About the Show
Camp Shane—one of America’s longest running weight loss camps for kids—promised extraordinary results. Campers who began the summer in heavy bodies were often unrecognizable when they left. In a society obsessed with being thin, it seemed like a miracle solution.
But there were some dark truths behind Camp Shane’s facade of happy, transformed children. Kids were being pushed to their physical and emotional limits as the family that owned Shane turned a blind eye. More than 50 years after its founding, host Kelsey Snelling is bringing the real story of Camp Shane to light.
In this eight-episode series, she unpacks and investigates stories of mistreatment and reexamines the culture of fatphobia that enabled a flawed system to continue for so long. Along the way, she reveals and weighs the heavy price of shame.
Camp Shane—one of America’s longest running weight loss camps for kids—promised extraordinary results. Campers who began the summer in heavy bodies were often unrecognizable when they left. In a society obsessed with being thin, it seemed like a miracle solution. But behind Camp Shane’s facade of happy, transformed children was a dark underworld. Kids were being pushed to their physical and emotional limits as the family that owned Shane turned a blind eye. More than 50 years after its founding, host Kelsey Snelling is bringing the real story of Camp Shane to light.
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02:14
Host
Kelsey Snelling
Kelsey Snelling is a Philadelphia filmmaker whose work centers social and environmental justice. Her dream is to direct music videos for Billie Eilish, hike the Appalachian Trail, and return to her previous residence of Alaska to live on a farm overrun with cats. “Camp Shame” is her first audio project.
Credits
Season 1
Host: Kelsey Snelling
Executive Producers: Kelsey Snelling, Jenny Kaplan, Emily Rudder
Producers: Luci Jones, Brittany Martinez, Sara Schleede, Taylor Williamson, Alyia Yates Grau
Editors: Grace Lynch, Lindsey Kratochwill, Courtenay Hameister
Fact Checking: Madeline Goore, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Lauren Williams, Fiona Pestana
Original Music: Sean Patel
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