50 States of Mind

This month, some of the nation’s best and brightest teenage girls will gather in Mobile, Alabama, to embark on two of the most intense weeks of their lives. Everybody wants the same thing: to walk away with a $40,000 college scholarship and the title of Distinguished Young Woman of America.

Reporter Shima Oliaee competed for Nevada when she was a teenager and was invited back as a judge 20 years later. Oliaee accepted, all while recording it for a six-part audio series called The Competition.

In the final days of the 2022 competition, there was news from Washington that had big implications for women across the nation: Roe v. Wade had fallen. 

The girls faced a tough decision: Do they speak up about their political beliefs or stay focused on winning the money? And what might this mean for their futures—and their friendships?

“This series changed how I view America,” Oliaee said. “I came away from it thinking, damn. American teen girls are the canaries in the coal mine.”

This week, Reveal is partnering with The Competition podcast, from Wondery, Pineapple Street Studios, and Shirazad Productions, to explore the dreams of young women, America’s promise, and what it takes to survive being a teen girl today.

This is an update of an episode that originally aired in December 2024.

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