Something Was Wrong

After escaping an abusive marriage and rebuilding her life as a single mother, Marie turned to the faith community she had trusted for years. But not every betrayal comes from an enemy. In this season premiere, Marie shares how a longtime family friend, pastor, and spiritual leader became one of the most damaging relationships of her life. As she reflects on childhood trauma, survival, faith, and resilience, a troubling pattern begins to emerge. What follows is a story about trust, power, and the devastating impact of betrayal by someone who claimed to serve God.

Season 25 of Something Was Wrong investigates sexual assault, stalking, abuse, and systemic betrayal within colleges and universities across the United States. From state schools to private campuses, an insidious culture reverberates, one where institutions often prioritize reputation, athletics, and financial interests over the safety and well-being of their students. Through in-depth reporting and survivor testimony, this season explores the origins, evolution, and current failures of Title IX—the landmark federal civil rights law designed to protect students from sex-based discrimination in education.

Season 25 of Something Was Wrong investigates sexual assault, stalking, abuse, and systemic betrayal within colleges and universities across the United States. From state schools to private campuses, an insidious culture reverberates, one where institutions often prioritize reputation, athletics, and financial interests over the safety and well-being of their students. Through in-depth reporting and survivor testimony, this season explores the origins, evolution, and current failures of Title IX—the landmark federal civil rights law designed to protect students from sex-based discrimination in education.

Season 25 of Something Was Wrong investigates sexual assault, stalking, abuse, and systemic betrayal within colleges and universities across the United States. From state schools to private campuses, an insidious culture reverberates, one where institutions often prioritize reputation, athletics, and financial interests over the safety and well-being of their students. Through in-depth reporting and survivor testimony, this season explores the origins, evolution, and current failures of Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law designed to protect students from sex-based discrimination in education.

Season 25 of Something Was Wrong investigates sexual assault, stalking, abuse, and systemic betrayal within colleges and universities across the United States. From state schools to private campuses, an insidious culture reverberates, one where institutions often prioritize reputation, athletics, and financial interests over the safety and well-being of their students. Through in-depth reporting and survivor testimony, this season explores the origins, evolution, and current failures of Title IX—the landmark federal civil rights law designed to protect students from sex-based discrimination in education.

Season 25 of Something Was Wrong investigates sexual assault, stalking, abuse, and systemic betrayal within colleges and universities across the United States. From state schools to private campuses, an insidious culture reverberates, one where institutions often prioritize reputation, athletics, and financial interests over the safety and well-being of their students. Through in-depth reporting and survivor testimony, this season explores the origins, evolution, and current failures of Title IX—the landmark federal civil rights law designed to protect students from sex-based discrimination in education. Survivors from campuses of all sizes share their experiences navigating institutional gaslighting, traumatizing reporting processes, and policies that too often shield perpetrators rather than protect victims.

*Content warning: self-harm, childhood abuse, institutional child abuse, suicidal ideation, suicide, psychological, physical and sexual violence against adolescence, disability abuse, abduction, kidnapping, stressful themes, substance use disorder, medical abuse and neglect, gang rape, imprisonment. In Episode 3, survivor Malia bravely recounts her time at Second Nature Entrada, a “wilderness therapy program” her parents placed her in 2009. Her heartbreakingly powerful testimony sheds light on the emotional toll and lasting impact of an industry that often operates without oversight.

*Content warning: institutional child abuse, childhood abuse, death of a child, suicide, psychological, physical and sexual violence, abduction, kidnapping, disordered eating, stressful themes, disability abuse, ableism, PTSD, medical abuse and neglect. In Episode 2, you'll hear from survivor-turned-advocate Meg Applegate, who spent three and a half years in two residential programs during the early 2000s. After confronting the lasting impact of her experiences, Meg transformed her trauma into action, sharing her story in her memoir Becoming UNSILENCED and founding the national nonprofit Unsilenced, a leading voice in the fight for reform. In this episode, Meg opens up about her path from survival to advocacy.

Season 24 of Something Was Wrong shares the harrowing truths of institutional child abuse through powerful interviews with survivors of wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and other institutions around the world. These firsthand accounts expose an alarming pattern of abuse, neglect, and trauma disguised as treatment, alongside testimony from parents who entrusted these programs with their children. With expert insights from leading voices in the children’s rights advocacy space and adolescent mental health, Season 24 explores how programs have operated in the shadows for decades and why their harmful practices continue today.

Season 24 of Something Was Wrong shares the harrowing truths of Institutional Child Abuse (often called the ‘troubled teen industry’) through powerful interviews with survivors of wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and other institutions around the world. These firsthand accounts expose an alarming pattern of abuse, neglect, and trauma disguised as treatment, alongside testimony from parents who entrusted these programs with their children. With expert insights from leading voices in the children’s rights advocacy space and adolescent mental health, Season 24 explores how programs have operated in the shadows for decades and why their harmful practices continue today.

*Content warning: infant loss, pregnancy trauma, pregnancy loss, medical trauma, medical neglect.