The Dead To Me Podcast: Recent Episodes
Andy Kopsa
Dead means a lot of things more than just slipping out of our bodies and heading to the sweet hereafter. I investigate dead languages, true crime cases, mercy killings, death investigators, television shows and more
Brittany's case isn't considered "cold" by the Tulsa Police Department. Meaning: public information - because this is an open investigation - is hard to come by. Rightfully so - nothing should jeopardize a court case when an arrest is finally made._________________________________
Some things are knowable with the information we do have. In this episode I run through the known facts of Brittany's case at this time. When new information is discovered the facts could shift.
If you have actionable information about the murder of Brittany Phillips, please email tips to TPDColdCaseHomicide@cityoftulsa.org, or phone the Tulsa Cold Case Homicide Unit at 918-596-9133._________________________
If you have general ideas or theories please share them here. If you have confidential inquiries you can email me: andy@andykopsa.com — I respect requests for anonymity. I never use anything a person tells me without clear permission. I don’t publish rumors — DO NOT post people’s names or photos please!
Happy Christmas, or yule, or Saturnalia or whatever you celebrate this time of year --- when the veil is thinnest between here and the great hereafter.
I give a brief history of everything from dragging shrubbery into our homes for the holidays, cats and dogs living together in harmony, druids, Romans, and of course the Victorians.
So enjoy this quick listen - stay safe, wear a mask and FFS wear a mask.
Megan Gannon is a science journalist focusing on archeological digs and discoveries. She was born and raised in NY but now lives full time in Berlin.
We talk a bit today about her recent article in Popular Science Magazine (recently featured by Apple News as a Weekend Must Read) and what it means when a plastics giant threatens both the lives and history of one Black community in Louisiana.
There will be unintentional puns and really bad archeology jokes - and I don't apologize at all.
Please make sure to read--because it is so good:
https://www.popsci.com/story/science/louisiana-formosa-chemical-construction-slave-cemetery/
Did you ever worry about being abducted by a creepy green water sprite while doing your laundry in a pond? I didn't either until I headed back to the old country of Czech Republic and learned a lot about water safety.----more----
https://www.patreon.com/deadtome
----more----
https://english.radio.cz/karel-jaromir-erben-one-greatest-all-czech-poets-now-last-english-translation-8090894
https://www.patreon.com/deadtome COVID19 getting you down? Feel helpless if you live in a state that doesn't really seem to care about science?
This episode could help -- could help -- I am not a doctor or lawyer I am just a grumpy lady who has had it up to here with this nonsense. There is recourse - your state medical licensing board.
NOTE!! There is some graphic detail in this episode.
Did you know that too often elected county sheriffs have no oversight? This week I want to warn you all: there is some disturbing stuff in this episode including the work of forensic pathologists that is briefly graphic. Also, there is a brief overview of a Supreme Court case involving the murder of three young girls.
Reference Links: https://www.kqed.org/news/11638866/pathologists-say-san-joaquin-sheriffs-meddling-could-have-compromised-murder-cases
https://cspoa.org
Connecticut votes to abolish sheriff system:
https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Connecticut-voters-decide-to-abolish-11939612.php
ALEC: https://www.alec.org
My good friend Patti tells me all about her dad, her love of halloween (and it is THE most wonderful time of year), the Troubles and maybe some dandy highwaymen.
Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite authors - dead authors that is. She is famous for her works The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived at the Castle and scads more.
But when living in Southern Vermont with her husband and four kids, a girl goes missing, and Shirley starts writing (not that she ever stopped). Over several years people would simply disappear in the wilderness sometimes referred to as The Bennington Triangle. Did any of these disappearances influence the subtle, terrifying writings of Jackson?
Please subscribe, like and post a (nice) comment if you enjoy this fledgeling podcast.
Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/deadtome?fan_landing=true
Sources and more!
http://www.benningtontriangle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/p9353068.jpg
http://ruthfranklin.net/author/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/10/shirley-jackson-ruth-franklin-review-a-rather-haunted-life
https://www.christianscience.com
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/legacy-of-author-shirley-jackson-lives-on-in-sonoma-county/
https://twitter.com/LaurenceJH99
By Joseph Citro:
https://www.amazon.com/Passing-Strange-England-Hauntings-Horrorsebook/dp/B007QUU6XS
Bigfoot! https://www.bfro.net
Rebecca Robinson (SPJ freelancer page): https://www.spj.org/fdb-detail.asp?cmd=&ref=1088
Other stuff:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/29/shirley-jacksons-son-talks-to-his-fictional-mom-elisabeth-moss
https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2019/12/12/the-strange-disappearance-of-paulajean-weldon-in-the-bennington-triangle
https://crossettlibrary.dspacedirect.org/bitstream/handle/11209/12086/31October2003BFP.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
https://bookriot.com/shirley-jackson-books/
https://www.ttbook.org/interview/laurence-jackson-hyman-we-have-always-lived-castle
Cathy was a juror seated in a 2006 murder trail. After two weeks in the courtroom the jury - her jury - was sequestered for two nights until they reached a verdict. This isn't like Law and Order.
Leo Kopsa was born on October 14, 1936 - to wish dad a happy birthday I present gall stones, wooden legs and playing the long game. I can only share little bits of dad with you so far - because I still think - in part - if I share too much I will give him all away.
But really? There is plenty of Leo Kopsa's epic bohemian weirdness to wrap us all in a fuzzy blanket as we stare at the stars and wonder: would I keep my gall stones?
Me?
Yes, all day long, yes.
When needs must - going back to the well of my reporting back in 2018 about the Proud Boys in bed with the GOP because FFS they got a shout out on a presidential debate stage. Lots of swearing in this one people.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I watched another Miss Marple - not the debates.
Bouquets and Brickbats can be sent here: andy@andykopsa.com
Niki Conrad is the daughter of Nick and Nedra Conrad. She was born and raised in Fort Dodge Iowa. As a fellow Iowan she is naturally spectacular. In addition to being naturally spectacular, she (like me) has a dad who is dead. Unlike me, she was in the midst of a campaign for Webster County Supervisor.
She tells me, for better or worse "death and I have been pals" for a long ass time.
She got through the campaign with help from friends, family and the Fort Dodge community - and she proudly - and patriotically - serves that community today. Just as her dad served his country during the Vietnam Era.
The death of her young sister, the death of her father, and now facing an unmitigated COVID19 pandemic, Niki and I talk dads, grief, empathy anger and how to be a mask wearing patriot without really trying.
Niki = one of my favorite people.
Dirty Word Alert
Today I explain how against my best efforts I gave in to adopting a kitty who ended up saving my life - and biting my legs off.
Genesis 3:16 is pretty clear on the matter of ladies, childbirth and pain. An even-tempered Old Testament God cursed Eve and her offspring (which, I mean technically include men...but) because she ate food when she was hangry. This brief palette cleanser of an episode chats up the wonders of chloroform, a bunch of cheery Scots an equal number of grumpy Scottish Calvinists and the birth (get it?) of anesthesia for labor and delivery!
This is an expanded version of my interview with Heather, a friend and medical death investigator in our home state of Iowa.
The original version is only about 15 minutes long and offers a good overview of her job, and the job of some trained medical professionals who investigate deaths. But, there was some good stuff I left out - including an anecdote about her dad and my dad back home in Beaman, how we believe talking about death = less hysteria and fear about death, and some minor navel gazing by me - the would be podcaster.
ORIGINAL
Heather is a medical examiner investigator. She has been a nurse for 9 years and working in death investigation for 3 years. She and I grew up in the same neck of the woods in Iowa and she still lives and works there. There are a lot of different systems throughout the US of death investigations. Some systems are questionable, lacking rigorous oversight or - not kidding - medical training.
But, lucky for us Iowa isn't one of those. Heather tells me about her job - at least some of it. Come for the talk of death investigation stay for two Golden Girls trivia questions.
Full disclosure: there is one f'bomb in this - but it is well deserved.
Over 30 years ago Czechoslovakia staged he Velvet Revolution. So named because from the outside looking in the revolution - resulting in expulsion of the USSR and renewed free open elections - looked peaceful. And for the most part in 1989 it was. But the movement for a free, liberal, democratic Czechoslovakia stretched back decades to the Prague Spring which was anything but peaceful.
This is the article I wrote over a year ago for TIME for the 30 year anniversary
https://time.com/5730106/velvet-revolution-history/
Audio from Jan Palach's last interview Radio Prague International: https://www.radio.cz/en/section/czech-history/czech-martyr-jan-palachs-enduring-legacy-50-years-after-his-self-immolation
Society’s understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder was limited in 1978 and associated almost exclusively with wartime experiences, falling under the umbrella of what was often thought of as “shell shock.” Even less was known about the impact a mass casualty recovery mission would have on first responders. A smattering of studies had been done by the military on nurses, for example, but the literature was sparse.
Jonestown was a more massacre than mass suicide and the recovery effort was daunting. After the US Air Force and volunteers recovered the over 900 bodies from the Guyanese jungle the USAF knew they needed to find out how the first responders coped.
https://time.com/longform/jonestown-aftermath/
https://jonestown.sdsu.edu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OapPeL-69Ns
https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Section-1-has-referrals.pdf
Ann Neumann is the Author of The Good Death: An exploration of Dying in America. We cover a lot of ground in this episode. There is so much to yap about at this very moment from dying, living, pandemics, misinformation, health care - you can see where I am going with this.
In part one we discuss terminology - how we talk about death and end of life care, the logistics of death care including hospice, living wills, etc., and Ann's current deluge of work amid the COVID19 pandemic in NYC.
Read her thoughtful and nuanced work:
End of life planning during a plague: https://www.vox.com/2020/4/15/21220975/coronavirus-end-of-life-planning
Stories of nursing home workers: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/14/nursing-home-workers-carers-coronavirus
Beautiful work (and amazing photos by http://laylahbarrayn.com) about funeral directors in New York during the pandemic
Her Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Death-Exploration-Dying-America/dp/0807076996
Fortunetellers, strangers poking a dead man's body in the early 1900s death on full display. My Great great grandpa had the decency to die out in public - in a decidedly spectacular way. If I know small towns like I think I do, there is a good chance people in Coon Rapids, Iowa are still gossiping about it today. Public inquests, lawsuits, train suction and safe school crossings. Oh, and a fortuneteller because of course there is a fortuneteller.
In 1916 James Titus was sucked under a train on his way home from seeing a traveling fortune teller. He's my twice great grandpa and today on dead to me, I talk about his death, the newspaper chatter of the day, public death inquest and death foretold.
Heather is a medical examiner investigator. She has been a nurse for 9 years and working in death investigation for 3 years. She and I grew up in the same neck of the woods in Iowa and she still lives and works there. There are a lot of different systems throughout the US of death investigations. Some systems are questionable, lacking rigorous oversight or - not kidding - medical training.
But, lucky for us Iowa isn't one of those. Heather tells me about her job - at least some of it. Come for the talk of death investigation stay for two Golden Girls trivia questions.
Full disclosure: there is one f'bomb in this - but it is well deserved.