The Debutante

by Jon Ronson

This is the story of a Tulsa debutante who, as a result of a series of unlikely and often very bad life choices she made in the ‘90s, found herself in the midst of one of the most terrible crimes ever to take place in America.

Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

Ever since then, Carol has haunted the imaginations of survivors and investigators because of a rumor that had begun to swirl: If her information had only been listened to, she could have prevented the worst domestic terrorist attack in US history.

The question mystified Ronson. In The Debutante, he embarks on an investigative journey to seek the truth about the woman who grew up in a world of privilege and opportunity and whose teenage rebellion spiraled out of control, leading her to extreme radicalization.

The Debutante takes a closer look at Carol’s world, where truth is shrouded and seldom guaranteed. Rare court tapes, diary entries, undercover ATF surveillance audio, and interviews with those who crossed paths with Carol depict a complex woman whose motivations have been hypothesized about for decades. With curiosity and insight at the forefront of his work, Ronson delivers a new perspective on the extraordinary story of Carol Howe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, True Crime, History, Crime, Biography, Journalism

4 pages, Audible Audio

Published April 13, 2023

About the author

Jon Ronson is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is known for works such as Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001), The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), and The Psychopath Test (2011).
He has been described as a gonzo journalist, becoming a faux-naïf character in his stories. He produces informal but sceptical investigations of controversial fringe politics and science. He has published nine books and his work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, City Life and Time Out. He has made several BBC Television documentary films and two documentary series for Channel 4.

Reviews

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think true crime isn’t for me. Although it was interesting to hear audio-recordings to feel closer to the investigation, I still zoned out every now and then.

[Carl Bluesy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t the typical kind of thing I like to listen to, but it was worth a go through. I find a lot of these stories rely too much on false hooks and one-liners to come intrigue people to listen on without any satisfying point or end.

This was definitely guilty of those stereotypes. But I didn’t stop this from being above average from the ones I’ve seen before. I did offer an interesting character study on a certain type of person. And I find anything about the human condition good or bad to be interested. To hear people discuss what made people turn so bad or doing such horrific things always sparks interest.

If these crime documentaries are your interest, this might be another good one for you to listen to.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ronson’s way with a story. Here, in another Audible Original audiobook/podcast series, Jon Ronson gives us a cautionary tale around radicalisation. It’s eerie, funny, brutally tragic, and contradictory - as is Ronson’s way.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spookily, I watched a documentary about the Oklahoma bombing this week. I particularly will never forget the image of a baby boy who was murdered that day.

The subject of this audiobook allegedly spied on the white supremacist group to which she originally belonged willingly. The connection to the bombing is a theme throughout, and there is even talk of the bombing being avoided if the authorities had taken the warnings seriously.

By the end, I was as confused about what was actually true as the interviewer - and also the "debutante"!!

[Ashlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what the point of this audio documentary is. The journalist is like, "I'm not a conspiracy theorist buuuuut... Here're all these weird, vague, nearly unsupported coincidences that hint at the idea the Oklahoma City bombing could have been prevented if the government had listened to this Nazi lady!" All the "evidence" is mostly based on fickle testimony and isn't strung together in a very coherent way. All the pieces are interesting when taken as a whole, but this audiodoc leaves you feeling unconvinced either way.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Up to now I have essentially lived by the rule of “if it is listed as a book/if it is on Goodreads, it’s a book”. While I have counted this one this time I think I am going to have to revisit the rule. This is not a book, it’s essentially a podcast, and not a great one at that.
I have previously very much enjoyed the work of Jon Ronson but this one not so much. It all felt a bit “grasping at straws” and there isn’t really any big revelation here come the end.

[Tiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of interesting but not exactly clear how this chick truly related to or could have prevented the Oklahoma bombing, there was no clear connection that I could see however I did like the individual interviews, news clips, etc. on audible, gave it a real TV documentary feel.

[Jason McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's got all the enjoyable polite Ronson quirkiness, but ultimately, this woman was just a sad, mentally unstable liar, and the links seem tedious at best.

[Tonya Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF.....this true crime didn't keep my attention.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating audiobook. I liked that it included interviews. Jon Ronson really knows how to craft a story. I do wish we had been able to find out where Carol ended up.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting because I'd never heard of this woman before, but I'm just not buying the overlap. Some of the Waco facts are just straight up wrong and there's no real proof of a connection offered here, which was what it was packaged as.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up a little over a three hour drive from Oklahoma City when the bombing took place. I have gone to the museum last year and found it to be very impressive. This book goes into the intelligence aspects of the case. Carol Howe was not the most trust worthy of informants, but she did put her life at risk. Why wasn't the information she provided taken more seriously? Is it because she was unreliable or just something we never imagined would happen? Very interesting and mixed with research and interviews.

How did this book find me? I wanted to look something up on Audible and this popped up and was released today.

[Crayola5pack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book fell completely flat for me. The author spends a lot of time “not being a conspiracy theorist,” but then weaves a story that is largely unsupported with half ideas about the potential to have stopped the Oklahoma City bombing with potential intel from a white supremacist turned undercover informant. In the end, from what was presented, it wasn’t as if the CI had tried to stop/prevent or share the details of the potential bombing threat/suspect prior to the event happening anyway. Very weak interviews, half story lines and disappointing at best.

1.5 stars, as I finished the story (and it was short) but not worth the time whatsoever in my opinion.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing and how a former Nazi debutante from Tulsa who was informing for the feds may very well have stumbled onto the plan to bomb the federal building in 1995 before it happened – as well as the identity of the mysterious Joe Doe #2 who supposedly worked with McVeigh and Nichols. The feds suddenly claimed John Doe #2 didn’t exist, but the debutante’s diary also suggests who he was and why the feds would quickly want to drop all knowledge of him. The catch is the the debutante, Carol Howe, often lied to gain attention and may have been a fabulist.

Ronson wasn’t the one who discovered all this, but rather interviewed all the amateur investigators working outside the system to put together the evidence, including journalists, McVeigh’s defense attorney, and even the grandmother of children who were victims of the bombing. And so Ronson, who usually investigates repulsive conspiracy theorists like the white supremacists who did the bombing, now finds himself investigating the sympathetic conspiracy theorist amateur investigators who claim that John Doe #2 is real and known, and that the feds may have been able to prevent the bombing if they had taken Howe seriously. The epilogue has Ronson track down Howe after her death in Tennessee, where she had been living in witness protection. This is one of Ronson’s best.

[Keandra Rhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

This was a pretty interesting true crime story, but not my typical interest. I think the author did the best they could with the story, but it just wasn’t made for a true crime.

I learned a lot through this book, but didn’t understand it all. I feel like I just needed the ending to wrap it up, but there wasn’t a good end. I think that by trying to remain neutral, the author lost some conciseness in the story.

This book has me thinking about people’s morals a lot. I don’t understand how a girl can go from debutante raised in a seemingly nice home, to a racist hate group leader, to a government spy, then to complete silence. The people in this book had some crazy beliefs and it just made me so confused about how the brain works.

This was an incredibly interesting read, but kind of slow and boring at times.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jon Ronson's work. This audiobook (podcast) was pretty short, but it led me down a rabbit hole of looking into all the main players and locations. It did feel a bit strange that the book pulled on all these different strands of a conspiracy, but in the end, it was left holding onto only one. Although, that one strand does have a very certain feel to it. It feels implausible that Andreas Strassmeir was innocent.

[Lyv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this on my commute to work, and truly is possibly the best “book” I’ve listened so far this year.

What a fascinating string intertwining multiple stories together that leads to the biggest domestic act of terrorism America has seen. What a perplexing ball of theories and opinions about one woman and her embroilment with extremism.

Truly worth listening to!!

A audiobook really worthy of 5*

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really do podcasts, because I'm a Luddite. So it was interesting to get access to this one as my first go-around. I have no idea how it compares to other podcasts.

I liked the set up, which of course it could not live up to. Journalist breaks the case of the most significant act of domestic terrorism by interviewing witnesses 30 years later! If only someone had listened to her at the time!

But he ends up telling a fairly careful story and ends by saying that conspiracy theories are born because they are usually sexier and more interesting than the truth or what we can prove, so we all need to be more careful about what we believe.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I enjoyed listening to the actual clips that the journalist was able to gather. An interesting look at different angles, but purposely left with no concrete answers.

[Abi Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and engagingly told. A little repetitive at times, but I suppose that’s due to its episodic nature.

[Holli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

[Kristen Gehrke · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know how some meetings should have been emails?

This audiobook should have been a podcast.

[Staci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Documentary about the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing and Tulsa debutante Carol Howe. Most of this was interesting. Short listen at around three hours.

Some foul language in the recordings included.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up. A good listen for a road trip if you’re into true crime

[The Real Beka Counts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interesting

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jon look at me Jon this isn’t you…..this is bezos’s effect

[Zachary Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable, very dark and kind of hard to listen to at times, but enjoyable. I guess if I didn’t care about the implications of true crime content I might enjoy it more.

[Karli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Jon, didn’t love this

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so interesting! It’s frightening what kind of garbage people are in the world. And I can always count on Ronson for a neat and informative premise.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story with little closure, but still good.