Linda Taylor was a con artist, a kidnapper, maybe even a murderer. She was also America’s original “welfare queen,” the villain Ronald Reagan needed to create a vision of a country being taken advantage of by its poorest citizens. Josh Levin reveals the never-before-told story of a woman whose singular life was forgotten in the rush to create a vicious American stereotype.

This podcast is based on Josh Levin’s new book, The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices