NEW PODCAST
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.
PODCAST
Southlake, Texas, seems to have it all: stately homes, intense civic pride, and above all, terrific schools. So when a video surfaced in 2018 showing Southlake high school students chanting the N-word—and when Black residents came forward to share stories of racist harassment and bullying—the school board vowed to make changes. But the unveiling of a Cultural Competence Action Plan set off a backlash that's consumed Southlake, fueled by a growing national crusade against critical race theory.
Hosted by NBC News national reporter Mike Hixenbaugh and NBC News correspondent Antonia Hylton. Southlake tells the story of how this idyllic city, and its local school board election, became the poster child for a new political strategy with national repercussions.
FEATURE STORY
Inside the fight over race, history, and memory in America's schools. This story won the Emmy for Outstanding News Discussion & Analysis in 2022.
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