebecca isn’t like other ten years olds, and she does both of those things, and more, in her final book. Radicalized by ...
07.25.2022 93: What Happens at Coney Island: Rebecca to the Rescue What Happens at Coney Island: Rebecca to the Rescue There comes a time in every American Girl's life when she is asked (totally unreasonably) to save the day. In Rebecca to the Rescue, our hero steps up, literally, and climbs ...
07.11.2022 92: Take Your Cousin to Work Day: Rebecca and the Movies Lights, camera, and...action! Kid star Rebecca Rubin is ready to take center stage. Hot on the heels of her tenth birthday, Rebecca spends the day with her cool cousin Max at a movie studio. When the opportunity presents itself to ...
06.27.2022 91: A Happy Hanukkah: Candlelight for Rebecca For the third Rebecca book, author Jacqueline Dembar Greene drew on her childhood experiences to explore what makes a day on the calendar a “national holiday.” When Rebecca is pressured to make a Christmas decoration at school, she feels conflicted. ...
06.13.2022 90: Sister Act: Rebecca and Ana We don’t mean to boast or brag, but the second Rebecca book is filled with lots of heartwarming moments and a few fun surprises. When cousin Ana finally gets to New York, she has a lot to learn from Rebecca. ...
05.30.2022 89: She Lives for the Applause: Meet Rebecca In 2009, a new girl hit the pop culture scene, joining the likes of Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Kesha. Her name? Rebecca Rubin. Her height? 18”. Looking for her backstory? Cruise on over to the Wikipedia page for the Lower ...
05.16.2022 88: Dream Job Special Episode: American Girl Magazine Did you ever dream of working for American Girl magazine? Meet Aubre Andrus, a writer who turned that dream into a reality! Aubre is an award-winning author who gave us an insider's view on the tragically discontinued American Girl magazine. ...
05.02.2022 87: Care and Keeping of You: In Sickness and in Health The time has come to close out our coverage of Marie-Grace and Cécile. For this occasion, we dreamed up a special Care and Keeping of You episode that would start with the yellow fever epidemic of their day…straight through to ...
04.18.2022 86: A Poet Who Knows It: Cécile's Gift It is still 1853. Marie-Grace and Cécile have spent the better part of a year weathering an epidemic and taking care of younger kids at local orphanages. Will the sun ever come out for these two? Just before we are ...
04.04.2022 85: Amazing Marie-Grace Makes a Difference It's late summer, 1853, in New Orleans. Marie-Grace and Cécile are still in the thick of the Yellow Fever epidemic. Madame Océane is fighting for her life. Thankfully, Marie-Grace is prepared to take on wedding planning, performance art, nursing, and ...
03.21.2022 84: Cruel Summer: Troubles for Cécile Taylor Swift knew you were trouble when you walked in. Cecile knew trouble was brewing when people started wearing mourning clothes and going out less. During the fourth book in the Marie Grace / Cécile series, we find the girls ...
03.07.2022 83: Marie-Grace and the Orphans Is Marie-Grace okay? Imagine a book that includes a surprise, orphans, the early stages of a yellow fever epidemic, and hints at a wedding that may or may not take place. Were we emotionally prepared for this book? No. Does ...
02.21.2022 82: Les Américains: Meet Cécile At long last, we get to Meet Cécile! Ms. Cécile Rey comes from an elite Black family in New Orleans. She spends her time memorizing sonnets, getting singing lessons, and shopping. Cécile also loves her family, including her brother Armond ...
02.07.2022 81: Trading Places: Meet Marie Grace It’s time to meet not one, but two (new to us) American Girls! With this episode, we are launching into the Cécile & Marie Grace books. We start by meeting Marie Grace early in the year 1853. She is a ...
01.24.2022 80: The Importance of Being Ernst Before she was a bestselling author, she was an interpreter at a living history museum. Before she was an interpreter, she was a reader. For this episode, we were thrilled to interview Kathleen Ernst, the author of the Caroline series ...
12.27.2021 79: Winter Mailbag 2021! There may be a global supply chain crisis, but our listener mailbag service is working just fine. For this show, we took your pressing questions on American Girl dolls past and present. We also shared our top book recommendations for ...
12.13.2021 78: Toy Story: A Chat with LibrarianKiddo Prepare to get crafty and cozy! For this episode, we spoke with Lily Tice, a toy expert and artist who works online as @LibrarianKiddo. As a child, Lily wrote to American Girl with her ideas for new characters. As an ...
11.29.2021 77: Nautical by Nature: An Interview with Emily Powell Bera We may be done with the first six Caroline books, but we are not at all done covering Caroline. For this episode, curator and maritime historian Emily Powell Bera joined us for a discussion of a History Mystery. Emily is ...
11.15.2021 76: Oh Captain, She's Captain: Changes for Caroline At the end of the sixth Caroline book, we simply must ask again: are you not impressed? While the final Caroline story does involve a lot of "smooth sailing" talk and a skiff, this is mostly a story of tiffs, ...
11.01.2021 75: This Shed is On Fire: Caroline’s Battle In the fifth Caroline book, we learn that her fight song—her prove she’s alright song— is the Star-Spangled Banner. There’s no fire burning in her bones, but in this "saves the day" story, there is a lingering threat that Mama ...
10.18.2021 74: Caroline Takes a Chance...and So Do We If you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a day. If Caroline Abbott is teaching you to fish, you may find yourself trying to block a British warship during what was supposed to be a leisurely boat ride. ...
10.04.2021 73: Help Her, Rhonda: A Surprise for Caroline Our belated War of 1812 bicentennial bash continues with coverage of Caroline's third book. After setting up her father for a prison break, Caroline finds herself a bit bored in the winter months of 1812-1813. The good news is she ...
09.20.2021 72: A Stitch in Time Saves Dad: Caroline's Secret Message Talk about a sampler! In "Caroline's Secret Message," we are treated to a birthday dinner, embroidery intrigue, a rescue plot, and grandma's tips for winter prep. Did we mention Caroline makes a new friend named Rhonda in this book, too? ...
09.06.2021 71: The British Are Coming: Meet Caroline Where were you when the War of 1812 broke out? Our new friend Caroline Abbott, who debuted just in time for the 1812 bicentennial, was coasting along and "doing what she loves most" on her family's boat. During this episode, ...
08.23.2021 70: Samantha Spin-Off Part 2 with Allison Lange In this second Samantha spinoff, we speak with Dr. Allison Lange, ahistorian of women's suffrage and visual culture. She talks about AuntCornelia's speech style, the Susan B. Anthony Barbie, and Blacksuffragists you ought to know (plus much more). This episode ...
08.09.2021 69: We Will Go Down with this Ship! Dear America: Voyage on the Great Titanic On this episode, enjoy a gem from our patreon vault. This episode tackles Dear America: Voyage on the Great Titanic. We talk about the iceberg-level cultural fascination with the ship, the Titanic Historical Society, and survivors' videos on Youtube. **Please ...
07.26.2021 68: Meet Mariah: The Making of Mariah We are taking a summer break, so enjoy a patreon episode from our archives! For our twelfth Patreon episode, we chose the memoir of a modern diva and one of the most accomplished recording artists of all time. Join us ...
07.12.2021 67: From Borders to Borderlands: A Conversation with Colette Denali Montoya-Sloan On this episode, we're joined by Colette Denali Montoya-Sloan, a member of the Pueblo of Isleta and a descendant of the Pueblo of San Felipe. A librarian interested in oral history and issues of Indigenous identity, Colette shared a wealth ...

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