Decoder Ring

Spring Break Forever


Listen Later

The infamous annual ritual of spring break—where thousands of college students head to the same warm location and go crazy—can seem like it’s always been here. But it hasn’t. The spring break phenomenon is a holdover from midcentury teen culture that has endured by changing, just enough, to be passed from one generation to the next. In this episode we’re going from the beaches of Fort Lauderdale to Daytona, from the movie screen to the TV set, from MTV to Instagram reels, from its start to its surprisingly recognizable present, as we follow the evolving, self-reinforcing rite that is spring break.


You’ll hear from former MTV staffers Doug Herzog, Salli Frattini, Alan Hunter, and Joe Davola, along with John Laurie, Kaylee Morris, and Slate writer Scaachi Koul.


This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd and produced by Katie. It was edited by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. Our show is also produced by Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.


Thank you to Bob Friedman and Allan Cohen, producers of Spring Broke; David Cohn, Derreck Johnson, and Ivylise Simones.


If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at [email protected], or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281.


Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.


Sources for This Episode


Koul, Scaachi. “From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Your Body, My Choice’,” Slate, Dec. 13, 2024.


Laurie, John. “Spring Break: The Economic, Socio-Cultural and Public Governance Impacts of College Students on Spring Break Host Locations,” University of New Orleans Dissertation, Dec. 19, 2008.


Mormino, Gary R. Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida, University Press of Florida, 2008.


Schiltz, James. “Time to Grow Up: The Rise and Fall of Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale,” The Florida Historical Quarterly, Fall 2014.


Spring Broke, dir. Alison Ellwood, Bungalow Media + Entertainment, 2016.


Thompson, Derek. “2,000 Years of Partying: The Brief History and Economics of Spring Break,” The Atlantic, March 26, 2013.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Decoder RingBy Slate Podcasts

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

1,958 ratings


More shows like Decoder Ring

View all
Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,910 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,573 Listeners

Slate Culture by Slate Podcasts

Slate Culture

1,878 Listeners

Hang Up and Listen by Slate Podcasts

Hang Up and Listen

991 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,160 Listeners

Slate Debates by Slate Podcasts

Slate Debates

2,855 Listeners

Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show by Slate Podcasts

Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show

1,017 Listeners

Death, Sex & Money by Slate Podcasts

Death, Sex & Money

7,707 Listeners

Slate Money by Slate Podcasts

Slate Money

1,014 Listeners

Reply All by Gimlet

Reply All

27,372 Listeners

The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,015 Listeners

Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia by Slate Podcasts

Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia

1,379 Listeners

Slate News by Slate Podcasts

Slate News

5,656 Listeners

Sidedoor by Smithsonian Institution

Sidedoor

2,171 Listeners

Twenty Thousand Hertz by Dallas Taylor

Twenty Thousand Hertz

3,929 Listeners

Slate Health by Slate Podcasts

Slate Health

53 Listeners

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia by Slate Podcasts

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

2,042 Listeners

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future by Slate Podcasts

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

240 Listeners

Slow Burn by Slate Podcasts

Slow Burn

23,947 Listeners

Endless Thread by WBUR

Endless Thread

2,662 Listeners

You're Wrong About by Sarah Marshall

You're Wrong About

21,584 Listeners

Slate Presents: One Year by Slate Podcasts

Slate Presents: One Year

1,286 Listeners

American Hysteria by chelsey weber-smith

American Hysteria

3,184 Listeners

Articles of Interest by Avery Trufelman

Articles of Interest

3,298 Listeners

One Year by Slate Podcasts

One Year

1,187 Listeners

Culture Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

Culture Gabfest

414 Listeners

Maintenance Phase by Aubrey Gordon & Michael Hobbes

Maintenance Phase

16,187 Listeners

Search Engine by PJ Vogt

Search Engine

4,240 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

8,543 Listeners

Hear Me Out by Slate Podcasts

Hear Me Out

59 Listeners

Well, Now by Slate Podcasts

Well, Now

46 Listeners

Navel Gazing by John Dickerson

Navel Gazing

95 Listeners

Hyperfixed by Hyperfixed & Radiotopia

Hyperfixed

563 Listeners

The Law According to Trump by Slate Podcasts

The Law According to Trump

4 Listeners

Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge? by Slate Podcasts

Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge?

92 Listeners