If Girls Were in Charge Speakeasy News [Video]

A new documentary, Girls State, looks at a social experiment where 500 girls from Missouri try to form a government, running for positions like Governor and Supreme Court Justices. It makes a fascinating contrast with the award-winning 2020 documentary by the same team following 1000 boys in Texas participating in the same national project.

Both the Boys State and Girls State projects began in the 1930s, and exist all over the country. Boys State is run by veterans’ organisation the American Legion. Girls State is run by its sister organisation, mainly for wives of military, the American Legion Auxiliary. Over a week, a group of high-school students, either in or about to start their senior year, gathers to form a state government, debating issues and electing officials out of their number.

Husband-and-wife documentary team Jesse Moss and …