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Welcome back. Welcome back. David, how are you?
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Is that how we always start the thing? We just
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say welcome back twice? Is there a better way
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we can do that? No, I think it works. We give
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the people what they want. Do we know they want
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that? They don't complain about it. Krista, did
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you watch the Super Bowl yesterday? Yeah, we
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are recording this the day after the Super Bowl.
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I did watch the Super Bowl. I thought it was
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fine. I don't know. What is the possibility that
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we do an episode of MIDS where we watch... either
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an old Super Bowl or just old Super Bowl commercials,
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because I would be fascinated to see the commercials
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from like the dot -com boom. Because when I think
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of this year's Super Bowl being so heavy on AI
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and gambling and GLP -1s, and it's like, are
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these things going to last or are they going
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to be a fad? Yeah, I don't know. I definitely
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think... doing a um super bowl like audio extra
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would be great like review some commercials i
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think that'd be cool we did review commercials
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we did was it for rhoda i don't remember if i'm
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being honest i remember reviewing commercials
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for like local chicago tv and it was like for
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the chicago health club the chicago white socks
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and random Random services and products. Do you
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remember that? Vaguely, vaguely. Y 'all, I am
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also apologies for the heat blasting. I'm like
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a little distracted right now because I noticed
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that there is audio in the background of mine.
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Oh, I can't hear anything. Oh, it's popping up
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on our recording software for sure. Oh, well,
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you know, we do have a wonderful producer that.
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Can address that. I've also asked my personal
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assistant slash husband to just turn it down.
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Okay. Hopefully he will get that message and
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can turn it down. But it is cold here, so there
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might be a chance that we have to have it turned
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up. We've talked about the weather quite a bit
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the last few weeks. And every single time we
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record, David, it's still just as cold. Or still
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just actually might be a little warmer here than
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it has been the last few. Krista, what? Sometimes
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the weather can be a bit of a mystery. Why don't
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you tell us what we watched for this episode?
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So this week on MIDS, we are talking about Unsolved
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Mysteries. Mysteries. Which is kind of a beloved
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show in the true crime world. Would you consider
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it like one of the originals? Like a founding
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show? Like the founding fathers? Yeah. I would
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think so. I think it, I mean, what other show
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on television was doing the things that Unsolved
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Mysteries was doing? This is before America's
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Most Wanted. This is before, I mean, Dateline.
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I don't know when that came out. But also Dateline
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is not just, like, they cover other things, though,
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right? And I feel like some of that's more, like,
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storytelling that's not Unsolved. Like, they'll,
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like, cover kind of current events, let's say.
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It might be, Dateline may be more akin to like
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60 Minutes. Yes, yes. Which we should also do
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on this podcast at some point. Yeah, that would
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be awesome. So I think, David, we're just going
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to jump right in today to talking about the three
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mysteries that our episode talks about. And then
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we can talk about, there are some updates in
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some of them, which is really exciting. and then
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we'll just talk about the overall show. I think
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it's cool. I think I don't want to be a true
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crime podcast today, even though I love it. Um,
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so I hopefully can like summarize these pretty
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well. Krista, what is your familiarity with unsolved
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mysteries? Um, I have watched the reboot on Netflix,
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the first or second season of that. I'm familiar
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with some of it, but I don't ever really remember
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watching it on television. Like when I was younger
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or anything. What about you? I do remember watching
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it on TV, like maybe on a Saturday morning or
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something like that. But I don't, I don't have
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clear recollections of the mysteries themselves,
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but it's always been on my radar. Like that's
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something I feel like people our age, Krista
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could just mention or even are older as well,
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could just mention and people would have some
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sort of idea. They might be able to imagine Robert
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Stack saying like, imagine if. Imagine if, you
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know, something like I think actually now that
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I think about it, was he on? Did they do like
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Geico ads that were kind of like a parody of
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Unsolved Mystery? Do you remember those? Very
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familiar. Yeah. Which would make total sense,
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too, because he is such an iconic host. And we'll
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get into that for sure. This episode we watched
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is season five, episode 12, and it aired on December
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2nd, 1992. Wow. Yeah, which is really exciting.
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So we kind of threw it back to one of the earlier
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seasons. The episode starts out with a disclaimer
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noting that it is not a news broadcast and that
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they try to use the real folks associated with
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the case wherever possible, which I think is
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really important in true crime to authentically
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show and hear from the victims that actually
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lived this, especially for something that's unsolved.
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I think it makes it more real for folks and maybe...
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creates more buy -in from the audience um the
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intro to the episode the opening credits i thought
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was very cool very 80s and 90s coded so very
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on brand for the time yeah there's like it's
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like synthesizers there's uh i feel like the
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font is like cursive and maybe pink and then
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it has other words and this was through me for
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a loop like their words flashing on the screen
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that are like unsolved mysteries lost loves this
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and that and i was like lost loves i wonder how
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often that plays into it it was kind of like
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all the themes you might have on unsolved mysteries
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like you know aliens murder did it say aliens
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i feel like i want to say aliens or ufos but
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i can't remember wow but i think it like hinted
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towards one of those so wow uh the first mystery
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the show covered on this episode is the assassination
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of dr martin luther king jr which i was not expecting
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this first case I have to say, I know why you
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picked the episode, and we'll get into that later.
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I know. Full disclosure, we are usually pretty
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random about this, but there was an intentional
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reason you picked it. Yes. And when this came
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up as the first thing, I was like, oh, damn,
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this is sad. I know it's a true crime show, but
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it's like, oh, this is particularly sad. Timely
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in the show because it is the 25th anniversary
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of Dr. King's death. And there are still some
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lingering questions and concerns regarding the
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case. Unsolved Mysteries is going to take a look
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at both sides in what they call a special investigation.
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So my guess is that this episode was a little
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bit outside the norm for all the seasons. And
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I watched it on Tubi, which is free. Watched
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it right on the computer. I think it was 52 minutes.
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So you think it was probably like an hour and
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a half on television. And it was a little bit
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longer and special in that sense is my guess.
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I did watch it on YouTube, but they took out
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the ads because I was I was I was wondering if
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maybe there would be ads in it or that's or how
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long it aired on television. Probably like maybe
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an hour, 10, an hour and a half or something.
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Yeah. So I feel like it was probably had like
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two time slots instead of just the normal one
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or, you know, time slot and a half. But the backstory
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that is presented of the assassination is that
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within a few months of MLK's death, a man named
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James Earl Ray. is arrested and convicted of
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the assassination. It seems like the case is
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closed relatively quickly, even though Ray does
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recant claiming he was set up by a larger conspiracy.
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And he recanted quickly. But the claims weren't
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taken too seriously. Yes. Like right after, right?
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Yeah, I think like the next day or two days after.
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Interestingly, something I didn't know, he was
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arrested in London at the Heathrow Airport trying
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to board a flight to Brussels. Yes. Eight years
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after MLK's death in about 1976, I believe, a
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special committee in the House is asked to look
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into the assassination of MLK and JFK. The committee
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concludes that it was James Earl Ray, except
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Chairman Walter Fauntroy does not agree with
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the committee's findings. David, do you know
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anything about Fauntroy? Did you look him up
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by chance? No, I actually meant to look him up.
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What were you able to find anything? It seems
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like kind of an interesting guy. He was a D .C.
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delegate to the House. Oh, OK. So he was like
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the shadow rep. That's so non -voting. But he
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got to be on committees. It's an it for international
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listeners. That is an interesting function of
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our our system is that Washington, D .C. itself
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does not have representation in Congress, but
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they can send a non -voting member to the legislature.
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And he's a big D .C. guy. Apologies, y 'all.
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I think somebody is chipping ice outside, so
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hopefully that is not too loud in the background.
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I know, I know. He is a big D .C. guy. I think
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he runs for mayor at some point. He's a close
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friend of MLK. He's a civil rights leader. He
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does have some legal and financial issues later
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in his life. He actually flees the United States
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and is arrested, I think, when he comes back,
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maybe for like... some sort of like illegal use
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of money campaign fundraising. Nonetheless, his
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big thing is that he thinks that criminals need
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three things. Motive, means, and opportunity.
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And he does not believe that Ray has all three.
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But the US government and the FBI are in agreement
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that Ray was not only the gunman, but the lone
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gunman in this. And I think that's a pretty big
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distinction to have. The official story of the
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assassination is that King arrives the night
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before in Memphis. The next day as he is leaving
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his hotel room, he is shot and killed. The government
00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:24.909
claims that Ray was in the bathroom of a rooming
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house across the street and was able to fire
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one shot before leaving. Another tenant of the
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rooming house claims to see James Earl Ray hastily
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leaving the building with a bunch of his stuff
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including the rifle and the box that it came
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in wrapped in like a comforter. As Ray is fleeing,
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he obviously comes across a bunch of police.
00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:48.299
who are like arriving to the scene so he just
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dumps the stuff in a restaurant stoop and then
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flees in a white ford bronco no i'm sorry oh
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that's a white chevy mustang a mustang yes david
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:01.779
was really captivated with my storytelling that
00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:04.980
he almost missed my joke but um yeah he escapes
00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:07.559
in a white chevy mustang ford um and this is
00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:10.279
corroborated is it a ford yeah but either way
00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:13.539
this is uh corroborated that's okay no i appreciate
00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:15.940
the correction You know what's funny is I went
00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:18.299
back and forth about that multiple times. And
00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:19.620
I was like, no, it doesn't sound right. I don't
00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:21.559
think it's right. Nonetheless, the white vehicle
00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.120
he escapes in, it's corroborated by some diners
00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.600
in his restaurant. Like you mentioned, he is
00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:29.120
quickly identified as the main suspect before
00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.740
fleeing the country. But he's arrested in London
00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:35.019
a few months later. He is convicted of 99 years
00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.620
in prison. And right after he's convicted, he
00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:41.139
fires his lawyer and recants. He claims he was
00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.899
framed and that his lawyer coerced him into a
00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:47.980
confession. And that later goes, he wants rights
00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:49.820
to like his story, right? Yes, the lawyer wanted
00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:54.059
the rights to the story. And if he pleaded not
00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:58.220
guilty and said his story in court, the story
00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.240
would then go into the public domain. This is
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.679
what is alleged by James Earl Ray and his eventual
00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:08.460
lawyers. Absolutely. So what is the conspiracy
00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:10.960
or what evidence is there that he might have
00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:14.759
been part of a setup? First of all, James Earl
00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:16.639
Ray is a petty criminal up until this point.
00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:19.700
He's participated in some robberies, but he has
00:12:19.700 --> 00:12:22.620
no history of violence, which is kind of crazy,
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.460
right? To then go from like petty crime to a
00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:28.399
full blown assassination. Very methodical. It
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.279
feels like a huge gap. But while serving time
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.639
for one of these robberies, he does manage to
00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:38.100
escape from jail. And while on the run, he connects
00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:40.820
with this man named Raul to get some passports.
00:12:40.820 --> 00:12:44.940
This is in Montreal. Yes. And he gets the passports.
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.320
But Raul basically says, like, you're going to
00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.200
have to help me with some, like, jobs, you know,
00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:51.500
some criminal jobs. They smuggle contraband,
00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:54.500
I think, over the Canadian and Mexican border.
00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.460
They kind of do some other, like, jobs in different
00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:01.889
cities. At one point in Birmingham. He's raised
00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:05.309
asked to buy the white Mustang. And another time,
00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:09.990
Ray is asked to buy a sample gun for a client
00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:13.110
who is interested in procuring 200 guns. And
00:13:13.110 --> 00:13:17.210
this is this is critical, but we haven't mentioned
00:13:17.210 --> 00:13:20.570
this, but the show includes reenactments. with
00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:23.929
actors and stage. Yeah, oh, we are going to get
00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:26.750
in. And sometimes, or actually oftentimes, it's
00:13:26.750 --> 00:13:29.190
not just seeing their motions on the screen while
00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:32.279
someone talks. We also hear the... the characters
00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.360
the reenactors rather talk and we hear james
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.200
earl ray say you can't you can't buy 200 weapons
00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:42.200
yes and he's like no just get one just get one
00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:45.580
to start like he just wants to see it he does
00:13:45.580 --> 00:13:48.080
go he doesn't know anything about guns at this
00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:50.279
really yeah so he goes to a sporting goods store
00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.080
basically and he buys the wrong one which again
00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:56.899
he's jump He says, I'm told this is good for
00:13:56.899 --> 00:14:00.200
hunting buck. And they're like, uh, I don't know.
00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.860
Raul says this will not meet our requirements
00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:05.940
or something. This is not, we need something
00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:08.200
else basically. And he has to go back to the
00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.379
store and exchange it. It was also wild. And
00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:12.480
that's on record, right? That like the, the gun
00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:14.840
store owner and there's like receipts for this.
00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.720
Yeah, absolutely. This time when he comes back
00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:20.620
with the correct gun, Raul is satisfied. This
00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:24.190
is the, and Ray gives the gun to him. This is
00:14:24.190 --> 00:14:26.669
the day before the assassination. So if this
00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:29.629
is true, this is crazy timing. On the day of
00:14:29.629 --> 00:14:32.570
the assassination, Ray claims Raul asks him to
00:14:32.570 --> 00:14:34.909
get a room at the rooming house. So he does,
00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:38.049
and he leaves his car there. Ray's story changes
00:14:38.049 --> 00:14:40.450
about what happens next, but he always claims
00:14:40.450 --> 00:14:43.009
that he never goes back to the rooming house.
00:14:43.649 --> 00:14:46.289
He claims that he even stops by a mechanic's
00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:48.669
to see if the car might need some maintenance.
00:14:49.590 --> 00:14:52.210
And then when he returns to the area, There's
00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:54.809
a lot of police activity and he immediately leaves
00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:56.950
because he's a wanted fugitive still. He's still
00:14:56.950 --> 00:15:00.870
on the run. So theoretically, this could explain
00:15:00.870 --> 00:15:03.850
the Mustang kind of like leaving the area quickly.
00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:07.500
When it comes to the actual shot, some believe
00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:09.919
the shot came from the bushes below the boarding
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:12.220
house, the rooming house. Two of the eyewitnesses
00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:15.779
said they saw something in the bushes. Yes. Some
00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:18.720
eyewitnesses claim seeing people in those bushes
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.700
at the same time. But the U .S. government says,
00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:23.460
no, they're not involved. It's not important.
00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:28.200
You know, just ignore them. Weird. Y 'all, I
00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:34.740
am so sorry. It's... Also important to note that
00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:37.240
Ray had the lowest marksmanship in the army.
00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.000
And some say that in general, that's a really
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.559
hard shot to make. The FBI said that it's within
00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:47.320
100 yards. They think 100 yards. And they said
00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:49.940
basically anyone could make that shot. But listen,
00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:53.379
I listen to a lot of true crime. I consume a
00:15:53.379 --> 00:15:55.179
lot of true crime content. If there's something
00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:58.580
that I've heard more and more is that it's not
00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:00.759
actually as easy to shoot someone as you think
00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:03.480
it would be. There's nerves. There's so many
00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:05.960
other factors that go into it. I literally just
00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:07.840
listened to a podcast episode like two days ago
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.679
where they were bringing that up. So I don't
00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:13.960
know. It just feels odd that the FBI is nuts.
00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:17.840
It's so easy. Like it's so easy to do. I didn't
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:21.340
look into James Earl Ray's age, but it doesn't
00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:24.879
sound like he saw combat. So this presumably
00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:27.120
is the first time he's had to shoot somebody.
00:16:27.379 --> 00:16:30.679
And it I just I don't know. I have questions.
00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:34.200
yeah i agree um the eyewitnesses that see ray
00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:37.559
leaving the rooming house um are also supposedly
00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:39.980
like super drunk and should not be relied on
00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:41.960
especially because they kind of come forward
00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:44.500
once reward money yes there's a hundred thousand
00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:47.320
dollar reward it's a lot of money i mean a lot
00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:50.240
of money now a lot of money back then they do
00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.779
dust the rooming house for fingerprints there
00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:56.200
were a lot of unidentified prints but not one
00:16:56.929 --> 00:16:59.750
which the fbi agent says is normal he says you
00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:01.730
won't believe how many times i've been to a crime
00:17:01.730 --> 00:17:03.429
scene and none of the prints that you thought
00:17:03.429 --> 00:17:05.470
would be there would be there and i'm like okay
00:17:05.470 --> 00:17:09.490
well no that's that feels so suspicious to me
00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:13.069
but nonetheless they do not do a swab test on
00:17:13.069 --> 00:17:15.289
the gun To match it to the bullet. They just
00:17:15.289 --> 00:17:17.410
said it's the right type of gun. There's a spent
00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:20.789
casing. It's fine. Like, it's cool. They do look
00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:23.130
for prints on the old gun that's returned, though,
00:17:23.289 --> 00:17:25.910
and I felt like that was inconclusive, what it
00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:28.309
said. Like, I don't really know if there was
00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:31.589
prints on the other gun or not, but they do go
00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:35.829
to test that. Although the FBI does, or claims
00:17:35.829 --> 00:17:38.450
that there is no Raul, some speculate that a
00:17:38.450 --> 00:17:41.589
man by the names of the name of james harden
00:17:41.589 --> 00:17:45.210
should be invested also known as james harden
00:17:45.210 --> 00:17:48.029
who just got traded to the cleveland cavaliers
00:17:48.029 --> 00:17:51.829
either yes yes i don't know actually krista can
00:17:51.829 --> 00:17:53.509
you walk me through the harden piece a little
00:17:53.509 --> 00:17:55.569
bit i know there's something about he goes to
00:17:55.569 --> 00:17:58.609
la he like this harden with an eye interestingly
00:17:58.609 --> 00:18:01.549
enough so it's a different spelling yes yes the
00:18:01.549 --> 00:18:05.470
phone call basically it's like they yeah he calls
00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:09.970
ray a few times at like that it would line up
00:18:09.970 --> 00:18:13.190
with his theory or like his story of being with
00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:16.210
Raul, which again, I don't, it like makes it
00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:18.190
sound like he would know that his name was actually
00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:19.769
James Harden. That's where I got a little bit
00:18:19.769 --> 00:18:21.970
confused. Like that's, I don't know how they
00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:25.130
got James's name, but anyways, they come up with
00:18:25.130 --> 00:18:27.470
a sketch of the guy. It's almost immediately
00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:30.309
dismissed though, but Faunt Roy is still searching
00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:34.049
for Harden to ask some questions. And then also
00:18:34.049 --> 00:18:36.640
I think the other big piece of this. And this
00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.720
is kind of where almost, I wouldn't say the episode
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.680
ends, but like this mystery ends is that Faunt
00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:45.500
Roy also asks for the special house committee.
00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:50.339
to release the files i mean no kidding though
00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:52.559
but as much as things change things stay the
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.299
same so i think the assassin committee on assassinations
00:18:56.299 --> 00:19:00.519
i think was in 79 and i think by 89 they're looking
00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:02.920
back into these the files are due to come out
00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.119
in 2029 if i recall they said um i i didn't have
00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:10.000
a ton of notes on this but there is a quote from
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.700
congressman fauntleroy that i i had to write
00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:15.720
down because i thought it was very chilling We
00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.420
need to know it in the decade of the 90s when
00:19:18.420 --> 00:19:20.559
we have a new generation of leadership on the
00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:23.000
scene that we don't want to meet the same fate
00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:27.240
that Martin, Malcolm, Bobby, and John met. Moving
00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.279
quote. I had that written down too. Really important.
00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:35.019
That's it. The conspiracy lives on. I did look
00:19:35.019 --> 00:19:36.859
up some updates though. Can I say one thing?
00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:41.599
I did appreciate that this episode, they just
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.730
dedicated one line to it. But they did mention
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:47.890
that members of the King family believe that
00:19:47.890 --> 00:19:50.289
James Earl Ray did not commit the assassination.
00:19:50.470 --> 00:19:53.009
And I remember reading that years ago and I was
00:19:53.009 --> 00:19:55.390
like, oh, I wonder what that's about. But it's
00:19:55.390 --> 00:19:58.450
something that is not very commonly talked about.
00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:01.109
And I think if it was commonly talked about.
00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.859
You would have a lot more demand for answers
00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:07.039
about this in the same way that you do the JFK
00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.859
assassination, for instance. I'll mention, too,
00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:12.759
the episode. I thought it was great that it mentioned
00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:16.099
why he was in Tennessee. He was actually there
00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:19.299
to support striking sanitation workers, which
00:20:19.299 --> 00:20:21.880
I feel like is not mentioned. I'm thinking about
00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:25.700
the education I got on MLK, and I feel like it
00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:30.640
was pretty vague, right? Absolutely. There's
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:34.059
increasing conversations about what he stood
00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:37.519
for, who he was, and also the fact he wasn't
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.839
that well -liked. Like you might imagine, like,
00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:42.900
oh, there's a lot of popular support for it.
00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:45.279
But I think this episode shines a little bit
00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.420
of light on a lot of things. It doesn't shine
00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:50.819
a lot of light on that. And I do wish it gave
00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.259
the context. And maybe this wasn't well -known
00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:56.539
at the time, but I know it's become more well
00:20:56.539 --> 00:20:59.359
-known over the past several years that... The
00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.900
FBI launched a harassment campaign against Martin
00:21:02.900 --> 00:21:05.779
Luther King Jr., including sending him a note
00:21:05.779 --> 00:21:09.799
telling him he should kill himself. So that leads
00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:11.940
into what my update is. I did look up to see
00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:14.839
an update on the case, the conspiracy. There's
00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:19.099
any like big groundbreaking revelations either
00:21:19.099 --> 00:21:24.130
way. In January 2025, so. just over a year ago,
00:21:24.329 --> 00:21:27.950
the president signed an executive order releasing
00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:32.789
these files. So they are declassified. There's
00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:35.150
a handful that are still going to be released
00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:37.549
in two years. So a year from when this is going
00:21:37.549 --> 00:21:40.789
to go up. I did look up just kind of like a summary
00:21:40.789 --> 00:21:43.660
of what the files say. And I'm going to actually,
00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:45.880
David, have you put a really good just quick
00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.680
Stanford article in the episode notes that kind
00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:50.680
of goes through like the big themes. But they
00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:52.799
said the files don't provide much information
00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.920
on the assassination, but it does show the conspiracy
00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:00.460
of like what the government was doing to discredit
00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:03.339
MLK. Like it's so much more focused on that versus
00:22:03.339 --> 00:22:06.160
the investigation, which makes sense why they
00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:10.259
were never released back. In the 70s when Faunt
00:22:10.259 --> 00:22:12.240
Roy was doing it, right? Because it wouldn't
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.720
have answered any of their questions, but it
00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:16.779
would have created a lot more problems. Which
00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.400
is why these, a lot of times these files take
00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.660
so long to be declassified because you're just
00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:23.759
protecting the people that are in them, right?
00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:26.019
By the time they're declassified, accountability
00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:29.920
can't be had. So a really great three line or
00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.180
three kind of takeaway article. I appreciated
00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:34.720
it. So I'll include it. But any last thoughts
00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.369
on this conspiracy? It's a hard thing. Let me
00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:43.509
think of how I want to put this. I hope that
00:22:43.509 --> 00:22:46.609
people will ask questions about it, not just
00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:49.529
for the sake of asking questions, but to maybe
00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:53.650
put a few things into context. We now know a
00:22:53.650 --> 00:22:58.309
lot about the FBI and its relationship or antagonism
00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:00.970
toward civil rights. I think it's significant
00:23:00.970 --> 00:23:03.829
that Vaughn Toleroy mentioned Malcolm X as well.
00:23:04.089 --> 00:23:06.349
There are a lot of questions about that assassination.
00:23:07.210 --> 00:23:11.230
I just yeah, 1968. I mean, we saw a series of
00:23:11.230 --> 00:23:12.950
assassinations, including Martin Luther King
00:23:12.950 --> 00:23:16.470
and Bobby Kennedy, a very violent time. And I
00:23:16.470 --> 00:23:19.329
think it's worth asking questions about it. I'm
00:23:19.329 --> 00:23:24.230
I've always been hesitant to just accept, you
00:23:24.230 --> 00:23:26.509
know, so -called conspiracies, because I think
00:23:26.509 --> 00:23:30.410
there is a tendency to try to make grand explanations
00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:34.029
for things that are sometimes simple. But I think.
00:23:34.829 --> 00:23:37.190
What happened was I think the government tried
00:23:37.190 --> 00:23:40.009
to give us a very simple explanation. And to
00:23:40.009 --> 00:23:43.690
go to Fauntleroy's point about like motive, opportunity
00:23:43.690 --> 00:23:46.890
and all, we actually don't, even in the FBI's
00:23:46.890 --> 00:23:49.430
case that they lay out in this episode, they
00:23:49.430 --> 00:23:51.509
don't really talk about what James Earl Ray's
00:23:51.509 --> 00:23:54.609
motive was or what they allege it to be. Yeah.
00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:58.049
No, I didn't get that. And I agree with what
00:23:58.049 --> 00:24:00.920
you're saying, I think. For me, just based like
00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:02.839
if I knew nothing and I didn't really know a
00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:04.900
lot about this conspiracy, like full transparency
00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:09.000
going into it, just having this like 20 minutes
00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.420
of evidence laid out both, you know, for and
00:24:12.420 --> 00:24:15.279
against there. I'm not saying he didn't do it,
00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:18.099
but I'm definitely saying there are some questions
00:24:18.099 --> 00:24:20.960
that I'd like answered. And to me, what I don't
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.099
like is, oh, well. it's a gun and it's a bullet
00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:26.319
that fits that gun so like it's probably like
00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.019
that is not evidence that doesn't convince me
00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:31.900
of anything do the testing do it right you know
00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:34.019
like same thing with the fingerprints it's possible
00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:36.359
there's no fingerprints but to just say like
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:38.480
oh that happens all the time it means nothing
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.779
like no it still means something yeah and also
00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:44.579
regardless not regardless it's not it's not trivial
00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:47.500
but aside from the fact that it's a high profile
00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:52.640
assassination i think even if this was just a
00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:56.220
random crime or a lower profile crime, I think
00:24:56.220 --> 00:24:58.519
it's really important to prove that somebody
00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:01.319
did a crime, right? I mean, if you've served
00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:05.299
on a jury, it's not about proving innocence,
00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.519
it's about proving a crime took place. And you're
00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:11.940
right with the lack of testing on the gun and
00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:14.140
the fingerprints. There were just so many times
00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:16.359
when the FBI agent in this episode was like,
00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:18.799
oh, well, anyone would believe, you know, once
00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.119
you have this fact, like any reasonable person
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.420
would. And it's like, that's not the standard
00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:27.380
of, I know we're not in a court of law on this,
00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:31.019
but this is very serious. And I think, I hope
00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:34.640
people will think critically if they are on a
00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.980
jury or not. Like it's important for us to think
00:25:36.980 --> 00:25:40.039
about the rights of the accused and things like
00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:44.240
that. Yeah, absolutely. Are you ready for case
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:47.539
number two? Case number two. The second mystery
00:25:47.539 --> 00:25:51.059
on this episode of Unsolved Mysteries is full
00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:53.740
of family secrets and a long lost sibling. Is
00:25:53.740 --> 00:25:58.359
under the category of lost loves. You're right.
00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:00.119
It is actually. At first I was like, wait, is
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:03.660
it? But it is. A man and his daughter are doing
00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:07.680
some genealogy research when they find an obituary
00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:10.799
for their dad slash grandfather. That's wrong.
00:26:11.230 --> 00:26:13.650
It says that the man, Harry Young, who was killed
00:26:13.650 --> 00:26:17.049
in action during World War II, left behind a
00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:20.369
wife and a daughter. However, the man, I think
00:26:20.369 --> 00:26:23.410
his name's Elber, is like, no, he left behind
00:26:23.410 --> 00:26:26.190
me and my brother and my mom. So, like, this
00:26:26.190 --> 00:26:28.950
is kind of a weird mistake. Like, how do you
00:26:28.950 --> 00:26:31.509
get this wrong? The backstory of Harry Young
00:26:31.509 --> 00:26:35.069
is he's a young man from Philadelphia. He has
00:26:35.069 --> 00:26:38.980
a wife and a son. at this point when he's about
00:26:38.980 --> 00:26:41.519
to leave. And he wants to enlist in World War
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.460
II after Pearl Harbor. But because he's married
00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:47.180
and has kids and has already, or has a child,
00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:50.799
and he's already served six years. 30 years old
00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:54.640
at this point. He needs his wife Laura's permission.
00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:59.279
This is wild to me. I did not know this. Yeah,
00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:02.819
I mean, I had known that if you were 17, for
00:27:02.819 --> 00:27:04.619
instance, you needed your parents' permission
00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:08.839
to enlist. Absolutely. That's still fair today.
00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:13.619
I did not know that a man needed his wife's permission
00:27:13.619 --> 00:27:17.160
to enlist in the army. I had known about things
00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:20.519
like, sadly, women needing their husband's permission
00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:23.000
to get a credit card or of their own bank account
00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:26.180
up until like the early 70s. But I did not know
00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:28.220
that there was a situation in which a man would
00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:30.859
need permission from his wife for anything at
00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:35.500
this point in time. Not to a whole nother. just
00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:37.779
like tangent and i'm not really going to but
00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:41.099
i read a really good book about women and their
00:27:41.099 --> 00:27:44.240
involvement in like decoding during world war
00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.220
ii and it was kind of in the face of like how
00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:49.259
women during world war ii gained so much independence
00:27:49.259 --> 00:27:51.579
because so many men went to war and they were
00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:54.680
like stepping in right how is this how have i
00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:57.660
never known this like this is this is a win right
00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:01.720
for like to even say that they're i mean to be
00:28:02.490 --> 00:28:05.250
important enough to have a decision over a man
00:28:05.250 --> 00:28:07.809
on some level is insanity at this time i think
00:28:07.809 --> 00:28:10.029
that's kind of a through line for this episode
00:28:10.029 --> 00:28:12.390
but also a through line for the way american
00:28:12.390 --> 00:28:15.269
history is taught in general like i i think people
00:28:15.269 --> 00:28:18.529
would be amazed by how many yes interesting and
00:28:18.529 --> 00:28:22.170
diverse facts even just world war ii alone that
00:28:22.170 --> 00:28:24.809
do not make it into our textbooks typically yeah
00:28:24.809 --> 00:28:29.299
for sure uh but laura's like nah He already served,
00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:32.420
man. You can't go. I need help at home. They
00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:35.059
get into a big fight, and he leaves in a fit
00:28:35.059 --> 00:28:38.880
of rage, and he never comes back. In a letter
00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:41.079
she receives a few months later, she finds out
00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:43.460
he forged the papers to enlist, and he's currently
00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:45.480
in the African war front. Yes, he's fighting
00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:47.759
the Nazis in Africa. And unfortunately, it's
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:50.940
here where Harry is eventually a casualty of
00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:55.420
war. Now, when Laura goes to claim Harry's death
00:28:55.420 --> 00:28:58.750
benefit at the local VA, They're like, oh, by
00:28:58.750 --> 00:29:02.369
the way, your husband has two wives named Laura.
00:29:02.529 --> 00:29:05.190
They say, hold on, a woman's already collecting
00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:09.970
benefits. His, his. And she's like, no, I'm Laura.
00:29:10.150 --> 00:29:12.950
And they're like, well, that that puts us in
00:29:12.950 --> 00:29:15.750
quite a two. That puts us in an uncomfortable
00:29:15.750 --> 00:29:19.930
situation here. And they. Yeah. And they're like,
00:29:20.029 --> 00:29:22.630
you have a daughter, right? And she's like, no.
00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:26.089
And you live at like Fayetteville Drive, right?
00:29:26.170 --> 00:29:28.799
And she's like. No. And then like, well, can
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.299
you actually prove you're his wife? And she's
00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:32.500
like, yeah, I have the marriage certificate.
00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:33.819
Like I'm going to get it and bring it in. And
00:29:33.819 --> 00:29:36.799
she does. So she proves that she is his wife.
00:29:36.980 --> 00:29:39.180
What are you thinking at this point? I thought
00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:41.440
it was like a con. Maybe somebody conned their
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:43.720
way in. I wasn't expecting what she finds out
00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:46.119
next, if I'm being honest. Basically, when Harry
00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.420
leaves that day, when he gets in the fight, he
00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:51.599
just like meets this woman named Estella and
00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:54.490
like moves in with her. And she forges the papers
00:29:54.490 --> 00:29:57.809
to let him enlist. And she also tries to take
00:29:57.809 --> 00:30:00.490
the benefit. And it sounds like Harry at some
00:30:00.490 --> 00:30:02.289
point is like, well, we live together and we're
00:30:02.289 --> 00:30:04.890
in love. So like, you're basically my wife. I
00:30:04.890 --> 00:30:08.430
think of you as my wife. Yeah. Right. Which apparently
00:30:08.430 --> 00:30:10.990
is enough for her. And it probably was enough
00:30:10.990 --> 00:30:12.869
for her. She probably believed that at the time.
00:30:12.869 --> 00:30:15.589
And maybe he really felt that. Yeah. You don't
00:30:15.589 --> 00:30:19.660
know. Um, so she does have a daughter, his daughter
00:30:19.660 --> 00:30:22.460
at some point. And basically a letter resurfaces
00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:25.839
that Estella sends to his parents years, a few
00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:28.579
years later about like explaining everything
00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:30.160
that happened and telling them like, hey, you
00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:32.920
have a granddaughter, but they don't write back.
00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.559
So she shows up and the parents are like, nah,
00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:38.720
you gotta go. You were wrong for doing that.
00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:42.680
So leave. So this reenactment, she shows up.
00:30:43.230 --> 00:30:45.630
She shows up. He's at like he's standing on this
00:30:45.630 --> 00:30:48.650
porch. So he's all like way above where she is.
00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:52.170
He's on the step. And she's like, look, I know
00:30:52.170 --> 00:30:54.589
you're upset, but I just thought you would like
00:30:54.589 --> 00:30:57.069
the opportunity to meet your granddaughter. Yeah.
00:30:57.109 --> 00:30:59.970
And it's just the dad, I guess, or the grandfather,
00:31:00.250 --> 00:31:03.809
the Harry's dad. And he goes, I talked to my
00:31:03.809 --> 00:31:06.690
wife about this. And we both agree that what
00:31:06.690 --> 00:31:10.269
you did was wrong. My wife and I agree that what
00:31:10.269 --> 00:31:14.150
you did was wrong. Why don't you go to your own
00:31:14.150 --> 00:31:18.049
family? What you did was wrong. Not what you
00:31:18.049 --> 00:31:21.750
and my son did. What you did. Not what your son
00:31:21.750 --> 00:31:24.670
did when he. Yeah. Crazy. Also, the acting here
00:31:24.670 --> 00:31:28.329
is wild. Like the lack of emotion, which I will
00:31:28.329 --> 00:31:30.990
point out earlier in this episode when they do
00:31:30.990 --> 00:31:33.660
a reenactment, when Laura finds out. harry's
00:31:33.660 --> 00:31:36.579
been killed and it literally looks like she's
00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:38.920
annoyed not like upset like you know when you
00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:41.160
get 87 spam calls letting you know that you're
00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:43.940
like yeah every day when you see that and you
00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:47.019
answer it and you have that like uh face on that
00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:48.559
was her face that's the only way i can describe
00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:51.039
it is it wasn't even sad it was just like oh
00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:53.519
you're letting me know now like i don't know
00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:56.079
it's just again it's unsolved mysteries in the
00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:59.700
90s but i i i thought the like lack of emotion
00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:02.869
on the actor who played the Harry's father's
00:32:02.869 --> 00:32:05.289
part I was I don't know I feel like that's probably
00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:10.289
just how men were up until like 1997 yeah I agree
00:32:10.289 --> 00:32:11.650
but I also thought it was really weird he's like
00:32:11.650 --> 00:32:14.529
nice to meet you like he did seem like he wasn't
00:32:14.529 --> 00:32:16.849
mad like it was it was just really weird but
00:32:16.849 --> 00:32:20.029
nonetheless uh we digress Estelle also says like
00:32:20.029 --> 00:32:21.609
do you want me to bring his stuff here like I
00:32:21.609 --> 00:32:24.789
have his stuff they're like send it like just
00:32:24.789 --> 00:32:27.549
send it so anyways the case is on on this whole
00:32:27.549 --> 00:32:31.180
mystery because the young son and the granddaughter
00:32:31.180 --> 00:32:33.700
and any other grandkids want to find their sister
00:32:33.700 --> 00:32:36.059
and their aunt right and in an unsolved mysteries
00:32:36.059 --> 00:32:38.160
update i would assume this is like added in after
00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:43.119
um they do find her she calls in the sister kathleen
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:45.720
is her name here's her name on the broadcast
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.500
she reaches out and she is reunited with her
00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:52.400
brothers and you know meets her family and It's
00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:54.259
kind of a beautiful moment of like, I didn't
00:32:54.259 --> 00:32:56.380
know that you guys existed. I didn't know you
00:32:56.380 --> 00:32:58.680
wanted me. And they're kind of like, as soon
00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:00.140
as she stepped out of the car, we knew she was
00:33:00.140 --> 00:33:06.000
our sister. It was a happy moment. And a solve.
00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:08.579
This is a solve mystery. One of my takeaways
00:33:08.579 --> 00:33:11.799
is like, I know I keep harping on Harry's father,
00:33:11.900 --> 00:33:15.940
but I feel like his moralism hurt his grandchildren.
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:18.299
They should have been able to know. They should
00:33:18.299 --> 00:33:21.579
have been able to know her. um their whole lives
00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:24.279
i'm curious what mom knew too i mean you know
00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:27.240
she obviously knew he had another wife at some
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:29.940
point i'm sure saw the obituary but you know
00:33:29.940 --> 00:33:32.279
these family stories i think have become so much
00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:34.380
more family secret stories have become so much
00:33:34.380 --> 00:33:37.039
more common people are finding out questions
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:39.200
that they people are finding out answers that
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:41.259
they didn't know they had questions about fun
00:33:41.259 --> 00:33:45.160
fact david my mom when she was an adult found
00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:46.779
out she had four brothers and sisters that she
00:33:46.779 --> 00:33:51.089
didn't know about She, yeah, as her grandmother
00:33:51.089 --> 00:33:54.950
died, when she died, her uncle came to her and
00:33:54.950 --> 00:33:56.390
was like, hey, like you're going to find this
00:33:56.390 --> 00:33:58.349
out because these kids will be there, some of
00:33:58.349 --> 00:34:01.930
them. But your dad had a family before he was
00:34:01.930 --> 00:34:05.369
with your mom. I don't know if he left them for,
00:34:05.430 --> 00:34:08.510
would be my grandmother, but he, yeah, like left
00:34:08.510 --> 00:34:12.010
four kids. And basically the secret is, is that
00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:14.730
everyone knew except my mom and my aunt and uncle.
00:34:15.759 --> 00:34:19.360
Yeah, it's kind of crazy. They they're more popular
00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:21.800
than you realize, I think. It's so interesting.
00:34:21.860 --> 00:34:23.900
I think about like the through lines between
00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:27.019
the last episode in this one. And I think this
00:34:27.019 --> 00:34:30.940
idea of changing identities. Right. I think the
00:34:30.940 --> 00:34:34.079
James Earl Ray one, he assumes like a new identity
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:36.980
when he's on the run. And this man, Harry Young,
00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:39.929
doesn't. change his identity, but he changes
00:34:39.929 --> 00:34:44.309
his circumstance. This woman, as far as I'm concerned,
00:34:44.630 --> 00:34:48.789
you're my wife. I don't know if this is unique
00:34:48.789 --> 00:34:53.250
to the US, but I feel like that's such a big
00:34:53.250 --> 00:34:56.849
part of American reality. And also a lot of American
00:34:56.849 --> 00:34:59.570
fiction deals with this. What does it mean to
00:34:59.570 --> 00:35:02.670
be who you are? What does it mean to assume a
00:35:02.670 --> 00:35:05.110
new identity or a new circumstance? A lot of
00:35:05.690 --> 00:35:07.489
A lot of fiction that I've been interested in
00:35:07.489 --> 00:35:11.250
lately has weighed this question. Yeah, I mean,
00:35:11.269 --> 00:35:13.989
I couldn't say it better, but identity is such
00:35:13.989 --> 00:35:18.510
a critical point in this episode that you don't
00:35:18.510 --> 00:35:19.869
really, it's not like the front point, like you
00:35:19.869 --> 00:35:21.210
don't think about it, but as you're going through
00:35:21.210 --> 00:35:24.829
each episode, or each mystery, it's so prevalent
00:35:24.829 --> 00:35:28.230
and important. But the last, are you ready for
00:35:28.230 --> 00:35:30.889
the... Third and final mystery, unsolved mystery.
00:35:31.090 --> 00:35:32.769
The one that brought us here. You know, there
00:35:32.769 --> 00:35:34.409
was a split second where I'm like, what was the
00:35:34.409 --> 00:35:37.150
third one? Now, yes, I remember very clearly.
00:35:37.510 --> 00:35:41.309
So the final mystery told on this episode centers
00:35:41.309 --> 00:35:47.690
around a man wanted in Texas. It's 1984. And
00:35:47.690 --> 00:35:49.809
the story starts with a woman who's getting ready
00:35:49.809 --> 00:35:52.690
for the day when a man appears in her bathroom
00:35:52.690 --> 00:35:56.130
with a large knife. BTW, terrifying. I was like
00:35:56.130 --> 00:35:59.269
scared, actually. Don't like that idea. Do not
00:35:59.269 --> 00:36:01.690
like this idea that right now I'm standing here,
00:36:01.789 --> 00:36:03.670
someone could appear in my doorway. Not a vibe.
00:36:03.710 --> 00:36:06.329
Look, I'm not a fan of that idea. It's scary.
00:36:06.949 --> 00:36:10.210
But she freaks out and she starts beating on
00:36:10.210 --> 00:36:13.949
him and grabs a gun, starts shooting at him.
00:36:14.329 --> 00:36:18.030
She happens to be near some stairs and throws
00:36:18.030 --> 00:36:20.769
him down the stairs. She chases him out of the
00:36:20.769 --> 00:36:22.929
house, still shooting. He gets in his car and
00:36:22.929 --> 00:36:25.309
starts to drive away. She's still shooting. He
00:36:25.309 --> 00:36:27.550
leaves. She's like, I'm not sure if I hit him.
00:36:27.590 --> 00:36:30.989
This is very Texas. But she files a police report
00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:33.769
and looks through a ton of mugshots to see if
00:36:33.769 --> 00:36:36.869
she can identify him. But she can't. He's not
00:36:36.869 --> 00:36:39.369
there. But a few months later, she's reading
00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:43.230
the newspaper and she sees the man's photo. He's
00:36:43.230 --> 00:36:46.349
one of Texas's most wanted. His name is Edward
00:36:46.349 --> 00:36:50.230
Harold Bell, and he's wanted for murder. He has
00:36:50.230 --> 00:36:53.389
a long criminal history, including knife attacks.
00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:56.980
rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia. And he's
00:36:56.980 --> 00:37:00.059
eluded capture, I think it's for 16 years, for
00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:03.900
the murder of a man named Larry Dickens outside
00:37:03.900 --> 00:37:06.880
of Houston. So we're going to go to Houston and
00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:10.840
go listen to the story. What year? Like 68 or
00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:16.099
something? Yeah. So Larry Dickens is played by
00:37:16.099 --> 00:37:20.119
the not famous yet, Matthew McConaughey. Matthew
00:37:20.119 --> 00:37:24.019
McConaughey. which is, spoiler alert, why we
00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:26.719
picked this episode, because Matthew McConaughey
00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:29.780
plays in one television show that kind of, it's
00:37:29.780 --> 00:37:31.880
kind of a founding story for this podcast, even,
00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:36.619
in some ways. Yeah, this was a show that I was
00:37:36.619 --> 00:37:39.139
a huge fan of when it came out. Krista, had you
00:37:39.139 --> 00:37:41.059
seen it at that point, or is that something that
00:37:41.059 --> 00:37:45.539
I told you about it? Yes. Yeah, Matthew McConaughey.
00:37:46.349 --> 00:37:49.150
So actually, it's funny because when I remember
00:37:49.150 --> 00:37:52.610
reading, I follow, I watched it every week and
00:37:52.610 --> 00:37:55.909
I was, and I hate to say it, but I was reading
00:37:55.909 --> 00:37:58.150
like theories about what's going to happen. It
00:37:58.150 --> 00:38:00.869
is such a mystery. It, someone raised at the
00:38:00.869 --> 00:38:04.349
time that Matthew McConaughey played a reenactor
00:38:04.349 --> 00:38:07.769
in this episode of Unsolved Mysteries and that,
00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:11.250
and people were trying to find clues in the actual
00:38:11.250 --> 00:38:14.570
episode of Unsolved Mysteries. to see how it
00:38:14.570 --> 00:38:17.849
played into True Detective. So I've always, I've
00:38:17.849 --> 00:38:19.710
always been very curious to see this episode
00:38:19.710 --> 00:38:22.050
for that reason. Yeah, I love it. I love that
00:38:22.050 --> 00:38:24.329
there's this like, I love that we get to tell
00:38:24.329 --> 00:38:26.429
a founding story of the pod on the pod finally.
00:38:26.610 --> 00:38:28.469
I mean, there's so many reasons we decided to
00:38:28.469 --> 00:38:29.869
do this, but that's really one of them. And it's
00:38:29.869 --> 00:38:32.949
one of the moments where our TV worlds kind of
00:38:32.949 --> 00:38:36.170
converged. And True Detective, if you haven't
00:38:36.170 --> 00:38:38.510
watched it, is a phenomenal show. Go watch season
00:38:38.510 --> 00:38:41.969
one immediately. Email us your thoughts. We would
00:38:41.969 --> 00:38:44.710
love to hear them, but... Then watch season two,
00:38:44.849 --> 00:38:47.269
the best season. Yeah, talk about them all, you
00:38:47.269 --> 00:38:50.630
know? But anyways, Larry Dickens, he's a young
00:38:50.630 --> 00:38:53.010
father and a Marine, and he's visiting his parents
00:38:53.010 --> 00:38:55.550
for the weekend. He's helping around the house,
00:38:55.610 --> 00:38:58.969
mowing the lawn. Mama Dickens is in the house,
00:38:58.969 --> 00:39:01.250
and she notices some kids are playing in the
00:39:01.250 --> 00:39:04.349
street like normal. And she watches as this pickup
00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:06.590
truck drives through and kind of stops in front
00:39:06.590 --> 00:39:08.710
of her house. And she assumes that it must be
00:39:08.710 --> 00:39:10.969
a buddy of Larry's visiting. That's until he
00:39:10.969 --> 00:39:13.730
gets out of the truck. He is nude from the waist
00:39:13.730 --> 00:39:16.590
down and he heads towards the children. And mom
00:39:16.590 --> 00:39:18.650
freaks. She's immediately on the phone with the
00:39:18.650 --> 00:39:22.550
police. Larry comes in and is kind of like, what's
00:39:22.550 --> 00:39:25.769
going on? And she's like, that guy is like, you
00:39:25.769 --> 00:39:28.170
know, he's nude and he's going towards the kids.
00:39:28.940 --> 00:39:32.440
And Larry is like, hell no. And he runs outside,
00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:36.199
kind of like yells at the guy, I think, but ultimately
00:39:36.199 --> 00:39:39.539
gets the keys from him so he can't leave, which
00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:42.559
in some ways is like kind of a smart idea, except
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:47.320
Belle pulls a gun out, shoots in the air, and
00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:50.440
then shoots Larry multiple times. Mom's on 911
00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:52.960
the entire time this is happening. She's describing
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:56.139
it as it's happening. Yeah. She thinks it's a
00:39:56.139 --> 00:39:58.360
cap gun at first, actually. Yes. And then she's
00:39:58.360 --> 00:40:00.500
like, no, it's not. It's not. So she goes into
00:40:00.500 --> 00:40:03.019
the garage to help Larry and comes face to face
00:40:03.019 --> 00:40:05.559
with Belle. She begs him. She's like, don't shoot
00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:07.800
him again. Just leave him alone. Just go, whatever.
00:40:08.360 --> 00:40:11.079
And he's like, I want the keys, whatever. Larry
00:40:11.079 --> 00:40:13.719
is somehow still not dead yet, even though at
00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:15.719
this point, I think he has four shots in his
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:17.880
chest and has been shot in the head. Belle shoots
00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:20.820
him again. And he still tries to go after Belle.
00:40:21.389 --> 00:40:24.389
Um, that's when Belle goes and grabs a rifle
00:40:24.389 --> 00:40:27.670
from his vehicle. As that's happening, Larry's
00:40:27.670 --> 00:40:30.449
sister is coming home from cheer practice and
00:40:30.449 --> 00:40:33.170
kind of happens upon the scene, sees Belle like
00:40:33.170 --> 00:40:35.849
go and shoot her brother. And what does she do?
00:40:35.949 --> 00:40:38.949
She pulls up and tries to block his exit, which
00:40:38.949 --> 00:40:42.409
is crazy because like very dangerous. Um, but
00:40:42.409 --> 00:40:45.210
he kind of backs out and drives off. And as he
00:40:45.210 --> 00:40:47.650
does this, he runs right into the officers who
00:40:47.650 --> 00:40:50.090
are on the way to the scene and they recognize
00:40:50.090 --> 00:40:53.050
his truck. He tries to shoot at the cops, but
00:40:53.050 --> 00:40:55.670
his gun jams, and eventually he drops it and
00:40:55.670 --> 00:40:58.409
is arrested. And then the police take him to
00:40:58.409 --> 00:41:00.869
the scene for identification. His sister offers
00:41:00.869 --> 00:41:04.030
to do it. They open the car door, and she, like,
00:41:04.070 --> 00:41:06.969
she, like, attacks him. And I don't know why
00:41:06.969 --> 00:41:08.989
that reenacted me at that moment. It was just,
00:41:08.989 --> 00:41:12.090
like, so funny to me, but it was. I think it
00:41:12.090 --> 00:41:13.940
was just so out of place for a minute. But I
00:41:13.940 --> 00:41:16.079
can understand that the sister is, like, interviewing.
00:41:16.179 --> 00:41:17.840
She's like, I was so angry. And I, like, respect
00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:20.280
that. But the reenactment, I just felt like maybe
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:23.280
didn't do it justice. So you might be thinking
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.199
to yourself, like, this sounds pretty resolved,
00:41:26.599 --> 00:41:31.420
right? Well, two months later, Bella's released
00:41:31.420 --> 00:41:35.699
on bail. Why? I'd love to know. For murder, guys.
00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:40.059
He's released on bail for murder. He liquidates
00:41:40.059 --> 00:41:42.820
his assets and he disappears. And the only time
00:41:42.820 --> 00:41:45.199
he is seen is when he tries to attack that woman
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:48.820
at the beginning of the episode. But after this
00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:51.780
episode airs, there is another Unsolved Mysteries
00:41:51.780 --> 00:41:54.860
update. And apparently the broadcast brings in
00:41:54.860 --> 00:41:58.079
tips about him being in Panama City. Panama.
00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:02.239
Yes. So the FBI with local police actuate him
00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:05.380
back to the U .S., where he is sentenced to 70
00:42:05.380 --> 00:42:09.059
years in jail. and is considered a person of
00:42:09.059 --> 00:42:12.260
interest in the murders of six girls in the Galveston
00:42:12.260 --> 00:42:17.320
area. Wow. Crazy. So one thing that this segment
00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:20.320
has that the others don't have, the talking,
00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:24.800
the interview portion with someone obscures their
00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:28.460
face to anonymize them for their safety. But
00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:31.659
it does not obscure their voice. That makes sense,
00:42:31.659 --> 00:42:34.250
too, if it was unsolved. And they were trying
00:42:34.250 --> 00:42:37.050
to find him, you know? Sure, sure. It makes sense
00:42:37.050 --> 00:42:39.150
to me. I was thinking now you would see their
00:42:39.150 --> 00:42:41.429
voice anonymized as well because you know someone
00:42:41.429 --> 00:42:43.550
would be like, I know that voice. I'm going to
00:42:43.550 --> 00:42:46.289
out this person. Yeah, absolutely. And I did
00:42:46.289 --> 00:42:49.929
just check. I forgot to do this earlier. He was
00:42:49.929 --> 00:42:52.829
never convicted of any other murders. So I figured
00:42:52.829 --> 00:42:55.349
I wanted to double check since 92 if any of those
00:42:55.349 --> 00:42:57.969
girls' murders in Galveston had been attributed
00:42:57.969 --> 00:43:01.289
to him. And I think he was never officially charged
00:43:01.289 --> 00:43:03.619
with anything outside of Bell's murder. I'm sorry,
00:43:03.820 --> 00:43:06.500
Dickens' murder. But it says that he confessed
00:43:06.500 --> 00:43:08.579
to it. He wrote letters to those jurisdictions
00:43:08.579 --> 00:43:11.099
and was like, I'm responsible. So it sounds to
00:43:11.099 --> 00:43:13.659
me like there's probably some pretty good evidence
00:43:13.659 --> 00:43:15.900
there. But for whatever reason, they just can't
00:43:15.900 --> 00:43:19.360
tie him. But he was never put on trial for those
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:21.619
other murders. For those six girls, no. But he
00:43:21.619 --> 00:43:24.219
did confess to him. And I'm not saying that confessions
00:43:24.219 --> 00:43:26.239
are everything, obviously. Sure, James Earl,
00:43:26.260 --> 00:43:32.659
right? But it probably was him. Overall, well,
00:43:32.739 --> 00:43:34.539
let me just say, the last little section of the
00:43:34.539 --> 00:43:39.219
episode was a preview of next week, which looks
00:43:39.219 --> 00:43:42.199
like it was highlighting the Black Dahlia case
00:43:42.199 --> 00:43:45.219
and then some sort of mystery about a sister
00:43:45.219 --> 00:43:48.079
who's forced to give away her siblings. Not really
00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:50.920
sure, but David, overall thoughts of Unsolved
00:43:50.920 --> 00:43:55.219
Mysteries? Look, I thought it was a very sober
00:43:55.219 --> 00:43:58.280
approach toward this sort of thing. I know that
00:43:58.280 --> 00:44:01.650
sometimes true crime... And I know it can vary,
00:44:01.730 --> 00:44:04.750
but I know sometimes the criticism is that these
00:44:04.750 --> 00:44:09.730
really sad things, these cases that require a
00:44:09.730 --> 00:44:12.190
lot of sensitivity don't often get described
00:44:12.190 --> 00:44:17.150
with the sensitivity they deserve. So I did appreciate
00:44:17.150 --> 00:44:19.630
that. And that's why I thought like, oh, maybe
00:44:19.630 --> 00:44:21.809
this was HBO or something. And I know you have
00:44:21.809 --> 00:44:24.690
some notes about where it has aired in the past.
00:44:25.369 --> 00:44:28.409
But I just thought it was very well handled.
00:44:28.530 --> 00:44:30.809
I'm sure there's criticism of the show that exists.
00:44:31.349 --> 00:44:35.530
I've only seen this one, or to my memory, this
00:44:35.530 --> 00:44:38.190
is the only one that's fresh for me. But I thought
00:44:38.190 --> 00:44:41.409
overall it handled these things in a very mature
00:44:41.409 --> 00:44:43.909
way. What was your take on it? Yeah, I think
00:44:43.909 --> 00:44:46.750
it centers the victim stories pretty well. At
00:44:46.750 --> 00:44:48.550
least in this one episode. Again, this is one
00:44:48.550 --> 00:44:51.530
episode out of many. So we always say that's
00:44:51.530 --> 00:44:53.900
kind of like... the limitation of this pod is
00:44:53.900 --> 00:44:56.039
that like we don't know really like maybe it
00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:57.699
isn't good at doing that and we got the anomaly
00:44:57.699 --> 00:45:00.940
but i do think this episode was pretty good at
00:45:00.940 --> 00:45:04.539
centering victims voices and their stories in
00:45:04.539 --> 00:45:08.900
a in a fair way to bring in tips again like that
00:45:08.900 --> 00:45:11.260
was the goal of this show was to do that is to
00:45:11.260 --> 00:45:14.920
bring in potential resolutions to some of these
00:45:14.920 --> 00:45:17.980
cases um i thought overall the episode in the
00:45:17.980 --> 00:45:21.579
show great storytelling bad reenactments But
00:45:21.579 --> 00:45:23.880
the bad reenactments weren't cringy enough to
00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:25.639
make me not want to watch the show. Like I would
00:45:25.639 --> 00:45:28.199
100 % still watch it. Can we talk about the reason
00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:30.800
why? I mean, I know why we've talked about why
00:45:30.800 --> 00:45:32.900
we selected this, but can we talk about the figure
00:45:32.900 --> 00:45:36.500
himself, Mr. McConaughey? Did you think his reenactment
00:45:36.500 --> 00:45:38.460
was not good? No, I thought his was fine, but
00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:42.159
I thought the one like, you know, opened t -shirt,
00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:45.340
sweaty bod, Matthew McConaughey look was like.
00:45:46.479 --> 00:45:49.340
That was, like, not the best reenactment, but,
00:45:49.420 --> 00:45:51.340
like, it fed into Matthew McConaughey, like,
00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:53.079
100%. You know what I'm saying? Like, it got
00:45:53.079 --> 00:45:55.059
the attention, but, like... Yeah. Like, there
00:45:55.059 --> 00:45:57.420
was... Some of the other reenactments that I
00:45:57.420 --> 00:45:58.860
thought were really, like, interesting is, like,
00:45:58.860 --> 00:46:01.420
when the cops find Belle in the last, the third,
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:05.139
like, mystery, there's a cop on a motorcycle
00:46:05.139 --> 00:46:07.880
who, like, basically, like, skids out on the
00:46:07.880 --> 00:46:10.440
bike, like, gets up, does this move, and gets
00:46:10.440 --> 00:46:13.289
his gun out. And I'm like, this is, like... You
00:46:13.289 --> 00:46:15.269
know, there's just some, there's some not great
00:46:15.269 --> 00:46:16.909
reenactments, but I also didn't think they were
00:46:16.909 --> 00:46:19.829
like so bad. They were just more like monotone
00:46:19.829 --> 00:46:23.449
than like bad, if that makes sense. I, I do kind
00:46:23.449 --> 00:46:26.679
of appreciate that in a sense. Yeah. Okay, so
00:46:26.679 --> 00:46:28.920
although I was thinking like, what if somebody
00:46:28.920 --> 00:46:31.480
took the approach of having reenactments that
00:46:31.480 --> 00:46:34.800
were so realistic? And that could be really interesting.
00:46:34.940 --> 00:46:37.159
I think that could also be terrifying in a way
00:46:37.159 --> 00:46:39.860
that maybe detracts from like the information
00:46:39.860 --> 00:46:42.719
itself being at the center of this. I did see
00:46:42.719 --> 00:46:45.860
that some Netflix show or some streaming true
00:46:45.860 --> 00:46:48.860
crime series, they're using like an AI thing
00:46:48.860 --> 00:46:51.519
for the reenactments instead of actually like
00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:54.559
paying actors to do it. So Unsolved Mysteries
00:46:54.559 --> 00:46:57.159
found a... Pretty good way. I feel like it's
00:46:57.159 --> 00:47:00.760
pretty respectful while also having some entertainment
00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:03.679
value. It's not just very, it's not super dry,
00:47:03.900 --> 00:47:06.539
but it's also not flashy. I love that explanation.
00:47:06.599 --> 00:47:08.679
I think they do a really good job of balancing
00:47:08.679 --> 00:47:12.039
like a moment that you can reenact that's kind
00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:14.500
of like filler, but it's fine for the story with
00:47:14.500 --> 00:47:18.280
like every gruesome, scary, hard thing. You know,
00:47:18.280 --> 00:47:21.880
like they'll put Estella going and shaking Harry
00:47:21.880 --> 00:47:25.750
Young's dad's hand. Nice to meet you. But then
00:47:25.750 --> 00:47:28.050
I'll also do this kind of scary reenactment at
00:47:28.050 --> 00:47:30.989
the end. But not every single thing was so scary.
00:47:31.230 --> 00:47:34.090
Like it's a good balance of both. And I do appreciate
00:47:34.090 --> 00:47:36.730
that. Robert Stack, we have to talk about the
00:47:36.730 --> 00:47:40.250
host. What did you think of him? He has a presence.
00:47:40.329 --> 00:47:43.750
He does. And he has that voice. And it's very
00:47:43.750 --> 00:47:47.130
much like in the tradition of Twilight Zone.
00:47:47.389 --> 00:47:50.289
Yeah. Rod Sterling kind of like, imagine if you
00:47:50.289 --> 00:47:55.320
will. And also, it made me think, too, if you
00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:57.820
recall that show Beyond Belief, Fact or Fiction,
00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:00.960
where they would present a case for you. And
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:02.679
then at the end, you would have to say, did this
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:06.340
actually happen or not? That included a lot of
00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:09.260
like, what if I what if you have you ever done
00:48:09.260 --> 00:48:11.179
this? Have you ever, you know, like putting yourself?
00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:13.960
And I feel like I wonder if there's some sort
00:48:13.960 --> 00:48:18.980
of explanation for this. Why in the early 90s?
00:48:19.480 --> 00:48:23.219
and onward, like why there was this emphasis
00:48:23.219 --> 00:48:26.440
on putting yourself, the viewer in someone else's
00:48:26.440 --> 00:48:30.820
situation in a way that I think asks you to be
00:48:30.820 --> 00:48:35.159
empathetic to victims or, or in the case of like
00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:39.059
the love story or the lost love story, just people
00:48:39.059 --> 00:48:41.019
who are in situations that might be very different
00:48:41.019 --> 00:48:43.800
than your own. I just, I also, I think there
00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:46.030
might be a little bit of that in a different
00:48:46.030 --> 00:48:48.650
way since we were talking about shows like Dateline.
00:48:49.130 --> 00:48:51.710
I think 2020, do they still have that segment?
00:48:52.030 --> 00:48:54.269
What would you do? Like where it puts people
00:48:54.269 --> 00:48:56.929
in situations. But there is something to that
00:48:56.929 --> 00:49:00.510
type of storytelling that asks like, how would
00:49:00.510 --> 00:49:02.769
you feel? What would you do? What if this happened
00:49:02.769 --> 00:49:05.750
to you? And I think maybe we need more of that.
00:49:05.809 --> 00:49:07.250
I don't know. Yeah, I think the empathy piece
00:49:07.250 --> 00:49:10.130
is so big. And I think that's why shows like
00:49:10.130 --> 00:49:13.199
this have worked well. There's always a fascination
00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:15.659
with what could happen. And I think sometimes
00:49:15.659 --> 00:49:20.000
knowing about it and learning from situations
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:23.920
can be helpful for some people. I think Robert
00:49:23.920 --> 00:49:29.000
Stack, he is kind of the best host for this.
00:49:29.199 --> 00:49:32.719
He balances being very serious and monotone with
00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:36.400
also having emotion and being captivating. That's
00:49:36.400 --> 00:49:40.150
a hard balance to kind of be. monotone i think
00:49:40.150 --> 00:49:41.809
is the word i want to use like i i wrote down
00:49:41.809 --> 00:49:43.329
that there's this one point where he's just like
00:49:43.329 --> 00:49:47.210
the hapless scapegoat of the assassination like
00:49:47.210 --> 00:49:50.409
he'll use these like wordy languages like pieces
00:49:50.409 --> 00:49:54.110
of language but like it's good like it keeps
00:49:54.110 --> 00:49:58.030
you engaged um so he doesn't talk down to anyone
00:49:58.030 --> 00:50:01.610
yeah yeah like he he feels very neutral in a
00:50:01.610 --> 00:50:04.429
lot of this like it's his show but it's not his
00:50:04.429 --> 00:50:06.030
show you know like it's his show he's telling
00:50:06.030 --> 00:50:08.469
the story but the story is not about him Right.
00:50:08.590 --> 00:50:11.409
It may not be a news broadcast, but I feel like
00:50:11.409 --> 00:50:13.750
there are still journalistic principles that
00:50:13.750 --> 00:50:17.250
are very much upheld. So, David, if you don't
00:50:17.250 --> 00:50:18.329
have anything else, I just want to give you a
00:50:18.329 --> 00:50:21.090
couple unsolved mysteries by the numbers and
00:50:21.090 --> 00:50:23.250
then we can heat thermometer it out. Cool. Let's
00:50:23.250 --> 00:50:26.710
hear them. So unsolved mysteries by the numbers.
00:50:26.829 --> 00:50:32.769
17 seasons, 611 episodes. This series jumps all
00:50:32.769 --> 00:50:37.869
over networks. It starts with NBC. goes to CBS,
00:50:38.190 --> 00:50:42.510
goes to Lifetime, goes to Spike, and now lives
00:50:42.510 --> 00:50:44.929
with Netflix, which I mentioned at the front
00:50:44.929 --> 00:50:47.789
end of this episode. I have watched a few episodes,
00:50:48.010 --> 00:50:50.530
I think maybe two seasons, and I want to say
00:50:50.530 --> 00:50:53.969
it might be on season five on Netflix. I tried
00:50:53.969 --> 00:50:57.159
to look up information regarding like... solvery
00:50:57.159 --> 00:51:00.800
or kind of like that i found a really good decider
00:51:00.800 --> 00:51:04.780
decider article from july 2023 and i'll have
00:51:04.780 --> 00:51:08.199
you put this in the show notes as well it says
00:51:08.199 --> 00:51:12.139
that between 1987 and 2010 so i think this is
00:51:12.139 --> 00:51:17.659
from nbc to spike i think this is like in this
00:51:17.659 --> 00:51:20.059
article is written as netflix is like launching
00:51:20.059 --> 00:51:23.880
their the show relaunching i should say 260 of
00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:26.820
the cases that were showcased had been solved
00:51:26.820 --> 00:51:31.559
wow that's a lot yeah and then it also says this
00:51:31.559 --> 00:51:34.280
is a quote from the article about the unsolved
00:51:34.280 --> 00:51:36.860
mysteries website but it says of the more than
00:51:36.860 --> 00:51:41.460
1300 mysteries profiled in over 230 episodes
00:51:41.460 --> 00:51:45.539
half the cases featuring wanted fugitives had
00:51:45.539 --> 00:51:48.639
been solved More than 100 families have been
00:51:48.639 --> 00:51:52.360
reunited with lost loved ones in seven individuals
00:51:52.360 --> 00:51:55.699
who were wrongly convicted of crimes had been
00:51:55.699 --> 00:51:59.159
exonerated and released. And I thought that is
00:51:59.159 --> 00:52:03.300
some pretty good stats. And it makes sense why
00:52:03.300 --> 00:52:07.099
they the show has had success and why it was
00:52:07.099 --> 00:52:08.960
produced the way it was and kept going and is
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:12.420
continuing on today. I'm curious, Crystal, like
00:52:12.420 --> 00:52:15.800
tonally, does the Netflix show hit the same sort
00:52:15.800 --> 00:52:18.949
of. effect as the original you know i have to
00:52:18.949 --> 00:52:21.130
re -watch it it's been so many years since i
00:52:21.130 --> 00:52:22.969
watched it i mean it's probably like two or three
00:52:22.969 --> 00:52:25.630
years but i obviously consume a lot of true crime
00:52:25.630 --> 00:52:28.630
and and a lot of that is um television or like
00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:31.250
documentary style um from what i can remember
00:52:31.250 --> 00:52:33.710
it wasn't bad like it seemed like it was pretty
00:52:33.710 --> 00:52:36.789
on par overall vibes but also i can't remember
00:52:36.789 --> 00:52:39.510
like who hosted i and like what the the vibe
00:52:39.510 --> 00:52:41.449
was i know that there was a couple stories that
00:52:41.449 --> 00:52:45.510
they showcased that i was like wow that is crazy
00:52:45.510 --> 00:52:49.110
and i know they i know that like the first season
00:52:49.110 --> 00:52:53.309
it was definitely like an array of types of cases
00:52:53.309 --> 00:52:55.190
i there was definitely like some town i think
00:52:55.190 --> 00:52:58.309
that was like had some alien encounters there
00:52:58.309 --> 00:53:01.889
was like an unsolved murder um i also think there
00:53:01.889 --> 00:53:04.409
was international cases that were on there from
00:53:04.409 --> 00:53:07.110
what i remember at least two and i can't remember
00:53:07.110 --> 00:53:09.269
or not that i can't remember i don't know if
00:53:09.269 --> 00:53:13.000
unsolved mysteries ever did international cases.
00:53:13.880 --> 00:53:17.840
We had two in this episode. If sort of. Oh, with
00:53:17.840 --> 00:53:21.480
MLK. Oh, oh, you mean? Yeah. Yeah. MLK and this
00:53:21.480 --> 00:53:23.559
most recent one. Oh, but international cases
00:53:23.559 --> 00:53:25.800
like cases that originated someplace else. Yeah,
00:53:25.800 --> 00:53:27.579
like a case that happened. I think there was
00:53:27.579 --> 00:53:30.019
one on the first season and Netflix that was
00:53:30.019 --> 00:53:33.159
like in France. Oh, OK. Yeah. So I don't know.
00:53:33.199 --> 00:53:35.900
But like that would make sense to be more international
00:53:35.900 --> 00:53:40.110
back then. because netflix or maybe more international
00:53:40.110 --> 00:53:42.690
now because netflix is like a worldwide you know
00:53:42.690 --> 00:53:44.929
yeah streaming app i don't know yeah i don't
00:53:44.929 --> 00:53:47.590
know if other countries were watching unsolved
00:53:47.590 --> 00:53:51.190
mysteries and maybe it was just like bordering
00:53:51.190 --> 00:53:53.769
countries that like there might be more movement
00:53:53.769 --> 00:53:55.429
or something i don't know it'd be very english
00:53:55.429 --> 00:53:59.630
language um heat thermometer it's almost hard
00:53:59.630 --> 00:54:01.510
for me to give a heat thermometer on something
00:54:01.510 --> 00:54:04.429
like this but i did i mean i liked the way it
00:54:04.429 --> 00:54:07.639
was presented Um, I have no real qualms with
00:54:07.639 --> 00:54:10.659
it. Uh, last week I think I gave Veep like a
00:54:10.659 --> 00:54:13.880
90. Let's give, yeah, I'll give this a 90 as
00:54:13.880 --> 00:54:15.679
well. Yeah. I think that's where it's at. I mean,
00:54:15.679 --> 00:54:19.900
I think I liked it. I enjoyed it. I would watch
00:54:19.900 --> 00:54:22.440
probably episodes, probably newer stuff, especially
00:54:22.440 --> 00:54:26.559
with, um, I think for me, not because the old,
00:54:26.739 --> 00:54:29.019
not because it's old, but because I'd prefer
00:54:29.019 --> 00:54:31.460
to watch something that I know is like unsolved
00:54:31.460 --> 00:54:34.570
today that I might have. i'm not saying i'm gonna
00:54:34.570 --> 00:54:36.690
have a nugget of information but you never know
00:54:36.690 --> 00:54:38.550
right like that's the whole point of it i'd want
00:54:38.550 --> 00:54:41.829
to watch it to learn about unsolved cases krista
00:54:41.829 --> 00:54:45.269
yeah i have to ask you this uh i know it's currently
00:54:45.269 --> 00:54:47.849
airing right now do you know who the host is
00:54:47.849 --> 00:54:53.230
by any chance or the presenter on netflix i don't
00:54:53.230 --> 00:54:58.659
do you it's ryan seacrest what No, I'm just kidding.
00:54:58.739 --> 00:55:03.219
But I did want to ask you, like, what... Okay,
00:55:03.380 --> 00:55:06.659
there's no host. Oh, there is no host. Yeah,
00:55:06.679 --> 00:55:11.400
and I think I kind of remember that. Well, let
00:55:11.400 --> 00:55:14.039
me ask you, if they had to have a host, because
00:55:14.039 --> 00:55:16.340
I feel like that was pretty vital to the episode
00:55:16.340 --> 00:55:19.360
we watched today, who would you want... Who do
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:21.300
you think could do a nice job hosting this? Oh
00:55:21.300 --> 00:55:23.840
my gosh, I don't know. Somebody with a good voice.
00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:26.960
Yes, because there's a lot of narration in this.
00:55:26.980 --> 00:55:29.210
Yeah. Like a Morgan Freeman is like the one that
00:55:29.210 --> 00:55:31.190
jumps to the top of my head. Morgan Freeman.
00:55:31.190 --> 00:55:34.469
He's such a good narration voice. Yeah, he's
00:55:34.469 --> 00:55:36.269
kind of like the gold standard for that sort
00:55:36.269 --> 00:55:39.909
of thing. What about like a Kurt Russell? I'm
00:55:39.909 --> 00:55:42.650
like thinking of older men. What about like a
00:55:42.650 --> 00:55:46.130
younger? I was thinking, how about Jon Hamm?
00:55:47.690 --> 00:55:52.289
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. He's a little disassociative
00:55:52.289 --> 00:55:54.940
to me. I feel like every time I watch him, he's
00:55:54.940 --> 00:55:56.679
like disassociated, which I think would be kind
00:55:56.679 --> 00:55:58.800
of good in this role. So, yeah. Yeah, I think
00:55:58.800 --> 00:56:01.340
that works for this. Maybe a Bryan Cranston.
00:56:02.099 --> 00:56:05.320
No, I'm thinking of people who do voiceover work
00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:07.360
for. Oh, really? What is it? No, I don't know.
00:56:07.380 --> 00:56:09.599
I just think he's just somebody that is like
00:56:09.599 --> 00:56:13.219
in my box of actors that I've just been like,
00:56:13.280 --> 00:56:16.150
I don't know if I like you. Oh, he's you know,
00:56:16.170 --> 00:56:18.250
it's funny. He's been in a few really great things,
00:56:18.329 --> 00:56:20.730
but he's also been in so many bad things that
00:56:20.730 --> 00:56:23.329
I'm like, he seemed I think he seems nice, but
00:56:23.329 --> 00:56:25.989
it's like, dang, he picks a lot of bad parts.
00:56:26.250 --> 00:56:29.530
Yeah, I don't know who sent us some ideas. We
00:56:29.530 --> 00:56:32.389
would love to get your opinion on who you think
00:56:32.389 --> 00:56:37.190
would be a good Unsolved Mysteries host. Currently,
00:56:37.230 --> 00:56:40.030
who would be a good who would be good hosts for
00:56:40.030 --> 00:56:43.469
this podcast also? What if people are listening?
00:56:43.550 --> 00:56:45.250
They're like, you know, this is pretty good,
00:56:45.289 --> 00:56:50.949
but I wish it was. I don't know. No, Ryan Seacrest
00:56:50.949 --> 00:56:55.210
and and Brian Donkelman. Well, I will say, though,
00:56:55.250 --> 00:56:58.070
real quick is if you are listening, if you made
00:56:58.070 --> 00:57:01.699
it this far in our episode. Please remember to
00:57:01.699 --> 00:57:04.079
give us a like and a review and to follow us
00:57:04.079 --> 00:57:08.139
on our Instagram at midspodcast. And as always,
00:57:08.219 --> 00:57:10.579
if you have thoughts, you want to chat, you want
00:57:10.579 --> 00:57:14.219
to request a show, you have a host that you think
00:57:14.219 --> 00:57:18.079
would be good at Unsolved Mysteries, feel free
00:57:18.079 --> 00:57:21.099
to shoot us an email. I mean, or on Instagram,
00:57:21.260 --> 00:57:24.800
DM us. But our email is midspodcast at gmail
00:57:24.800 --> 00:57:27.559
.com. We would really love to hear from some
00:57:27.559 --> 00:57:29.320
of the folks listening. It would really make
00:57:29.320 --> 00:57:32.139
our day. Yeah, this is ultimately your show.
00:57:32.380 --> 00:57:36.639
Treat it as such. It feels really strong. I almost
00:57:36.639 --> 00:57:40.019
felt like I was getting in trouble there. I wasn't
00:57:40.019 --> 00:57:41.460
talking to you. I know, I know. The listeners
00:57:41.460 --> 00:57:44.460
are in trouble. I know. Not you. It was just
00:57:44.460 --> 00:57:48.320
like that was so serious. I'm sorry. All right.
00:57:48.340 --> 00:57:49.539
Thanks, everybody. Bye.