Stuck in Stoneybrook: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

We are stumbling to the end of 2020 like all of you! At least we get a little detour to fancy summer camp! We talk about camp in culture, fake “Indian-ness,” and dangerous ideas about asylums and murderers. And oh! The heteronormativity! Guest appearance by a leaf blower. Happy New Year, Stoneybrookers!

What. The. Logan. We are all pretty disgusted with him, especially Emily (surprise!). Apparently beefing it in middle school baseball is all the rationale you need for being a jerk when your girlfriend’s kitten is MISSING. Luckily, Anne cheers us up with a top ten of famous cats.

Everyone, the dads in Stoneybrook SUUUUUUUUUUUCK and—surprise!—Emily has some thoughts about it! We dive into queer theory and Kristy’s question of “what makes a family?” as we meet Emily Michelle and discuss Anne’s affinity for all things carnival-related.

Three Californians discuss visiting their home state from the East Coast and wanting to go back. Oh, and Dawn is there in this book. This one is a fun romp into stereotypes of CA and what legitimately makes it great. Bring on the avocado and spider plants!

Jessi takes care of approximately one thousand animals and the BSC learns about democracy… or do they? We get another great Kristy apology, Anne teaches us about advertising, and we learn about her trypophobia (but it does NOT apply to candy). Also, we recover from our relief that our US election was finally called (in a non-fascist direction!).

Why doesn’t Linda Arnold notice that her identical twins are pissed? Thank goodness Mallory can come to the rescue! We discuss twin talk, piercings, and the now-dead teenage pastime of cruising the malls. Ah. The mall. We can practically smell the Mrs. Fields cookies—oh, and Wet Seal is right around the corner from the Hot Dog on a Stick. Page us when you get there!

Kristy sees cute boy. Bart is hot. They play softball. This is the level of discourse on this episode, so be forewarned. We discuss kids and sports, Title IX, and the fact that Gabbie Perkins is a TWO YEAR OLD playing softball. Honestly, though? We loved this one.

Poor Claudia gets stuck baby-sitting a practical joker and it turns out her pranks are decidedly NOT funny. (“Oh haha… YOU BROKE MY LEG.”) Anne and Emily grill Esme on what the F is up with Betsy Sobak. Are practical jokes inherently antisocial? Also, Anne relives a little of her golden age at ELLEgirl and we discuss both punk’d and Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. This book is weird, unless you like fake vomit and dribble glasses.

How dangerous was New York in 1988, really? We discuss failed federal and city policies that lead to the McGills needing to band together with their neighbors on the Upper West Side to solve the homelessness crisis on their own. Also, what factors predict healthier outcomes when young teens have bouts of friendship jealousy (looking at you, Laine and Claudia!). The Hard Rock Cafe WAS cool (much cool than rat tails), and we bring you another BSC Big Five!

Well, look who’s here—Cokie Mason finally shows up so she and Grace can fail the Bechdel test while the BSC is just trying to have a fun Halloween! Emily teaches us about the origins of the term “Tomboy” (spoiler: it’s bad news), we look at ancient psych research showing that people who are superstitious are basically defective, and it’s Halloween in Stoneybrook, so guess what? Anne has some thoughts on candy.