You're Wrong About

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas •

In the second part of our series, pop culture historian Jamie Loftus takes us through the meteoric r...

Mon, 30 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What’s today’s secret word? Paul Reubens spent years bringing to life one of America’s most be...

Wed, 11 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What happens when you’re just a little too good at forging the diaries of Adolf Hitler? And why di...

Sat, 24 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Who is out there behind the howling midnight parties in the distance? For generations we have coexis...

Wed, 07 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Where did all these teens come from? Harmony Colangelo, co-host of This Ends at Prom, is here to exp...

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Have you scrubbed down the top of your fridge lately? Home & garden correspondent Sarah Archer i...

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, flim flam correspondent and certified April Fool Chelsey Weber-Smith is here to talk abou...

Wed, 26 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

At the end of our last episode, we asked you to call in and tell us what has been bringing you joy, ...

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What do Lily Tomlin, Snow White, and Kenny Ortega have in common? They were all part of the 61st Aca...

Wed, 12 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What is "emotional labor," and why is it probably not what your boyfriend accuses you of m...

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In County Kilkenny, Ireland, in an early year of a century not too long before our own, Alice Kytele...

Sun, 12 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What would you do if you were pinned down by an 800-pound boulder, and no one knew where you were? I...

Wed, 01 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

There's one last present at the toe of our stocking, and it's a new album by producer Caro...

Mon, 23 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

'Twas (the night before) the night before Christmas/ And all through the show/ We await Sarah A...

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Miles Klee can’t take it anymore. This week, a tale of corporate intrigue, world domination, and s...

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 17:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"Our alleged serial killers deserve better than this." Was Elizabeth Báthory the most pro...

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 11:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts/ Covens of witches with all of their hosts/ You ma...

Fri, 18 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah and Che...

Sat, 12 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Kellie Carter Jackson, author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, is here to take ...

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 13:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"Times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought nece...

Wed, 18 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Or, is it legal to have gay sex in your own home? This week, Marcus McCann takes us back to the 2003...

Wed, 04 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"As long as the law is male, women must be outlaws." — Linnea Johnson This week, Moira...

Mon, 19 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we travel back to the 80s, when America’s parents decided to freak out over some kids ro...

Mon, 05 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Maggie Mertens tells us a tale of the first women who fought to run the marathon, and of one woman w...

Mon, 22 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What is “originalism,” and what does it have to do with all these bribes? Mackenzie Joy Brennan ...

Wed, 10 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The city of Cleveland will not be made to apologize for its balloons. Harmony Colangelo defends the ...

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 10:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Taylor Lorenz fights our latest moral panic. Are phones really making kids anxious, or ar...

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth, came by to catch us up on the last few decades of American im...

Wed, 29 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah Archer came by to make an episode from scratch. What's the real history of the American h...

Tue, 14 May 2024 17:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Today, Princess Weekes takes us to meet the real Rosa Parks.Find Princess on YouTube: Princess’ vi...

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 23:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Let's go outside in the sunshine.   An extended cut of this episode is available for Patreon ...

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

He turned a bright spark into a flame.(Part 1 of 2!)You can buy Marcus McCann's book, Park Crui...

Mon, 01 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah talks with Chelsey Weber-Smith, host of American Hysteria, about some of their favorite hoaxes...

Mon, 25 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Celebrity correspondent Eve Lindley came by to tell us about Britney Spears' memoir The Woman i...

Mon, 18 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In 1974, Robert Opel ran naked through the Academy Awards telecast, and into American history. Today...

Mon, 04 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Blair Braverman tells us how the legendary story of one good dog is actually a story of two good dog...

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 07:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, writer Miles Klee tells us why we have to take our shoes off at the airport.Read Miles Kl...

Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Harmony Colangelo tiptoes through the tulips with us. You can find Harmony at This Ends ...

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 10:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

During what should’ve been Roe v. Wade’s 51st birthday week, Sarah and reproductive health polic...

Mon, 08 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah teams up with writer and editor Julie Kliegman—author of the hotly anticipated book MIND GAM...

Wed, 27 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The Exorcist turns 50 this week, so we invited Marlena Williams, author of Night Mother: A Personal ...

Mon, 11 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“The creatures outside looked from influencer to human, and from human to influencer, and from hum...

Mon, 27 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mulder and Scully were busy this week, so Monroe and Marshall are on the case. Did UFOs really trave...

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, celebrity correspondent Eve Lindley tells Sarah about why we should all be thankful for A...

Mon, 30 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, American Hysteria’s Chelsey Weber-Smith gives Sarah some exposure therapy.You can find ...

Mon, 16 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Forty whacks with a wet noodle, Bart! This week, Princess Weekes tells Sarah the true story of the c...

Mon, 02 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"What is it about the culture that has conditioned us to favor the wants and needs and desires,...

Mon, 18 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Here's one from our bonus vault: you sent in your stories about moments when you found yourselv...

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 12:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Like so many other mostly imaginary topics, human trafficking is in the news again. Michael Hobbes—...

Mon, 21 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Heather Radke brings us a tale of pageants, eugenics, and butts.You can find Heather onli...

Mon, 07 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Sarah tells her favorite kind of story to American Hysteria’s Chelsey Weber-Smith: one ...

Mon, 17 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Why don’t something happen?” Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in 1934, but their legend ge...

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 13:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, we bring you a re-release from our bonus vault as Sarah tells Carolyn Kendrick about the ...

Mon, 26 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Sports Illustrated’s Julie Kliegman volleys with Sarah about trans athlete Renée Richa...

Mon, 12 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Fly with us, lesbian seagull. This week Radiolab’s Lulu Miller brings us a story of queer nature a...

Mon, 29 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“I felt that empathy like it was directed towards me, and it helped me feel like my unhappiness wa...

Mon, 15 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“What if you were writing a profile on someone named Janet and I was your editor, and I was like, ...

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 09:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

 In 1988, twenty-year-old American figure skater Debi Thomas headed to the Calgary Olympics to face...

Mon, 10 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, we fight the real enemy with Allyson McCabe. Here's where to find Allyson online he...

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 11:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, national treasure Amanda Knox talks with Sarah about what the American legal system claim...

Mon, 13 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, criminal justice correspondent Josie Duffy Rice dives into America’s obsession with pro...

Mon, 27 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, survival correspondent Blair Braverman tells Sarah the story of a Supertramp. In 1996, Jo...

Mon, 13 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, a tale of two Shawns/Seans, their impossible dream, and the file sharing service that liv...

Mon, 30 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this episode, Carolyn and Sarah follow Karen from the height of her fame through her struggle to ...

Mon, 16 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Long ago and oh so far away, Carolyn and Sarah fell in love with Karen Carpenter when they saw her d...

Mon, 26 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

On October 14, 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland, Texas. This week, Sar...

Mon, 12 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

They’re winsome and soft and so fun to cuddle/ With one of Ty’s Beanie Babies, you could never g...

Sun, 27 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Put on your Docksiders for a stroll through history with Avery Trufelman, who shows us how Ivy style...

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 12:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How did Poltergeist get that PG rating? Podcast legend Karina Longworth, host of You Must Remember T...

Mon, 31 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our survival correspondent Blair Braverman is here to tell us the story of Uruguayan Air Force Fligh...

Mon, 17 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Abortion is healthcare and abortion is a human right. Abortion is racial justice. It’s economic...

Mon, 03 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Why is it so hard to find the one thing you need? The Atlantic’s Amanda Mull is here to tell us th...

Sun, 11 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Mike and Sarah reunite to hunt for serial killers, and try to figure out whether they’r...

Mon, 29 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

You may:1. Travel on the established trail2. Take the Hastings CutoffWhat is your choice?Chelsey Web...

Mon, 15 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we’re taking the back roads with Rachel Monroe, who tells us how the most prolific seria...

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 10:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Here’s some money, go see a Porn War. This week we’re going on a field trip to Times Square with...

Mon, 18 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Eric Michael Garcia tells Sarah about America’s barely forgotten pastime, plus the Supr...

Mon, 04 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Carmen complete their epic trilogy by meeting Rick Emerson on the edge of Mount Doom to di...

Mon, 20 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we’re dishing up a mouthwatering feast of history, gossip, and white collar crime. Guest...

Mon, 06 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Sarah tries to solve the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, in which nine experienced ...

Mon, 23 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Where did all these prisons come from? WBEZ’s Shannon Heffernan is here to give us part of the ans...

Mon, 09 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we begin our journey into the totally true not at all made up diary that has been scaring ...

Mon, 25 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We want to play a game. This week, Dana Schwartz stuffs us in an iron maiden and explains why the mo...

Sun, 10 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How did the information superhighway get so gridlocked? Guest Anne Helen Petersen tells Sarah the st...

Mon, 28 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What do Chopin, Kylie Jenner, baby carrots, and the War of the Worlds all have in common? They’re ...

Mon, 14 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Laci Mosley (Scam Goddess) tells Sarah about Linda Taylor and the origins of the Welfare Queen myth ...

Mon, 07 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today. Josh Gondelman is here to laugh and cry with...

Sun, 20 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Josie Duffy Rice and Sarah discuss the role of junk science in the criminal justice system. It is a ...

Sun, 06 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In this final installment of the Amityville Horror Winter Book Club, Sarah tells guest host Jamie Lo...

Mon, 24 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Willa Paskin (of Slate's Decoder Ring) brings Sarah back to 2005, when Tom Cruise jumping on a ...

Mon, 10 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Jessica Chastain and Sarah discuss Tammy Faye Bakker. Chastain is the star and a producer of the new...

Sun, 02 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah continues telling guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, and the two touch on gh...

Sun, 19 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, how it’s a Christmas story, and w...

Sun, 05 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Jamelle Bouie explains to Sarah what the Reconstruction era was, why it remains relevant today, and ...

Sun, 21 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Emma Berquist stops by to tell us about how true crime doesn't have to make us better people, a...

Sun, 07 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special Guest Jamie Loftus tells Sarah about Ed and Lorraine Warren (of The Conjuring and Annabelle ...

Mon, 25 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Dana Schwartz tells Sarah about Catherine the Great. Topics of interest include the ve...

Mon, 11 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

An announcement!Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PaypalBuy stickers, magnets, T-sh...

Mon, 27 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

From our friends at Maintenance Phase, the story of how Nestlé executives, global health institutio...

Mon, 13 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a tragic story became a national punchline and a decades-long moral panic. Digr...

Mon, 06 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

While our next episode's in the oven,  enjoy this gem from the YWA vault!Support us:Subscribe ...

Mon, 23 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, the defense hires Alan Dershowitz, Marcia Clark questions witnesses and Jill Shively trie...

Mon, 09 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we debunk Mike Warnke right out of his cabin and into the lake, using Cornerstone Magazine...

Mon, 26 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We finish our San Bernardino joyride through Mike Warnke’s 1972 “memoir” with a hex, a horribl...

Mon, 12 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We continue our journey through Mike Warnke's 1972 "memoir" about his rise through th...

Mon, 28 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike return to Camp You're Wrong About for another Satanic Panic story hour. This tim...

Mon, 07 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike and Sarah have big feelings about an enduring debate. Digressions include “Carrie,” party p...

Mon, 03 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about an impending conflict, a dissident singer and America's first internet-e...

Mon, 19 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how liberal magazines turned a "kids these days" moral panic into a natio...

Mon, 05 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Bob Shapiro is on a mission from God, F. Lee Bailey joins the Dream Team, and we get in our DeLorean...

Mon, 22 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Cassie da Costa tells Mike and Sarah how Vanessa fell from grace and picked herself ba...

Mon, 15 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike reached new levels of rantiness on his other show and we wanted to make sure all our beloved de...

Mon, 08 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a 20-year-old singer, actress and French horn player became Miss America with l...

Mon, 01 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah's other show has a special guest! Maintenance Phase co-host Aubrey Gordon visits Why Are ...

Mon, 22 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

To tell the story of the "dream team" we must begin by going back to the future. This week...

Mon, 15 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah the real reason Congress called a bunch of rockers to Washington D.C. Digressions i...

Mon, 08 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a congressional wife started a moral crusade. Digressions include Sheena Easton...

Mon, 01 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Eric Michael Garcia tells Mike and Sarah about the deep roots of a pernicious modern m...

Mon, 25 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, we put on our suits and head back to the courtroom. O.J. Simpson pleads not guilty, Marci...

Mon, 18 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a troll-ish experiment turned a South Carolina teenager into one of the most ma...

Mon, 11 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we talk about the early days of Paula and O.J.’s relationship and the celebrity cameos r...

Mon, 28 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week we return to the  O.J. Simpson trial and learn what Paula Barbieri did after the Bronco c...

Mon, 21 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah the complicated story of an over-simplified study. Digressions include Tonya Hardin...

Mon, 07 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah what makes older Americans more vulnerable to misinformation — and who is deliver...

Mon, 30 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about the thrilling conclusion to a children’s labor action and an overlooked Dis...

Mon, 23 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about media history, labor organizing, century-old moral panics — and the unlikel...

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 07:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Was Harvey Milk's killer really given a light sentence after claiming that junk food made him d...

Mon, 16 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Topical episode! Special guest Jamelle Bouie tells Sarah and Mike about his problematic Founding Fat...

Mon, 09 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“You can be a hot mess express and still leave the world better than you found it.” In the final...

Mon, 02 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Diana leaves the royal family with her reputation intact and her title slightly edited. D...

Sat, 31 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

What if the scariest thing in America is unfettered capitalism and unaccountable corporations? Sourc...

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 02:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

 Mike comes on Sarah’s new show to talk about robots, dads, the little metal hands guys and &quot...

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 02:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike has a new podcast! Here's the first episode, in which he debunks the absurd Cold War traum...

Mon, 19 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Mike and Sarah dissect the Creepy Encounters subreddit and how to handle our creepy feeli...

Mon, 12 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Diana swaps out her husband for a Horse Dude and Mike and Sarah act out other people&apos...

Mon, 05 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Diana gets married, joins her new family and meets the press. Digressions include Judy Ga...

Mon, 28 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We start our new series with the story of a girl, a prince and the society that convinced them they ...

Mon, 21 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

For our 100th episode, American Hysteria host Chelsey Weber-Smith visits our campfire to tell us abo...

Mon, 14 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“It’s like these men are being held in a bubble as science marches forward.” Mike tells Sarah ...

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about the longest "non-therapeutic" experiment in medical history. Digres...

Mon, 31 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Sarah makes a Nancy Grace-style argument against the prosecution. Digressions include &ap...

Thu, 27 Aug 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about her new foray into Dad Studies and, for the second time this week, discusses ...

Mon, 24 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about the real-life conspiracy written between the lines of a 1970s horror novel. D...

Mon, 10 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In another "mini" episode that accidentally turned mega, Mike tells Sarah about the Wayfai...

Mon, 03 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a silly sports promotion galvanized a reactionary movement. Digressions include...

Mon, 27 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about the most common forms of violence in America and how they differ (twist!) fro...

Mon, 20 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Sarah walks Mike through Nancy Grace’s prosecution of American juries. Cameos include M...

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike tell Laura and Adrian about how we met, how we research and what we would say to Jess...

Mon, 13 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, Nancy Grace makes her case against defense attorneys in general and Scott Peterson’s la...

Mon, 06 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“It’s interesting that we became enthusiastic about ASL in the process of teaching it to a popul...

Mon, 29 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Candace Opper tells Mike and Sarah how a grunge star became the protagonist in one of ...

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“The criminal justice system should treat everyone like a white teenage girl whose future it’s c...

Thu, 18 Jun 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how a superhero’s genesis was a supervillain’s origin story all along. In our n...

Wed, 17 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

On June 17, 1994, the world screeched to a halt so 95 million Americans could watch a white SUV craw...

Mon, 08 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“You really shouldn’t date people who go in thinking, ’This person has good bones but they’r...

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In honor of Pride Month and revolutions past, present, and future, we're re-releasing our episo...

Mon, 01 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“I’m being pulled into planet myth … and I like it here.” Special guest Dana Schwartz tells ...

Thu, 28 May 2020 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We discuss Jessica's reality-show marriage and its painfully ordinary end. Digressions include ...

Mon, 25 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“It’s a mess and a nightmare and maybe it’s disingenuous to think you can turn the story of so...

Thu, 14 May 2020 03:59:18 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Her parents’ financial success is dependent on her abdomen.” This week, Jessica moves to L.A....

Thu, 07 May 2020 03:39:07 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our journey through late-'90s pop stardom begins with an intervention and ends with an audition...

Mon, 04 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how an obscure technical glitch became a nationwide mobilization. Digressions inclu...

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 03:32:22 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

We conclude our book club with Michelle's escape from the dungeon. The dead baby trend continue...

Mon, 27 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about the clash of the titans, the fury at the grand jury. We follow Kato, the wise...

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 03:52:47 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

This week, our lithe psychiatrist takes his favorite patient hiking, a priest burns some furniture a...

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 10:35:42 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike continue into the depths. With Dr. Pazder home from Mexico, he and Michelle continue ...

Mon, 13 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“What’s sad about her has nothing to do with the content of her character.” Special guest Dana...

Mon, 06 Apr

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike continue their journey into the book that launched a thousand lawsuits. Michelle and ...

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 03:34:24 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about a dying industry, a dangerous car and the Pulitzer Prize-winning article that...

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 03:29:53 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah describes the spark that ignited the Satanic Panic. Our setting is a therapist’s office in 1...

Mon, 23 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

In the final chapter of our series on the D.C. sniper attacks, Mike finally tells Sarah about the D....

Mon, 09 Mar

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about a week in the life of Marcia Clark, who became America’s most famous prosec...

Mon, 24 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about the indoctrination of Lee Boyd Malvo and the beginning of the sniper attacks....

Fri, 14 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Valentine’s Day re-release! Sarah and Mike reflect on one of the only love stories they’ve ever ...

Mon, 10 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Every big fish you catch, you end up with a hole in the net.” Mike tells Sarah how America’s ...

Mon, 03 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a nice Jamaican kid became the disciple of a mean American adult. Digressions i...

Mon, 20 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike the ending to the story of the mimbo and the alibi. Digressions include O. Henry, N...

Mon, 06 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“If you’re black, you can’t get work as a serial killer even if you’re manifestly qualified....

Mon, 16 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how an aspiring actor protected and then betrayed Nicole Brown Simpson without know...

Mon, 02 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"There’s no precedent for women in this family being treated like they matter." Sarah te...

Mon, 25 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how NGOs, activists and George W. Bush resurrected the 'stranger danger' ...

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 04:31:46 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how Marcia Clark got the slam-dunk case that ended her career as a trial lawyer. Di...

Fri, 01 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"Centering conversations around blame is not the most useful thing for us to be doing." Sa...

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“You can’t expect people to know the exact kind of help they need.” We continue our deep dive...

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 09:35:20 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike and Sarah begin their epic journey into O.J. Simpson's trial for the murders of Nicole Bro...

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Our first live show! Mike tells Sarah about Janet Jackson, the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show and the...

Tue, 10 Sep 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how the myth of meddling wives serves to exonerate terrible husbands. Digressions i...

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Isn’t it amazing how we can only imagine our monsters capitalistically?” Mike tells Sarah how...

Fri, 16 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“When you allow emotion into the courtroom, bias rushes in alongside it.” Special guest Rachel M...

Wed, 07 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Things are not going to get better if we make the people who scare us seem more powerful.” Mike...

Fri, 26 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“The story that did the most damage to the people in it was the one that made the most money.” S...

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 10:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike the story of a world-class figure skater who worked at a mall potato restaurant. Di...

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Humans aren’t good at remembering what got us where we are.” Mike tells Sarah how a turning p...

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 05:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Once you tell a story incorrectly once, you can’t control where it goes.” Sarah tells Mike ho...

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“We’re uncomfortable with the evidence that teen girls have sexual agency.” Special guest Amy ...

Wed, 05 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“He’s been punished even more than the American prison system can aspire to punish anyone”: Mi...

Tue, 28 May 2019 05:14:39 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

"It just seems like capitalism masquerading as religion": Sarah tells Mike how a horror mo...

Thu, 16 May 2019 05:51:20 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“We want stories that don’t exist in systems”: Mike tells Sarah what happened when Utah set ou...

Thu, 09 May 2019 07:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“Why did we make fun of Dan Quayle for misspelling the word ‘potato’ when we should have made ...

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 03:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a 5-year-old kid transformed a city, divided a political party and (maybe) dete...

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 04:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how an aspiring rich kid became an emblem of a world he didn't belong to. Digr...

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 05:00:00 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a simple idea in a single school district became a nationwide racial panic. Dig...

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 05:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how the media, the president and the Pope turned a simple medical story into a comp...

Wed, 20 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how a poor Texas girl made herself into an icon and America made her into a punchli...

Fri, 15 Feb

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how an environmental problem became a national rallying cry, a sticky diplomatic is...

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how a sex scandal ruined a rising star and established a new template for American ...

Fri, 25 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

“She only said one thing her whole life”: Sarah tells Mike how two decent women became scapegoat...

Wed, 16 Jan

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a "bad apples” explanation kept us from seeing the real scandal at the h...

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 08:00:00 -0800

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It wasn’t an accident. Mike tells Sarah how the infamous space shuttle disaster came to be seen as...

Wed, 19 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how a tragic story became a hacky catchphrase. Digressions include raccoon anarchis...

Wed, 12 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a close election and an even closer Supreme Court decision established the poli...

Mon, 03 Dec

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about the sad reality — and the terrible man — behind the infamous Long Island ...

Wed, 21 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Megan Burbank tells us about the history, limitations and loopholes of a landmark cour...

Wed, 14 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how a false rape allegation became a right-wing rallying cry and a left-wing conspi...

Wed, 07 Nov

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how a case of marital rape and spontaneous mutilation became a national punchline. ...

Wed, 31 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

How inflated statistics, cultural anxieties and moral crusaders turned a tiny number of missing chil...

Wed, 24 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Razorblades in apples, babysitters on acid, killers in backseats and "rainbow parties": In...

Wed, 17 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how Ed Gein became one of America’s most famous serial killers despite not actual...

Mon, 08 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah how an over-simplified diagnosis, over-confident doctors and over-zealous prosecuto...

Mon, 01 Oct

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike how pop culture created a two-decade-long obsession with multiple personality disor...

Wed, 19 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah that America has sent the wrong messages and done the wrong things about obesity fo...

Mon, 17 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Rachel Monroe (re-)joins Mike and Sarah to talk about all the myths surrounding the se...

Mon, 10 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah why the biggest scandal of Reagan's presidency provides more (depressing) less...

Sat, 01 Sep

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike that shoddy policing (and Milwaukee generally) are responsible for one of America&a...

Sat, 18 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah that the D.A.R.E. program did not, in fact, keep kids off drugs. But that’s just ...

Sat, 04 Aug

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike that animal behavior is an imperfect template for human society. Digressions includ...

Sat, 28 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Candace Opper tells Mike and Sarah about how the death of a rock star changed the fiel...

Sat, 21 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about how America's favorite gangster movie is really its favorite killing-the...

Sat, 14 Jul

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike take a break from debunking to reflect on the first 10 episodes and tell the secret h...

Sat, 30 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah that America’s most devastating oil spill was not, in fact, a DUI. Digressions in...

Sun, 24 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about how snuff films don't exist but lots of near-snuff films do. Digressions...

Sat, 16 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah what's really behind the phrase “drinking th...

Sat, 09 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Part two of our epic dissection of the Clinton impeachment scandal. This week: The story breaks, the...

Sat, 02 Jun

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah and Mike talk about what America forgot — and never learned — about history’s most famou...

Sat, 26 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about the complicated legacy of Anita Hill and the not-particularly-complicated fac...

Sun, 20 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

It’s not a real thing! … OR IS IT? Sarah tells Mike about the convoluted history of a contested ...

Sat, 12 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

But not how you think! Special guest Mike Owens tells Sarah and Mike about the (attempted) debunking...

Sat, 05 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah that the TV movies of her childhood were both less and more problematic than she re...

Fri, 04 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Sarah tells Mike about the long history of white anxiety over black motherhood. Continue reading →...

Thu, 03 May 2018 09:59:38 -0700

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

Mike tells Sarah about the rash of mass shootings carried out by postal workers in the '80s and...

Wed, 02 May

Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset

The 1980s were real but the Satanists weren't. Sarah tells Mike about why America spent a decad...