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The Debutante

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The Debutante

Written by: Jon Ronson
Narrated by: Jon Ronson
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About this listen

This is the story of a Tulsa debutante who, as a result of a series of unlikely and often very bad life choices she made in the ‘90s, found herself in the midst of one of the most terrible crimes ever to take place in America.

Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

Ever since then, Carol has haunted the imaginations of survivors and investigators because of a rumor that had begun to swirl: If her information had only been listened to, she could have prevented the worst domestic terrorist attack in US history.

The question mystified Ronson. In The Debutante, he embarks on an investigative journey to seek the truth about the woman who grew up in a world of privilege and opportunity and whose teenage rebellion spiraled out of control, leading her to extreme radicalization.

The Debutante takes a closer look at Carol’s world, where truth is shrouded and seldom guaranteed. Rare court tapes, diary entries, undercover ATF surveillance audio, and interviews with those who crossed paths with Carol depict a complex woman whose motivations have been hypothesized about for decades. With curiosity and insight at the forefront of his work, Ronson delivers a new perspective on the extraordinary story of Carol Howe.

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC. Ideologies & Doctrines True Crime
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About the Creator and Performer - Jon Ronson

About the Creator and Performer

Jon Ronson's nonfiction books include So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath Test, Them: Adventures with Extremists, Lost at Sea and The Men Who Stare At Goats. They have all been international and/or New York Times bestsellers.
Most recently he made the acclaimed, award-winning podcasts Things Fell Apart (BBC), The Butterfly Effect and The Last Days of August (Audible).
His books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and his two TED talks have been watched over 30 million times.
The Psychopath Test spent more than a year on the UK bestseller list.
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is frequently cited as having started the conversation about the perils of social media shaming. The book is taught by educators across America and inspired an episode of Black Mirror, Hated in the Nation.
The Men Who Stare At Goats was adapted into a film starring George Clooney.
Jon’s original screenplays include Okja (Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal) which he co-wrote with Bong-Joon Ho, and Frank (Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal) which he co-wrote with Peter Straughan. Jon also wrote the short e-book Frank: The True Story That Inspired the Movie.
In the US Jon has contributed to This American Life, the New York Times magazine and GQ. In the UK he’s written regularly for The Guardian. His many documentaries include Stanley Kubrick's Boxes, The Secret Rulers of the World, and the multi award winning BBCRadio 4 programme Jon Ronson On...
He lives in New York. @jonronson.
She is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business. She has received several certifications in Human Resources and Diversity and Inclusion. including her Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Certified Diversity Recruiter (CDR), Certified Diversity Practitioner (CDP), and Certified Diversity Executive (CDE). She is also a Certified DISC Instructor.
Deaver's most recent works are Hunting Time, a Colter Shaw novel, and The Broken Doll, a four-story collection from Amazon Original Stories. His Shaw novel, The Never Game, will be a CBS Prime-time series later this year.
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Profile Image for Pamazon

Fresh perspective!

Overall, I thought it was pretty good. Given the number of years the author worked on it, I was hoping for more substance.
I remember when this happened. So much of The Debutante was news to me!

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Profile Image for Maus

This was a major surprise

An investigative story about the worse disaster in Oklahoma…who was behind and the possible involvement of so many people and coincidentally still unclear if one or many
are responsible…scary as the hate hasn’t stopped, rather gotten worse ….

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Profile Image for Nikki B.

Ronson, for the win!

John Ronson knows how to lure the listener in and keep you hooked on this very under-reported story. Incredibly well researched and the added element of using archived news broadcasts, police interviews and court transcripts makes for a perfect audiobook package.

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Profile Image for Miss L E Ferguson

Great podcast

I love Jon Ronson and this is classic him - careful, complex deep dive journalism but told in an utterly compelling way. I binged this series in 1!

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Profile Image for Jennifer

Very Interesting

This is a good documentary with lots of information that wasn't widely reported about the Oklahoma City bombing.

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Profile Image for Charles Pooter

big fat nothingburger

I hope that podcasts will fall out of fashion soon. They're sensationalist with spooky music that rarely come up with anything substantial, often offering nothing more than a grammar lesson of modal verbs: could have, might have. This one is a perfect example of that, spending far too long and coming up with no real conclusions. Hours of build up that fall flat - you're better off listening to a work of fiction.

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1 person found this helpful