Monthly Archives: February 2019

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.

Plus, special thanks to Ian at Marfa Public Radio, who helped Sarah record this episode!

Links!

• Sarah’s 2017 Buzzfeed essay
• Anna’s 1993 Playboy video centerfold
• Mimi Swartz’s wonderful Texas Monthly profile of Anna Nicole and J. Howard
• Dan P. Lee’s New York Magazine essay on Anna Nicole’s legal and personal woes
• Skip Hollandsworth’s 1993 article on early Anna
• Pamela Colloff’s 2002 profile of Rusty Hardin

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 at least one spends the episode under a blanket. 

Links!

• The EPA report on the costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act
• “Sour Showers: Acid Rain Returns–This Time It Is Caused by Nitrogen Emissions”
• “The Organisation of Denial: Conservative Think Tanks and Environmental Skepticism”
• “Is Acid Rain a Thing of the Past?”
• “How Cold War Politics Helped Solve a Climate Crisis”

Sarah tells Mike how a dubious affair distracted from the real scandal of the 1988 election. 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.”

Links!

• “Was Gary Hart Set Up?”
• “The Road to Bimini,” Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, 1987
• “The Selling Out of Donna Rice” –Excerpt from Inside People
• “Why is Lee Atwater So Hungry?” David Remnick, Esquire, 1986
• The infamous tank ad
• “Talking Trash with Mike Dukakis,” Boston Magazine, Garrett Quinn 
• Excerpt from Bad Boy: The Life and Politics of Lee Atwater, by John Brady
• Bob Herbert on the Southern Strategy 

Corrections!

• Lynn Armandt sold the pictures to the National Enquirer, not People. Sorry!