Generation BSC: A Baby-Sitters Club Podcast

Episode 026: Claudia and the Sad Good-bye.



February 16th, 2021  •  1 hr 6 mins  •  Download (53.2 MB)  •  Link with Timestamp

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Well, we’ve reached the book we’ve been dreading since the beginning, knowing that eventually we’ll have to say goodbye to Mimi with the rest of the BSC, Claudia in particular. It was a tough book to come back to after a break for the holidays that we’d hoped would be a nice opportunity to reset after the shitshow that was 2020, made even more tough when an attempted coup and attack on the Capitol occurred about a week before recording. Kate and Lauryn ended up coming to this book from very different perspectives, due both to their own personal experiences with grief and this book and the proximity to January 6th in their reading. Join us for an in-depth conversation that tries not to wallow in the sadness and instead focus on just how great this book is overall, but especially in just how perfectly it provides for teachable moments and opportunities to learn about how to deal with death of a loved one, the death of a friend or acquaintance’s loved one, and how loss and the processing of grief looks different for every person. We also dive into the subplot with Corrie Addison and her awful parents (or maybe not so awful if we allow some grace for what they might be experience that we don’t see in the book?) and Claudia’s close relationship with Corrie where they both fill a space they’re currently missing (due to Mimi’s death and Corrie’s aforementioned awful parents). This includes comparing and contrasting with Mrs. Barrett in her introduction. We take some related and unrelated tangents (as usual) to discuss topics like Lurlene McDaniel YA novels, the implications of unexplained bruises, Dorianne’s name change, the importance of friendships being a two-way street with both parties on the same page, honoring people with art and reactions when people share personal work with you, how grateful we are for Generation BSC, an acknowledgement that sometimes you have to suffer for fashion, the continued problematic references to Emily Michelle, and Jamie’s adorable way of referring to the Shillaber twins – the “Very-lyn twins.”