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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 and the ways this nostalgia can (spectacularly, hilariously) fail us.
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.
Recent Episodes
Book #69: FRIEND AGAINST FRIEND
What could be better than a kind of hamfisted '90s attempt at tackling racism? Almost anything? Well, good (if shocking) news: th…
Extra Drama #68: Hold Me Till I Hate You
Are you a suede man or a Baja boy?
Book #68: THE LOVE BET
High school juniors Dana Larson and Aaron Dallas have sworn off of love forever. To address this crisis, Elizabeth and Todd conco…
Extra Drama #67: The Parent Ruse
Now that The Parent Plot is behind us, Marissa, Rebecca, and Sommer talk about their relationship to a film that, despite its sim…
Book #67: THE PARENT PLOT
Rebecca Russell and Sommer Austin are back for one last ride as we bring the Wakefield Trial Separation Saga to an end...and say …
Extra Drama #66: A Trio of Elizabeths Fails to Run Away
The cover of WHO'S TO BLAME? suggested that it was going to be a big running away book. It wasn't (only a little running away was…
Book #66: WHO'S TO BLAME?
It's a Chicago Ladies in Comedy Reunion, with Rebecca Russell returning and now comedian Sommer Austin joining the Wakefield Sepa…
Extra Drama #65: Comedy in the 2000s & Divorce in the '90s
Ned and Alice Wakefield don't get a lot of love here at Sweet Valley Diaries, but they're both hurting now, so...eh, we still hav…
Book #65: TROUBLE AT HOME
Rebecca Russell joins Marissa for the first book in the Great Wakefield Divorce (!?) Trilogy. Everything's on the line (and/or th…
Extra Drama #64: Tell a Friend
Marissa, Katie, Kat, and Kyle cram in all the YA book and book podcast nerdiness that will fit into the 10 minutes we had left in…