Shows
Mag HagsCosmopolitan, October 1992It’s the end of season one! And what better note to end on than right back where we started: with the OG of having it all, Cosmopolitan.It’s October 1992 and Lucy is at the helm as the Mag Hags navigate post-Thatcher pre-Loaded gender politics to explore the timeless editorial territory of: has feminism been bad for men?There’s a recession on, but that doesn’t seem to have dented Cosmo’s advertising coffers because this magazine is HUGE. We have, inexplicably, four entire pages about the concept of Being Blonde. And there’...2025-01-2258 minMag Hags19, June 1986Kicking off the new year with a bang, the Mag Hags are manifesting the season they want… with a June magazine issue. Franki is taking us back to the 80s to 19 magazine – a sister title to Honey that’s ticking all the women’s mag tropes. Directive diet features! Reductive psychology quizzes! The Mag Hags reckon with some food demons from their childhoods: notably the 80s/early 90s obsession with low-fat alternatives (Franki) and being the victim of egg-shaming (Lucy). There’s a glimpse into Banarama’s Siobhan Fahey’s unhinged eating habits, a charming little account of becom...2025-01-0856 minMag HagsCompany, December 1979Burn your bras, lads: we’re back in the 70s this week – only this time the magazine under the spotlight *has* caught up with the decade’s radical social progress.Lucy is leading the way through a tour of Cosmo’s little sister mag: the recently launched Company. There’s a report into how technology is about to transform work as we know it, some timeless fashion tips, and an ad for a 1970s-era Hinge.But it’s not all women’s lib. The Mag Hags get the ick over a Freudian feature about girls’ r...2024-12-251h 00Mag HagsMarie Claire, May 1998Gather round, high-flying spinsters! The Good Friday Agreement has been signed, the US president is definitely *not* having sexual relations with that woman, and we are hitting New Labour's economic zenith : it’s 1998 and the Mag Hags are reading Marie Claire. Franki is in the driving seat as the Mag Hags dive into plastic surgery tourism and ponder why Woman Of The Moment Gwyneth Paltrow is on the cover and yet mysteriously absent from the rest of the magazine. Elsewhere, Lucy gatekeeps singledom and there’s an exploration of the ultimate late 90s conundrum: how come you c...2024-12-1158 minMag HagsTatler, December 1980Grab your Barbour and don your wellies – it’s time for Tatler! Lucy is taking the Mag Hags back to Tina Brown’s formative career years and a festive issue of the high society bible. Here, Franki and Lucy learn some valuable lessons in how to *really* show off one’s status and discuss the British aristocracy’s take on Quiet Luxury. There is some questionable history on 20th century tax policy, the origin story of a ubiquitous old lady shoe, and a reflection on 1980 through the lens(es) of different magazines of the day: fro...2024-11-2757 minMag HagsWoman's Own, November 1972Welcome to Guess The Meat with Lucy and Franki! ... Only joking! That would be insane. This episode, Franki is taking the Mag Hags deeper into the archives than they have gone before… to Woman’s Own, November 1972. A relic of the mid-century suburban housewife, this mag is serving up hobby how-tos, a guide to hats, and a free sheet of ‘foil-edged cooking film’. No, we have no idea either. There’s speculation about Prince Charles’s love life, a quick lesson in menstrual history, plus a reader’s story of Loving Against The Odds (spoiler: it...2024-11-1349 minMag HagsNew Woman, September 1997Dig out your Union Jack tea-towel dresses, girls! This time, Lucy is leading the way through a magazine that’s channeling all the Girl-Powered benign anarchy of Spice World: The Movie. It’s New Woman, September 1997. There’s a ‘how-to’ for spying on your boyfriend, bafflingly horny ads and – in depressingly 90s style – a feature about how you can weigh 10st and still be technically obese (check the time stamps if you’d rather sit this one out). Then, stick around for the guide to disaster-free dinner parties that is less Ottolenghi and Instagram tablesca...2024-10-3053 min
Journalism.co.uk podcastHow did women's magazines from the 1970s remain relevant?Franki Cookney and Lucy Douglas of the Mag Hags podcast take a flick through 50 years of glossy magazines and examine what has - and has not - stood the test of time2024-10-1700 minMag HagsGood Housekeeping, March 1988The Mag Hags are back and cooking with gas! This episode Franki and Lucy ponder on some cutting edge household appliances – cordless iron, anyone? Because, yes, Franki is guiding us on a tour through Good Housekeeping, March 1988. There’s Ovaltine innuendo, shoulder-revealing fashion, and a self-help book extract suggesting that Lucy could be a threat to Franki’s marriage. Plus, a questionable beauty feature calls for back-up, so Franki speaks to award-winning beauty editor and author Anita Bhagwandas. Want more of these mags?Sign up for the Mag Hags news...2024-10-1659 min
Woman's HourWomen's magazines, Dawn Sturgess, Female funeral directorsFor generations of women and girls, glossy magazines have been a guide to clothes, lifestyles, relationships and, of course, sex. Titles like Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Own and Sugar were pored over by thousands of us and now there is a podcast that celebrates those beloved back issues. Every week the hosts of Mag Hags, Lucy Douglas and Franki Cookney, read a different issue of a magazine from the 70s, 80s or 90s. As well as revelling in the 20th Century fashions, features and lifestyle advice, Lucy and Franki join Nuala McGovern to uncover a fascinating insight into the way we...2024-10-1457 minMag HagsHoney, March 1976Lucy and Franki are back with more dispatches from vintage women’s glossies. This week, Lucy is heading to Honey magazine March 1976 – but it’s less Patti Smith and Sex! on the Kings Road, more women named Sue and unequal division of household labour. We also meet the last of debutantes, contemplate a bath-time workout, and witness a disastrous PR campaign for British Rail. Meanwhile Franki is underwhelmed by “Strip Monopoly”. And the Mag Hags ponder: did the editorial staff of mid-70s Honey realise they were selling the bucolic lesbian dream...2024-10-0253 minMag HagsCosmopolitan, October 1982Welcome to the very first episode of Mag Hags, the podcast that every modern woman should know.Join Franki and Lucy as they dive into the glossy archives of women’s magazines to find out what's still hot, and what's definitely not. And where else to begin than the OG of having it all: Cosmopolitan.Franki has travelled back in time to October 1982, when The Pill turned 21 and publishers were just cottoning on to the idea that women buy books.Elsewhere, a hapless man gets some Thatcherite therapy and...2024-10-0249 minMag HagsComing soon... Mag HagsMag Hags is a brand new podcast that celebrates and interrogates the glossy women’s magazines of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.If you love magazines, 20th century pop culture, and questionable life advice on glossy paper stock, then join us each fortnight when we’ll be diving into a vintage issue to find out what’s still hot, and what’s definitely not.First episode drops WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 02 2024.Subscribe to our newsletter to get access to all the features and adverts we discuss, PLUS extra vintage fashion, beauty and lifestyl...2024-09-1101 min