Podcast Corner: Julia Roberts, Rupert Murdoch, and women's magazines
Podcast Corner: Julia Roberts, Rupert Murdoch, and women's magazines
A perennial favourite, Karina Longworth’s incredibly well-researched series about the first century of Hollywood follows up last season’s 12-part Erotic 80s with… Erotic 90s. Venerated US magazines feature here too: Penthouse rival Playboy’s articles about feminism and sex at the turn of the '90s haven’t aged well, it’s safe to say; while centrist feminist magazine Ms put out its own special sex issue, which Longworth examines closely.
The first episode of the season is a dense 84 minutes, charting the X and NC-17 ratings for films and touching variously on Aids, David Lynch, and Harvey Weinstein. Part 2 is all about Pretty Woman and Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Fans of Longworth (who’s married to Knives Out writer and director Rian Johnson) might also enjoy her recent appearance on WTF… with Marc Maron, episode #1421.
Perhaps there’s no bigger name in media than Rupert Murdoch, and Bitter Blood explores the 2017 breakup of 20th Century Fox, as Murdoch’s children go to war for his approval and his empire. Appropriately, it’s narrated by Succession’s Alan Ruck (Connor Roy), and all eight episodes were released last week (you’ll need an Audible subscription to listen, though).
An eight-part series about a US magazine that started in 1973 and finished in 1980 - for some, that pitch alone might have you interested in this show from iHeartPodcasts and Crooked Media (home to Pod Save America) and narrated by Everything is Fine co-host Jennifer Romolini.
For those who need a little more convincing to listen to Stiffed, said magazine was called Viva, a publication launched at the apex of the sexual revolution in the mid-70s that sought to do for women what Penthouse had done for men. Both magazines, not coincidentally, were launched by Bob Guccione, who says things in interviews like: “I thought I was the smartest guy in the world where women were concerned.”
His inital hands-on approach to Viva quickly wanes amid instant critical backlash, with his wife and business partner, the curious Kathy Keeton, taking his spot atop the masthead.
Anna Wintour was fashion editor at Viva for a couple years, writers included feminist Betty Friedane, and covers featured stars such as Bianca Jagger, all alongside revealing male centrefolds. But why did it only last seven years?
Stiffed, as the name suggests, is full of laugh-out-loud innuendos (episode three is titled ‘Soft Focus, Semi Hard’) and episodes are a zippy 30 minutes or so. With five episodes to go, Stiffed certainly has our attention.
