MFM Minisode 506 - The Dolly Parton Tribute Minisode
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
This special tribute minisode features a collection of heartwarming listener-submitted stories centered around the legendary Dolly Parton. T
Key takeaways
- The UK branch of the Imagination Library has shared over 7 million books since 2007 through community partners.
- Listener Vicki Ernst recounted the experience of producing Dolly for talk shows and choosing wigs with her in a dressing room.
Main topics
- Dolly Parton Tribute
- Imagination Library Literacy Program
Notable quotes
I just want everybody to be and be treated good.
Conclusion
The episode offers an uplifting look at how Dolly Parton's persona and
Transcript preview
Speaker 4 (0:01) This is exactly Speaker 1 (0:02) right. I Speaker 3 (0:06) survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (0:37) Hey there, everybody. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here from the Amy and TJ podcast. A Speaker 8 (0:43) lot of times. The story of the day is what we're all talking about and buzzing about. And yes, sometimes it's Love Island and sometimes it's Serena, Robes. Speaker 4 (0:53) Coming back to the U.S. Open, sometimes it's Obsession and Spider-Man making box office history. Speaker 8 (0:59) Hopefully, Robes, people get our point. Speaker 4 (1:01) Listen to Amy and TJ on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Why do some women yearn Speaker 1 (1:10) for Shakira's black hair to make a comeback? And whatever happened to the power couple of my dreams, Mariah Carey and Luis Miguel? I'm Maria Garcia. You may remember me from my podcast, Anything for Selena or My Divo. And now I'm back to unpack more stories from the present and the past. Listen to Muy Excited with Maria Garcia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (1:55) Hello and welcome to my favorite murder, the Minisode. Y'all. Hey, y'all. Hey, y'all. This is a very special Minisode today. This is the Dolly Parton tribute Minisode. That's right. And we got so Speaker 6 (2:07) many emails from you guys. Turns out everyone has a Dolly Parton memory or thought or feeling and completely. They were so good. They were. Speaker 7 (2:15) I mean, there's so many to choose from. It was like we could do about 18 of these. And thank you. A listener suggested this. I think multiple listeners suggested it. Speaker 2 (2:25) What a great idea, listener. Yeah. We're doing it. We did your thing. We do what the people tell us to do. We always do. Once every decade. Want me to go first? Yes. Okay. Speaker 7 (2:34) So the subject line of this is, another reason why Dolly Parton is a goddess. Hello from the UK. I love Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and I'm happy to talk about the difference it has made to the children in the UK. Speaker 6 (2:49) Oh, my God. Have Speaker 7 (2:50) you ever even thought of this? Yeah. I work for an early years education charity in the UK, and we were put in touch with the UK branch of the Imagination Library. The Imagination Library has over 300 community partners in the UK, with over 7 million books shared here since 2007. Oh, my God. Anyway, I think you probably don't want a bunch of facts and figures. Why not? We love numbers. That's what this podcast is all about. Let's go ahead and look at the chart. Speaker 7 (3:18) Because you can just look that up. So I will focus on the key things that I believe make the Imagination Library different from other language and literacy support programs out there. Firstly, and most importantly, the program must be set up by a community partner. This is usually the local council or a local charity, etc. The community partner signs up to the program and pays a small fee per child in their catchment area. This is much better than the facts and figures. Explain to us how civics work. Us people with no children need to know. Please, who's the partner in this? But basically they're saying the rest is covered by the imagination library. That means that every child in the area is enrolled in the program and they all get the books. This is really important. It isn't a program for quote-unquote poor kids or for rich kids or for kids with additional needs or any one specific type of family. It is for everyone. There is no stigma associated with getting these books. Speaker 6 (4:16) Everyone Speaker 7 (4:17) gets them. That's what an idea. Speaker 6 (4:19) That's Speaker 7 (4:20) it. Yeah. That's it. True equity. Some preschools and community groups even use the books as part of their curriculum of activities because they know that every family has them. Because as Dolly says, I just want everybody to be treated good. Speaker 6 (4:34) All right. Speaker 2 (4:35) Oh, yeah. How many? Oh, I forgot to. How many times is Karen going to cry? Well, I mean, listen. It has to be once per story at least. So that's six. I'm already unstable. Okay. This is a great thing to Speaker 7 (4:44) cry over. That's true. Because somebody said this on social media. Wait, I may have already said this on the show. What? But the thing of this is a person who broke records in the music industry and all anyone's talking about is this shit she did. How wonderful she was. It's just crazy to think about. Speaker 6 (5:02) Aspirational. Speaker 7 (5:03) Yeah. So then it says, then something that people don't often think of, this program helps kids, sure, but it also stimulates language and literacy skills across whole families. The average reading age in the UK is around the level of a 10-year-old. So it shouldn't be forgotten that this program can be great to build confidence in reading for adults, too. And it was her father's illiteracy that led Dolly to set up the Imagination Library. Families who are sent the books report reading more at home, going to the library more often, and just generally reading more books with their children. Did you know kids who read one book a day will hear about... 290,000 more words by age five than those who are not regularly read to. Wow. Huge. And a child's development by 22 months serves as a strong predictor of educational outcomes at age 26. Wow. Giving away books to children under five and encouraging more families to read at home is an absolute game changer when it comes to opportunities in adulthood. Anyway, Dolly forever, Grace. Speaker 6 (6:08) That's so beautiful because... She could have just started any kind of charity she wanted and moved on. But she made it so specifically to be fair and be inclusive and to help throughout Speaker 2 (6:20) your entire life. Like she didn't need to do that. Right. And it's like, but she was like, well, if I have this money and that means it Speaker 7 (6:27) could do this thing that then can, it's like seeding a forest. Yeah. Amazing. And what I think is really beautiful is that in lieu of flowers, the Dolly Parton estate asked that people donate to the Imagination Library. So we are going to donate, in the name of murderinos, $10,000 to the Imagination Library, which is part of the Dollywood Foundation. Speaker 2 (6:50) Imagine how many little books that can buy. Oh, my God, teeny tiny little books. Little books for little kids. They love the children, love the books. The children love it. Speaker 6 (7:00) Learning. Speaker 5 (7:02) If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (7:34) This one's called, my first one's called I Once Sniffed Dolly Parton. Oh, I want to hear all about this. And this was sent before Dolly died, but there's an update about it, which is really sweet and some photos. Ladies and furballs. I once sniffed Dolly Parton. Do I have your attention now? She's the queen of the South, and as I live in East Tennessee, it had always been my dream to meet her. The summer after my sophomore year in college, a friend called me to say that Dolly was coming to Dollywood, and staff were going to have their pictures taken with her. I suddenly realized that I lived close enough to Dollywood, the happiest place on Earth, and if I moved fast enough, maybe I could have a picture taken with my hero. And as luck would have it, I got hired as a, she went and got a job. At Dollywood? At Dollywood. Too neat. So she was definitely going to be there when Dolly was there. I got hired as a ride attendant in time for Dolly's visit to the park, and that day I raced over to where staff were getting their photos with her. We were all in our seats in one of the big theaters in the park as it was explained to us that we would be in groups of 20 on risers. So it's like a group photo. And Dolly would alternate between two sets of them to make the process go faster. Dolly came out on stage, and my heart beat faster than ever before. She said something amazing like, I hope y'all brushed your teeth. That's so cute. And then and they started putting folks on stage. To my delight, when I got up there, I realized they were sending tall guys to the back. I'm neither tall nor a guy. And I lingered until I was on the front row. To my shock, Dolly came and stood right next to me. I couldn't believe it. Guys, I was standing next to the woman I had admired for years. I was breathing the same air as Dolly freaking Parton. And it smelled good. Oh, crap. I sniff Dolly Parton.