Generation BSC: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

Episode 049: Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street!

October 10th, 2023  |  1 hr 7 mins

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Claudia gets a regular babysitting job with a genius child star named Rosie Wilder. Rosie's parents have done a real number on her and she spends all her time taking lessons, practicing, and working (and regurgitating lines from her parents about said career and her life generally). It's a real contrast with the home life of our Superbrat Derek Masters. Claudia ultimately connects with Rosie over drawing and they put on an art show together (where we see the junk food-inspired pop art that is classic Claudia). The girls all pitch in on the art show and babysitting Rosie on occasion and even Janine gets to be an honorary BSC member!

Episode 040: Claudia and the Middle School Mystery!

July 19th, 2022  |  1 hr 25 mins

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There's literally no mystery in this one where Claudia is accused of cheating on a math test after she gets an A- and just so happens to have the exact same right and wrong answers as Shawna Riverson, who obviously cheated off Claudia in what turns out to be a premeditated offense. Seriously - we did not remember Shawna, but she's somehow worse than Cokie Mason. Claudia and the BSC have some antics and eventually resolve the issue at hand and Claudia gets some recognition for her hard work and success.

EM022: Emergency Meeting - Netflix Season Two, Episode Seven: Claudia and the Sad Goodbye!

February 8th, 2022  |  47 mins 48 secs

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Kate and Lauryn continue their discussion of Season Two of The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix. We discuss Claudia and the Sad Goodbye!

EM017: Emergency Meeting - Netflix Season Two, Episode Two: Claudia and the New Girl!

November 30th, 2021  |  50 mins 43 secs

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Kate and Lauryn continue their discussion of Season Two of The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix. We discuss Claudia and the New Girl and the big changes from the book of the same name!

Re-Watch 06: Emergency Meeting - Netflix Season One, Episode Six: Claudia and Mean Janine!

October 12th, 2021  |  58 mins 56 secs

claudia, emergency meeting, netflix series, rewatch

Welcome to our end of summer re-watch of season one of the Baby-Sitters Club series on Netflix. For the next few weeks, watch along with us and revisit our thoughts on the series before season two drops in October.

We’ll be back in the fall with our own season two as well, and can’t wait to catch up with you then. In the meantime, keep your eye on our social media and don’t forget to e-mail. We love to hear from you all!

Re-Watch 02: Emergency Meeting - Netflix Season One, Episode Two: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls!

September 14th, 2021  |  40 mins 3 secs

claudia, emergency meeting, netflix series, rewatch

Welcome to our end of summer re-watch of season one of the Baby-Sitters Club series on Netflix. For the next few weeks, watch along with us and revisit our thoughts on the series before season two drops in October.

We’ll be back in the fall with our own season two as well, and can’t wait to catch up with you then. In the meantime, keep your eye on our social media and don’t forget to e-mail. We love to hear from you all!

Episode 033: Claudia and the Great Search!

May 25th, 2021  |  1 hr 18 mins

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Due to the subject matter of Kristy and the Secret of Susan focusing on an autistic child Kristy spends a significant amount of time with, Kate and Lauryn are taking a minute to bring on some great guests that they feel will help make that conversation as sensitive and thoughtful as possible. As a result, this week we're diving into Claudia and the Great Search, where Claudia becomes convinced she was adopted and goes on a thorough search to find the truth about her birth family and ultimately realizes, with Stacey's help, that she needs to just talk to her parents. This conversation results in the ultimate Danny Tanner moment.

Episode 026: Claudia and the Sad Good-bye.

February 16th, 2021  |  1 hr 6 mins

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Well, we’ve reached the book we’ve been dreading since the beginning, knowing that eventually we’ll have to say goodbye to Mimi with the rest of the BSC, Claudia in particular. It was a tough book to come back to after a break for the holidays that we’d hoped would be a nice opportunity to reset after the shitshow that was 2020, made even more tough when an attempted coup and attack on the Capitol occurred about a week before recording. Kate and Lauryn ended up coming to this book from very different perspectives, due both to their own personal experiences with grief and this book and the proximity to January 6th in their reading. Join us for an in-depth conversation that tries not to wallow in the sadness and instead focus on just how great this book is overall, but especially in just how perfectly it provides for teachable moments and opportunities to learn about how to deal with death of a loved one, the death of a friend or acquaintance’s loved one, and how loss and the processing of grief looks different for every person. We also dive into the subplot with Corrie Addison and her awful parents (or maybe not so awful if we allow some grace for what they might be experience that we don’t see in the book?) and Claudia’s close relationship with Corrie where they both fill a space they’re currently missing (due to Mimi’s death and Corrie’s aforementioned awful parents). This includes comparing and contrasting with Mrs. Barrett in her introduction. We take some related and unrelated tangents (as usual) to discuss topics like Lurlene McDaniel YA novels, the implications of unexplained bruises, Dorianne’s name change, the importance of friendships being a two-way street with both parties on the same page, honoring people with art and reactions when people share personal work with you, how grateful we are for Generation BSC, an acknowledgement that sometimes you have to suffer for fashion, the continued problematic references to Emily Michelle, and Jamie’s adorable way of referring to the Shillaber twins – the “Very-lyn twins.”

EM012: Emergency Meeting - Netflix Season One, Episode Six: Claudia and Mean Janine!

August 25th, 2020  |  58 mins 25 secs

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Kate and Lauryn keep up the mini-series discussion about the Netflix series with a conversation about episode six of season one, Claudia and Mean Janine, and also delve a little deeper into The Claudia Kishi Club.

EM009: Emergency Meeting - A Conversation with Anna Nguyen re: The Claudia Kishi Club and the Netflix Series!

August 4th, 2020  |  55 mins 31 secs

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Kate and Lauryn are joined this week by Anna Nguyen, a PhD student in rhetoric and composition who also uses her Instagram (@whatwouldclaudiawear) to document her own sartorial choices and meta-literary commentary on the Baby-Sitters Club. We discuss Sue Ding’s documentary, The Claudia Kishi Club, and the Netflix series generally and touch on some specifics from the book series as well. In our discussion, we examine the model minority myth and the othering of Claudia in descriptions related to such myth. Anna notes that the legacy of Claudia for Asian Americans is largely positive and shares her concerns on why she feels differently. In doing so, she unpacks the significance of identity categorizations and the tendency to universalize experiences in monolithic ways. We dive into the cultural impact of the new Netflix series, the general reception and reactions since its release, and why we (as a culture) might not be viewing it as critically as we watch and discuss. The concepts of “white excellence,” the “white savior complex,” and “black shows” vs. “white shows about black characters” come up in our discussion of the series and the books themselves when we deconstruct Kristy’s characterization in particular, including a discussion of how changing the race of some of the characters for the show had broader implications in the interpersonal reactions. We round out the conversation with an examination of the opportunities in our future discussions related to socioeconomic issues, racism, and the use of Native American imagery and names.

One small correction: In a reference to the problematic Asian character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Anna mentions Mickey Rourke as the actor in that role. Mickey Rooney appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.