140 episodes
Dolls of Our Lives Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney
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- History
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4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
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The series you loved, book by book. Join Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney as they explore the wild world of American Girl fandom. In each episode, Allison and Mary will dive into an American Girl book from their (and perhaps your) childhood. Using their knowledge as professional historians and finely tuned instincts as amateur pop culture critics, they’ll take you back to a very different time—the 1990s. Formerly American Girls Podcast.
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It Takes Two: Isabel and Nicki
For our final episode, we took some twinspiration from the newest historical AGs: Isabel and Nicki Hoffman. When we meet Isabel, she is trying to perfect her Spice Girls choreography in time for a performance on New Year's Eve. Nicki, on the other hand, is learning how to make zines and skateboarding around Seattle. Both girls are struggling with sharing a bedroom, defining Girl Power, and the threat of a Y2K meltdown. We talk about twin tropes, our own pop culture memories from 1999, and the portrayal of Seattle in the book Finally, we wrap up by answering listener questions (Does Mary still miss Nan? What are our favorite house museums? Best part of doing the podcast?) and sign off one last time.
Thank you to all of our listeners! We so appreciate all of you, and the community we've made together. Thank you for being a friend!
Resources:
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
You can subscribe to Mary's newsletter, Landline, here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5 -
Courtney: Friendship Superhero and American Girl Consumer
It's 1986, and Courtney Moore's summer break is off to a great start. After participating in Hands Across America, she's ready to hit the arcade, read her American Girl catalogue, and make new friends, including a boy named Isaac. But Courtney faces unexpected challenges when she hits the books that fall. When others learn that Isaac is HIV positive, he is forced to leave Courtney's school. For this episode, we brought in an expert to talk about Courtney's ensuing public health campaign and what someone her age would have known about the HIV crisis in the mid-1980s. Our special guest Myrna Moretti, a PhD Candidate at Northwestern University, also gave us great insight into how Courtney consumes technology, '80s arcade culture, and the real queer-led activist movement that fought for a cure for HIV/AIDS.
Special Note: As we shared in the introduction, we have decided to end the show after covering "Meet Isabel and Nicki" on our next episode. We are so grateful for five wonderful years with this amazing community of listeners! We will keep the Discord community active and hope it continues to thrive (we love being part of it ourselves!) and will not produce a Patreon episode in April.
We will be recording the final episode soon and would love to share your messages and answer a few questions. You can share messages and questions with us here: https://forms.gle/uzDk7A9DpScA5RvK8
We will also post on Instagram to collect messages and questions there.
Thank you again for enriching our lives, and this show, beyond measure.
Resources:
Here is a lecture by Dr. Cait McKinney referenced by our guest, Myrna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHjXxV16So8&t=2006s
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
You can subscribe to Mary's newsletter Landline here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5 -
From the Archives: Meet Felicity
Join us as we travel back in time to our first episode! We’ll be back on April 1 with the second Courtney book (and a special guest!) Until then, enjoy younger versions of us when we were still learning how to podcast (but had timeless takes on Justin Timberlake).
Subscribe to Mary’s newsletter, Landline, here: https://marymmahoney.substack.com/
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5 -
Ms. Pac-Man: Courtney Changes the Game
Do you think of yourself as part of history? What about the Care Bears and Ms. Pac-Man? When American Girl first revealed that there would be a new historical character set in 1986, we were in shock. Having recovered from that surprise, we were delighted to meet the young person behind the bop "Hey Courtney." Through Courtney Changes the Game, we meet Courtney Moore, a nine-year-old living in California who loves gaming, space travel, and recycling. We discuss Courtney's family dynamics, presidential history in the book, and the shock of the Challenger explosion in early 1986.
Resources:
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5 -
On the Road: Adventures with Claudie
It's time for another American Girl road trip! In the second Claudie book, Brit Bennett takes us from Claudie's neighborhood in Harlem to her grandmother's house in Shellman, Georgia. Along the way, Claudie learns that there are different "rules" about living in the South and the North. She also sees a new side of her mother, an investigative journalist inspired by Ida B. Wells-Barnett. When Claudie returns to Harlem, she takes one of her grandmother's stories with her and offers an uplifting finale at the boardinghouse benefit concert. We discuss both of Claudie’s worlds and a bit about what’s happening in ours.
Time Stamps:
Resources:
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
Subscribe to Landline, Mary's newsletter!
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5 -
Hoops: Basketballs and Barriers
To round out our Julie coverage, we read something we think she would love: Matt Tavares’s Hoops. This graphic novel (based on a true story) follows an Indiana girls’ basketball team’s first season post-Title IX. We discuss the characters’ activism on and off the courts--and the ways that sexism persists in sports today. This episode also includes a recap of the Julie videos, her days as a baller, and of course, our overall take on the Julie series.
Resources:
You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com
Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod
Order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl
Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Digital Audio)
Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.
We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast
Twitter - @dollslivespod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/
Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks
Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)
Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5
Customer Reviews
Great!
I learn so much plus it’s just fun nostalgia. It’s nice and long too for those jogs and car commutes.
Listeners are confused
While this podcast isn’t perfect, the number of listeners who seem to confuse characters with real children is alarming. Criticizing a character is criticizing the writing and the author’s craft. The people saying Mary and Allison are criticizing children need to step all the way back and remember… they are not. The characters… are not… real people. Also… Why would a pop culture podcast by two adults (who are not literary critics) have to read these from the perceptive of a child? That said, the idea of bringing on a professional in children’s literature would be really fun!
Too much content about The Bachelor
I wish the hosts would cut out the long intros about unrelated topics. I choose not to watch The Bachelor, so why would I want to spend 20 minutes listening to an intro about it on an American Girl podcast? I was really looking forward to a critique of the historical accuracy of these books but after 3 episodes I’m walking away. The hosts also clearly don’t respect the books; they spend the Josefina series making up a glib murder plot line. There are moments where they even make fun of Latinx culture because they haven’t previously been exposed to certain traditions. The premise of this podcast is great and has lots of potential but the execution is not for me.