152: The Art of True Crime Storytelling with David Ridgen

Harry Duran [0:01 - 0:02]: Ah.

David Ridgen [0:06 - 0:22]: Sometimes all people want to know is where's the body? Right? Like I don't care who did it. I want to know where she is. Is the. What I hear from mothers, you know, they did. They don't even need to get in the courtroom. They just want to find her or him or. And know where they.

Harry Duran [0:28 - 5:24]: Podcast Junkies, we are back. It's episode 152. I'm your host, Harry Duran. If you are new, then I'm virtually high fiving you because I love when new people find the show. I see comments every now and then on Twitter and on Facebook that people are discovering it and that just makes my my heart warm and welcome you to the Podcast Junkies family. So this is the show where we get to speak to a wide range of podcasters. That's the unifying thread. They're all amazing podcasters. Some have been doing it for 10 plus years. Some have just been getting started. And this is an interesting week. This is an interesting episode. My conversation with David Ridgen. But before I go there, in case you missed last week's show, we spoke to Clay Groves. He's the host of the Fish Nerds podcast. Probably ranks as one of the top album arts or episodes covers or what do you want to call it, Artwork. Because I always ask the guests to submit a photo so you know I'm putting them in the best light when I share it on social media. And Clay's did not disappoint. So please check it out. I won't give it away, but check out the artwork for episode 151. You can check that out@podcastjunkies.com 151 to see the very fun image that Clay spoke. We had a really fun time talking about ice fishing and all. He's a sort of jack of all trades and just a very entertaining personality. So that was a lot of fun to record. I met him at MapCon this week. Like I mentioned, David Ridgeon, he's a filmmaker at cbc, which is the Canadian Broadcasting Company. And he's been trained as a documentary storyteller and as a filmmaker, as a screenwriter, and as an investigative journalist. And he's been there over 10 years. And this is a really interesting conversation, guys and gals, because throughout the conversation we talk actually about the difference between making a podcast and making an investigative film. We mentioned the unfamiliarity of podcasts in Canada, how David goes about finding a case to investigate. This all comes on the heels, just to set some context of an introduction that was made to me where I found out about David's work and initially I'll be quite honest, I'm not a big fan of the true crime genre, but I think I've been limiting myself and after this conversation with David my mind has been opened up and to seeing and hearing some of the great work that folks like him are putting together. So I think you'll really find it interesting. Just continuing, we talked about how many families are still seeking closure from unsolved crime cases. And like we think like even with all the true crime podcast out there that there's a glut. But when you think about the that compared to how many unsolved cases there are, it's really probably close. Not even a drop in the bucket. And I'm just fascinated by the lengthy scripts that are involved to produce someone knows something specifically David's show. So really, really interesting discussion. I'm really happy to share share it with you. So as always, the full show notes are going to be available@podcastjunkies.com 152 and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to look through those and you'll see that we have I knew I was going to mess that phrase up. Tweetable quotes or tweetables as they're called. So if you see something that's of interest to you that we talked about, that's a very easy way to share. Any links mentioned, we have a summary, we have timestamps, we put a lot of work into those, a lot of our heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, what have you. So if that's of interest to you, then definitely check that out. This episode is brought to you by Podbean. So Podbean right now is having a special they're calling it Celebrate the Holidays with Free Recording Gear and it's a partnership with Samson. As their way of thanking all the folks who are just kicking butt with podcasts, they've partnered together and provided a special holiday gift to one lucky podcaster. So from just ongoing through December 15th, any podcaster can enter. So you'll be hearing this in time to win a Samson streaming studio. It's going to include a dynamic microphone, desktop stand us USB mixer, headphones, XLR cable. Really, really awesome offer. All you have to do is head on over to podcastjunkies.com podbeansamson all one word p o d B E A N S A M S O N Podbean Samson and you can sign up for the giveaway there. Stay tuned to the end of the episode where I reveal this week's amazing retention hashtag. They're always amazing, aren't they? But for now, enjoy this really fascinating discussion. Really, really interesting with David. So, David Ridgeon, thank you so much for joining us on Podcast Junkies.

David Ridgen [5:25 - 5:26]: Thanks for having me.

Harry Duran [5:26 - 5:50]: So, David, we were connected because of some work that you're doing on Someone Knows Something. It's a new true crime podcast. And True Crime seems to be top of mind for a lot of people right now. And it was born from CBS Radio. So can you talk a little bit about the podcast itself and then we'll dig into a little bit of your background?

irst case I worked on is this: 1964

Harry Duran [8:29 - 8:41]: So you've also made four investigative films as well. Can you talk a little bit about the difference between the work that goes into making a film as opposed to what you're experiencing now with these seasons of the podcast?

David Ridgen [8:41 - 9:41]: Yeah, I love the podcast format because it affords a lot of space so we can tell stories in a much more breathable fashion. We can put a lot more depth into the story, we can put a lot more information in. Whereas in television, television documentaries and radio documentaries, radio is a little bit more expansive, but there's a tendency to edit towards the slot. So you have a, you know, a 12 minute slot or a 20 minute slot and you have to compact your message, you have to compact your interviews, and you have to compact your relationships all into those slots. Whereas podcasting allows you to tell the story to the length it should be. You know, it's also, it's not that podcasting is basically like reading a novel. It's not endless. But podcasting, in my experience in True Crime, allows us to tell the fuller story in a much more natural way, I think, than. Than any of the other media.

Harry Duran [9:41 - 9:51]: Do you remember when the moment when you realized or you became aware of podcasting as a platform for delivering this kind of message?

-: 11:13

Harry Duran [: 11:13

David Ridgen [: 11:36

Harry Duran [: 12:53

David Ridgen [: 13:12

Harry Duran [: 16:14

David Ridgen [: 16:30

Harry Duran [: 18:01

David Ridgen [: 18:32

Harry Duran [: 19:34

David Ridgen [: 19:53

Harry Duran [: 21:46

David Ridgen [: 22:16

Harry Duran [: 22:56

David Ridgen [: 23:13

Harry Duran [: 25:04

David Ridgen [: 25:16

Harry Duran [: 27:52

David Ridgen [: 28:21

Harry Duran [: 30:04

David Ridgen [: 30:37

Harry Duran [: 31:37

David Ridgen [: 31:38

Harry Duran [: 31:41

David Ridgen [: 31:56

Harry Duran [: 33:57

David Ridgen [: 34:01

Harry Duran [: 36:00

David Ridgen [: 36:10

Harry Duran [: 37:38

David Ridgen [: 38:03

Harry Duran [: 38:20

David Ridgen [: 38:20

Harry Duran [: 38:44

David Ridgen [: 38:57

Harry Duran [: 40:35

David Ridgen [: 40:44

Harry Duran [: 41:01

David Ridgen [: 41:02

Harry Duran [: 41:03

David Ridgen [: 41:10

Harry Duran [: 41:24

David Ridgen [: 41:29

Harry Duran [: 41:29

David Ridgen [: 41:35

Harry Duran [: 42:13

David Ridgen [: 42:22

Harry Duran [: 42:31

David Ridgen [: 42:59

Harry Duran [: 43:29

David Ridgen [: 43:35

Harry Duran [: 43:50

David Ridgen [: 43:56

Harry Duran [: 43:57

David Ridgen [: 47:18