Bad Dates with Jameela Jamil - Listen Now: Academy - Featuring Myha'la

Episode Date: January 29, 2024

Welcome to Bishop Gray Academy, a world of high-stakes and cut-throat competition. Academy, a riveting coming-of-age audio drama co-produced by AT WILL MEDIA and Wondery, follows the story of Ava Richards, a scholarship student who transfers to Bishop Gray, one of the most elite and competitive boarding schools in America. As Ava tries to find her place in this high-pressure environment, she soon crosses paths with an underground society known as The Night of the Wolf, which caters to the school's wealthiest students and enforces strict secrecy. With trust in short supply, Ava must navigate a dangerous and alluring world where friendships will be tested, romances will bloom, and ambitions cut short. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Bishop Grey Academy, the country's most exclusive boarding school, a place where the best and brightest aren't fighting to be prom queen or captain of the football team. They are on track to become the next Supreme Court justice. Academy is a new scripted podcast from Wondery and At Will Media that follows Ava Richards, played by HBO's Industries Mahala Herald, a brilliant scholarship student who has to quickly adapt to her newfound eat or be eaten world. Ava sets her sights on being the first scholarship student ever to make the list, Bishop Gray

is all coveted academic top ten curated by the headmaster himself. But this ambition comes at the expense of new friendships and budding romances. Once she realises there's no way she'll meet the list on her own, Ava is recruited by the Knight of the Wolf, Bishop Grey's underground society, with more secrets than the Illuminati, and if she bends to their demands in exchange for her own success, then she could have one of the ten coveted spots. But at what cost? Academy takes you into the world of cutthroat private school where power, money and sex collide in a game of life and death. I'm about to play a clip from Academy.

Follow Academy on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Bishop Gray Academy. The most prestigious boarding school in the country, and the most cutthroat. Everything. And I mean everything at Bishop Gray revolves around the list. Is it fucked up that our school publicly ranks the top ten students on campus? Of course!

Would I cut off both of my arms to get on? Absolutely. To make it on, you need to excel in three areas. Academics. I take four APs, two languages, and an intensive writing seminar. And I'm only up 30 milligrams of Adderall. Extracurriculars.

The competition is brutal, man, so you need to participate wherever you can. I'm the VP of the Beekeeping Club and I'm allergic to bees. And social involvement, which is another way to say popularity. I'm throwing it back to school, bashing my dorm. Everyone's going to be there.

You're coming, right? Right? Bishop Gray is like no other school on the planet. The best fencing team in the country. Deliberate black type. Brunchen. Enough drugs to sedate a blue whale. More money, status, and privilege than God.

I'm not supposed to be here. Nobody in my hometown of Love Land, Pennsylvania, population 12,000, understands why I sacrificed my friends, my sanity, and my childhood to get here. But I'm here now. And I'm not gonna settle for mediocrity. Because getting into the top 10 opens up a lot of doors.

Harvard, Yale, Google, Apple, US Senate. And if you graduate number one, the entire world is yours for the choosing. I want that. And it's going to be mine. [?]. Shit. Congrats. First break of the year. I can clean it up. It's just a planter. Happens all the time. Let me help.

You're new. How'd you know? Well, you're not allowed to be in here unless you're part of the gardening club, but I won't tell. Thanks. You're a teacher? Wow. I looked that old? tell. Thanks. You're a teacher? Wow, I looked that old? No, senior.

It's nice in here, right? It's a good escape from the trust fund kids having panic attacks out there. I really shouldn't be this clumsy. Back home in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania, we had a little garden, but it was nothing like this glass and steel conserv of nowhere, Pennsylvania, we had a little garden, but it was nothing like this glass and steel conservatory with like, humidity controls.

Damn, cottagecore. That's cool. I don't know if I would say cottagecore. Well, uh, what'd you grow? Just normal stuff. Tomatoes, garlic, eggplant. Ah, I've always found eggplant tricky. And these two huge cherry trees?

Sweet Stella cherries. They're cherry trees? Sweet Stella cherries. They're the best. Sweet Stella cherries. We'll have to try some. So what convinced you to leave the cottage for Bishop Gray? A lot of things. The academics, the people. The prestige.

Sure, I guess. Yeah, I see. So you're one of those, uh, strivers. What does that mean? You know, the people who freak out about their GPA going up or down, like a tenth of a point. It's not really my speed. Why did you come here? Well, I've been at Bishop Gray since kindergarten. Just a few miles away from here.

My parents came before that. and my grandparents before that. So you're a legacy. I hear you guys get all the awards and attention. Maybe if you're looking for attention. So you want to join the gardening club or what? Yeah, I don't know. I'm gonna be pretty busy this semester. Trying to get on the list? Maybe. Eventually. But there's a lot to do first. Like getting an orchestra audition slot. I'm actually big in orchestra if you need a rec. Really? That would be great. Oh yeah. Ah, you should see me play the triangle. Very funny. Don't worry, you'll figure it out. People have all sorts of different ways of thriving and surviving at Bishop Gray. Money and professional networks help, of course. And the secret societies, if you believe in that sort of thing.

I gotta get back to these tomatoes, but hey, you should join the gardening club, for real. You'd be perfect for it. This is a pair. Did you get it? Yeah, I got your awful pun. Thanks. But I have a lot on my plate. Well, if you ever need an escape, I'm Jesse. Welcome to Bishop Gray. I'm Ava.

And unfortunately, I can't pick my extracurriculars based solely off of membership of Tall Hot Boys. Binge all episodes of Academy Early and Ad-Free based solely off of membership of tall, hard boys.