Stay ConnectedIn each episode of Scandalized, political scientists Charlie Hunt and Jaci Kettler unpack a political scandal from American history: the story, its scandalous details, the political meaning and motivations behind the act. What can political science teach us about what happened? How has the scandal and its aftermath changed American politics? And what on earth were these politicians thinking?
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Ahead of our Season 2 debut, we're bringing you a special episode from our friends at Swing State of the Union, a podcast from WUWM, Milwaukee's NPR. Like Scandalized, Swing State of the Union takes you inside the stories behind American politics, exploring the people, issues and political forces shaping what happens next.
In this episode, opposition to data centers cuts across party lines, which is a rarity in Wisconsin politics. But who has the power to say whether a project is approved, or under what conditions?
This special presentation is part of the American Storytelling Collection, a collaboration from the NPR Network featuring some of public media's best narrative podcasts. This month, the collection celebrates stories of wilderness and the great outdoors.
After you listen, search for the American Storytelling Collection in the NPR App or on Apple Podcasts to discover even more great outdoor stories from across the NPR Network.
As a topper for our mini-season, we’re bringing you a live show we did earlier in 2025 from Treefort Music Fest in Boise! Charlie reminds Jaci about Howard Dean’s “scream heard ‘round the world," and Jaci schools Charlie on a big city mayor who might have been better off not writing a children’s book.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
In season one, we purposely avoided doing an episode about Donald Trump; but the first year of Trump’s second term is too scandalous to ignore. In this episode, we break down the new, the old, and the truly unprecedented of Trump’s second-term scandals. We cover Trump’s pardons for government insurrectionists and his questionable allies; his unprecedented financial entanglements with the office he holds; and, of course, the Epstein of it all.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
Charlie and Jaci revisit a couple of their favorite stories from season one, including fan favorites like Gov. Rod Blagojevich. We also talk exclusively with Gov. Sanford’s former chief of staff for an insider’s account of the “Appalachian Trail” scandal, and check in with new efforts to ban insider trading in Congress.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
The culinary journey continues with some more food fails in very public political spaces. A president gets sick in the lap of another head of state; Marco Rubio learns about the fine art of drinking from a water bottle; and two U.S. Senators school us on the finer points of hot dogs and tuna melts.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
Scandalized is back for a five-episode mini-season while we work on Season 2! This week, part one of our deep dive into our favorite food-related scandals. Dr. Oz teaches us about the finer points of crafting a crudité during his ill-fated Senate campaign; and New York mayor Bill de Blasio forks over his local street cred by eating pizza incorrectly.
It’s part two of our season finale on the truth-stretching that politicians seem to do all too often. Last week, we examined the ways politicians inflate their resumes; this week, the lies get personal. Abortion payments, marathon times, and even politicians’ ancestors are fair game for falsehoods. Charlie and Jaci dig into these personal lies, whether politicians pay the price, and why we shouldn’t paint them all with the same brush.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
For the last two episodes of the season, Charlie and Jaci tell the truth — at least as far as they can tell — about the fine art of lying in politics. What lies get politicians in trouble the most? What will the public forgive, and what will they refuse to forget? And how should we treat outright lies versus the occasional truth-stretching?
This week, the stories of a few well-known politicians who weren’t quite as qualified for the job as they made themselves out to be.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
A man lies dead on the side of a dark road in South Dakota while the state’s Attorney General apparently flees the scene. A state’s chief law enforcement officer veers too far off the road, and finds himself on the wrong end of the justice system; and in a world of political hurt.
Content Warning: Death and dying, blood
A transcript of this episode is available.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
Trading stocks based on inside information is a federal crime in just about every corner of the economy — except on Capitol Hill. Are members of Congress using privileged information to get themselves rich? Charlie and Jaci go deep on some eyebrow-raising examples, including some “pandemic profiteering” that may have cost one U.S. Senator his seat in 2020.
A transcript of this episode is available.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
Money talks; and unfortunately for political candidates, it sometimes talks a little too much. This week, Jaci introduces us to Representative Duncan Hunter of California, who spends his campaign cash on all the wrong things — including airfare for his pet bunny — and ends up on the wrong side of the law.
A transcript of this episode is available.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
This week on Scandalized, we go back to the 1850s, and things get violent. A U.S. Senator clings to life after being beaten in the halls of Congress by one of his colleagues. The caning of Senator Charles Sumner; its causes, its consequences and its familiar political divisions.
A transcript of this episode is available.
Content Warning: Violence and blood
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
In 2009, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford disappeared without a trace from the state he was supposed to be running. Where did he turn up, and how did he handle the messy aftermath? The answer is pretty scandalous.
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com.
As Barack Obama burst onto the presidential stage in 2008, American voters saw a candidate who might deliver change they could believe in; but Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich saw a “golden” opportunity that would land him in a world of political trouble.
Content warning: cursing
For more sources and bonus info on this episode, visit www.scandalizedpod.com
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