STARGIRL

Hi everyone! Welcome to the 100th and final episode of STARGIRL podcast ~

*First thing’s first: STARGIRL Merch is here!! Pre-order here; all orders ship late Summer 2026.* 

In this episode, I talk about my decision to end STARGIRL and what’s next for me. I also share dozens of “Stargirl Synchronicities” I’ve witnessed this spring, all of which felt like comforting acknowledgement that a chapter was closing. Then we look back on how culture has progressed (all for the better!) since I started the show in 2022: Today, embodiment, sensuality, health and fitness, spirituality, and patriotism are all way, way up! Plus, a very special audio postcard from Sarah Beth Spraggins (of Secret Ballot) on the state of American patriotism, and what I would do if I got the keys to the kingdom…. 🙂

Thank you all for all the support and laughs over the years. Cheers to STARGIRL and I wish you all proper Wet Hot American Summer 

Discussed: 

• Dear Americana by Stephanie Castaneda-Perez

• Recurring Character by Holly Friend

• “The Free Spirit” my interview with Holly 

• Cobra Lily by Ella Simone

• Elle trailer (Legally Blonde prequel)

• Hillary Duff for Ladder

• Krissy Jones for SKIMS x Nike

• PCOS gets renamed “PMOS” to reflect the root of metabolic dysfunction

• Bianca Giaever’s film at the Tribeca Film Festival

• “Lena Dunham and Alissa Bennett on the Tragedy of Marilyn Monroe” Interview (2026)

• “What Marilyn Monroe Means to Me” Lena Dunham in Vogue (2022)

• Anne Hathaway “Inshallah” moment…

• Drake Nike commercials <3

• Linda Goodman profile in the New Yorker (2026)

• Julie Andrews rare appearance at 90 years old!!

• Victoria Paris ON Running x Erewhon

• Eileen Kelly full renovation reveal in Vogue (@slipperspinkhome)

• “Sex as a Single Mom” EmRata in NYMag

• Alexa Demie shot by Petra Collins shoot for i-D zine

• “Hype House and the Los Angeles TikTok Mansion Gold Rush” Taylor Lorenz in NYT (2020)

• “How Dance Is Influencing Feeds” marketing article

• The G-Strings

• Tiler Peck, Isabella Boylston

• Jack Hughes chipped tooth photo

• Livvy Dunne serving Miller Lite at Derby Day party

• Artemis II launch (April 2026)

This week I’m joined by my friend and collaborator Soraya Beheshti to discuss the queen, Reese Witherspoon! We analyze Reese as an emblem of Blonde Ambition done correctly: the inverse of the Taylor Swift “White Girl Ceiling” phenomenon wherein you actually can have it all and emerge as likeable. We trace the progression of Reese’s early roles (Election, Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde) and how closely they match her public persona, and analyze the race among today’s influencers to claim Elle Woods status (another talk at Harvard Business School lol?), how Reese narrativizes her Southern roots, and how she retains public adoration despite her endless ambition and capacity. This episode is a love letter to precocious, scrappy young girls everywhere!

Soraya Beheshti is an artist, musician, and activist (and the woman behind all the recent STARGIRL social media!). Follow her on Instagram and look out for her podcast, Freqshow, launching soon!

Links:

• STARGIRL episode: Anne Hathaway, Alix Earle, Mary McCarthy, Bianca Giaever

• Madonna yanks mic back from Addison in LA last month (so happy to see the return of Addison Excess ugh she’s been tamed and edited for too long)

• Reese’s AI manifesto

• Reese on “Follow your talents, not your dreams”

• “The Man in the Brooks Brother’s Shirt” by Mary McCarthy (in this story collection)

• The House Bunny (2008)

• Draper James, Reese’s clothing line

• Whiskey in a Teacup, Reese’s book on Southern living (2018)

• Reese winning her Oscar for Walk The Line (major ding!)
  Performances discussed: Man in the Moon, Election, Legally Blonde, Walk the Line, Cruel Intentions, Devil’s Knot, Gone Girl, Wild, The Morning Show, Daisy Jones and the Six, Big Little Lies

Announcement: The Body Mechanics Workshop with Kat and Emma!

Details:

*Saturday May 16, 2026, 3-5pm at SoHo Pilates

*A hands-on workshop breaking down the Pilates principles (respiration, spine and pelvic stability, etc.) and applying them to functional movement (squat, deadlift, lunge, etc.). We’ll delve into common cues, language, and adjustments and provide actionable anatomical information so you feel confident progressing on your own in group fitness, the gym, and your life!

*Tickets include the workshop, an original anatomy workbook, plus complimentary matcha and exclusive STARGIRL and OTW Collective merch. *Note: Early bird pricing closes May 6th.

Reserve your spot here! 

In this episode of the Body Series, I chat with my friend and collaborator Kat Sours at this transitory moment in her life. We discuss her early career in the NYC fashion world, and how defining her values prompted a full pivot into teaching Pilates full time. We also reflect on our many attempts at locating aligned femininity in NYC, and talk through several hot-button fitness conversations: The “exclusivity” of Pilates, the Classical vs. contemporary debate, and the nontoxic workout wear trend. So grateful to have Kat in my life and capture her beautiful essence! 

Kat Sours is an artist, designer, and Pilates instructor currently living in New York City (elsewhere soon!). Follow her @katsours and @otwcollective on Instagram. To book a private Pilates session with her, email [email protected]

Links

• Beaded Tory Burch bag that Kat designed!

• STARGIRL Episode 59: The Body Series with Molly

• STARGIRL Episode 76: The Body Series with Meghan

To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? Lucy Siegel (2011)

*Full episode (with musical cues) on Patreon*

Announcement: Final spots remain for the STARGIRL x Health Gossip retreat on April 18. Tickets here!

Happy April Fool’s Day! In this special episode, Maddy and I reflect on the prototypical Stargirl: October’s Very Own, Drizzy Drake! <3 <3 <3 We explore Drake’s feminine soul, messy, expansive digital footprint, how he helped women everywhere tap into the inner ho without compromising their personality, his gossipy, clickity-clack girlygirl aura, his theatre kid past, and how he’ll be remembered as the soundtrack for the good clean fun of millennial youth. Also dissected: trust issues, Canadian psychology, the proliferation of fake deep male therapy speak, and why Aubrey can never garner respect from the rest of the guys. At the end of the day, Drake is lowkey living out loud and we love him for that <3 Plus: I unveil my male paradigms…

Madeleine Kunkle is an artist and writer, and creator/owner of the clothing and fragrance brand Hollywood Gifts. Follow her! @madeleine_kunkle @hollywoodgifts99

Links:

• “One Dance” performance on SNL

• Drake falling off stage at his first performance with Young Money

• Drake’s speech to Rihanna at 2016 VMAs

• “36G?! Locate this woman immediately!” 

• Drake on Not This Again with Bobbi Althoff 

• “The Blackberry keys… my thumbs were made for touching them”

• “Drake Shows His Crib Before Blowing Up on Degrassi!”

• Drake’s Arch Digest tour

• “Doing It Wrong” fake deep therapy vibes…

Follow STARGIRL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠ for more!

Announcements

• Reserve your spot at the STARGIRL x Health Gossip Retreat! (More info here)

• STARGIRL finally has social media! Follow along: Instagram and TikTok

• Emma is accepting new personal training clients for an April or May 2026 start date. Book your free consult call here to learn more!

Show Notes

This week we’re joined by longtime STARGIRL listener Stephanie Castaneda Perez to discuss Stevie Nicks, frontwoman of Fleetwood Mac and intergenerational emblem of the Spiritual Feminine. We discuss evolution of the “California Sound” and how Fleetwood Mac stands above their algorithmically linked “peers,” the tendency to collapse the distinct histories of hippies and various pagan traditions into a vague idea of the “bohemian,” and how the life-giving beauty of California shows up in Stevie's songs. We also break down Stevie’s late-70s fashion: its commodification and devolution into so-called “whimsigoth,” and what people miss when they over-index on the cheap “witchy” aspects of her uniform. Plus: Addison Rae’s reconnection to her Mexican roots on her South American tour, and how Azaelia Banks was right all along…

Stephanie Castaneda Perez is a writer and self-appointed historian living in the Bay Area. She produces and hosts Dear Americana, a history-ish program about womanhood in American cultures.

Follow Steph on YouTube and TikTok for more! 

Follow STARGIRL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more!

Links:

• “Hippies” Dear Americana podcast (2026)

• “The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks” American Horror Story (2014)

• “Fleetwood Mac Finds the Combination” (original review of Rumours) John Rockwell in NYT (1977)

• Rumours review in Rolling Stone, John Swenson (1977)

• “The Resurgent Appeal of Stevie Nicks” Amanda Petrusich in the New Yorker (2016)

• “Weedslut is Building a Sexy Little Universe, One Addison Tour Look at a Time” Dara in Interview (2025) (Addison x Weedslut chiffon bell sleeve lineage…)

• “Fame is a Gun” new dance break (no more mountain climbers) 

• Azaelia Banks on Addison needing to lean into her Mexican heritage (one of many instances)

• “Still Dressing for Stevie” Ruth La Ferla in the New York Times (2009)

• “Stevie Nicks is Still Living Her Dreams” Q&A with Stevie and Tavi Gevinson in the New Yorker (2022)

Lily Sperry and I are announcing the STARGIRL x Health Gossip Retreat, a one-day, intimate gathering in NYC, in partnership with MERIT Beauty. The event has been months in the making, and we can't wait to bring the worlds of STARGIRL and Health Gossip together in one place.

Featuring: yoga, lymphatic massage, breathwork and meditation, sound healing, flower essences, and more...

Full event details here

Reserve your spot

Follow STARGIRL on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠ for more!

Links:

• Health Gossip

• STARGIRL Episode 84: The Body Series with Lily Sperry

  
  

  
  

Subscribe to the STARGIRL Patreon 

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Just a few short days before the Hole *not-revival announcement, OG STARGIRL listener Ella and I met up to examine the so-called Queen of Grunge, Ms. Courtney Love. 

We trace the origins of the grunge and riot grrl scenes in the PNW (and mourn the region’s loss of virility), and explore Courtney’s unique exploration of her own “patriarchal bargain,” extreme combo of self-destruction X sweetness, and portrayal of female rage. Plus: The Threat of the successful groupie, Kinderwhore, Gen X’s allergy to brand consciousness, Hole as an antidote to #MeToo and girlboss feminism that insists on “victimhood as empowerment,” Courtney’s beef-turned-yoga friendship with Madonna, and more…. This episode is a celebration of scrappiness and girls who can actually get down <3

Ella Simone is a self-taught poet, writer, and collage artist living in Richmond, Virginia. She works in community mental health by day and runs an art and literary zine called Cobra Lily by night. You can find her on Instagram, Substack, and on the Cobra Lily website.

Links:

• Ella’s essays on Courtney, Addison Rae

• Courtney on Howard Stern (1998)

• Courtney’s MTV interview (1994)

• “Courtney Love: The ELLE Interview,” Elle (2014)

• “Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?” Amanda Fortini in NYT (2025)

• “Strange Love: The Story of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love” Lynn Hirschberg in Vanity Fair (1992)

• Courtney on Barbara Walters (1995)

• Courtney flashes David Letterman (2004)

• Courtney barges in on Madonna’s postshow interview at 1995 VMA’s

• 1995 performance of “Violets” where Courtney puts a hex on Billy Corgan (who did indeed lose his hair after this…)

• Courtney Love warning young women about Harvey Weinstein in 2005

• Courtney falling down on the red carpet

[Subscribe to the STARGIRL Patreon ~ Follow STARGIRL on IG | TikTok ~ Follow Emma on IG | Substack]

This week we are joined by the inimitable Amanda Fortini to discuss the American myth, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Amid this winter’s shitstorm of CBK discourse, Amanda brings us underneath the hood to discuss her time working at George magazine, the fading dream of 90s New York, Carolyn’s real-life Cinderella Story, and the moment of fear surrounding the impending turn of the century. We also explore the insatiable drive for a feeling of glamour, JFK Jr.’s prophetic idea to mix politics and pop culture with George, the Threat of the Elusive Woman, and the profound sadness of the Kennedy story that today’s smug fashion discourse often overlooks.

Amanda Fortini is a writer covering culture, fashion, art, herbalism, and more. She currently writes a column at County Highway and is working on a book of essays about Las Vegas, Flamingo Road. Keep up with her on Instagram | Substack | X

Thank you to Amanda for it all! <3

Links: 

• Once Upon A Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Elizabeth Beller (1992)

• “Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?" Amanda Fortini in the New York Times 

• “The Beautiful, Dark, Not-So-Twisted Love Between Sarah Paulson and Ryan Murphy” Amanda Fortini in Elle (2017)

• “The Tragedy of Britney Spears” Vanessa Grigoriadis in Rolling Stone (2008)

• “A Midwestern Girl Finds Enchantment and Envy in an Ivy League World of Wealth and Privilege” Amanda Fortini in Elle (2016)

  Love Story: John F. Kennedy, Jr. & Carolyn Bessette Connor Hines / Ryan Murphy (2026)

This week we ride the spirit of New York Fashion Week to discuss Eva Chen, whose career emblematizes the changing nature of fashion media in the past decade: from Condé Nast darling to Instagram mega-poster to VP of Fashion at Meta. Along with our guest Ashleigh Carter, we discuss Eva’s unselfconscious approach to the shifting media landscape, the late-2010s fascination with tech workplace culture-as-content (#evachenpose, Tiny Conference Room, team workouts, etc.), and how the well-intentioned “democratization of Fashion” is unfortunately swagless. Plus, we explore our original New York Dreams and the material and spiritual Ls we’ve taken in pursuit of a feeling of glamour.

Plus: My review of Wuthering Heights, Margaret Qualley-as-bombshell, and Addison Rae’s impending baddie era.

Ashleigh Carter is a writer, journalist, and content creator based in New York City. She has written for Teen Vogue, Glamour, Them, NowThis News and more, and has more than 185,000 followers on TikTok. Follow her at @ashweecarter on TikTok and Instagram!

Follow STARGIRL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more!

Links:

• ​“Margaret Qualley on Substance, Surrender, and Life with Jack Antonoff” Marisa Meltzer in Vanity Fair (2026)
• ​“Margaret Qualley Manifested This Cover Story” Willa Bennett in Cosmopolitan (2025)
• ​Addison BADDIE ERA is happening!!! Omg so done with the gracious ingenue blushy tutu…
• ​#evachenpose on Instagram
• ​Example of late 2010s obsession with tech workplace culture feat. tiny conference room Refinery 29 (2019)
• ​“How Eva Chen Went From Pre-Med Student to Director of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram” Fashionista (2018)
• ​“How I Get It Done: Eva Chen” The Cut (2018)
• ​“Meet Fashion’s Coolest Girlboss Eva Chen” Glamour UK (2018)
• ​Eva on Work In Progress with Sophia Bush (2019)
• ​“How Eva Chen Gets It Done” The Run-Through with Vogue (2024)Tom’s Perfect 10 Granola (Go Tom lol!)

Welcome back to the next installment of my Client Testimonial series, where we hear from my 1:1 personal training clients about their experience working with me, and how they've transformed their body/mind/soul via strength training.

In this episode, we discuss Parisa's longing for a competitive athletic outlet in adulthood, how strength training finally alleviated her chronic pain, and how getting strong has transformed not only her physical body but also the way she moves through the world.

This episode is for: lifelong athletes who don't feel challenged enough in adult team sports, those living with chronic pain who are curious if strength training could solve it for good, people whose past experiences with personal training felt random and disconnected, and anyone who's wasted years of their life picking apart their body in the mirror and are ready to build a new relationship with themselves from the inside out <3

Parisa Kosari is a James Beard Award-nominated creative producer in NYC. She has collaborated with leading publications and platforms including Bustle, Elite Daily, Bon Appétit, GQ, Hubspot, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. Follow Parisa on Instagram and learn more about her work here!

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Interested in personal training with Emma? Sign up for a free consult call and we'll go from there <3

Follow STARGIRL on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more!