We welcome Anne’s friend Karen Tong for a lively discussion of racism in Stoneybrook (but also there’s a band? And all the kids love Fiddler on the Roof?). Karen brings her fabulous experiences as a daughter of Vietnamese refugees and someone who worked for years on the Navajo reservation to bear on an examination of racists (exactly what kind of racists?) in Connecticut and the ways in which Claudia missed “white girl energy” with her Asian American story. It’s a great discussion– also, fuck Mrs. Lowell.

Generational wealth is the real star in this fun romp of a Super Special. When can we all go to Shadow Lake!?! Sam and Daniel are a little gross and Esme examines what they may be teaching young girls about what to expect of boys, Emily has some strong words for Kristy, and Anne is unimpressed, but amused.

Jessi works hard and is also amazing at a famously difficult sport–synchronized swimming! It’s basically ballet… in.. water.. yeah…? (No….) Esme discusses the research on grit and we learn how gritty Anne and Emily are. We also discuss the geopolitical implications of the Olympics… but don’t worry, Anne pulls us out of that hole with some fun ‘92 Olympic facts. Time for the jocks of Stoneybrook to shine! PS-Mallory sprains her ankle on purpose.

This one was actually harrowing! Jake Kuhn goes missing and thankfully, Kristy finds him (eventually). We talk about AMM’s good work in undermining the moral panic around abducted children, Bart Taylor and gendered toys, and SO MUCH JELL-O (thanks, Mary Anne). Also, two wonderful listener letters! Grab some Jell-O Jigglers (™) and enjoy!

After years of merely playing pretend horse, Mallory finally gets her chance to meet a REAL HORSE! Mallory convinces her parents to send her to riding lessons, but the rich kids aren’t so friendly and she nearly gets killed. Meanwhile back in human-land, Jessi is envious and Mal is oblivious as to why her BFF is acting so weird. Nevermind boy troubles, we’ve got horse troubles! Naturally we take a quiz to find out what kind of horse Emily is, discuss the role of “horse girls” in pop culture, and a psychiatrist is a dick about something girls like! Weird (not).

Kristy runs for president of SMS, so of course we had to have another political theorist join us! We chat with Danielle about her history with the BSC, her work on crying in the political sphere, and whether or not the Kishi sisters and Alan Gray predicted Cambridge Analytica. Was Kristy’s insomnia realistic? What is with the Jamie Newton bike subplot? And in perhaps the biggest betrayal of BSC Universe FACTS—WHY DIDN’T STACEY DEFEND MARY POPPINS?

Egg baby trope time! Stoneybrook Middle School makes students couple up in Modern Living class and gives them an egg baby to take care of. Of course, Mary Anne and Logan are egg-parents to little Sammie, and whew! It is EXHAUSTING. Ann M. Martin warns readers off of both parenting and men in this treatise on how much of a pain in the ass it is to take care of babies and why most fathers suck. Emily gives us some nuggets, Esme looks into the history and research on this “learning tool,” and Anne looks into it in pop culture (so many egg babies!).

Mallory’s family takes in Mr. Pike’s Uncle Joe and learns about dementia. It’s *very* well done and also a bummer. And what about the titular “ghost cat”? This mystery was never mysteriously solved! We want our money back. Luckily, Emily talks about artichokes and dykes on bikes for a long time and we get to imagine Mal and Jess pretending to be horses. As if things couldn’t get more weird, the Pike boys RAP.

Whoa, what? Already? IT’S OUR SECOND ANNIVERSARY !!! It’s been two years since we launched Stuck In Stoneybrook (while we were all Stuck In Our Homes). Developmentally that means we remain podcast toddlers and are steadly picking up new podcast skills, but still are wobbly and throw tantrums occasionally (“WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY @#$% MIC?!?”) Join us as we take a look back and answer listener questions. Come along on our journey.

Rick Chow! Rick Chow! In this Rick-Chow-Themed episode, we discuss Stacey’s growing distance from Laine and how adolescent friendship dissolve and survive, as well as a detour into queer theory and disinterest in “the child as innocent.” Meanwhile, Anne speculates which bands Laine is into and which Village loft parties she’ll sneak into. Why do you have to be such a B, Laine Cummings?