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Grapevine

Grapevine

NBC News

In August 2022, at a packed school board meeting in Grapevine, Texas, a mom approaches the microphone and describes the exact nightmare that Republican politicians have been warning about. She accuses a teacher of convincing her child to change genders. As a result, she says, “I lost my son.” But when NBC News reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton look into this mother’s allegations, they find a different story: of a transgender child desperately wanting to be heard, a mother determined to put God first — and an English teacher caught in the middle. And they discover this isn’t just a story about one broken family. It’s also a story about a fringe religious movement wielding newfound power and the revival of a long-simmering quest by evangelicals to remake American education based on their version of biblical values. From NBC News Studios and the team behind the Peabody Award-winning series Southlake, Grapevine is a podcast about faith and power — and what it means to protect children — in an American suburb.
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Top 10 Grapevine Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Grapevine episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Grapevine for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Grapevine episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Grapevine - The Girl And The English Teacher
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10/04/23 • 43 min

A mother named Sharla publicly accuses a high school teacher in Grapevine, Texas, of using a graphic novel called “The Prince and the Dressmaker” to convince her child to change genders. Reporters Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton set out to investigate the allegation. Sharla’s child, Ren, and Ren’s English teacher, Em Ramser, tell them a different story.

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Grapevine - A Harvest Is Coming
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10/11/23 • 47 min

Amid a growing anti-trans backlash, Ren devises a plan to get out of Texas — and away from her mother. In Grapevine, Sharla’s claim that teacher Em Ramser “infected” her child with lies about gender triggers online attacks, leading Ramser to consider leaving the profession.

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2 Listeners

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Grapevine - The Seven Mountains
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10/04/23 • 44 min

Conservatives are gaining power in Grapevine, fueled by a once-fringe movement that calls on evangelicals to control the seven key “mountains” of American society — including education. A cellphone company with a Christian nationalist agenda heeds that call and sets its sights on winning school board seats in Grapevine, following an example set a year earlier in the neighboring city of Southlake.

CORRECTION (Oct. 4, 2023, 08:40 p.m. ET): A previous version of this episode misstated the amount of money Patriot Mobile Action spent in school board elections in North Texas in spring 2022. It was nearly $500,000, not $600,000.

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Grapevine - Open The Floodgates
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10/18/23 • 44 min

Evangelical activists open a new front in their campaign to impose their version of biblical morality in public schools — at the Texas statehouse. While legislators debate bills requiring the Ten Commandments and banning mention of gender identity in classrooms, three nonbinary students share the trauma they’ve endured at Grapevine High. Meanwhile, a coalition of progressive parents and disillusioned conservatives pledge to retake control of their school system.

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Grapevine - A Raging Fire

A Raging Fire

Grapevine

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10/13/23 • 43 min

Weston Brown, 28, sees a video of his homeschooling mother calling for dozens of books on sexuality and gender to be banned from public schools in another Texas school district. To counter her political activism, Weston publicly shares his story of growing up gay in a fundamentalist Christian family. Feeling pressured by parents and school officials, Em Ramser removes LGBTQ symbols from her classroom and no longer recognizes the teacher she’s become.

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Grapevine - Introducing: Grapevine
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09/26/23 • 3 min

Two years after conservative activists turned critical race theory into a right-wing rallying cry, the political fight has shifted. The team behind the Peabody Award-winning podcast Southlake tells the story of one family broken apart in the midst of a new anti-LGBTQ culture war, and the high school English teacher caught in the middle.

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As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Murder in the Hollywood Hills, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline.

In this story Keith Morrison takes us to the city of dreams, where a smooth-talking predator lured young women into a nightmare with promises of fame and fortune. He evaded justice for years, but when a group of women banded together, they fought to lock him up for life.

If you like what you hear, you can listen to Murder in the Hollywood Hills for free each week. Or, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com to unlock new episodes one week early: https://link.chtbl.com/mithh_fdlw

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Grapevine - They Came for the Schools
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05/14/24 • 40 min

In an exclusive audio excerpt from Chapter 1 of “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms,” author Mike Hixenbaugh uncovers Southlake’s history, demonstrating how policies meant to protect the town from outside development a half-century ago helped plant the seeds for conflicts over diversity, equity and inclusion—conflicts that are now tearing apart suburbs across the nation.

For more details and to purchase the book, on sale May 14, 2024, follow this link: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/they-came-for-the-schools-mike-hixenbaugh?variant=41284682088482

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Grapevine - A Final Lesson
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10/20/23 • 49 min

Grapevine goes to the polls in a contentious school board election driven by the fight over the role of religion and LGBTQ inclusion in public schools. As the dust settles, Ren reflects on the impact of her mother’s allegations. And, after months of feeling as if she’s had to erase herself, Em Ramser reclaims her voice.

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On Into America presents: Uncounted Millions: The Power of Reparations, award-winning MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee dives into one of today’s most pressing debates: reparations.

Months ago, Trymaine discovered the little-known story of Gabriel Coakley and it blew his mind. In the midst of the Civil War, Coakley was among a handful of Black people who found a way to get compensated for slavery by the US government. On Uncounted Millions, Trymaine talks to Coakley’s descendants about how reparations forever changed their family’s trajectory. And as more cities and states consider the issue at a policy level, he imagines how reparations might shape the whole of Black America.

Listen to this special preview now. And follow the show: https://link.chtbl.com/iapum_fdlw

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FAQ

How many episodes does Grapevine have?

Grapevine currently has 10 episodes available.

What topics does Grapevine cover?

The podcast is about News, Christianity, Right Wing, Teaching, Lgbtq, Texas, Evangelical, School, Library, Podcasts, Nbc, Books, Education, Church, Republican, Teacher, Librarian and Christian.

What is the most popular episode on Grapevine?

The episode title 'The Girl And The English Teacher' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Grapevine?

The average episode length on Grapevine is 33 minutes.

How often are episodes of Grapevine released?

Episodes of Grapevine are typically released every 6 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of Grapevine?

The first episode of Grapevine was released on Sep 26, 2023.

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