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Mar 2022
2m 23s

Introducing Payback

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

From The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News & Observer, McClatchy Studios and iHeartRadio comes the remarkable journey of Jessica McDonald, a striker on the 2019 World Cup-champion U.S. Women's National Team who might not be a household name, but whose story you’ll never forget. A teen runaway who became a single mom, McDonald reveals for the first time how she rose from a broken home in Phoenix to the pinnacle of sports in Lyon, France — and how today, she’s using her voice to battle systemic inequalities in soccer, including as part of the U.S. women’s national team’s recent settlement in their landmark fight for equal pay. New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17.

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Up next
Mar 2022
Part 1: The Roach Motel
The 2019 World Cup-champion U.S. Women’s National Team was arguably the most dominant team ever fielded by the most dominant institution in soccer. But striker Jessica McDonald remembers that for many people, what that team represented off the field was more important than what i ... Show More
34m 15s
Mar 2022
Part 2: A Coping Mechanism
A child of a broken home, McDonald finds her calling — and her refuge — on the playing field. She grows up competing against her brother, cousins and other boys in the neighborhood, and no matter what the sport — basketball, volleyball, football, track — as the child of two talen ... Show More
26m 48s
Mar 2022
Part 3: The Safe Place
Throughout Jessica McDonald's tumultous childhood, there was one person she could always turn to: her grandmother Abbie, who becomes McDonald's biggest cheerleader. McDonald becomes a superstar for multiple Cactus High School sports teams, but the Sereno Soccer Club she plays for ... Show More
29m 43s
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