Podcasts good way to forget about virus
“Social distancing” is believed to be the best way to contain the spread of the covid-19 virus, and podcasts are perfect for spending time away from others. Put on some headphones and escape to another time and place. There’s comedy, talk, news, true crime, even tons of podcasts about the coronavirus.
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If you can hold off the water works until Episode 4 of the excellent true-crime podcast Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders, the press conference by Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter will break you down and build you up again.
Hold on, though. You need the details first. On Feb. 13, 2017, Abigail Joyce Williams, 13, and Liberty Rose Lynn German, 14, known as Abby and Libby to friends and family, were dropped off for an afternoon of hiking on the abandoned Monon High Bridge and
accompanying trails in the woodlands of Deer Creek Township near their homes in Delphi, Ind. That was around 1:30 p.m; at 5:30 p.m., when the girls failed to meet their ride at the trailhead, the first missing persons alert was sent.
It wasn’t until around noon the next day that a search party found their bodies on the banks of the creek about a half-mile from the bridge. They had been murdered in broad daylight.
Listen to the podcast to hear the story or visit downthehillpodcast.com to learn more; the focus here is on The Boss, as one of the hosts calls him.
“Doug Carter. You’ve heard his voice throughout this podcast; he’s starred in every chapter. He’s State Police superintendent; he’s the boss. He was raised in Indiana and has a degree in management and leadership and, after 18 years as a state trooper, was elected twice as sheriff of Hamilton County Indiana. His dad was a state trooper and his daughter is a police officer. Doug Carter is
law enforcement 24/7. He’s a passionate speaker and you may even think he’s a little extra. In person, though, and away from cameras, he is exactly the same. He’s powerful and deliberate with his words and he’s taking responsibility good or bad for whatever happens in this case. And the public-facing portion of that begins on Feb. 22, 2017, at this news conference.”
Down the Hill: The Delphi Murders, from HLN/ WarnerMedia, unfolds in six episodes. It’s hosted and produced by veteran journalists/ producers Barbara MacDonald, Dan Szematowicz and Andrew Iden.
STATE CONNECTION
An Arkansas murder case has gotten the podcast treatment in an episode of Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions (wrongfulconvictionpodcast.com).
Podcast hosts Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin delve into the 2006 murder of 11-yearold Kaylee Cogdell in Camden. As Arkansans may recall, Kaylee’s brother, Thomas, who was 12 at the time, was interviewed for hours and hours by police with no adult in the room.
After hours of police badgering, Thomas confessed, believing that he would go home afterward. He did not.
The boy was eventually convicted of tying up his sister and placing two plastic bags over her head, smothering her to death. The podcasters do a good job of retelling the horrible story, and it’s gut-wrenching to hear how those officers coerced the boy into eventually confessing.
The conviction was eventually overturned, thanks to the dedication of public defender Dorcy Corbin. When she got the Arkansas Supreme Court to hear the appeal, Nirider and Drizin provided expert testimony about false confessions, especially those from children.
The episode is short and sweet at just over 30 minutes long, so it’s a good one for a commute. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.
BACHELOR FROM HELL
“On Sept. 13, 1978, Rodney Alcala sits in shadow behind a curve of wall on The Dating Game set. He listens as a few feet away host Jim Lang saunters onto the stage to thunderous applause. ‘Bachelor No. 1 is a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13 fully developed.’”
Setting up Episode 3, “Bachelor No. 1,” The Dating Game Killer podcast, co-host Stephen Lang says “Rodney chuckles to himself as the audience laughs. He’s familiar with the show’s penchant for raunchy double entendre and he’s prepared to play along.”
Little did the show’s producers know that they were playing with fire.
Alcala was suave, handsome and charming. He used his camera to get close to his victims. When the heat was on in California, he fled to New York and worked as a camp counselor under a fake name.
When that gig was up, he fled back to California and worked as a newspaper typesetter, all the while charming his victims to death. But time and again, he escaped prosecution, eventually ending up on The Dating Game. How could this happen? Listen for yourself.
The fourth episode will be released Wednesday, so go ahead and download this amazing Wondery podcast and listen to the first three to get caught up.