Show Notes
The controversial reality TV show known as ‘Kid Nation’, which borrowed its premise from Lord of the Flies, was cancelled shortly after its 2007 debut. Producers took 40 kids into a makeshift desert town to fend for themselves and create their own society. Was the series an opportunity to discover what kids are capable of? Or simply a ploy for ratings? With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted. More episodes are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/lZou_5NG
More from Uncover
In this bonus episode, David travels back to Mississippi, follows up on the Dee & Moore case, and looks at the fate of other civil rights era cases in the wake of the James Ford Seale trial. For transcripts of this series, please visit this page.
In the aftermath of the Dee-Moore case, questions remain. Years later, David and Thomas return to Mississippi to meet old friends, mourn those who have passed and to try meeting the Klansman turned church deacon, Charles Marcus Edwards, one more time.
The investigation continues, leading to the doorsteps of more former Klansmen. Then, a surprising revelation from Lampton. For transcripts of this series, please visit this page.
David and Thomas search for MHSP officers and FBI agents who were present during Seale and Edwards's arrests. And Thomas looks for the support of the local community as he plans to confront the Klansmen in person. For transcripts of this series, please visit here.
David and Thomas meet journalist Jerry Mitchell, who has stacks of FBI documents about the case. They speak to people who lived through the terror of civil rights era Mississippi, and visit U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton to try to get the case reopened. For transcripts of this series, please visit this page.