Cass Elliot didn’t die eating a ham sandwich. But the lasting power of that urban legend speaks to a far darker story. Elliot possessed one of the most influential voices of the 1960s. However, while her big break with The Mamas and The Papas and meteoric career changed the LA music scene forever, it also entrapped Elliot in a cycle of fat-shaming, sending her spiraling into catastrophic weight-loss regimens. In this episode, we’ll talk about the music industry’s complicated relationship with weight, how crash dieting likely led to the untimely death of this music legend, and the true legacy of Elliot in pop culture.
This episode was written and performed by Lexi Pandell, a writer from Oakland, California. Her work has been published by The Atlantic, the New York Times, WIRED, The New Republic, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Playboy and many others.
Thelma & Louise (Erotic 90’s, Part 4)
Introducing This Little Light with Flea
“The actress everybody wants to fuck”: Theresa Russell and Sondra Locke (Erotic 90’s, Part 3)
Pretty Woman, Sleeping with the Enemy and Julia Roberts in the early 90s (Erotic 90’s, Part 2)
Prologue: Porn, Feminism & the folly of NC-17 (Erotic 90’s, Part 1)
1989: sex, lies and videotape: Rob Lowe and James Spader (Erotic 80s Part 12)
1988: Kevin Costner, Sean Young, No Way Out & Bull Durham (Erotic 80s Part 11)
1987: Fatal Attraction and Dirty Dancing (Erotic 80s Part 10)
1986: 9 ½ Weeks, Mickey Rourke & Zalman King (Erotic 80s Part 9)
1985: Fear Sex. Jagged Edge & AIDS (Erotic 80s Part 8)
1984: "Vioporn," Body Double and Crimes of Passion (Erotic 80s Part 7)
1983: MTV Aesthetics, Flashdance and Risky Business (Erotic 80s Part 6)
1982: Teen Sexploitation, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky's and The Blue Lagoon (Erotic 80s Part 5)
1981: Neonoir, Body Heat and Postman Always Rings Twice (Erotic 80s Part 4)
1980: Richard Gere and American Gigolo (Erotic 80s Part 3)
1979: Bo Derek and 10 (Erotic 80s Part 2)
Porno Chic and The Brief Heyday of X Ratings (Erotic 80s Part 1)
Sammy and Dino Episode 9: Is That All There Is?
Sammy and Dino Episode 8: Generation Gap
Sammy and Dino Episode 7: Yes I Can
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