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A 2025 Tribeca Festival Official Selection, the Limited Series Details the Rise and Fall of One of the World's First Fat Camps

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NEW YORK, NY – Wonder Media Network (now Acast Creative Studios) – an award winning women-founded, audio-first creative podcast studio – and iHeartPodcasts, the No.1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, have launched an 8-episode audio series that delves into the story of a notorious fat camp, one family’s greed, and the heavy price of shame. Listen to the first two episodes now, .

Camp Shane – one of America’s longest running weight loss camps for kids – promised extraordinary results: Come in fat and leave skinny. In a society obsessed with being thin, it seemed like the perfect solution.

But there were some dark truths behind Camp Shane’s facade of happy, transformed children. Podcast host, Kelsey Snelling, was a counselor at Camp Shane and quickly knew something wasn’t quite right. Kids were being pushed to their physical and emotional limits, and the family that owned Shane turned a blind eye. They were caught in a decades-long rivalry for power which allowed abuse to run rampant—including everything from theft, to lawsuits, to disinheritance, to gross negligence. 

Fourteen years later, Kelsey is bringing the camp’s story to light. Over the course of the series, she unpacks and investigates these stories of mistreatment, reexamining the culture of fatphobia that enabled a flawed system to continue for so long. 

“My goal is to access and educate listeners who may or may not have an inherent interest in dismantling our shame-fueled culture,” said Snelling. “And, to do so through the absolutely unhinged telling of the rise and fall of America's favorite fat camp.”

“’Camp Shame’ is a powerful example of narrative storytelling that peels back the layers on past cultural norms to boldly reexamine how and why we allowed them to exist in the first place,” said Will Pearson, President of iHeartPodcasts. “Kelsey’s firsthand connection and experiences at Camp Shane add a rare depth to the series, and we’re excited to team up with Wonder Media Network to bring this story to light for listeners. We are also incredibly proud to see it recognized as an Official Selection of the 2025 Tribeca Festival.”

“” is distributed by iHeartPodcasts. The first two episodes are available on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard, starting today, June 5, 2025. New episodes will release weekly on Thursdays.

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Podcast cover art is available for download . 

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ABOUT WONDER MEDIA NETWORK

Wonder Media Network is a women-founded, audio-first creative studio based in New York City that works with leading global brands on storytelling in audio and beyond. Founded in 2018 by former award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan and Shira Atkins, WMN creates original content, works with like-minded organizations and individuals to co-create content, and produces audio, digital, experiential and social campaigns for clients including Nike, Pfizer, GE and Mercedes Benz. WMN was acquired by Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, on December 6th, 2024. WMN is now a global creative center of excellence at Acast.