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Jan 17, 2025•10 min
Sweet Valley Diaries
After years of wide-eyed blogging about the surreal 1980s perfection of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High book series (and the surprising psychodrama that lurks below the town's perfectly-tanned surface), host Marissa Flaxbart is now forcing people to read the series with her.
But beyond its obsession with the ubiquitous-yet-obscure book series, SWEET VALLEY DIARIES is a podcast about nostalgia — '80s nostalgia in particular — and the ways this nostalgia can (spectacularly, hilariously) fail us. It's a riotous cultural conversation about which parts of the past we long for and which ones we want to leave behind for good. It's about friendship, honesty, and learning to speak your truth in the face of a boyfriend-stealing cheerleader or an evil triplet. It's all the life lessons you could ever hope to learn from two size-6, blonde-haired, aqua-eyed, identical 16-year-old twins. Strap in.
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Episodes
Extra Drama #82: A Legend of Readin'
A correction email about ROSA'S LIE and truly the most epically hyperbolic Reader of the Month winner to date! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jun 27, 2024•9 min
Book #82: KIDNAPPED BY THE CULT!
When there's an exclamation point in the name of the book, you know it's going to be a good one. But will KIDNAPPED BY THE CULT! ever deliver on the promise of its title? Find out with filmmaker Sam Wineman as he falls in love with every character in Sweet Valley and Marissa dreams up some new cult-themed merch. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Extra Drama #81: Becoming Rosalita
Christian Dueñas is back for more on Rose Jameson/Rosa Jimenez. We also imagine an all-boys Jesuit version of Sweet Valley High and read a particularly purple Reader of the Month letter. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jun 06, 2024•21 min
Book #81: ROSA'S LIE
Welp, Season 9 is starting with a bang. We've got another racism book on our hands. Thankfully, no one gets hurt this time (though a certain Nana Jimenez would probably be pretty darn hurt if she found out what her granddaughter did with her cake!). Christian Dueñas, host of the brand new music show PRIMER , is our guest and guide through this wild and barely-tolerable tale of Pi Beta Alpha and their newest pledge, Rose Jameson. Also Todd and Bruce are in a fight. Advertising Inquiries: https://...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 16 min
SUPER STAR: BRUCE'S STORY w/Jack & Tanner
Oh-h My-y God, we've got an EXTREMELY special episode at long last! As only the Super Star books can, BRUCE'S STORY brings you a ridiculous Sweet Valley Saga from the POV of one of its richest and least likable characters. Bruce Patman (or, if you prefer, "Pac-Man") sits at the center of this one, looking really dumb but in a way that's unsettlingly...endearing? Maybe? STRANGE BEDFELLOWS co-hosts and past chaos-agent guests Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring are back to help us see the real Bruc...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Mini Extra-Drama #80: Double the Sweetness
Don't forget about the Reader of the Month letter from book 80! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Dec 14, 2023•8 min
Episode #80: THE GIRL THEY BOTH LOVED
It's another mis-titled misadventure of random characters, and this time All Time Favorite guest Don Flaxbart is here to simultaneously despise the book and read deep into the twisted heart of its male lead. A thrilling, dirt-bike filled mega finale to Season 8 of Sweet Valley Diaries! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr 31 min
Extra #79: Maybe Elizabeth Isn't the Best Character Judge
Bryanna McGeough joins Marissa again and shares her criteria for choosing with Sweet Valley books to read and her personal tales of being an Elizabethan high school journalist. Plus, Reader of the Month for October 1991! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Nov 02, 2023•18 min
Book #79: THE LONG-LOST BROTHER
What could be worse than having a twin brother who stole a car? For Sarah Eastborne, the answer is: that twin brother getting clean, being released from his rehab facility, and coming to live with you. Social worker and BSC/SVH reader Briana McGeough joins us to discuss this book, which also shoehorns in some info about 12-step programs. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Extra Drama #78: Jackson's Funtime Fashions
Claire and Marissa explore the dreamworld of Jessica Wakefield. Plus, a particularly lyrical Reader of the Month essay. Come along, if you choose! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Oct 19, 2023•21 min
Book #78: THE DATING GAME
At long last, we will find out if Scott Trost is as sexist as he seems. Or, we'll at least find out if his TRUE self is sexist. Like, maybe society made him sexist? Or something? Todd will explain it to you, ladies. With special guest Claire Sharood! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 9 min
EED #77: Listener of the Month, July 1991
I got my hands on a US edition of CHEATING TO WIN, but it didn't arrive until after last week's extra drama came out. I'm between two short weekend trips, so please accept this dramatic reading as this week's little episode! Follow Sweet Valley Diaries on Instagram and TikTok Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...
Oct 05, 2023•6 min
Extra Drama #77: They Never Did Sweet Valley Babies
Guest Tabatha Myers tells us about her history with Sweet Valley; then, a close look at the copyright pages of a British edition of CHEATING TO WIN, and a call for ghostwriter intel. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Sep 28, 2023•15 min
Book #77: CHEATING TO WIN
The latest in our series of Very Special Episodes, this is the one about accidentally being on sports enhancing drugs some shady dude sold you in a baggie. Lifelong SVH reader Tabatha Myers joins Marissa to get super serious on this very serious and seriously handled subject. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Extra Drama #76: Yo!
Let's rap about the ethical implications of beauty pageants! Plus, the second Reader of the Month wants to make sure you know she doesn't LOOK like a bookworm. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Book #76: MISS TEEN SWEET VALLEY
In this book, Jessica asks Elizabeth how being named the prettiest, smartest, and most talented can be demeaning. And she has a point. Kind of. In a book that is both frivolous and substantive, and which is unafraid to let a gray area issue be solidly gray, we find identical twins once again at odds. Denise Boylan joins Marissa to laugh at them. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Extra Drama #75: Amy Regulation Disorder
More excuses for Amy's behavior, tips for how to look like you're paying attention, and the first ever SVH Reader of the Month! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Aug 31, 2023•24 min
Book #75: AMY'S TRUE LOVE
"Tennis" anyone? Marissa is joined this week by Brian Duss for a Very Special Episode. Why so special? For starters, we learn Amy Sutton has some hidden depth of character. But mostly it's because we're getting some **sound trumpets** explicitly gay characters! Alas, "explicit" only in one sense of the word. But still. *** Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Extra Drama #74: Why We're Like This
Mary Kate and Marissa share stories from middle and high school and beyond about the effects of diet culture, generational baggage around eating and weight, and trying not to perpetuate a cycle. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Aug 17, 2023•22 min
Book #74: THE PERFECT GIRL
Only the very best of friends agrees to read the Robin books. This week, Marissa's BFF since high school, Mary Kate Battles, is back for more punishment as we watch Robin destroy herself. Fully 70 books after her maltreatment in POWER PLAY, this one attempts to atone for that sin, but fails at every turn, because it's 1991. CW: Eating disorder, body shaming, weight talk. Oh my. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Aug 10, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Catch Up With: ROBIN WILSON (and Book 46: DECISIONS Replay)
Episode 74 has been delayed by a week, so this seemed like a great time to try something new! Marissa catches you up on a character's arc over the series. In this case, Robin Wilson, whose first appearance in Book 4 made a thud so resounding that it's echoed through the entire series. Robin is the star of Book 74, so why not get up to speed by listening to her most recent star turn, in Book 46: DECISIONS, which is replayed following Marissa's dissertation on Robin. Advertising Inquiries: https:/...
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 19 min
Extra Drama #73: I Don't Know If This Was Handled Well
As our first Gen Z guest, Phoebe explains the concept of "Warrior Cats" to Marissa. Also, how is Sweet Valley High like the Duggar Family? What's Jessica really up to? And more questions Marissa's guests can't stop asking her/answering for her. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jul 27, 2023•20 min
Book #73: REGINA'S LEGACY
It's a camera. Regina's legacy is a Nikon film camera. And when you take a photo with the camera, and squint at the negatives just so, maybe you'll see Regina's ghost giving you a thumbs up for thwarting a drug cartel. Phoebe Danaher is here to help Marissa explain all this, and to spotlight our scary, older, date-of-the-month, Chad! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Extra Drama #72: Two Cool Cats, Not Interested in Drama
All of the name-dropping, none of the star-fucking Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr
Book #72: ROCK STAR'S GIRL
Sometimes when a rock star has a teen girl living in his house it's actually not an issue. How is this possible? Well, the teens of Sweet Valley might have it twisted, but Gabe Mara and Marissa will explain it all. Some music in this episode comes from Purple Planet . " Toumani Diabate Plays the Kora " Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Extra Drama #71: How to Make Jessica Wakefield Famous
Is being famous really so great? What IS Eric Parker's talk show? Can one night on television launch a whole career in entertainment? These are the kinds of questions Jessica Wakefield should have been asking, but instead Marissa and actual professional actor Alex Jennings are asking on her behalf. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jun 29, 2023•19 min
Book #71: STARRING JESSICA!
Don't let the apparent middle-agedness of the cover model fool you -- that's 16-year-old Jessica Wakefield all dolled up for her star turn on the Eric Parker's national evening talk show. Or, at least it's one of those Wakefield girls. Actor Alex Jennings (THE GOLDBERGS) returns (#7: DEAR SISTER was her last appearance) to talk all this out. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 14
Extra Drama #70: Emotional Hostage Situation
Jordan Crucchiola is back, and she gets a dose of the Feeling Seen treatment as Marissa asks what Sweet Valley High student she felt most seen by. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Mar 23, 2023•13 min
Book #70: MS. QUARTERBACK
Today's esteemed guest, is Jordan Crucchiola is the host or co-host of several podcasts -- AUGHTSTERION , DISASTER GIRLS , and of course, the one that Marissa produces, FEELING SEEN ! And she's the perfect person to discuss this tale of Claire Middleton, the girl who would be quarterback. Will Ken Matthews's head be turned (now that he can see again)? Is a supposedly nice girl who does shitty things more dangerous than an out-and-out Jessica? These questions and more are addressed in this long-a...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min
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