Scandalized
by Boise State Public Radio
Latest episode
The Television is Lying to You Again
The Television is Lying to You Again
About this podcast
In each episode of Scandalized, political scientists Charlie Hunt and Jaci Kettler unpack a political scandal from American history: the story, its scandalous details, the political meaning and motivations behind the act. What can political science teach us about what happened? How has the scandal and its aftermath changed American politics? And what on earth were these politicians thinking?
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Episodes
- The Television is Lying to You Again · 47 min · Season 2It’s an election year, and candidates are constantly misleading voters about their opponents in advertisements many of us wish we’d never seen. What are candidates allowed to…
- Give Me Five Dollars or I’ll Start Crying · 48 min · Season 2If you’ve ever angrily deleted a fundraising email or text message, this episode is for you. Jaci and Charlie are both experts in campaign finance, and even they can barely…
- The Election That Wasn’t Stolen · 55 min · Season 2The Scandalized time machine is back up and running. This week, we’re headed back to 1876 to correct the record on the wildest presidential election outcome in American history…
- Side Effects May Include Embezzling Taxpayer Money · 59 min · Season 2In the late 2010s, things went south – deep south – very quickly in Mississippi with a scandal fit for a football legend. This week on Scandalized, a network of political figures…
- The Fish Rots from the Head · 59 min · Season 2President Donald Trump’s second term is littered with corruption scandals. But to kick off season 2, Charlie and Jaci give listeners a brief break from the man at the top, and…
- Season 2 drops Oct. 5th · 2 minDo you ever look at a politician explaining away some new scandal they got themselves into & think to yourself: how in the hell did we get here? Political scandals can be…
- Feed Swap: Introducing Swing State of the Union, from WUWM · 32 minAhead of our Season 2 debut, we're bringing you a special episode from our friends at Swing State of the Union, a podcast from WUWM, Milwaukee's NPR. Like Scandalized, Swing…
- S1.5: Live from Treefort 2025! · 46 minAs a topper for our mini-season, we’re bringing you a live show we did earlier in 2025 from Treefort Music Fest in Boise! Charlie reminds Jaci about Howard Dean’s “scream heard…
- S1.5: The Elephant in the Oval Office · 1 h 2 minIn season one, we purposely avoided doing an episode about Donald Trump; but the first year of Trump’s second term is too scandalous to ignore. In this episode, we break down the…
- S1.5: Staff Revolts and Bosnian Bears · 36 minCharlie and Jaci revisit a couple of their favorite stories from season one, including fan favorites like Gov. Rod Blagojevich. We also talk exclusively with Gov. Sanford’s…
- S1.5: Teeny Tiny Watergate · 32 minThe culinary journey continues with some more food fails in very public political spaces. A president gets sick in the lap of another head of state; Marco Rubio learns about the…
- S1.5: The Crudité Conundrum · 22 minScandalized is back for a five-episode mini-season while we work on Season 2! This week, part one of our deep dive into our favorite food-related scandals. Dr. Oz teaches us…
- The Truth About Lying in Politics (Part 2) · 57 min · Season 1 Episode 8It’s part two of our season finale on the truth-stretching that politicians seem to do all too often. Last week, we examined the ways politicians inflate their resumes; this…
- The Truth About Lying in Politics (Part 1) · 47 min · Season 1 Episode 7For the last two episodes of the season, Charlie and Jaci tell the truth — at least as far as they can tell — about the fine art of lying in politics. What lies get politicians…
- “His face was in your windshield, Jason.” · 48 min · Season 1 Episode 6A man lies dead on the side of a dark road in South Dakota while the state’s Attorney General apparently flees the scene. A state’s chief law enforcement officer veers too far…
- The Stock Trades are Coming from Inside the House · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 5Trading stocks based on inside information is a federal crime in just about every corner of the economy — except on Capitol Hill. Are members of Congress using privileged…
- Eggburt Flies Coach · 50 min · Season 1 Episode 4Money talks; and unfortunately for political candidates, it sometimes talks a little too much. This week, Jaci introduces us to Representative Duncan Hunter of California, who…
- Blood on the Senate Floor · 48 min · Season 1 Episode 3This week on Scandalized, we go back to the 1850s, and things get violent. A U.S. Senator clings to life after being beaten in the halls of Congress by one of his colleagues. The…
- How to Lose a Governor in 10 Days · 47 min · Season 1 Episode 2In 2009, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford disappeared without a trace from the state he was supposed to be running. Where did he turn up, and how did he handle the messy…
- The Golden Opportunity · 49 min · Season 1 Episode 1As Barack Obama burst onto the presidential stage in 2008, American voters saw a candidate who might deliver change they could believe in; but Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich…
