Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College

Presenting Gone South Season 3: The Sign Cutter Oct 23, 2023

On September 3, 2018, a rancher in Laredo, Texas, discovered a woman’s body shot execution-style on the side of the road. When investigators identified her as a local sex worker, their search for the killer took them into the darkest corners of the city. Then, after days of false starts and dead-ends, another body turned up, terrifying residents and leading law enforcement to conclude a serial killer is at large. More would die before a survivor finally came forward and identified the killer… but his motives proved as confounding as his crimes.

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S2 | Ep 14: It Was Like I Went Where I Failed To Go Dec 08, 2021

1994 to the present day. Jonathan Lethem comes from behind. And just whose world are we living in anyway—Bret’s, Donna’s or Jonathan’s?

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S2 | Ep 13: The Farmer’s Granddaughter Dec 01, 2021

Cambridge, Massachusetts and New York, New York. Spring of 1986 to Fall of 1994. The Secret History is published. Plus, “The Purge” comes to Bennington.

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S2 | Ep 12: Sensational Sensationalism Nov 24, 2021

New York City. Spring of 1987 to Spring of 1991. Patrick Bateman is born.

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S2 | Ep 11: Disturbing Michiko Kakutani Nov 17, 2021

Bennington and New York City. Autumn, 1985-spring, 1986. Less Than Zero is published and Bret becomes a cultural phenomenon. Bret also becomes a college senior. The most famous artist of the 20th century crashes his graduation party.

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S2 | Ep 10: An Impossible Shade of Green Nov 10, 2021

Bennington. Autumn, 1983-Spring, 1986. Donna begins The Secret History. Donna throws tea parties and frequents martini hours. Donna bides her time. Jonathan drops out of Bennington only to hang around Bennington.

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S2 | Ep 9: Entering Into the Sublime Nov 03, 2021

Bennington. Spring, 1983. Donna Tartt becomes “Donna Tartt.” Jonathan Lethem becomes an angry young man.

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S2 | Ep 8: Murder By Numbers Oct 27, 2021

Bennington. Spring, 1983-Spring, 1985. Bret lives The Rules of Attraction, then sells Less Than Zero. Bret befriends David Lipsky, then be-enemies David Lipsky.

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S2 | Ep 7: Donna Lou Oct 20, 2021

Mississippi, 1963-1982. Donna’s origin story. And Lord Jim... revealed?

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S2 | Ep 6: Mississippi Chippy Oct 13, 2021

Winter, 1982-1983. Over Non-Resident term, Donna gets closer to Jonathan, and becomes Paul McGloin's "Burning Boy."

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S2 | Ep 5: Bennington Revisited Oct 06, 2021

Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Donna falls under the thrall of a magus-like professor, and the very small, very elite, very male band of students to whom he teaches Ancient Greek. “I can absolutely distinctly remember the three of them, and then the four of them—the three guys but then the four. The guys with Donna.”

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S2 | Ep 4: Disappear There Sep 29, 2021

Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Bret and Donna go on a date.

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S2 | Ep 3: An Alley Along Melrose Sep 29, 2021

Los Angeles, 1981-1982. “This rumor went around in 1981, 1982, that kids just were brought to see the body of another kid.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part Two.

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S2 | Ep 2: Bret Ellis, Valley Boy Sep 29, 2021

Los Angeles, 1980-1981. “There was just this huge sense that the world was gay, gay, gay.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part One.

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S2 | Ep 1: Dis-Orientation Sep 29, 2021

Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Donna, Jonathan and Bret arrive on the campus of the school nicknamed “The Little Red Whorehouse on the Hill.” One of them comes with a steamer trunk. One of them comes with a Kangol cap. One of them comes with a “suitcase full of drugs.”

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Welcome to "Once Upon A Time... at Bennington College" Sep 28, 2021

It’s the groves of academe: Bennington College, the wildest and wickedest school in America. In the last great decade: the 1980s. Bennington class of ’86, class of Bret Easton Ellis, future writer of American Psycho and co-leader of the literary Brat Pack; Jonathan Lethem, future writer of Motherless Brooklyn and MacArthur Fellow; and Donna Tartt, future writer of The Secret History and Pulitzer Prize winner. All three are, at various times, infatuated and disappointed with one another, their friendships stimulated and fueled by rivalry as much as affection. And all three will mythologize Bennington in their fiction—fiction that, as we’ll discover, isn’t always fiction, is often fact—and thereby become myths themselves. From the Peabody-nominated C13Originals studios and Vanity Fair's Lili Anolik, comes the latest installment in the “Once Upon a Time…” franchise, Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College. This is a tale of money, murder, madness, and—of course—genius. This is, too, a multi-dimensional expose: the secret history of The Secret History revealed; the secret history of three of the greatest writers of Generation X revealed; and the secret history of Generation X itself revealed.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 12: After The Afterglow Sep 15, 2020

A crucial new piece of information comes to light.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 11: Afterglow Sep 08, 2020

Traci Lords as the key to pop culture in the late 20th and early 21st century.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 10: Who Ratted Out Traci? Sep 01, 2020

The mystery is (maybe) solved. And we hear directly—and at length—from 1985 Traci, in a never-before-aired interview.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 9: The Ghost of Shauna Grant Aug 25, 2020

We return to the Valley, and it looks a whole lot different this time around.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 8: Marion Davies' Love Button Aug 18, 2020

Meet Troy Matherly, the heart of this story. The heart of Nora's story, and of Traci's story.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 7: Surf City, USA Aug 11, 2020

We leave the Valley and Traci Lords behind; go back to Redondo Beach and to Traci Lords before she was Traci Lords, when she was Nora Kuzma.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 6: Fake Out and Make Out Aug 04, 2020

The adult industry is screwed. The question is: Who's doing the screwing?

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 5: Shooting (Porn) Star Jul 28, 2020

The only thing wilder than Traci on camera, is Traci off camera. Also: Traci gets a rival; Traci gets a company; Traci gets a passport; and Traci gets busted.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 4: A (Porn) Star is Born Jul 21, 2020

Traci goes from adult model to adult actress to adult phenomenon.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 3: We Kinda Made it Hardcore Jul 14, 2020

Traci lands the Penthouse centerfold--and the studliest stud in porn.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 2: Wanted: Figure Models Jul 14, 2020

A 15-year-old Redondo Union High sophomore learns to fake it so she can make it... as a nude model.

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Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 1: T-R-A-C-I Jul 14, 2020

It's 1986. The San Fernando Valley. And, it turns out, the biggest star in Adult, isn't one.

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Welcome to "Once Upon a Time... in the Valley" Jul 01, 2020

Welcome to Once Upon a Time… in the Valley.

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