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The story of Viva, a 1970’s era erotic magazine for women, is chronicled in “Stiffed” a new podcast from Crooked Media and iHeartPodcasts. The eight-part documentary series tells the story of Viva, created by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione.
In 1973 Guccione launched Viva with an editorial staff made up of mostly feminist writers and editors. The magazine had a relatively short shelf-life of seven years featuring full-frontal male nudes and writings by feminist icons like Betty Friedan, profiles of literary legends like Maya Angelou and cover story stars that included Bianca Jagger and Shelley Duvall.
Author, editor and podcast host Jennifer Romolini hosts “Stiffed” that tells the story of what was originally conceived as a high-end, progressive, sexual utopia for women; but didn’t quite turn out that way.
The first two episodes are out now, with other programs dropping weekly.