The Podcast At Dawn's House

Stacey invites the gang up to the big city to answer that age-old question: what if illegal daycare, but in New York? Everyone (except Kristy, surprisingly!) is terrible, Ann M. Martin teaches us the true meaning of New York, and we explain the concept of the Harmonicaverse. You're welcome. (If you don't speak German, we're sorry for rambling in German, and if you do speak German, we're even more...

Mary Anne gets a chain letter and there's mass hysteria! Kristy is her worst self yet again, Cokie and Grace make their long-awaited debut, and we spend a lot of time talking about the extremely weird 1942 movie Cat People . On today's agenda: an urgent PSA about mustard seeds; more unrealistic prank expectations; our many grievances against Wordsworth Classics; the intricacies of sea snake hygien...

Jessi's babysitting Matt Braddock! There's some problematic representation and insufficient wacky hijinks! We learn some outdated stuff about sign language, and invent the greatest ballet of all time. Today's agenda includes: the mandatory ballet teacher accent; we dredge up horrifying memories of rat tails; somebody finally speaks out about the scourge of Fake Geology Girls; testing some highly s...

The kids of Stoneybrook are doing a beauty pageant and the babysitters are wildly overinvested in it! Meanwhile, we decide which contemporary Irish literary icons we have grudges against (spoiler: it's most of them). Today's agenda includes: a deep dive into traditional joke formats; period-accurate Wild Mountain Thyme fashions; JUSTICE FOR SABRINA BOUVIER; more root vegetable chat; things that ma...

Mallory joins the BSC! And then promptly unjoins due to a heated disagreement over soy products. Also, we meet Jessi, and the random background characters of Stoneybrook turn out to be suuuuuper racist.   Today's agenda includes: things that are well-intended but clumsily executed; popular misspellings of the word 'hamster'; anatomy of the divestive, uh, digestive system; wholesome father–son bond...

Stacey's gonna move away, and then she moves away. The Pikes are wildly xenophobic because it's the Cold War. Also, there is a yard sale! Today's agenda includes: requiem for a Look; Claudia desperately tries to stir up romantic drama for others; our long-awaited editorial stance on Minute Maid; the loathesomeness of the general public; Alison Ritz must die; how bad are roaches, really?; ceremonia...

HEY GUYS it's time for another episode of our Sweet Valley High podcast which has definitely always been a podcast about Sweet Valley High! Roger's mother has literally just died, but more importantly, he's had a makeover, and Jessica's on the prowl. Also Elizabeth and Todd are stalking Regina because they have no chill. And we DEFINITELY know who all these characters are! Today in Eyes And Ears:...

The babysitters are on a cruise for tenuous reasons! Karen Brewer lives her best life, Claudia has another questionable romance, and Kristy is... extremely Kristy. Meanwhile we try to reminisce about the teen discos of our youth, but it turns out only Karen was actually cool enough to go to discos, and she says they were terrible anyway.   Today's agenda includes: what a chasuble is; we finally se...

There's a new girl! Claudia is OBSESSED and the other girls are UNIMPRESSED. This book mostly confused the hell out of us as kids, but can we decipher everyone's motivations with our adult wisdom and extensive knowledge of slash fiction? Today's agenda includes: some VERY pretentious discussion of fire hydrants; Tennessee Williams, founding father and famous jerk; Aoife's brother learns some valua...

It's Christmukkah in Stoneybrook, and things are getting *mysterious*! Mallory and Jessi rescue a pregnant lady with amnesia, Kristy and Abby have a Christmas-themed burglar to contend with, and Claudia and Stacey nearly get straight-up murdered. It's an emotional rollercoaster. Today's agenda includes: Stoneybrook Noir; New York is Bad; Stacey causes the financial crisis; what Jews eat for breakf...

Kristy's new neighbours are insufferable assholes and we hate them. Also there's some very sad stuff about her dog dying but mainly get a load of how insufferable these assholes are!!! Today's agenda includes: psychological manipulation techniques with Stacey; Amanda Delaney, vulgarity consultant; the 2020 crying allowance; an in-depth analysis of German pop monstrosities; emergency booze dogs; Ka...

OMG, Logan likes Mary Anne! Mary Anne mainly likes Cam Geary, but Logan will do. Meanwhile, Kristy makes a pact with a demon, and Claudia nearly says bra strap .   Today's agenda includes: get a boyfriend at 13 with this one weird trick; the history of Blu-Tac; how to pronounce Louisville; Little Orphan Annie and her terrifying eyes; Junior Leverage; everyone dies of embarrassment repeatedly; an e...

There's a ghost, and you'll never guess whose house it's at! Also the Pike triplets are the actual worst, Claire has an industrial shampoo accident, Dawn's mom is single and ready to mingle, and Mary Anne's stanning Cam Geary.   Today's agenda includes: the mystical origins of this podcast; Karen's haunted holiday house; SECRET TUNNELLLLL; sensible precautions for time travel; Esther valiantly tri...

It's Halloween, and we're celebrating the only way we know how: by recapping the first BSC Super Mystery, Babysitters' Haunted House! It turns out haunted mansions in Maine aren't nearly as scary as half-assed plotting, obnoxious characterisation, and a ghostwriter who didn't do the background reading, like, at all . Where's Cthulhu when you need him?   Today's agenda includes: the best job in pub...

Stacey's in love! Or in luv, at least. Will she manage to get the shift? Or will Mary Anne leave her in a shallow grave? And will we die of secondhand embarrassment along the way?     Today's agenda includes: '80s hunk naming rules; what millionaires eat; the romantic potential and sheer physical danger of the céilí scene; THE MAGIC ROAD IS REAL YOU GUYS; Mary Anne giving the best eulogy ever; dir...

Alien versus Predator. Rocky versus Creed. Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus. These are some of the great legendary conflicts of our age. But now it's time for what is undisputably the greatest showdown of all: KAREN BREWER VS JENNY PREZZIOSO. Also, Mimi's not feeling too good, Jamie Newton's learned to weaponise juice, and the Babysitters Club had so much fun in the last book running an illegal day...

Kristy's mom is going to get married, and then she gets married. The girls of the Babysitters' Club respond the only way they know how: by opening an unlicensed daycare. We talk all things wedding-related: etiquette, fashion, frozen canapés, and swarms of wasps.   Today's agenda includes: the optimal number of toaster ovens, aspic towers, BABIES INTENSIFY, Nannie's high-speed knitting secret, repe...

In which Dawn babysits the Barretts and ends up having to do a ton of unpaid emotional labour and also unpaid normal labour. There's also a halfhearted child abduction, a weird amount of barbecue product placement, and the earth-shattering revelation that you can buy potato salad at the supermarket. Today's agenda includes: ill-informed speculation about what bologna is; mildly distressing Richard...

In which the girls have a fight, Mary Anne unleashes a lifetime's worth of anger through passive-aggressive notes and Machiavellian mind games, her dad comes perilously close to experiencing an actual human emotion, Jenny Prezzioso doesn't feel too good, and we finally meet Dawn. Morbidda Destiny curses the podcast from thirty years ago and a different plane of reality, which is pretty impressive...

Stacey's got diabetes, and her parents have gone off the fucking DEEP END. Stoneybrook is infiltrated by CIA agents posing as teen babysitters, and the girls of the BSC get a hasty education in corporate espionage. Meanwhile, Aoife tries to cook sweet potatoes, with very limited success. This episode is brought to you by Big Paediatric Endocrinology. In this episode: we take a series of brave edit...

In which there's a very minor crime wave in another town altogether, and the girls of the BSC overreact WILDLY. Esther and Karen peer-pressure Aoife into joining TikTok. Today's agenda includes: journalistic standards at the Stoneybrook News; the oft-overlooked Ghostbusters-themed thrash metal boom of the late 1980s; alternative business ideas for teens; why sometimes you just have to put up with...

In which Kristy starts a babysitting club and is more or less instantly successful, give or take some puppy-related hijinks. We start a podcast, and instantly realise we're in over our heads. Today's agenda includes: that special time in a tween girl's life when she starts noticing boys (or not) and more importantly launches a small business; why Janine Kishi is excruciatingly relatable; the rival...