Stiffed
5.0/5
Critic Rating
New York City, 1973. Bob Guccione, the founder of the men’s magazine Penthouse, is about to drop his latest project, and it’s not quite what anyone is expecting. Enter Viva, an erotic magazine for women published by a porn king but staffed by – drumroll – a bunch of feminist writers and editors. Viva features groundbreaking full-frontal male nudes, writing by feminist icons like Betty Friedan, and profiles of literary legends like Maya Angelou. Its cover stars include Bianca Jagger and Shelley Duvall. Anna Wintour is even Viva’s fashion editor at one point. But what is originally conceived as a high-end...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Patricia Nicol • The Times UK • Apr 23, 2023
"In the excellently titled Stiffed, the author Jennifer Romolini unfolds the magazine’s involving story. So far this is an excellent listen — if you can tolerate IHeartPodcasts too regular advertisement breaks."
Score: 5
Devin • Podstack • Apr 13, 2023
"The story of all the conflicting ideas of what women wanted in this magazine has me absolutely hooked. I blew through all three episodes that were available and kept finding more things to clean because I didn’t want to stop listening. My kitchen counters are squeaky clean, but the content of this podcast is not."
Score: 5
Nicholas Quah • Vulture • Apr 12, 2023
"With Stiffed, you can’t underplay the hook...a curious instance in seventies magazine publishing...You can read this series, from Crooked Media and iHeartMedia, in a bunch of different ways, but in my mind, it’s a super fun story about the strange life of magazines."
Score: 5
Lauren Passell • Podcast The Newsletter • Apr 10, 2023
" You get real “I love women so much that I can’t let them do anything” vibes from Bob. Stiffed is a story you’ve never heard full of names that you have and is an exciting and fast-paced snapshot of media, feminism, and work in the 70s, which reminds some of us that when people play that “what era do you wish you had lived in?” game, we can say, “I’m a woman, so never.” …"
Score: 4.9
Fiona Sturges • Financial Times • Apr 9, 2023
"Written and hosted by the journalist Jennifer Romolini, the series veers between playful and sceptical as it assesses Guccione’s legacy. There are echoes here of the 2021 podcast Welcome to Your Fantasy... At the heart of the series is the question of whether a magazine funded by a man who made his fortune exploiting female bodies could really change women’s lives for the better. The short answer? It’s complicated. …"
