In part one of a two-part interview, I speak with Sarah Ditum about her new book, TOXIC. It’s a scathing reexamination of the lives of nine female celebrities: Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Kim Kardashian, Chyna, and Jennifer Aniston. Each experienced some form of global fame, as well as the consequences that come with too much attention.

In TOXIC, Sarah writes, "…tearing these women to pieces was both a social activity and a form of divination. In the entrails of their reputations, we hunted for clues about what a woman ought to be…"

We talk: teen magazines, blogs, promise rings, sex tapes, and Britney Spears' "cult of virginity", celebrity memoirs, Justin Timberlake's homemade shotgun, why Taylor Swift reminds me of Avril Lavigne, and what Donald Trump owes to WWE.

Part II: https://soundcloud.com/teenpeoplepod/sarah-ditum-toxic-teen-people

Notes:

Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod.

Find Sarah online on Twitter and Instagram at sarahditum.

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Buy Sarah's book! Here's how:

UK: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/sarah-ditum/toxic/9780349727134/

North America: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/toxic_9781419763113/

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Author photo: Paul Clarke

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Additional thanks: Stephanie Palumbo at Canadian Manda Group, Toronto................

Sounds and music:

The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on PixabayDrop It by Coma-Media on PixabayFighter [No Vocals] - punk rock by 22941069 on Pixabay

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Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.