Hot for Teacher (Pt 2): Mary Kay Letourneau Enters the Chat

So Pacey lost his virginity to his high school English teacher. But what do we… call that? Was it a tryst? An affair? An assault? Jess & Susie dive into the linguistic acrobatics of how America talked about statutory rape in the 90s – and delve into the the true story that was playing out at the time, that of Seattle teacher (and convicted rapist) Mary Kay Letourneau. Guests: Rosie Bancroft, Jess’s middle school pal and current middle school mental health counselor FOR MORE: How the Media Turned Child Rape Into a ‘Tryst’ (Rolling Stone) America’s confused obsession with Mary Kay Letourneau (Washington Post) ‘In Retrospect’ – The Playlist (Aren’t you dying to hear the Dawson’s theme song?) (Spotify) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it. Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.