Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College
Audacy Podcasts
Show overview
Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College has been publishing since 2020, and across the 5 years since has built a catalogue of 29 episodes, alongside 3 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 20 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a roughly quarterly cadence, with the show now in its 2nd season.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 39 min and 56 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Society & Culture show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 1.4 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2021, with 15 episodes published. Published by Audacy Podcasts.
From the publisher
It’s the groves of academe: Bennington College, the wildest and wickedest school in America. In the last great decade: the 1980s. Bennington class of ’86, class of Bret Easton Ellis, future writer of American Psycho and co-leader of the literary Brat Pack; Jonathan Lethem, future writer of Motherless Brooklyn and MacArthur Fellow; and Donna Tartt, future writer of The Secret History and Pulitzer Prize winner. All three are, at various times, infatuated and disappointed with one another, their friendships stimulated and fueled by rivalry as much as affection. And all three will mythologize Bennington in their fiction—fiction that, as we’ll discover, isn’t always fiction, is often fact—and thereby become myths themselves. From Vanity Fair's Lili Anolik, comes the latest installment in the Once Upon a Time… franchise, Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College. This is a tale of money, murder, madness, and—of course—genius. This is, too, a multi-dimensional expose: the secret history of The Secret History revealed; the secret history of three of the greatest writers of Generation X revealed; and the secret history of Generation X itself revealed.Once Upon a Time at...Bennington College is an Audacy original.This follows Season One: Once Upon a Time...in the Valley, a real-life psychological thriller about underage adult star Traci Lords.
Latest Episodes
View all 29 episodes
S2 Ep 15Introducing: What We Spend
bonusImagine if you could ask someone anything you wanted about their finances. On What We Spend, people from across the country and across the financial spectrum are opening their wallets—and their lives—to tell you everything: what they make, what they want, and—for one week—what they spend.
S2 Ep 14S2 | Ep 14: It Was Like I Went Where I Failed To Go
1994 to the present day. Jonathan Lethem comes from behind. And just whose world are we living in anyway—Bret’s, Donna’s or Jonathan’s?
S2 Ep 13S2 | Ep 13: The Farmer’s Granddaughter
Cambridge, Massachusetts and New York, New York. Spring of 1986 to Fall of 1994. The Secret History is published. Plus, “The Purge” comes to Bennington.
S2 Ep 12S2 | Ep 12: Sensational Sensationalism
New York City. Spring of 1987 to Spring of 1991. Patrick Bateman is born.
S2 Ep 11S2 | Ep 11: Disturbing Michiko Kakutani
Bennington and New York City. Autumn, 1985-spring, 1986. Less Than Zero is published and Bret becomes a cultural phenomenon. Bret also becomes a college senior. The most famous artist of the 20th century crashes his graduation party.
S2 Ep 10S2 | Ep 10: An Impossible Shade of Green
Bennington. Autumn, 1983-Spring, 1986. Donna begins The Secret History. Donna throws tea parties and frequents martini hours. Donna bides her time. Jonathan drops out of Bennington only to hang around Bennington.
S2 Ep 9S2 | Ep 9: Entering Into the Sublime
Bennington. Spring, 1983. Donna Tartt becomes “Donna Tartt.” Jonathan Lethem becomes an angry young man.
S2 Ep 8S2 | Ep 8: Murder By Numbers
Bennington. Spring, 1983-Spring, 1985. Bret lives The Rules of Attraction, then sells Less Than Zero. Bret befriends David Lipsky, then be-enemies David Lipsky.
S2 Ep 7S2 | Ep 7: Donna Lou
Mississippi, 1963-1982. Donna’s origin story. And Lord Jim... revealed?
S2 Ep 6S2 | Ep 6: Mississippi Chippy
Winter, 1982-1983. Over Non-Resident term, Donna gets closer to Jonathan, and becomes Paul McGloin's "Burning Boy."
S2 Ep 5S2 | Ep 5: Bennington Revisited
Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Donna falls under the thrall of a magus-like professor, and the very small, very elite, very male band of students to whom he teaches Ancient Greek. “I can absolutely distinctly remember the three of them, and then the four of them—the three guys but then the four. The guys with Donna.”
S2 Ep 4S2 | Ep 4: Disappear There
Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Bret and Donna go on a date.
S2 Ep 3S2 | Ep 3: An Alley Along Melrose
Los Angeles, 1981-1982. “This rumor went around in 1981, 1982, that kids just were brought to see the body of another kid.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part Two.
S2 Ep 2S2 | Ep 2: Bret Ellis, Valley Boy
Los Angeles, 1980-1981. “There was just this huge sense that the world was gay, gay, gay.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part One.
S2 Ep 1S2 | Ep 1: Dis-Orientation
Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Donna, Jonathan and Bret arrive on the campus of the school nicknamed “The Little Red Whorehouse on the Hill.” One of them comes with a steamer trunk. One of them comes with a Kangol cap. One of them comes with a “suitcase full of drugs.”
Welcome to "Once Upon A Time... at Bennington College"
trailerIt’s the groves of academe: Bennington College, the wildest and wickedest school in America. In the last great decade: the 1980s. Bennington class of ’86, class of Bret Easton Ellis, future writer of American Psycho and co-leader of the literary Brat Pack; Jonathan Lethem, future writer of Motherless Brooklyn and MacArthur Fellow; and Donna Tartt, future writer of The Secret History and Pulitzer Prize winner. All three are, at various times, infatuated and disappointed with one another, their friendships stimulated and fueled by rivalry as much as affection. And all three will mythologize Bennington in their fiction—fiction that, as we’ll discover, isn’t always fiction, is often fact—and thereby become myths themselves. From the Peabody-nominated C13Originals studios and Vanity Fair's Lili Anolik, comes the latest installment in the “Once Upon a Time…” franchise, Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College. This is a tale of money, murder, madness, and—of course—genius. This is, too, a multi-dimensional expose: the secret history of The Secret History revealed; the secret history of three of the greatest writers of Generation X revealed; and the secret history of Generation X itself revealed.
S1 Ep 12Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 12: After The Afterglow
A crucial new piece of information comes to light.
S1 Ep 11Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 11: Afterglow
Traci Lords as the key to pop culture in the late 20th and early 21st century.
S1 Ep 10Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 10: Who Ratted Out Traci?
The mystery is (maybe) solved. And we hear directly—and at length—from 1985 Traci, in a never-before-aired interview.
S1 Ep 9Once Upon a Time... in the Valley S1 | Ep 9: The Ghost of Shauna Grant
We return to the Valley, and it looks a whole lot different this time around.