Unfinished: Short Creek
Short Creek is a community on the Utah/Arizona border that is divided by much more than a state line. On one side are fundamentalist, polygamous Mormons who believe the town should be run by G-d — and his prophet. On the other are ex-believers who want democracy — and the right to believe (or not believe) as they want. When the prophet, Warren Jeffs, goes to prison for sex crimes, the community faces its painful past, and struggles to define its future. As part of the reporting for this project I embedded in Short Creek for three months and lived in the former prophet’s house.
(Host/reporter/producer, from Stitcher/Witness Docs and Critical Frequency)
Witnessed: Mystic Mother
For years, the Phoenix Goddess Temple claimed to offer “seekers” healing through sensual touch. But when an outsider exposes what’s happening behind closed doors, the temple unknowingly welcomes in a new kind of seeker—undercover detectives. What some saw as a spiritual home, the state saw as a brothel operating under the guise of religious freedom. So what happens when your beliefs might be against the law? Mystic Mother follows the rise and fall of the Phoenix Goddess Temple, and tells the story of a community still reckoning with the fallout more than a decade later.
(Managing producer/reporter/writer, from Campside Media)
This Land
ALM — as referred to in court documents — is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. The Brackeens’ case would have been a normal adoption dispute, but then one of the most powerful corporate law firms in the United States took it on and helped the couple launch a federal lawsuit. Today, the lawsuit doesn’t just impact the future of one child, or even the future of one law. It threatens the entire legal structure defending Native American rights. The Peabody Award-nominated second season of This Land is a timely exposé about how the far right is using Native children to quietly dismantle American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda.
(Senior producer, from Crooked Media)
Damages
People don't bring massive lawsuits against their governments or some of the world's largest companies unless they're out of options and ready to fight like hell. That's exactly what's behind the hundreds of court cases seeking justice for the greatest crime against humanity: the climate crisis.
(Senior producer/editor, from Critical Frequency.)
Crime Show: The Salon Bandit
A true crime story told from an unlikely perspective: the person who committed the crimes.
It took years for Joe Watson to build the life he'd always dreamed of: a good career and a happy relationship. It took just months for him to tear it all down. (Reporter/producer, from Gimlet)
Mamas of the Brothels
Natasha Star is one of the highest earning sex workers at the Sagebrush Ranch in Carson City, Nevada. She's also a mom to a five year-old son. In this episode of The Double Shift, we head into brothels to hear from moms and madams about what it’s like to be a parent when your job is different than most nine-to-fives.
(Reporter/producer for The Double Shift)