The Debutante is the tale of a woman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who, due to a series of unlikely and often very poor decisions she made in the 1990s, became embroiled in one of the most heinous crimes ever committed on American soil.
It’s a remarkable story - a very Jon Ronson sort of story - told via the new Audible Original from the aforementioned friend of Spoook. I present above a newly edited video of the far reaching conversation I had with Jon for the season one finale of the Shame podcast (season two is coming, I promise!), recorded when he was promoting his excellent mediation on the culture wars, Things Fell Apart, back in 2021.
It’s a decent first course if you’re planning to make The Debutante your main.
The aforementioned debutante, that would one Carol Howe, was a charismatic and wealthy former debutante who became a spokesperson for white supremacists, before turning into an undercover informant for the US government. In 1995, while spying on Oklahoma's neo-Nazis, she was witness to Timothy McVeigh's bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, which claimed the lives of 168 people. Since that tragedy, Carol has been the subject of rumours that she could have prevented the worst domestic terrorist attack in US history if only her information had been heeded. This question has perplexed Jon, and in The Debutante, he sets out on an investigative journey to uncover the truth about Carol.
It’s very good. But then you’d expect nothing less, really.
I’m heading to the coast for a week away from London, so no podcasts, YouTube or Substack until I get back. Spoook HQ is closed for the holidays!
Until then.
James xxx
So You've Been Publicly Shamed