Every summer for the past seven decades, 50 high school seniors—one from every state—descend on Mobile, Alabama to take part in one of the country’s most lucrative scholarship competitions for teen girls.Â
The Competition takes you behind the scenes of the Distinguished Young Women (DYW) program, and follows seven girls as they experience the highs and lows of competing for two weeks, away from home and under the most high-stress circumstances. Some girls enter for the money, some for prestige. All of them are used to being the best and the brightest. But only one will walk away with the top prize.
Host Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, Pink Card) was Nevada’s contestant in 2001. More than 20 years later, she returns to Alabama as a judge. What can two weeks with 50 of the country’s most ambitious teens tell us about girlhood in America?
Listen to The Competition on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting Wondery.fm/TheCompetition_ now. Â
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Matthew’s ashes. A family comes together.
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A marriage ends. A son runs away.
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Two siblings. Years of unasked questions.
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A father becomes a hero. A trip to Matthew’s childhood home.
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Matthew goes on the run. A pattern emerges.
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A life in the theater, a pet monkey, and a new understanding of Matthew.
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A strange man arrives in a small town.
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When Matthew MaGill died alone in the woods on the Florida-Georgia border, he left behind a box filled with the artifacts of an incredible life: from Broadway in the 1970s, to a 747 hijacking, to the culture of drugs and luxury cars in 1980s Florida. A series of coincidences leads reporter Eric Mennel to the box, sending him on a five-year search to understand the truth about its owner. But as Mennel learns who Matthew McGill really was, he is confronted with questions about his own life, his own mistakes, and his own family secrets. Launching April 13th from Pineapple Street Studios.
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