Stuck in Stoneybrook: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

We are on the road with the Spier-Schafers! Sharon and Richard are not equipped and Esme tells us why. Emily wonders what this book (with clear Boston Tourism spon con) would be like if it was written now with, um, ANY acknowledgement of non-white people. And Anne had a whole pack of nuggets! It’s a 20 piece! Listen in and say a prayer for Marshall Gaines, family photographer.

Is this book is about crime? It is not. It’s about NYC glamour! It’s about dancing! It’s about the Palm Court and Zabar’s! Emily and Anne have lots of nuggets, and Esme makes them take a Dating Questionnaire for their eleven year old selves. Also, are any actors good? Emily is suspicious. Tune in and find out!

Emily’s mom (and Esme’s sister) is in town just in time for the publication of this banger by the mysterious Margot Becker R. We discuss Dayna’s boomer childhood compared to Ann’s boomer childhood, plus what we think was left out of the story when Scholastic pushed this to market in 1993 (and why Dayna’s current students that love the BSC wouldn’t love this book). Hard work gets you everywhere, pe...

Have we mentioned lately that we think Claudia has ADHD? In this book we learn that she doesn’t have dyslexia, but Shea Rodowsky does. Of course, this is an opportunity for Esme to talk about validation and dialectics, Emily to talk about fictional and proposed “fashion czars/tsars,” and Anne to have a nugget fest, from Whoopee cushions to Jordan Catalano! Join us, won’t you?

This book is not kind to kids in the foster system! But is it on purpose, to help us relate? Or is it just crap? We discuss Lou McNally’s genderqueer presentation and the dangers of equating that with her trauma. Also, a riveting BSC Big 5!!!

Jessi is helping teach a class for underprivileged children… and her classmate Mary develops an eating disorder. In this Very Special Episode of the Baby-sitters Club we learn a LOT, especially because we are helped along by our friend Dr. Sasha Gorrell! Sasha is (incredibly) a former professional ballerina and a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating disorders. She helps us tease out the...

Jessi is helping teach a class for underprivileged children… and her classmate Mary develops an eating disorder. In this Very Special Episode of the Baby-sitters Club we learn a LOT, especially because we are helped along by our friend Dr. Sasha Gorrell! Sasha is (incredibly) a former professional ballerina and a clinical psychologist who specializes in eating disorders. She helps us tease out the...

Mary Anne decides to get a normal haircut in order to continue to be herself (as Emily points out, not a makeover!) and everyone loses their mind while Carolyn Arnold tries to build a time machine. WILL SHE SUCCEED? Will Dawn and Kristy manage their emotions? Does Esme try to justify all of their behavior by again reminding Anne and Emily that they’re all 13 year old children? Listen and find out!...

We met Donny on Instagram and could tell immediately that he was the kind of *STAR* we needed to discuss SS9, “Starring the Baby-sitters Club!” We learn about Donny’s antics on Instagram, TikTok, and Elon Musk’s Twitter while we discuss just how racist and sexist “Peter Pan” is, how good theater is for teenagers (according to theater teachers: VERY GOOD), and delve a little into what choices high...

Surprise! Here’s a lil’ sumpin’ extra for the holidays! “Hot Takes” are Patreon-exclusive episodes where Emily, Anne, and Esme give their silly/thought-provoking/random thoughts into various pop culture gems. So here’s a sneak peak and, if you want more, become a Patron! Link is in our bio. In this particular “Hot Take,” we relive one of Emily's favorite childhood books: “The Box Car Children,” wh...

Mal solves the “mystery” on page 9 and everyone ignores her. JANINE IS GETTING SOME. That’s the plot of this book. We discuss feminist theories about makeovers, good sister/bad sister, and explore some late 1992 trends and music. Did Esme cry in this book? You’ll have to listen to find out! Just kidding—of course she did. That’s not a mystery. At all.

Moment of appreciation for Hodges Soileau’s artistic commitment to that one boy’s haircut.

Shocker of the year, Maureen and Ed McGill aren’t parenting. Again. Is the Stoneybrook kids collective mania for mail-order a prelude to the MLM surge of the early aughts? Is Margo Pike actually HYSTERICAL? Also we reminisce about Deep Thoughts and the time we could buy 8 CDs for a penny. PS-Stacey, stop making choices!

We recorded this one on Emily’s birthday– what a perfect time to discuss individual-centered actions for the Earth, rather than holding businesses accountable? We discuss how bad Dawn is at convincing people of things, whether or not she’s a Bernie Bro, and just how effed we are as a species. Oh, but then Anne whisks us away to malls in the early nineties and the soothing sounds of The Nature Comp...

Mary Anne discovers that she lived with her grandparents in Iowa for a year after her mother died… why has no one ever told her!?!? Esme talks about Richard’s grief and why and how he would have made the decisions she did. Anne talks about switchel, Sassy, and WHO IS GARY ROCKMAN? Emily? Well, you’ll have to listen to hear what Emily thinks.

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 Clau...

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...

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...

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 Un...

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. Emil...

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 Pi...

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 questi...

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?