You're Wrong About

Cold War Santa with Sarah Archer

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when Santa trades his sleigh for a rocket ship?”? Christmas correspondent Sarah Archer tells Sarah about how the Cold War era affected ...

The Dictionary Wars! with Gabe Henry

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Remember being a teen and coming up with “cool” ways of spelling common words? Well, just like the teenager it was, the United States in the 18th ...

Introducing: The Devil You Know with Sarah Marshall

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Listen now to the first episode of Sarah's new 8-part series with CBC Podcasts, The Devil You Know.In the 1980s and 90s, Satan and his followers ...

Midnight Ghost Shows with Chelsey Weber-Smith

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do you get when you combine a horror movie audience, a spiritualist séance, and a haunted house attraction? Beginning in the 1930s and lasting i...

The Auralyn with Blair Braverman

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a survival pessimist or a survival optimist? Blair Braverman surprises Sarah with a harrowing, heartening, and sometimes hilarious tale of lov...

Samantha Smith vs. the Cold War with Maris Kreizman

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who really ended the Cold War, Ronald Reagan or a ten-year-old girl? Eighties correspondent Maris Kreizman joins us for a heartfelt conversation about...

The Insanity Defense with Mackenzie Joy Brennan

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do John Hinckley Jr. and a jazz age tuberculosis patient have in common? Legal correspondent ​​Mackenzie Joy Brennan takes Sarah through some...

Corn Mazes with Chelsey Weber-Smith

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can you find your way out of the maize? The corn maze has become an enduring attraction of the American autumnal experience, seen at touristy family f...

Pee-wee Herman Part 2 with Jamie Loftus

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the second part of our series, pop culture historian Jamie Loftus takes us through the meteoric rise of Pee-wee Herman and the withering of Paul Re...

Pee-wee Herman Part 1 with Jamie Loftus

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What’s today’s secret word? Paul Reubens spent years bringing to life one of America’s most beloved characters, Pee-wee Herman, an icon of joy f...

The Hitler Diaries with Adrian Daub

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when you’re just a little too good at forging the diaries of Adolf Hitler? And why did so many people want to read them? In 1983, the W...

Coyotes! with Lulu Miller

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who is out there behind the howling midnight parties in the distance? For generations we have coexisted in varying degrees of rivalry, conflict, and a...

Inventing the Teenager with Harmony Colangelo

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Where did all these teens come from? Harmony Colangelo, co-host of This Ends at Prom, is here to explain how, before Americans got to worry about what...

Is Your House Too Clean? with Sarah Archer

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Have you scrubbed down the top of your fridge lately? Home & garden correspondent Sarah Archer is here to tell us how and when we got so obsessed ...

Hoax Memoir Spectacular!

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, flim flam correspondent and certified April Fool Chelsey Weber-Smith is here to talk about a fistful of fake memoirs, featuring girls raise...

Your Joy and Resilience Stories

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the end of our last episode, we asked you to call in and tell us what has been bringing you joy, connecting you to your community, and where you’...

The Worst Oscars Ever?? with Michael Schulman

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do Lily Tomlin, Snow White, and Kenny Ortega have in common? They were all part of the 61st Academy Awards, a broadcast now remembered as the wor...

Emotional Labor with Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton of Bad Therapist

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is "emotional labor," and why is it probably not what your boyfriend accuses you of making him do when you want him to go to Ikea with ...

Alice Kyteler and the First Witchcraft Trial in Ireland with Molly Aitken

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In County Kilkenny, Ireland, in an early year of a century not too long before our own, Alice Kyteler was accused of witchcraft. But the story doesn&a...

Aron Ralston with Blair Braverman

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What would you do if you were pinned down by an 800-pound boulder, and no one knew where you were? In 2003, Aron Ralston had to answer that question. ...

Singing in the New Year with Carolyn Kendrick and Each Machine

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There's one last present at the toe of our stocking, and it's a new album by producer Carolyn Kendrick. We'll be back with a regular ep...

Santa Claus with Sarah Archer

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

'Twas (the night before) the night before Christmas/ And all through the show/ We await Sarah Archer with eyes all aglow/ To blow the dust off so...

Cola Wars with Miles Klee

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Miles Klee can’t take it anymore. This week, a tale of corporate intrigue, world domination, and soda.Read Miles Klee at Rolling Stone.Support You&a...

Elizabeth Báthory with Princess Weekes

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Our alleged serial killers deserve better than this." Was Elizabeth Báthory the most prolific serial killer of all time, or was she just i...

Halloween History with Chelsey Weber-Smith

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts/ Covens of witches with all of their hosts/ You may think they scare me, you're probably right/...

A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show Tour with American Hysteria

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What could possibly go wrong when two skeptical podcasters try to summon a ghost? Join Sarah and Chelsey Weber-Smith (of American Hysteria) for a hist...

Revolutions and Resistance with Kellie Carter Jackson

12 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kellie Carter Jackson, author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, is here to take us on a trip through American history where we lea...

Lawrence v. Texas Part 2 with Marcus McCann

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As...

Lawrence v. Texas Part 1 with Marcus McCann

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Or, is it legal to have gay sex in your own home? This week, Marcus McCann takes us back to the 2003 Supreme Court case that challenged a Texas anti-s...

The Jane Collective with Moira Donegan

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"As long as the law is male, women must be outlaws." — Linnea Johnson This week, Moira Donegan takes us back to Chicago in 1969, when an...

Dungeons & Dragons & The Satanic Panic with Adrian Daub

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we travel back to the 80s, when America’s parents decided to freak out over some kids rolling dice and drawing things on graph paper! Adri...

Rosie Ruiz and the Marathon Women with Maggie Mertens

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Maggie Mertens tells us a tale of the first women who fought to run the marathon, and of one woman who decided to cut to the finish line. Find Maggie ...

Has the Supreme Court Always Been This Terrible? with Mackenzie Joy Brennan

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is “originalism,” and what does it have to do with all these bribes? Mackenzie Joy Brennan has some answers.Find Mackenzie online here. You c...

Balloonfest ‘86! with Harmony Colangelo

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The city of Cleveland will not be made to apologize for its balloons. Harmony Colangelo defends the mistake on the lake.You can find Harmony on This E...

Phones Are Good, Actually with Taylor Lorenz

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Taylor Lorenz fights our latest moral panic. Are phones really making kids anxious, or are kids just good at noticing what's going on?...

Immigration with Alejandra Oliva

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth, came by to catch us up on the last few decades of American immigration policy--and to talk about how the world ...

The Tradwife Rises with Sarah Archer

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Archer came by to make an episode from scratch. What's the real history of the American housewife? Where did the tradwife come from, and wh...

Rosa Parks with Princess Weekes

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Princess Weekes takes us to meet the real Rosa Parks.Find Princess on YouTube: Princess’ video, “The 1920s Sex Scandal You’ve Never Heard...

George Michael Part 2 with Marcus McCann

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let's go outside in the sunshine.   An extended cut of this episode is available for Patreon and Apple Plus subscribers.You can buy Marcus McCa...

George Michael Part 1 with Marcus McCann

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

He turned a bright spark into a flame.(Part 1 of 2!)You can buy Marcus McCann's book, Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path, he...

Hoax Spectacular! with Chelsey Weber-Smith

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah talks with Chelsey Weber-Smith, host of American Hysteria, about some of their favorite hoaxes—from the Loch Ness Monster to the Taco Liberty ...

BONUS Britney Spears Book Club with Eve Lindley

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrity correspondent Eve Lindley came by to tell us about Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me. This is part one of a four-part saga we&apos...

The Oscars Streaker with Michael Schulman

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1974, Robert Opel ran naked through the Academy Awards telecast, and into American history. Today, Michael Schulman, a staff writer at The New York...

Balto with Blair Braverman

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Blair Braverman tells us how the legendary story of one good dog is actually a story of two good dogs. Read Blair’s book, Small GameRead Blair’s ...

The Shoe Bomber with Miles Klee

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, writer Miles Klee tells us why we have to take our shoes off at the airport.Read Miles Klee at Rolling Stone.Support You're Wrong Abou...

Tiny Tim with Harmony Colangelo

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Harmony Colangelo tiptoes through the tulips with us. You can find Harmony at This Ends at Prom here! Support You're Wrong About:Bonu...

The “Pro-Life” Movement with Megan Burbank

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

During what should’ve been Roe v. Wade’s 51st birthday week, Sarah and reproductive health policy reporter Megan Burbank take a look at the moveme...

The Battle of the Sexes with Julie Kliegman

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah teams up with writer and editor Julie Kliegman—author of the hotly anticipated book MIND GAME—to look back at tennis's Battle of the Se...

The Exorcist with Marlena Williams

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Exorcist turns 50 this week, so we invited Marlena Williams, author of Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of the Exorcist, to come tell...

Influencers with Taylor Lorenz

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“The creatures outside looked from influencer to human, and from human to influencer, and from human to influencer again; but already it was impossi...

Cattle Mutilation with Rachel Monroe

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mulder and Scully were busy this week, so Monroe and Marshall are on the case. Did UFOs really travel across the galaxy to experiment on American cows...

Amy Winehouse with Eve Lindley

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, celebrity correspondent Eve Lindley tells Sarah about why we should all be thankful for Amy Winehouse. Note: this episode depicts struggles...

Our Dearest Fears with Chelsey Weber-Smith

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, American Hysteria’s Chelsey Weber-Smith gives Sarah some exposure therapy.You can find Chelsey / American Hysteria here. Support You&apos...

Lizzie Borden with Princess Weekes

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Forty whacks with a wet noodle, Bart! This week, Princess Weekes tells Sarah the true story of the crime of the century… the nineteenth century, tha...

Mindhunting with Sarah Weinman

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"What is it about the culture that has conditioned us to favor the wants and needs and desires, however horrible, of a serial murderer, as oppose...

Changing Your Mind

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here's one from our bonus vault: you sent in your stories about moments when you found yourselves changing your minds, and we listened. When do w...

Sound of Freedom with Michael Hobbes AND Human Trafficking re-release

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Like so many other mostly imaginary topics, human trafficking is in the news again. Michael Hobbes—ever heard of him??—came by so Sarah could tell...

The Most Normal Girl in Cleveland with Heather Radke

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Heather Radke brings us a tale of pageants, eugenics, and butts.You can find Heather online here.You can see Norma/Norman here. More on the...

The Cottingley Fairies with Chelsey Weber-Smith

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ve...

Bonnie and Clyde (and Blanche and Buck) with Jamie Loftus

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Why don’t something happen?” Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in 1934, but their legend gets bigger every year. This week, Jamie Loftus brin...

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with Carolyn Kendrick

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 abou...

Renée Richards with Julie Kliegman

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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. Op...

Lesbian Seagulls with Lulu Miller

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fly with us, lesbian seagull. This week Radiolab’s Lulu Miller brings us a story of queer nature and scientists in denial, featuring seagulls, pengu...

The Hot Mess Express Spectacular!

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“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 fo...

We Need to Talk About the New York Times with Tuck Woodstock

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“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 want...

Debi Thomas with Leslie Gray Streeter

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

 In 1988, twenty-year-old American figure skater Debi Thomas headed to the Calgary Olympics to face off against East German juggernaut Katarina Witt....

Sinéad O'Connor with Allyson McCabe

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we fight the real enemy with Allyson McCabe. Here's where to find Allyson online here.You can find Allyson's book Why Sinéad O&...

What Even Is Justice? with Amanda Knox

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Juvenile "Justice" with Josie Duffy Rice

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, criminal justice correspondent Josie Duffy Rice dives into America’s obsession with prosecuting children. From 19th century houses of ref...

Chris McCandless with Blair Braverman

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, survival correspondent Blair Braverman tells Sarah the story of a Supertramp. In 1996, Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild described a y...

Napster with Niko Stratis

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 interne...

Karen Carpenter Part 2 with Carolyn Kendrick

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Karen Carpenter Part 1 with Carolyn Kendrick

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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. CONTENT WARNIN...

Baby Jessica with Blair Braverman

26 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On October 14, 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland, Texas. This week, Sarah tells our survival correspondent, Blair Braverm...

Beanie Babies with Jamie Loftus

12 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 puddl...

Where Have All the Preppies Gone? with Avery Trufelman

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Put on your Docksiders for a stroll through history with Avery Trufelman, who shows us how Ivy style became “preppy,” and how preppy fashion escap...

The Movie Rating System with Karina Longworth

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Flight 571: Survival in the Andes with Blair Braverman

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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, 1...

Your Abortion Stories

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

“Abortion is healthcare and abortion is a human right. Abortion is racial justice. It’s economic justice. It’s at the intersection of every move...

Online Shopping with Amanda Mull

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 h...

Hunting Serial Killers with Michael Hobbes

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Mike and Sarah reunite to hunt for serial killers, and try to figure out whether they’re really endangered. Digressions include crow fune...

The Donner Party with Chelsey Weber-Smith

29 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You may:1. Travel on the established trail2. Take the Hastings CutoffWhat is your choice?Chelsey Weber-Smith (American Hysteria) tells Sarah about the...

Henry Lee Lucas with Rachel Monroe

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 somethi...

Porn Wars with Nona Willis Aronowitz

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 lear...

Eugenics with Eric Michael Garcia

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Eric Michael Garcia tells Sarah about America’s barely forgotten pastime, plus the Supreme Court’s long history of horrifying decisions...

Go Ask Alice Part 3 with Rick Emerson and Carmen Maria Machado

04 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 stor...

Go Ask Alice Part 2 with Carmen Maria Machado

04 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Martha Stewart with Sarah Archer

20 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Dyatlov Pass Incident with Blair Braverman

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 fri...

The Prison Boom with Shannon Heffernan

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 cou...

Go Ask Alice Part 1 with Carmen Maria Machado

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 inc...

Medieval Torture with Dana Schwartz

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How Email Took Over the World with Anne Helen Petersen

11 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 worki...

Juliet's Balcony with Chelsey Weber-Smith

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 spee...

Ronald Reagan and "The Welfare Queen" with Laci Mosley

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Bonus: Groundhog Day with Josh Gondelman

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 Gr...

CSI: Junk Science with Josie Duffy Rice

21 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 bl...

Winter Book Club: The Amityville Horror Part 3 with Jamie Loftus

07 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Tom Cruise on Oprah’s couch with Willa Paskin

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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. We will return ...

Talking Tammy Faye Bakker with Jessica Chastain

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 S...