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Mar 2022
26m 48s

Part 2: A Coping Mechanism

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About this episode

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 talented athletes, McDonald can do it all. But she now shares for the first time how deceiving appearances could be: McDonald’s early athletic prowess hides from the public a childhood of shattered dreams, the ravages of drug abuse, and the abandonment of her father’s imprisonment.

New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17.

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The host of Payback is Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone.

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Up next
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
Apr 2022
Part 4: Tough as Nails
Following the fateful encounter with her mother, Jessica McDonald runs away from home. Soon, her grades flounder, leaving her ineligible for Division I athletics at all. McDonald's road to Chapel Hill detours through a nearby junior college in Phoenix, where she improves her GPA ... Show More
34m 38s
Apr 2022
Part 5: The Tiny Prophet
In 2010, Jessica McDonald is drafted by the Chicago Red Stars of WPS, the women’s professional soccer league. The WPS acts as a feeder system for the larger U.S. national team, and McDonald is poised to become the fresh blood the USWNT needs. But in her first pro start, McDonald ... Show More
31m 47s
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