October 1988 Teen Life: Fat Camp, Jelly Beans & Popcorn Lung

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Our treat for October (as the spine line promises) is a brand-new issue, and we’re starting things off by discussing its Teen Life topics! Catherine goes to a weight loss camp and collects insights from her fellow female staffers on how to ask out dudes. Karen facilitates as three readers make over their bedrooms in very different styles. Christina returns to the fiction department with a cautionary tale about jelly beans. All that, plus Body Talk; a BUNCH of Help letters from readers signing themselves β€œConfused”; and a Stuff You Wrote submission that is…not in good taste. Pour yourself a bowl of jelly beans and listen!

Episode Rundown

Hello, It Is October 1988

In Our Lives + Spine Line

Feature: Welcome To Fat World

Feature: How To Ask A Guy Out

Feature: Big Bedrooms

Fiction: Jelly Beans

Body Talk

Help

What He Said: How Did You Like Being Asked Out (By A Sassy Staff Member, No Less)?

Stuff You Wrote

Goodbye For Now

On The Road: Salt Lake City

Episode Notes

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Luverne, MN's Tri-State Band Festival
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Sylvia Plachy's website
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"3,813 Pounds Down, 6,187 Or So to Go" on NYTimes.com
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Alba '77
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Weight loss camps still in operation
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Camp Colang alumni group on Facebook
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Camp Colang on LocationsHub.com
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Website for "Jelly Beans" illustrator Betsy Everitt
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The Presidential Fitness Challenge
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"Do You Risk Popcorn Lung When You Make Microwave Popcorn?" at CSPInet.org
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"Karen Catchpole Hit The Road 12 Years Ago...And Hasn't Stopped Yet" at the Bare Necessities blog
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"Go To Your Room (and Decorate)" on NYTimes.com
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Andrew McCarthy on Instagram
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Susan Nicastro at Partners for Youth with Disabilities
πŸͺ¦
Marci Jean Groteler's grave