This week we’re joined by the writer Vanessa Lily Chung to (finally!!) tackle Anne Hathaway, an unassailable Stargirl whose Dream / Threat has always been totally vague but universally felt. We explore our own girlhood memories young Anne (Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted, The Devil Wears Prada) and the latent “makeover” dream therein, reflect on the near-decade of #Hathahate, trace her comeback in the last few years via her fashion and beauty renaissance, and speculate on the major 2026 she’s about to have with TDWP II, Mother Mary, The Odessey, and more. Plus: Vanessa’s fascinating racial misidentification with Anne as a young woman, Anne’s obsession with playing “sick girls,” the psychology of the default brunette, and the Threat of plainness. 

Vanessa Lily Chung is a writer from Brooklyn. Her criticism has appeared in The Baffler, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Henry James Review. Follow her on IG or email her at [email protected].

*Emma’s opening a few more personal training spots for Winter 2026. If you’re interested in learning more, book a free consult call here!

Discussed:

• Performances mentioned: Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted, Brokeback Mountain, The Devil Wears Prada, Rachel Getting Married, Love and Other Drugs, Get Smart, Bride Wars, The Dark Knight Rises, One Day, Les Mis, Interstellar, The Intern, Ocean’s 8, Eileen, The Idea of You, Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada II, The Odessey, Verity

• #Hathahate archive in The Cut (!!)

• Anne at the 2008 Oscars

• Anne in pink Prada fake nipplegate moment

• Anne in Les Mis Fantine vibes…

• People Magazine cover July 2008: “The Princess and the Con Man”

• Lip Sync Battle: Anne Hathaway “Wrecking Ball” (2015)

• Anne on Mark Maron (2017)

• Anne at Cannes 2022 (internet-breaking)

• Anne in Interview Mag (2022)

• Anne and Emily Blunt Variety Actors on Actors (2024)

• Anne recent Vogue profile (2025)

• Mother Mary preview (2026)
  STARGIRL episode on Bianca Giaever (2023)

Happy New Year everyone! We’re back with the next episode of The Body Series, a client testimonial with my dream personal training client Miss Andrea! She shares her experience turning to strength training after a decade of the group fitness churn, the long-term, sustainable way she’s approaching body recomp in preparation for her wedding (!!!), why real consistency (+ accountability) has 10-xed her results, and the confidence she’s gained by leveling up the way she treats herself. I adore Andrea and am so excited to share her light with you all! <3

This episode is for: 2026 brides, Type A babes who tend to go ham and burn out, ex-athletes who want to reconnect to their adolescent identity, women who don’t yet feel comfortable in the gym, and anyone who’s feeling called to glow the heck up….

Interested in personal training? Sign up for a free consult call to learn about how I work and see if it's a fit <3

This week, I share my observations on the dominant cultural patterns of Fall 2025, most of which can be traced back to the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) craze sweeping through New York and hot girl Internet circles (think: breakfast soup, seasonality, heightened Lunar awareness, lymph and fascia care, etc.). Also discussed: the grifter energy of the online healer community, leaning into political grayness with health-related interests/intuition, some recent mainstream criticism of GLP-1s and SSRIs, and reflections/intentions after my birthday last week <3

Links:

• Alix Earle on DWTS (Maleficent, Maneater/Sports Car Mashup)

• Emily Gates on TikTok

• Ballerina Farm addresses criticism for the first time (to my knowledge?)

• Sigh Swoon Ayahuasca Recap Video

• ALP Sponsors Red Scare after Dasha gets dropped from her agency

• Getty Museum Twelve Days of Medieval Illuminations exhibit

• TCM on TikTok

• “How the Right Coopted Psychedelics" Justin Smith-Ruiu in GQ

• “The MAHA-Fueled Rise of Natural Family Planning” Caroline Kitchener in NYT

  “More Teens are Taking Antidepressants. It Could Disrupt Their Sex Lives for Years” Daniel Bergner in NYT

This week we’re joined by Dr. Aumatma Simmons, a naturopathic doctor and double board-certified endocrinologist, and the founder of the Holistic Fertility Institute and Madre Fertility. Dr. Aumatma shares her journey from conventional to naturopathic medicine, research that complicates the prevailing myth of mid-30s fertility dropoff, her views on traditional intervention models (egg freezing, IVF, etc.), simple things that people can do to support their fertility (read: Vitality), and why she views fertility as the optimal lens through which to assess health

Lily Sperry is a writer and brand consultant. She runs the newsletter Health Gossip.

In this magical episode, we discuss the origins of her project, the larger esoteric fairy-girl moment we’re living through, and why creation is the ultimate antidote to ennui. Plus, Lily shares her definition of “health” as maintaining a “clear channel,” and we reflect on the benefits of not centering our days around consumption, why New York can feel hostile to femininity, and the connection between femininity and fertility. Thank you Lily for your wisdom and grace! 

Links:

• Health Gossip on Substack

• @health.gossip on Instagram

• Lily on Instagram

*Full episode on Patreon*

Checking in after a busy fall season... in this month's letter, I reflect on the current biggest sources of meaning in my life (work, creative partnership, my marriage, dance, and spirituality), voice my desire to be a formal student again, get nostalgic for the first time I encountered D'Angelo, and keep the good vibes going after the STARGIRL party last week. Sending love XOXO!

This week we welcome the writer Marisa Meltzer back to STARGIRL to discuss her new book It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin (out this week!). We discuss the myth of Jane Birkin and Marisa’s project to animate her beyond a 2D moodboard figure, and use Jane as a vessel to revisit classic STARGIRL conversations such as Artist vs. Muse, Narrative Control, and Nature vs. Artifice. We discuss Jane’s lifelong Lolita energy, character as a mother, natural aging process, and comfortability as a vessel for others’ creative and sexual projections.

Plus, I reflect on seeing Addison live after 5+ years of indulging my fixation in my imagination, give my take on the various Showgirl vibes in culture right now, and answer the elephant in the room: Is Jane Birkin a Stargirl or an It Girl?

Discussed:

• It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin, Marisa Meltzer (2025)

• Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Life of Emily Weiss’s Glossier, Marisa Meltzer (2023)

• STARGIRL episode on Emily Weiss with Marisa (2023)

• “Do the right thing Addison Rae…” @_artsartsarts on X

• “Addison Rae Wants More Than Virality” Alex Hawgood, W Mag (2025)

• Alix Earle on DWTS (so good!)

• “Margaret Qualley Manifested This Cover Story” Willa Bennett Cosmopolitan (2025)

• The Power Notebooks, Katie Roiphe (2020)

*Full episode on Patreon*

Occasioned by her recent return to Outdoor Voices, this week we go long on Ty Haney. We examine Ty’s original mission to separate exercise from performance (and how that was internalized as a “demand” to “play”), revisit the tired, left-of-basic criticism that fitness is classist, catch up on Ty’s various Futurist ventures in her time away from OV, and analyze OV’s attempt to stay relevant as sportswear fashion trends evolve. Plus, urgent conversations such as: Is Ty’s Web3 Cowgirl vibe landing? Does fangirling over Elon Musk in 2025 need to *mean anything*? Why is my cultural imagination surrounding Austin, TX circa 2016 so vivid?

Mentioned:

• STARGIRL episode with Lauren Gerrie - a must-listen for the soul <3

• “Ty Haney is Back at Outdoor Voices” Brooke LaMantia, The Cut (2025)

• “Ty Haney Is Back at Outdoor Voices, this time with a new collection” Cara Salpini, Retail Dive (2025)

• Ty on Pia’s Pod podcast (2025)

• “Ourdoor Voices Founder Ty Haney Has Moved On. Mostly” Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz The Cut (2023)

• “My Week with Ty Haney’s CBD for Workouts” (review of Joggy) Dominique Pariso, The Strategist (2023)

• TYB on Instagram

• “Ty Haney is Elon Musk’s Reply Guy” @grandeillusion on Substack (2025)

• “Casting Resilience: Entrepreneur Ty Haney’s Advice for Leaders? Go Fishing” Jessica Militare, Forbes (2025)

• “The New Exercise Boom and the Woman Who Saw It Coming”, Suzy Weiss, The Free Press (2025)

• “What Should We Call Athleisure Now?” Vanessa Friedman, NYT (2025)

• 
  “You’re a Boomer if You Wear Leggings: The Rise of Big Workout Pants” Rory Satran, WSJ (2025)

• NikeSKIMS (and overview of criticism it’s received)

Welcome Lauren Gerrie, a true downtown icon and "The Body Series" embodied ;) Lauren is the co-founder of MOVES dance class, a culinary artist (and formerly Marc Jacobs’ personal chef), a figure model, and so much more. Today she shares her wisdom: how dance helps us to re-inhabit sensuality and freedom, why being in tune with your cravings > following “food rules” and trends, why expensive convenience is not your best life, and the importance of rituals that elate and unify. Above all, Lauren is a joy seeker: living proof of all things vital and wild. <3

Follow Lauren on Instagram and learn more about her work

Subscribe to the STARGIRL Patreon

The scroll always stops for Miss Victoria Paris! In this Feel Good episode, we explore Victoria Paris’ explosion onto the cultural consciousness and how she became the playbook of how to blow up on TikTok. We reminisce about her early content (inventive workout GRWMs, death by Stairmaster, Suede Brooks, her obsession with her “low ass,” etc.), trace her style and lifestyle evolution, examine the backlash over her spending, weight loss, and 24/7 approach to streaming, and fawn over her cute ass girlfriend Nico <3 Plus: the expectations of NYC vs. LA influencers, why Sabrina Carpenter is not a Stargirl, and why I legitimately get depressed every time a creator I adore leaves New York… LOVE YOU VP thanks for always keeping the Glint alive <333

Book a free consult call to learn more about personal training with me & join the waitlist!

• “Sabrina Carpenter Is Glad You Like Her Sexual Content” Mel Ottenberg in Interview

• Sydney Sweeney original STARGIRL episode

• “Victoria Paris Wants to Big Brother Her Life” Emily Sundberg (!!) in Interview (2021)

• “Chasing Boys with TikTok Princess Victoria Paris” Brock Colyar in The Cut (2021)

• Victoria on Avery Woods’ podcast (2025)

• TenFour jewelry 

• Victoria Paris “What I would wear to work if I was a flight attendant” (pause on facial expression when she wheels in the suitcase) 

• “It Must Be Nice to Be a West Village Girl” Brock Colyar in The Cut (2025)
  Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (2021)