How can a justice system allow an innocent man to remain in prison?

Bone Valley explores that maddening question and so much more.

In addition to the moral cost of incarcerating the innocent, it’s also literally expensive. Today’s guests are going to share about the high cost of wrongful convictions.In addition to their passion, Maggie and Jason bring us staggering statistics around wrongful convictions and women in prison. These two understand the plights of the wrongfully convicted more than most and I hope you will listen, learn and be moved to action.

What happens when political corruption leads to a wrongful conviction? Unfortunately, that’s what unfolds in the podcast, Murder in Oregon, hosted and produced by today’s guest, Lauren Bright Pacheco. Lauren is an Emmy award winning TV Producer who has parlayed her storytelling skills to podcasting. It’s in this medium that she discovered “audio activism” which has illuminated something I’ve been seeking for quite some time!

What happens to an exoneree after they are released? Let's find out as we welcome BACK today’s guest, Jeff Deskovic. A truly remarkable human, Jeff is an exoneree, an advocate for criminal justice reform, a lawyer, and the founder of the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation.

What do you get when a successful reality TV producer crosses paths with a celebrity so famous that her social media following rivals the population of a small country?

A true crime podcast called THE SYSTEM, executive produced and hosted by Kim Kardashian and today’s guest, Lori Rothschild.

Let’s spook it up a little since it’s Halloween week! Christine Schiefer is here to talk about her podcast, ‘And That’s Why We Drink,’ and the book she co-wrote with her show co-host, Em Schulz; ’A Haunted Road Atlas: Sinister Stops, Dangerous Destinations, and True Crime Tales.’

What does your safety look like? Trauma and sex education expert, Jimanekia Eborn, asks this question and allows victims and survivors to answer it for themselves.

Today we are taking a more intimate, less legislative/legal look at consent. Jiamekia Eborn is the perfect person to help us do so.

Jimanekia, a self- entitled TRAUMA QUEEN, is no stranger to the world of trauma, crime and consent. Jimanekia shares how she wanted to help others impacted by trauma, but the way in which she ended up doing that was completely different from her original plan.

After surviving three sexual assaults, Joyce Short began researching penal law in the United States and what she found was terrifying. There is no way to guarantee equal protection under the law when here is no consistent definition for consent across the country.

This episode might be best enjoyed on a front porch with some sweet tea. I don’t live in the south, but my guest’s stories made me feel I was there; creaky doors closing to keep the mosquitos out, and humid air thick with mystery and secrets. I was transported as today’s guest told me stories of her life and career.

I met Sheryl McCollum at CrimeCon and knew she must come on the show and share about her work. She is currently a crime scene analyst, but got her start volunteering at a rape crisis center at Grady Hospital. But her love of mysteries and solving cold cases goes way back to childhood when her mama introduced her to criminal couple, Bonnie and Clyde.

David Robinson began the search for his son, Daniel, 11 months ago. Parlaying his military experience into the search, David runs the operation like an Army mission. After all, what greater mission is there than to find your missing child?

Picture it: you’re at a formal dinner and get seated among strangers. Everyone goes around and shares their name and where they’re from. One table mate says “I’m Susan, I’m from Galveston.” You can’t help but say “Galveston? I can’t hear that without thinking of Robert Durst.” People laugh knowingly. Did I mention the dinner was at CrimeCon? Aforementioned table mate says “I was the judge who presided over Bob Durst’s trial in 2003, for the murder of Morris Black.”

You think you know Paul Holes, but do you really? And for the 14 of you wondering “Who is Paul Holes?” Welcome to the bright side.

Paul Holes is an American former cold-case investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. Holes is known for his contributions to solving the Golden State Killer case using advanced methods of identifying the killer with DNA and genealogy technology. He is also inspired the true crime/pop culture hashtag: #hotforHoles

For our final true crime book interview (this season), I spoke with Paul Holes about his new memoir, UNMASKED.

Have you ever known someone in childhood who became infamous or notorious later?

Today’s episode — the third in our “New True Crime Books” series, features a captivating story of an ordinary woman in an extraordinary circumstance. Like many of us,Jamie Gehring grew up with an eccentric neighbor - we all know the type. But in Jamie’s case, her neighbor’s solitude and “quirkiness” were anything but benign. Her neighbor was Ted Kaczynski.

Julie Williams and Lollie Winans were murdered in the Shenandoah Mountains. Why hasn’t their case been solved? And should we really stay out of the forest?

Today’s episode — the second in our “New True Crime Books” series, features an enthralling read: Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders. My guest is author Kathryn Miles, an outdoor enthusiast who shares a connection to the story and compelling theory on who killed these amazing young women.

Today’s featured author is Lis Wiehl. There’s a chance you have already read one of her books, after all, she’s written twenty! In addition to being a NY Times bestselling author, Lis is also a third generation federal prosecutor, and regular commentator and legal analyst on news outlets like Fox, CNN, NBC, and radio shows like NPR’s All Things Considered.

Do we consider the media an institution that can have an impact on justice? If you are today's guest, the answer is yes, and she would know as a journalist and reporter at WAMU, a DC outlet of NPR. Welcome, Jonquilyn Hill.

As we explore which came first; the media's projection of who we value as a victim, or our own societal values that media reflects back to us, we continue the conversation around the disparity of coverage for women and girls of color.

What if “the media” isn’t the problem? What if it’s us? Today’s guest believes the imbalance of media coverage for black women begins with our own broken values.

This episode is part 3 of the series, MISSING, MURDERED + THE MEDIA. I couldn’t cover this subject without a journalist's perspective. Today, I'm speaking with Tamar Sarai Davis, features reporter at PRISM, a non-profit media company. Tamar wrote about Lauren Smith Fields’ case and focused specifically on the ways Black TikTok and Twitter elevated Lauren’s story to the public’s consciousness.

New Series: MISSING, MURDERED + THE MEDIA.

Kicking it off with my first guest, Amara Cofer — host of the podcast, Black Girl Gone. Amara brings a whole new perspective to the conversation, one that actually inspired me to change the title of the series. She speaks a lot about the importance of social media as a tactic in helping to raise awareness for cases that are historically left out of the mainstream media's coverage.

The Business of Cults is a three-part series hosted by Rebekah Sebastian with the DIE-ALOGUE Podcast and Javier Leiva of PRETEND podcast. Over the next three episodes, you will hear from; cult experts Rick Alan Ross and Dr. Janja Lalich, author and linguist, Amanda Montell, ABC Correspondent, Rebecca Jarvis, Cult Survivors, Frank Lyford, and Sarah Edmondson.