Sarah is a journalist obsessed with the past. Every week she reconsiders a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.
Special guest Megan Burbank tells us about the history, limitations and loopholes of a landmark court ruling. Digressions include Betty Ford, "Maude" and naming conventions for anonymous defendants. The glories of Washington State politics are examined in depth. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah how a false rape allegation became a right-wing rallying cry and a left-wing conspiracy theory. Digressions include JonBenet Ramsay, “24” and “The Vagina Monologues." Mike regrets not commenting on the metaphorical significance of being trapped in the closet throughout the episode. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the s...
Sarah tells Mike how a case of marital rape and spontaneous mutilation became a national punchline. Digressions include Ron Jeremy, Alan Dershowitz, Motörhead and the tortures of self-reflection. Sarah reviews John Wayne Bobbitt's later works. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
How inflated statistics, cultural anxieties and moral crusaders turned a tiny number of missing children into a decade-long political project. Digressions include 1870s parenting, “E.T.” and the lack of parks in Los Angeles. Both co-hosts secretly believe that the popularity of TV movies in the 1980s explains all of America’s social problems. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's oth...
Razorblades in apples, babysitters on acid, killers in backseats and "rainbow parties": In this episode, Mike and Sarah investigate the scary stories Americans tell each other and discover the actual anxieties behind them. Turn on your high beams for this one. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike how Ed Gein became one of America’s most famous serial killers despite not actually being one. Plus, the cinematic villains Gein inspired and what the slasher movies of the 1980s were really about. Digressions include Freud, summer camp logistics and the T-1000. Mike continues to awkwardly insert his teenage crushes into every conversation. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads ...
Mike tells Sarah how an over-simplified diagnosis, over-confident doctors and over-zealous prosecutors combined to get thousands of innocent parents thrown in prison. Digressions include food poisoning, Sherlock Holmes and 1950s medical ethics. Mike wanted to mention Louise Woodward but he forgot. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike how pop culture created a two-decade-long obsession with multiple personality disorder and repressed memories. Digressions include Dead Poets Society, restless leg syndrome and the low editorial standards of the American publishing industry. The Satanic Panic makes a cameo appearance. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the sho...
Mike tells Sarah that America has sent the wrong messages and done the wrong things about obesity for more than half a century. Digressions include height (again), sweatshops and Julianne Moore. Sarah and Mike’s mothers both make extended appearances. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Special guest Rachel Monroe (re-)joins Mike and Sarah to talk about all the myths surrounding the second-biggest news event of the 1990s. Digressions include car crashes, September 11, Diane Sawyer and the terrors of teenage journaling. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah why the biggest scandal of Reagan's presidency provides more (depressing) lessons about current politics than Watergate. Digressions include Mormons, Top Gun and the X-Files. Both co-hosts have considered what they will name their deliberately boring tax-shelter corporations. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike that shoddy policing (and Milwaukee generally) are responsible for one of America's most prolific serial killers. Digressions include panel vans, Anita Bryant, early man and Hannibal Lector. Mike struggles, as usual, not to cry during the gross parts. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah that the D.A.R.E. program did not, in fact, keep kids off drugs. But that’s just the beginning of the debunking. Digressions include Martin Scorsese, Iceland and control groups. Neither co-host was cool enough to be offered drugs in high school. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike that animal behavior is an imperfect template for human society. Digressions include rabbits, Bob’s Burgers and online dating. Mike makes an awkward observation about locker rooms. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Special guest Candace Opper tells Mike and Sarah about how the death of a rock star changed the field of suicidology (which is a thing). Digressions include eating disorders, car crashes and the insane grimness of the term “family annihilation.” The cringe-worthiness of Mike’s teenage years reaches new depths. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Suppor...
Sarah tells Mike about how America's favorite gangster movie is really its favorite killing-the-American-Dream movie. Digressions include the Mona Lisa, Bruce Springsteen and the tyranny of height-ism. The sound quality continues to worsen. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah and Mike take a break from debunking to reflect on the first 10 episodes and tell the secret history of how they met. Digressions include “Portlandia,” Snapchat and the The New York Post. The recording quality, as usual, is wildly inconsistent. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah that America’s most devastating oil spill was not, in fact, a DUI. Digressions include “Titanic" (obviously), the Cuyahoga River, Jennifer Lopez and marshmallows. Punitive damages make a triumphant return. Mike, a professional writer, continues to misuse the word “literally.” Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike about how snuff films don't exist but lots of near-snuff films do. Digressions include "Basic Instinct," gymnastics and YouTube’s righthand bar. Mike is palpably grossed out for at least two-thirds of the episode. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah what's really behind the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid.” Digressions include David Koresh, East Germany and how flower children were the first millennials. Mike inadvertently reveals his prejudice against extroverts. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Part two of our epic dissection of the Clinton impeachment scandal. This week: The story breaks, the House indicts, the Senate demurs and Mike rants more than usual about the media. Digressions include Mark Fuhrman, “Broadcast News” and gay porn. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah and Mike talk about what America forgot — and never learned — about history’s most famous intern. Digressions include generational resentments, 1990s fashion and off-brand colleges. Also, Mike’s microphone breaks about 25 minutes in, so he sounds like he’s recording in a submarine. Sorry! Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah about the complicated legacy of Anita Hill and the not-particularly-complicated facts of her case. Digressions include “Tootsie," Garrison Keillor and the Donner party. Mike, for reasons unknown, seems to believe that one flies “down” from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support t...
It’s not a real thing! … OR IS IT? Sarah tells Mike about the convoluted history of a contested term. Digressions include James Bond, Charlie Manson and rat poison. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
But not how you think! Special guest Mike Owens tells Sarah and Mike about the (attempted) debunking of the gay-bashing victim. Digressions include Leopold and Loeb, Basic Instinct and Rolling Stone. The sound quality is even worse than usual. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah that the TV movies of her childhood were both less and more problematic than she remembers. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Sarah tells Mike about the long history of white anxiety over black motherhood. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
Mike tells Sarah about the rash of mass shootings carried out by postal workers in the '80s and '90s, then brings out the debunkin' turducken. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
The 1980s were real but the Satanists weren't. Sarah tells Mike about why America spent a decade worried about witches running daycare centers. Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase Support the show...
