692. Soap Opera Nostalgia with Amye Archer from Little Miss Recap

692. Soap Opera Nostalgia with Amye Archer from Little Miss Recap

Author: Sarah Wendell November 14, 2025 Duration: 1:30:39

Amye Archer, host of Little Miss Recap, was a guest on a recent paywalled episode of Fixing Famous People talking about soap operas. I was entranced. Amye is a fan of soaps, going way back, and I was very eager to have her as a guest to talk about soaps, the romances within soaps, and some of the overlap between soap fans and romance readers.


After we talk about the matrilineal cultural inheritance of soaps and romance, we have a challenge. Amye brought some of her most memorably unhinged story lines from soaps, and I have brought some of my most memorably unhinged story lines from romance, and we’re going to swap.


Please note that in this section we mention sexual assault, faked deaths, transphobic language and quicksand. During the recommendations, Amye mentions her memoir, which is about weight loss and addiction, so we discuss antifat bias and shame.


This is a long one, so we’re going to keep you company.


Did you have a favorite soap or soaps? Which ones?


You can find Amye Archer at her website, AmyeArcher.com. Her podcasts are:



We also mentioned:



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


If you’ve ever felt a little defensive about loving romance novels, or just want to dive deeper into the books you can’t put down, Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast is your perfect companion. Host Sarah Wendell approaches the genre with a critic’s sharp mind and a fan’s enthusiastic heart, creating conversations that are as thoughtful as they are joyful. This isn’t just author interviews, though you’ll hear brilliant voices like Ilona Andrews, Sarah J. Maas, and the wonderfully unique Chuck Tingle. The scope of the podcast is deliberately wide, bringing in reviewers, librarians, editors, and publishing professionals to examine every facet of the romance world. You’ll get honest talk about tropes and trends, the business behind the books, and why these stories resonate so powerfully with millions of readers. Regular appearances from Amanda Diehl add another layer of camaraderie and insight. Listening feels like being part of a smart, welcoming book club where no opinion is dismissed and passion is a given. It’s a celebration of a genre that dominates fiction, explored with humor, intelligence, and genuine curiosity. Whether you’re a longtime devotee or a curious newcomer, this podcast offers a rich, engaging, and deeply human look at the stories we love.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Smart Podcast, Trashy Books: A Romance Novel Podcast
Podcast Episodes
642. Books Journalism and Social Media with Sophie Vershbow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:45
Sophie Vershbow is a freelance journalist who writes a lot about books, reading, and the publishing industry. You might have seen her article about celebrity book ghost writers and about DNFing without guilt.We talk abou…
641. RT Rewind: November 2015 Ads & Features [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:02
It’s time for the Ads & Features from the November 2015 issue of Romantic Times magazine! Our cover story is…the 10th anniversary of Samhain publishing. We’ve got articles on series bibles and rugby romance – and a lot o…
640. Cozy Witchcraft with Lucy Jane Wood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:11
Lucy Jane Wood’s debut book, Rewitched, is out, and we connected to talk all things cozy, witchcraft, all the different 90s witches in pop culture, and the big feelings around turning an age with a zero on the end. Ultim…
639. RT Rewind: November 2015 Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:08
It’s time to take a look at the new books in November 2015 inside Romantic Times! We’ve got spanking and small towns, and a magazine that seems more targeted toward aspiring writers than readers. That yielded a mixed bag…
638. Smart Bitches After Dark - Tara interviews Sarah & Amanda [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:58
Tara Scott, staff writer at SBTB and co-host of the Queerly Recommended podcast, is in the interviewer’s chair, asking Amanda and me questions about Smart Bitches After Dark, our new community support wing. We talk about…
637. RT Rewind October 1988 Ads & Features [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:43
It’s time for the Ads & Features of the October 1988 (!!) issue of Romantic Times Magazine.Y’all. We’ve got:Vintage gossip!Blind items that are very easy to guess!Danielle Steel’s two blue Mercedes!Fuchsia covers with gi…
636. Swordcrossed Cozy Romantasy with Freya Marske [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:53
Freya Marske’s new book Swordcrossed is out this week, and she’s joining us from the other side of the planet to talk about what she calls, “Fantasy of manners, mercantile edition.” We also talk about writing fanfic and…
635. RT Rewind: October 1988 Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:21
It’s time to journey back to the October 1988 issue of Romantic Times!That’s right, we’re going all the way back to 1988, a time when one of us on the show wasn’t born yet. We’ve got absolutely appalling plots, some extr…