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The Escape Pod
A traumedy about the trials and tribulations of people in their journeys of “escape”. Escape what, you ask? ALL the things! From trauma, crime, and unhealthy family cycles, to traffic and good deeds not going unpunished. Like we said—all the things! (Just tune in…you’ll understand.) Co-hosted by Julie Oberlander and Charity Doyle--the journalist and the rehabbed trainwreck--The Escape Pod aims to connect, educate, entertain, and humanize through the lens of lived experience.
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Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
Americans are certainly not the only people who mark major holidays by shooting explosives with pretty colors high into the air. Our friends in the United Kingdom have a rather unique holiday in the fall, Bonfire Night, which typically includes – you guessed it – bonfires, fireworks, and other festival-type activities. But in one particular U.K. community, the use of fireworks started to become more felonious than fun. How did the authorities there help the townspeople escape the chaos? Find out in this Escape Bite mini-sode!
Resources & Links
Guy Fawkes background
Historic Royal Palaces: Guy Fawkes info
Bonfire Nights in Bristol
Operation Hercules
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https://www.escapepod.live
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General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
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5 days ago
5 days ago
DISCLAIMER: Comments and stories shared in this episode are not intended to demean anyone, but – rather – to find a little “funny” in the extremely challenging work that is the human services field.
A popular Escape Pod guest is back – and taking us on a trip back to Left Field. This is where we go to find humor on hard days in the human services world because, as it turns out, humans coming out of crisis mode say and do the darndest things, and we’re here for it.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 1:09 Chad returns!
Topic #2 8:27 The List: Documenting the comments that crack us up
Topic #3 22:35 Come on vacation, stay on ... WHAT?!
Topic #4 30:23 Escapism, co-host-style
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapePod.traumedy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
Thursday Jul 03, 2025
BE ADVISED: This mini-sode contains content that listeners/viewers might find extremely disturbing, including discussion of sexual violence against women and torture.
This Escape Bite mini-sode features a mini-competition. Your co-hosts were given the prompt “Criminals Who Were Victims First” and told to find a true crime story to match it. SPOILER ALERT: Nobody wins when murder is involved, but if you are as curious as we are about the possilbe “whys” behind some crimes, you definitely want to tune in.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 2:15 Julie’s story: The murder of Chester Allan Poage
Topic #2 15:35 Charity’s story: The Co-ed Killer
Topic #3 27:49 A silver lining?
Resources & Links
Defendant’s mother testifies
Piper’s team argues for new trial
SD Attorney General’s response to judge’s decision
com - Edmund Kemper: Biography
All That’s Interesting - The Disturbing Crimes of Edmund Kemper, The Co-Ed Killer
Photo: Getty Images—Edmund Kemper’s mugshot Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images Ed Kemper being escorted into Judge Donald May’s court by the police.
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapePod.traumedy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
Wednesday Jul 02, 2025
BE ADVISED: This episode includes discussion of suicide and other sensitive subject matter. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health and/or suicidal ideations, please call or text 988, and remember ... YOU MATTER.
The saying goes: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me. Not so, Escape Artists, not so – as proven by today’s episode in which a teen girl’s text messages are used against her as she faces charges in her friend’s tragic death. What does this case tell us about the power of influence in the digital age? And where does the First Amendment fit in? The co-hosts debate and discuss it all in this edition of The Escape Pod.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 1:12 Escaping a glitch in The Matrix (kidding ... kind of)
Topic #2 9:50 Meet Michelle and Conrad
Topic #3 21:39 A suicide investigation becomes a homicide case
Topic #4 36:15 Escapism, co-host-style
Resources & Links
Michelle Carter Case: The 'Texting-Suicide' Case Five Years After Sentencing
Death of Conrad Roy
Michelle Carter’s Texting Suicide Trial Revisited
The Death of Conrad Roy: Michelle Carter's 'Virtual Presence' and 'Failure to Act' in Texting Case
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast Episode 161 : The Encouraged Suicide of Conrad Roy by Michelle Carter
The Girl From Plainville: Where is Michelle Carter Now?
Homicide by Text: Michelle Carter and the Death of Conrad Roy
Esquire: The Girl from Plainville
Inside the True Story of Michelle Carter, the Teen in the 'Texting Suicide Case'
Michelle Carter's Trial Sparked a Nationwide Debate About Mental Illness
Facebook photo of Michelle Carter
Conrad Roy and Michelle Carter Photo: Facebook; Getty Images
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapePod.traumedy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
Thursday Jun 26, 2025
Thursday Jun 26, 2025
In a recent Escape Bite, the ladies of The Escape Pod got a little freaked out by the use of AI deepfakes to con an employee at an international company out of millions of dollars. (Turns out, the “people” on the video conference call were not people at all.) In this mini-sode, the co-hosts take a turn toward the positive, offering up real examples of the use of artificial intelligence to actually fight crimes – not just commit them.
Resources & Links
CNN article on deepfake scam in Hong Kong
A&E TV blog on AI’s use in investigations
DHS info
Police Chief Magazine on AI’s use in investigations
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
Wednesday Jun 25, 2025
The Escape Pod travels back in time to delve into the fascinating and often perilous history of arsenic – not in the committing of crimes, but in the creation of artwork. This episode is a classic case of the human race “living and learning” from past mistakes, so tune in as we unravel the stories of beauty intertwined with toxicity, where the allure of brilliant colors comes at a dire price.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 3:58 Learning the hard way
Topic #2 9:51 Bradford Suite poisoning
Topic #3 14:55 If the walls could talk
Topic #4 21:31 Escapism, co-host-style
Resources & Links
Drop Dead Gorgeous: A Tale of Arsenic in Victorian Life
Arsenic: A Domestic Poison
Arsenic: A Murderous History
Green Death | The Art History of Arsenic
Bradford Sweets Poisoning
English Beer Poisoning
Was Napoleon Killed by Wallpaper?
Arsenic-Containing Foods
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
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Thursday Jun 19, 2025
Thursday Jun 19, 2025
Artificial intelligence, like any technology, has its pros and cons. It can predict words before this writer even thinks of them. Helpful? Sometimes yes. But in this Escape Bite mini-sode, the co-hosts get down-right freaked out by a case of true crime in which AI deepfakes caused an international company to lose millions.
Resources & Links
DHS report on AI
CNN article on deepfake scam in Hong Kong
Guardian article on scam
Arup video on deepfake fraud
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapePod.traumedy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
He is proof that a person’s past does not have to define their future. Mayor Jason Salamun’s mother struggled with addiction. His parents divorced when he was young, and after that, the family’s housing ranged from none at all to crack houses and trailer parks. But his grandparents’ home was safe and loving, and with their encouragement he escaped his challenging childhood, moved to South Dakota to live with his father, and – eventually – entered local politics. We conclude our conversation with the mayor in this edition of The Escape Pod.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 :54 Goals (including a world championship!)
Topic #2 7:42 Navigating challenging issues
Topic #3 21:00 Respecting resilience
Topic #4 38:12 Escapism, co-host-style!
Sign up to be a Patron today! Get access to the Patron-Only Facebook Group, Bonus Episodes, and more.
https://www.escapepod.live
Do you have a story that you want to share with EscapePod? Or do you just want to reach out to us with your comments and thoughts?
General mail: justbecause@escapepod.live
Submit listener stories: escapeartist@escapepod.live
On Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EscapePod.traumedy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/escape_pod_podcast/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Escape_Pod_podcast/videos
EscapePod
Join co-hosts Charity Doyle and Julie Oberlander, along with occasional guests, as they laugh (and cry) their way through past traumas and give tips to getting through tough times.
Life is full of ups and downs and it takes you to crazy places and we need each other to make it through.
Are you an escape artist? Consider becoming a patron and supporting the show!
Your support will help our small 3-person podcast team offset the costs associated with writing, producing, and promoting the show. Any amount is sincerely appreciated. What's more, your support will help us do what we do best: help others escape and break unhealthy cycles on their way to better lives.
Choose from the options below:
Escape Pod BFF!
$10per month
This patron level is for supporters who are all-in!
~Get a special shout-out on the show.
~Receive a hand-written thank you from the hosts with a special Escape Pod sticker.
~Gain access to gated patron-only bonus content and ad-free episodes.
~Participate in our patrons-only Facebook page.
~Vote on future show topics.
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I LOVE Escape Pod!
$5per month
This patron level is for supporters who are willing to give the monetary equivalent of a cup of coffee each month to support the costs associated with producing the show.
~Get a special shout-out on the show.
~Receive a hand-written thank you from the hosts with a special Escape Pod sticker.
~Gain access to gated patron-only bonus content and ad-free episodes.
~Participate in our patrons-only Facebook page.
GIVE $5
Escape Pod Fan
$2per month
This patron level is in honor of people struggling in the crisis of poverty and who feel moved to support the show and our mission to help people just like them.
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Disclaimer
The EscapePod podcast and content posted is presented solely for general information, educational, and entertainment purposes.