Two journalists that I follow are Em Schultz and Christine Schiefer. Together they have a podcast titled “And That’s Why We Drink”, a paranormal and true crime podcast. I am really interested in the paranormal and in true crime. In fact, I have a radio “podcast esque” show on KNDS 96.3 where I discuss all things spooky and scary. I use a lot of information from “And That’s Why We Drink” in my show.
Em Schultz specializes in the paranormal side of the podcast. They mostly discuss ghosts but once in a while a story about a cryptid, aliens, or an odd event comes up. Em does a really good job of getting in a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time. Not only do they discuss the paranormal occurrences but also the history of the location and/or buildings and the events that led up to the hauntings, and even the current status of the hauntings. While listening to Em’s section of the podcast, you can tell that a lot of research went into their story and that they are really interested and passionate about their information and podcast.
Christine Schiefer specializes in the true crime aspect of “And That’s Why We Drink”. Her stories range from unsolved crimes, to high profile crimes, to recent crimes, and even unheard-of crimes. Her stories are all either murders or kidnappings. While listing to her section of the podcast you can hear the empathy in her voice as she talks about the victims and what happened to them. She is also really passionate about the offenders and doesn’t fear sharing her option on what they had done. I love how she tells the stores and how her comments lighten the mood and add more depth to the stories. Like Em, as she speaks the listener can tell how much work went into her research.
My favorite stories of Em’s is either Robert the Doll from episode 6 “The Human Hair Version and The Worst Social Studies Class Ever” or the LaLaurie Mansion from episode 18 “An Even Worse Eyeball Story and the Adventures of Captain Midnight”.
In the Robert the Doll Story Em teaches listeners about a haunted doll named Robert. Robert was a gift to a young boy named Robert Eugene Otto from his family maid after she got fired. As time went on Robert gave his name to his doll and would only go by the name Eugene. Robert the doll completely changed Eugene’s life, he always had to be with his doll. His doll seemed to control his life. After many years off odd occurrences, Robert was found by the buyer or Eugene's old house and was donated to the Key West Art and Historical Society. Now the doll is said to haunt the museum and is even able to curse guests at the museum.
In the LaLaurie story Em talks about Mrs. LaLaurie from New Orleans who brutally tortured and killed her servants. She even had them taken away, but a family member bought them and secretly sold them back to LaLaurie. When a fire happened at the mansion, LaLaurie left all the servants inside and when help came her horrible acts were discovered. Now her home is haunted by her and the servants. Today the mansion is a series of apartments. (Which I visited when I went to New Orleans!)
My favorite of Christine’s is either Elizabeth Smart, also from episode 6 “The Human Hair Version and The Worst Social Studies Class Ever” or the Axe man of New Orleans from episode 39 “A Girl Named German and La La La Land 1 ½”
Elizabeth Smart was taken from her home in Salt Lake City in 2002. Christine talks about how she had to learn about her disappearance in school. The class would watch news stories and were always up to date on what was happening in the case. Elizabeth was only 14 years old. She was captured for 9 months by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, his wife. Over these 9 months she was assaulted, drugged, and forced into religious rituals. She was set free in March of 2003.
The Axe man of New Orleans is a really interesting and odd story. On May 22nd a couple was attacked in their sleep by a man with an Axe. The killer also left a note in chalk by the grocery store that was owned by the victims. The Axe man did this to many more people and in almost every case, there was a panel chiseled out of the victim's doors. What was odd is that based on the witness accounts the killer should have been a large man, but the chiseled-out panel would have been too small for a large man to fit through. There were some other witness accounts that didn’t quite fit the evidence. One night a note went out around town saying that on a certain night the Axe Man was going to come and that every building must be playing jazz or else he would come in and kill them. That night Jazz was playing all over town. The Axe man never struck that night.
Em Shultz and Christine Schiefer do an amazing job at reporting on the paranormal and true crime. They are really passionate about their work and give amazing detail. They also have great chemistry. They have fun while they record and play off of each other. Through their podcast Em and Christine have made a community of crime and paranormal loving listeners. Their research and stories are well thought out and well presented. I know it might be a little odd to be as interested in the paranormal and true crime as I am, but I least I have a podcast to teach me more and reassure me that my interests are not that weird.
Great choices. We're gonna have to work on the length of you work, and fitting important parts of your writing into a smaller space. It also would have helped to have a couple links to episodes.
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