Podcast Summary: Decoder Ring | Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane’s VHS Revolution (Encore)

Host: Willa Paskin (Slate Podcasts)
Date: September 10, 2025
Episode Length: ~55 minutes (ads and non-content skipped)

Overview of the Episode

This episode, a reprise of the second part of Decoder Ring’s Jane Fonda series, unravels the extraordinary story of how Jane Fonda—Hollywood actress, political lightning rod, and activist—became a fitness icon and changed the way Americans viewed exercise, celebrity, and even home video. Host Willa Paskin explores the paradoxical journey of “Hanoi Jane” into “Exercise Jane,” examining how Fonda’s public persona evolved, how her workout video shaped a cultural phenomenon, and why her political controversies both shadowed and, at times, were eclipsed by her subsequent mass appeal. The episode delves into the making of the original workout tape, the impact of Fonda’s activism (especially regarding Vietnam), and the deep generational divides in public memory of her legacy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mystery at the Heart of Jane Fonda’s Reinvention

• Fonda, at the zenith of her acting and her notoriety as a divisive activist, launched an exercise video—an odd pivot that initially puzzled many, including Paskin herself.
• Quote:
  • “It is mysterious to me thinking about all the facets of Jane Fonda…truly and fairly controversial political activist…got into everyone’s homes…mastermind, aerobics instructor. It’s such a weird thing. She wanted to do that and then she did it. Like, what?” (Willa Paskin, 02:04)

2. The Beginnings: Activism, Hollywood, & the Workout’s Political Roots

• Fonda’s exercise business was initially designed to fund the Campaign for Economic Democracy (CED), the progressive organization she co-founded with then-husband Tom Hayden.
• The workout studio, book, and later video directly supported CED’s mission. The CED’s existence and funding set Fonda’s early workout efforts apart from pure commercial ventures.
• Quote:
  • “[Fonda’s] initial workout studio [was] to fund the CED…Her book made money for the CED…The entity that encompassed all facets of the workout business. By 1982…proceeds from Workout Inc. were providing CED with at least $30,000 a month.” (Willa Paskin, 11:02)

3. The Birth of the Workout Video (and the VHS Revolution)

• At the time (1982), home video was nascent (only 2 million VCR-equipped homes). The idea of an exercise video was almost alien—the vast majority of home video was rentals, not purchases; most were movies or adult content.
• Stuart Carl and wife Debbie Carl were instrumental in connecting with Fonda to make the video.
• Fonda was initially reluctant:
  • Quote:
    • “He called me and I said, no…because I thought, well, that really will affect my career as an actor. I mean, I can’t do both.” (Fonda, 12:03)
  • Fonda only agreed after CED convinced her, and she hired her politically seasoned friend Sidney Galante as director.
• The first tape was filmed on a shoestring, in a studio recreated to mimic her classes.
  • Quote:
    • “I mean, it was spit and prayer.” (Jane Fonda, 14:42)

4. The Workout Video’s Immediate and Lasting Impact (16:14 – 17:33)

• The video exceeded expectations, eventually selling 17 million copies and creating multiple new commercial categories—including the “for sale” video and the celebrity exercise video.
• Spurred huge exercise video boom (by 1992, US fitness video sales totaled $415 million).
• Fonda’s nationwide promotional tour — “Exercise 82” — further cemented her image and broadened her reach, transitioning her from “controversial activist” to “relatable home fitness coach.”

5. The Political Backdrop: Vietnam, Hanoi Jane, and Memory (19:10 – 32:04)

• Paskin explores Fonda’s political activism—focusing on her divisive role in the anti-Vietnam War movement, her 1972 Hanoi trip, and ensuing “Hanoi Jane” legend.
• At the height of Vietnam controversy, Fonda was surveilled by the Nixon Administration, targeted in political attacks, and suffered real career consequences (“gray-listed” in Hollywood).
• Contextualizes the delayed public backlash:
  • “For all of the people who were angry at Fonda, there were even more who were not angry with her, who shared her views on this deeply unpopular war…” (Mary Hirshberger, 30:38)
• Fonda’s reputation underwent rehabilitation by late 1970s—admiration for her activism grew as the country’s views shifted.

6. How “Exercise Jane” Rewrote the Narrative (36:00 – 47:24)

• Fonda’s workout tape success changed her public image, making her into “the woman in your house encouraging you to make it burn” instead of the radical “Hanoi Jane.”
  • Notable Quote:
    • “When you’re on television and you’re coming into somebody’s home…becomes a far more intimate relationship.” (Jane Fonda, 36:59)
• The tape’s success paved the way for a cascade of celebrity workout tapes (Debbie Reynolds, Richard Simmons, Mary Lou Retton, Cher, and many more).
• By mid-1980s, Fonda was known more for fitness than for film or activism (“What about the causes I’m fighting for? It made me uneasy… I didn’t want pelvic tilt to define me.” – Jane Fonda, 42:45)
• Yet in 1987, as Fonda’s fitness empire was at its peak, the “Hanoi Jane” controversy was rekindled by Vietnam veterans and grew into a cultural myth, thanks to the political environment of the Reagan era.

7. The Persistence and Afterlife of “Hanoi Jane”

• By the late ’80s and ’90s, “Hanoi Jane” legend exploded with misinformation, culminating in demands for her treason prosecution and viral urban legends (even in the pre-internet era).
• Despite this, Fonda’s exercise videos remained popular and kept coming, remaining a fixture for a generation.
• Fonda’s attempts to apologize for her Vietnam actions did little to quell the controversy, but her broader influence on American exercise norms and lifestyle branding persisted.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It is like mysterious to me thinking about all the facets of Jane Fonda…truly and fairly controversial political activist…got into everyone’s homes…mastermind, aerobics instructor. It’s such a weird thing.” – Willa Paskin (02:04)
• “I thought, well, that really will affect my career as an actor. I mean, I can’t do both.” – Jane Fonda (12:03)
• “I mean, it was spit and prayer.” – Jane Fonda on the production of the first tape (14:42)
• “When you’re on television and you’re coming into somebody’s home…then the relationship between you and the audience changes a lot. It becomes far more intimate.” – Jane Fonda (36:59)
• “This was when Hanoi Jane was turned into an art form during the Reagan administration. That was when it really escalated…they thought, aha, we can scare people away from joining any anti-war movement by turning Jane Fonda into a pariah.” – Jane Fonda (47:00)
• “I will go to my grave regretting the fact that I was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun.” – Jane Fonda (48:01)
• “It isn’t easy for me to accept the fact that many young people, if they know me at all, know me as the woman in the exercise video that their mother used.” – Jane Fonda (from her memoir, quoted at 51:00)
• “Are they using you?…I hope they use me. What am I here for if not to be used by good people for good things?” – Jane Fonda (52:10)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:41 – Paskin introduces the central mystery: how did Fonda go from activism to ’80s fitness icon?
• 08:17 – Origin of the Jane Fonda Workout video, the video market, and Stuart Carl’s involvement.
• 12:03 – Fonda’s reluctance and eventual acceptance to make a fitness tape.
• 14:42 – Filming the iconic video: production anecdotes.
• 16:14 – 17:33 – Rise to fitness phenomenon; how the video changed American consumer habits.
• 19:10 – 32:04 – Deep dive into Fonda’s activism, the Vietnam era, and transformation of her public persona.
• 36:00 – Reagan jokes about Fonda’s workout; analysis of her changing image.
• 36:59 – Fonda on the intimacy of home video.
• 38:04 – 42:24 – Explosion of the celebrity fitness video genre; Fonda’s ambivalence about her new identity.
• 45:49 – 47:24 – “Hanoi Jane” legend’s resurgence; shifting political context.
• 48:01 – Fonda’s regrets and public apologies.
• 50:11 – 51:00 – The generational split in Fonda’s legacy: political icon vs. fitness guru.
• 52:10 – Jane Fonda on being “used” for good causes.

Conclusion & Takeaways

• Jane Fonda’s workout tapes did not just create a multi-million dollar fitness industry—they transformed how Americans used home video, normalized women’s fitness, and reshaped the arc of celebrity branding, even as her own political history was hotly debated.
• The episode draws a larger lesson about cultural memory, generational shifts in reputation, and how figures like Fonda can become both symbols and scapegoats, their legacies refracted through changing social and political climates.
• Ultimately, the Jane Fonda Workout was only one facet of a multi-decade public life, a life that has included activism, controversy, reinvention—and the relentless pursuit of “things that matter.”

Memorable closing:

Jane Fonda: “What am I here for if not to be used by good people for good things?” (52:11)

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode is rich in cultural history, personal testimony, and analysis—tracing how Jane Fonda went from pariah to pioneer and back again, and how one VHS tape helped change America’s relationship to both exercise and celebrity. If you want an episode that dissects the intersection of politics, pop culture, and identity, this is essential listening.