Appalachian Mysteria
[ Creator / Editor / Co-Producer ]
Appalachian Mysteria is an investigative journalism podcast that tackles mysterious and disturbing deaths in the Appalachian region.
The show crafts a compelling narrative around true events, conducting in-person interviews with lawyers, journalists, victims, jurors, and others — even attending trials in-person. Each season is an 8-episode deep dive into a single case.
Appalachian Mysteria maintains a 4.8-star rating on both iTunes and Spotify after thousands of reviews, and currently has three seasons available. Click on any of the buttons below to go directly to the podcast homepage on your preferred service.
Season One
Mared & Karen: The WVU Coed Murders
Produced in coordination with a Morgantown researcher and a New York Times bestselling coauthor, Season one of Appalachian Mysteria is the true story of two West Virginia University coeds who were beheaded in 1970. When the first story about the podcast appeared in WV Explorer, the web traffic crashed the server.
Mared & Karen: The WVU Coed Murders centers around the disappearance and beheading of two WVU freshmen in 1970. The bizarre case is tailor-made for a true crime retelling, with several baffling twists and turns. The podcast relies on extensive documentation and interviews with those directly involved in the saga of Mared and Karen, including lawyers, reporters, photojournalists, forensics specialists, and many others. The narrative is blended with music from Morgantown artists that reveals the depth of talent residing in the city where the story takes place. This season has been incorporated into regional university curriculum in forensics (WVU), true crime (Marshall University), and podcasting (University of Tennessee), and was awarded the “Mark of Excellence” in radio in-depth reporting by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Season two
Big Savage: The Death of Alexander Stevens
January 3rd, 2017: Two “extremely close friends” perform a ritual on a clifftop in Savage River Forest. By morning, only one is still alive. Big Savage: The Death of Alexander Stevens is an 8-part investigation into the baffling trial of a young woman charged with murder and assisted suicide for the same death.
Season two employs Kromatic Media’s usual in-depth reporting, but also supplements narrative with audio from police and emergency teams during their investigation. Over the course of the show, Kromatic covers the trial of Megan Shaffer day–by–day, including interviews with multiple reporters in the courtroom and jurors who determined her fate.
After being denied 911 audio in the case, Kromatic Media sued Garret County, MD, for breach of public information laws, winning the court case and setting precedent that preserves access to both individuals and media through the state of Maryland.
SEASON THREE
Outlandish
Memorial Day weekend, 1996: Two hikers are found murdered at their campsite in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.
As their lesbian relationship becomes a media focus, one investigator with the National Park Service works alongside federal agents to find the person responsible for the brutal killing.
One year later, a man is arrested for another attack in the park, making him the prime suspect and the first hate crime prosecution for sexual identity in the nation’s history. But as prosecutors attempt to mount a case, a serial killer’s violent death throws the identity of the couple’s murderer even further into question.
Outlandish is an epic 11-part undertaking that centers around the unsolved slayings of Julie Williams and Lollie Winans, but weaves through the cases of nearly 10 other victims — most in the same region and timeframe — through interviews with reporters, lawyers, investigators, and even survivors.
Hopestream
[ Producer ]
Hopestream Community™ is a collection of support and educational services for parents of adolescents and young adults struggling with substance use and mental health challenges. We provide connection, education, and healing through powerful, always-on communities, workshops, a podcast, and wellness-focused retreats and events.
The Hopestream podcast is made specifically for parents of the community. Consistently ranking in the top 200 parenting shows on iTunes, it features interviews with psych and behavioral health experts, as well as people directly experiencing the costs of substance abuse for families. Brenda Zane is the creator of the Hopestream Community, connecting parents with each other and the resources they need to make it through a difficult time.
Lawful Good
[ Editor / Cowriter ]
Lawful Good is a podcast that conducts personal interviews some of the most prominent lawyers in the nation, including:
Mike Papantonio — Inductee to the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, Best Lawyers in America since 1999, television presenter, co-host of nationally syndicated radio program Ring of Fire, and author of several books
Benjamin Crump — Civil rights and catastrophic injury attorney, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, attorney for the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake
Other Podcast Projects
The Peculiar Legend
of the Morgantown Snake
Remembering Eric McGuire
A bizarre call to police about a 15-foot-long python on the loose results in a cascade of events that affects local residents in unexpected ways. But did the snake even exist?
In 2011, West Virginia morning DJ Eric McGuire vanished from the airwaves. Soon afterward, rumors of his death began to swirl.