There's Something About Mary

In 1966, the federal government commissioned a massive survey aimed at solving educational inequality. Instead, the explosive Coleman Report unleashed a 60-year debate over race, resources, and what education in America is actually for. This is the story of how the report came to ...  Show more

For generations, the SAT has loomed large in the lives of teenagers. The quest for a perfect or near-perfect score has filled many test takers with dread. In this episode, a listener's question makes us wonder... who decided the SAT was the best and brightest way to filter studen ...  Show more

In 1906, a New York health department investigation into an outbreak of typhoid fever led to the discovery that a cook, Mary Mallon, was an unsuspecting ""healthy carrier"" of the deadly bacteria. This discovery forever altered Mallon’s life, thrusting her into a national spotlig ...  Show more

Apprehending Mary Mallon was not a one-time affair. After she was forced to quarantine, she was allowed to reenter society under one condition: she would never cook for anyone again. But “Typhoid Mary” refused to play by anyone’s rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod ...  Show more

In 1907, George Soper located the cause of a typhoid outbreak in New York City: a cook named Mary Mallon. Mary didn’t know it, but each and every meal she cooked carried a small chance for her clients to come down with the disease. Finding out the truth could cost Mary her job…an ...  Show more

There are quite a few parallels between Mary Mallon's story (a series of typhoid outbreaks) and our present-day pandemic, and so there are things we can learn from it. But was Mary a villain? Or simply a victim of circumstances? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f ...  Show more