Stuck in Stoneybrook: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

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 co...

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 thoug...

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, Esm...

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!...

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 so...

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...

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? Cu...

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 prefere...

We all get hit with all the feels in the episode. Love Mimi. Love Janine. Love sisters. Hate transphobia about Louie the collie—let him (Or her? Or them?) be! Also, we create a “BSC Big Five” personality assessment to help a listener figure out which baby-sitter(s) she is, and Anne goes on a both a long junk food rant (of course) and into a fanfic wormhole (more Janine… and Charlie Thomas! Steamy!...

We attempt to resolve one of the great contradictions of Esme’s life: hating make-up and other feminizing societal constraints and also being obsessed with weddings: Em blames Kristy. So many questions abound in this episode: How heteronormative *IS* this book? Why does Watson have three toaster ovens? Also is Stacey’s mom… Stacy’s Mom?

Emily cries a lot because her childhood memory of herself as Dawn is even more accurate than expected. Oh, the emotional labor! We are fired up about a lot of things in this episode, including the white washing of 1700s Connecticut and class wars in Stoneybrook (spoiler: they’re between rich white people). And hey, was Dawn hinting at global climate change, or just being a Californian?

Braids and penny loafers begone! Mary Anne steps up and out in her debut. Has her dad’s sexual frustration been contributing to her imprisonment? Maybe, but it’s probably just the patriarchy, flourishing like it does best: in Reagan-era suburban Connecticut. Anne blames Claudia for the pettiness, and Dawn finally shows up. 

We were all three dehydrated from happy tears after watching nearly five hours of the Netflix "Baby-sitters Club" series. Here’s what we thought about it all. Spoilers abound! Not a spoiler: we frickin’ LOVED IT.

Bad girls and good girls—pitting us against each other just lets the men win, ladies. Fad doctors, intrigue, stealing Charlie and Sam Thomas’s cassette tapes, and the complex emotions of one Kristin Amanda Thomas. Stacey’s debut is a freaking delight. But white chocolate? Why?!?

In which Emily defends the Phantom Phone Caller and demands his freedom, we unpack whether or not boys really do tease girls they like (and if they should), and Anne leans on both her professional training as a writer and her Japanese heritage to write Claudia a haiku as Trevor Sandborne. 

Let’s ease back into Stoneybrook as we try to figure out why Jamie Newton’s cousin hates girls so much, which wealth signifiers are most relevant (fondue?), and which mid-eighties bands the baby-sitters would be fans of.

Who are we? Why should you care? And what fresh takes can we bring to the child care champions of Western Connecticut? Join a pop culture writer, a feminist political theorist, and an adolescent clinical psychologist as they discover what only their adult eyes can see in 1980s Stoneybrook. Also, two of us have been best friends for 35 years and two of us are related.