The Silver Linings Handbook

Robert Peters spent most of his life as a prosecutor and a Christian. Those two things came together when he took his position as the director of institutional response for GRACE, an organization that investigates sexual abuse in Protestant churches. Founded in 2003 after a reporter called the founder about a case of sexual abuse mishandled by a pastor, GRACE, which stands for Godly Response to Ab...

Paul Volkman was a University of Chicago-trained doctor who seemed destined for greatness. Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison for the prescriptions he wrote that devastated southern Ohio and the surrounding areas. In the tradition of true crime, Philip Eil tells Volkman's story and the sordid history that led to the American opioid epidemic. In the 1980s and 1990s, following decades of cr...

When Haley Omeasoo was at the University of Montana, she remembers hearing the news that her friend, classmate and relative, Ashley Loring Heavyrunner went missing. Years later, Haley, a doctoral student in forensic anthropology, has founded a growing nonprofit organization focused on bringing crime scene investigation services to reservations. After meeting while searching for Ashley, Haley and I...

From Juárez to the Indigenous reservations of Montana, Irish artist Brian Macguire has used his paintings to build his awareness and as his form of protest against the marginalization of certain people. Macguire, who grew up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, knows the suffering of the disappeared all too well. To see Brian's work: https://www.kerlingallery.com/artists/brian-maguire To...

As the Emilee Weaver case faded from the headlines, Clara S. Lewis uncovered truths every woman—and every partner—should know. Muskingum University student Emile Weaver gave birth in the bathroom at her sorority house at the Ohio school. She was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to life without parole after her baby was found dead. Did we get it wrong? Clara S. Lewis, a Dartmouth Colleg...

Lane Igoodin, a writer, activist and professor, joins me to discuss the challenges of adopting his children from foster care, the challenges of navigating intersectionality in this world, the balancing act between the rights of parents and what's best for children and love under pressure as you fight to keep your family together. Contact me at silverliningshandbookpod@gmail.com Check out the Silve...

Kristin Louise Duncombe grew up traveling the world as the daughter of a U.S. State Department foreign service officer. But Kristin’s childhood and those of at least six other girls were shattered when they crossed paths with an American diplomat in Africa who sexually abused them. After one of the girls came forward with her story, the State Department swiftly sent him back to Washington, but off...

After Dawn Michelle Holt went missing in Waldorf, Maryland in 1996, it took two decades before clues began to emerge about what might have happened to her on the night where she disappeared on the way to seeing her son and daughter. In Part 2, Dawn's daughter, Samm, and her sister, Sherri Shelton, join me again, along with Raul Montero, an advocate who has helped the family collaborate with law en...

In April 1996, Dawn Michelle Holt returned to Southern Maryland after spending a few weeks with her sister in Florida. She called her husband from a hotel in Waldorf, Maryland, to let her husband know that she was coming to see her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. She has not been seen since. The nearly 3-decade investigation has offered many sorted clues, but one question remains: What hap...

Claire St. Amant rose to the top of the true crime journalism world as a producer for 48 Hours, contributor to 60 Minutes , covering some of the biggest cases and bringing to life the story of Samuel Little, America's perhaps least known and most prolific serial killer. Claire's work trying to break through the typical true crime model, however, left her jaded and she joins me to discuss this, her...

When Dione Thomas died in a Gallup, New Mexico hotel room, it was ruled a homicide. Deep into the investigation, the family discovered it had been reclassified as an undetermined death. Similar to the family of Ellen Greenberg in Pennsylvania, her family is pushing for an independent forensic pathologist to review the case and for the death to be once again classified as a homicide. But, unlike th...

In many ways, the death of Dione Thomas is the Indigenous Ellen Greenberg case. Christine Means and Karen Watson have spent years questioning the circumstances surrounding their sister Dione's death. At first, the police in Gallup, New Mexico, said it was a murder and they had a suspect. Years later, the family found out that the medical examiner classified what appeared to be a brutal beating as...

I continue the second and final part of my interview with journalist Billy Jensen. Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad was one of the top true crime podcasts before it was rocked by a scandal. In this episode, we dive into the scandal but also talk about crime, victims, addiction and recovery, the struggles of journalism and our concerns about men's mental health. Investigative journalist Billy J...

I want to share some listener updates for the summer - living my life, some work we are doing related to some cases and just some cool things I love about and will be doing with our listeners. Contact me at silverliningshandbookpod@gmail.com Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at: https://silverliningshandbook.com/ Check out our Patreon to support the show at: https://www.patreon.com/the...

Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad was one of the top true crime podcasts. Investigative journalist Billy Jensen and investigator Paul Holes, both known for work related to the Golden State Killer case, co-hosted the podcast that topped the charts since 2019. At the 2022 CrimeCon convention for true crime enthusiasts in Las Vegas, Jensen was a headline speaker on a panel on the Long Island Seria...

I continue my conversation with tribal Judge Victorio Shaw. Humbolt County, on the northern California coast, is known as the place where the name Bigfoot originated and is the home of Murder Mountain , which took its name from serial killers who fled here. The 2018 documentary by the same name explores how Humbolt is the county in the United States with the highest rate of missing persons. But it...

Humbolt County, on the northern California coast, is known as the place where the name Bigfoot originated and is the home of Murder Mountain , which took its name from serial killers who fled here. The 2018 documentary by the same name explores how Humbolt is the county in the United States with the highest rate of missing persons. But it does not touch on how many of those people are Indigenous....

This is a re-release of a September 26, 2023, episode. In this episode, Jayson, Dani Brillhart and Colton Jones, of the band NI/Co, discuss what it's like to break into the music industry while remaining authentic, sending a message of love from music while nurturing their own love and managing racism as an interracial couple in the public eye. We also get to listen to their powerful music. See Pr...

Rebecca Harbowy went to get help at a British Columbia hospital with people who loved her. Hours later, she disappeared in a mystery that is still unsolved. In the second part of my conversation with Rebecca's mom, Debbie, we talk about her search for Rebecca and her hope to improve the systems that failed her. Listen to part one with Debbie: https://silverliningshandbook.com/2025/05/02/142-the-di...

The day of November 23, 2023, was a difficult one for 36-year-old Rebecca Harbowy. She had just committed to getting clean from an opioid addiction and was staying with her parents at their home in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. When she found herself markedly disoriented, Rebecca asked if her mom could take her to the hospital. Several hours later, despite assurances Rebecca would not be released...

I continue my conversation with Donna Hall, who grew up in Philadelphia crime family. We continue to discuss her family, the cases they were involved in and how starting her podcast to tell their story has given her a voice and begun the process of her healing. To check out The Hall Closet podcast: https://thehallclosetpodcast.com/ Contact me at silverliningshandbookpod@gmail.com Check out the Sil...

Donna Jean Hall grew up in a Philadelphia-area crime family. It was not like being Meadow or A.J. from the Sopranos, but there were some parallels. She did not even realize that the crimes and abuse in her family were out of the normal until one day when her best friends’ family barred them from seeing each other. Along the way, Donna’s stepfather would be exposed as a Philadelphia police informan...

Captain Joe Woyjeck, a Los Angeles firefighter, lost his son, Kevin, in the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire. Kevin was one of the 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a group of wildland firefighters within the Prescott, Arizona Fire Department killed in the Yarnell Hill Fire. Monte Fronk, another emergency responder, lost his daughter, Nada, to a domestic violence murder in St. Paul, Minnesota, in...

I continue my conversation with Gilbert King, the host of Bone Valley , on the relationship that's developed between Jeremy Scott, the man who says he killed Michelle Schofield, and Leo Schofield, who was convicted of her murder. In Part 2 of this conversation, we discuss the evidence against Jeremy, his confession to another crime that could result in a death sentence, Leo's friends who were also...

One man was freed from prison for a murder he says he did not commit. Another man who will never get out is admitting to that murder, but authorities don't believe him. Gilbert King, the host of the hit podcast  Bone Valley , joins me to discuss Season 2 and the relationship between Leo Schofield Jr., who was accused of killing his wife Michelle, and Jeremy Scott, the man who said he killed h...