Dramatic Downfalls

Americans have followed the airing of many a public figure's dirty laundry with fascination. The public exposure of the private lives of elected officials and celebrities from many fields have a way of catching the nation's attention, today we'll talk about the element of schadenfreaude, taking pleasure in the failings of others, that can be an element of these stories and the reclamation of a fallen figure's reputation. Guests: Susan Wise Bauer, Ph.D. author of The Art of the Public Grovel: Sexual Sin & Public Confession in America and John Portmann, Ph.D. author of When Bad Things Happen to Other People.