Episode notes
This week, flim flam correspondent and certified April Fool Chelsey Weber-Smith is here to talk about a fistful of fake memoirs, featuring girls raised by wolves; the chicken pox of James Frey; what poetry can give us that memoir can't; and Eugene, Oregon (twice!). Read more about it here: The Smoking Gun's "A Million Little Lies" https://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies Blake Eskin's "The Girl Who Cried Wolf" https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2008/08/18/the-girl-who-cried-wolf-a-holocaust-fairy-tale/ Michelle Dean's "Opal Whiteley's Riddles"…
Podcast
You're Wrong About
Sarah Marshall · History · English
Sarah is a journalist obsessed with the past. Every week she reconsiders a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.
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30 Jun 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Pee-wee Herman Part 1 with Jamie Loftus
What’s today’s secret word? Paul Reubens spent years bringing to life one of America’s most beloved characters, Pee-wee Herman, an icon of joy for weirdos of all ages. In the first of this two part series, Pee-wee superfan-turned-historian Jamie Loftus lets us into the playhouse for a journey through Paul’s early life and art school days, his collaborations and relationships, and the beginnings of a kind of fame that would blur the line between character and creator. More about Jamie Loftus: https://www.jamieloftus.xyz/ Support You're Wrong About: Bonus Episodes on PatreonBuy cute merchWhere…
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11 Jun 2025 · 1 hr 25 min
The Hitler Diaries with Adrian Daub
What happens when you’re just a little too good at forging the diaries of Adolf Hitler? And why did so many people want to read them? In 1983, the West German news magazine Stern bought sixty volumes of forged journals and held a press conference to announce their publication. This week, Adrian Daub of podcasts In Bed With the Right and The Feminist Present is here to tell us all about what would be the publishing hoax to end all hoaxes…if only the book in question wasn’t so boring. More about Adrian Daub:https://www.adriandaub.com/ More about the Hitler Diaries (German language podcast):…
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24 May 2025 · 1 hr 16 min
Coyotes! with Lulu Miller
Who is out there behind the howling midnight parties in the distance? For generations we have coexisted in varying degrees of rivalry, conflict, and admiration with the North American canine known as the coyote. From pre-colonization to our modern backyards, through the wild west and the streets of San Francisco, award-winning NPR science reporter and YWA Maligned Animal correspondent Lulu Miller takes our pack on a journey toward a better understanding of these resilient creatures.*EDITOR'S NOTE: Lulu Miller would like to submit a correction to her statement that Ronald Reagan put a band on…
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7 May 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Inventing the Teenager with Harmony Colangelo
Where did all these teens come from? Harmony Colangelo, co-host of This Ends at Prom, is here to explain how, before Americans got to worry about what teenagers were up to, we first had to decide what they were—and how a boom in postwar educational films taught a generation of adolescents what not to do.Skipper Learns a Lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8kJzBJrOkU1950 Family Date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8kJzBJrOkUMore about Harmony Colangelo:https://www.instagram.com/veloci_trap_torSupport You're Wrong About:Bonus Episodes on PatreonBuy cute merchWhere else to find…
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15 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Is Your House Too Clean? with Sarah Archer
Have you scrubbed down the top of your fridge lately? Home & garden correspondent Sarah Archer is here to tell us how and when we got so obsessed with the antiseptically clean house as a status symbol, and whether we really need to worry about every bit of dust on that baseboard. Find out more about Sarah Archer:https://www.sarah-archer.com/Support You're Wrong About:Bonus Episodes on PatreonBuy cute merchWhere else to find us:Sarah's other show, You Are GoodLinks:…
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26 Mar 2025 · 24 min
Your Joy and Resilience Stories
At the end of our last episode, we asked you to call in and tell us what has been bringing you joy, connecting you to your community, and where you’ve been finding hope in these last few months. These are some of the responses we wanted to share in hopes that we can all find new ways to survive this world together. Thank you to all who sent us messages; though we couldn’t play them all, we felt inspired listening to each and every one. Support You're Wrong About:Bonus Episodes on PatreonBuy cute merchWhere else to find us:Sarah's other show, You Are GoodLinks:…
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27 Feb 2025 · 1 hr 20 min
The Worst Oscars Ever?? with Michael Schulman
What do Lily Tomlin, Snow White, and Kenny Ortega have in common? They were all part of the 61st Academy Awards, a broadcast now remembered as the worst of all time, and masterminded by Allan Carr (lover of spectacle and producer of Grease). But awards season correspondent and New Yorker staff writer Michael Schulman is here to argue that the tackiest, most disastrous Oscars of all time might just be... unfairly maligned. And to tell us what's bringing you joy and excitement right now, send us a voice memo (three minutes or shorter) at sloppyandalive (at) gmail (dot) com. We can't wait to…
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12 Feb 2025 · 1 hr 2 min
Emotional Labor with Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton of Bad Therapist
What is "emotional labor," and why is it probably not what your boyfriend accuses you of making him do when you want him to go to Ikea with you? Psychotherapist Ash Compton and journalist Rachel Monroe are here to tell the tale of how the term sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild coined—in her 1983 book The Managed Heart—has come to mean, well, almost everything. How is the term still useful? How can we use therapy language as a tool for growth or an excuse for avoiding it? And whose job is it to do these dishes? Happy Valentine's Day from You're Wrong about and Bad Therapist. Bad Therapist…
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30 Jan 2025 · 1 hr 5 min
Alice Kyteler and the First Witchcraft Trial in Ireland with Molly Aitken
In County Kilkenny, Ireland, in an early year of a century not too long before our own, Alice Kyteler was accused of witchcraft. But the story doesn't end there. This week, Molly Aitken—author of BRIGHT I BURN—is here to tell us a tale where the more things* change, the more they stay the same. (*Men) Read Molly's books:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2204198/molly-aitken/ This month's bonus episode on Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook Book: https://www.patreon.com/posts/121131515?pr=true LINKS! for fire relief and mutual…
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13 Jan 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Aron Ralston with Blair Braverman
What would you do if you were pinned down by an 800-pound boulder, and no one knew where you were? In 2003, Aron Ralston had to answer that question. Today, our survival correspondent Blair Braverman is here to tell us the tale of the man, the myth, and the multitool.Blair Braverman tells us how the legendary story of one good dog is actually a story of two good dogs. Read Blair’s book, Small Game:https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063066175Read Blair’s Patreon (and learn more about sled dogs!):https://www.patreon.com/bravermountainSupport You're Wrong About:Bonus Episodes on PatreonBuy…
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