In this Halloween episode, Lauren and Christine hunt vampires from Europe in the 19th century to the American South in the 21st. If vampires are metaphors for a society’s fears, why do they always look so good?

Book recommendations:

John Polidori, The Vampyre

John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Lauren and Christine grab the harpoon guns and pour a cold glass of milk to discuss the diverse, sexy, bold choices of Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. And they ask: When will Nicole date a nice 6’4” guy?

Lauren and Christine get out the wire hangers, put on matching dresses, and gulp a vodka on the rocks as they consider mothers and daughters in pop culture.

In the second of our Hometown episodes, Lauren and Christine head Down East to the great state of Maine. Like Philadelphia, the Pine Tree State has its class issues. Unlike Philly cheesesteaks, its lobster rolls contain mayo. But if it is so beautiful, why is it so creepy?

Book recommendations:

Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England

Edna St Vincent Millay, Collected Poems

In the first of two Hometown episodes, Lauren introduces Christine to the culinary magic known as the pizza steak as they visit Philadelphia. Can they run up the Rocky Steps in their training montage while singing every word to “Piano Man”?

Hoagie recommendations:

https://dalessandros.com/

https://leeshoagiehouse.com/

In this episode, nothing gets between Lauren, Christine, and their Calvins, as they look back at the career of Gen-X icon Brooke Shields.

Book recommendations:

E.J. Bellocq, Storyville Portraits: Photographs From the New Orleans Red Light District, circa 1912

https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2678_300299020.pdf

Kathy Peiss, Hope in a Jar: The Making of America’s Beauty Culture

https://www.pennpress.org/9780812221671/hope-in-a-jar/

Lauren and Christine get out the sunscreen and head to the beach, asking why films and tv often associate this setting with booze, hooking up, and regrets. And they resolve never to go to Rio with Michael Caine.

RIP Connie Francis.

Book recommendations:

Emma Rosenblum, Bad Summer People

E.M. Forster, A Room With a View

In a double-sized episode, Lauren and Christine say “hello, lover” to Sex and the City, while leaving a break-up Post-It note for And Just Like That.

Book recommendations:

Colette, Chéri

Ann Douglas, Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s