About this podcast
In August 2022, at a packed school board meeting in Grapevine, Texas, a mom approaches the microphone and describes the exact nightmare that Republican politicians have been warning about. She accuses a teacher of convincing her child to change genders. As a result, she says, “I lost my son.” But when NBC News reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton look into this mother’s allegations, they find a different story: of a transgender child desperately wanting to be heard, a mother determined to put God first — and an English teacher caught in the middle. And they discover this isn’t just a story about one broken family. It’s also a story about a fringe religious movement wielding newfound power and the revival of a long-simmering quest by evangelicals to remake American education based on their version of biblical values. From NBC News Studios and the team behind the Peabody Award-winning series Southlake, Grapevine is a podcast about faith and power — and what it means to protect children — in an American suburb.
Episodes
- Introducing: Before & After with Lester Holt · 2 min · Season 1Hey Grapevine fans! As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Before & After with Lester Holt, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline. Before & After with…
- They Came for the Schools · 41 min · Season 1An exclusive audio excerpt from Mike Hixenbaugh’s new book, “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms.”
- A Final Lesson · 49 min · Season 1 Episode 6Grapevine votes in a school board election driven by religion and LGBTQ inclusion. The student and teacher at the center of it all decide how to move forward.
- Open The Floodgates · 45 min · Season 1 Episode 5Amid a battle at the Texas statehouse over religion and LGBTQ rights, three nonbinary students reflect on their Grapevine High experiences.
- A Raging Fire · 43 min · Season 1 Episode 4A man goes public about growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian home in Texas. A teacher is at a loss after removing LGBTQ symbols from her classroom.
- A Harvest Is Coming · 48 min · Season 1 Episode 3A student in Grapevine, Texas, plans to escape her mother as she’s caught in an anti-trans battle involving her family, her English teacher and her school.
- The Seven Mountains · 44 min · Season 1 Episode 2Conservatives aim to embed fringe Christian values in schools. A cellphone company tries to win school board seats to that end, emulating Southlake.
- The Girl And The English Teacher · 43 min · Season 1 Episode 1A mother in Grapevine, Texas, accuses an English teacher of persuading her child to change genders. The teacher and her student tell a different story.
- Introducing: Grapevine · 3 min · Season 1Two years after conservative activists turned critical race theory into a right-wing rallying cry, the political fight has shifted. The team behind the Peabody Award-winning…
