36 episodes

Meeting people from Teen People magazine. Where are they now?

Teen People Anna Soper

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 5 Ratings

Meeting people from Teen People magazine. Where are they now?

    Celebrating 50 Oscar Nights with TCM host Dave Karger

    Celebrating 50 Oscar Nights with TCM host Dave Karger

    TCM host Dave Karger joins me to speak about his new book, 50 OSCAR NIGHTS! Featuring Dave's original interviews with Hollywood legends like Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Martin Scorsese, 50 OSCAR NIGHTS is the perfect gift for cinephiles.

    Dave started his career as an entertainment journalist, writing for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, and freelancing for TEEN PEOPLE. He spoke with me about interviewing Britney Spears and LFO, as well as his favourite Academy Awards moments!

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    Podcast notes:

    Thanks to Running Press for sending me a copy of Dave's book! Buy it here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dave-karger/50-oscar-nights/9780762486328/?lens=running-press

    Find me on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod
    And online at www.annasoper.ca

    Music and sounds:

    The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on Pixabay

    Spirit Blossom by RomanBelov on Pixabay

    Poor, But Happy by HoliznaCC0 CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
    Public Domain Dedication creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

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    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 30 min
    Part II: Sarah Ditum on Britney, Paris, Amy, Aaliyah, Jen, Lindsay, and Chyna

    Part II: Sarah Ditum on Britney, Paris, Amy, Aaliyah, Jen, Lindsay, and Chyna

    In part two of a two-part interview, I speak with Sarah Ditum about her new book, TOXIC. It’s a scathing reexamination of the lives of nine female celebrities: Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Kim Kardashian, Chyna, and Jennifer Aniston. Each experienced some form of global fame, as well as the consequences that come with too much attention.

    In this episode, Sarah and I leaf through my collection of TEEN PEOPLE magazines! You'll hear her hot takes on how TEEN PEOPLE covered Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Aaliyah, Jennifer Aniston, and Lindsay Lohan. Plus: Sarah's thoughts on a topic she's been thinking about (and writing about) for some time.

    Part I: https://soundcloud.com/teenpeoplepod/sarah-ditum-toxic

    Notes:

    Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod.

    Find Sarah online on Twitter and Instagram at sarahditum.

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    Buy Sarah's book! Here's how:

    UK: www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/sarah-d…9780349727134/

    North America: www.abramsbooks.com/product/toxic_9781419763113/

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    Author photo: Paul Clarke

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    Additional thanks: Stephanie Palumbo at Canadian Manda Group, Toronto

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    Music:

    Drop It by Coma-Media on Pixabay
    Fighter [No Vocals] - punk rock by 22941069 on Pixabay

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    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 39 min
    Part I: Sarah Ditum on the 2000s: "Relentlessly anti-sisterhood"

    Part I: Sarah Ditum on the 2000s: "Relentlessly anti-sisterhood"

    In part one of a two-part interview, I speak with Sarah Ditum about her new book, TOXIC. It’s a scathing reexamination of the lives of nine female celebrities: Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Kim Kardashian, Chyna, and Jennifer Aniston. Each experienced some form of global fame, as well as the consequences that come with too much attention.

    In TOXIC, Sarah writes, "…tearing these women to pieces was both a social activity and a form of divination. In the entrails of their reputations, we hunted for clues about what a woman ought to be…"

    We talk: teen magazines, blogs, promise rings, sex tapes, and Britney Spears' "cult of virginity", celebrity memoirs, Justin Timberlake's homemade shotgun, why Taylor Swift reminds me of Avril Lavigne, and what Donald Trump owes to WWE.

    Part II: https://soundcloud.com/teenpeoplepod/sarah-ditum-toxic-teen-people

    Notes:

    Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod.

    Find Sarah online on Twitter and Instagram at sarahditum.

    ................

    Buy Sarah's book! Here's how:

    UK: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/sarah-ditum/toxic/9780349727134/

    North America: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/toxic_9781419763113/

    ................

    Author photo: Paul Clarke

    ................

    Additional thanks: Stephanie Palumbo at Canadian Manda Group, Toronto

    ................

    Sounds and music:

    The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on Pixabay
    Drop It by Coma-Media on Pixabay
    Fighter [No Vocals] - punk rock by 22941069 on Pixabay

    ................

    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 1 hr 16 min
    "I'm writing the book I needed": storytelling with poet-historian Resi Ibañez

    "I'm writing the book I needed": storytelling with poet-historian Resi Ibañez

    Resi Ibañez is a poet, public historian, and community organizer in Lowell, Massachusetts. We connected on Instagram, when they sent me a DM asking if I could track down a TEEN PEOPLE article they remembered reading in the mid-2000s.

    With a few keywords and a rough idea of the timing, I searched a periodicals database I use to find guests for this podcast. I found three possible articles for Resi, and it turns out that one of these three is probably the article they remembered reading as a teenager!

    The article is an "it-happened-to-me" kind of story; a staple of the teen magazine genre. It featured a teenager who had come out to her friends and family. For a few reasons (which we explore in this interview), the article resonated with Resi.

    Resi is now working on a book-length project about LGBTQ icons of their young adult years. We spoke about this project and how the TEEN PEOPLE article influenced them, and also about their mother's powerful legacy.

    Podcast notes:

    Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod.

    ................

    Sounds and music:

    The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on Pixabay
    Spirit Blossom by RomanBelov on Pixabay

    ................

    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 36 min
    James Frankie Thomas on his homoerotic, post-9/11 campus novel, IDLEWILD

    James Frankie Thomas on his homoerotic, post-9/11 campus novel, IDLEWILD

    As a teen, James Frankie Thomas modelled a prom dress and smooch-proof makeup in a 2004 issue of TEEN PEOPLE magazine. Now, he's the author of a compelling novel, IDLEWILD, published by The Overlook Press.

    James spoke with me about crafting this novel at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and how he navigated the highs and lows of getting a book into the world. Plus: find out why James jokes that he and Elliot Page are like "two ships in the night", and why it's hard to read (and write) about big events like 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Podcast notes:

    James' book list:

    The Family Chao, by Lan Samantha Chang
    Eighty-sixed, by David B. Feinberg (not to be confused with 86'd, by Dan Fante)
    A Dream of a Woman, by Casey Plett
    Detransition, Baby, by Torrey Peters
    Darryl, by Jackie Ess
    Nevada, by Imogen Binnie
    I'm Supposed to Protect You from All This: A Memoir, by Nadja Spiegelman
    All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews
    This Other Eden, by Paul Harding
    Pageboy: A Memoir, by Elliot Page

    Music:

    Franz Joseph Haydn, 'The Heavens Are Telling' (The Creation), St. Matthew's Choir, 2010. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

    Frédéric Chopin, ‘Berceuse Op. 57’, Christine Hartley-Troskie. CC BY 2.5 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5), via Wikimedia Commons.

    Hear my first interview with James: www.soundcloud.com/teenpeoplepod/frankie

    Thanks to Stephanie Palumbo, Christian Westermann, and Andrew Gibeley at Abrams Books for sending me a review copy of IDLEWILD and securing permissions to excerpt IDLEWILD in this episode! Buy IDLEWILD here: www.abramsbooks.com/product/idlewil…_9781419769146/.

    Like this episode? Please leave a rating or review!

    Find James on Twitter at james_f_thomas and online at www.jamesfrankiethomas.com.
    Find me on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod and online at www.annasoper.ca.

    Advocacy resources related to banned and challenged books from the American Library Association and Ontario Library Association:

    www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
    www.freedomtoread.ca

    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 1 hr 13 min
    Nadia Ahmad on climate justice, abolition, and being in Teen People magazine

    Nadia Ahmad on climate justice, abolition, and being in Teen People magazine

    When Teen People magazine sent Nadia Ahmad on a shopping spree in 1998, she didn't feel cool enough to model makeup! Plus, she had just started wearing a hijab, and the 18-year-old wasn't sure how to reconcile her femininity within the norms of a teen magazine.

    Today, Nadia is an Associate Professor of Law at Barry University in Florida. She completed her law degree at the University of Florida; where she served as executive editor of the Florida Journal of International Law, and wrote about women’s property rights in post-partition South Asia.

    You’ll hear about her shopping trip in this episode and, of course, what she’s up to now, 25 years later.

    Time stamps:

    00:01 Random fighter jet flyby

    05:45 "I remember growing up and hearing the sound of the newspaper hit the driveway, and being really excited..."

    07:56 "I felt I wasn't cool enough to write about makeup!"

    10:04 Nadia describes her shopping spree for Teen People, where she bought products from Lancôme, Kiehl's and The Body Shop.

    12:30 "You'll find more Muslim women in the malls than you will in the mosque."

    16:31 Nadia began to wear a hijab to honour her grandmother

    17:50 - 23:18 Hijab as a political symbol; a "contra-modern" form of feminism

    27:20 Working as a freelance journalist

    28:34 Nadia shifts from journalism to law

    30:33 Nadia's Berkeley landlord was Lakireddy Bali Reddy, who was later convicted of human trafficking and sex offences

    35:02 Nadia was interviewed for a news program but YouTubers called her out for *checks notes* wearing lipstick during her interview

    36:08 Meghan and Harry's NYC car chase and whether Meghan was *checks notes* smiling in the paparazzi photos

    38:06 The idea of going to school and teaching is so simple: but it's both contested and sad, and Nadia feels like she has to build armour to get through

    38:29 "It would be very hard for me to even exist in certain places of the world"

    39:00 Straight to the Comments podcast trailer

    40:16 Kudos to podcast maven Arielle Nissenblatt

    40:22 We talk about Nadia's PhD research on climate change and environmental racism, especially in relation to the recent Canadian wildfires and US Southwest heatwaves

    43:47 Nadia wrote about 21 Savage and his immigration detention

    45:46 Nadia is critical of the American Bar Association and their stance on mass incarceration

    48:50 Nadia speaks about prison abolition

    50:10 "My kids don't even know about 9/11"

    51:13 Zayn from One Direction normalized "Muslimness" for Gen Z

    52:33 Nadia reflects on the role her grandmother played in her life

    54:33 What advice would Nadia give her teenage self today?

    Podcast notes:

    Nadia is friends with a previous guest, Amar Shah, who also appeared in the same Teen People feature. Make sure you listen to his episode, too! And have a listen to my interview with Alisha Fernandez Miranda, who met Amar on the Teen People News Team.

    Find me on Twitter and Instagram [at]TeenPeoplePod!

    Music: Relaxed Vlog by Ashot-Danielyan-Composer on Pixabay

    Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

    • 57 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
5 Ratings

5 Ratings

AmarShah1980 ,

Love this!!! Such a fun podcast!

This podcast is more than a trip down nostalgia lane. It brings to life a magazine that captured the zeitgeist of a generation still making its mark. Anna does a superb job storytelling and getting to the essence of each journey. So good!

Jay73227 ,

Excellent!

Such a great idea for a podcast and really well executed!

Potato Lady Bex ,

A trip back in time!

Even if you never subscribed to Teen People, the interviews conducted by Host Anna throughout this show are fascinating. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes info. Answer the question: Where are they now? It's an informative and entertaining podcast.

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