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
Sweet Valley News & Help Rebuild the Palisades Library/Support LAPL S…
Support the Palisades Branch Recovery Fund Support the LAPL Staff Emergency Support Fund Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
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
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 lov...
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://redcirc...
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 granddaugh...
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. Br...
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
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! Adve...
Book #79: THE LONG-LOST BROTHER
in which the brother is neither long nor lost