Episode 5: Live, Laugh, Lose

**Audio Updated 7/17/25

What do you get when you mix disordered eating, soap-laced Jell-O, and a diet camp stuck in the past? A summer from hell. In this episode, Kelsey returns to 2011, her first and only summer at Camp Shane — where the dysfunction runs deep and the cost is more than anyone bargained for.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation, you can call 988 for free and confidential support, prevention, and crisis resources for you or your loved ones. 988lifeline.org

References: 

• The biggest (and weirdest) wellness trends we all witnessed in the 2010s
• The history of the ‘ideal’ woman and where that has left us
• What is Laxative Abuse?
• Rethinking Anorexia Treatment Requires Clinician Collaboration, End-of-Life Care Options
• Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison
• National Eating Disorders Association

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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.

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