
Desperately Seeking the '80s: NY Edition
Revisit the crime and culture of NYC in the '80s with BFF Gen-Xers Jessica and Meg.
Episodes
145 episodes
Insanity Distress + Pinheads Unite!
Meg finds the cracks Adam Berwid fell through thanks to changes in NY State mental health laws. Jessica checks out Steve Epstein's midtown Mecca for pinball wizards: Broadway Arcade.
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Season 1
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Episode 145
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49:05
Partners in Crime + Poison Pens
Meg traces the link between the murder of Johnny Pius and the Long Island Serial Killer. Jessica revels in the artistry of savage theater reviews and the unlikely phenomenon of UES ska.
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Season 1
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Episode 144
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42:08

NOKD + Break On Through
Meg explains the wildly exclusionary practices of co-op boards and their unspoken policy of NOKD (not our kind, dear). Jessica eulogizes Val Kilmer, the chameleon actor who ruled the 80s with his roles in Top Gun, Top Secret, and Real Genius.
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Season 1
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Episode 143
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39:19
Take a Hike + Delivering with Love
Meg hears of Ed Koch’s favorite moment in history: the Transit Strike of 1980. Jessica visits one of the rare triangle buildings in the city which has always existed to help New Yorkers in need. PLUS Meg and Jessica discuss Cynthia Weiner’s nov...
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Season 1
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Episode 142
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45:14
Remaster: A Very Special Episode Pt 2
Revisit Meg and Jessica's continued discussion of the Central Park murder of Jennifer Levin by Robert Chambers. Part 2 of 2.
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Season 1
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Episode 141
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56:56
Remaster: A Very Special Episode Pt 1
Revisit Meg and Jessica's most requested story: the Central Park murder of Jennifer Levin by Robert Chambers. Part 1 of 2.
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Season 1
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Episode 140
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1:02:58

Predatory Politician + Suggestive Highballs
Meg delves deep into Democratic Congressman Frederick Richmond’s dirty deeds. Jessica reveals the sexual hype behind 80s cocktails and is appalled by a Slippery Nipple.
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Season 1
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Episode 139
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53:36
Magyar Murders + Diana's Downpour
Meg tours Tudor City and investigates the deaths of Hungarian émigrés George Senty and Piroska Lantos. Jessica marvels at Diana Ross making the show go on in Central park during a hurricane.
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Season 1
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Episode 138
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49:37
Dark Academia + Six Degrees of S&M
Meg investigates the twisted tale of lemur enthusiast Professor John Buettner-Janusch. Jessica follows the star-studded origins of the club hit The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight.
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Season 1
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Episode 137
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41:11
Nowhere in Nantucket + Cruel to be Kind
Meg investigates the baffling disappearance of Columbia Presbyterian researcher, Dr. Margaret Kilcoyne. Jessica muses about the allure of the powerful woman and the dominatrix who lived upstairs.
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Season 1
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Episode 136
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56:23
Southampton Sorrows + Power Punk Girls
Meg hears all about actress Melonie Haller’s treacherous weekend in Southampton. Jessica tracks teen rockers the Lunachicks as they stir up NYC after dark.
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Season 1
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Episode 135
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56:06

Crack Confusion + Price of Beauty
Meg weeds through what and who was behind the murder of police officer Eddie Byrne in South Jamaica, Queens. Jessica takes us on a tour through the history of plastic surgery via Jocelyn Wildenstein’s addiction to face fixing.
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Season 1
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Episode 134
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53:55

Something Fishy + Captive Audience
Meg checks out the cult responsible for America’s love of sushi. Jessica explores Sing Sing inmate Miguel Piñero’s play Short Eyes and its rise to Broadway acclaim.
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Season 1
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Episode 133
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49:15
The Marriage Plot + Dance Democracy
Meg learns the ways of Sun Myung Moon, the Unification Church, and his “Moonie” followers. Jessica revisits partying at Nell’s, the iconic club that welcomed all - as long as they paid the $10 cover.
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Season 1
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Episode 132
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56:00

Gone Girls + Deep Dive
Meg learns how dedicated girlfriends discovered the identity of Joel Rifkin’s first victim. Jessica takes a tour of dive bars, and the communities they created, in the East Village circa 1986.
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Season 1
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Episode 131
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57:05
Lost Boys + Grisly Griselda
Meg discovers the true story behind a Satanic Panic scare on Long Island. Jessica sniffs out the facts behind cocaine queenpin Griselda Blanco’s violent rise and fall.
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Season 1
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Episode 130
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45:36
Remaster: Pilot Episode
Happy New Year! Revisit Meg and Jessica’s first episode ever: The Good Time Gal + Porno Pioneers, now available with advanced editing and sound quality.
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Season 1
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Episode 129
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39:38
Juror Furor + Precocious Promoters
Meg finds out how the jury in the murder trial of Eric Smokes and David Warren got it so wrong. Jessica tracks how The Saint morphed from gay Shangri-La to a booze-free teen scene.
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Season 1
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Episode 128
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49:18

Subterranean Blues + Shallow Throat
Meg investigates the incendiary story of the Weather Underground and their far leftist principles. Jessica reads into the absurd publishing industry brouhaha over John Ehrlichman’s tell-all “Witness to Power”.
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Season 1
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Episode 127
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57:04

McTantrum + She Got the Power
Meg gets a courtside seat to John McEnroe’s meltdowns and epic rivalry with Bjorn Borg. Jessica searches the newsstand for New York Woman magazine, the first to make advertisers pay for the privilege to court women.
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Season 1
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Episode 126
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56:59
I’ll Take It + Myth Making
Meg hunts down the real stories behind three Metropolitan Museum art heists. Jessica weaves a tale of tapestries, the big top, polyamory, and unicorns.
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Season 1
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Episode 125
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45:31
Hip Hop Happening + Sophisticated Lady
Meg dives deep into the early days of Hip Hop and how the Blackout of 1977 propelled the movement. Jessica pays tribute to Judith Jamison, groundbreaking muse and successor as director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
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Season 1
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Episode 124
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45:35
Fallen Dancer + Reagan is the Root
Meg mourns the suicide of New York Ballet City principal dancer Joseph Duell. Jessica returns to the election of 1980 to try to understand how we got here.
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Season 1
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Episode 123
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44:46
