Varsity Blues: The $25 Million College Admissions Scandal with Chris Burns and Sarah Tiana | 70

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rick Singer went from failed basketball coach to college admissions kingpin, engineering a $25 million scheme that had the rich and famous buying their kids' way into elite schools. From Aunt Becky to the Hot Pockets Heiress, this smooth-talking grifter exposed the dark underbelly of elite education. That is, until he brought down some of America's most privileged in the process.

Chris Burns (fatcarriebradshaw) and Sarah Tiana (Comedy Store) join Misha to do a play-by-play of Operation Varsity Blues, A.K.A. the College Admissions Scandal.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Attention, all big flop stands. Are you ready to take your love for the big flop to the next level?
0:07.3	Well, Wondery Plus is here to make your dreams come true. With ad-free episodes, early access,
0:13.8	and exclusive bonus content, you'll be swimming in a sea of content. Your uninterrupted
0:20.3	flop fix awaits.
0:21.9	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts.
0:30.9	Olivia Jade is having a super hard time at school.
0:38.8	It's like really hard.
0:41.2	It's her first semester at USC, and it actually sucks.
0:46.1	Her parents made her apply.
0:48.1	They're really big deals, but they never went to college themselves,
0:51.8	so they were obsessed with Olivia going.
0:55.6	Oh, you don't know who Olivia's parents are? That's weird. They're the glam actress Lori Loflin
1:01.8	from Full House and super cool fashion designer Massimo Januli. They're great. They're rich,
1:09.1	but college is me. On the DL, instead of studying, Olivia would rather be making content for her YouTube channel right now.
1:18.6	It's got over a million subscribers. You should totally check it out. But for now, instead of creating content, she has to pretend to be this fake go-getter smart person.
1:29.8	But wait, can you keep a secret?
1:32.8	She shouldn't even be here.
1:34.8	Her parents paid half a million dollars for this college counselor to get her in, along with her sister.
1:41.2	Maybe Olivia can just get used to it.
1:47.0	Maybe college is like this for everyone. At the moment, it feels like prison. Hopefully, Olivia's parents won't end up there, right? L.O.L. J.K.,
1:53.4	JK, JK. No, but seriously. They won't. Right?
2:03.6	Operation Varsity Blues. A conspiracy is a fraud in the athletic field, in a college setting.
	...

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