You're Wrong About
You're Wrong About is an American history and pop culture podcast created by journalist Michael Hobbes and writer Sarah Marshall. It has been hosted by Marshall since its inception; Hobbes also hosted until 2021.[1] Launched in May 2018, the show explores misunderstood media events by interrogating why and how the public got things wrong. Show topics have included events like the Challenger Disaster, O. J. Simpson Trial, and the Murder of Kitty Genovese and covered people such as Anna Nicole Smith, Yoko Ono, Tonya Harding, and Lorena Bobbitt.[2] It was named one of the ten best podcasts by Time in 2019.[3]
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| Language | English |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Length | 60–90 minutes (approximate) |
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| Original release | May 2, 2018 |
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| Website | yourewrongabout |
About
Michael Hobbes is an American journalist and a former reporter for HuffPost.[4] He is also the co-host of the podcast Maintenance Phase with Aubrey Gordon, as well as the podcast If Books Could Kill with Peter Shamshiri.[5][6]
Sarah Marshall is an American writer whose work has appeared in BuzzFeed, The Believer, and The New Republic.[7] She is known for an interest in the mischaracterization of women by the mainstream media best demonstrated in her 2014 long-form profile of Tonya Harding.[7] The show began after Hobbes reached out to Marshall and proposed that they try to recreate their deep-dive research processes in audio format.[8] The pair only met in person after recording the show remotely for the first five months.[8]
During each episode, Hobbes and Marshall trade off on researching the show's topic, with one host taking on the research and analysis of a topic and the other coming to the discussion with little-to-no knowledge about the relevant details.[8] Each episode begins with the less informed host sharing what they remember about the person or event in question. Together they then explore the topic in a generally chronological manner, discussing relevant public responses and dominant societal trends from the era, before debunking that response and the subsequent media coverage. Witty observations and pop-culture references are woven in throughout the discussion. The discussions include references to primary resources used during the research process along with and direct quotes from media coverage interviews with relevant players.[9]
In March 2020, the podcast began a quarantine book club in response to COVID-19 lockdowns. The related episodes differ from the regular format as they focus on a single book with one host having read it and the other learning about it over the course of multiple episodes. Books covered include the satanic ritual abuse book Michelle Remembers, Jessica Simpson's autobiography Open Book, and Objection! by American lawyer and television personality Nancy Grace.[10]
The podcast is a part-time effort for both hosts and relies on crowd-funding.[11] The independent nature of the show is rooted in moral concerns about critiquing the media and potential constraints inherent to sponsorship.[11]
In October 2021, it was announced that Hobbes was leaving the podcast and the show would continue with Marshall and guests.[12]
Reception
In 2019, You're Wrong About was named one of the ten best podcasts by Time.[3] Writing for the Irish Times, Sarah Griffin praised the show's conversational tone noting how Hobbes and Marshall "handle incredibly dark subjects with a levity that never feels disrespectful."[13] Rachel Syme compared Hobbes and Marshall as a modern-day Statler and Waldorf, claiming their show is a history podcast that "assumes the audience is capable of complex thought."[8]
Episodes
2018
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Satanic Panic" | The 1980s were real but the Satanists weren't. Sarah tells Mike about why America spent a decade worried about witches running daycare centers. | – | May 2, 2018 |
| 2 | "Going Postal" | 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. | – | May 3, 2018 |
| 3 | "Crack Babies" | Sarah tells Mike about the long history of white anxiety over black motherhood. | – | May 4, 2018 |
| 4 | "Afterschool Specials" | Mike tells Sarah that the TV movies of her childhood were both less and more problematic than she remembers. | – | May 5, 2018 |
| 5 | "Matthew Shepard" | 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. | Mike Owens | May 12, 2018 |
| 6 | "Stockholm Syndrome" | 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. | – | May 20, 2018 |
| 7 | "Anita Hill" | 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. | – | May 26, 2018 |
| 8 | "Monica Lewinsky" | 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! | – | June 2, 2018 |
| 9 | "The Clinton Impeachment" | 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. | – | June 9, 2018 |
| 10 | "The Jonestown Massacre" | 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. | Rachel Monroe | June 16, 2018 |
| 11 | "Snuff Films" | 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. | – | June 25, 2018 |
| 12 | "10th Episode Spectacular!" | 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 New York Post. The recording quality, as usual, is wildly inconsistent. | – | July 14, 2018 |
| 13 | "“The Godfather”" | 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. | – | July 21, 2018 |
| 14 | "Kurt Cobain and “Copycat Suicide”" | 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. | Candace Opper | July 28, 2018 |
| 15 | "Alpha Males" | 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. | – | August 4, 2018 |
| 16 | "D.A.R.E." | 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. | – | August 18, 2018 |
| 17 | "Jeffrey Dahmer" | 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. | – | September 1, 2018 |
| 18 | "Iran-Contra" | 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. | – | September 10, 2018 |
| 19 | "Columbine" | 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. | Rachel Monroe | September 17, 2018 |
| 20 | "The Obesity Epidemic" | 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. | – | September 19, 2018 |
| 21 | "Multiple Personality Disorder" | 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. | – | October 1, 2018 |
| 22 | "Shaken Baby Syndrome" | 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. | – | October 8, 2018 |
| 23 | "Halloween Special! Ed Gein and Slasher Movies" | 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. | – | October 17, 2018 |
| 24 | "Urban Legends Spectacular!" | 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. | – | October 24, 2018 |
| 25 | "Stranger Danger" | 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. | – | October 31, 2018 |
| 26 | "Lorena Bobbitt" | 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. | – | November 7, 2018 |
| 27 | "The Duke Lacrosse Rape Case" | 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. | – | November 14, 2018 |
| 28 | "Roe v. Wade" | 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. | Megan Burbank | November 21, 2018 |
| 29 | "Amy Fisher" | Sarah tells Mike about the sad reality — and the terrible man — behind the infamous Long Island Lolita. Digressions include software terms of service, the rise of beepers and Monica Lewinsky’s LinkedIn profile. Mike, a 36-year-old man, appears not to understand what pimps do. | – | December 3, 2018 |
| 30 | "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. Digressions include quarks, Ouija Boards and (sorry) moral philosophy. The "lemonade theory" turns out to be less fun than it sounds. | – | December 12, 2018 |
| 31 | "“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 Google Alerts will surprise none of our listeners. | – | December 19, 2018 |
2019
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | "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 Donner Party, George Lucas and “Jurassic Park.” Both co-hosts are audibly recovering from colds. | – | January 3, 2019 |
| 33 | "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. Digressions include “Casino,” Thanksgiving economics and corruption catchphrases. Neither co-host truly understands how the stock market works. | – | January 16, 2019 |
| 34 | "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 include Larry Flynt, NPR tote bags and Playboy back issues. This episode contains a detailed description of a sexual assault. | – | January 25, 2019 |
| 35 | "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," People Magazine and Linda Ronstadt. Michael Dukakis is described, for the first time ever, as "the soulmate who was there all along." | – | February 17, 2019 |
| 36 | "Acid Rain" | Mike tells Sarah how an environmental problem became a national rallying cry, a sticky diplomatic issue and, eventually, a conspiracy theory. Digressions include “Alien,” Field & Stream and NRA public service announcements. Both hosts are recovering from colds and one spends the episode under a blanket. | – | February 15, 2019 |
| 37 | "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 Becomes Her” and (obviously) “The Godfather.” Mike sounds even sicker than he did last week. | – | February 20, 2019 |
| 38 | "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 loyalty, unionized space-workers and polyamory logistics. Both co-hosts recorded in tiny rooms, but with very different acoustics. | – | March 5, 2019 |
| 39 | "The “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 and homeschooling. The taglines are becoming more esoteric. | – | April 4, 2019 |
| 40 | "The Preppy Murder" | Sarah tells Mike how an aspiring rich kid became an emblem of a world he didn't belong to. Digressions include drill teams, prep schools and eating disorders. The p-pops are worse than usual. | – | April 18, 2019 |
| 41 | "Elián González" | Mike tells Sarah how a 5-year-old kid transformed a city, divided a political party and (maybe) determined a presidential election. Digressions include World War II, Clarence Darrow and something called "Like, News with Skeeter." Both co-hosts conclude that this episode is somehow an equal-parts mixture of Satanic Panic and Terri Schiavo. | – | April 25, 2019 |
| 42 | "Dan Quayle v. Murphy Brown" | “Why did we make fun of Dan Quayle for misspelling the word ‘potato’ when we should have made fun of him for arguments like this?” Mike tells Sarah how a real vice president blamed a fictional single mom for causing one of the most divisive events of the 1990s. Digressions include "Designing Women," "Alien" and "The Brady Bunch." Listeners finally learn that Sarah has a lovely singing voice. | – | May 9, 2019 |
| 43 | "Homelessness" | “We want stories that don’t exist in systems”: Mike tells Sarah what happened when Utah set out to solve one of America's most intractable problems. Digressions include the Paleo diet, the planet Mars and the inadequacy of the term “up the river.” Jimmy Carter makes an extended cameo appearance. | – | May 16, 2019 |
| 44 | "Exorcism" | "It just seems like capitalism masquerading as religion": Sarah tells Mike how a horror movie resurrected a ritual and established an industry. Digressions include “Avatar,” the NFL and the ethics of book publishing. The final five minutes are an unintentionally concise description of the core moral principle of this show. | – | May 28, 2019 |
| 45 | "The American Taliban" | “He’s been punished even more than the American prison system can aspire to punish anyone”: Mike tells Sarah how John Walker Lindh became a terrorist in the media, a freedom fighter in his own mind and something between the two in reality. Digressions include “Newsies," Bruce Willis and “Candide.” Sarah sneakily reveals her lifelong affection for Howard Stern. | – | June 5, 2019 |
| 46 | "Sexting" | “We’re uncomfortable with the evidence that teen girls have sexual agency.” Special guest Amy Hasinoff tells Mike and Sarah how a moral panic became a legal nightmare. Digressions include Cosmo advice columns, Grindr etiquette and the revolutionary hugging of the "Avengers" movies. Due to the ongoing hex placed on this podcast, the sound quality is worse than usual. | Amy Hasinoff | June 11, 2019 |
| 47 | "Kitty Genovese and “Bystander Apathy”" | “Once you tell a story incorrectly once, you can’t control where it goes.” Sarah tells Mike how The New York Times turned a suburban murder into an urban legend. Digressions include Billy Joel, the World’s Fair and “Ferngully.” This episode marks a triumphant return to Long Island and an unexpected celebration of Pride Month. | – | June 20, 2019 |
| 48 | "The Stonewall Uprising" | “Humans aren’t good at remembering what got us where we are.” Mike tells Sarah how a turning point in the gay rights movement became an immediate controversy, a lasting inspiration and a never-ending debate. Digressions include “Newsies” (of course), “True Romance” and “Norma Rae.” Mike's creaking chair and Sarah's rustling blanket-fort are heard throughout. | – | June 27, 2019 |
| 49 | "Tonya Harding Part 1" | Sarah tells Mike the story of a world-class figure skater who worked at a mall potato restaurant. Digressions include “Sleepless in Seattle,” mall walkers, synchronized diving and the difficulty of skating a perfect pentagram. This episode unfortunately contains descriptions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Tonya deserved better. | – | July 18, 2019 |
| 50 | "Tonya Harding Part 2" | “The story that did the most damage to the people in it was the one that made the most money.” Sarah tells Mike about the low-rent conspiracy that sparked a ratings bonanza. Digressions include "Out of Sight," Robert De Niro and the ancient sexting technology known as landlines. Mike continues to laugh confusedly at references he does not know. | – | July 26, 2019 |
| 51 | "Sex Offenders" | “Things are not going to get better if we make the people who scare us seem more powerful.” Mike tells Sarah about the myths of sex crimes, the reality of child abuse and the importance of unsympathetic protagonists. Digressions include frozen pizza, millennials (obvs) and vaccination rates. Mike can only name one state that borders Nevada. | – | August 7, 2019 |
| 52 | "The Victims’ Rights Movement" | “When you allow emotion into the courtroom, bias rushes in alongside it.” Special guest Rachel Monroe tells Mike and Sarah how a good-faith critique of the justice system led to a decades-long crackdown. Digressions include Charles Manson, Ronald Reagan and a billionaire mugshot. Mike’s similes are worse than Sarah’s. | – | August 16, 2019 |
| 53 | "Gangs" | “Isn’t it amazing how we can only imagine our monsters capitalistically?” Mike tells Sarah how police, prosecutors and journalists accidentally conspired to invent the perfect suburban menace. Digressions include IKEA, the "Godfather" trilogy and Fleetwood Mac. Mike takes big gulping breaths when he reads out loud. | – | August 22, 2019 |
| 54 | "‘Yoko Ono Broke Up The Beatles’" | Mike tells Sarah how the myth of meddling wives serves to exonerate terrible husbands. Digressions include "50 Shades of Grey," Marie Antoinette and the end of the 1960s. This episode, we’re sorry to say, contains descriptions of domestic abuse. | – | September 10, 2019 |
| 55 | "The Wardrobe Malfunction" | Our first live show! Mike tells Sarah about Janet Jackson, the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show and the 9/16ths of a second that destroyed her career. Digressions include Puff Daddy, Jessica Simpson and Edward James Olmos. Like all positive developments regarding this show, performing live is something we feel weird about and so we spent the first few minutes talking about it! | – | September 19, 2019 |
| 56 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Nicole Brown Simpson Part 1" | Mike and Sarah begin their epic journey into O.J. Simpson's trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, beginning with the story of Nicole's life with O.J. until their marriage in 1985. This episode contains descriptions of violence and domestic abuse. Like so many of the women we talk about, Nicole deserved better. | – | October 3, 2019 |
| 57 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Nicole Brown Simpson Part 2" | “You can’t expect people to know the exact kind of help they need.” We continue our deep dive into the O.J. Simpson case with the history of Nicole Brown Simpson's marriage to O.J., their 1992 divorce and the last weeks of Nicole's life. Digressions include Julia Roberts, Malibu real estate and Madonna’s "Erotica." Mike is fighting a cold and apologizes for his raspiness. This episode contains even greater detail on the violence and domestic abuse Nicole suffered. | – | October 17, 2019 |
| 58 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Paula Barbieri Part 1" | "Centering conversations around blame is not the most useful thing for us to be doing." Sarah tells Mike about the woman who broke up with O.J. Simpson on the morning of the murders — then stayed by his side through the trial. Michael Bolton makes an extended cameo appearance. | – | November 1, 2019 |
| 59 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Marcia Clark Part 1" | Sarah tells Mike how Marcia Clark got the slam-dunk case that ended her career as a trial lawyer. Digressions include string cheese, "Inception" and what calling women "difficult" means in 2019. We go on the record in favor of a wide range of frivolous hobbies. | – | November 14, 2019 |
| 60 | "Human Trafficking" | Mike tells Sarah how NGOs, activists and George W. Bush resurrected the 'stranger danger' panic for the modern era. Digressions include Reply All, muffins and Yelp for massage parlors. Mike's vocal fry is even worse than usual. | – | November 25, 2019 |
| 61 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Paula Barbieri Part 2" | "There’s no precedent for women in this family being treated like they matter."
Sarah tells Mike about the Bronco chase as Paula Barbieri experienced it. Then, she recounts how a poor kid from Panama City, Florida, made it all the way to the high-fashion world of Paris, France—and discovered that she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Sarah continues to compare everyone to Erin Brockovich. This episode begins with a lengthy discussion of O.J. Simpson's suicide attempt on the day of the Bronco chase. We go on to describe scenes of domestic violence and attempted sexual assault; Paula deserved better. | – | December 2, 2019 |
| 62 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Kato Kaelin Part 1" | Sarah tells Mike how an aspiring actor protected and then betrayed Nicole Brown Simpson without knowing he was doing either. Digressions include '80s movie tropes, ski-resort etiquette and the need for a process of "un-faming." Unfortunately, this episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and abuse. | – | December 16, 2019 |
2020
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | "D.C. Snipers Part 1" | “If you’re black, you can’t get work as a serial killer even if you’re manifestly qualified.” Mike tells Sarah how a military veteran became an abuser, a murderer and, eventually, a footnote in his own crime spree. Digressions include Jim Jones, the Addams Family and “The Gillooly Gang.” The episode gets super dark about two-thirds in, but brightens just before the big twist. We describe—again, unfortunately—domestic abuse in great detail. | – | January 6, 2020 |
| 64 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Kato Kaelin Part 2" | Sarah tells Mike the ending to the story of the mimbo and the alibi. Digressions include O. Henry, Nigerian e-mail scams and Dave Coulier. Mike wildly over-simplifies the Brexit vote. | – | January 20, 2020 |
| 65 | "D.C. Snipers Part 2" | Mike tells Sarah how a nice Jamaican kid became the disciple of a mean American adult. Digressions include Tonya Harding (of course), “Sliding Doors” (again) and Anne of Green Gables (Sarah has an English degree). Mildred re-appears just after the hour mark. We are unable to conceive of a content warning comprehensive enough for all the horrors contained in this episode. There is less crying in this episode than the last in this series, but only slightly. | – | February 3, 2020 |
| 66 | "Why Didn’t Anyone Go to Prison for the Financial Crisis?" | “Every big fish you catch, you end up with a hole in the net.” Mike tells Sarah how America’s white-collar crime spree got so bad. Digressions include self-checkout kiosks, Barbie dolls and moonshine. Homeless shelters and teacher pay feature prominently. By the standards of this podcast, this episode is relatively upbeat. | – | February 10, 2020 |
| 67 | "D.C. Snipers Part 3" | Mike tells Sarah about the indoctrination of Lee Boyd Malvo and the beginning of the sniper attacks. Digressions include Jonestown, Greek tragedy and something called “creepy crawling.” The episode begins with a lengthy meta-discussion of true-crime tropes and whether we are playing into them. The final section includes a detailed description of a suicide attempt. | – | February 24, 2020 |
| 68 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Marcia Clark Part 2" | Sarah tells Mike about a week in the life of Marcia Clark, who became America’s most famous prosecutor on June 13, 1994. Digressions include car phones, college group work and “Titanic” (as usual). In keeping with the theme of this episode, Sarah had a bad feeling about recording without her mic screen, but Mike said it would be fine. Please excuse our p-pops.This episode contains descriptions of murder and sexual violence. | – | March 9, 2020 |
| 69 | "D.C. Snipers Part 4" | In the final chapter of our series on the D.C. sniper attacks, Mike finally tells Sarah about the D.C. sniper attacks. Digressions include “The Abyss,” Ed Rooney and Jack the Ripper. We begin the episode with an update on our quarantine plans. Sarah misremembers the name of the TV show she was on. | – | March 23, 2020 |
| 70 | "Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 1)" | Sarah describes the spark that ignited the Satanic Panic. Our setting is a therapist’s office in 1976 Victoria, B.C., and our digressions include Sybil, scary paperbacks from the 80s and shouting "Fire!" on a crowded theater. This episode describes child abuse. | – | March 26, 2020 |
| 71 | "The Exploding Ford Pinto" | Mike tells Sarah about a dying industry, a dangerous car and the Pulitzer Prize-winning article that misrepresented them both. Digressions include “Mission Impossible,” “Friday the 13th” and the naming conventions of academic articles. This episode contains a larger-than-usual number of dad jokes and a shocking revelation about Johnny Carson. | – | April 2, 2020 |
| 72 | "Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 2)" | Sarah and Mike continue their journey into the book that launched a thousand lawsuits. Michelle and Dr. Pazder’s relationship grows more troubling by the chapter. Digressions include orgy etiquette, sheepskin jackets and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Neither co-host believes anything depicted in this book happened as described, but still want to warn you that it contains scenes of torture and sexual abuse. | – | April 6, 2020 |
| 73 | "Marie Antoinette" | “What’s sad about her has nothing to do with the content of her character.” Special guest Dana Schwartz tells Mike and Sarah how an Austrian princess became a French scapegoat. Digressions include Rubik’s Cubes, Taylor Swift and Tom Stoppard. The use of the word “bawdy” exceeds all previous episodes combined. | Dana Schwartz | April 13, 2020 |
| 74 | "Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 3)" | Sarah and Mike continue into the depths. With Dr. Pazder home from Mexico, he and Michelle continue their journey into her subconscious, and the stories continue to get weirder. This episode contains kitten sacrifice, and the first—but not the last—dead baby of the Satanic panic. | – | April 16, 2020 |
| 75 | "Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 4)" | This week, our lithe psychiatrist takes his favorite patient hiking, a priest burns some furniture and Michelle tries to escape her remembering. This episode contains descriptions of kitten sacrifice, sexual abuse and three more dead babies. | – | April 23, 2020 |
| 76 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: When Kato Met Marcia" | Sarah tells Mike about the clash of the titans, the fury at the grand jury. We follow Kato, the wise fool of the kingdom, for the week between the murders and the Bronco chase. Digressions include John Travolta, French kickboxing movies and "The Mummy." The celebrity cameos are less numerous than usual but no less absurd. | – | April 27, 2020 |
| 77 | "Quarantine Book Club: “Michelle Remembers” (Week 5)" | We conclude our book club with Michelle's escape from the dungeon. The dead baby trend continues; Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Satan’s fingernails make brief appearances. Digressions include Dustin Hoffman, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and things that rhyme with Beelzebub. This episode contains references to child abuse and sexual assault. | – | April 30, 2020 |
| 78 | "The Y2K Bug" | Mike tells Sarah how an obscure technical glitch became a nationwide mobilization. Digressions include Twitter beefs, “The Net” and VHS pricing. We spend much of the episode roasting our own work from the relatively recent past. Correction: It seems the women in Britain didn't terminate their pregnancies due to the false positive test results. We were wrong about this and we're sorry! | – | May 4, 2020 |
| 79 | "Quarantine Deep Dive: Jessica Simpson’s “Open Book” (Week 1)" | Our journey through late-'90s pop stardom begins with an intervention and ends with an audition. Digressions include Willie Nelson, Ozzy Osbourne, Jane Fonda and the cast of the Mickey Mouse Club. Sarah’s English degree and exercise habits make appearances. This episode, we're sorry to say, contains descriptions of sexual abuse. | – | May 7, 2020 |
| 80 | "Quarantine Deep Dive: Jessica Simpson’s “Open Book” (Week 2)" | “Her parents’ financial success is dependent on her abdomen.” This week, Jessica moves to L.A., records a video and meets a boy. The celebrity cameos escalate. Digressions include overalls, werewolves and Judy Garland. This episode unfortunately contains detailed descriptions of disordered eating. | – | May 14, 2020 |
| 81 | "The Disappearance of Chandra Levy" | “It’s a mess and a nightmare and maybe it’s disingenuous to think you can turn the story of someone being murdered into anything else.” Mike tells Sarah about a missing intern, a shady politician and a nationwide obsession. Digressions include speed dial, “La La Land” and Perry Mason. The Summer of the Shark gets a bonus debunking. | – | May 25, 2020 |
| 82 | "Quarantine Deep Dive: Jessica Simpson’s “Open Book” (Week 3)" | We discuss Jessica's reality-show marriage and its painfully ordinary end. Digressions include "Showgirls," "The Notebook" and Adam Levine. "Hamlet" makes an appearance; Willie Nelson and Lynda Carter give sage advice. Mike apologizes for things out of his control. | – | May 28, 2020 |
| 83 | "Anastasia" | “I’m being pulled into planet myth … and I like it here.” Special guest Dana Schwartz tells Mike and Sarah how a short, brutal story became an enduring myth. Digressions include Titanic nostalgia, Princess Jasmine and Dr. Phil. A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine. | Dana Schwartz | June 1, 2020 |
| – | "Re-Release: The Stonewall Uprising" | In honor of Pride Month and revolutions past, present, and future, we're re-releasing our episode on the Stonewall Uprising. Let the sunshine in. | – | June 4, 2020 |
| 84 | "Quarantine Deep Dive: Jessica Simpson’s “Open Book” (The Conclusion!)" | “You really shouldn’t date people who go in thinking, ’This person has good bones but they’re a fixer-upper.’” This week, we complete our Jessica Simpson book club with the appearance of a new man who triggers some old anxieties. Digressions include Dolly Parton, mom jeans and a forgotten Hollywood power couple. We talk about “Garden State” longer than we intended. Mike finally gets to tell the octopus story, which he thinks about all the time. | – | June 8, 2020 |
| 85 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: The Bronco Chase" | On June 17, 1994, the world screeched to a halt so 95 million Americans could watch a white SUV crawl through L.A. Today, we finally talk about the infamous Bronco chase, the men inside the car and the myth they left behind. Digressions include “The Fugitive,” Larry King and Jack Nicholson twice. Like previous episodes about the events of this day, this episode discusses suicidal ideation. | – | June 17, 2020 |
| 86 | "Deep Dive: Nancy Grace's "Objection!" (Week 1)" | Sarah tells Mike how a superhero’s genesis was a supervillain’s origin story all along. In our new deep dive, we tackle Nancy Grace’s “Objection!” and debate how defendants should behave at trial, why prosecutors seem to make good daytime TV stars and whether Nancy really came to New York City with a curling iron and a dream. | – | June 18, 2020 |
| 87 | ""The Prom Mom"" | “The criminal justice system should treat everyone like a white teenage girl whose future it’s concerned about disrupting.”
Sarah tells Mike about Melissa Drexler, the New Jersey teenager who (according to George F. Will) killed her newborn baby due to the influence of Metallica and the United States Supreme Court. Digressions include Baby Moses laws, “Citizen Ruth” and Ted Bundy’s political leanings. To the surprise of no one, we end up discussing true crime tropes in great detail. This episode contains detailed descriptions of neonaticide. | – | June 25, 2020 |
| 88 | "Courtney Love" | Special guest Candace Opper tells Mike and Sarah how a grunge star became the protagonist in one of America's most persistent conspiracy theories. Digressions include Neil Young, protest songs and the coolest baby of the 1990s. Mike continues to mine his public school education for anatomically impossible rumors. This episode contains detailed descriptions of suicide. | Candace Opper | June 29, 2020 |
| 89 | "Koko The Gorilla" | “It’s interesting that we became enthusiastic about ASL in the process of teaching it to a population that couldn’t benefit from it.” Mike tells Sarah about a very special ape and the very problematic humans around her. Digressions include video dating, "Biography" and the terrible terrible inventor of the telephone. We start with a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT about the future of the show. Both co-hosts understand the difference between chimps, monkeys and apes but occasionally misspeak. | – | July 6, 2020 |
| 90 | "Deep Dive Week 2: Nancy Grace v. The Defense" | This week, Nancy Grace makes her case against defense attorneys in general and Scott Peterson’s lawyer in particular. Digressions include Batman, tough on crime mixtapes and the Iraq War. After two and a half years, Sarah finds her first Satanic cult — but maybe the real Satanic cults are the friends we made along the way. This episode summarizes the cases in Nancy Grace’s "Objection!," which include two child molestation and murder cases and a lengthy description of the autopsy report on the deaths of Laci and Connor Peterson. | – | July 13, 2020 |
| – | "Bonus Episode! Sarah and Mike on "The Feminist Present" Podcast" | Sarah and Mike tell Laura and Adrian about how we met, how we research and what we would say to Jessica Simpson if we ever met her. | – | July 16, 2020 |
| 91 | "Deep Dive Week 3: Nancy Grace v. The Jury" | This week, Sarah walks Mike through Nancy Grace’s prosecution of American juries. Cameos include Mark Geragos (again), O.J. Simpson (inevitably) and Jessica Hahn (thank God). Gus Van Sant’s masterpiece "To Die For" is discussed at length. | – | July 20, 2020 |
| 92 | "Murder" | Mike tells Sarah about the most common forms of violence in America and how they differ (twist!) from what gets shown on TV. Digressions include Perry Mason, “It’s A Wonderful Life” and fruit-toting strategies. Mike appears not to understand the meaning of the term “order of magnitude.” This episode contains descriptions of police violence; the last 15 minutes are just a huge bummer generally. | – | July 27, 2020 |
| 93 | "Disco Demolition Night" | Mike tells Sarah how a silly sports promotion galvanized a reactionary movement. Digressions include “Charlotte’s Web,” Jane Fonda and German-language musicals. Songs are dissected; the honor of David Bowie and late-night salad bars are defended. Huge thanks to historians Tavia Nyong'o, Eric Gonzaba, Luis-Manuel Garcia and Gillian Frank for helping Mike with this episode! | – | August 3, 2020 |
| 94 | "Wayfair and Human Trafficking Statistics" | In another "mini" episode that accidentally turned mega, Mike tells Sarah about the Wayfair conspiracy theory and the sketchy statistical screenshots that have shown up in its wake. Digressions include "Inside Llewyn Davis," Miranda Priestley and (sigh) Jeffrey Epstein. This episode contains, we're sorry to say, detailed descriptions of child abuse. | – | August 10, 2020 |
| 95 | "The Stepford Wives" | Sarah tells Mike about the real-life conspiracy written between the lines of a 1970s horror novel. Digressions include "Rosemary's Baby (again), Disney World (of course), a brief history of the American pharmaceutical industry and a long recipe for stew. | – | August 24, 2020 |
| 96 | "Bonus Episode! Sarah’s New Podcast “Why Are Dads”" | Sarah tells Mike about her new foray into Dad Studies and, for the second time this week, discusses a horror movie about families from 1975 and sings a little. | – | August 27, 2020 |
| 97 | "Deep Dive Week 4: Nancy Grace v. The Constitution" | This week, Sarah makes a Nancy Grace-style argument against the prosecution. Digressions include '90s romantic comedies, Betty Broderick and flatscreen TVs. | – | August 31, 2020 |
| 98 | "Tuskegee Syphilis Study Part 1: The Lie" | Mike tells Sarah about the longest "non-therapeutic" experiment in medical history. Digressions include deep fried ice cream, Kato Kaelin and a hot-yoga cabinet. As a warning, this episode contains long quotes from eugenic memos and detailed descriptions of medical racism. We promise to do a happier episode soon. | – | September 8, 2020 |
| 99 | "Tuskegee Syphilis Study Part 2: The Truth" | “It’s like these men are being held in a bubble as science marches forward.” Mike tells Sarah how one of history's most unethical experiments came crashing down. Digressions include the history of penicillin, the power of TV movies and the mysterious diagnosis of "Satan's crabs." This episode is happier than the last one, but still contains a lot of racist language and some grisly Nazi examples toward the beginning. | – | September 14, 2020 |
| 100 | "Killer Clowns" | For our 100th episode, American Hysteria host Chelsey Weber-Smith visits our campfire to tell us about the time America was besieged by a killer clown panic ... and then the time it happened all over again. Digressions include Jon Stewart, "The Blair Witch Project" and John Wayne Gacy. Sarah coyly references the Hartford circus fire several times but no one seems to notice.” | Chelsey Weber-Smith | September 21, 2020 |
| 101 | "Princess Diana Part 1: The Courtship" | We start our new series with the story of a girl, a prince and the society that convinced them they liked each other. Digressions include camels, Beyoncé and the idiosyncrasies of British place names. We're sorry to say that this episode has detailed descriptions of disordered eating. | – | September 28, 2020 |
| 102 | "Princess Diana Part 2: The Wedding" | This week, Diana gets married, joins her new family and meets the press. Digressions include Judy Garland, Edward Cullen and the AITA subreddit. Unfortunately, this episode includes detailed descriptions of suicide attempts and eating disorders. | – | October 5, 2020 |
| 103 | "Princess Diana Part 3: The Affairs" | This week, Diana swaps out her husband for a Horse Dude and Mike and Sarah act out other people's PG-13 dirty talk. Digressions include shoulder pads, Billy Joel and "Seinfeld" (twice!). There's a moment 55 minutes in that is going to make you feel very weird. As with previous instalments, this episode contains detailed descriptions of disordered eating. | – | October 12, 2020 |
| 104 | "Halloween Special: Creepy Encounters" | This week, Mike and Sarah dissect the Creepy Encounters subreddit and how to handle our creepy feelings in an unsafe time and place. Digressions include Carol Kane, McDonald's and Uber. Sarah wonders if human traffickers have taken serial killers’ jobs. | – | October 19, 2020 |
| – | "Bonus: The President's Physical Fitness Test" | Mike has a new podcast! Here's the first episode, in which he debunks the absurd Cold War trauma factory that was once administered to 75% of American children. | Aubrey Gordon | October 22, 2020 |
| – | "Bonus: Why Are Dads on "Terminator 2"" | Mike comes on Sarah’s new show to talk about robots, dads, the little metal hands guys and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." An Oops! All Pop Culture episode of You’re Wrong About. | Alex Steed | October 29, 2020 |
| 105 | "Princess Diana Part 4: The Divorce" | This week, Diana leaves the royal family with her reputation intact and her title slightly edited. Digressions include "Love Actually," "Pride and Prejudice" and Marie Antoinette. Both co-hosts reveal their staunch affirmative stance on wine moms. Unfortunately, this episode includes descriptions of self-harm. | – | November 2, 2020 |
| 106 | "Princess Diana Part 5: The Crash" | “You can be a hot mess express and still leave the world better than you found it.” In the final episode of our series, we talk about Diana’s untimely death and the everlasting conspiracy theories surrounding it. Digressions include RPGs, Madonna and Tickle Me Elmo. This episode contains spoilers for the movie “The Queen.” | – | November 9, 2020 |
| 107 | "The Electoral College" | Topical episode! Special guest Jamelle Bouie tells Sarah and Mike about his problematic Founding Father faves and the bewildering institution they handed down to us. Digressions include '70s lapels, "Reversal of Fortune" and the Eurovision Song Contest. The filibuster rule and the three-fifths compromise receive bonus debunkings. | Jamelle Bouie | November 16, 2020 |
| – | "Bonus: The "Twinkie Defense"" | Was Harvey Milk's killer really given a light sentence after claiming that junk food made him do it? Mike's spinoff podcast, Maintenance Phase, dives into the rumor and finds a very You're Wrong About twist. | – | November 19, 2020 |
| 108 | "The Newsboys' Strike of 1899 (Part 1)" | Sarah tells Mike about media history, labor organizing, century-old moral panics — and the unlikely Disney musical that introduced her to all three. Digressions include Sting, "The Princess Bride" and 19th century graphic design. Both co-hosts recount their extremely millennial work histories. | – | November 23, 2020 |
| 109 | "The Newsboys' Strike of 1899 (Part 2)" | Sarah tells Mike about the thrilling conclusion to a children’s labor action and an overlooked Disney musical. Digressions include cronuts, carrier pigeons and Sylvester Graham’s crackers. Both hosts agree that they love saying the word "papes." | – | November 30, 2020 |
| 110 | "Losing Relatives to Fox News" | Mike tells Sarah what makes older Americans more vulnerable to misinformation — and who is delivering it to them. Digressions include "Supernatural," the Rachel and a fake university in Pennsylvania. We recorded this episode before the election but tried not to make it too obvious. | – | December 7, 2020 |
| 111 | "The Stanford Prison Experiment" | Mike tells Sarah the complicated story of an over-simplified study. Digressions include Tonya Harding, "The Meg" and Kitty Genovese. The Milgram obedience studies and the "broken windows" theory of policing receive bonus debunkings. | – | December 21, 2020 |
| 112 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Paula Escapes From L.A." | This week we return to the O.J. Simpson trial and learn what Paula Barbieri did after the Bronco chase. Digressions include fish, beef and grocery shopping while conventionally attractive. Neither co-host has a firm grasp on the meaning of the word "festive." | – | December 28, 2020 |
2021
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: My Fair Paula" | This week we talk about the early days of Paula and O.J.’s relationship and the celebrity cameos reach either a high or a low point. Digressions include date etiquette, cat scams and room-temperature Diet Coke. Mike has his head in his hands for long periods. | – | January 11, 2021 |
| 114 | "Shannon Faulkner & Sex Discrimination at The Citadel" | Mike tells Sarah how a troll-ish experiment turned a South Carolina teenager into one of the most maligned women of the 1990s. Digressions include Sally Ride, Anne Hathaway and, as usual, "Newsies." Mike struggles with the word "infirmary" throughout. | – | January 18, 2021 |
| 115 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: The Arraignmaker" | This week, we put on our suits and head back to the courtroom. O.J. Simpson pleads not guilty, Marcia Clark finishes questioning Kato Kaelin and Bob Shapiro continues to furrow his brow. Digressions include "Speed," the Kuleshov effect and the intentional boringness of American law. In the final ten minutes, we talk briefly about the crime scene and Marcia’s reaction to it. | – | January 25, 2021 |
| 116 | "The Anti-Vaccine Movement" | Special guest Eric Michael Garcia tells Mike and Sarah about the deep roots of a pernicious modern myth. Digressions include Mary Tyler Moore, British place names and supermodel dating habits. Mike finally gets to talk about Swedish statistical methods. | Eric Michael Garcia | February 1, 2021 |
| 117 | "Tipper Gore vs. Heavy Metal: The Case Against "Porn Rock"" | Mike tells Sarah how a congressional wife started a moral crusade. Digressions include Sheena Easton, Satanic rhymes and teen homicide statistics. Ozzy Osbourne's bat story is recounted in full. | – | February 8, 2021 |
| 118 | "Tipper Gore vs. Heavy Metal: The Hearing" | Mike tells Sarah the real reason Congress called a bunch of rockers to Washington D.C. Digressions include cartoon violence, sleeveless tees and Trixie Mattel. Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" are dissected at length. | – | February 15, 2021 |
| 119 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: The DeLorean Detour" | To tell the story of the "dream team" we must begin by going back to the future. This week we learn why O.J. Simpson fired the man who defended John DeLorean and why a briefcase of cocaine isn’t always a smoking gun. Digressions include Bob’s Big Boy, Margaret Thatcher and the Fonz. | – | February 22, 2021 |
| – | "Bonus: "The Dark Knight"" | Sarah's other show has a special guest! Maintenance Phase co-host Aubrey Gordon visits Why Are Dads to talk about Christopher Nolan, trash masculinity and the dwindling number of non-problematic superheroes. | Aubrey Gordon, Alex Steed | March 1, 2021 |
| 120 | "Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss America" | Mike tells Sarah how a 20-year-old singer, actress and French horn player became Miss America with less than six months of practice. Digressions include Ted Bundy, Stephen King’s “It” and a bonus debunking of the "bra-burning feminist" trope. We're sorry to say that this episode includes a description of child sexual abuse. | – | March 8, 2021 |
| – | "Bonus: Dr. Oz" | Mike reached new levels of rantiness on his other show and we wanted to make sure all our beloved debunkmates knew. PLUS: A special announcement! | Aubrey Gordon | March 15, 2021 |
| 121 | "Vanessa Williams Part 2: Saving The Best For Last" | Special guest Cassie da Costa tells Mike and Sarah how Vanessa fell from grace and picked herself back up. Digressions include Stephen Sondheim, Rush Limbaugh and Joan Rivers. The tyranny of abs is discussed at length. | Cassie da Costa | March 22, 2021 |
| 122 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mr. F. Lee Bailey" | Bob Shapiro is on a mission from God, F. Lee Bailey joins the Dream Team, and we get in our DeLorean to meet two of the most notorious Florida Men of the '60s: Carl Coppolino and Murph the Surf. Digressions include Linda Evangelista, Patty Hearst, "The Commitments" and the upside of peaking in your 50s. | – | April 5, 2021 |
| 123 | ""Political Correctness"" | Mike tells Sarah how liberal magazines turned a "kids these days" moral panic into a national crisis. Digressions include Law & Order, Dave Foley and swimming pool etiquette. This episode contains detailed descriptions of sexual assault, mass shootings and suicide. | – | April 19, 2021 |
| 124 | "The Chicks vs. The Iraq War" | Mike tells Sarah about an impending conflict, a dissident singer and America's first internet-enabled cancellation. Digressions include "Freedom Fries" and 1990s record company shenanigans. The co-hosts harmonize for the first time; Mike struggles not to call the Chicks by their former name. | – | May 3, 2021 |
| 125 | "Cancel Culture" | Mike and Sarah have big feelings about an enduring debate. Digressions include “Carrie,” party planning etiquette and Whole Foods cafeterias. Sarah’s sound quality changes midway through because she moves from a McDonald’s parking lot to a Hardee’s parking lot. | – | June 7, 2021 |
| 126 | "Summer Book Club: "The Satan Seller" (Part 1)" | Sarah and Mike return to Camp You're Wrong About for another Satanic Panic story hour. This time we're talking about Mike Warnke's 1972 "memoir" about joining a demonic cult and the California hedonism that made him do it. Digressions include thrift stores, "Firestarter" and unjust Best Picture winners. | – | June 28, 2021 |
| 127 | "Summer Book Club: "The Satan Seller" (Part 2)" | We continue our journey through Mike Warnke's 1972 "memoir" about his rise through the ranks of Satan Inc. This week, Mike gets a promotion, attends a regional conference and dabbles in some light human trafficking. Despite filling this book with his wildest imaginings, he cannot conceive of a non-patriarchal institution. | – | July 12, 2021 |
| 128 | "Summer Book Club: "The Satan Seller" (Part 3)" | We finish our San Bernardino joyride through Mike Warnke’s 1972 “memoir” with a hex, a horrible crime and a Satanic celebrity cameo. Digressions include digressions include Billie Eilish, wicker men and today’s completely new and not at all throwback panic over critical race theory. | – | July 26, 2021 |
| 129 | "Summer Book Club: "The Satan Seller" (The Debunking!)" | This week we debunk Mike Warnke right out of his cabin and into the lake, using Cornerstone Magazine’s long overdue exposé as our guide. Digressions include "Star Trek," a classic New Yorker cover and Ariana Grande. We definitively conclude that the Bible endorses cancel culture. This episode, we’re sorry to say, includes detailed descriptions of domestic abuse. | – | August 9, 2021 |
| 130 | "The O.J. Simpson Trial: Runaway Grand Jury" | This week, the defense hires Alan Dershowitz, Marcia Clark questions witnesses and Jill Shively tries to get a salad. Digressions include narcissism, "Hard Copy" and the dad from "The Wonder Years." Susan Herman, the voice of reason in our Charlie Rose clip, is the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School. | – | August 23, 2021 |
| – | "Re-Release: Dan Quayle vs. Murphy Brown" | While our next episode's in the oven, enjoy this gem from the YWA vault! | – | September 6, 2021 |
| 131 | "The McDonald's Hot Coffee Case" | Mike tells Sarah how a tragic story became a national punchline and a decades-long moral panic. Digressions include a sympathetic psychic, a paternalistic principal and a manure mishap. Mike appears to be unaware of the difference between a cousin and a nephew. | – | September 13, 2021 |
| – | "Bonus: The Great Protein Fiasco" | From our friends at Maintenance Phase, the story of how Nestlé executives, global health institutions and a very racist white lady seeded a nutritional myth we're still living with today. | Aubrey Gordon | September 27, 2021 |
| – | "Mike Lives in a Downtown Hotel" | An announcement! [Mike announces that he will be leaving the podcast.] | – | October 11, 2021 |
| 132 | "Catherine the Great" | Special guest Dana Schwartz tells Sarah about Catherine the Great. Topics of interest include the very not great life of serfs, the accidental flattening of women via the girl-bossification of history, and a very solid Bertie Wooster reference. | Dana Schwartz | October 25, 2021 |
| 133 | "Ed and Lorraine Warren" | Special Guest Jamie Loftus tells Sarah about Ed and Lorraine Warren (of The Conjuring and Annabelle fame). Topics of interest include Connecticut as a locus of scary happenings, New England uncles, and psychic communication with a tearstained Bigfoot. | Jamie Loftus | November 8, 2021 |
| 134 | "True Crime" | Emma Berquist stops by to tell us about how true crime doesn't have to make us better people, and in fact may be more harmful to us than we realize—but we don't let her in, because we don't want to get KILLED! | Emma Berquist | November 21, 2021 |
| 135 | "Reconstruction" | Jamelle Bouie explains to Sarah what the Reconstruction era was, why it remains relevant today, and how this history lesson is one that could get some high school teachers into legal trouble due to passage of anti-CRT laws. | Jamelle Bouie | December 5, 2021 |
| 136 | "Winter Book Club: The Amityville Horror Part 1" | Sarah tells guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, how it’s a Christmas story, and why buying murder furniture might not be such a great idea. | Jamie Loftus | December 20, 2021 |
2022
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 137 | "Winter Book Club: The Amityville Horror Part 2" | Sarah continues telling guest host Jamie Loftus about the Amityville Horror, and the two touch on ghosts, fallen angels, poltergeists, the space race and intimidating pictures of Mandy Moore. | Jamie Loftus | January 3, 2022 |
| 138 | "Talking Tammy Faye Bakker" | Jessica Chastain and Sarah discuss Tammy Faye Bakker. Chastain is the star and a producer of the new film The Eyes of Tammy Faye. After Jessica and Sarah’s chat, they introduce this episode about Tammy Faye Bakker and Jessica Hahn from the early days of You’re Wrong About. | Jessica Chastain | January 10, 2022 |
| 139 | "Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch" | Willa Paskin (of Slate's Decoder Ring) brings Sarah back to 2005, when Tom Cruise jumping on a couch became the talk of the town. | Willa Paskin | January 24, 2022 |
| 140 | "Winter Book Club: The Amityville Horror Part 3" | In this final installment of the Amityville Horror Winter Book Club, Sarah tells guest host Jamie Loftus about Jodie the Demon Pig's scary hooves, the catharsis of exorcism, and how the book kinda debunks itself. | Jamie Loftus | February 6, 2022 |
| 141 | "CSI: Junk Science" | Josie Duffy Rice and Sarah discuss the role of junk science in the criminal justice system. It is a big turkey to carve up and Josie serves Sarah a bleakly empowering feast. | Josie Duffy Rice | February 20, 2022 |
| – | "Bonus: Groundhog Day with Josh Gondelman" | What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today. Josh Gondelman is here to laugh and cry with us, and to unpack the heaps of big feelings in Groundhog Day. | Alex Steed, Josh Gondelman | March 7, 2022 |
| 142 | "Ronald Reagan and "The Welfare Queen"" | Laci Mosley (Scam Goddess) tells Sarah about Linda Taylor and the origins of the Welfare Queen myth ("the build the wall" of the 70s). They also discuss the origins of the Ronald Reagan myth, and how the latter used the former to become the "Beyoncé of the GOP." | Laci Mosley | March 14, 2022 |
| 143 | "Juliet's Balcony" | What do Chopin, Kylie Jenner, baby carrots, and the War of the Worlds all have in common? They’re all part of Sarah and Chelsey Weber-Smith’s speedrun through common misconceptions—plus a little Satanic Panic, as a treat. | Chelsey Weber-Smith | March 28, 2022 |
| 144 | "How Email Took Over the World" | How did the information superhighway get so gridlocked? Guest Anne Helen Petersen tells Sarah the story of how email took over the world and our working lives, and what it would mean for us to get a little of our lost time back. Plus, a Kurt Loder cameo. | Anne Helen Petersen | April 11, 2022 |
| 145 | "Medieval Torture" | We want to play a game. This week, Dana Schwartz stuffs us in an iron maiden and explains why the most famous Medieval torture devices are none of the above. Digressions include the Kings Cross Wax Museum, getting stabbed in the butt, and the pivot to video era. | Dana Schwartz | April 25, 2022 |
| 146 | "Go Ask Alice Part 1" | This week we begin our journey into the totally true not at all made up diary that has been scaring America’s teens for fifty years. Digressions include Jell-O, magic mushrooms, and ironing your hair, and Sarah promises to trip with Carmen. “Button, Button” is by Richard Matheson. | Carmen Maria Machado | May 9, 2022 |
| 147 | "The Prison Boom" | Where did all these prisons come from? WBEZ’s Shannon Heffernan is here to give us part of the answer, which involves “small government” (of course), Lennie Briscoe (as always), the pink flowers of Alcatraz, and a prison sweepstakes that produced the actual worst song of the 80s. | Shannon Heffernan | May 23, 2022 |
| 148 | "The Dyatlov Pass Incident" | This week, Sarah tries to solve the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, in which nine experienced ski hikers fled their shelter and ran into the frigid night for reasons unknown. Digressions include yetis, snowmobiles, and Rachel Monroe. Sarah miraculous does not sing Rilo Kiley’s “Portions for Foxes.” | Blair Braverman | June 6, 2022 |
| 149 | "Martha Stewart" | This week we’re dishing up a mouthwatering feast of history, gossip, and white collar crime. Guest Sarah Archer tells the tale of Martha Stewart, a girl from New Jersey who achieved world domination by letting us look at her basket collection. Digressions include prairie dresses, condensed soups, and how to tell if your tween is reading Sunset Magazine. | Sarah Archer | June 20, 2022 |
| 150 | "Go Ask Alice Part 2" | This week Carmen and Sarah read the rest of Alice’s bitchin' diary, and ponder the truths that only lies can tell. Digressions include Pamela and Clarissa, sadistic switch hitters, and orange yeast rolls. | Carmen Maria Machado | July 4, 2022 |
| 151 | "Go Ask Alice Part 3" | Sarah and Carmen complete their epic trilogy by meeting Rick Emerson on the edge of Mount Doom to discuss his book, Unmask Alice, and some of the story behind the diary that has captivated America—and informed its drug policy—for half a century. Digressions include multi-level marketing, Oceans Eleven, the Great Salt Lake. | Rick Emerson, Carmen Maria Machado | July 4, 2022 |
| 152 | "Eugenics" | This week, Eric Michael Garcia tells Sarah about America’s barely forgotten pastime, plus the Supreme Court’s long history of horrifying decisions. Digressions include due process, The Evil Dead, and what Hitler admired about the United States. | Eric Michael Garcia | July 18, 2022 |
| 153 | "Porn Wars" | Here’s some money, go see a Porn War. This week we’re going on a field trip to Times Square with Nona Willis Aronowitz, author of Bad Sex, to learn about Deep Throat, “porno chic,” and the unresolved feminist battle over whether to eradicate pornography or make more of it. Digressions include Carol Clover, this discovery of the clitoris, and Harry Reems (Joel Reems’ distant cousin). | Nona Willis Aronowitz | August 2, 2022 |
| 154 | "Henry Lee Lucas" | This week we’re taking the back roads with Rachel Monroe, who tells us how the most prolific serial killer in American history may have been something much more ordinary—and why we keep trying to make violent men seem much more powerful than they are. Digressions include Ann Rule, career burnout, and tires for serial killers. | Rachel Monroe | August 15, 2022 |
| 155 | "The Donner Party" | You may:
1. Travel on the established trail 2. Take the Hastings Cutoff What is your choice? Chelsey Weber-Smith (American Hysteria) tells Sarah about the Donner Party. | Chelsey Weber-Smith | August 29, 2022 |
| 156 | "Hunting Serial Killers" | This week, Mike and Sarah reunite to hunt for serial killers, and try to figure out whether they’re really endangered. Digressions include crow funerals, Carrie Bradshaw, and how we feel about being called mom and dad. | Michael Hobbes | September 12, 2022 |
| 157 | "Online Shopping" | Why is it so hard to find the one thing you need? The Atlantic’s Amanda Mull is here to tell us the story of shopping, from the Silk Road to SHEIN hauls, and the story that emerges is one of workers turned against each other, and industrial byproducts reinvented as trends. | Amanda Mull | October 3, 2022 |
| – | "Your Abortion Stories" | “Abortion is healthcare and abortion is a human right. Abortion is racial justice. It’s economic justice. It’s at the intersection of every movement towards liberation. My abortion was a gift.” We asked you to share your abortion stories with us. Here they are. | – | October 17, 2022 |
| 158 | "Flight 571: Survival in the Andes" | Our survival correspondent Blair Braverman is here to tell us the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972. Of the 45 people on board, 16 ultimately lived. Their survival made them heroes, until the way they survived shocked the world. This week, a story of glaciers, peanuts, and friendship. | Blair Braverman | October 31, 2022 |
| 159 | "The Movie Rating System" | How did Poltergeist get that PG rating? Podcast legend Karina Longworth, host of You Must Remember This, takes us on a wild ride through a century or so of Hollywood history, and shows us what’s been left on the cutting room floor. | Karina Longworth | November 15, 2022 |
| 160 | "Where Have All the Preppies Gone?" | Put on your Docksiders for a stroll through history with Avery Trufelman, who shows us how Ivy style became “preppy,” and how preppy fashion escaped the campus and took over the world. We’re talking about clothing, class, race, and the American dream: you may be through with the polo shirt, but the polo shirt isn’t through with you. | Avery Trufelman | November 28, 2022 |
| 161 | "Beanie Babies" | They’re winsome and soft and so fun to cuddle/ With one of Ty’s Beanie Babies, you could never go wrong/ But they were all born from a toxic puddle/ It really was capitalism all along. This week, Jamie Loftus tells us the story of the greatest toy fad of the 90s, and liberates us from our tiny plastic boxes. | Jamie Loftus | December 12, 2022 |
| 162 | "Baby Jessica" | On October 14, 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland, Texas. This week, Sarah tells our survival correspondent, Blair Braverman, about the community that worked to rescue her, and the nation that watched. | Blair Braverman | December 26, 2022 |
2023
| No. | Episode Title | Episode Summary | Guest | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 163 | "Karen Carpenter Part 1" | Long ago and oh so far away, Carolyn and Sarah fell in love with Karen Carpenter when they saw her drum. We examine her meteoric rise. | Carolyn Kendrick | January 16, 2023 |
| 164 | "Karen Carpenter Part 2" | In this episode, Carolyn and Sarah follow Karen from the height of her fame through her struggle to find independence, her attempts at eating disorder recovery, and finally to her death on February 4, 1983, when she was just 32 years old. Then it's time to sing a song. | Carolyn Kendrick | January 30, 2023 |
| 165 | "Napster" | This week, a tale of two Shawns/Seans, their impossible dream, and the file sharing service that lived fast, died young, and helped create the internet as we know it. Plus, Metallica. | Niko Stratis | February 13, 2023 |
| 166 | "Chris McCandless" | This week, survival correspondent Blair Braverman tells Sarah the story of a Supertramp. In 1996, Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild described a young man, Chris McCandless, who changed his name, walked into the Alaskan bush, and died after mistakenly eating a toxic plant. Or did he? Now, Sarah and Blair talk about the McCandless archive and its legacy in conversations around wilderness, Alaska, violence, and more. | Blair Braverman | February 27, 2023 |
| 167 | "Juvenile "Justice"" | This week, criminal justice correspondent Josie Duffy Rice dives into America’s obsession with prosecuting children. From 19th century houses of refuge to modern day detention centers, we comb through the tangled braids of juvenile incarceration, tough on crime fallacies, as well as criminality and its dark shadow of capitalism. Please take care while listening. Side bars include ice cream boats, Ronald Reagan, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating range. | Josie Duffy Rice | March 13, 2023 |
| 168 | "What Even Is Justice?" | This week, national treasure Amanda Knox talks with Sarah about what the American legal system claims to be for, what it’s actually doing, and what might be possible in the future. They entertain the most heretical ideas they can think of, which mostly seem to be about unconditional love and mercy. And at the end, Sarah’s ghost boyfriend Clarence Darrow turns up. | Amanda Knox | March 28, 2023 |
| 169 | "Sinéad O'Connor" | This week, we fight the real enemy with Allyson McCabe. | Allyson McCabe | April 10, 2023 |
| 170 | "Debi Thomas" | In 1988, twenty-year-old American figure skater Debi Thomas headed to the Calgary Olympics to face off against East German juggernaut Katarina Witt. In the process, she became the first Black American in history to medal at a Winter Olympics. Then she disappeared from the sport. Where did she go, and who wasn’t there to catch her when she fell? This week, Leslie Gray Streeter tells Sarah about growing up watching Debi skate, where she is now, how her sport and her country failed her, and just how many people are missing from the stories we tell and the dreams we dream. | Leslie Gray Streeter | April 25, 2023 |
| 171 | "We Need to Talk About the New York Times" | “What if you were writing a profile on someone named Janet and I was your editor, and I was like, ‘I’m sorry, for balance, find someone who wants to kill Janet’?” This week, Tuck Woodstock, host of Gender Reveal, takes us on a journey through the New York Times’ coverage of trans issues—and in the end, he points the way to a better future. | Tuck Woodstock | May 15, 2023 |
| – | "The Hot Mess Express Spectacular!" | “I felt that empathy like it was directed towards me, and it helped me feel like my unhappiness was enough.” On our fifth anniversary, we asked for your stories about what You’re Wrong About has meant to you. Here they are. | – | May 29, 2023 |
| 172 | "Lesbian Seagulls" | Fly with us, lesbian seagull. This week Radiolab’s Lulu Miller brings us a story of queer nature and scientists in denial, featuring seagulls, penguins, rams, swans, dolphins, and—maybe the gayest animal of all—humans. | Lulu Miller | June 12, 2023 |
| 173 | "Renée Richards" | This week, Sports Illustrated’s Julie Kliegman volleys with Sarah about trans athlete Renée Richards’s fight for her right to play in the U.S. Open. They also dig into how the dialogue surrounding trans athletes has and hasn’t changed in the 40-plus years since. Plus, are tennis balls hollow? An investigation. | Julie Kliegman | June 26, 2023 |
| 174 | "Fleetwood Mac's Rumours" | This week, we bring you a re-release from our bonus vault as Sarah tells Carolyn Kendrick about the making of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. We learn about the worlds of songwriting and production, how the music business has changed since the 1970’s, and of course all the interpersonal relationships that make us love to love this band. | Carolyn Kendrick | July 11, 2023 |
| 175 | "Bonnie and Clyde (and Blanche and Buck)" | “Why don’t something happen?” Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in 1934, but their legend gets bigger every year. This week, Jamie Loftus brings us back to reality with a tale of prison breaks, FBI malfeasance, love, guitars, and hot dog breakfasts. | Jamie Loftus | July 17, 2023 |
| 176 | "The Cottingley Fairies" | This week, Sarah tells her favorite kind of story to American Hysteria’s Chelsey Weber-Smith: one where two girls hoaxed the world without trying very hard. | Chelsey Weber-Smith | August 7, 2023 |
| 177 | "The Most Normal Girl in Cleveland" | This week, Heather Radke brings us a tale of pageants, eugenics, and butts. | Heather Radke | August 21, 2023 |
References
- Quah, Nicholas (October 21, 2021). "Why Michael Hobbes Won't Tell You You're Wrong Anymore". Vulture. Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
- "You're Wrong About". Stitcher. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Dockterman, Eliana (November 30, 2019). "The 10 Best Podcasts of 2019". Time. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Sawyer, Miranda (August 29, 2020). "The week in radio and podcasts: You're Wrong About…, Futile Attempts (At Surviving Tomorrow) and more". the Guardian. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Mason, Isabella (October 22, 2020). "Body positivy podcast takes scientific approach". Old Gold & Black. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Giorgis, Hannah (June 12, 2023). "A Podcast About the Airport Best Sellers We Can't Escape". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- Moss-Horwitz, Benjamin (December 2, 2020). "Host of 'You're Wrong About' podcast talks how the media misconstrues scandals at KWH". www.thedp.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Syme, Rachel (October 12, 2020). "How We Lie to Ourselves About History". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- Shure, Marnie; Nateras, Jose; Lindsey, Craig D. "You're Wrong About looks back at Princess Di and her awful marriage". AUX. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- "You're Wrong About Is a Public Service". Podcast Review. December 30, 2020. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- Touros, Cyrena (October 22, 2019). "Can a 'nobody' make a popular, financially stable podcast?". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- "Mike Lives In A Downtown Hotel". You're Wrong About. October 11, 2021. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- Griffin, Sarah (January 26, 2019). "Podcast of the week: You're Wrong About". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
External links
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