Listen To Sassy: Life In The 90s
From 1988-1994, Sassy was the coolest magazine going for Gen-X teens. Celebrate that golden time by joining Tara Ariano, Pamela Ribon and David T. Cole for a deep dive into every one of its 80 glorious issues and remember what it was like hanging out with Jane, Christina, Catherine, Karen, and the whole crew, learning What Now, What Next, and so much more!
Episodes
It’s nearly the holidays as this issue reaches readers, so a few things are on their minds: how to dress for a festive party; what to wear UNDER those outfits; which fragrances will be most enticing; and, of course, which pieces to purchase if they’re going full Heidicore. Outside the features, we’ve got questions about the Designer Imposters business model, which lockers an “organizer” in a frac...
The time has come to discuss cover boy Jason Priestley, then just a few months into Season 2 of Beverly Hills, 90210. And since we have access to an expert — Sarah D. Bunting, Tara’s co-host on the once-upon-a-time Beverly Hills, 90210 podcast Again With This (though we’ve since gone on to run out of those and move on to Melrose Place, Dawson’s Creek, and very soon Felicity) and co-writer of A Very Spe...
The next U.S. presidential election is a year away, so why not start thinking about candidates outside typical power structures — maybe the first female president could be Lynda Barry! Or Queen Latifah! Or Cindy Crawford even! Then again, if this month’s What He Said is anything to go by, the (good) guys Sassy talks to would TOTALLY vote for a woman but don’t think other hypothetical (bad) guys would, so: be...
You might think that the October 1991 quiz, "Are You Relationship-Ready?," would be a cinch for your three married co-hosts, two of whom are married to each other. ...Actually, if you've been listening for a while, you might not think that at all. After sharing our range of results, it's on to your latest calls about everything from how bad Neill sucks to whether Sheila Heti should count her days. Finally, we look back on "Pr...
The one thing everyone knows about modeling is that they want you to be tall. Nancy Brensson, one of the cover models for December's reader-produced issue, thinks she should still give it a shot at 5'6". How does it go? Spoiler: pretty much how you'd expect. (Sorry!) Height does keep coming up, though, from 5'11" Janet in an all-Sassy fashion/beauty staff editorial spread to a 5'1" Zits And Stuff letter writer/aspiring basket...
After being so excited in the October 1991 Teen Life episode that the Ian Svenonius era was over, HERE HE IS AGAIN in What Now, along with stories on Wig Out, Brad Pitt, and Bulgarian wedding music. Your co-hosts are bitterly divided on the films of Mike Leigh, but come back together on Mary's Danish. Did One To Watch live up to his designation? Was Mike's report on his time as an extra in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare s...
Can you maintain a close relationship with your best friends from high school? What's it like to have a port wine birthmark? How many guys say they've been cheated on? And…what's up with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? One of these things is obviously not like the others, which is why we leave it to you to discover rather than wading into the quagmire ourselves. But! We also tell you about Mike Clark, the adorab...
Are you school-phobic? Given that most of our listeners who regularly get near a school are probably students' parents or teachers, we...hope not? But we mentally traveled back in time to take Sassy's September 1991 quiz, "Are You School-Phobic?," to rate ourselves from our high school days. Then it's time to listen to your latest calls: you're listening to Good Hang, taking your kids to swim meets, mixing up VERY similar wor...
From our current place in world history, we know that Dirt -- the Sassy offshoot targeted at Sassy readers' boyfriends, brothers, and friends from the skate park -- had a brief but interesting run. But in September 1991, Dirt was just a dream that required a preview issue as proof of concept, and it came to Sassy readers along with that month's issue of its parent magazine. Is it obvious that this publication is going anywher...
The staff of Sassy is probably hoping you already finished your back-to-school shopping, because this month's fashion editorials are not their most inspired. You can wear French-y stripes or bone and beige shades straight out of the Spiegel catalogue, or possibly destroy a skirt to make yourself some fringe. If you're feeling bold, you can sneak into a tattoo studio or piercing pagoda. But maybe your style icon is alleged hig...
The pop culture Sassy covers in the September issue includes some venerable names: Prince, Duran Duran, Violent Femmes. But there are some thrilling new ones, too. All the women who work in the music industry that Christina profiles, getting readers hyped about how to get jobs like theirs. Reese Witherspoon, a mere 14 years old in her breakout movie, The Man In The Moon! All the Commitments from The Commitments! And, probably...
Tara needs to thank the scissor-happy Sassy reader who sold her the podcast's original copy of the September 1991 issue, because if not for the missing pages (full and partial), we would never have had to acquire another copy of the same issue and find out there were TWO VERSIONS of the cover -- one lipsticked and glossy, one nude-lipped and matte! Stand by as Pam uses her angles to try to get the inside story. While you wait...
How health-conscious are we, according to Sassy's August 1991 quiz? Quite, as long as you have no follow-up questions! After sharing our results (and complaints) about that, it's on to your calls on subjects including (but not limited to) Nad's, dry brushing, Little House On The Prairie, Hypercolor t-shirts, Gantt charts, Kevin Coogan -- and, of course, Christmas piles, because 'tis always the season. Grab some vegetables or ...
We know this issue landed in mid- to late July, but can it ever be too early to start thinking about your back-to-school wardrobe? Sassy invites you to imagine yourself as a Coco Chanel knockoff, an intimidatingly cool biker chick, or a face and a couple of limbs with monochromatic garments laid on top of you. (It'll make sense when you see it.) You can also learn about eye makeup, hair brushes, kilts, and what kind of time J...
The August 1991 issue has a few pop culture topics to go deep on. Guns 'N Roses gets covered with a What Now concert review AND a review of Danny Sugerman's very pretentious-sounding book about them in the brand-new column Read It (though probably don't; it only earns one pip as the month's book bomb). Paula Abdul gets a bomb review of her new album Spellbound AND name-checked as "Paula Abdrool" in the Keanu Reeves/Alex Winte...
August 1991 is the thickest issue we've had in quite a while, but those extra pages were not set aside for Teen Life topics -- in fact, there isn't even a fiction story! There are, however, Kim's try-out for American Gladiators, Christina's musings on long-distance boyfriend pros and cons, a What He Said on breast size, a quick trip over a bridge (or through a tunnel) to Brooklyn for On The Road, and more. Even the bummer fea...
We're just back from a nearly two-month break. We took two VERY confrontational quizzes ("Are You A News Moron?" and "Are You An Annoyance?"). We...barely remember how to do this, so please enjoy a basically unedited stream of thought conversation on wedgies, Margaret Thatcher, Antarctica, huffing in an unventilated garage, and much much more!
QUICK LINKS
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our webs...
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