American Girls

For this year's October Patreon, we chose a topic that can be truly scary: revisiting high school. A lot of people have turned to sitcoms to see what their teenage years might be like. With her latest book, journalist Thea Glassman makes a case for the importance of teen dramas such as Dawson's Creek, Glee, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In revisiting seven hit shows from the late 1990s/early 2000s, Glassman pulls from insider interviews and offers perspective on why we ought to care about these characters. Through seven essays, Glassman gives us plenty of moments for nostalgia, asking us to remember Carlton's dance moves and the angst of the drawn out Joey/Pacey/Dawson love triangle. Whether you watched these particular shows or not (Friday Night Lights, anyone?) you will appreciate Glassman's take on youth culture. We discuss the sitcoms we loved as well as what we're enjoying these days (including some content on the other end of the life spectrum, ahem, Golden Bachelor).   Original air date: October 27