In this final episode, Mary offers personal reflections and parting thoughts. She reviews key points from the podcast and reaches a surprising conclusion: Perhaps, at its core, the NC debutante ball isn’t really so much about the young women who debut. She also discusses the exclusivity of the debutante season as a symptom of larger economic barriers in the state. Rachel Hope Anderson offers guest comments on her experience as a non-debutante at Davidson College.Find out more:“<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469608402/secret-sharing-debutantes-coming-out-in-the-american-south/">Secret Sharing: Debutantes Coming out in the American South</a>” by Cynthia Lewis<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393608731">The Season: A Social History of the Debutante</a> by Kristen Richardson“<a href="https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/honors_theses/w95054516">Bloodlines, Ball Gowns, Trashed in the Hotel Room: Hegemonic Processes of Debutantes as Southern Royalty</a>” by Anna Shelton-Ormond. Our theme song, “Rare Thing” was written and produced by Max Gowan and performed by Qwilt. Available online soon!

Debutante culture in the South is fancy and persistent -- and often very secretive. In "Recovering Debs," writer and former debutante Mary Lambeth Moore examines the shadow side of high society in North Carolina, the only state that continues to have a statewide debutante ball. The podcast begins with a story from the 1960s when a young woman's prominent father made her debut a matter of life-and-death. 

Subsequent episodes include interviews with more recent state debutantes and academic experts who have studied deb culture. The recurring questions are why does debutante culture persist? Who benefits and how?  Limited series, with most episodes released on Wednesdays.