Strange Country Episode 216: Miss America

There she is . . . the Strange Country Podcast is back after its brief Covid hiatus to talk about a 100-year-old scholarship beauty pageant that crowns an annual queen in a country that overthrew the British government to escape a king. It was a chance for young women to show their talents wearing a swimsuit and answering questions like “Was the Jan. 6 insurrection an example of legitimate political discourse?”

Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands

Cite your sources:

Argetsinger, A. (2021, December 16). 100 years ago, the first miss america pageant was as messy as today's. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/12/16/first-miss-america-margaret-gorman/ 

Argetsinger, A. (2021). There she was: The secret history of Miss America. Atria. 

Bernstein, A. (2016, February 25). Yolande Betbeze Fox, a miss america who rebelled, dies at 87. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/yolande-betbeze-fox-a-miss-america-who-rebelled-dies-at-87/2016/02/25/32374126-dbda-11e5-81ae-7491b9b9e7df_story.html 

Braver, R. (2018, September 30). Remembering 1968: When miss america met Women's Liberation. CBS News. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/remembering-1968-when-miss-america-met-womens-liberation/ 

Haigh, S. (2021, December 14). Miss america turns 100. will she last another 100 years? AP NEWS. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/miss-america-turns-100-bf3837c87e003b3025b91700cb4e9bd8 

Lenz, L. (2019, May 14). The heavy crown of Gretchen Carlson. Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/gretchen-carlson-fox-miss-america.php 

Mifflin, M. (2021). Looking for miss america: A pageant's 100-year quest to define womanhood. Counterpoint.