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/The_Competition now.

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This week comedian Sabrina Jalees joins Megan, Chris, and Kurt LIVE! They love their kids, BUT…did our parents just not give a shit or are we the crazy ones? Kurt reminisces about the good old days as a 12 year old smoking heaters and flipping through porn in the Dayton airport because his parents thought sending an unaccompanied minor on a flight was good parenting. And maybe it was! Kurt and the crew reflect that maybe we, as parents, have gone too far the other way than how we were parented as kids. Sabrina is worried that her chill and bougie style of raising her son is going to bankrupt her family. When we want to give them everything that we never had as kids then you get a child that expects oysters and to fly first class. Anything less and it’s meltdown city, baby!

And remember, you can call our hotline and leave us questions, comments, or your own funny, totally anonymous “Circle Time” parenting story at 424-570-KIDS or you can email us at Ilovemykid@wondery.com. Just don't forget to start your story with, “I love my kid, but…” and maybe we'll use yours on air!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week Colton Underwood joins Megan, Chris, and Kurt. They love their kids, BUT….why are our closets bursting with thousands of dollars of unused baby crap that we all thought was vital to keep our babies alive when all we needed was a blanket and boobs? Megan recalls the panic items she threw on her baby registry when Conrad was born including a Gucci diaper bag. In the time she’s had the bag, it’s been brought out twice; first for a Dodger game to carry snacks, and second for today to illustrate, in person, how ridiculous a Gucci diaper bag really is. That said, we’re still very open to a Gucci diaper bag sponsorship. And Colton doesn’t have kids, but he and his husband are in the middle of a trying multi-year process to have a child that’s had everything from low sperm count revelations to a Tinder-style matchmaking for a surrogate. Despite our hosts’ parenting horror stories, they still want to go through with it! And we’ll be the first ones on their registry to buy them their very own Gucci diaper bag.

And remember, you can call our hotline and leave us questions, comments, or your own funny, totally anonymous “Circle Time” parenting story at 424-570-KIDS or you can email us at Ilovemykid@wondery.com. Just don't forget to start your story with, “I love my kid, but…” and maybe we'll use yours on air!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.