In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
iHeartPodcasts and The Meteor
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Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.
Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.
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Top 10 In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
The Secret Politics of High Heels
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
11/17/23 • 26 min
A recent Republican debate stirred up an age-old discussion about high heels: Who is allowed to wear them, how high they can be, and what they can tell us about gender politics in 2023. In this episode, Jess & Susie unravel the long history of high-heeled shoes (originally designed for men!) and how they’ve been used as a political insult and weapon.
FOR MORE:
- Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Those Stilettos (Jessica Bennett, The New York Times)
- Penis Politics, a podcast from The Waves (Slate)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Smells Like Teen Puberty
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
10/24/23 • 23 min
Can you understand U.S. cultural history without understanding Axe Body Spray? Listener, you cannot. In this mini-episode, Jess and Susie trace the scent that infiltrated school hallways and telegraphed wannabe masculinity for a generation of Y2K kids. Featuring a special appearance by Jess’s husband.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A Soap Opera Romance That Started With An Assault
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
09/21/23 • 44 min
What did a generation of young women—and men—learn about sex and relationships when the most iconic romance on TV’s most popular soap opera “General Hospital” began with a rape? Susie and Jess unravel the story of Luke and Laura, the beloved couple from the longest running soap of all time, whose wedding was such a huge cultural moment that it drew more viewers than an actual royal wedding (twice). CW: This episode contains discussion of sexual violence.
Guests:
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- Cindi Leive, co-founder of The Meteor, former editor-in-chief of Glamour and “General Hospital” superfan
- Danielle Thompson, our soap opera-obsessed pal who knows A LOT about the history of soaps
FOR MORE:
- Why Are College Kids in a Lather Over TV Soap Operas? (NYTimes)
- The Complex, Contradictory History of the American Soap Opera (Jezebel)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Vanessa Williams v Miss America: ‘I Won’t Let That Man Destroy Me’ (Pt 2)
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
05/03/24 • 34 min
She made history as the first Black Miss America, then dramatically lost her crown in a scandal that would see her branded as "the pageant's own Hester Prynn.” But Vanessa Williams did not just go away quietly, she fought back — going head to head with Penthouse, the magazine that published her photos, and the man who tricked her into taking them. In this episode, Jess and Susie chart the aftermath of that sordid episode, as well as Vanessa’s staggering comeback. Plus, Jess talks about the time she went to Miss America just a few years ago, reporting from inside the pageant, where a pageant “civil war” was brewing.
FOR MORE:
- Books: Looking for Miss America: A Pageant’s 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood, by Margot Mifflin, and There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America, by Amy Artsinger
- Articles: Goodbye, Swimsuit Competition. Hello, ‘Miss America 2.0.’ and Here’s What You Didn’t See on Miss America (both New York Times, both by Jess)
- Listen: Glamorous Trash, a Celebrity Book Club Podcast, in which Jess and Susie join host Chelsea Devantez to talk about Vanessa Williams’ memoir
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Pamela Anderson & That Iconic Red Swimsuit
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
09/29/23 • 40 min
When lifeguard CJ Parker, played by Pamela Anderson, ran in slow-mo down a sandy California beach in her iconic cherry red swimsuit — you know the one, low in the front, hiiiiiigh on the sides — she didn’t just turn “Baywatch” into the number-one TV show in America, she became the enduring symbol of 90s sexuality. In this episode, Jess and Susie trace that swimsuit’s surprising history — and its ripple effects.
Guests:
- Pamela Anderson, actor, activist and author
- Susan Douglas, professor of media studies at the University of Michigan and author of “Enlightened Sexism”
FOR MORE:
- Pamela Anderson Doesn’t Need Your Redemption. She’s Just Fine. (NY Times)
- How Baywatch Went from Early Belly Flop to the Big Screen (NY Times)
- Pamela: A Love Story (Netflix)
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Meet Your Hosts (Hi!)
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
09/21/23 • 27 min
Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett met a decade ago in a newsroom, and have gone on to hold some of the most prestigious jobs in journalism. But they’re also pop culture obsessives and trash-TV addicts who can spend hours going down any rabbit hole. They often unravel cultural moments together, over late-night phone calls and edibles. Now you get to listen, too. Time to meet your hosts (hi!).
FOR MORE:
- Enemies of the People: Trump and the Political Press (Susie’s film)
- Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace and This Is 18 (Jess’s books)
- Monica Lewinsky Is Back, But This Time It’s On Her Terms (NY Times)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When the ‘Good Girls’ Revolted
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
12/01/23 • 19 min
The men in the office called them “Dollies,” and they had had enough. In 1970, 46 women who were not allowed to be writers sued Newsweek magazine for gender discrimination – paving the way for generations of women journalists to follow. Jess reflects on discovering that story when she was a young staffer at Newsweek four decades later, and how it led to her first book, Feminist Fight Club, which was inspired by those women. Plus, Susie asks what’s changed for women reporters today.
FOR MORE:
- Are We There Yet? Forty Years Later, Revisiting a Landmark Sex Discrimination Suit (Jessica Bennett, Jesse Ellison and Sarah Ball, Newsweek, 2012)
- The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace (Book by Lynn Povich)
- Good Girls Revolt (Amazon TV series based on the book)
- Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace (Book by Jessica Bennett)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing: In Retrospect
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
09/14/23 • 1 min
Do you have a piece of pop culture from your past that, looking back, makes you cringe? We sure do. Each week on IN RETROSPECT, we’ll revisit a cultural moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped us — and probably you — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and our place in it.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oprah’s Little Red Wagon
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
10/06/23 • 43 min
In 1988, Oprah Winfrey revealed on her hugely popular talk show that she’d shed 67 pounds, which she illustrated to her audience by wheeling out a little red wagon full of exactly that much animal fat. That show, the highest-rated of her 25-year run, would kickstart a cycle of speculation about this wildly successful woman’s body that would endure for decades. In this episode, Susie and Jess explore why Oprah’s weight struggles have been the subject of so much fascination, her recent special that touches on that scrutiny, the rise of Ozempic and the pressure women feel to be perfect.
FOR MORE:
- Oprah Daily’s The State of Weight Special (Oprah Daily)
- Making Oprah podcast (WBEZ)
- From the Archives: Oprah Winfrey Cover Story (Vogue)
- Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age (New York Times Magazine)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Taught Us About Ambition
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
02/23/24 • 59 min
What did a generation of strivers learn about what it means to get ahead from “The Devil Wears Prada”? Was Miranda Priestly, the famed and famously demanding fashion editor at the center of the movie – in many ways the original “girlboss” – an aspirational or cautionary figure? In this episode, Susie and Jess revisit the blockbuster 2006 film and talk about their own careers and changing relationships to ambition.
GUEST:
- Samhita Mukhopadhyay, former executive editor at Teen Vogue and author of the upcoming book, The Myth of Making It
FOR MORE:
- The Devil Wears Prada Oral History (Entertainment Weekly)
- The Demise of the Girlboss (New York Magazine)
- The Girlboss Has Left the Building (The Atlantic)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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FAQ
How many episodes does In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett have?
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett currently has 43 episodes available.
What topics does In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture, Podcasts and Tv & Film.
What is the most popular episode on In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett?
The episode title 'The Secret Politics of High Heels' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett?
The average episode length on In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett is 36 minutes.
How often are episodes of In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett released?
Episodes of In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett?
The first episode of In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett was released on Sep 14, 2023.
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