Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss Americ...

Free yourself. What does it take to get someone to leave a cult? What happens if the cult is all around us? In this episode, Ben Brock Johnson & Amory Sivertson of NPR’s Endless Thread podcast join Sarah for a discussion about the cultier aspects of our culture, politics, and his ...  Show more

From the bonus vault!What actually makes a movie “bad”? In this bonus episode, Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson of the film podcast Unspooled tell Sarah the story of what many consider to be the worst film of all time: the 1987 adventure comedy Ishtar. From the movie’s chaotic produ ...  Show more

There is bouncing back after adversity, and then there is: Vanessa Williams. The talented multi-hyphenate was only 21 years old when she became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America. Yet a controversy surrounding the release of unauthorized nude photos led to her ultim ...  Show more

Cécile Fatiman (1771-1883) facilitated a special ceremony that ignited the Haitian Revolution. This month, we’re talking about Mischief Makers: oddballs, chameleons, and nonconformists. Queens of quick wit. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we ...  Show more

Corazon Aquino (1933-2009) rose above her fears to become the first female president of the Philippines. She led the country to democracy in a way that set a precedent for other countries around the world.You’re probably familiar with rebels without a cause, but what about rebels ...  Show more

In 1983, Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win Miss America. In 1984, a few weeks from the end of her reign, she was forced to step down when she found out Penthouse was going to publish unauthorized nude images of her in their magazine. Williams went on to have a ...  Show more