the dark side

13 O’Clock Episode 512: The Wild and Controversial World of Child Beauty Pageants

/ Jenny Ashford / Leave a comment

Child beauty pageants are highly controversial competitions featuring contestants under 18—often toddlers and young children—judged on appearance, talent, interview skills, and stage presence in glitz (high-glamor with heavy makeup, spray tans, flippers, and elaborate costumes) or natural formats. Emerging in the early 1960s in the U.S. from earlier baby contests and adult pageants, the industry now involves hundreds of thousands of participants annually, generating significant revenue through entry fees, coaching, and accessories. Proponents highlight benefits like building confidence, poise, and scholarship opportunities, while critics decry the premature sexualization of children, psychological harms including body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety, and low self-esteem, as well as risks of exploitation, predation, and family dysfunction. High-profile cases like the 1996 murder of JonBenét Ramsey, reality TV phenomena such as Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and documented incidents of abuse have intensified scrutiny, prompting debates over regulation, parental responsibility, and the commodification of childhood.

Audio version:

Video version:

Please support us on Patreon! Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram. Also check out Jenny’s horror channel, The Scare Salon, and her true crime channel, Crime Immemorial. Check out Fright On Cue, a cool horror writing journal with image and text prompts.

Please try out TubeBuddy!

And check out our cool merch at our Zazzle store, and some board and card games designed by Jenny at Giallo Games!

Visit Jenny’s Amazon author page! And check out our awesome cookbook!

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS! The show is made possible by: Allison, Amanda, Amanda O., Amber, Ambition Writing, Amy H., Anthony, Antonio, Arezo, Arif, Armand, Ashley, Austin, Ben, BlackMarigold, Blake, Brad, Brandon, Brian, Bryce, Bunjip, Bunny, Cady, Calexico Mom, Cami, Chris, Christopher, Ciarra, Cody, Corinthian, creepy crepes, D. Newton, Dae, Damian, Dan, Darkskull, Darren, Dave B., David P., Dean, Denise, Dermot, Dominic, Duncan, Dwayne, Ed, Elizabeth, Elliot, Eric, Erin, Esther, Fade, Feeky, Gareth, Geare, Ginger, Gramthars Hammer, Greg, Gwen, Gwendoline, Hanna, Hayden, Heather, HoboNasty, Holly, Hugo, Iain, Ilse, Ima Shrew, Jaime, Jake A., Jake S., James, James H., Jamin, Jana & Scott, Janet, Jason, Jason W., Jeanette, Jen, Jessica, Jesus, Jill, Joanie, Jocifer, Joe, John A. Brown, John H., John M., Jon R., Jonathan, Jonathan H., Joseph, Juli, Juliana, Justin, Justyn, Karin, Kat, Katrina, Keith, Kelley G., Ken, Kieron, Klaus, Knothead Studios, Kool Kitty, Lana, Lars, Leander, Liam, Lindsey, Logan, Lonna, Lynx_13, Macy, Marcus, Mark, Mary Ellen, Master of Dungeons, Matt, Matthew, Maximillian, Melanie, Melissa, Melissa G., Michael, Miguel, Mike, Misty, Mother of Beasts, Natalia, Nathalie, Nicodemus, Nilay, Noah, Oddcatt, Oli, out_running_erins, Paul, Poppa77 Morrison, Rabbit, Rachel, Rebecca, Rebecca L., Rebecca M., Richard J., Richard & Sheena, Rik, Rob, Robina, Ryan, Samantha, Sandra, Saul, Scarlett, Scott, Sean, seven lines, Shaebie, Shae-Nicole, Sheena, Sophie, Stephanie, Steven Vincent, Stop Prop, Sydney, Tabitha, Tammie, Tanja, Tara, Terrie, TheMysteryGamer, Thomas, Thomm, Tiffany, Timothy, Tina, Travon, Trevor, Trey, Tyran, Valtrina, Vashti, Veronica, Via, Victor, Victoria, Victoria E., Virginia, Weaponsandstuff93, Will S., and Xánada.

Channel art and audio & video editing by Jenny Ashford. Music & sound effects courtesy of freesound.org users jamespotterboy, corsica-s, enjoypa, capturedlv, luffy, kiddpark, and justkiddink. Video clips courtesy of Videezy & Videvo.

13 O’Clock Episode 41 – The Dark Side Haunting, From the Files of Ed and Lorraine Warren

/ Jenny Ashford / Leave a comment

In 1978, Bobby and Addie Wilcott bought an old New England house to fix up. Little did they know that a few decades later, enough creepy shit would happen in their humble abode to warrant a pretty damn good episode of A Haunting titled “The Dark Side.” The haunting started small — doors opening and closing by themselves, a broken player piano suddenly belting out tunes willy-nilly — but eventually cockroaches, child endangerment, and the Warrens got involved. On this episode, Tom and Jenny return to their discussion/review of A Haunting episodes, talking about the re-enactment itself, and also taking another opportunity to talk about the Warrens, because you know how we always have fun doing that. Spray around some odor of sanctity and enjoy episode 41.

Download the audio file from Project Entertainment Network here, or watch the YouTube version here. Also, don’t forget to follow the 13 O’Clock Podcast blog, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.