Mag Hags

Mag Hags

The culture and history podcast that every modern woman should know.

Join Franki and Lucy as they dive into the glossy archives of women’s magazines to find out what's still hot, and what's definitely not.


Podcast Episodes

Travel back in time to check out your favourite title!

New Woman, September 1997
October 30, 2024x
4
53:5149.34 MB

New Woman, September 1997

Dig out your Union Jack tea-towel dresses, girls! This time, Lucy is leading the way through a magazine that’s channeling all the Girl-Powered benign anarchy of Spice World: The Movie. It’s New Woman, September 1997.  There’s a ‘how-to’ for spying on your boyfriend, bafflingly horny ads and – ...

Good Housekeeping, March 1988
October 16, 2024x
3
59:5354.86 MB

Good Housekeeping, March 1988

The Mag Hags are back and cooking with gas! This episode Franki and Lucy ponder on some cutting edge household appliances – cordless iron, anyone? Because, yes, Franki is guiding us on a tour through Good Housekeeping, March 1988.  There’s Ovaltine innuendo, shoulder-revealing fashion, and a s...

Honey, March 1976
October 02, 2024x
2
53:4249.2 MB

Honey, March 1976

Lucy and Franki are back with more dispatches from vintage women’s glossies.  This week, Lucy is heading to Honey magazine March 1976 – but it’s less Patti Smith and Sex! on the Kings Road, more women named Sue and unequal division of household labour.  We also meet the last of debutantes...

Cosmopolitan, October 1982
October 02, 2024x
1
49:5245.7 MB

Cosmopolitan, October 1982

Welcome to the very first episode of Mag Hags, the podcast that every modern woman should know. Join Franki and Lucy as they dive into the glossy archives of women’s magazines to find out what's still hot, and what's definitely not.  And where else to begin than the OG of having it all: Cosmop...

Who We Are

Journalists, magazine readers, and IRL mates

CO-HOST

Lucy Douglas

Lucy is an award-winning editor. Before moving into the less-sexy-but-better-paid world of brand content, she wrote for the likes of The Guardian and The Telegraph, and edited indy magazines including Positive News. She came up with the idea for Mag Hags while brainstorming with Franki for an upcoming job interview. One of the tasks the recruiters had set was to suggest features for the forthcoming 50 year anniversary edition of the publication. As they went through the archives, looking for ideas, they were gripped by the stories they encountered, by turns fascinating, twee, hilarious, and problematic. This would make a great podcast, she said. Three years later, Mag Hags was born. Like many Millennial women, Lucy can trace her love of glossy mags back to poring over the problem pages of Sugar and Just 17 in the mid-90s. Graduating to titles such as New Woman and Cosmopolitan, her passion took hold and from then on, she knew was going to work in journalism.

CO-HOST

Franki Cookney

Franki has been a reporter and features writer for over 15 years, writing for The Guardian, The Mirror, The Independent, The Sun, Cosmopolitan, The Sunday Times, Forbes, WIRED, and many more. She got the podcasting bug in 2016, making her first show at her kitchen table, and hasn't looked back. In 2019 an episode of her sex and relationships podcast The Second Circle was shortlisted for an MJA Award. In 2021 she successfully crowdfunded a limited documentary series, which allowed her to outsource the editing to focus on reporting, writing and hosting. With Mag Hags she's excited to be back in the audio production seat again. From being inspired by the investigative reporting in Marie Claire, to obsessing over the sex tips in More (and eventually going on to write a fair few sex tips herself), magazines have played a huge role in Franki's life. While she may have moved on from free lip gloss and hair mascara, she still enjoys the occasional DIY face mask.

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Got a suggestion for a magazine you think we should cover? Have an insight into one of the features we discussed?
Or maybe you just want to share your magazine memories with us.
Whatever's on your mind, we'd love to hear from you.