Robert Downey Jr.’s Podcast ‘The Sunshine Place’ Will Examine Controversial Rehab Program (Exclusive)

The Sunshine Place, the ratings-topping and award-winning documentary podcast that counts Robert Downey Jr. as one of its executive producers, will devote its second season to a topic with which the Oscar-winning actor feels a personal connection: a controversial ‘tough-love’ teen rehab program.

The podcast’s first season, which focused on the early behavior-modification rehab Synanon, hit No. 1 on the Apple Podcasts chart and won the 2023 Deadline Club Award for audio investigative reporting. Its second season will examine Straight Inc., which emerged in the 1980s, was endorsed by First Lady Nancy Reagan and swept the nation — but also, according to survivors who speak to The Sunshine Place, employed abuse, torture and brainwashing.

Season two will launch with the posting of its first two episodes on Oct. 30; additional episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays through Dec. 11. (The trailer for season two can be heard here.) Executive producers include Downey, his wife Susan Downey and Emily Barclay Ford on behalf of the Team Downey production company; Audacy Podcasts’ Maddy Sprung-Keyser, Jenna Weiss-Berman and Leah Reis-Dennis; and Wink Pictures’ Josh McLaughlin.

The Downeys tell THR, “As we were wrapping up season one of The Sunshine Place, we uncovered a startling connection: a link between Synanon, the origins of Straight Inc., and the troubled teen industry that still thrives today. 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.”

Adds Sprung-Keyser, “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. The story of Straight Inc. that we investigate is harrowing and consequential.”