Shocking! Lurid! Tawdry! A History of American Scandals

Why oh why oh why oh... does Ohio have so many political scandals?  

From bad behavior to a mistress opening up about an affair with her politico boss after not being invited to his wedding, the Buckeye state has played host to a surprising number of political bad behavior. Kasey Howe walks us through some of the highlights among the lowlights.

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw

In early 2013, Reese Witherspoon seemed destined for Meg Ryan’s later career. Both hit it big as smart, sometimes daffy romcom blondes with more going on than initially appeared. But after winning an Oscar for Walk the Line, Reese’s movies… hadn’t exactly popped.   

Then something happened. On April 19, 2013, Reese was in the car with her husband, talent agent James Toth, when he was pulled over under suspicion of driving while intoxicated after swerving into the wrong lane. But it was Reese who got arrested for disorderly conduct.  

They were in Atlanta while Reese filmed The Good Lie (another film that would go on to make no impact at the box office), and James was pulled over just after midnight. They parked in a  Walgreens parking lot (because where else is there to park in Atlanta?) when, according to the police report, “Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer. I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet.”  

She didn’t sit on her butt and stay quiet. Reese Witherspoon had had enough. And she made national news for it. But what did it mean for her career? Obviously it didn't impede her; she's earned her best reviews in the years since. But how did this moment in an unwanted spotlight shift her priorities? Mark walks the line from Walgreens parking lot to the current empire she's built.  

Logo: Jessica Balaschak  

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Los Angeles is an oasis in the desert—but it's also a mirage. Because life shouldn't be sustainable to the extent that it is, and it wouldn't be if a few enterprising old dudes hadn't decided to divert water from the Valley to help L.A. prosper. What's the harm? Those farmers don't need that water, right?  

If you've ever seen Chinatown, then you know there's a lot of harm going on. Kasey walks us through the chicanery and trickery used to drain a few lakes over the years, all to keep the L.A. millionaires and movie stars in warm showers and cold drinks.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Julia Roberts was a freshly minted, Oscar-nominated movie star when she and Kiefer Sutherland (semi Hollywood royalty) announced their wedding, to be held on the Fox studio lot. That should have been an early sign of things to come. As should Kiefer's desire to have a full Thanksgiving dinner served at their June wedding (he really likes Thanksgiving, OK?). Then, days before the wedding, Julia called the whole thing off and flew to Ireland on what would have been her wedding day with Jason Patric—a close friend of Kiefer's who, perhaps not coincidentally, was disinvited from the wedding shortly before the breakup. And thus began what Julia Roberts would call her "Fellini summer." 

Host Mark Peikert walks us through the scandal that has become part of Hollywood lore for some, and has been completely forgotten by most. This marks the first installment of his three-part series Duck, Duck, You're F*cked, examining the scandals that some stars managed to slough off and one scandal that ended a promising career.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shockingluridtawdry

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Everything has to start somewhere, right? And it was Dan Sickles who first claimed temporary insanity as a defense for murder.  

Of course, he was Congressman at the time he shot and killed his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key II, in broad daylight in Manhattan's Lafayette Square. And of course he was celebrated as a hero for "saving" women from such a rogue. 

But that's hardly the only scandal that attached itself to Sickles' name. Tune in as Kasey walks us through his messy career, from public murder (and acquittal!) to the Battle of Gettysburg to burial in Arlington cemetery.  

Watch every episode on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/shockingluridtawdry

Logo: Jessica Balaschak  

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

A cult versus FBI armored vehicles—what could go wrong? 

Was David Koresh crazy? Not our topic today! Was the government overarmed and underprepared? Now, that we can dig into. In this week's episode, Kasey Howe looks at bad people on both sides, and the decisions that led to the live televised disaster that was Waco.

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

Turns out, women involved in political scandals is a pretty tough Google—mostly because very few of them were scandalous on their own. Nevertheless, in honor of Women's History Month Kasey Howe offers a pu pu platter of women behaving badly, whether they intended to or not. From Iran-Contra to extramarital affairs, here are the women breaking bad in government. And no, this isn't the Nancy Reagan episode. Mark is as disappointed as you are.

Logo: Jessica Balaschak

Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music

“The Strumpet with the Trumpet.” “Nympho Dyke.” “Cocaine Slut.” “Black-Magic Voodoo Queen.”  

Somehow, a former cheerleader from upstate New York got branded all of those things by the national media when her wealthy older husband decided to divorce her after six years of marriage. They were not famous (well, sorta). But their marriage coincided with the last gasp of the freewheeling decadence of the ‘70s, so there were plenty of lurid details to air in public. And neither Roxanne Pulitzer nor estranged husband Herbert Peter Pulitzer held back in their Palm Beach divorce trial.  

After their marriage on January 12, 1976, Roxanne was officially part of the Palm Beach society crowd, and they ushered her into the fold. Unfortunately, it was a fast crowd and both she and Herbert started participating in some things—like cocaine binges and threesomes—that would come back to bite not both of them, but the wife and mother of twins.  

Eventually, Roxanne ended up humiliated on the national stage, without custody of her sons and with just $2,000 a month in alimony for two years. How did it happen? Mark delivers the dish in this torrid episode.