Snow. Thats when Glass realized he could send Goldstein anywhere and he would come back with a good story. I think Im at peace with it. Just his soft-spoken way of asking, Do you want to write that letter right now? This American Life funded the bulk of Season One, but for Serial to continue, it needs to pay for itself. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde, No Coincidence, No Story, Switched at Birth, and Habeas Schmabeas, a Peabody Award-winning show about Guantanamo Bay. "That was our hopeful number we were working toward. It was like one of his radio stories in which you are the characters, recalled Goldstein, who now lives in Brooklyn and produces the Heavyweight podcast for Gimlet Media. S-Town is a podcast from Serial Productions, a New York Times Company. It's captivating in that way.". She married Jesse Shapins, a.k.a. As her accent suggests, she is British. All rights reserved. This season, we tell you the extraordinary stories of ordinary cases. He has also served as VP of Content and Programming for WBEZ, and contributed to Radiolab, NPR, and Marketplace. When that show ended after 11 years, Goldstein moved to New York to develop a new podcast with Alex Blumberg, an old colleague from This American Life. And again I demurred, this time because I kind of felt protective of her last answer. Or the NYTimes? I dont know if theres anything else like it.. Would she ever be able to answer health-history questions at the doctors office? Rae has a background in sound for film, live audio, and documentary editing. At the time of the dinner party, Goldstein was visiting New York City from Montreal. Alaa likes thinking and writing about time, and reporting on health equity, like aging and housing. Her name wasnt Leisha, but Natalie. I dont know if I wouldve found her., My mom is deeply happy to have Natalie in her life. She also cohosts a podcast called Thirst Aid Kit. Adnan got his cell phone two days before Hae went missing, on January 11th. During the course of our conversation, my dad mustve got up to offer coffee refills about 175 times. We can't possibly fit all the intriguing details of this story into our podcasts, so we'll use this space to write about some of the other twists and turns that come up as we're reporting. Back at the picnic table, my mom explained that going through this trial had, somehow, brought them closer. My dad swerved deep into the gravel shoulder before fishtailing back onto the road. You mean Ayn Rand, defender of Tsarist aristocracy? My little sister, then 27, has been a constant loud and dramatic presence in my life, but I had never heard her like this. Hes also worked as a producer at Radiolab, a regular contributor to Marketplace, and a freelance reporter for lots of other radio shows and podcasts, including Studio 360 and 99% Invisible. I didnt know if my no-longer-secret sister was even alive. Hes an unusually good interviewer, for starters, Glass said. I was emotional, and I cant remember the precise specifics of what we talked aboutanother reason Im happy to have turned this story over to somebody who records everything. And Goldstein seemed genuinely intrigued. var myStringArray = mp_global.tag; This is your moms life.. We get a lot of email submissions, Holt told me recently. Just a note to help you navigate the calls, Jay testified to making the ones to Jenn, Patrick and Phil. In my email to Goldstein I wrote about the psychological weight I believed my parents were still carrying. Bim is a journalist and playwright who has written for BuzzFeed News, the Guardian, Vogue and many other titles. A version of this story appeared on This American Life, and we had a lot of help from the folks there: Ira Glass, Julie Snyder, Jonathan Menjivar, Sean Cole, and Robyn Semian. I just looked up my very first taped conversation with Adnan. We ordered cheeseburgers and fries from Wagners Drive-In, sitting on a picnic table in the early-July sunshine. After a stint on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Goldstein moved from Montreal to Chicago to work as segment producer for Ira Glasss This American Life. Host and executive producer Sarah Koenig invites listeners to join her as she tries to piece together the complicated puzzle. Ben Phelan is a freelance journalist, writer, and musician who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. What was it again? My parents and our aunts and uncles and cousins had all been keeping this secret from me and my two siblings. Natalies birth inspired my parents to get back together. And how that reunion had created the family that ultimately included me and my siblings. Before joining the show, he worked primarily as a theatrical sound designer, specializing in new and devised plays. The author at his wedding reception, in 2018, with sister Natalie. We chose Cleveland, because they let us record everywhere courtrooms, back hallways, judges chambers, prosecutors offices. Mom agreed in the coming weeks that she would start what could be a reunion process. The key is hard to read, so we circled the evidence and added some annotations explaining what each object is. The story starts over Fourth of July weekend in 2008. And then, he says, you have to talk people into finishing the story. He realizes theres a showbiz aspect to what he doeshitting deadlines, commitments to sponsors. This is how Goldstein and Holt determine the viability of a potential story. Through the magazine and a weekly podcast, the hope was that Beacon's long-form style of service journalism . Having run through her history, feeling vulnerable again to everything shed experienced back then, she explained why she hadnt written the letter yet. About 'Serial' Season One: A high-school senior named Hae Min Lee disappeared one day after school in 1999, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Elise Bergerson. (Spoiler: The musician is Moby.). Sona is a CFA charterholder and received a B.A. Elna Baker Producer Add a bio, trivia, and more. Ok,Ive made you wait long enough for the secret. One of her joke titles for this show about healing old wounds between friends and family: Jonathan Goldstein, Medicine Woman. But rather than solving crimes, Goldstein endeavors to get to the bottom of family secrets, friendships that have gone sour, and promises that werent kept. So like every story Jonathans ever done?, For his part, the meaning of the title has morphed for Glass into a reflection on Goldsteins creative process. Theyd always told her she was a gift of love. She wrote that she had considered reaching out to her birth parents before, but was concerned about her own parents feelings, and also harbored some anxieties about rejection. But theyd loved each other for so long that the heart of their origin story always came in an outer shell of happiness. When shes not behind a computer screen, you might find her behind a sewing machine. Imagine a wedding at a misty, windswept location overlooking the Pacific Ocean in California, where the loving couple stands before their families and friends. With no explanation. Learn more about the art and the artists. On the suggestion of George Hicks, a WBUR engineer, Cole pursued ordination by visiting the churchs website, where he found a button that said, Click here to be ordained.. I was referring to Mr. Cook, who has revealed elsewhere on this site his love for Ms. Rand. Click on the image to see a larger version of the timeline. Previously, she worked as an online producer and editor at National Geographic and The New York Times. Her work has won many awards including a Dupont, a Livingston, and a Robert F Kennedy. Read More, In Episode 05, Sarah talks about a friend of Adnannamed Jauan. What were Goldsteins specific powers on the program? Elna Baker is a writer and comedic storyteller. She guest hosted the show several times, and has produced and reported some of the shows most popular episodes, including Petty Tyrant, Dr. Business . Podcast Republic is one of the most popular podcast platforms on the world serving 1M+ podcasts and 500M+ episodes worldwide. Sarah Koenig was a newspaper reporter for ten years, before joining the staff of This American Life in 2004. The seventh episode was released this week. ~ See More. Cole played a matchmaking role in this one. It gave me heartburn to request anything more from her. I know that choosing the right designer, builder, and architect is imperative to success. Its a weird fucking thing, he says. I gathered that together, in the country, they decided on a course of action. Back then, he would pick me up from my apartment in Uptown, and we would listen to Rush Limbaugh until an inevitable political argument would detonate and we would find ourselves shouting over both Rush and each other on our drive up to the gun club. But, after consulting with her husband, she recognized the positive impact the podcast could have. Its hard to gauge, she said. But after setting up all his equipment, he listens intently and without judgment, and you feel compelled to share. Some episodes are heavier than others, but almost all the conflicts have been weighed down by the steady compounding interest of time. He moved to Chicago in 1989 and put This American Life on the air in 1995. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, and she published a memoir called The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. (production manager) - Rumors (2014) . THAT Ayn Rand? And when I finally wrapped the idea around my head, I wanted it to be more private. It was a cold day, with a fresh blanket of snow. I always need to remember, this is your life, he says. She also thinks that school was cancelled the next two days. This time, in Cleveland. Natalie explained that shed known she was adopted from the beginning, and loved the idea of being chosen by her parents. The arts and entertainment blog. The condom and condom wrapper were just down the road from the pull-off, and across the street is where they picked up two Blockbuster cases and some more shell casings. His job on the stand was to decode cell phone data that AT&T had handed over to the detectives. I sat across from Natalienow, all of us were wearing the stupid studio headphonesspeaking into Goldsteins expensive microphones. But she worried about how Natalie would perceive the way we had pursued her. She is a graduate of NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and The New School's MFA Program in Nonfiction Writing. Emily is smart, fair, and entertaining. He first contributed to zines, and he was past 30 when he finally published his first novel, Lenny Bruce Is Dead, in 2001. Her previous work includes time at WNYC, BuzzFeed, Doctors Without Borders, and a brief stint in politics during which she managedsocial media for a presidential candidate. She then worked for many years at StoryCorps, where she and other team members won a Peabody Award for their 9/11 coverage. It happened this morning, quickly and quietly. So we let Goldstein out a couple blocks before arriving at the pizza place. We had been discussing this idea of a karmic debt. And Goldstein quietly asked, Would you like to write that letter now?. Prior to joining This American Life as a producer three years ago, Cole had worked at several of public radios top producing organizations WBUR in Boston, where he started as a newsroom intern; American Public Medias Marketplace; the CBC and WNYCs RadioLab. Previously, Emanuele worked as a public radio reporter in Michigan and Missouri. Glass believes Goldstein discovered his tone and approach in a 2002 story about a long-lost answering machine message that Goldsteins friend Josh heard while going to college at Columbia University. We've just added this simple timeline of the case to our Maps, Photos, Etc. When not doing audio things, she loves riding her bike. (Photo: Within This Day). Read more, var customEventsOnLoad = window.onload; Meanwhile, it became harder to even remember Leishas name. I told her that she was a part of our story and always would be. Valeriya, who also goes by Valerie, came to This American Life from her Fulbright to Ukraine, which she spent in Poland. This graphic lays out the details of those differences. One of Cole's favorite wedding memories is of presiding over the marriage of Jonathan Goldstein and Emily Condon, one of four couples with connections to TAL whom he married. I read a transcript. Shame compelled her to quit her office job at the Star Tribune. Today, we have good news: betweenthe money you donated and sponsorship, well be able to make a second season. None of us said a word about the podcast. And this time, I think I can get the answer right on the first try: Jonathan, thanks for everything. Before working atThis American Life, she was often found with the audio department ofReveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting. I asked her if she knew how Dad felt about it, if maybe some of his hostility toward the podcast is connected to the guilt hes carried ever since the week they spent up in Staples, when she made that decision to give up her baby. (Both Beaubien and Schmidt now work at NPR. I understood the emotional risks involved for her. Two years later, at another wedding weekend, in New York, I ran into Goldstein again. Holt reports they recorded over 20 hours of tape, spread out over nearly three years, which they now need to log, prune, and piece together. Stay with me here. Weekly podcasts are available online for download at serialpodcast.org or search for "Serial" on iTunes. He didnt think we needed a podcast in order to find her. But thats not true, Megan, she said. Diane started at the show as a fellow in 2017. Big news: were launching Serialon Friday, October 3rd. Sean describes people and understands people, Ahearn told Current. Producer Kalila Holt and host Jonathan Goldstein in his new Heavyweight studio, in Longfellow. We did the interview over the lunch hour on a weekday. Yes! Emily's public profile badge . My little sister had an actual beef. So when you listen each week, the truth is that youre actually not all that far behind us. Emily Condon. Amy Paige Condon wrote her first short story as a first grader in Mrs. Henry's class at Lee Britain Elementary in Irving, Texas, and won a poster in the class contest. :). A couple of days after the wedding, Maggie and I were eating Mongolian barbecue when I butt-dialed Natalie on Facebook Messenger. Something about your fibers on Haes body But his friends are sticking up for Adnan, telling Asia hes innocent. And Id run immediately into barriers. He suggested that I send him an email about it when I returned to Minneapolis. He really was uncomfortable with the microphone. Serial is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, narrating a nonfiction story over multiple episodes. | But I did ask her if she could please talk to Natalie about the podcast before the wedding. The next morning, I got a call from my mom. Its such an unusual trick that hes pulling, Blumberg says. Stowe is a sound designer and engineer. At this point it would be good to point out that each season of Heavyweight includes eight episodes. So, the only evidence they collected from near Haes body was a rope, a liquor bottleand a feather. Id relentlessly lobbied for one, at one point getting my mom to admit that something happened to her, in the distant past, with a Ouija board. Line Producer. It was at this point that my Aunt Cindy dropped the most dramatic #factcheck in our familys history. Alisha?. In the near decade since, she produced stories for WNYCsRadiolab, then NPRsPlanet Money, and finally Gimlet MediasReply All, where she worked as the shows supervising producer. I called my mom as I was working on this story to ask if she regrettedor resentedthe fact Id brought this podcast into their lives. A very special thanks to Emily Condon. In the summer of 2018, my parents met Natalie and her husband for the first time at a family restaurant near Minnetonka. Phia was a fellow atThis American Lifein 2013. She used to work with literature. In February of 2017, Goldstein flew into Minneapolis and picked me up at my apartment. In her spare time, she's working on her first book about immigrants and language. When my mom told us that she didnt have the up-to-date paperwork, I called Catholic Charities and discovered that they no longer had the resources to service their own adoption records. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Current is an editorially independent, nonprofit service of the American University School of Communication. At 44, hes not married himself but finds special joy in uniting couples in matrimony, channeling his writing abilities into leading wedding ceremonies that are uniquely personal and funny. She also worked as a breaking news editor forReuters.comduring Brexit and the 2016 election cycle. We picked pizza. Before coming to This American Life, Aviva worked at NPR's Planet Money. Would we ever relate to each other as siblings? He brought the same approach to a CBC show called WireTap, typically soliciting appearances from his friends and family in Montreal. Megan, at some point, had scored the scoop, and it involved a Ouija sance my mom had conducted sometime in the late 1960s.