March 2, 2018

Five Women

As Harvey Weinstein goes to trial, we have a different kind of #MeToo story about several women who worked for the same man. They tell us not only about their troubling encounters with him, but also about their lives beforehand. Who were they when they entered the workplace, and how did their personal histories shape the way they dealt with his harassment?

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Transcript

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Producer Chana Joffe-Walt fills in for Ira Glass this week. We hear from a person you don’t normally hear from in these kinds of stories — the partner of a man who has been accused of sexual harassment. She finds herself thinking about an old memory, and reconsidering things she’d come to think of as normal. (7 1/2 minutes.)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act One

Deanna

Growing up, Deanna is told that relationships with men won’t be easy: that men are dumb and she’ll have to make sense of things for them. Throughout her twenties, this proves true. So she’s surprised when she meets a man who’s different — Don. (12 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Two

The Dinner

Alternet editors try to figure out what to make of Deanna’s odd behavior at an all-staff dinner. (3 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Three

Onnesha

When Onnesha asks Don for a raise, he asks her a weird question. One that brings to mind a realization Onnesha had as a thirteen-year-old at the swimming pool. (6 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Four

The Cliff

Don’s behavior grows increasingly troubling to Deanna. (8 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Five

Tana

Tana is clear on how to deal with Don. She’s the cool girl, he’s the flirty boss. And then Don does something that seems out of bounds. (14 1/2 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Six

Kristen

Kristen has no trouble naming what’s going on with Don: sexual harassment. She’s the first Alternet employee angry enough to try to do something about it. (16 1/2 minutes)

By

Chana Joffe-Walt

Act Seven

Vivian

We return to Vivian, Don’s partner, who reflects on how to incorporate some new information into the story of her own relationship with him. (9 minutes)