Ignorance Was Bliss

Podcasters are an interesting bunch, especially those in the true crime world. I think we're often seen as cynical, sarcastic, potentially intrusive, thick-skinned, addicted to tragedy porn... but the truth is, we're a creative, vulnerable, diverse, mostly well-intentioned group of people who feel just as driven to create as a painter or a sculptor.     It's easy for me to say, but it can be even...

Every once in a while, if you're very lucky, you'll form a friendship with someone who is smart and self-aware and vulnerable. And if you're not that lucky, you can at least listen in on a really fabulous conversation that unfolded between me and Kim (of People Are Wild fame).  She talks about the process of realizing you might be an alcoholic, even if you don't drink every day, even if you're you...

Who gets to decide when you have a problem? Sometimes you know, and sometimes you're clueless. Sometimes you're aware, and sometimes you're in denial.   Especially when substances, even legal and aboveboard alcohol, are involved.    For this episode, I'm joined, once again, by Kim from People Are Wild, and if you haven't listened to her podcast yet, you're about to spend some time wondering why. I...

What does it mean to waste something? You have to value it first, then discard it, I think. But who decides, and how?    This becomes less cerebral and more real when the topic isn't a safe, high-level cerebral exercise, but instead a truly horrific and upsetting case of child abuse. We don't go into a ton of detail here, but it's enough for you to get the picture. Concepts like waste and value ar...

My dear friend and role model, Sharna, came on the show to show us how it should be done. Results include musings on credentials, clarifications on the differences between psychiatry and psychology, and commiseration on the misunderstandings re: therapy and assessment.  And, through it all, irreverence and recognition of the necessity of efficiency.    Promos from The Haunted Heart and Yeah No Yea...

Some thoughts, after the apparent suicide of Kate Spade.   I can't do much, in a practial sense. But I can do this. Please listen.

Before I started this podcast, I would not have been able to guess that a relatively early episode would not just touch upon, but be based entirely upon the world of professional wrestling. But, well, here we are!     I had a conversation with Ello Soul from The Parental Advisory Podcast, and it was so fun and informative and dark and twisted and all of the things. We intended to talk about Chris...

Where is the line between hobby and craft... and obsession? I think most podcasts start out as little hobbies, and then they can grow, sometimes without us even realizing it's happening.  Shane Waters, of the Out of the Shadows podcast, has been doing this a lot longer than I have, so I'll let him decide exactly where he falls on that spectrum. I kind of suspect that, just lately, what it all mean...

Anxiety is what happens when your nerves give the finger to your sense of logic.    Somehow that felt profound to me, during the editing process. I don't know. I spent more time with this episode -- living it, then overthinking it, then editing, blah blah -- than any previous one. I'm losing perspective.    But I know just how common, just how pervasive, just how absolutely miserable anxiety is, a...

Courtney (Cult of Domesticity) and I talk about the documentary "Titicut Follies" by Frederick Wisemen, which I won't link here just in case the YouTube link I found goes defunct or whatever.  Toss me a note if you have trouble finding it, though if you value your rage-control, you may want to skip it and feed off our outrage instead.    But then, we come up with a few thoughts that help us climb...

This is what happens when a bunch of podcasters say, "Yeah, we really SHOULD just get together and chat about nothing for a while." And then we do so before giving ourselves time to over-plan it (OK, or, to plan it at all). And then I slap an intro on it and call it good.    Featured podcasters: Courtney -- Cult of Domesticity Jenna -- Meet Me in the Woods Justin -- Obscura Maxwell -- Relic

She's baaaack...    Emily joined me again, this time to stay a bit less bizarre and discuss a mysterious double disappearance in the Panamanian rainforest. Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon were Dutch women in their early 20s, starting an extended stay in Panama to study Spanish and do volunteer work. They left for what should have been a short walk in the woods, but never returned.     It's a case t...

In my first episode, I was fortunate enough to share the story of a close friend, as well as that of another domestic violence survivor, in an effort to demonstrate why people might stay in a hurtful relationship and how lives can change based on one or two small decisions.  This time, I'm looking a bit more at the accumulation of experiences and culture and social expectations, and how those all...

How does a psychologist cope with a Really Bad Day? Well, apparently, today, I coped by tossing together another episode, with the inadvertant help of my friend Jessa, from the Getting Off podcast.  We talk about personality disorders and their legal implications, by way of the story of my fourth child's adoption, including a pit stop at the background and social skills of Pamela Smart... in short...

And now we get down to it. This is what makes me happy: talking, occasionally inappropriately, about Mean People Doing Bad Things. Playing with the specificities of diagnosis. Including slang and pop culture references into a conversation that otherwise could almost pass as official.  Thank you, again and several more times, to Lee from Murder was the Case, for giving me a chance to play. Hoping t...

Nothing is sacred -- not the simplicity of a Hallmark card or the complexity of someone's Lucky Shirt for his Favorite Team -- when two scholars are allowed to ponder without careful supervision.  This was intended to be an interview about a specific case, but we quickly realized there were several extra words we needed to get out of the way first.  We'll be back with that actual, originally inten...

I've been meaning to ask my mom for a long time, why does she keep finding jobs that would depress the sheer hell out of me, or send me over the ever-shaky edge into homicidality: political activism, at-risk youth, geriatrics, now hospice?? What better time to ask than when she's out visiting and my microphone has this fabulous little "ON" button? Enjoy! Promos this week from Of Myth and Mercy and...

I really, really didn't think I would ever get this episode out to you all. Like, really.  First of all, it's the result of a crossover with Billy & Erica, from Martinis and the Macabre, and I was so freaking fangirl-y the whole time that I wasn't sure I'd say a thing that made sense. Then, there's the fact that I'm still crap at the whole sound editing thing, so this is the best I could do.  THEN...

How do we know when it's time to go to the ER?   Sometimes, we're bleeding heavily, or losing consciousness, or spiking a fever. Other times, it's harder to know, because the same organ that is primarily responsible for making that call is the one that is hurting the worst: your brain.    Learn a little about what happens, after you get through the lead-up (see episode 5), and the crisis evaluatio...

Lots of people know that you're supposed to go to the ER when you're experiencing a mental health crisis, but how many really know what the process is like?    In this episode, Kim, the ER nurse of the People Are Wild podcast, joins me to talk about the first several hours of a typical (assuming there is any such thing) mental health crisis assessment in an emergency room.  Promos by the Getting O...

You know that thing where you try to make sense of a topic, and it simply refuses to click? I have that about certain corners of the internet, specifically the weird ones where creepypasta, ARGs and Cursed Images are formed.    I also have that about teenagers.   So what better way to try to make sense of it all than to combine those things, by asking my 17-year-old daughter to join me and explain...

What does it mean to actually have schizophrenia? Not just, what might it mean or what does it look like, but what does it feel like? Enormous sloppy THANK YOU to my supporters on Patreon!! I had absolutely no expectations that anything would come of setting up a page, so I'm already blown away. Options for stickers, a master key, and other perks at the IWB Asylum available at http://www.patreon.c...

Sometimes, you're in your home. The doors are locked. You're careful about who you let in... and yet tragedy finds you anyway. A huge and grateful shout-out to Dick from the True Crime Brewery podcast for his patience and feedback about this case. Promos from the Mens Rea and Asian Madness podcasts... thanks for trusting me with your voices! This episode derived significant information from the 20...

Jim and Kit, from the Forgotten News Podcast, were gracious enough to invite me to play along, despite my utter cluelessness in the matter of contributing to compilation type shows. My segment is here, or you can go to  http://podbay.fm/show/1260175711/e /1518655469 for the whole episode.   Enjoy!

Who escapes, and how, when the prison walls are invisible, and no physical keys exist to unlock the doors?   Domestic violence is an uncomfortable, scary topic. For my first episode, I focused on the survivor's story, because my friend was brave and generous enough to share her story. For now, though, listen to the stories of two smart, capable women, but be warned: it's not as unfathomable to end...