After years of wide-eyed blogging about the surreal 1980s perfection of Francine Pascal&#39;s Sweet Valley High book series (and the surprising  psychodrama that lurks below the town&#39;s perfectly-tanned surface), host Marissa Flaxbart is now forcing people to read the series with her. 

But beyond its obsession with the ubiquitous-yet-obscure book series, SWEET VALLEY DIARIES is a podcast about nostalgia — &#39;80s nostalgia in particular — and the ways this nostalgia can (spectacularly, hilariously) fail us. It&#39;s a riotous cultural conversation about which parts of the past we long for and which ones we want to leave behind for good. It&#39;s about friendship, honesty, and learning to speak your truth in the face of a boyfriend-stealing cheerleader or an evil triplet. It&#39;s all the life lessons you could ever hope to learn from two size-6, blonde-haired, aqua-eyed, identical 16-year-old twins. Strap in.

https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pod-public-media-files/2025/1/17/21/217c256f-1fe2-421a-8dce-0d70be081c3c_sweet_valley_news.mp3

Support the <a href="https://lfla.org/laplrecoveryfund/" rel="nofollow">Palisades Branch Recovery Fund</a> Support the <a href="https://lfla.org/laplstafffund/" rel="nofollow">LAPL Staff Emergency Support Fund</a> Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Sweet Valley News & Help Rebuild the Palisades Library/Support LAPL Staff

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A correction email about ROSA&#39;S LIE and truly the most epically hyperbolic Reader of the Month winner to date! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra Drama #82: A Legend of Readin'

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When there&#39;s an exclamation point in the name of the book, you know it&#39;s going to be a good one. But will KIDNAPPED BY THE CULT! ever deliver on the promise of its title? Find out with filmmaker Sam Wineman as he falls in love with every character in Sweet Valley and Marissa dreams up some new cult-themed merch. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Book #82: KIDNAPPED BY THE CULT!

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Christian Dueñas is back for more on Rose Jameson/Rosa Jimenez. We also imagine an all-boys Jesuit version of Sweet Valley High and read a particularly purple Reader of the Month letter. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra Drama #81: Becoming Rosalita

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Welp, Season 9 is starting with a bang. We&#39;ve got another racism book on our hands. Thankfully, no one gets hurt this time (though a certain Nana Jimenez would probably be pretty darn hurt if she found out what her granddaughter did with her cake!). Christian Dueñas, host of the brand new music show <a href="https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/primer/" rel="nofollow">PRIMER</a>, is our guest and guide through this wild and barely-tolerable tale of Pi Beta Alpha and their newest pledge, Rose Jameson. Also Todd and Bruce are in a fight. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Book #81: ROSA'S LIE

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Oh-h My-y God, we&#39;ve got an EXTREMELY special episode at long last! As only the Super Star books can, BRUCE&#39;S STORY brings you a ridiculous Sweet Valley Saga from the POV of one of its richest and least likable characters. Bruce Patman (or, if you prefer, &#34;Pac-Man&#34;) sits at the center of this one, looking really dumb but in a way that&#39;s unsettlingly...endearing? Maybe? STRANGE BEDFELLOWS co-hosts and past chaos-agent guests Jack Shepherd and Tanner Greenring are back to help us see the real Bruce at last. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

SUPER STAR: BRUCE'S STORY w/Jack & Tanner

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Don&#39;t forget about the Reader of the Month letter from book 80! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Mini Extra-Drama #80: Double the Sweetness

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It&#39;s another mis-titled misadventure of random characters, and this time All Time Favorite guest Don Flaxbart is here to simultaneously despise the book and read deep into the twisted heart of its male lead. A thrilling, dirt-bike filled mega finale to Season 8 of Sweet Valley Diaries! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

It all ends in dirt bikes!

Episode #80: THE GIRL THEY BOTH LOVED

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Bryanna McGeough joins Marissa again and shares her criteria for choosing with Sweet Valley books to read and her personal tales of being an Elizabethan high school journalist. Plus, Reader of the Month for October 1991! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra #79: Maybe Elizabeth Isn't the Best Character Judge

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What could be worse than having a twin brother who stole a car? For Sarah Eastborne, the answer is: that twin brother getting clean, being released from his rehab facility, and coming to live with you. Social worker and BSC/SVH reader Briana McGeough joins us to discuss this book, which also shoehorns in some info about 12-step programs. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

in which the brother is neither long nor lost

Book #79: THE LONG-LOST BROTHER

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Claire and Marissa explore the dreamworld of Jessica Wakefield. Plus, a particularly lyrical Reader of the Month essay. Come along, if you choose! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

only in dreams

Extra Drama #78: Jackson's Funtime Fashions

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At long last, we will find out if Scott Trost is as sexist as he seems. Or, we&#39;ll at least find out if his TRUE self is sexist. Like, maybe society made him sexist? Or something? Todd will explain it to you, ladies. With special guest Claire Sharood! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

...the dating game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Book #78: THE DATING GAME

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I got my hands on a US edition of CHEATING TO WIN, but it didn&#39;t arrive until after last week&#39;s extra drama came out. I&#39;m between two short weekend trips, so please accept this dramatic reading as this week&#39;s little episode! Follow Sweet Valley Diaries on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sweetvalleydiaries/" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@flaxbart" rel="nofollow">TikTok</a> Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

a pat on the back for realism

EED #77: Listener of the Month, July 1991

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Guest Tabatha Myers tells us about her history with Sweet Valley; then, a close look at the copyright pages of a British edition of CHEATING TO WIN, and a call for ghostwriter intel. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra Drama #77: They Never Did Sweet Valley Babies

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The latest in our series of Very Special Episodes, this is the one about accidentally being on sports enhancing drugs some shady dude sold you in a baggie. Lifelong SVH reader Tabatha Myers joins Marissa to get super serious on this very serious and seriously handled subject. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

The One With the Magic Vitamins

Book #77: CHEATING TO WIN

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Let&#39;s rap about the ethical implications of beauty pageants! Plus, the second Reader of the Month wants to make sure you know she doesn&#39;t LOOK like a bookworm. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Let's rap about the ethical implications of beauty pageants!

Extra Drama #76: Yo!

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In this book, Jessica asks Elizabeth how being named the prettiest, smartest, and most talented can be demeaning. And she has a point. Kind of. In a book that is both frivolous and substantive, and which is unafraid to let a gray area issue be solidly gray, we find identical twins once again at odds. Denise Boylan joins Marissa to laugh at them. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Sure she can write an op-ed, but have you seen her in a swimsuit and high heels?

Book #76: MISS TEEN SWEET VALLEY

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More excuses for Amy&#39;s behavior, tips for how to look like you&#39;re paying attention, and the first ever SVH Reader of the Month! Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra Drama #75: Amy Regulation Disorder

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&#34;Tennis&#34; anyone? Marissa is joined this week by Brian Duss for a Very Special Episode. Why so special? For starters, we learn Amy Sutton has some hidden depth of character. But mostly it&#39;s because we&#39;re getting some **sound trumpets** explicitly gay characters! Alas, &#34;explicit&#34; only in one sense of the word. But still.*** Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

"Tennis" anyone?

Book #75: AMY'S TRUE LOVE

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Mary Kate and Marissa share stories from middle and high school and beyond about the effects of diet culture, generational baggage around eating and weight, and trying not to perpetuate a cycle. Advertising Inquiries: <a href='https://redcircle.com/brands'>https://redcircle.com/brands</a>

Extra Drama #74: Why We're Like This

After years of wide-eyed blogging about the surreal 1980s perfection of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley High book series (and the surprising  psychodrama that lurks below the town's perfectly-tanned surface), host Marissa Flaxbart is now forcing people to read the series with her. 

But beyond its obsession with the ubiquitous-yet-obscure book series, SWEET VALLEY DIARIES is a podcast about nostalgia — '80s nostalgia in particular — and the ways this nostalgia can (spectacularly, hilariously) fail us. It's a riotous cultural conversation about which parts of the past we long for and which ones we want to leave behind for good. It's about friendship, honesty, and learning to speak your truth in the face of a boyfriend-stealing cheerleader or an evil triplet. It's all the life lessons you could ever hope to learn from two size-6, blonde-haired, aqua-eyed, identical 16-year-old twins. Strap in.