121: Melody and the Motor City: An Interview with Kayla Chenault

Dolls of Our Lives

Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney

Society & Culture, History

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Some journeys start with a dream, or just a favorite doll. Author and public historian Kayla Chenault grew up with American Girl. Kayla's fascination with the 1940s (via Molly) even led her to pursue volunteering and then working at a local historical society. In this episode, Kayla shares her perspective on Melody’s stories and depictions of her hometown, Detroit, Michigan. Tune in for a spooky story about one possibly haunted Molly, a local's perspective on Melody, and a deep dive into the riots of 1967.

To learn more about Kayla's work, follow her on Instagram: @kayla.c.author or visit her website: https://kc-writes.com/

To join us at BPL on Thursday, November 9th: https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/64d14e9a591918360006d3f8

Resources:

You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com

Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod

Pre-order our book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl

Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront.

We love to hear from you! Drop us a line [email protected]

Follow us on social media:

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Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks

Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter)

Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everyone, this is Mary. I'm so excited for you to hear today's episode with Kayla.
0:06.0	We talk about Melody and Detroit and her world fan fiction and time shares.
0:12.0	Yes, somehow all of this does make sense, I promise. It was such a fun episode to record.
0:18.5	It's so fun to get to talk to people about American girl and their memories of it.
0:23.0	And with that in mind, I'm so excited to share that we have our first book event to announce
0:28.0	on Thursday, November 9th. We will be at Boston Public Library to talk about our book,
0:33.0	dolls of our lives, why we can't quite American girl, and answer your questions and sign your copies of the book.
0:40.0	We'll be doing this with Trident Bookstore.
0:42.0	We are so excited to get out there and meet some of you and any of you who couldn't show up.
0:47.0	I know it's during the week and everyone has crazy lives and are busy, but it's just really fun for us to think about
0:54.0	having our own version of the eras tour minus the Carly Clash Drama.
0:59.0	You know, we'll Carly attend, I don't know, but we'll see. Only time will tell. I'll be there.
1:05.0	So I hope you will be too and we'll be announcing more book events as we get closer to the launch date.
1:11.0	Thanks to everyone who's ordered their copy so far. If you still want to order a copy,
1:15.0	you can go on our website, dollsofourlivespa.com, or order it from Andy Independent or other bookseller of your choice.
1:22.0	We'll be doing an audio book and we're just genuinely so excited to get together with you and talk all things American girl.
1:28.0	Thanks and now on to the episode.
1:31.0	So recently this week we got tagged a lot in a post that felt very important and very relevant.
1:38.0	You know, Samantha, Mary Parkington is not with us anymore, but her house is still standing.
1:44.0	And I guess what we brought you here today to ask is if you would be willing to make a lifelong investment in a time share
1:51.0	in Samantha's house in Mt. Kisco, New York for the low price of $100,000 to earn one weekend there a year.
2:00.0	I think I can start to go fund me to make this happen. I'm in. I'm 100% in.
	...

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