Stuck in Stoneybrook: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

We have another great guest! We are joined by playwright/writer Jeff Augustin, who knows a thing or two about being Black in New England. We discuss Ann M. Martin’s crusade for inclusion of all kids, the dangers of equating different types of oppression, and whether or not Jessi is… too perfect. Jeff is very into the chunky sweaters and does a little dance when we reveal that AMM is gay. Also, Esme and Anne try to convince Jeff and Emily that rat tails actually were very cool. (Seriously.)

You all will be shocked (shocked!), but Emily has some thoughts on pageants. Why do all the girls get so competitive and how is pageant coaching at all relevant to baby-sitting? Jeff finally sails back home to sunny Califooornia and Dawn and Sharon are crushed. Oh, and Anne gives us a history lesson on an asshole that stole a woman’s idea and made millions off of it: one Xavier Roberts. Listen up! Tell your friends!

HELLLLLLLLLLLLO, Mallory! Welcome aboard! Mal (and Jessi!) finally join the club, but boy, the members of the BSC sure don’t make it easy. We discuss racial identity development in Stoneybrook, the racist structures of 1988 and today, and the audacity of Mal’s whitesplaining of the concept of “soy sauce” to Claudia. Also, why do girls love horses? Who were the Wandering Frog People? And a theme song for “Whoops!” (finally).

Start spreadin’ the neeews—Stacey’s going back to the Big Apple! We discuss the effect of moving on kids and also the role personality plays in both moving and salespersonship, which leads Emily to lament their correlating of capitalism and intelligence in this book. Also, are the Pikes just acting out Cold War hysteria on their poor French neighbors? Lastly, Anne takes a deep deep dive on one of Stacey’s fantasy candies, root beer barrels.

IT’S THE FIRST SUPER SPECIAL! Truth be told—this was weirder than we remember and we decide that the Super Specials take place in some kind of BSC alternate reality. Emily/Dawn wasn’t feeling it, especially about how cruises are bad for the environment (like, horrible) and local economies. But, still—best friends, adventures, Disney World. Let’s allow ourselves to live in the fantasy, shall we? Cue the ship horn! And, P.S. The boys on this cruise are the worst.

Claudia’s an ARTIST, people. A real artist. The baby-sitters just don’t GET IT. At least ASHLEY WYETH does. We discuss ambition and work-as-identity and the way these things prop up the capitalist system. Is Ashley a revolutionary or a Sheryl Sandberg? Can a thirteen year old girl be a mansplainer? And why is Ashley’s prairiecore fashion sense such a problem?

You guys!!! This isn’t about snobs, it’s about LOUIE DYING. Sobsobsob. That said, we get to hear a lot about the weird attributes of high-end Stoneybrook homes, have some more strict gender binary attitudes for dogs, and Esme gets to explain negative reinforcement (trust us, it’s very exciting). Also, another listener gets to find out their BSC Big 5!

We have our first guest! We are joined by teen/kid novelist and political organizer Melissa Walker to discuss teen romance (both believable and not), because here comes Logan Bruno from “Luevulle”! From Logan being too confident to analyzing Mary Anne’s behavior as shyness or social anxiety, we ponder questionable adolescent behavior. And who exactly is Mary Anne’s favorite group, Smash, based on?

Whooooooooo… Heeeeeelp me… oh, hey! We didn’t see you there. Not much happens in this book, but we do dive into why people like getting scared and how it’s dangerous to conflate mentally ill people with crime and, apparently, ghosts. Also, Anne takes the DEEPEST dive into who Cam Geary was based on. You don’t want to miss it.

Follow Stacey on her romantic roller coaster from Scott the man lifeguard (depicted by cover artist Hodges Soileau as at least 37 years old) to Toby the “hilarious” 14 year old (“perfect!”). Mary Anne is pissed, and reasonably so. Also, more on what is the deal with those Pikes? Mother’s helpers v. parents’ helpers, and was Ann M. Martin trying to dismantle evolutionary psychology’s sexual preference hypotheses?