Do you loves it? 2003 was a monumental and genre-defining year for reality television, but there was one show that stood out from the rest: The Simple Life, starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The two socialites lived in Altus, Arkansas for a month and worked (and got fired from) odd jobs to experience "real life." The show made Paris and Nicole household names, and solidified Paris's status as the It Girl of the early aughts. Helen and writer Kirsten King discuss the best moments from The Simple Life Season 1 (all of which, unsurprisingly, are Nicole moments), what The Simple Life would look like today, Paris's outfits on the show, and more.

LINKS

Princess Paris by Vanessa Grigoriadis Rolling Stone 2003 (http://www.vanessagrigoriadis.com/paris.html)

Paris Hilton Nostalgia by Rachel R. White Thought Catalogue 2013 (https://thoughtcatalog.com/rachel-r-white/2013/01/paris-hilton-nostalgia)

Song of the Week - CRAZY IN LOVE! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwtNLUqkMY)

Kirsten's social:

Instagram: @kirstenlking

Twitter: @kirstenking_

Website: https://www.kirstenkingsays.com/about

Watch her movie CRUSH on Hulu!

Is it a coincidence that in the fall/winter of 2003 two shows aired about pairs of wealthy heiress best friends? In our first episode of the two part series on Eat The Rich television, Helen and guest Hannah Becker discuss MTV's Rich Girls, a reality television show starring Ally Hilfiger (daughter of designer Tommy Hilfiger) and Jamie Gleicher (daughter of a different rich guy). The show is perhaps best remembered today for its depiction of the New York City blackout in August '03 — much less impressive upon rewatch sadly — but it's a time capsule show about friendships, early reality programming, and caprese salad. Unlike The Simple Life, which starred fellow heiresses Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, Rich Girls didn't have a format, but what it lacked in structure it made up for in heart.

LINKS

Song of the Week: Dandy Warhols We Used To Be Friends

Income Inequality in the United States 1913-1998 (Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb 2003)

One of the TOP 8 inventions of 2003 was undoubtedly Myspace, which launched in August of ’03 and quickly became one of the most important social networking and music discovery platforms of the aughts. Helen speaks with Tiffany Kwak aka Lawrence, Kansas’s “that girl from Myspace” about her Myspace era and what we lost when we ditched Myspace for Facebook.

LINKS !!

Tangled Up In Spam by James Gleik - NYT Magazine

Oral History of Myspace Music - Stereogum

Song of the Week: Transatlanticism by Deathcab for Cutie