In Our Lovely Deseret

Mormonism has always had a complicated relationship with America. This episode traces the religion from persecuted frontier movement to powerful Utah institution.  From  Mormonism’s westward expansion and Indigenous dispossession, to their  eventual effort to shed its outsider status and enter the …

It’s Not the Altitude

Conversion therapy, often thought of as a bygone practice or bunk science, is alive and well– especially in the secretive niches where institutions and cultural conversations have enabled it to continue flourishing. In Season 2 of Camp Shame, host Kate Kelly, a queer ex-Mormon who was excommunicate…

Coming Soon: Camp Shame Season 2

Conversion therapy, often imagined as a bygone practice of bunk science, is alive and well– from church pews to therapists' offices, state capitols to college campuses. Backed by professionals, and faith leaders, this snakeoil “cure” is sold as hope.  Welcome to Camp Shame: Season 2, hosted by act…

Losing Isn't Everything

Camp Shane is back… and as dysfunctional as ever. Kids are running around unsupervised, counselors are dropping out like flies, and medical supervision is pretty much nonexistent. After an accident that leaves a child in critical condition, Camp Shane’s cover is blown. A state investigation reveals…

Nobody Believes the Fat Kid

Though Camp Shane is falling apart, kids still love spending their summers there, largely because of the limited parental supervision and endless romantic opportunities. Some counselors do their best to stop the hookups. Others manipulate naive teens for their personal gain. Camp Shane is quickly l…

When the Sh*t Hits the Fan

By the mid 2010s, things at Camp Shane are going downhill: campers are arriving with serious mental health needs, counselors are stretched thin, and untrained “health experts” are running the show. When a key staffer finally leaves, the cracks in the camp’s foundation burst wide open. Facilities ar…

Live, Laugh, Lose

**Audio Updated 7/17/25 What do you get when you mix disordered eating, soap-laced Jell-O, and a diet camp stuck in the past? A summer from hell. In this episode, Kelsey returns to 2011, her first and only summer at Camp Shane — where the dysfunction runs deep and the cost is more than anyone barg…

As Big as it Gets

The new millennium brings new trends, new technologies and new ways to spread toxic beauty standards. And Camp Shane is reaping the benefits. The camp grows to new heights and capitalizes on positive press, but a record number of campers puts serious strain on the staff and facilities. Can the camp…

The Real Heavyweights

Camp Shane is under new leadership: Selma’s son, David Ettenberg. In the 1990s, David’s reign brings with it more campers, more money, and even a Disney movie inspired by the camp itself. But as diet culture and fat phobia grip the decade, life at Shane gets stricter, stranger, and more dangerous. …

A Fat Girl's Vision

To understand Camp Shane, we first need to examine the society that created it. America’s obsession with size had evolved over time, creating a demand for a weight loss camp like Shane to exist by making fatness a problem that needed to be solved. Campers are under fed and over worked, but kids fin…