In August of 2018, my sister Natalie felt ready to meet her siblings for the first time. :). Butthey did find three additional pieces of evidence on and underneath her body:a piece of human hair and two fibers. Emanuele came to This American Life from Gimlet Media. My brother and I would joke about it. But theres another possible version that, years later, seems like a more likely rendering of what happened: My mother , sensing no marriage proposal would be forthcoming, set a course and followed italone. Its funny, because we worked so hard to refine this concept, she said. But thats not true, Megan, she said. In an Uptown apartment, my mom held hands with a coven of her friends and asked the sinister toy two questions. Christopher Swetala joined the show as the head of fact-checking in 2015. He also reported and produced stories as an intern at NPR member stations WBEZ and WOSU. Shes been with This American Life since 2009. 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. Still, somehow, ever since he was an adolescent, hes felt compelled to entertainstarting off safely behind a word processor. My dad didnt say anything at all. 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. Your mom had four kids.. But then, a month later, he had another idea. We get a lot of email submissions, Holt told me recently. He is co-creator of the sci-fi comedy podcast Mission to Zyxx. The air pressure was just holding off a storm as we all found our spots at the big common table: Maggie and me; my parents; my siblings, Kevin and Megan; and Natalie and her husband. I hope it played out something like this: Megan, its OK. Just calm down and tell me what happened.. This season, we tell you the extraordinary stories of ordinary cases. As the presiding minister, Cole turns to the groom to ask, Will you take this splendiferous, magnanimous, hilarious whip-smart beauty to be your lawfully wedded wife?. Read More. I dont know if theres anything else like it.. He suggested that I send him an email about it when I returned to Minneapolis. Though when I needed help with my familys most painful secret, I eschewed Maury for Jonathan Goldstein, a podcaster who is, if not Oprah-famous, extremely popular with 30-something NPR listeners. Emily is smart, fair, and entertaining. Snow. Theres been a development in Adnans caseto me, the most interesting one Ive seen. Mom agreed in the coming weeks that she would start what could be a reunion process. His job on the stand was to decode cell phone data that AT&T had handed over to the detectives. In November 2017nine years after my Aunt Cindy spilled the beans around the campfire and nine months after my mom wrote that letter in the kitchenmy older sister returned my moms overture with a note of her own. And when my dad would hear me talking to Mom about Goldstein or the podcast, he would sometimes explode in anger. She got her start in radio on KALX 90.7 FM where she co-hosted a public affairs show and DJed under the name Feather in Air. Today, we have good news: between the money you donated and sponsorship, we'll be able to make a second season. The author at his wedding reception, in 2018, with sister Natalie. | Here, the narrative diverges. } You can also find the podcast on Stitcher, RadioPublic or the podcatcher of your choice. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service, 2014 - 2023 Serial Productions, a New York Times Company, Melody Newcomb, Adam Maida, Darius Steward, Martinez E-B, Moth Studio, Jess X. Four days after 9/11, a crazed time for journalists to be away from the newsroom, they exchanged vows on a small island off the coast of Maine. She also cohosts a podcast called Thirst Aid Kit. Goldstein wrote me back, thanking me for thinking of him, but explaining that he and Emily were soon having a baby of their own. Previously, Emanuele worked as a public radio reporter in Michigan and Missouri. Cole played a matchmaking role in this one. Thats really where we started, I think.. Producer Bim is a journalist and playwright who has written for BuzzFeed News, the Guardian, Vogue and many other titles. There were awkward class differences and personality types that bordered on incompatibility: the good Catholic girl from the city meets the pistol-packing hellion from small-town Staples. She used to work with literature. Alisha?. To do that we figured wed need to look at something different: ordinary cases. I didnt want my parents or my long-lost sister to feel like they were on the set of Maury. As a Certified Public Accountant, she has focused her career on helping mission-driven companies grow stronger financially. I want to write a letter to her dad because they did such a marvelous job., She reflected back again on that day in 2017, with Goldstein in her kitchen, when she handwrote that letter, filling two pages in 10 minutes. Natalies birth inspired my parents to get back together. He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who's allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. "Serial" is a podcast where one nonfiction story is told in weekly chapters. At their June 2015 wedding, Cole read emails that Goldstein and Condon had sent to him during the early days of their courtship. Before that, she was a scientist. Read More, Last spring, Adnan sent me a letter about something, I cant even remember exactly what. I sat across from Natalienow, all of us were wearing the stupid studio headphonesspeaking into Goldsteins expensive microphones. 2014 Serial (Podcast Series documentary) (production manager - 12 episodes) - What We Know (2014) . He didnt think we needed a podcast in order to find her. It crossed my mind that Adnan might be off his rocker in some way. You mean Ayn Rand, defender of Tsarist aristocracy? Alix was one of the founding producers of This American Life back in 1995. It only seemed appropriate to ask Sean to marry us, said Condon. I wouldnt know what to say.. Last winter, Blumberg sold his podcast startup to Spotify for $230 million. Producer Kalila Holt and host Jonathan Goldstein in his new Heavyweight studio, in Longfellow. Business . And then she proceeded to methodically, passively, and completely avoid writing that letter for five solid years. From that moment forward, she knew she wanted to be a writer. Miki Meek interned and freelanced for the show before joining the staff in December 2012. Thats when Glass realized he could send Goldstein anywhere and he would come back with a good story. What jokes will Goldstein write to tie the segments together? The detectives interviewed him on April 20,about seven weeks after Adnan had been arrested. 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. Then we all sat down at the table in the middle of my parents kitchen to eat pie and talk about the most painful memory in my parents lives. (Photo: Within This Day). So Waranowitzs interpretation of those cell records underpinned the states entire case against Adnan. Update . Some episodes are heavier than others, but almost all the conflicts have been weighed down by the steady compounding interest of time. Love this podcast! They planned to name this little girl Leishaa pseudo-anagram of Alice, after Dads mother. The news, analysis and community conversation found here is funded by donations from individuals. Cole also officiated at the wedding of Michael Murray and Ashley Ahearn, who had been Coles intern at WBUR before she went off to work at Living on Earth. It's captivating in that way.". She told me that Cindy had apologized profusely the next morning. I know that choosing the right designer, builder, and architect is imperative to success. Listen to the Marsh familyepisode of the Heavyweight podcast. These are the kinds of questions you ask when youve relinquished control of your familys story. 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. I know because I performed my sisters ceremony, and she performed mine. She is a graduate of NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and The New School's MFA Program in Nonfiction Writing. She also helped research this season. Might Cole be tying the knot himself any time soon? It covers the major events in the year and a half from when Hae went missing to when Adnan was sentenced to life in prison. Emily Condon Podcast consultant and strategist; editor and writer Minneapolis, MN. Goldstein records his show, Heavyweight, in a small studio in Minneapoliss Longfellow neighborhood. I gathered that together, in the country, they decided on a course of action. In February of 2017, Goldstein flew into Minneapolis and picked me up at my apartment. She's written for The New York Times Magazine and other publications. Laura comes toThis American LifefromReveal, where they were a lead producer and reporter for American Rehab, aseries that catalyzed a federal investigation into the addiction treatment industry. - Listen to Emily Condon | Pre-match interview | Westfield W-League by Reds Radio instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed. 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. We surpassed that almost immediately.". Its as if the roof of my house were about to collapse, and after frantically googling emergency carpenter, the person who showed up wasnt some shady handyman, but Jesus himself. Nancy Updike is one of the founding producers of This American Life. My curiosity ran toward the abstract: Here was a control group for nature versus nurture. I sent that email, but I cant say I had a lot of hope for it. | Special thanks to Whitney Dangerfield, Starlee Kine, Ben Phelan, Seth Lind, Lyra Smith, Matt Tierney, Emily Condon, Elise Bergerson, Julie Whitaker, Kimberly Henderson, Tracey Chan and Khoi. Thank you., Price of tea at 7-11 But after setting up all his equipment, he listens intently and without judgment, and you feel compelled to share. On Monday afternoons in the summer, I still go trapshooting in a league with my dad. She asked me to recount my familys story, this time for tape. And hopefully therell be someone standing up there at the altar with me.. I assured her he wouldntalthough with all the weirdo artists on the guest list, no one would have noticed. To be honest, I dont know if I wouldve done anything. Various, +5 more The New School, +1 more Emily Condon Scientist at Cell Carta Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area. Miki has won two Emmy Awards for new approaches to documentary programming, and a duPont Award for her immigration coverage. Julie Whitaker helps run all things digital for This American Life and Serial. I called her back immediately, fearing the worst. My little sister had an actual beef. So she met him, like a CIA agent, in the park down from their house. The trick involved applying the tools of investigative journalism in service to stories that werent stories that you would see in a newspaper, he said. She is also the recipient of a 2015 Fulbright award to Macau, China. 2014 - 2023 Serial Productions, a New York Times Company "The thing we had been telling ourselves all the way up to the launch was if we hit 300,000 listeners (per episode), we're going to be the happiest people in the world," Condon said. Through the magazine and a weekly podcast, the hope was that Beacon's long-form style of service journalism . Moms understanding of the process made me think about my dads response to my question in the car; apparently, shed thought a lot about Leisha, too. Its a weird fucking thing, he says. Her own mother, also a devout Catholic, labeled her a failure and wouldnt allow her to visit home unless she held an overcoat in front of her belly. And while Waranowitzs words on the stand were few, and technical, and soporific [seeEpisode 5, where I admitted to being so bored by the whole thing that I handed it all over to our producer Dana Chivvis to investigate], his testimony was in fact fantastically important. Just his soft-spoken way of asking, Do you want to write that letter right now? Your email address will not be published. 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. . Previously, she worked at WNYC, BuzzFeed, and Doctors Without Borders. Back at the picnic table, my mom explained that going through this trial had, somehow, brought them closer. And I dont think he understands what a podcast is. Me, too! And well fist bump., Cole became ordained in 2001, when he was tapped to officiate the wedding of two WBUR colleagues, reporter Jason Beaubien and editor Jenny Schmidt. ;>. This prompted another awkward espionage moment: We didnt want Natalie to spot this guy with a boom mic and his scanning-for-change-at-the-beach-style headphones. My mom, by contrast, came off calm and sweet. She also works as a producer on Serial. And I realized that by simply participating in the podcast, by meeting me in the studio and answering my questions, by being open to my family contacting her 50 years into her lifethrough all these acts of kindness, Natalie gave my family a sort of new faith in the world. Weve been getting lots of questions about why were only releasing one episode per week instead of the entire season all at once for those of you inclined to binge-listen. The podcast has stimulated conversations across social media platforms, such as Reddit, Twitter and YouTube. Most of them were complicated; some of them were straight-up devastating. ~ See More. His Minnesotan wife, Emily Condon (a former managing director on This American Life and Serial), came up with the title for his podcast, Heavyweight. Something about your fibers on Haes body But his friends are sticking up for Adnan, telling Asia hes innocent. 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. 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. Do we just listen to it individually and then come together with a group text message later that day? He attached lavalier mics to my mom and my dad and me, and he unfolded this big mic, with a foam windguard wrapped around it.