American stories spanning more than a century are coming to life in a new podcast, “Scandalized: A Podcast of Political Impropriety.”
Hosted by School of Public Service faculty Jaclyn Kettler and Charlie Hunt in partnership with Boise State Public Radio, the podcast explores some of the country’s most notorious political scandals – everything from a legislator using campaign funds to buy airline tickets for a pet rabbit, to a governor wheeling and dealing to sell a U.S. Senate seat. The hosts blend good storytelling and conversation with an academic angle on the political process, governance and accountability. Through their eight episodes (released weekly through mid-November) they consider the long-term impacts of some of the country’s darker chapters.
“It’s been a joy to break out a bit from the traditional venues of academic research and reach a bigger audience,” Hunt said. “Political scandals are the kind of topic lots of folks outside of academia know and have opinions about, but don’t always know what to make of them. So to me, this was the ultimate opportunity to really do our jobs: to fill that gap of knowledge and educate the public about something they care about.”
Deciding what to cover was a challenge, Kettler said. So she and Hunt aimed for variety. The earliest political scandal in their lineup dates to the 1850s. Charles Sumner, an abolitionist senator from Massachusetts, delivered an impassioned anti-slavery speech to Congress. Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery congressman from South Carolina, was deeply offended and beat Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor, causing severe injuries. The confrontation symbolized the country’s deep divisions most tangibly.
For Kettler, one of the “mind-boggling” stories on the podcast is that of Mark Sanford, former governor of South Carolina. His missteps, dubbed the “Appalachian Trail” scandal, involved his disappearance for six days in June 2009. Even his security detail lost track of his whereabouts. Sanford told his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, later admitting he had been in Argentina, visiting his mistress on the public dime. Remarkably, Sanford finished his term as governor despite pressure to resign. Voters elected him to Congress in 2013. Hunt and Kettler use this tale to ask broader questions about what it means when a public official goes so far outside the bounds of expected behavior.
“What happens when no one knows where a governor is?” Kettler said. “Different questions come up about who is in charge and what should be happening, about what citizens think when a governor is just gone.”
The hosts hope the podcast will entertain while encouraging a deeper appreciation for the American political system. “It would be easy to focus on the negative aspects of these scandals, but we also highlight where the system held up, where accountability mattered,” Kettler said. “We’re not naïve, but we’re optimistic about the resilience of our institutions.” (in both the pet rabbit/airline and Senate-seat-for-cash scandals, the right things happened and offenders suffered consequences).
Rich experience for a student researcher
In keeping with the School of Public Service tradition, the project offered meaningful opportunities for student involvement. Kettler and Hunt hired then-student Payton Jenkins (BS, political science, 2022) as a research assistant. Now a law student at the University of Oregon, Jenkins, from Meridian Idaho, considers his work with the professors a highlight of his time at Boise State.
“For me, it wasn’t about the pay. I would have done it for free,” Jenkins said, adding that he willingly put in extra hours, even as he juggled a full-time academic schedule and a full-time job in his father’s used appliance business.
“I wanted to find every bit of information that existed on a given subject. That took a lot of time and effort because I’m a perfectionist,” Jenkins said. “I would fall into a lot of rabbit holes, searching obscure websites for trial audio.” In addition to the research, Jenkins got to be on-air talent. “My voice is in the third episode. The caning of Sumner. I’m Sumner,” he said.
One of the stories that drew Jenkins in was that of Jason Ravnsborg, former attorney general of South Dakota. In 2020, Ravnsborg was driving and hit Joe Boever, a pedestrian walking along a rural road. Boever died and Ravnsborg faced charges – just misdemeanors – including careless driving and illegal lane use. The incident led to Ravnsborg’s impeachment and removal from office in 2022. More recently, in September 2024, the South Dakota Supreme Court suspended his law license for six months, citing violations of professional conduct in connection to his actions after the accident.
“He spent no criminal time, though he killed someone,” Jenkins said. “It was a tragedy in every way. Stories like these remind you of why we need to be telling them to begin with. They have impact.”
Still, he said, his work wasn’t about the topics – engrossing as they were. “It was loyalty to my professors,” Jenkins said. “When you have people [like Hunt and Kettler] who are so incredibly brilliant, but also approachable, you want to hang out with them. And I loved seeing their reactions whenever I’d find something good.”
Tune in
Visit the Boise State Public Radio website to read more about the episodes and listen. Additional information can be found at “Scandalized” website. The co-hosts recently shared more about their podcast on Boise State Public Radio’s “Idaho Matters” program.
Kettler and Hunt are also among the hosts of the public affairs program “The Big Tent” on Radio Boise (Thursdays, 3:30 p.m., 93.5 FM, or on Spotify) or listen online.