Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up, with Margaret Wappler

In this episode, Erin and Elizabeth talk with Margaret Wappler, author of A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry And How a Generation Grew Up, which was excerpted in Vanity Fair. The "Bad Boy" refers to Luke Perry's character on Beverly Hills 90210, Dylan McKay, a Gen-X James Dean with a tender heart. A Good Bad Boy is a dual biography of Luke Perry and Margaret as a teenager mourning her father's death.

Margaret regales us with tales of Luke's heroism, like defending Tori Spelling from her abusive boyfriend and waking Jason Priestly from a coma. We also discuss the art of the masculine identity drag show that is the WWE, which Luke admired and his son proudly performs in under the names "Jungle Boy" and "Scapegoat." Luke Perry was a good man, an acclaimed dad, and a mensch in an industry known for its hubris. We salute him this Father's Day month, five years after his loss.