13. The Villains We Needed

Nancy and Sarah launch by talking about a slavering press desperate for sensational stories — but we’re not discussing today’s climate, we’re talking about the 1920s, when Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle became the doomed villain in a crime he never committed. We contemplate boobs (again), the greatness of Mariska Hargitay, the cruel online backlash against Amber Heard, and why we don’t like gender tribalism (or tribalism of any kind).  

We heap admiration on Joan Didion, along with the journalist who recently wrote about her, Caitlyn Flanagan. One of the best-loved journalists of her generation, Flanagan also became a feminist bugaboo thanks to provocative stories on abortion, working moms, Woody Allen, topics she tackles with humor, moral precision, and tremendous style. Nancy and Sarah find themselves divided on the virtues of sentimentality, but they’re both big on the drug that is falling in love.

You asked (Ed: did they?), we deliver: First true-crime book under discussion will be The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream, by Patrick Radden Keefe. Date TBD, conversation likely on Zoom, likely sometime second week of June — NR

Episode notes:

Make your Bitmoji!

Hollywood Babylon, Jayne Mansfield cover, and Hollywood Babylon II, Elizabeth Taylor

“Fatty Arbuckle and the Birth of Celebrity Scandal,” by Michael Schulman (New Yorker)

Birth of Hollywood, episode 1 (BBC):

The Hays Code (Wikipedia)

Mariska Hargitay (Instagram)

Charlie Chaplin, The Gold Rush, Roll Dance

“The Narcissism At The Heart Of The Johnny Depp And Amber Heard Trial,” by Dani Di Placido (Forbes)

“How to Become a Dangerous Person,” Nancy Rommelmann/Prager U (YouTube)

“#MeToo is over if we don’t listen to ‘imperfect victims’ like Amber Heard,” by Martha Gill (Guardian)

“Why We Love to Watch a Woman Brought Low,” by Jessica Bennett (NYT)

“Why the Internet Hates Amber Heard,” by Kaitlyn Tiffany (Atlantic)

“Amber Heard's 'sexual violence' evidence against Johnny Depp will be kept secret in his libel claim against The Sun despite him arguing claims should be made public” (Daily Mail)

Correction: Sarah called Depp’s attorney Alan Waldman, but his name is ADAM Waldman. Management regrets the error.

Saturday Night Live’s cold open on Depp-Heard:

“Joan Didion’s Magic Trick,” by Caitlin Flanagan (Atlantic)

Selected Caitlin Flanagan stories. Full Atlantic archive here.

* "The Autumn of Joan Didion”

* “The Humiliation of Aziz Ansari”

* “Caroline Calloway Isn’t a Scammer”

* “The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate”

* “Losing the Rare in Safe, Legal, and Rare.’”

* “What Mia Farrow Knew”

* “I’ll Tell You the Secret of Cancer”

* “Tell Children the Truth”

“McCarthy on Didion: Pro and Con,” letter to the editor (NYT)

“Imagining Enemies: Nora Ephron’s theory of Mary McCarthy vs. Lillian Hellman,” by Katie Roiphe (Slate).

Ed. note: The play about Hellman-McCarthy is Nora Ephron’s Imaginary Friends

The Last Thing He Wanted, by Joan Didion

Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion

“Joan Didion, 1934-2021,” by Nancy Rommelmann

“Things Fall Apart: Thoughts on Joan Didion,” by Sarah Hepola

“The Fifth Column” podcast live event, with Michael Rapaport and Colin Quinn

“The Lawyers Who Ate California, Part 1,” Matt Taibbi Substack

After Hours official trailer

The Center Will Not Hold official trailer

Outro song: Billy Bragg & Wilco, “California Stars”

But one last thing …

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