Marissa Flaxbart

Marissa on the Baby-Sitters Club Club! (Er..."Sweet Sweet Valley Boys")

I joined Jack and Tanner of the Baby-Sitters Club Club podcast last week to discuss the very horny, thrillingly problematic Sweet Valley High #3: Playing with Fire. An honor and a privilege! In addition to their storied program, you can hear Jack and Tanner on Sweet Valley Diaries #26: Hostage!  and on a forthcoming episode of that show (Surprise!).

My Latest Twenty Thousand Hertz: "The Leaky Pipeline" is all about Women in Audio

My latest episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz is out, and it's all about Women in Audio -- two women in particular, Leslie Gaston-Bird and Elisabeth Löchen. It was an honor and a pleasure to share their stories!

In the late 80s, a small French company found a way to pair analog film with pristine digital audio. But getting their system into theaters would involve a long legal battle, hiding out in a Vegas bathroom, and a last-ditch meeting with a famous director. Their struggle is part of a larger narrative about the groundbreaking work of women in the field of professional audio. Featuring audio engineer Leslie Gaston-Bird and LC Concept co-founder Elisabeth Löchen. 

My Latest Twenty Thousand Hertz Episode: The City That Never Sleeps

This week's episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz was written & co-produced by yours truly! If you're not already a subscriber to this fascinating show, get on top of that! It's an always-interesting audio journey of which I'm extremely proud to be a small part.

When writer Paige Towers moved to one of the loudest cities in the world, she found herself overcome with anxiety and depression. She came to realize that the noise of the city itself, and the inability to escape from it, was making a huge impact on her mental health. With the help of the internet, Paige was able to discover a deceptively simple solution. But the negative health implications of noise pollution are anything but simple.

Sweet Valley Diaries Podcast is back August 13

Season 5 of Sweet Valley Diaries is returning on August 13! That means you have just over a week to catch up on the on going drama at Sweet Valley High...and if you haven't tuned in to hear what happened in the Season 4 finale (aka Book 40, OUT OF CONTROL), I've got some really terrible news for you...RIP [character name redacted, no spoilers, but the book did come out over 30 years ago so get on top of it].

In other podcast news, look who's Big* in Estonia

 

 

*"big" = "spent a day among the top 10 book-related podcasts"

Today on the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz: "Noise 'R' Us"

Growing up, my most important toys were my dolls. We talked constantly, but none of them made a sound. When I think of the recorded sounds of my early childhood, it's all on cassette: my beloved Teddy Ruxpin, my children's songbook with accompanying tape, the little shows, skits, and songs I recorded on my own. I loved the Fisher Price record player music box, where changing or flipping the colored plastic records determined what song played, but I didn't have one of my own. As I got older, memorable sounds came from games, like my Bop-It key chain. Or, above all, the game MALL MADNESS, which said things like "There is a clearance...at the...sunglasses boutique" from a little speaker box in the center where players swiped their play credit cards to score points (come to think of it, MALL MADNESS may be capitalism's greatest triumph in the indoctrination of a generation).

Remembering these and/or other toys (and the sounds they made) was a delightful part of researching and writing this, my first episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz. But the research didn't stop there. I walked down toy aisles and listened to the toys shout sweetly at me. We all know how far technology has come in the past few decades, but we (or at least, I) don't often think about how those advancements trickle down to change everything around us...even toys. Now I can't stop thinking about it!

I could go on at length about what an honor it is to contribute to 20k, a show that I have listened to and enjoyed for years, but if you get into the show's back catalog, you'll see that it speaks for itself. May I humbly suggest starting with today's episode, "Noise 'R' Us"? :D

SWEET VALLEY DIARIES Podcast: Season Four Premieres Today

Just a few short days in advance of my Sweet Valley Diaries Podcast's 2nd Anniversary (the Cotton Anniversary, in case you're picking out a gift), the Season Four premiere is now live and streaming on all your favorite platforms. Or, if you prefer, right here:

Season Four starts with Book #31, TAKING SIDES, and features as its guest reader the fantastic actor, director, and acting teacher Tim Redmond. While starting at the beginning is always appreciated, I've been working on a very sketchy cheat sheet for any would-be listeners who'd like to jump on board at Stop 31. For the past 30 days on my Sweet Valley Diaries Instagram, I've been counting down (or, rather, counting up) the first 30 books of the Sweet Valley High series via haiku. So whether you're new here or you just need a refresher on the soapy nonsense of Sweet Valley, CA, you can take a look at these 30 brief poems and...well, perhaps you'll come away more confused than ever. But at least you'll know some character names!

Don't forget, the Sweet Valley Diaries have been around in blog form since 2006, so there's plenty of longer-form literature to get you up to speed as well.

The show is set up to be a delightful gossip session between friends, and producing it is a joy. Thanks to everyone who listens, writes in, chimes in, and tells a friend. Hold on tight now, because things are going to get bumpy in Sweet Valley this season.

"What Is Art?": The Mystical Magic of Taking Something Too Seriously

When I started the Sweet Valley High Podcast, my aims and questions were much the same as when I started the blog of the same name:

Wouldn't it be fun to examine these frivolous, over-the-top books through a tongue-in-cheek-but-still-very-powerful microscope?

And would other people find the books as shocking and fascinating as I did?

The blog, started in the blogger's heyday that was 2006, proved that there was an audience of Sweet Valley readers who were eager to revisit the literary soap opera of their girlhoods. The podcast has done something a bit more: it's proven to me that I can hand one of these books to practically anyone I know and, after they've read it, work them into a high-pitched frenzy by casually discussing the plot. Seriously, it happens at least once an episode.

It's so much fun.

Because every main episode of the show is devoted to recapping the book in question (and because I don't have the time or wherewithal to book a guest, record, and edit a new episode every week), alternate weeks feature a "bonus" episode that takes the form of an extended conversation on some theme in the book. They're usually pretty fun, and no two conversations have been remotely similar.

Today, though, I released a bonus episode (recorded with my friend and fellow deep thinker Kali Baker-Johnson) that has something more to say. It's about art, artists, and finding the courage to share what you've made. Listening back to it this morning, I was struck by what we were able to bring out of one another in the conversation. I really think it's something that I'll return to whenever I'm not feeling particularly eager to share my work and myself with the world.

The following is not a great example of what Sweet Valley Diaries is usually like, but it is a perfect example of what good stuff you can uncover when you take something silly too seriously. 

Meanwhile in Sweet Valley... (Sweet Valley Diaries Season 2 Premieres Today!)

Sweet Valley Diaries, my podcast (and long-running, if somewhat neglected blog) about Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High book series, returns today for its second season. I'm delighted to share this labor of love with the world; this new season, which starts with Book #11 (TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE), is loaded with seriously ridiculous drama.

If you're reading this sentence right now, something has brought you to my page. Maybe you know me. Maybe you are trying to figure out who I am. Maybe you're a robot, here to leave a comment about how much you enjoy my content. But whatever the case, I hope you'll stop what you're doing and go listen to Sweet Valley Diaries, from the beginning. Even if you've never heard of a Sweet Valley. It's like joining a really niche book club, except you don't have to do a lick of reading.

There are over a hundred books in the series, and I've read a LOT of them already. On every episode of the show (starting with Book 1 and going through in order), a new guest joins me. Both of us have read that week's volume; for most of my guests, it's the first Sweet Valley High novel they've ever laid eyes on. When I first started the podcast, I wasn't sure if my friends and colleagues would receive the stories with the same wide-eyed, jaw-dropped fascination/horror/delight that has kept me hooked all these years. 

They did! They have! They do! 

The result is a show that's part '80s nostalgia, part feminism, part comedy, part soap opera. It's my fond hope that every episode feels like hanging out with your friends, listening as they fill you in on the crazy story they just heard, stumbling into moments of depth, honesty, and social commentary as they go. 

Sounds fun, right?

The link above takes you to the podcast page on my SweetValleyDiaries.net, but if you're already a podcast person, you can also search for Sweet Valley Diaries on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever app you use to find shows. 

 

Now Entering the Aural Fray: Sweet Valley Diaries, the Podcast

Yesterday I took a step that has been months in the making: I announced a start date for my new podcast. In less than a week, on December 7, the first of 10 initial episodes (and 10 shorter bonus episodes) of the Sweet Valley Diaries podcast will be available for public consumption. I'm thrilled, excited, even a little nervous. But above all, I feel content: I think my friends and I have done a good job with the show, and even if not a soul ever listens to it, I had so much fun making it that I kind of want to invent some fake podcasts just to trick people I like into having highly direct, interview-style conversations around a table with me. 

I wrote about the launch date yesterday on the Sweet Valley Diaries blog, and I‘ve included the body of that post below. But I think of this blog as a place where I tell true stories about myself and muse about the creative process, so let me give you a glimpse into this whole “setting a release date“ thing: I’ve been trying to do it since September. 

Every month, I make a plan – goals I have and tasks I want to accomplish. (For example, since today is the 1st of December, I’ve been sneaking new-month planning time in between loads of laundry.) At the very start of a new month, those four-plus weeks stretch out as wide and slow as a mid-afternoon cat. It’s easy for me to imagine I’ll have “plenty of time” to accomplish a long list of somewhat complex goals, and I rarely bother to break those steps down into smaller steps, because my goals sheet only has so many slots and I want to be able to fill them all up with amazing, unrealistic future accomplishments! Even though I kept writing “set podcast release schedule” and “set and announce premiere date” as monthly goals, first in September, then in October…it just wasn’t quite happening.

I wanted to set a release date, but I didn’t have all my guests scheduled. I wanted to set a release date, but it was taking me hours and hours to edit episode one. I wanted to set a release date but I was still planning my bonus content. I wanted to set a release date, but I have never made a podcast myself before and there were so many unknowns. 

One think I knew for sure? A release date was a deadline, and I never miss a deadline. In this case in fact, a release date was more like a series of deadlines, because I want to make sure and get a new episode out on each successive Thursday (Thursday, Dec 7, was the day I finally landed on; very few of the shows I listen to release on Thursday, and “7” is a go-to number for one of Sweet Valley’s main characters, Jessica Wakefield). As soon as I made the call, the next 20 weeks of my life were to be deadline-ified.

You may have heard that a deadline is a strategy (perhaps from Gretchen Rubin, who would no doubt recognize me as an Obliger). For me, it’s such an effective strategy that I was a little afraid of it. I had to be ready. Or at least ready enough. And  call it first-of-the-month optimism, but I think I am. 

*****

The below is from sweetvalleydiaries.net, Nov 30, 2017

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 VERY BIG NEWS: It's Almost Podcasting Time!

Sweet Valley High. It's been an interest bordering on an obsession, and getting dangerously reminiscent of an "area of expertise" in the years since this blog was born. 

But I've developed a side passion: podcasts.

Like my love of SVH, my podcast passion has been a long time in the making (the very first podcasts were coming on to the scene around the same time as The Diaries first began!). And I'm beyond thrilled to finally announce that, over the past few months, I've been working hard to merge these two passions together, like the hottest couple in school, making out at Miller's Point in broad daylight. 

One week from today, on December 7, The first episode of the Sweet Valley Diaries Podcast will launch on all your favorite podcasting platforms. I know that Sweet Valley fans are my target demo, but the entire show is designed to do something I have never been quite able to achieve with the blog: to let non-die hards (or even total Sweet Valley neophytes) get a glimpse of the beautiful, absurd, dark perfection that is Sweet Valley High.

I love you for reading this and sticking with me all these years. And I say with all humility that I think this is the most exciting thing to happen in the world of Sweet Valley since 10 Years Later. More details to come as the week goes on, but here's a little teaser from my freshly-minted SVD Insta account:

Have You Heard About This "Platinum Rule?"

This past Monday, on a whim, I checked out the audiobook of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant.

It was a dangerous whim. The book, which had been on my radar since I'd heard the authors interviewed on On Being, a podcast I've mentioned before here. I knew what the book was about: coping with grief. I wasn' t quite prepared for the buttons it would press for me, the way it would subtly entice me to revisit depths of grief I haven't visited in a while. I could go on (and might, in a future post) about the weird sore-spot prodding regimen I seem to have set up for myself this October, but as I'm currently only on disc 2 of 5, let's keep this simple: Have you heard of the Platinum Rule?

Because I heard about it yesterday. Twice.

The first time was, of course, in the aforementioned audiobook. I was just a few blocks into my commute home from Beverly Hills when I heard the book tell me that perhaps rather than following the Golden Rule -- Treat others as you would want to be treated -- we could aspire beyond that to a "Platinum Rule": Treat others as they would want to be treated. In this context, the Platinum Rule was a reminder that true caring for another person (perhaps a person in pain) should mean not assuming that what they want or need is what you'd want or need in the same situation. Instead, we should tune into them, or (radical notion!) actually ASK them earnestly about what would best suit their needs.

It's a tall order, but one worth at least keeping in mind. Opening oneself to the mere idea of the Platinum Rule means remembering that we can go beyond just assuming everyone's needs and reactions are the same as our own. And that could shift our behavior in ways that leads to deeper relationships and more fulfilling lives for us and for those around us.

Have you ever learned a new word only to suddenly hear it everywhere? I've had this experience, but usually it takes a day or two for the phrase to start popping up. "The Platinum Rule," however, took under an hour to reappear. In fact, I was still in the car, still commuting home from Beverly Hills (this is, in part, a testament to the length of time it takes to drive eight miles in LA during rush hour). I was listening to the latest episode of Note to Self, a show which has been looming large in my life this week, having been the inspiration of both a sermon and a dinner talk by the new Episcopal Bishop Coadjutor of LA, John Tayor, both of which I happened to be in attendance for, but that's another story. The topic of the show was not Option B or anything like it; they were discussing the way modern technology habits often drive us to neglect people we care about, rather than get closer to them. It's a compelling episode (and great sermon fodder, I might add).

About halfway through the short episode, host Manoush Zomorodi says to her guest, psychologist Esther Perel, that she's been thinking more about "The Platinum Rule." I made a face when I heard the words. "What the hell?" the face said. The context couldn't be more different. They weren't talking about dealing with friends who were coping with tragedy, they were talking about calling your friend back or answering a text. (Later in the episode, however, they did talk about calling a friend coping with tragedy.) 

The implication is clear enough: whether we're talking everyday interactions or life-changing upheaval, if we're communicating with others, consider following the Platinum Rule . I think the fact that this idea is in the air, and catching, is a sign that it might just be a good one.