Podcast
Grapevine
Hosted by NBC News · EN
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.
9episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Dateline Presents: Five Miles From Home
3w ago00:02:28Tap to summarizeAs a bonus for Grapevine fans, we’re sharing the trailer for Five Miles From Home, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline and Keith Morrison. When beloved high school junior Micaela Costanzo disappears on her way home from track practice, the race to find her leads to unlikely suspects, simmering rage, and unimaginable betrayal. Keith Morrison takes us to a small Nevada casino town to find out what really happened that night under the desert sky. If you like what you hear, just search Five Miles From Home to listen to the first two episodes now, completely free. Or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com. Subscribers get early access to new episodes and can listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free. swap.fm/l/fmfhlwfd Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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They Came for the Schools
May 14, 202400:40:40Tap to summarizeIn an exclusive audio excerpt from Chapter 1 of “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms,” author Mike Hixenbaugh uncovers Southlake’s history, demonstrating how policies meant to protect the town from outside development a half-century ago helped plant the seeds for conflicts over diversity, equity and inclusion—conflicts that are now tearing apart suburbs across the nation.For more details and to purchase the book, on sale May 14, 2024, follow this link: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/they-came-for-the-schools-mike-hixenbaugh?variant=41284682088482 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →A Final Lesson
Oct 20, 202300:49:07Tap to summarizeGrapevine goes to the polls in a contentious school board election driven by the fight over the role of religion and LGBTQ inclusion in public schools. As the dust settles, Ren reflects on the impact of her mother’s allegations. And, after months of feeling as if she’s had to erase herself, Em Ramser reclaims her voice. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →Open The Floodgates
Oct 18, 202300:44:42Tap to summarizeEvangelical activists open a new front in their campaign to impose their version of biblical morality in public schools — at the Texas statehouse. While legislators debate bills requiring the Ten Commandments and banning mention of gender identity in classrooms, three nonbinary students share the trauma they’ve endured at Grapevine High. Meanwhile, a coalition of progressive parents and disillusioned conservatives pledge to retake control of their school system. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →A Raging Fire
Oct 13, 202300:43:09Tap to summarizeWeston Brown, 28, sees a video of his homeschooling mother calling for dozens of books on sexuality and gender to be banned from public schools in another Texas school district. To counter her political activism, Weston publicly shares his story of growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian family. Feeling pressured by parents and school officials, Em Ramser removes LGBTQ symbols from her classroom and no longer recognizes the teacher she’s become. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →A Harvest Is Coming
Oct 11, 202300:47:43Tap to summarizeAmid a growing anti-trans backlash, Ren devises a plan to get out of Texas — and away from her mother. In Grapevine, Sharla’s claim that teacher Em Ramser “infected” her child with lies about gender triggers online attacks, leading Ramser to consider leaving the profession. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →The Seven Mountains
Oct 4, 202300:44:26Tap to summarizeConservatives are gaining power in Grapevine, fueled by a once-fringe movement that calls on evangelicals to control the seven key “mountains” of American society — including education. A cellphone company with a Christian nationalist agenda heeds that call and sets its sights on winning school board seats in Grapevine, following an example set a year earlier in the neighboring city of Southlake.CORRECTION (Oct. 4, 2023, 08:40 p.m. ET): A previous version of this episode misstated the amount of money Patriot Mobile Action spent in school board elections in North Texas in spring 2022. It was nearly $500,000, not $600,000. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →The Girl And The English Teacher
Oct 4, 202300:43:21Tap to summarizeA mother named Sharla publicly accuses a high school teacher in Grapevine, Texas, of using a graphic novel called “The Prince and the Dressmaker” to convince her child to change genders. Reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton set out to investigate the allegation. Sharla’s child, Ren, and Ren’s English teacher, Em Ramser, tell them a different story. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcribe →Introducing: Grapevine
Sep 26, 202300:03:08Tap to summarizeTwo 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 podcast Southlake tells the story of one family broken apart in the midst of a new anti-LGBTQ culture war, and the high school English teacher caught in the middle. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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