I was an editor at several different Conde Nast magazines. ROMOLINI: So I was working in women's magazines in the aughts. First, how did you even find out about Viva magazine and the larger story to be told about it? I admit, I'd never heard of this before your podcast. The head of Penthouse magazine partners with feminists to create a progressive erotica magazine for women in the 1970s. JENNIFER ROMOLINI: Well, thank you so much for having me. So how did a progressive and promising women's magazine fizzle out, and why? Those are the questions at the heart of the 'Stiffed' podcast, and its host, Jennifer Romolini, is here to talk more about it. Poet Nikki Giovanni and feminist writer Betty Friedan contributed pieces to the magazine, and the current editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, even served as Viva's first fashion editor.
Viva was one of the first erotica magazines aimed at women and was, in many ways, ahead of its time. It was started in 1973 by Bob Guccione, the publishing magnate behind Penthouse magazine.
'Stiffed' is a new podcast series that tells the story of the short-lived Viva magazine.
