The Silver Linings Handbook

Damian Bloss grew up in a rural farm community in Maryland dreaming about becoming a baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles. But life took a different turn. He never viewed himself as an addict, but, now, he says he was. After 20 years of active addiction and trying to get sober on his own, Damian realized that he had no one to hold him accountable and he was the least suited for the job. Damie...

This is the re-release of an episode from June 2 2024. In Part 2, Allison Dickson and I continue the conversation about the 1975 disappearances of two sisters, Katherine and Sheila Lyon. We follow the cold case detectives as they discover witnesses, suspects and forensic evidence that becomes key to cracking one aspect of the case. We explore and the bizarre culture that surrounded this main suspe...

This is the re-release of an episode from May 30, 2024. Allison Dickson and I discuss the 1975 disappearances of two sisters, Katherine and Sheila Lyon. The girls vanished from a mall in Wheaton, Maryland. Witnesses reported seeing a strange man with a tape recorder, but after a massive search, this case, that transformed the Washington, DC area, went cold. That was until 2011, when Montgomery Cou...

Tammy Cox grew up in a deeply religious home, but one that was also mired in domestic violence and control. Now, a trauma specialist and coach, joins me to talk about healing from religious trauma, being able to reclaim your spirituality and worldview using vulnerability to heal and how to have meaningful and positive relationships after you've walked through something like this. Contact me at sil...

The growing popularity of social media has provided a means for people to reach large, global audiences, and Internet celebrities have taken over Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The grassroots movement was once seen as a way to empower people to get around gatekeepers but now it has come under criticism for its impact on people. Giovanna Silvestre is a social media influencer, has her own...

Join me as I continue my conversation with Jennifer Santanello, whose daughter, 20-year-old Layla Santanello went missing in Kingsport, Tennesse on June 26, 2023. As the investigation moves at breakneck speed, rabbit holes and clues begin to emerge, including a bizarre string of messages asking for money for Layla's safe return. Listen to Part 1 at: 132. The Disappearance of Layla Santanello and I...

The day of Monday, June 26, 2023, seemed to be a confusing one for Layla Santanello. After an argument with her boyfriend's family, she was staying at the Americourt Extended Stay Hotel in Kingsport, Tennessee, with a friend. Her now thin frame, her bleached blonde hair, her wry smile and a long-sleeved shirt with "FU" on it that captured her spunk, were all in the last known image of her, caught...

The shoe goes on the other foot in this episode where I am interviewed by A.J. Daulerio, the editor of The Small Bow and former of editor of Gawker . We talk addiction, recovery, scandal, getting over yourself, getting the help you need and helping others. We talk the tools - among them, the little bows and arrows -- that make all the difference in living a better life. To check out The Small Bow...

A.J. Daulerio, the former of editor of  Gawker , and my kindred spirit in a journalistic scandal and I continue our discussion about how you learn from, let go of and live with your past. This is the second of two episodes. To read about A.J.'s scandal at  Gawker : https://inboxcollective.com/a-surprising-gift-how-a-j-daulerio-turned-the-worst-time-in-his-life-into-something-beautiful/ T...

How do you learn to live with your past? Looking back and regretting your past mistakes is a healthy thing for everyone to do, but what happens when it goes to far or the mistake is so big that it is hard to get it out of your mind. Former Gawker  editor A.J. Daulerio - my kindred spirit in massive journalistic scandals -- joins me to discuss learning from, letting go of and learning to live...

Brett Talley and Alice LaCour of The Prosecutors  join Julia Cowley of The Consult  and me to discuss ethics in true crime and more. Fill out our Listener Survey at: https://bit.ly/slhwinter25survey Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at: https://silverliningshandbook.com/ Check out our Patreon to support the show at: https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandboo k Join our F...

We continue our discussion with Jason Usry, the host of the new podcast "Inconceivable: The Temujin Kensu Story" about the 1986 murder of Scott Macklem in Port Huron, Michigan and conviction of Kensu, who was alibied by several witnesses hundreds of miles away before and after the crime. For 37 years, Kensu has made a pretty persuasive case for his innocence yet he is still in prison. Why? We expl...

After being convicted of the 1986 murder of 20-year-old college student Scott Macklem in a college parking lot in Michigan, Temujun Kensu yelled "They got the wrong man. I'll beat them on appeal" as court officers took him away. More than three decades later, Temujin is still waiting. Why? Jason Usry, the host of the new podcast Inconceivable: The Temujin Kensu Story , joins to discuss what his in...

We return to our conversation with Lisa Brat Martinez, the advocate for Pablo Velez Jr., whose murder conviction is the most egregious case of wrongful conviction that I have ever seen. This is Part 2 of Pablo and Lisa's story where we dive more into the case, the things about our justice system that makes it difficult to reverse convictions and hope for Pablo. Listen to Part One with Lisa at: htt...

Lisa Brat Marteniz, an advocate for Pablo Velez Jr., was sitting in her bathroom with a bottle of pills and did not want to live anymore. That's when she heard her phone ding. Soon, she was reading about Pablo Velez Jr., a man who was undoubtedly wrongfully convicted. They struck up a friendship and she began crusading for Pablo in the most egregious case of wrongful conviction that I have ever se...

Sabrina Schnoor was a mom, a graduate of a high school in Owatonna, Minnesota and the kind of young woman who still loved to go fishing with her grandpa. On May 30, 2023, Sabrina agreed to meet her ex-boyfriend, Jason Horner, at his request for closure after they had recently broken up. When Sabrina did not return home, her friends tracked her using the Life360 app, and found her dead along r...

On a Sunday morning in April 1973, a 19-year-old drama major at the University of North Carolina, Asheville got dressed and left her dorm to walk the trails to the Biltmore botanical gardens to study in quiet and beauty as she liked to do on most weekends. Hours later, two teenagers stumbled onto the scene of her brutal murder. Was it an escaped psychiatric patient? Did a student kill her? Was it...

Ken Kunken experienced near-total paralysis from the shoulders down while playing football at Cornell University. Ken went on to become one of the most celebrated prosecutors in the Nassau County, New York District Attorney's Office. In this episode, we discuss Ken's journey of resilience and learning to thrive with a disability. Ken notes that even loss -- even of something as devastating as losi...

A revolution is occurring in using DNA analysis and forensic genetic genealogy to solve cases. David Mittelman, the co-founder of Othram Labs, and a pioneer in this work, joins to discuss recent cases his team has been involved in, the latest advances and more. To listen to David's wife and co-founder, Kristen Mittelman, talk more about these topics you can listen to the two episodes she joined us...

After television anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared in the morning on her way into work, law enforcement in Iowa and Minnesota swarmed onto the case. Over time, as few clues emerged, a group of journalists who carried about Jodi's case banded together to search for clues about her disappearance and keep pressure on authorities. Caroline Lowe, a veteran Minnesota television journalist, joins me to...

In the early morning hours of June 27, 1995, television anchor Jodi Huisentruit disappeared on her way to work at her Mason City, Iowa station. Police found a bent key, a bag, a hairdryer and at least one red high-heel shoe outside the door of her red Mazda Miata parked in her apartment complex. What happened to Jodi has become a 30-year mystery for her family, law enforcement and the journalism c...

On Halloween 1985, 17-year-old Susan Snow was getting dressed in her costume to go out with her friends when the telephone rang, and it forever transformed her life. Her father, Detective Thomas Williams of the Los Angeles Police Department, had been assassinated by gunmen as he was picking up Susan's little brother from school. She found herself in the spotlight on one of the biggest national cri...

Ashley Loring Heavyrunner was last seen on a June 2017 night near Browning, Montana. Ashley was 20 years old and an aspiring environmental scientist who was noted for her intelligence, her love of animals, her infectious humor and her communication skills. After Ashley broke up with her first love and her grandfather died, her sister, Kimberly Loring, says she fell on hard times and into a bad cro...

In this episode, I talk with Dana Diaz about her journey of overcoming a lifetime of abuse. Dana discusses her experiences with physical, emotional, and psychological abuse and trauma, and the intergenerational cycle of abuse that so many people face. Despite the stigma and shame surrounding psychological abuse, Dana has emerged as a voice for those who cannot speak out. We explore the complexitie...

Janet Sherlund was adopted as a child and is grateful for her new parents. But she also recognizes the trauma that comes from being pulled away from your family of origin, your history and move and talk like you. In some ways, she felt that she was being painted on like a canvas, turned into the image of others and not who she really was. After being given away by her parents, she was never secure...