Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Unlikely Influence of Televangelism
How Jan Crouch and her husband Paul built the Trinity Broadcasting Network into a multi-million dollar ministry. Plus, how she and fellow televangelist Tammy Faye Messner came to be gay and drag icons.
By Madeleine Brand • • 51m ListenTwo men are dead in a suspected murder-suicide at UCLA Wednesday morning. KCRW Reporter Saul Gonzalez joined Press Play from the UCLA campus with the latest.
The Supreme Court will hear a case this week that concerns the appropriate level of instruction for special education students in public schools. Are most special-needs kids getting an appropriate education?
Also, most students in public schools are not white, but more than 80 percent of public school teachers are. Despite decades of effort, educators are still struggling to narrow the achievement gap between white students and black and Hispanic students. What can white teachers do to better teach across cultural and economic divides?
And finally, televangelist Jan Crouch has died. We’ll talk about how she and her husband built the Trinity Broadcasting Network into a multi-million dollar ministry, and how Jan Crouch and fellow televangelist Tammy Faye Messner came to be gay and drag icons.
Photo Credit: Trinity Broadcasting Network World Headquarters
In this episode
5 storiesTwo Dead in Suspected Murder-Suicide at UCLA
Two men are dead in a suspected murder-suicide after a shooting at UCLA Wednesday morning which led to a campus lockdown. KCRW reporter Saul Gonzalez joined Press Play from the University campus with the latest. Police outside of UCLA's campus on June 1st, 2016 Credit: Saul Gonzalez
Read the story5 minAre Special Ed Kids Getting the Education They Deserve?
The Supreme Court will hear a case this week that concerns what the appropriate level of instruction for special education students in public schools should be. The justices asked the Obama administration to prepare a brief on the issue. Several lower courts have ruled on the idea of special education quality, but the rulings vary.
Read the story11 minTeaching Across Economic and Cultural Divides
The Department of Education released a report in May called “The State of Racial Diversity in the Educator Workforce.” Another title for it might be: “The Incredible Whiteness of Teaching.” Most students in public schools are not white, but more than 80 percent of public school teachers are.
Read the story14 minThe State of Televangelism
Televangelist Jan Crouch died yesterday at the age of 78. Even if you’ve never heard her sermons, you’d probably recognize her image. She was known for enormous bouffant wigs – sometimes blonde, sometimes pink or purple – fake eyelashes and layers of makeup. Then there were her outfits: gaudy, often shiny, furry or sequined.
Read the story9 minTelevangelists and Unlikely Gay and Drag Icons
Jan Crouch and her late husband Paul collaborated with the late Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker when Trinity Broadcasting Network began four decades ago. And despite their pious preachiness, the two televangelist wives ended up inspiring many a drag queen thanks to their tarantula lashes, painted-on brows, and melodramatic altar-call performances.
Read the story7 min
