https://www.apmreports.org/in-the-dark/season-one
The podcasts I focus on are mystery/true crime podcasts. The first season of the podcast In the Dark is 10 episodes and explores the abduction/murder of Jacob Wetterling (an 11-year-old boy) in rural Minnesota. Wetterling’s case went unsolved for 27 years until his remains were discovered on September 1st, 2016 which was revealed by Dan Heinrich, who also admitted to the crimes. APM Reports and reporter Madeleine Baran reveal how, as Baran puts it, “Jacob’s kidnapping was a huge deal here, it changed the way people parented children. It made kids afraid to go outside at night and it even led to a federal law that requires all states to maintain registries of sex offenders.” The first season was released in September 2016 with an update in 2018 of the Stearns County sheriff who provided detail of his predecessors’ faults.
The podcast is a combination of scripted and host interviews. The format goes with some clips of T.V. or radio reports of the case during that time then, Baran speaks for a while or does an interview. Throughout the episodes, she has around 3-4 interviews (parents, friends, Dan Heinrich, FBI agents). Since it is a crime podcast, it’s best to listen from the beginning – after Baran introduces those who helped with the creation of the podcast (producer, editors, etc.), she states to go back to the first episode to understand it. It’s just straight investigative journalism, no advertising which I really like since the podcast had me hooked from beginning to end.