American Scandal Wondery

After marrying and dropping out of bible college in the early 1960s, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker launch a traveling evangelical show with puppets, which catches the attention of televangelist Pat Robertson. Robertson offers them their first TV show on his new Christian Broadcasting Network. By the 1970s, the Bakkers strike out on their own, launching their own ministry and television network, Praise the Lord. But as the Bakkers use their followers’ donations to fund their lavish lifestyle, it raises alarm bells for PTL staff. 

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After the FCC concludes its investigation of the Bakkers for misusing donor funds, reporters in Charlotte start to uncover a series of complaints from former PTL staff members. Bakker and his underlings try to silence the whistleblowers, but they become increasingly worried when Charlotte Observer reporter Charles Shepard uncovers a damning allegation against Bakker.

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In 1987, the empire that Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker spent their lives building is falling apart. When Jessica Hahn comes forward and alleges Bakker sexually assaulted her, he’s forced to resign as PTL’s leader. Then, Bakker goes through one of the most publicized trials of the decade, exposing his lifestyle and business decisions to the intense scrutiny of evangelical leaders, the press and the federal government.

In the spring of 1978, reporter Mike Brown begins publishing a series of articles in the Niagara Gazette about potentially harmful chemicals leaking into the soil and water in Love Canal, a neighborhood built around what had been a dumping ground for the Hooker Chemical company. The news is a jolt to local residents, like mother Lois Gibbs, who fear for their families’ health. When government officials fail to act, Gibbs helps form a group of unlikely activists set on cleaning up their neighborhood.

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Despite her initial reluctance, Lois Gibbs starts to find purpose in rallying Love Canal residents in their protests against government inaction. But concerns over who will get evacuated, and who will be forced to stay, threaten to divide residents. Meanwhile, the shocking death of a child in the neighborhood ignites new fears that the chemicals are even more dangerous than previously thought.

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By 1979, officials in Washington, DC are taking notice of the situation in Love Canal. A young congressman from Tennessee, Al Gore, invites Lois Gibbs to testify at the capitol in support of radical updates to the nation’s laws on chemical waste. But local officials, like recently-appointed state health commissioner David Axelrod, continue to stand in the way. 

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