Start / You’re Wrong About / Vanessa williams part 1 becoming miss america

Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss America

82 min • 8 mars 2021

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.

Support us:
Subscribe on Patreon
Donate on Paypal
Buy cute merch

Where else to find us:
Sarah's other show, Why Are Dads
Mike's other show, Maintenance Phase

Clips!

Opening musical number
Vanessa introduces herself
Talent competition
Swimsuit
Vanessa wins!

Links!

Sarah's Miss America piece!
Vanessa and Helen’s memoir, “You Have No Idea”
Margot Mifflin’s “Looking for Miss America”
Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston and Hollywood’s Misogynoir Problem
Vanessa Williams: A Beauty Queen’s Crown of Thorns
Miss America--The Inside Story
First Black Miss America Finds Unforeseen Issues
Ain’t I a Beauty Queen?: Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race
Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant
'A Felony Just to Own': The Sleazy Story Behind Penthouse’s Most Controversial Issue
There She Goes, Miss America
Most Famous Miss America In History
1989 People magazine article
In Black and White
Putting on a Happy Face

Support the show

Senaste avsnitt

Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss America

Senaste avsnitt

Pee-wee Herman Part 2 with Jamie Loftus

Pee-wee Herman Part 1 with Jamie Loftus

The Hitler Diaries with Adrian Daub

Coyotes! with Lulu Miller

Inventing the Teenager with Harmony Colangelo

Is Your House Too Clean? with Sarah Archer

Hoax Memoir Spectacular!

Your Joy and Resilience Stories

The Worst Oscars Ever?? with Michael Schulman

Emotional Labor with Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton of Bad Therapist

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

Aron Ralston with Blair Braverman

Singing in the New Year with Carolyn Kendrick and Each Machine

Santa Claus with Sarah Archer

Cola Wars with Miles Klee

Elizabeth Báthory with Princess Weekes

Halloween History with Chelsey Weber-Smith

A MASSIVE SEANCE Live Show Tour with American Hysteria

Revolutions and Resistance with Kellie Carter Jackson

Lawrence v. Texas Part 2 with Marcus McCann

Lawrence v. Texas Part 1 with Marcus McCann

The Jane Collective with Moira Donegan

Dungeons & Dragons & The Satanic Panic with Adrian Daub

Rosie Ruiz and the Marathon Women with Maggie Mertens

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

Balloonfest ‘86! with Harmony Colangelo

Phones Are Good, Actually with Taylor Lorenz

Immigration with Alejandra Oliva

The Tradwife Rises with Sarah Archer

Rosa Parks with Princess Weekes

George Michael Part 2 with Marcus McCann

George Michael Part 1 with Marcus McCann

Hoax Spectacular! with Chelsey Weber-Smith

BONUS Britney Spears Book Club with Eve Lindley

The Oscars Streaker with Michael Schulman

Balto with Blair Braverman

The Shoe Bomber with Miles Klee

Tiny Tim with Harmony Colangelo

The “Pro-Life” Movement with Megan Burbank

The Battle of the Sexes with Julie Kliegman

The Exorcist with Marlena Williams

Influencers with Taylor Lorenz

Cattle Mutilation with Rachel Monroe

Amy Winehouse with Eve Lindley

Our Dearest Fears with Chelsey Weber-Smith

Lizzie Borden with Princess Weekes

Mindhunting with Sarah Weinman

Changing Your Mind

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

The Most Normal Girl in Cleveland with Heather Radke

The Cottingley Fairies with Chelsey Weber-Smith

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

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours with Carolyn Kendrick

Renée Richards with Julie Kliegman

Lesbian Seagulls with Lulu Miller

The Hot Mess Express Spectacular!

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

Debi Thomas with Leslie Gray Streeter

Sinéad O'Connor with Allyson McCabe

What Even Is Justice? with Amanda Knox

Juvenile "Justice" with Josie Duffy Rice

Chris McCandless with Blair Braverman

Napster with Niko Stratis

Karen Carpenter Part 2 with Carolyn Kendrick

Karen Carpenter Part 1 with Carolyn Kendrick

Baby Jessica with Blair Braverman

Beanie Babies with Jamie Loftus

Where Have All the Preppies Gone? with Avery Trufelman

The Movie Rating System with Karina Longworth

Flight 571: Survival in the Andes with Blair Braverman

Your Abortion Stories

Online Shopping with Amanda Mull

Hunting Serial Killers with Michael Hobbes

The Donner Party with Chelsey Weber-Smith

Henry Lee Lucas with Rachel Monroe

Porn Wars with Nona Willis Aronowitz

Eugenics with Eric Michael Garcia

Go Ask Alice Part 2 with Carmen Maria Machado