Some journeys start with a dream, or just a favorite doll. Author and public historian Kayla Chenault grew up with American Girl. Kayla's fascination with the 1940s (via Molly) even led her to pursue volunteering and then working at a local historical society. In this episode, Kayla shares her perspective on Melody’s stories and depictions of her hometown, Detroit, Michigan. Tune in for a spooky story about one possibly haunted Molly, a local's perspective on Melody, and a deep dive into the riots of 1967.



To learn more about Kayla's work, follow her on Instagram: @kayla.c.author or visit her website: https://kc-writes.com/



To join us at BPL on Thursday, November 9th: https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/64d14e9a591918360006d3f8



Resources:



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod



Pre-order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5








121: Melody and the Motor City: An Interview with Kayla Chenault

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.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Comedy

History

Society & Culture

Books

For our final episode, we took some twinspiration from the newest historical AGs: Isabel and Nicki Hoffman. When we meet Isabel, she is trying to perfect her Spice Girls choreography in time for a performance on New Year's Eve. Nicki, on the other hand, is learning how to make zines and skateboarding around Seattle. Both girls are struggling with sharing a bedroom, defining Girl Power, and the threat of a Y2K meltdown. We talk about twin tropes, our own pop culture memories from 1999, and the portrayal of Seattle in the book Finally, we wrap up by answering listener questions (Does Mary still miss Nan? What are our favorite house museums? Best part of doing the podcast?) and sign off one last time. 



Thank you to all of our listeners! We so appreciate all of you, and the community we've made together. Thank you for being a friend! 



Resources:



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)



You can subscribe to Mary's newsletter, Landline, here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/

 

Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5






139: It Takes Two: Isabel and Nicki

It's 1986, and Courtney Moore's summer break is off to a great start. After participating in Hands Across America, she's ready to hit the arcade, read her American Girl catalogue, and make new friends, including a boy named Isaac. But Courtney faces unexpected challenges when she hits the books that fall. When others learn that Isaac is HIV positive, he is forced to leave Courtney's school. For this episode, we brought in an expert to talk about Courtney's ensuing public health campaign and what someone her age would have known about the HIV crisis in the mid-1980s. Our special guest Myrna Moretti, a PhD Candidate at Northwestern University, also gave us great insight into how Courtney consumes technology, '80s arcade culture, and the real queer-led activist movement that fought for a cure for HIV/AIDS.



Special Note: As we shared in the introduction, we have decided to end the show after covering "Meet Isabel and Nicki" on our next episode. We are so grateful for five wonderful years with this amazing community of listeners! We will keep the Discord community active and hope it continues to thrive (we love being part of it ourselves!) and will not produce a Patreon episode in April. 



We will be recording the final episode soon and would love to share your messages and answer a few questions. You can share messages and questions with us here: https://forms.gle/uzDk7A9DpScA5RvK8 



We will also post on Instagram to collect messages and questions there.



Thank you again for enriching our lives, and this show, beyond measure. 



Resources:



Here is a lecture by Dr. Cait McKinney referenced by our guest, Myrna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHjXxV16So8&t;=2006s 



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)



Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



You can subscribe to Mary's newsletter Landline here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5






138: Courtney: Friendship Superhero and American Girl Consumer

Join us as we travel back in time to our first episode! We’ll be back on April 1 with the second Courtney book (and a special guest!) Until then, enjoy younger versions of us when we were still learning how to podcast (but had timeless takes on Justin Timberlake). 



Subscribe to Mary’s newsletter, Landline, here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod



Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)



Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5






137: From the Archives: Meet Felicity

Do you think of yourself as part of history? What about the Care Bears and Ms. Pac-Man? When American Girl first revealed that there would be a new historical character set in 1986, we were in shock. Having recovered from that surprise, we were delighted to meet the young person behind the bop "Hey Courtney." Through Courtney Changes the Game, we meet Courtney Moore, a nine-year-old living in California who loves gaming, space travel, and recycling. We discuss Courtney's family dynamics, presidential history in the book, and the shock of the Challenger explosion in early 1986. 



Resources:



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod



Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)



Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5






136: Ms. Pac-Man: Courtney Changes the Game

It's time for another American Girl road trip! In the second Claudie book, Brit Bennett takes us from Claudie's neighborhood in Harlem to her grandmother's house in Shellman, Georgia. Along the way, Claudie learns that there are different "rules" about living in the South and the North. She also sees a new side of her mother, an investigative journalist inspired by Ida B. Wells-Barnett. When Claudie returns to Harlem, she takes one of her grandmother's stories with her and offers an uplifting finale at the boardinghouse benefit concert. We discuss both of Claudie’s worlds and a bit about what’s happening in ours.



Time Stamps:



Resources:



You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com



Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod



Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl



Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)



Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.



We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com



Follow us on social media:



Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast



Twitter - @dollslivespod



Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/



Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks



Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)



Subscribe to Landline, Mary's newsletter! 



Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5






121: Melody and the Motor City: An Interview with Kayla Chenault

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