Mag Hags
Cosmopolitan, October 1982
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Episode notes
Welcome to the very first episode of Mag Hags, the podcast that every modern woman should know.
Join Franki and Lucy as they dive into the glossy archives of women’s magazines to find out what's still hot, and what's definitely not.
And where else to begin than the OG of having it all: Cosmopolitan.
Franki has travelled back in time to October 1982, when The Pill turned 21 and publishers were just cottoning on to the idea that women buy books.
Elsewhere, a hapless man gets some Thatcherite therapy and the Mag Hags get some dinner inspo from a truly astonishing advertiser.
Plus, Lucy reveals her daddy issues about His Majesty King Charles III.
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CHAPTERS
07:09 – Intro to Cosmo October 1982
09:33 – Girl Bossing vs Having It All
10:29 – The pill that promised so much: A review of 21 years of oral contraceptives written by someone who's never taken them
26:47 – *An ad break from 1982*
30:09 – Talking It Out : A Cosmo "counselling" session that reads more like a scolding
38:13 – Tactful sex tactics: Can you use the word "fondle" without laughing
42:28 – Fashion and beauty tips from 1982
44:42 – Frills or Thrills: Trashy paperbacks are having a moment. Is it good, steamy fun or patronising frivolity?
48:37 – What's hot and what's not in 1982
LINKS
Research: On coils and ectopic pregnancies: Safety, efficacy and patient acceptability of the contraceptive and non-contraceptive uses of the LNG-IUS | International Journal of Women’s Health, 2009
Read: On Erin Pizzey: Feminism’s Purity Wars by Helen Lewis | The Atlantic, Feb 2020
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Mag Hags is written and hosted by Lucy Douglas and Franki Cookney.
Editing and audio production by Franki Cookney.
Our theme music is Look Where That Got You, Mattie Maguire. Additional music: Leotard Haul, Dez Moran. Both courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com.
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