Kid Nation

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. We introduce the concept of Kid Nation through the lens of its controversial reception, including a campaign to have the show banned before it even aired. But how bad was it? We hear from one of the parents about their hopes for the show, and their daughter’s auditions and first few days. We’re left wondering: what have these kids signed up for?

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. Every reality show has a villain. In Kid Nation that role was assigned to 15-year-old Greg Pheasant. Through multiple perspectives on Greg’s bullying, we explore whether kids were cast to perform predetermined roles. It raises questions about the different levels of agency these kids had in what was a high-pressure and high-stakes situation.

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. The kids are forced to navigate social hierarchies as producers introduce class, competition and warped financial incentives. Every few days, a team competition sorts the kids into four social classes: upper class, merchant, cooks and laborers. We ask what these themes reveal about America’s values and prejudices.

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. The producers prompt the kids to confront adult themes, with a joint religious service and town hall elections. Through the introduction of politics and religion, we see how Kid Nation is a microcosm of the real world in 2007, where the shadow of 9/11 and the War on Terror looms large.

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. After the chaos of the first few weeks life in Bonanza City stabilizes – but that doesn’t make for great TV. The former pioneers say that as the show wore on, the drama became more contrived, with plot-lines that saw kids portrayed as gambling addicts and anarchists, looting the town stores. It leaves us wondering whether Kid Nation could ever have lived up to its utopian premise. How do the former pioneers feel about it now?

With access to former ‘Kid Nation’ contestants, their families, and the show’s creators, culture journalist Josh Gwynn uncovers how this cult TV show became a lightning rod for an ongoing debate about the ethics of reality TV. Negative portrayals left kids like Olivia traumatized whereas others, like Laurel and Anjay look back with fondness. How did being on the show affect the trajectory of the pioneers? And why does Kid Nation continue to strike a cultural chord?