Prozac Nation! – How one grunge-era depression memoir changed everything
5/11/202659 min
Diving deep into all things ’90s… Elizabeth Wurtzel’s groundbreaking grunge-era memoir of depression, medication and alienation Prozac Nation divided opinion like few books ever have. How did it become the book of a generation? Does it stand up now? Did Wurtzel reinvent an old genre or start a new one? And would Lena Dunham’s Girls exist without it? Miranda Sawyer is joined by Sian Pattenden, culture writer, artist and musician, to discuss how Prozac Nation changed the game for young women writers. • Want early ad free episodes and access to merch? Support us on Patreon Follow us on: BlueSky Instagram TikTok Subscribe to our Spotify playlist Listen to Sian’s band The Sha Sha Shanimals here. • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out moreWritten and presented by Miranda Sawyer. Produced by Liam Tait. Audio and video production by Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Soniq Branding from Artlist. Talk ’90s To Me is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMiranda Sawyer· Host0:00
Okay. In this episode, we are talking about Elizabeth Wurtzel, a great author, but I am issuing a trigger warning because we do talk about self-harm and suicide. [upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to Talk 90s to Me, where it all seems pointless in the light of the fact that we're all gonna die eventually. But you know what? We muddle on. As does this week's triumphant queen of Talk 90s, Queen Anne Foster. Anne is one of our amazing Patreon members who's spending a small but gratefully received amount of her own money on supporting her favorite '90s pod, and now she is this week's fabulous Talk 90s queen. Thank you, Queen Anne, and don't knight anyone dodgy. And it's also a big thanks to King Gareth Hart, another Patreon member who's fully wrapped in velvet royal robes, and you look terrific in them, King Gareth. If you too would like to become Talk 90s royalty, then why not pop over to patreon.com and search for Talk 90s to Me. For just a few pounds a month, you'll also get extras like episodes about skateboarding and '90s magazines and the chance to get your hands on some Talk 90s to Me merch. Oh, yes, indeed. And if you can't afford to do that, we'd love you to email us. Why not tell us your '90s thoughts? Just email talk90stome@podmasters,