Podcast Summary:

Podcast: Something Was Wrong
Production: Broken Cycle Media
Episode: S25 Ep5: Testing Me
Date: January 29, 2026
Host: Tiffany Reiss
Main Guests: Miranda, Olivia

Episode Overview

This episode explores the dynamics of abuse of power between professor and student, focusing on the experiences of survivors from the University of Central Oklahoma’s theater department. Through detailed first-hand accounts—primarily from Miranda and Olivia—the episode unpacks how grooming and boundary violations unfolded under the authority of Professor Cato Buss. The narrative spotlights the compounding effects of institutional betrayal, the manipulation of vulnerable students, and the ways such abuses impact long-term recovery, friendships, and careers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Systemic Problem: Faculty Sexual Harassment in Higher Education

• Opening Context
  • Tiffany Reiss presents national data revealing that a significant rate of undergraduate students, especially seniors, report being sexually harassed by faculty (03:30).
  • The power imbalance, rarely mitigated by effective institutional responses, creates profound barriers to reporting and recovery.
  • Quote:
    • “At the Heart of Professor Student abuse is a power imbalance. Professors control grades, recommendations, educational opportunities, scholarships, and in some cases, even future career opportunities.” — Tiffany Reiss (03:58)

2. Miranda's Background and Entry into the Department

• Early Life and Motivation
  • Miranda shares her unstable childhood, moving between divorced parents, exposure to abuse, and seeking escape and stability through college (07:29–09:16).
  • She initially attended the University of Central Oklahoma to get away from her family, eventually drawn into the theater department after meeting Cato Buss.
  • Notable Quote:
    • “It was the first time that I had ever been living in one place longer than a week...” — Miranda (08:36)

3. First Contact and Cato's Tactics

• Isolation, Manipulation, and Immediate Support
  • Cato identifies Miranda’s lack of support and offers her scholarship aid almost immediately, which she now recognizes as a calculated move (10:14).
  • He discloses selective personal information to build rapport and trust, while omitting key facts like his marital status (14:43–16:11).
  • Quote:
    • “[Cato] is a very manipulative person and seemed incredibly trusting... In our first meeting he began to offer me scholarship money for school.” — Miranda (10:41)

4. Power Dynamics within the Department

• Structure and Authority
  • Once he becomes head of the department, Cato is the most influential figure, handling finances, scholarships, casting, and advanced classes (14:34–18:45).
  • His power over students’ opportunities gives him unmitigated influence over their futures.
  • Insight:
    • Students describe feeling “he was in charge of our futures.” — Miranda (19:48)

5. Grooming and Boundary Testing

• Rehearsal Techniques as Emotional Control
  • The Meisner technique, while standard in acting, is exploited by Cato to push students to emotional extremes, break them down, and forge dependence (20:05–27:16).
  • The "Love and Information" production is recalled as the period when inappropriate professional boundaries shifted towards personal and sexual ones.
    • Miranda on rehearsal: “By the end… you’re sobbing so hard you can’t breathe. And then he is there to console you... Don’t you feel awesome? Also, he’s crying.” (22:47–23:17)
• Escalating Contact and Secret Communications
  • Cato moves from emails to texts to Snapchat, gradually socializing the idea of privacy and secrecy in their communication (26:33–27:16).

6. Role of Traveling and Off-Campus Exposure

• Trips as Critical Points for Abuse
  • Department trips, both domestic and international, serve as environments where Cato further crosses boundaries — supplying alcohol to minors, isolating Miranda, initiating physical contact, and publicly favoring her (42:10–47:45).
  • Quote:
    • “He would specifically leave everyone else... out. He had to bring Olivia so that it was not weird if anyone found out... we had chosen not to tell a bunch of people.” — Miranda (46:56)
  • These environments normalize inappropriate behavior and deepen the dependency and secrecy.

7. Comparison of Student Experiences and Peer Dynamics

• Miranda vs. Olivia
  • While Olivia experiences Cato’s attention as paternal and controlling, Miranda is groomed for an explicitly sexualized relationship.
  • Olivia is used as a means to legitimize Cato’s behavior and bond Miranda to him, illustrating the manipulative complexity (29:18–30:36, 32:41–35:35).
  • Olivia on loyalty:
    • “I would have done anything he wanted me to do because he was giving me opportunities and he made me feel special. And because of that, I was intensely loyal to him.” — Olivia (35:39)

8. Institutional Betrayal & The Aftermath

• Conflicted Reporting and Lingering Impact
  • Miranda describes the emotional turmoil and practical fears of reporting Cato, worrying about damaging her future and betraying friends (54:38).
  • Olivia details how Cato manipulated student loyalty to shield himself from consequences, and how emotional exploitation in the name of “real acting” affected her ability to pursue a career in theater (38:48–41:00).
  • Quote:
    • “It causes a rift between me, Olivia and the rest of the students because... I didn’t want her to have this special attention...” — Miranda (52:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tiffany Reiss on Institutional Failure:

  • “This gap between policy and practice is what many survivors describe as institutional betrayal, when the systems that were meant to protect them and instead deepen the harm.” (05:29)

• Miranda, on the cost of silence:

  • “You think you know me. You don't know me well at all.” (06:10)

• Olivia, on emotional exploitation:

  • “He would exploit that vulnerability in front of all of our peers and disguise it as teaching us how to act.” (38:18)

• Miranda, on Cato’s secretive escalation:

  • “He started really quietly calling me babe and baby... being on these trips is really when he began to test my boundaries in a different way.” (44:05–45:23)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:30 | Data and context on faculty-student harassment by Tiffany Reiss | | 06:10 | Miranda and Tiffany introduce Miranda’s story | | 14:34 | Miranda describes Cato’s power and role in the department | | 16:37 | Age gap highlighted: Miranda is 18, Cato is mid-40s | | 20:05 | Start of discussion about Meisner exercises and grooming techniques | | 21:06 | Miranda explains Meisner technique and how Cato used it for emotional manipulation | | 27:16 | Discussion of boundary-crossing communication (texts, Snapchat) | | 29:18 | Miranda notes Cato’s grooming strategy, comparing her experience with Olivia's | | 32:41 | Olivia describes her first impressions and early relationship with Cato | | 38:04 | Olivia’s detailed account of emotional harm through Cato’s directing methods | | 42:10 | Miranda on how traveling accelerated the abusive dynamic and boundary violations | | 47:47 | Olivia confirms department trips were rife with alcohol and boundary crossings, and that Cato’s actions were known | | 52:08 | Miranda describes secrecy, rivalry, and developing inappropriate feelings for Cato | | 54:08+ | Teaser for the next episode: repercussions after Miranda’s feelings are confessed and the fallout begins |

Tone and Style

The episode is candid, emotionally raw, and investigative. Miranda and Olivia recount their experiences in a direct, sometimes painful conversational style, revealing not just the course of abuse but the psychological manipulation and institutional failures that allowed it to persist. Tiffany Reiss, as host, maintains a tone of validation and advocacy throughout.

Summary Takeaways

• Abuse of power in academic settings often manifests in subtle grooming, emotional manipulation, and systemic cover-up rather than overt violence.
• Support networks, or the lack thereof, play a significant role in vulnerability to such abuse.
• Institutional betrayal is a recurring theme—policies meant to protect students often function in ways that reinforce silence and deepen trauma.
• Survivors experience multifaceted harms: emotional, academic, and relational.

For further support and resources, visit the episode notes for content warnings, legal guidance, and survivor assistance.

Next episode preview: The fallout after Miranda’s confession, Title IX proceedings, and the long-term impact on survivors and their community.