April 1988 Teen Life: AIDS, Divorce & Dating A Rock Star

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We’re back to TEEN LIFE topics, now in the April 1988 issue!

Christina Kelly gets a first-person account from a man whose friend died of AIDS as a teen. Karen Catchpole demystifies what it’s actually like to date a rock star, killing some Beastie Boys crushes in the process. Karen then dares to tell the truth about boys’ bodies — not just the parts in their boxer shorts, though that is admittedly what we’re mostly interested in. And Catherine Gysin prepares readers for how their lives might change after their parents’ divorce.

Christina returns with the Short Short Story “What Sudie Didn’t Tell Me.” On The Road takes a trip to Austin (a place all your co-hosts have lived and loved!). Body Talk moves from Fashion to Teen Life, and with it our comments on its reporting on pap smears, golf, and cross training. Help has some truly wild questions we must pray are fake before closing things out with What He Said: “What do you think of girls who make the first move?”

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Episode Rundown

These times are for the original edit of the episode and may shift due to dynamic ad inserts.
00:00:00 Hello, It's April 1988 00:02:31 Us In April 1988 & Spine Line 00:08:13 Feature: My Best Friend Died Of AIDS 00:14:39 Feature: Dating A Rock Star: What It’s Really Like 00:23:33 Feature: The Truth About Boys’ Bodies 00:35:19 Feature: The Divorce Is Only The Beginning 00:38:06 Fiction: What Sudie Didn’t Tell Me 00:42:13 On The Road: Austin 00:46:58 Body Talk 00:49:24 Help 00:57:25 What He Said 01:01:33 Goodbye For Now

Episode Notes

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Angels In America on HBO Max
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The Normal Heart on HBO Max
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Pose on Netflix
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The World Only Spins Forward by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
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Perfect Tunes by Emily Gould
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Brian Bloom on the cover of the December 1987 YM
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Chuy's Barton Springs
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Tony O'Dell on Instagram
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The Again With This podcast
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April 1988 Quiz: How Compatible Are you?