As If!

July 23, 1996. The world is GLUED to their TVs. It’s the final event. The final vaulter. The final vault. With this one move, the USA Olympic women’s gymnastics team could clinch the gold medal for All-Around Team for the first time in history at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kerri Strug is about to make history.

In this episode, I am by myself covering the Magnificent Seven – the seven young women gymnasts who made up the 1996 Team USA in the Summer Olympics. I will cover the girls, the Games, the famous final vault, the abuse, the legacy, and where these magnificent women are now. So get ready for full body goosebumps because this story is inspiring af.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses sexual abuse and abuse of power.

The best primary source video of the Kerri Strug final vault: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqUjo_rOxYc

“America Failed its Gymnasts: The sport has changed, but not enough” The Cut

https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/america-failed-its-gymnasts-with-larry-nassar.html

Two things we learned from the famous 1993 Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus:

A) do not light the black flame candle if you’re a virgin and

B) the parents of Salem know how to get LIT.

Most of us 90s kids grew up watching Hocus Pocus every Halloween and/or still watch it every year now. In this episode, I am by myself talking about the film and what we love about it – memorable scenes, funny quotes, silly moments, and I even will give you a drinking game for the next time you turn it on.

So come little 90s children, we fly to Salem to learn some interesting facts and trivia about our favorite Halloween movie.

PLEASE VOTE. If you haven’t voted yet, drop off your ballot IN PERSON or vote IN PERSON. Vote all the way down the ballot. Amp up your involvement by 25%. Donate. Call. Drive people. Put a sign in your yard. We need to do everything in our power to protect the future of our democracy.

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SARAH’S UNOFFICIAL 2020 QUARANTINE HOCUS POCUS DRINKING GAME

Take a SIP when:

• A magic spell is cast
• Every time you hear the words children, virgin, sister, or sistah
• Whenever the Sanderson sisters can’t recognize a modern invention
• Every time there’s a subtle adult joke on screen
• Anytime someone calls Max “Hollywood”
• When Sarah Sanderson is acting flirty
• When Max says “it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus”
• When one of the Sanderson sisters inhales or smells something
• When you hear the name Emily

Take a GULP when:

• Max lights the black flame candle
• Winnie calls for her book
• Billy Butcherson loses a limb
• Binx dies
• “Yabos” are mentioned
• “A salt circle” is created

Take a SHOT or FINISH your drink when:

• Sarah Sanderson says “amuck amuck amuck”
• “I Put a Spell On You” comes on

And please drop me a line and let me know how it goes.

*Want to be a guest on TTTH Podcast? Go to talktothehandpod.com/contact for our guest application!

It’s Friday night, you’re home alone starting some Jiffy Pop on the stove and ready to settle in for a cozy night. Then the phone rings. Do you answer it?

If you said yes, you either haven’t seen any of the 90s teen horror movies we talk about in this episode, or you have and you’re just a little bit crazy. Either way, you’ll want to settle in for some good 90s-era blood curdling screams and squirms as my NEW HUSBAND Eric and I go through some of the genre-defining films of the so-called “second wave of slasher films.”

Just remember to bring an open mind and a healthy dose of irony and self-awareness, which are basically the only things every 90s teen horror movie asks of you.

Warning, this episode contains spoilers!

PLEASE VOTE!

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Sources:

• “The Most Iconic 90s Teen Horror Movies Ranked” Collider.com, 2019 https://collider.com/90s-teen-horror-movies-ranked/#scream
• “The Rise of the Late 90s Teen Slasher Film” IMDB https://www.imdb.com/list/ls056866893/
• “16 Best 90s Teen Horror Films Ranked” Screen Rant, July 2017 https://screenrant.com/best-90s-teen-horror-movies-ranked/
• “Your Guide to Rewatching Millennium-Era Horror Movies” Vulture, October 1 2020 https://www.vulture.com/article/your-guide-to-rewatching-millenium-era-horror-movies.html

Artist, musician, fashion icon, sister, daughter, wife, a human beam of sparkly light. She was a QUEEN in every sense of the word, more than deserving of her title. You guessed it – we’re talking about Selena!

Selena Quintanilla-Perez was an insanely talented musician with an out-of-this-world fashion career ahead of her when she passed away at 23 in 1995. But her accomplishments aside (and there are MOUNTAINS of them), she also was a ray of sunshine, filled with so much joy and confidence that it seemed to radiate from her music and connect directly with the hearts of so many women and girls in the 90s and beyond.

For the final week of Latinx Heritage Month, my lovely friend Elise and I are chatting about the Queen of Tejano. We discuss her background, her music, her fashion, her legacy – basically, we discuss this beautiful red rose of a human being and everything we love about her for 40 minutes. With wine.

And if you dress up as our Queen for Halloween, we want to see a pic!

PLEASE VOTE!

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If there’s one person who knew exactly how to slither and slime his way into our collective imaginations in the mid-90s, it was R.L. Stine – famed children’s author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series (among many others) and the proclaimed “Stephen King of children’s literature.” Whether you read the books, watched the TV series, or indulged in them both, there’s simply no denying it – for 90s kids, the Goosebumps book series was our introduction to the horror genre and gave us all of the colorful (and silly) thrills and chills that our little 5th grade hearts desired. 

This week I am by myself to discuss the series, a breakdown of the book titles that will certainly trigger your campiest memories, the series’ legacy, author, book covers, its pulpy older sister Fear Street, and even Ryan Gosling. Grab a cozy blanket, spike your hot chocolate (and add some marshmallows for good measure), and let’s take a trip to Dead House and Camp Nightmare to revisit our FAVORITE 90s book series.

PLEASE VOTE! Vote early, make a plan, vote all the way down the ballot – this is the most important election of our lives, millennials and 90s kids. We have work to do.  

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Sources, for your nostalgic reference:

• • “13 Goosebumps Books That Gave All 90s Kids Insane Nightmares,” Popsugar.com, 2019 
    • https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/scariest-goosebumps-books-all-time-46718361
  • “13 Best Goosebumps Books that ruined your childhood,” Buzzfeed, 2016
    • https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/13-goosebumps-books-ruined-your-childhood-a6847136.html
  • “Goosebumps: 10 things you didn’t know about RL Stine – in pictures,” The Guardian, 2016 
    • https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2016/may/16/goosebumps-rl-stine-what-you-didn-t-know
  • “20 RL Stine Books You Need To Read Again,” Teen Vogue, 2016
    • https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/best-r-l-stine-books-you-need-to-read
  • “Q&A: RL Stine Reveals His Most Grusome Scene Ever,” LA Times, 2015 
    • https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-rl-stine-goosebumps-20151015-story.html?track=lat_paidsearch_dsa_acquisition-subscriber_google_search-_ent_______&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwuD7BRDBARIsAK_5YhWXjR-ZgX2lkC92UUTcTY0xzkfFlZ1VE0t5j1uSU9KM_jT13wxfkkIaAsZOEALw_wcB
  • “The Many Colors of RL Stine” a blog post by Tyler Miller Writes 
    • https://tylermillerwrites.com/2018/07/21/the-many-covers-of-rl-stine/

Let’s play GRUNGE BINGO! It only takes two for a bingo. Pick a band from the late 80s to mid 90s. Does the band have two of the following?

A) Lyrics about social alienation, drug abuse, despair

B) Cheap music production

C) Flannel shirts and long hair

D) Was signed to SubPop

E) From Washington

If the band meets two of the five criteria above (maybe even one of the five?), it might be a grunge band.

This week, I’m all by myself talking about the famous “Seattle Sound.” Grab your flannel, pour a cup of joe. Get ready to go deep into the Pacific Northwest for one of the most iconic music genres of the 90s.

TW: Please note, this episode discusses substance abuse; mental health issues including depression, suicide, and addiction; sexual abuse; and other heavy issues associated with grunge music – and the music industry at large – in the late 80s/90s.

PLEASE VOTE! Check your voter registration, check your state’s election rules, check your state and county initiatives, check your polling location/hours, CHECK IT ALL.

usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

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Everywhere you look (everywhere you go), there’s a heart… a hand to hold onto.

If you can still hear this song in your head when you see those lyrics, pour a glass of vino and settle in while my best friend Laura and I take a dive into one of America’s most beloved family sitcoms, FULL HOUSE!

And we’ll just put it out there – the show was great, the family was cool and all… but it’s all about one character. To us, at least.

TW: Please be aware that this episode mentions, but does not discuss, disordered eating and Stephanie’s uncovering of a classmate’s child abuse.

PLEASE VOTE! Check your registration at usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration.

I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want…

Sporty, Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh – we all remember. And we all. still. stan. Join me (all by myself) this week for the VERY FIRST episode of Talk To The Hand, all about – you guessed it – the SPICE GIRLS!

This week I dive into the history, legacy, and future of our five favorite Girl Power queens. We talk music, we talk the famous Union Jack flag dress, we talk about Spice Girl sleepover antics. Most importantly, we reminisce about how we loved them then and we still love them now. So grab a nice cup o’ English Tea and let’s get spicy.

Photo: Rolling Stone

If you existed during the 90s – or even if you didn’t, and are just interested in the era of body glitter and boy bands – this is the show for you. Each week host Sarah will dive into a different 90s topic – from Lisa Frank to Nintendo.

So grab your inflatable chair or your Surge soda and let’s take a tie-dyed time warp. What do you say?