Robert Downey Jr.'s Team Downey Launches Second Season of 'The Sunshine Place' Podcast Investigating Teen Rehab Abuse

Leading premium podcast network Audacy Podcasts, in partnership with Team Downey and Wink Pictures, today announced the launch of the second season of the award-winning investigative documentary podcast series “The Sunshine Place.”

Season Two of “The Sunshine Place” tells the story of Straight Incorporated, unconventional and tough-love teen rehab that preyed on the fear of parents and the vulnerability of their children and spawned the troubled teen industry we know today. Synanon, the subject of Season One, is widely considered to be the original influence for Straight Inc. and for other rehab programs that employed similar tactics and behavior modification techniques.

“The Sunshine Place” Season Two is Executive Produced by Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, and Emily Barclay Ford for Team Downey, together with Josh McLaughlin for Wink Pictures, and Maddy Sprung-Keyser, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and Leah Reis-Dennis for Audacy Podcasts.

“The Sunshine Place” Season Two will launch with the first two episodes on October 30, 2024, on the Audacy app and everywhere podcasts are available. New episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays through December 11, 2024. Listen and follow the show here.

“As we were wrapping up Season One of The Sunshine Place, we uncovered a startling connection: a link between Synanon, the origins of Straight Incorporated, and the troubled teen industry that still thrives today, said Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr., Team Downey. “Through riveting first-person accounts, we’re once again able to understand how vulnerable families seeking solutions to complicated problems can lead to dangerous consequences.”

“As we continue to expand our slate of powerful, thought-provoking original content, we’re thrilled to be reteaming with Team Downey and Wink Pictures for a new season of ‘The Sunshine Place,” said Maddy Sprung-Keyser, VP, Head of Original Podcasts, Audacy. “The story of Straight Inc. we investigate is harrowing and consequential.”

Launched in the 1980s against the backdrop of the war on drugs, Straight Inc. was endorsed by First Lady Nancy Reagan and spotlighted by a televised visit from Princess Diana. The program swept the nation, but survivors of Straight tell a very different story — one of abuse, torture, and brainwashing. The eight-episode series is narrated by author and teen life coach Cyndy Etler, herself a survivor of Straight Inc. Guests include other survivors, many of whom are still recovering and telling their unflinchingly candid stories for the first time.

Season One of “The Sunshine Place” tells the inside story of Synanon, the controversial California-based experimental rehab community turned cult led by messianic founder Charles E. Diedrich and its decade-long reign over ‘60s and ‘70s counterculture. The series hit #1 on the Apple Podcasts chart and won the 2023 Deadline Club Award for Audio Investigative Reporting.

Download the cover art for “The Sunshine Place” Season Two here.

About Audacy

Audacy, Inc. is a leading scaled, multi-platform audio content and entertainment company that connects with 200 million consumers. Powered by its exclusive, premium audio content that includes unrivaled leadership positions in news and sports radio, Audacy operates one of the country’s two scaled radio broadcasting groups, a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer digital audio platform, multiple audio networks, a major event business and a leading, award-winning podcast studio and network. Learn more at www.audacyinc.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About Team Downey

TEAM DOWNEY is an entertainment company founded by Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. that produces film, television, and digital properties. Team Downey premiered its Emmy nominated HBO/A24 limited series "The Sympathizer" on April 14. Under the direction of Park Chan-wook, the series adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel showcases Downey Jr. playing an impressive four supporting characters. The company premiered the third and final chapter of the Emmy Award-winning Netflix genre series “Sweet Tooth” on June 6. Team Downey also produced two seasons of HBO’s Emmy-nominated series “Perry Mason”.

On the film side, the company is producing the crime thriller “Play Dirty” for Amazon/MGM Studios starring Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield and Tony Shaloub. The film is the first project from Team Downey’s partnership with Amazon Studios to develop a series of feature film and television projects based on Donald E. Westlake’s Parker series of highly popular crime fiction novels and re-unites Downey with director Shane Black after their cult classic, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” Team Downey is also producing Paramount Pictures’ remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 psychological thriller “Vertigo”, Netflix’s “Yucatan” imagined by the late Steve McQueen, the horror feature adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s Bram Stoker Award-winning novel “A Head Full of Ghosts” with acclaimed filmmaking duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala writing and directing, and Universal Studio’s book adaptation, “The Hider,” based on Julianna Baggott’s short story, with Robert Downey Jr. set to star.

Team Downey recently made it’s Broadway debut this Fall, producing Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar’s McNeal at Lincoln Center Theater. Directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, Downey Jr. stars as a talented writer with an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence.

In 2022, Team Downey released the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary “Sr.”, a lovingly irreverent portrait of the life and career of maverick filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., which secured the 2022 National Board of Review's "Best Documentary" Award. The company also produced Max's Emmy and Environmental Award-winning series “Downey’s Dream Cars,” Discovery+’s unscripted series “The Bond,” and the award-winning podcast series “The Sunshine Place.”

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