The year was 2010, and emo boys were wreaking havoc on the girls in Josie Bloss’s Albatross (and perhaps in our own lives too). Tess is new in town and finds herself irresistibly drawn to Micah Richter, the brooding, “brilliant”, and emotionally erratic emo kid that everyone warns her about. As Tess navigates her first real connection at her new school, she quickly finds herself entangled in a web of jealousy, co-dependence, and emotional manipulation. Can Tess break free and rediscover herself amidst the chaos?

In this episode, we talk about how much we related to Tess as young adults and explore "The Cool Girl Trap," as well as the ongoing challenge of unpacking the internalized misogyny it left with us. We also reminisce about AOL Instant Messenger and passive-aggressive away messages. Plus, we update our Crush Scale and share some complex thoughts on where to rank Micah — spoiler alert, he ends up near the bottom.

Content Warning: The Albatross includes emotionally abusive and manipulative relationships, along with references to suicidal ideation and physical abuse. These topics are discussed in this episode.

Season 8, The Tortured YA Lit Department, continues to draw parallels between YA novels and Taylor Swift’s discography. While the connection between Albatross and Taylor’s song of the same name is tenuous, we find other tracks from The Tortured Poets Department that resonate deeply with the themes of this book. Discussion Starts at 53:40.

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Theme Music “Brat Pack”
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