The Robinson Center

Summary

Campus Files: The Robinson Center
Episode Release Date: August 13, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "The Robinson Center," Campus Files delves deep into the darker underbelly of the University of Washington's prestigious Young Scholars Program. Hosted by Margo Gray, the podcast uncovers disturbing allegations ranging from sexual misconduct to systemic failures in safeguarding young students. This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key discussions, insights, and revelations presented by reporter Manisha Jha.

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The Robinson Center: Reality vs. Fiction

The episode opens with a reference to a 1982 made-for-TV movie, An Innocent Love, which portrayed the Robinson Center—a real program at the University of Washington (UW) designed for exceptionally gifted students as young as 14. While the movie framed the center as a heartwarming environment with a fictional romance plot, the reality, as uncovered in this episode, is far more complex and troubling.

Manisha Jha [01:54]: "If you're going to take on the responsibility of putting kids in college, you have to take on the responsibility of keeping them safe."

This quote underscores the central theme of the episode: the juxtaposition of a revered academic institution against the backdrop of neglect and abuse within its specialized programs.

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Manisha Jha: From Student to Journalist

Manisha Jha, an alumna of UW, serves as the primary investigator in this narrative. Her journey began in 2016 when she enrolled as a freshman, driven by a legacy of education within her family. Initially focused solely on academics, Manisha's perspective shifted as she became involved with the school newspaper, The Daily Spotlight.

Manisha Jha [04:05]: "I was just so focused on my grades, and I got to the end of my freshman year and I was like, I have a nearly perfect GPA and absolutely no friends or hobbies."

Her first significant reporting piece on the Stop the Bleed campaign marked the beginning of her passion for journalism, particularly in public health.

Manisha Jha [05:26]: "I realized I could do public health by writing about it and being a journalist."

This realization set the stage for her subsequent focus on uncovering sexual assault and harassment within the university.

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Unveiling Sexual Assault Issues at UW

By her sophomore year, Manisha had embraced her role at the newspaper, covering critical issues such as sexual health and, eventually, sexual assault. Her reporting coincided with national conversations around the MeToo movement and high-profile cases like Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual assault allegations.

Manisha Jha [07:14]: "It was a little overwhelming being a young student at the university, looking around, realizing that, like, sexual assault was something that was pretty pervasive for my friends."

This pervasive issue on campus motivated her to listen to and elevate the stories of survivors, aiming to shed light on the ongoing problem despite existing knowledge and preventive measures.

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Investigating the "List of Rapists"

A pivotal moment in Manisha's investigation occurred when she received an email titled "List of Rapists. At UW." This unauthorized and unvetted list became a catalyst for her deep dive into the systemic issues within the Robinson Center.

Manisha Jha [15:33]: "That's what blown my mind about this."

Manisha's approach involved reaching out directly to those named on the list. Her persistent efforts led to varied responses, including one individual who admitted to sexual misconduct.

Manisha Jha [13:03]: "I was really sorry. I didn't quite realize what I was doing when I did it. But he admitted it."

These interactions highlighted the severity of the issues and the challenges in verifying such allegations without substantial evidence.

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The Story of Dr. John Saar

Manisha's investigative efforts reached a significant turning point when she uncovered the case of Dr. John Saar, a tenured professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Saar, who served as the interim director of the Robinson Center from 2008 to 2010, was found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct with two students, including a 17-year-old undergraduate.

Manisha Jha [21:25]: "It took 10 years for this to come to light and for him to be put on leave."

Despite the clear evidence, it took a decade for the university to address the misconduct, raising questions about the institution's commitment to protecting its youngest scholars.

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University Response and Consequences

Following the publication of Manisha's article on December 5, 2019, the University of Washington responded by expressing deep concern over the allegations and promised a thorough review of the Robinson Center's operations. However, subsequent developments raised doubts about the effectiveness of these measures.

Manisha Jha [25:32]: "When it comes to the Robinson center and programs like it, I still isn't sure. Should middle schoolers ever be on a college campus?"

The resignation of the Robinson Center's director and the appointment of a new director, who publicly claimed improvements, did little to quell ongoing reports from current students about persistent issues. Manisha's continued engagement with students revealed that many problems remained unaddressed.

Manisha Jha [25:56]: "I have been told many, many times over that it is the same."

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Ongoing Concerns and Reflections

Manisha's journey with this story was both professionally and emotionally taxing. The responsibility of reporting on traumatic experiences shared by very young students weighed heavily on her, leading to her eventual departure from the newspaper.

Manisha Jha [26:24]: "I was really stressed and I think it was a lot for some of the other editors that I worked with."

Reflecting on the broader implications, Manisha does not condemn the concept of gifted programs but emphasizes the necessity of ensuring that such environments are safe and supportive for all students.

Manisha Jha [26:59]: "I don't have any normative judgments about the concept of kids being on campus. If you're really, really smart and you really like school, you should be given all the opportunities in the world. And school shouldn't hurt you."

Her advocacy continues through educational lectures and ongoing communication with current Robinson Center students, highlighting the enduring impact of her reporting.

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Conclusion

"The Robinson Center" episode of Campus Files serves as a compelling investigation into the failures of a prestigious academic program meant to foster young talent. Through Manisha Jha's meticulous reporting, listeners gain insight into the systemic issues that allowed abusive behaviors to persist unchecked. The episode not only sheds light on past and present injustices but also poses critical questions about the future of specialized educational programs and the responsibilities of institutions to protect their most vulnerable members.

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Notable Quotes

• Manisha Jha [02:00]: "If you're going to take on the responsibility of putting kids in college, you have to take on the responsibility of keeping them safe."

• Manisha Jha [04:05]: "I have a nearly perfect GPA and absolutely no friends or hobbies."

• Manisha Jha [07:14]: "Sexual assault was something that was pretty pervasive for my friends."

• Manisha Jha [13:03]: "He admitted it on the record, that he sexually assaulted someone and that it was on the website."

• Manisha Jha [25:56]: "Should middle schoolers ever be on a college campus?"

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This detailed summary aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the "The Robinson Center" episode, capturing the critical elements and emotional depth of the investigative report. For those seeking to understand the complexities and challenges within specialized educational programs, this episode offers an eye-opening exploration of institutional accountability and the imperative to protect young scholars.

Transcript

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[Margo Gray]

In 1982, a made for TV movie called An Innocent Love aired on national television Vision. It featured a real program at the University of Washington, the Robinson Center, a place where gifted students as young as 14 could enroll in an accelerated college track.

[Manisha Jha]

In 1974, the University of Washington established a program for exceptional children, regardless of their age, in an effort to discover their individual true potentials and talents. The founder and director While the program.

[Margo Gray]

Was real, the movie's plot was fictional. A 14 year old Robinson student falls in love with a 19 year old college freshman. It's framed as a sweet coming of age romance. As one IMDb reviewer put it, a simple movie with good values. Families can watch it with no fears.

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The Big Sex Harry.

[Manisha Jha]

You know, sex.

[Margo Gray]

But the plot of Innocent Love unknowingly struck a darker chord.

[Manisha Jha]

I have a really strong moral direction when it comes to kids, young girls being sexually abused and not being protected by the people who are around them, the adults who are around them. If you're going to take on the responsibility of putting kids in college, you have to take on the responsibility of keeping them safe.

[Margo Gray]

Margo Gray I'm Margo Gray. This week on Campus Files, one reporter investigates disturbing allegations inside UW's Young Scholars Program and uncovers a crisis years in the making. On a hill overlooking Seattle's Lake Washington and just a few miles from the Puget Sound is the University of Washington, locally known as uw. It's a gorgeous campus.

[Manisha Jha]

UW is beautiful. It's surrounded by mountains. There's a lot of trees and greenery everywhere.

[Margo Gray]

This is Manisha Jha, an alumni of UW who's going to help us tell this story. Every spring, thousands of tourists flock to the quad to take photos of the blooming cherry trees. When the clouds lift, the glacier covered peak of Mount Rainier rises in the distance. Against this backdrop, the university looms large.

[Manisha Jha]

UW is a massive entity within the Pacific Northwest. It's a huge school and it's a really good school. People call it a public Ivy.

[Margo Gray]

In 2016, Manisha was a freshman at UW.

[Manisha Jha]

UW was everything. Everybody in my family went there. It was a huge part of my life. My mom went to nursing school when I was a kid there, and she'd like, take me to her classes. I'd read all her little textbooks. It was a really big part of my life from the start.

[Margo Gray]

While Manisha was thrilled to start at uw, it took some time for her to find her footing.

[Manisha Jha]

Freshman year, I was just so focused on my grades, and I got to the end of my freshman year and I was like, I have a nearly perfect GPA and absolutely no friends or hobbies. So I was like, you know, I really like grammar, so I'm going to go be a copy editor at the local paper. And that's how it all started. I never planned to write. I never thought I would be a journalist. I never thought it was good enough for that. I never, you know, I didn't think I was a writer.

[Margo Gray]

By her sophomore year, Manisha had joined the school newspaper called the Daily, even though it only came out once a week.

[Manisha Jha]

The first story I reported was about this program that UW was leading called Stop the Bleed. The Stop the Bleed campaign is a nationwide campaign that is designed to teach everyone in the community the basics of hemorrhage control, bleeding control.

[Margo Gray]

That was a UW professor and chief of trauma at Seattle's Harborview Medical center. Talking about the campaign.

[Manisha Jha]

They realized, you know, if we teach people first aid about what to do when somebody is bleeding out, we can prevent a lot of death and harm. And so I went to Harborview. I took this class, I interviewed the doctors. A photographer came and took really cool pictures.

[Margo Gray]

Up until then, Manisha had been studying public health and thought she wanted to go into medicine. But reporting this story changed things for her.

[Manisha Jha]

I realized I could do public health by writing about it and being a journalist. And I realized that that could be a way where I was a public health practitioner.

[Margo Gray]

This piece, which was Manisha's first for the Daily, ended up as the COVID story.

[Manisha Jha]

Seeing my name and my Cover story and that photo on the front page, that was amazing. I was hooked.

[Margo Gray]

There was something energizing about the whole process of putting the paper together.

[Manisha Jha]

We made the newspaper on Sunday evening, and it came out on Monday. And then we were digital, I think, actually every day. And it was just this, like, ragtag team of teenagers and early 20s somethings who put together a paper. The newsroom was absolutely buzzing. It felt like those movies that were filmed in, like, the 80s about newsrooms, you know, like all the excitement. People are all over the place, editing, changing things at the last minute, demanding things that are not ready yet. It was very, very electric.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha fondly recalled how anytime someone in the newsroom said something funny, someone would grab a marker and scribble it on the wall. It was their way of memorializing moments of levity. But beneath the jokes, there was a deep sense of purpose.

[Manisha Jha]

It was a really good group of people. They cared so much about the students around us, and we held ourselves to really high standards, and we had a mission to uncover stuff and make UW a better place. And I think that all goes back to, like, I love uw. I love that community. And when I love something, I want it to be better. And that's what we did. We were challenging UW to be better.

[Margo Gray]

At the start of her time at the paper, Manisha was especially interested in covering women's health.

[Manisha Jha]

I thought, that's cool. You know, I'll write about sexual health. I'll write about what women are experiencing on campus and the problems we're facing. And lo and behold, that really turned into being a sexual assault reporter. And the greater context there was that, you know, at that time, that fall, my junior year, when I really started writing a lot about sexual assault, that was the same time that Brett Kavanaugh was being confirmed for the Supreme Court and his sexual assault allegations were coming out. And it felt close to home because everybody was talking about sexual assault.

[Margo Gray]

This was also well into Trump's first term, and more than a year after the MeToo movement had started gaining traction.

[Manisha Jha]

It was a little overwhelming being a young student at the university, looking around, realizing that, like, sexual assault was something that was pretty pervasive for my friends. I mean, I experienced was everywhere, and it was in the news all the time, and there was an openness that had never existed before. And so for me, it just made sense. I just wanted to listen to women's stories and elevate them and shout from the rooftops that sexual assault is happening, and it's happening every year, and we know a lot of the reasons and the ways to prevent it. And yet it continues.

[Margo Gray]

From time to time, students would reach out to Manisha with rumors they had heard.

[Manisha Jha]

A lot of these rumors aren't true, but some of them are, and some of them come from somewhere. And there was that list. There was a list. I got an email. The subject line said list of rapists. At UW.

[Margo Gray]

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[Manisha Jha]

And best to you, possibility means you have a chance. Passion opens the door to all possibilities.

[Margo Gray]

When I feel like anything's possible, I.

[Manisha Jha]

Feel kind of giddy. I want to be an astronaut, be an artist, be an actress, to visit another country all I need is a backpack and a pair of shoes, and.

[Margo Gray]

I'll find a way.

[Manisha Jha]

I'm able to do anything I set my mind to. I've never felt like more things are possible than right now. In the right shoes, anything is possible. Dsw Countless shoes at bragworthy prices. Imagine the possibilities. So this list is a completely unvetted list of sexual assault allegations. It was basically an online forum where people could just submit any allegations that they wanted to and they would be posted online.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha was reporting for the UW student paper when someone forwarded her a list. Names of students alleged to be rapists. Figuring out what to do next wasn't easy. The claims were unverified and the evidence unclear. But as a journalist, she had a responsibility to look into it.

[Manisha Jha]

Because I was the health and wellness editor, I was open to these stories. And when you, like, open your eyes and ears to hearing these stories, they find you. And that's what happened. They found me, and I had no choice. I had a responsibility to write about it.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha decided to start reaching out to the people on the list, those who had been accused of rape.

[Manisha Jha]

I got in contact with every single person on that list that I could who was related to the UW community. And I would call these people up, like, call this guy up while he's clearly at some sort of event where people are drinking and being very loud in the background. He was really confused why I was calling him, and I was like, did you know you're on this list? Did you do the things that were said? And of course he said no. He got quite upset at me. And I had. I did that probably like 25 times.

[Margo Gray]

Most of these calls went pretty much the same way.

[Manisha Jha]

There was one guy who I messaged, who no longer, I think, lived in the US at that time. And I messaged him, and I asked him if he did what was said on the website. He basically said, maybe I did. It was an accident, and I'm really sorry. I didn't quite realize what I was doing when I did it. But he admitted it. He admitted it on the record, that he sexually assaulted someone and that it was on the website.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha was also interviewing survivors for the story, listening to painful, deeply personal accounts.

[Manisha Jha]

There was so much hurt that had built up over such a long period of time, and it was just like floodgates had opened, and I was the rape reporter, and it all came to me, and I had to receive it.

[Margo Gray]

In September 2018, Manisha and two fellow student reporters published a story about the list, though they. They didn't name the accused. It wouldn't be Manisha's last story of this kind. She continued reporting on issues of sexual assault and domestic violence on campus. Then during her senior year, while wrapping up a study abroad program in India, she started hearing rumors, whispers of a news story taking shape back at uw.

[Manisha Jha]

A lot of sexual assault just kind of exists within these whisper networks. And then that's how you find people to speak up. And so I was like, okay, this is another whisper. We're gonna follow up on it. I heard from some of the other editors that I worked with that children were reaching out about potentially, you know, pretty big story about the Robinson center having like a pretty toxic environment. And we were hearing a lot about bullying and sexual harassment in class and just a lot of really problematic stuff.

[Margo Gray]

Remember that movie clip at the start of the episode, the one about the Robinson Center? That gifted and talented program for young students wasn't a Hollywood invention. It's real.

[Manisha Jha]

The program entails dropping out of grade school and enrolling in 22 credits that squeeze four years of high school learning into one year. And depending on their performance, the students matriculate the following fall to complete a four year degree. By the time most kids are applying to college.

[Margo Gray]

The Robinson center is an extremely selective program within the University of Washington. Every year, parents flood Reddit with questions about how to get their young scholar accepted. Fewer than 20 applicants are admitted annually. Manisha began reaching out to these students, hoping to connect with someone enrolled at the Robinson Center.

[Manisha Jha]

They came into the newsroom, we sat down. I talked to them about what they were experiencing. And they were so young, and I was so young. That's what blew my mind about this.

[Margo Gray]

And these students began to share their stories, beginning with what was happening inside the classroom.

[Manisha Jha]

So the students said the Robinson center staff openly encouraged students to date within the center. And although many transition school students are around the same age, TAs can be up to 10 years older.

[Margo Gray]

TA stands for teaching assistant. These are undergraduate or graduate students who support professors in the classroom.

[Manisha Jha]

Male students and TAs, I was told, maintained an environment of misogyny by making a lot of sexual jokes in class and online. One student, according to several sources, many people saw this happen. One TA mimicked masturbating next to the female student's head while he was leading a class session. And the TA continued to teach the student for the remainder of that quarter, even though she complained. And female students told me that the boys would regularly comment on their breast sizes, call them sluts, Say they were only admitted to the program because they performed sexual favors. And then they took it further. I was told male students were accused of stalking, physically assaulting female students, including at one point allegedly pinning one to a wall to ask her on a date.

[Margo Gray]

And remember, there was a significant age gap between the Robinson center students and their counterparts at the university.

[Manisha Jha]

Many of the female teens end up in relationships with much older male students. And that looked like 15 year old dating a 25 year old grad student. One of the students told me, quote, during my first quarter as a freshman, I myself was taken advantage of by an older male student. She was 15 at the time and he was 28. She told me, I think when you're in a really emotionally vulnerable place, you feel like having sex with someone a lot older is a way to regain power.

[Margo Gray]

And the students, just 14 and 15 years old, tried to do something about it.

[Manisha Jha]

They tried every other avenue. They tried the counseling center, they tried talking to administration, they tried talking to the Robinson center administration, and they felt like they hadn't been heard. These students told me that they were repeatedly told things like, you know, maybe you shouldn't talk about how you feel, boys will be boys, and, you know, we just have to deal with these things. They had a lot of community meetings where they would all get together with the administration. And they also referred to them as shit shows. So they were really ineffective in remedying any situation. One student said, all the people who did this, sexual harassing and bullying are all still there. We went to administration and told them, this can't be called a safe space.

[Margo Gray]

And this was the situation that Manisha was uncovering.

[Manisha Jha]

You have to be really, really desperate to come to like a 19 year old and ask if they can write a story about a horrible thing that happened to you. I was acutely aware that I was writing about some of the worst days of people's lives.

[Margo Gray]

With these allegations in hand, Manisha began looking for evidence.

[Manisha Jha]

While I was working to get as many sources for the story as I could, I also was working to get records to, of course, verify everything that was being said. So I submitted what's called a public records request to the university. I asked them for anything related to sexual assault, sexual harassment at the Robinson center in the past. And they took quite a bit of time with it. I didn't expect to find anything necessarily new in these public records, just rather verification for what I already knew. And that is not what happened.

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[Margo Gray]

Buying a car in Carvana was so easy.

[Manisha Jha]

I was able to finance it through them. I just. Whoa, wait.

[Margo Gray]

You mean finance?

[Manisha Jha]

Yeah, finance.

[Margo Gray]

Got pre qualified for a Carvana auto loan, entered my terms and shot from thousands of great car options all within my budget.

[Manisha Jha]

That's cool. But financing through Carvana was so easy. Financed, done. And I get to pick up my.

[Margo Gray]

Car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow. Financed, right?

[Manisha Jha]

That's what I said. You can spend time trying to pronounce financing or you can actually finance and buy your car. Today on car finance financing subject to credit approval. Additional terms and conditions may apply.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha was waiting on the public record she'd requested about the Robinson center when news broke.

[Manisha Jha]

UW issued a statement that said tenured professor John Saar was found to have engaged in, quote, inappropriate conduct with two students, including a 17 year old undergraduate. End quote.

[Margo Gray]

At the time, Dr. John Saar was a tenured professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer engineering. But from 2008 to 2010, he'd served as the interim director of the Robinson Center. It was during that time that Saar, then 46 years old, slept with a 17 year old student in the Robinson center program.

[Manisha Jha]

It was shocking. I read the records. I saw text messages that he sent to a girl over several months. And it took 10 years for this to come to light and for him to be put on leave.

[Margo Gray]

Saar had been under investigation for eight months and the timing of the university's press release was no coincidence.

[Manisha Jha]

They knew that if they gave me these records and didn't get ahead of any story that I would put out, it would probably look pretty bad.

[Margo Gray]

This news only strengthened Manisha's resolve to keep reporting.

[Manisha Jha]

It really seemed like there was an environment of not protecting these kids and not talking about how to keep them safe from pedophiles. There were two students that UW found out about and UWPD found out about. But it really felt like the Robinson Center's issues were spread far beyond this one guy.

[Margo Gray]

With so little accountability from the university, Manisha's work felt all the More urgent and all the more consequential.

[Manisha Jha]

It was really stressful. It was extremely high pressure. I was really protective of this story. I didn't want anyone to publish it before I Knew I was 100% confident in it. It's not standard practice to show your sources the story before you publish it, but since they were minors and there was a really large potential to do harm to these kids who were already really hurt, I showed them the story. I made sure that they were okay with how things were presented, how they came across in the story and the quotes that I used. We had probably, like, 10 people read and edit this story. We had our publisher review it. We had the assistant Attorney General for the UW review it.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha's referring to the fact that the Washington State Attorney General's office actually provides legal services directly to the University of Washington.

[Manisha Jha]

We were really, really solid. I mean, every single sentence of this story was fact checked multiple times, and it held up.

[Margo Gray]

The story Manisha was working on was nothing short of monumental. If she got it right, she could help protect scores of vulnerable students, both those already in danger and also future students at the Robinson Center. But if she got it wrong, she risked harming the very students she was trying to help.

[Manisha Jha]

These girls, especially, who opened up to me and spoke to me, they were so young and they were so vulnerable and being sexually abused and not being protected by the people who were around them, the adults who are around them. And I think the purpose, one of the main purposes of School of Junior high is to keep you safe. And when you take a kid out of that environment and you don't take a lot of precautions to make sure that they're safe, you're responsible for that harm. I was just really scared that I would perpetuate any harm that had already happened to them.

[Margo Gray]

Manisha sent a copy of the story to the university and to the Robinson center for comment.

[Manisha Jha]

They really didn't respond. There was nothing to say. If there's no inaccuracies, they're not going to respond.

[Margo Gray]

On December 5, 2019, the story went to press both online and in print. It painted a damning picture. A program where girls frequently suffered abuse ranging from misogynistic jokes to sexual harassment, all while administrators looked the other way. One student recalled that after she reported being harassed, an administrator told her, quote, maybe you shouldn't talk about how you feel.

[Manisha Jha]

When the first couple of hours passed, I was like, we're good. Nobody has reached out with any corrections. Nobody has reached out like, you know, the story got really big on Twitter pretty quickly. And of course people would make like anonymous accounts and say that it was wrong. It was full of inaccuracies. But ultimately it really held up and I felt so empowered.

[Margo Gray]

The director of the Robinson center responded to the article, calling the allegations deeply concerning and promising a full review of the center's operations. But not long after, that same director stepped down. By 2021, just two years later, the new director was publicly claiming that the Robinson center had changed. But Manisha isn't so sure.

[Manisha Jha]

I do hear from students. I do hear from Robinson center students because I give a guest lecture every year about this story and the greater context and just my experience as a journalist at UW reporting on sexual assault. Once in a while there will be a Robinson center student in that class or like they'll reach out to me over Twitter or something. And I've been told many, many times over that it is the same.

[Margo Gray]

This ended up being the last article Manisha reported for the paper. We asked her why.

[Manisha Jha]

I still don't really have an answer for that. It was a lot on my body. I was really stressed and I think it was a lot for some of the other editors that I worked with. Yeah, it was a lot to carry. It's just one of those things, right? Like, you can't close the floodgates once they're open. I'm always going to be this person who is open to hearing these stories and figuring out how we can try to reconcile and make things better.

[Margo Gray]

When it comes to the Robinson center and programs like it, Manisha still isn't sure. Should middle schoolers ever be on a college campus?

[Manisha Jha]

I don't have any normative judgments about the concept of kids being on campus. If you're really, really smart. I think gifted is a troublesome word, but I think if you're really smart and you really like school, you should be given all the opportunities in the world. I don't have any problem with gifted students and I love school and I love people who love school. And school shouldn't hurt you.

[Margo Gray]

Campus Files is an Odyssey Original podcast this episode was written and reported by Elliot Adler. Campus Files is produced by Ian Mont Eliot Adler and me, Margo Gray. Our executive producers and story editors are Maddie Sprunkheiser and Lloyd Lockridge. Campus Files is edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Basel and Andy Jaskowicz. Special thanks to Jenna Weiss Berman, J.D. crowley, Leah Reese, Dennis, Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Kurt Courtney, Hilary Shaw, Sean Cherry, Laura Berman and Hilary Van Ornam. Original theme music by James Waterman and Davy Sumner. If you have tips or story ideas, write to [e-mail].

[Chumba Casino Speaker]

Hello, it's Lena Dunham.

[Manisha Jha]

I host a podcast called the C Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up?

[Chumba Casino Speaker]

It's a chat show about women whose.

[Manisha Jha]

Society is called Crazy. We're going to be rediscovering the stories of women's society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad.

[Chumba Casino Speaker]

Listen to and follow the C Word.

[Manisha Jha]

With Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.