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October 1, 2025 89 mins
For decades, Dear Abby and Ann Landers were the undisputed queens of advice columns. They had millions of loyal readers. They were celebrated public figures. Their columns stood out for being sassy, sharp, and at times, shockingly progressive. But, behind the scenes, the twin sisters had a contentious, competitive relationship.

In this episode, we set the scene for the women they would one day become.

Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from:
The book “Dear Ann, Deary Abby: The Unauthorized Biography of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren” by Jan Pottker and Bob Speziale
“Twin lovelorn advisers torn asunder by success,” by Paul O’Neil for Life Magazine
The book, “The Best of Ann Landers: Her Favorite Letters of All Time,” by Ann Landers
The book, “The Best of Dear Abby,” by Abigail Van Buren
“Pauline Phillips, better known as ‘Dear Abby,’ dies at 94,” Washington Post
“Ann Landers, advice giver to the millions, is dead at 83,” by Margalit Fox for the New York Times
“The rivalry of Dear Abby and Ann Landers,” by Melissa Baron for BookRiot.com
“Landers’ death renews family feud,” South Florida Sun Sentinel
“Pauline Phillips, longtime Dear Abby advice dies at 94,” by Michael Martinez for CNN
“Columnists/ daughters carry on the feud,” by Beverly Beyette for the Los Angeles Times
“Competition between Iowa sisters who penned Dear Abby, Ann Landers fueled advice columns,” Des Moines Register

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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
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