cover of episode Talking Dateline: Broken Circle

Talking Dateline: Broken Circle

2024/8/14
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Andrea Canning discusses with Keith Morrison and Liz Brown their Dateline episode, "Broken Circle," which covers the abuse investigation at Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch following a viral TikTok video. The video, posted by the owner's daughter, Amanda Householder, revealed disturbing practices at the school and led to its closure.
  • A 21-second TikTok video exposed abuse at Circle of Hope Girls' Ranch.
  • The video was posted by Amanda Householder, daughter of the school's owners.
  • The video prompted an investigation and the school's closure.

Shownotes Transcript

Andrea Canning catches up with Keith Morrison and Dateline producer Liz Brown about their episode, “Broken Circle.”  In 2020, a 21-second video filmed secretly at Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch, a religious reform school in Missouri, went viral on TikTok. Soon after, the local sheriff launched an investigation into possible abuse, and the school closed. Surprisingly, the person who posted the video was none other than Amanda Householder, the daughter of the school's owners. Keith and Liz discuss Amanda’s choice to go against her parents and how she joined forces with former Circle of Hope students to change Missouri laws regulating religious schools. Plus, Keith shares two podcast-exclusive clips from his interviews with former students from Circle of Hope and a similar nearby boys’ school, Agape Ranch.

Listen to the full episode of "Broken Circle" here: https://link.chtbl.com/dl_brokencircleupdate)