We all know that women and men are monoliths, right? Women like shoes and the government controlling their bodies; men like muscled-up NFTs of Donald Trump and bench-pressing bitcoin. But what if people aren't on this straight black-and-white binary? Candy Darling, born James Slattery, defied societal expectations and chose to live her life as a superstar along the lines of her favorite actor Kim Novak. Darling was one of Andy Warhol's last "superstars," until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 29 in 1974. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss how Darling straddled two very different worlds; one where she hobnobbed in Warhol's inner circle and one where she relied on friends and acquaintances' couches because she had no money.
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
Als, Hilton. "The Warhol "Superstar" Candy Darling and the Fight to Be Seen." The New Yorker, 8 April 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/candy-darling-dream-icon-superstar-cynthia-carr-book-review. Accessed 7 July 2025.
Baumgold, Julie. "Andy, Candy, and me." Esquire, vol. 125, no. 5, May 1996, pp. 120+. Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18239581/PPPM?u=nysl_sc_flls&sid=bookmark-PPPM&xid=b00684c9. Accessed 11 July 2025.
Carr, Cynthia. Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024.
Ottenberg, Mel. "Who Is Candy Darling? Behind the Mystique of the Ultimate Warhol Superstar." Interview Magazine, 19 February 2024, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/who-is-candy-darling-behind-the-mystique-of-the-ultimate-warhol-superstar. Accessed 6 July 2025.
Rasin, James, director. Beautiful Darling. Flowersides Creations, 2009. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07YVLX3L2/ref=atv_hm_mys_c_uJQOV1_3_1.
