‘You’re Wrong About’ is giving us the full scoop on famous figures’ twisted legacies
Consider this your final push to start listening to “You’re Wrong About.” That is, of course, if you’re not one of the multitudes of people already listening. The award-winning podcast has been topping the charts since it began releasing weekly episodes in 2018. While the title may be accusatory, “You’re Wrong About” is righting collective wrongs, reconsidering people or events that have been miscast, misinterpreted, and misremembered in the public consciousness.
This independent podcast has released over 150 episodes since its debut. From May 2018 to October 2021, Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes would let all of us know what all of us have been wrong about. From Tonya Harding and the attack on Nancy Kerrigan to Jeffrey Dahmer to The Chicks and the Iraq War, our collective memories have needed some correction. So, correct us they have!
You’re still probably feeling a little attacked. Hobbes and Marshall are definitely not saying that everything we know about famous figures is wrong, just that society as a whole has twisted their legacies. They have taken us through O.J. Simpson’s trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, correcting the legacies of players like Marcia Clark, Paula Barbieri, Kato Kaelin, and more. They’ve covered the D.C. Snipers, Kitty Genovese’s murder and the Bystander Effect, Anna Nicole Smith, Kurt Cobain and copycat suicides, Monica Lewinsky, and Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
The two have talked about the convoluted history of the term Stockholm Syndrome and how the term Alpha Male inaccurately makes animal behaviors a template for humans. They’ve looked at the Challenger Disaster, discussing how it went from being seen as a horrific tragedy to white collar crime.
Besides their fascinating subjects, what set “You’re Wrong About” apart from the pack was Hobbes’ and Marshall’s chemistry and relentless search for truth. Both are writers and journalists, having written articles and essays on topics not unlike that of their podcast. Their conversations on the podcast are refreshingly nuanced: nothing is ever black and white for these two. While they look at the facts of the people and events they talk about, they try to view everything through different cultural lenses, examining just how it all got so twisted.
While Hobbes left the show last October to focus on his other very popular podcast, “Maintenance Phase,” Marshall has not let the podcast whither without him. While the format of the show with two hosts usually persisted of one telling the other about whatever collective misunderstanding was on the agenda, the format with one host has not changed all that drastically. Now, Marshall is joined by guests like the host of “Noble Blood” Dana Schwartz, “My Year In Mensa” host Jamie Loftus, Jamelle Bouie, “Decoder Ring’s” Willa Paskin, even actor/director Jessica Chastain! Fans have stood by Marshall’s upholding of high standards and continued success on “You’re Wrong About,” and so have we.
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