The 11th Pineapple Street Studios

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. 

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_11 now.  

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A final note from our producers.

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On a little island sandwiched between Miami Beach and mainland Florida sits an old pink apartment complex called The Lido. It’s unlike anything around it; a remnant of an old Miami. One of the tenants, Paula Barros, guides us through this colorful building and the colorful people who live there. There’s Eddie, the exhausted HOA Board President, a stickler for rules and a sucker for his cat. Evan, an aspiring travel influencer trying to work through hundreds of bucket list goals. Ragnar, an amateur taxidermist. Payami, who only calls himself that because it rhymes with Miami. At The Lido, Paula learns what it means to show up for people, and how to let them show up for her.

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Two stories of people writing letters but never sending them. A grown brother and sister discover a stack of notebooks left behind by their late father, filled with letters written to them when they were children. And a woman writes letters for a year to process an incredible and devastating loss.

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It's been 11 months of The 11th, so we're taking a little break. But! We've got some previews of shows our colleagues here at Pineapple Street Studios are making — shows that are perfect for a long road trip, a walk in the woods, or an afternoon cooking out.

Shows featured include:
Persona
Love Thy Neighbor
Project Unabom
Borderline Salty

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This month, The 11th presents: His Saturn Return. Creator, writer, and performer Sai Sion lets us peek into his expansive imagination with this cosmic audio drama that will transport you across the galaxy.
We travel through time and space to meet Duran Durag on the brink of his Saturn Return. He’s cocky and charming, smooth and clumsy. If it weren’t for his fancy durag and his family name, Duran wouldn’t be given the time of day. And it’s high time for him to learn some important life lessons. The all-knowing DJ Saturn is not playing when he sends this young space alien on a series of challenges that reveal what it is to live in a universe that doesn’t orbit around ego. Will the missions he’s sent on ground him, or will his swagger get in the way of growing up?

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