Payback
March 2022
This 13-month project explores the U.S. Women's National Team's fight for equal pay through the lens of Jessica McDonald, one of the few Black mothers in professional soccer. The project includes a 10-part audio podcast in partnership with iHeartRadio, a five-part written series, a four-part video documentary and an animated graphic novel.
Podcast Series
Episodes published weekly
In 2019, U.S. women’s national soccer team striker Jessica McDonald capped a World Cup journey few could have imagined. A teen runaway who became a single mom, McDonald tells The Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer 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.
Introducing: Payback, the Jessica McDonald Story
Payback Pt. 1: Jessica McDonald’s troubled childhood home pushed her to go where her mother wouldn’t
Payback Part 2: UNC's Anson Dorrance on Jessica McDonald: 'An amazing player and human being'
