You're Wrong About

“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. Continue reading → Su...

“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.   Continue reading → Support us:...

"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. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Pay...

“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. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find...

“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...

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. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patre...

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. 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 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.  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...

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.  Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other s...

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. 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...

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.  Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where...

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." Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to f...

“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. Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other show,...

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.    Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us:...

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.  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...

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.  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...

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.   Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: S...

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.  Continue reading → Support us: Subscribe on Patreon Donate on Paypal Buy cute merch Where to find us: Sarah's other s...

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,...

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 f...

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'...

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 Do...

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, W...

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...

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...