Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe “Ebonics” Controversy
Mike tells Sarah how a simple idea in a single school district became a nationwide racial panic. Digressions include slasher movies, Space Invaders a…
7 years, 1 month ago
Terri Schiavo
Mike tells Sarah how the media, the president and the Pope turned a simple medical story into a complicated legal one. Digressions include canine loy…
7 years, 2 months ago
Anna Nicole Smith
Sarah tells Mike how a poor Texas girl made herself into an icon and America made her into a punchline. Digressions include massage technique, “Death…
7 years, 2 months ago
Acid Rain
Mike tells Sarah how an environmental problem became a national rallying cry, a sticky diplomatic issue and, eventually, a conspiracy theory. Digress…
7 years, 2 months ago
Gary Hart
Sarah tells Mike how a sex scandal ruined a rising star and established a new template for American elections. Digressions include "Good Will Hunting…
7 years, 3 months ago
Tammy Faye Bakker and Jessica Hahn
“She only said one thing her whole life”: Sarah tells Mike how two decent women became scapegoats for the actions of one terrible man. Digressions in…
7 years, 3 months ago
Enron
Mike tells Sarah how a "bad apples” explanation kept us from seeing the real scandal at the heart of America's largest corporate bankruptcy. Digressi…
7 years, 3 months ago
The Challenger Disaster
It wasn’t an accident. Mike tells Sarah how the infamous space shuttle disaster came to be seen as a white-collar crime. Digressions include the Donn…
7 years, 4 months ago
“A Dingo’s Got My Baby”
Sarah tells Mike how a tragic story became a hacky catchphrase. Digressions include raccoon anarchists, flu remedies and late-night Arby’s. Sarah's G…
7 years, 4 months ago
The 2000 Election
Mike tells Sarah how a close election and an even closer Supreme Court decision established the political template we're still living with today. Dig…
7 years, 5 months ago