william hung, pt. 1

Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)

Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.7 • 723 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2024

⏱️ 103 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Twenty years ago, William Hung of "She Bangs" American Idol fame became one of the earliest people to straddle traditional media and the internet to become an overnight sensation. A notorious "bad audition" on one of the world's most famous shows, William built a whole career on a mix of positivity and negative attention, remaining firmly himself every step of the way. Warning: this episode contains severe 2004, from Angelfire fan sites to successful prime time TV to early-aughts xenophobia. Buckle in, we're going deep, from William's college days to his TED talks and everywhere in between.

This week, Jamie recounts William's story and speaks to the man himself. In part two, we take a closer look at what William's fame meant to Asian Americans, and what it said about the state of reality TV.

Follow William here: https://williamhung.net/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	What have you asked two different people the same set of questions?
0:03.0	Even if the questions are the same, our experiences can lead us to drastically different answers.
0:08.0	I'm Mini Driver, and I set out to explore this idea in my podcast,
0:12.0	and now Mini Questions is returning for another season.
0:16.0	We've asked an entirely new set of guests, our seven questions, including Jane Lynch, Delaney Row, and Cord Jefferson.
0:25.0	Listen to mini questions on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:31.0	Seven questions, limitless answers.
0:34.6	I'm Mark Seal.
0:36.1	And I'm Nathan King.
0:37.2	This is Leave the gun, Take the Canoli.
0:39.3	The five families did not want us to shoot that picture.
0:42.2	This podcast is based on my co-host Mark Seale's best-selling book of the same title.
0:46.6	Leave the Gun Take the Canoli features new and archival interviews with Francis Ford
0:50.5	Kobola, Robert Evans, James Kahn, Talia Shire, and many others.
0:55.2	Yes, that was a real horse's head.
0:57.1	Listen and subscribe to Leave the Gun Take the Canoli on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:05.7	Hey, it's Alec Baldwin.
1:07.7	This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing.
1:11.4	I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers, and so many other fascinating people,
1:18.0	like writer and actor, Dan Aykroyd.
1:21.2	I love writing more than anything.
1:22.7	You're left alone.
	...

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