Desperately Seeking the '80s: NY Edition

Desperately Seeking the '80s: NY Edition

Revisit the crime and culture of NYC in the '80s with BFF Gen-Xers Jessica and Meg.

Episodes

March 24, 2026 56 mins

Meg revisits the optimistic early days of Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince’s musical Merrily We Roll Along. Jessica investigates the origins of the apocryphal ad “it was better than Cats, better than E.T." 

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Meg introduces the queen of the clitoris, Shere Hite, and her rough ride in gender politics. Jessica tells of New York’s quest to get federal funding by raising the drinking age to 21 and effectively shuttering small rock 'n roll clubs.

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March 10, 2026 36 mins

Meg and Jessica discuss The CBGB Conspiracy by Gabriel Rotello, a twisting and turning whodunnit set in the East Village in 1977. Written with meticulous detail about the people, places, and intrigues of the day.

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March 3, 2026 39 mins

Meg tells of Bill Zanker’s disastrous marketing scheme to promote The Learning Annex. Jessica ponders how Merrily We Roll Along went from flop to runaway hit forty years later.

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February 24, 2026 55 mins

Meg discovers an NYC beach culture she never knew and Peter Stein, the David Hasselhoff of Far Rockaway. Jessica goes behind the velvet rope at Studio 54’s last glorious night.

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February 17, 2026 56 mins

Meg investigates the stunning killing of Exeter graduate Edmund Perry on Morningside Drive. Jessica goes deep on the urban myth of Richard Gere and an unucky gerbil.

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February 10, 2026 50 mins

Meg and Jessica rewatch 1984’s iconic mermaid romp Splash: a fairytale that examines true love and demands a major suspension of disbelief. We recommend! 5 stars.

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February 3, 2026 32 mins

Meg tells Jessica about the rise and fall of Pee Wee Herman: the avant-garde art scene, Paul Rubens' uncompromising artistic vision, and the Wild West world of Saturday morning cartoons.

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January 27, 2026 51 mins

Meg looks into the controversy over Garry Gross’ photographs of a nude ten year old Brooke Shields. Jessica has harsh words for the juvenile justice system’s response to the War on Drugs.

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M...

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January 20, 2026 49 mins

Meg tells of how Joseph Porto and his lawyer Barry Slotnick defended his murder of Kathleen Holland. Jessica introduces artist/No Wave innovator Klaus Nomi who inspired Bowie, Hedwig and more.

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January 13, 2026 34 mins

Meg and Jessica school each other on wintry New York ghosts that haunt The Palace Theatre and The Ear Inn, plus fun facts about the bird population of Central Park, Bob Dylan's Greenwich Village, and the very first murder in New York.

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January 6, 2026 48 mins

Meg uncovers how Larry Kramer and Rudy Giuliani made strange bedfellows in their attempts to besmirch Ed Koch. Jessica goes deep on how The Kitchen art collective used the Staten Island Ferry to spread the Hip Hop revolution.

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December 16, 2025 27 mins

Meg and Jessica school each other on Page Six greatness including snippets about the Sutton Place Christmas tree wars, Saul Steinberg's epic 50th birthday bash, Leona Helmsley's bizarre exercise habits, and the most macabre field trip New York had to offer.

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December 9, 2025 42 mins

Meg tells the tale of mob lawyer Barry Slotnik who found himself on the wrong side of a baseball bat. Jessica discovers how the Hell’s Kitchen Westies funneled millions out of the U.S.S. Intrepid Museum.

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December 2, 2025 35 mins

Meg and Jessica school each other on Michael Kors, the origin of The Big Apple, pigeon pee, John Lennon’s alien sighting, prison ferries, the Harlem tiger, the rules of dodge ball, and West Side Cowboys.

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November 18, 2025 50 mins

Meg dives into The Killing Fields of East New York by Stacy Horn and uncovers the roots of the downfall of a Brooklyn neighborhood. Jessica tells of the time the moral majority and radical feminists got in bed together to legislate against porn.

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November 11, 2025 57 mins

Meg revisits Christina Crawford’s Mommie Dearest, the first of many “tell-all memoirs exposing the rough childhoods of Old Hollywood’s nepo babies. Jessica gets the skinny on Gloria Swanson’s appearance at the New School and why the venue was just as ready for its close-up as its guest.

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November 4, 2025 45 mins

Meg meets up with Donna Kaz and her friend Tara who survived working swing shifts waiting tables at The Saloon, the massive bistro near Lincoln Center which featured roller skating staff, abusive bosses, and occasional Baryshnikov sightings.

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October 28, 2025 44 mins

Meg and Jessica watch Nicolas Cage chew the scenery in this 1988 cult bloody comedy that has less to do with “real” vampires and more to do with the horrors of loneliness and male entitlement.

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October 21, 2025 7 mins

Meg invites Brian Dennis to read his photo essay about his traumatic encounter with Richard Dupont, the notorious grifter who got even with Roy Cohn.

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Love,
Meg and Jessica

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Mark as Played

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