Stuck in Stoneybrook: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast
Episodes
Mallory On Strike: “You Old Tightwad!”
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is this a strike? Find out Emily’s take along with a brief history of the labor movement in Connecticut. There are lots of puppets in this book, and...
Mary Anne Misses Logan: “Purina Boy Chow”
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Logan is back, so is Cokie Mason, but there are OTHER monsters to be discussed! Esme breaks down worry, exposure, and kids’ monster fears, whereas E...
Kristy and the Baby Parade: “Barbie—Dress—Dancing!”
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Babies in costumes. Infant care classes. And, duh, lots of baby-sitting. We’ve got babies up the wazoo, folks! (At least some dads are taking care o...
Portrait Collection: Malia Baker
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We were honored to have activist and actress Malia Baker join Emily and Esme in the “studio” (ok fine, Esme’s closet, Emily’s office, and a ra...
Portrait Collection: Shay Rudolph
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our parade of AMAZING guests continues with Stacey McGill herself, Shay Rudolph! Shay and Esme chatted between all of her tres cool actor commitment...
Portrait Collection: Momona Tamada
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
People! It’s Mo-freaking-mona Ta-freaking-mada!!! We know!! We are also freaking out! No surprise she was a darn delight. We discussed the responsib...
Portrait Collection: Naia Cucukov & Lucy Kitada
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our series of super duper cool interviews this week with executive producers Naia Cucukov and Lucy Kitada of the Baby-Sitters Club on Netf...
Portrait Collection: Rachel Shukert
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stoneybrookers!!! This! Is! Not! A! Drill! We are honored and excited to present our interview with Rachel Shukert, executive producer and Showrunner ...
Mystery 1 - Stacey and the Missing Ring: “Accident at the Perfume Factory”
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the first mystery! Is there a new client ? Is the client rich but still nice but also weird? Does Stacey need a diamond? Yes, yes, and… quest...
BONUS! Netflix Season 2: “Concerningly Aggressive”
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Baby-sitters Club on Netflix Season 2, Stoneybrookers! You KNOW that we binged the whole thing on Monday! This is a freeform episode describing our in...
SS6 New York, New York!: “Field Mice in Deep Trouble” (ft. Michele Fletcher!)
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
START SPREADING THE NEWS…. It’s the guest you’ve all been waiting for! Our childhood friend Michele Fletcher, Sacramento’s answer to Stacey Mc...
Dawn and the Big Sleepover: “Over-boiled broccoli” (ft. Jody from The Blume Saloon!)
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are so excited to welcome Jody Worthington, of The Blume Saloon (a Judy Blume Book Club!) to discuss Book 44 with us! The kids at Stoneybrook Eleme...
Stacey’s Emergency: “Grand Sparkle-Glitter Hotel”
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s finally here! Stacey’s brittle diabetes breakdown, foreshadowed in so many books, comes to a head. Also, the McGills are being TERRIBLE. We d...
Jessi and the Dance School Phantom: “Mega-dog”
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More mysterious things are happening in Stoneybrook and something is out to sabotage Jessi’s starring role in Sleeping Beauty! But it’s not the sp...
Mary Anne vs. Logan: “I HATE THAT BABY!”
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
THE TIME HAS COME FOR LOGAN’S COMEUPPANCE. Okay. So it wasn’t THAT dramatic, but Mary Anne dumps Logan! A mix of emotions washes over Emily—is s...
Claudia and the Middle School Mystery: “Norcon want eyeball.”
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Annnnnd we’re back with another Ellen Miles mystery and a new popular girl nemesis, Shawna Riverson (Cokie Mason, who?). Poor Claudia gets caught “...
SS5 California Girls! “A Dibbly Fresh Pillow Fight” (ft. Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks)
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are happy to be joined by guests Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks, the editors of the fantastic new anthology We are the Baby-sitters Club! We dish ...
Poor Mallory: “What’s ‘dessatoot?’”
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mallory is newly “poor” and the mean girls of Stoneybrook aren’t having it. Emily teaches us some important stuff about the welfare state (or th...
ANNIVERSARY SUPER SPECIAL: “Are you crying? ”
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been ONE YEAR since our debut Stuck in Stoneybrook episode! You guys have stuck—see what we did there?—with us through arguably one of the ...
Kristy’s Mystery Admirer: “Barbie’s Head Fell Off”
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Breaking news: Bart is still hot! (Should we make this shirt?) We really enjoyed discussing this one—we delve into Cokie Mason’s mean girl motivat...
Dawn and the Older Boy: “You really know a lot about football” (ft. Kate Schatz!)
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by the author and activist Kate Schatz to try to make heads or tails of this completely bizarre and molto problematic book. Topics inclu...
Bonus EP! SiS x Blume Saloon: “Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself”
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hey y'all! Anne & Esme joined Jody & Alison on the Blume Saloon this past week! We both voraciously consumed Judy Blume back in the day (at basically ...
Jessi’s Babysitter: “Aunt Dictator”
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jessi’s gets her legwarmers in a twist over the new Ramsey Family caregiver, Aunt Cecilia Dictator. Emily just has two “tiny” topics to cover: d...
SS4 Baby-sitters’ Island Adventure: “And some Ring-Dings!”
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dawn crumbles, Claudia excels, Anne relates, Jeff saves the day. Also we discuss what is and isn’t believable, fun little gender asides, which candy...
Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook: “Even spirits like junk food”
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ronald Hennessey, wherefore art thou? We continue our series on indigenous erasure in Stoneybrook, as Emily links our love of property ownership with ...
Mary Anne and Too Many Boys: “Crabs for Grabs”
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Not enough boys” is more like it! Emily rants about public pools, Esme revels in Sea City, and Anne has a thing or two to say about Mary Anne’s...
Claudia and the Great Search: “Hoshikawa or Hoshino”
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Janine wins her “ten millionth award” and Claudia concludes she must be adopted! Esme loves this as a metaphor for adolescent identity development...
Kristy and the Secret of Susan: “What’s up? Mento?” (ft. Dr. Whitney Ence!)
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome special guest, child clinical psychologist and autism expert, Dr. Whitney Ence, to help us unravel the “Secret of Susan.” Learn some ba...
Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister: “What soreheads!”
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Am I awesome or do I suck?” Emily has an identity crisis this episode as she discovers what a B Dawn is to her new family. We discuss the researc...
Mary Anne and the Great Romance: “Tofu jiggles”
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sharon and Richard are finally tying the knot! Mary Anne’s feelings are complicated. Is she being her sensitive introvert self, or is she slut-shami...
SS3 Baby-sitters’ Winter Vacation: “Dang Doozy!”
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Anne is annoying. Kristy gets too competitive. Dawn gets super bummed. Mallory is a bad spy. Jessi learns a “lesson.” And Stacey and Claudia ...
See You Next Week!
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In a perfect world, we’d be drinking Arnold Palmers out of reusable straws while reading BSC books in preparation for our weekly recording. HOWEVERR...
Mallory and the Mystery Diary: “Oh right. Ships.”
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A hundred year old diary!? Sign us up! Mal is also on the case, with help from Madame Kristin and Buddy Barrett. We also discuss the People’s Court,...
Welcome Back, Stacey!: “Twenty-four hours to absorb the shock” (ft. Robin Benway!)
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are dibbly stoked to again welcome a special guest, novelist Robin Benway! We discuss writing, diabetes representation, and the McGills’ divorce,...
Jessi and the Superbrat: “Miss Pedagogue”
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This book was BORING, and we don’t even have Anne to bring the fun. Esme and Emily do their best to punch it up and understand the “plots” of th...
Claudia and the Sad Good-bye: “Vampire!” (ft. Sue Ding!)
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are very excited to welcome special guest Sue Ding, creator of the fabulous documentary The Claudia Kishi Club! It’s a bummer of a book, of cours...
SS2 Babysitters’ Summer Vacation: “Lake Dukakis”
17 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We are stumbling to the end of 2020 like all of you! At least we get a little detour to fancy summer camp! We talk about camp in culture, fake “Indi...
Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger: “I’ll go get the torches”
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What. The. Logan. We are all pretty disgusted with him, especially Emily (surprise!). Apparently beefing it in middle school baseball is all the ratio...
Kristy and the Mother’s Day Surprise: “Your epidermis is showing”
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone, the dads in Stoneybrook SUUUUUUUUUUUCK and—surprise!—Emily has some thoughts about it! We dive into queer theory and Kristy’s question...
Dawn on the Coast: “CAT HAT RAT FAT CLAIRE”
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Three Californians discuss visiting their home state from the East Coast and wanting to go back. Oh, and Dawn is there in this book. This one is a fun...
Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter: “My backside is my best side”
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Jessi takes care of approximately one thousand animals and the BSC learns about democracy… or do they? We get another great Kristy apology, Anne tea...
Mallory and the Trouble With Twins: “Der blum tiding poffer-tot.”
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why doesn’t Linda Arnold notice that her identical twins are pissed? Thank goodness Mallory can come to the rescue! We discuss twin talk, piercings,...
Kristy and the Walking Disaster: “Left field is boring!”
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kristy sees cute boy. Bart is hot. They play softball. This is the level of discourse on this episode, so be forewarned. We discuss kids and sports, T...
Claudia and the Bad Joke: “Autographs are dumb”
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Poor Claudia gets stuck baby-sitting a practical joker and it turns out her pranks are decidedly NOT funny. (“Oh haha… YOU BROKE MY LEG.”) Anne ...
Stacey’s Mistake: “Fill-it mig-nun”
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How dangerous was New York in 1988, really? We discuss failed federal and city policies that lead to the McGills needing to band together with their n...
Mary Anne’s Bad-Luck Mystery: “Evil powermaster”
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Well, look who’s here—Cokie Mason finally shows up so she and Grace can fail the Bechdel test while the BSC is just trying to have a fun Halloween...
Jessi’s Secret Language: “The Polanski sisters” (ft. Jeff Augustin!)
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have another great guest! We are joined by playwright/writer Jeff Augustin, who knows a thing or two about being Black in New England. We discuss A...
Little Miss Stoneybrook… and Dawn: “Probably the banana trick”
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You all will be shocked (shocked!), but Emily has some thoughts on pageants. Why do all the girls get so competitive and how is pageant coaching at al...
Hello, Mallory: “Ms. Junk Food Junkie”
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HELLLLLLLLLLLLO, Mallory! Welcome aboard! Mal (and Jessi!) finally join the club, but boy, the members of the BSC sure don’t make it easy. We discus...
Goodbye Stacey, Goodbye: “Bigludium exforbinated”
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Start spreadin’ the neeews—Stacey’s going back to the Big Apple! We discuss the effect of moving on kids and also the role personality plays in ...
SS1 Baby-sitters on Board: “Get real, you baby-sitters”
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
IT’S THE FIRST SUPER SPECIAL! Truth be told—this was weirder than we remember and we decide that the Super Specials take place in some kind of BSC...
Claudia and the New Girl: “Club of fools”
03 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia’s an ARTIST, people. A real artist. The baby-sitters just don’t GET IT. At least ASHLEY WYETH does. We discuss ambition and work-as-ident...
Kristy and the Snobs: “Nah-nah and a boo-boo”
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You guys!!! This isn’t about snobs, it’s about LOUIE DYING. Sobsobsob. That said, we get to hear a lot about the weird attributes of high-end Ston...
Logan Likes Mary Anne: “Let’s kill this cake” (ft. Melissa Walker!)
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have our first guest! We are joined by teen/kid novelist and political organizer Melissa Walker to discuss teen romance (both believable and not), ...
The Ghost at Dawn’s House: “Havee a fuh-fow”
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Whooooooooo… Heeeeeelp me… oh, hey! We didn’t see you there. Not much happens in this book, but we do dive into why people like getting scared a...
Boy-Crazy Stacey: “Gurber Garden”
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Follow Stacey on her romantic roller coaster from Scott the man lifeguard (depicted by cover artist Hodges Soileau as at least 37 years old) to Toby t...
Claudia and Mean Janine: “Monster smock”
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We all get hit with all the feels in the episode. Love Mimi. Love Janine. Love sisters. Hate transphobia about Louie the collie—let him (Or her? Or ...
Kristy’s Big Day: “Don’t make me look like a horned owl.”
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We attempt to resolve one of the great contradictions of Esme’s life: hating make-up and other feminizing societal constraints and also being obsess...
Dawn and the Impossible Three: “Bonsai!”
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Emily cries a lot because her childhood memory of herself as Dawn is even more accurate than expected. Oh, the emotional labor! We are fired up about ...
Mary Anne Saves the Day: “The shattered eggman”
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Braids and penny loafers begone! Mary Anne steps up and out in her debut. Has her dad’s sexual frustration been contributing to her imprisonment? Ma...
Bonus Episode: “Netflix’s Great Idea.”
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We were all three dehydrated from happy tears after watching nearly five hours of the Netflix "Baby-sitters Club" series. Here’s what we thought abo...
The Truth About Stacey: “Dirty businesswomen”
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bad girls and good girls—pitting us against each other just lets the men win, ladies. Fad doctors, intrigue, stealing Charlie and Sam Thomas’s cas...
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls: “No frontsies. No backsies."
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In which Emily defends the Phantom Phone Caller and demands his freedom, we unpack whether or not boys really do tease girls they like (and if they sh...
Kristy’s Great Idea: “Sheep are IN.”
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s ease back into Stoneybrook as we try to figure out why Jamie Newton’s cousin hates girls so much, which wealth signifiers are most relevant ...
The Prologue
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Who are we? Why should you care? And what fresh takes can we bring to the child care champions of Western Connecticut? Join a pop culture writer, a fe...