Over the last decade, Helen Keller went from a saint to a hoax—which means the real woman has long been lost under the hagiography and now the TikTok deniers. Among other things: Helen Keller was a devoted socialist who starred in a silent movie about her life and had her eyes replaced with glass ones. But the most telling scandal involving Helen and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, is one that happened when she was 12 years old and newly famous. The story spiraled quickly out of control, becoming national news and resulting in Helen facing a hostile tribunal and eventually succumbing to a nervous breakdown and vowing never again to write fiction. What happened? Why was a 12-year-old subjected to this kind of treatment? And what did Mark Twain have to say about all this? Mark walks us through "The Frost King" debacle. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/american-scandals/support