Snap Judgment

Latest Episodes:

Belly of the Beast - Snap Classic Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

Things go horribly wrong for a safari guide on the Zambezi River when he comes face-to-face with a rogue hippo. And Dr. Ray Christian breaks the first rule about Fight Club and tells us all about it.

This episode contains graphic imagery. Please take care while listening.

STORIES

Belly of the Beast

Things go horribly wrong for a safari guide on the Zambezi River when he comes face-to-face with a rogue hippo.

Thank you, Paul, for sharing your story with Snap! Check out Paul Templer’s memoir, What’s Left of Me.

Produced by Erika Lantz, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot

Fight Club

The first rule about fight club is you do not talk about fight club. Dr. Ray Christian breaks that rule.

You can hear more of Ray on his podcast: What's Ray Saying?

Produced by Mark Ristich, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Snap Classic - Season 15 - Episode 15

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Transcendent - Snap Classic Mar 28, 2024

Show notes

A man fights freezing temperatures and extreme altitude while ascending Mt. Kilimanjaro, to search for answers to life’s questions. And when a resident of the Cadillac Hotel goes missing, her longtime lover and best friend won’t rest until she is found.

STORIES

Rocky’s Best Life

Glynn remembers the fond memories of a childhood friend, Rocky.

Produced by Pat Mesiti-Miller

The Enlightenment Trap

A skeptical journalist fights freezing temperatures alongside a fitness guru to test his limits.

Read more about Scott’s adventures with Wim Hof and his ascent up Mt. Kilimanjaro in his book, “What Doesn’t Kill Us.” See what else Scott is up to on his website.

Produced by Adizah Eghan, original score by David Last

The Cadillac Hotel

At the Cadillac Hotel, an SRO in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, a resident has gone missing. Her long time lover and best friend won’t rest until she is found.

Produced by Parker Yesko with assistance from Anna Sussman, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Classic: Season 15 - Episode 14

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The Cannonball Run Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Three fanboys and a dead-sexy wax Burt Reynolds are on a mission. They are Eastbound and Down on a road trip from Cali to Florida State and the troopers… are hot on their heels.

A huge thank you to Mike Carano, Matt Leuthe, and Steve Millunzi for sharing their experience! Mike originally told a version of this story in conversation with Christine Blackburn on the Storyworthy podcast. Check out their collection of amazing stories!

Produced by Bo Walsh, original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 15 - Episode 13

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Subterfuge - Snap Classic Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

A Chicago newspaper establishes an undercover bar to catch officials in the act of corruption. And a hardcore soccer fan from the crowd is put to the test in a game what happens next made him a legend.

STORIES

Night At The Mirage

A Chicago newspaper establishes an undercover bar to catch officials in the act of corruption. They soon acquire a cast of characters looking for more than just a drink. Snap presents, “Night at The Mirage.” The story of the famous undercover Chicago Sun bar, as told by two reporters posing as bartenders.

Produced by Joe Rosenburg and Anna Sussman, original score by Leon Morimoto

The Legend Of Steve Davies

In one of soccer’s most legendary fairy tales, manager Harry Redknapp once plucked a hardcore fan from the crowd and put him to the test for West Ham United. What happens next made the fan a legend.

Thank you, Steve Davies, for sharing your story with the Snap. A special thanks to Jeff for bringing us that story.

Produced by Davey Kim

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Classic – Season 15 Episode 12

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Father Forgive Them Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

Cell Double L is the final cell in Oklahoma State Penitentiary. It is the cell you occupy before your execution. We speak to three men and their loved ones as they move through death watch row.

This episode includes references to penal executions and strong language. Please take care while listening.

Huge enormous thanks to Bigler Stouffer, Wade Lay, and Donald Grant for sharing your stories. Also major thanks to the loved ones, on the outside, for allowing us inside their lives.

Produced by Ellie Lightfoot and Gaby Caplan

Gaby Caplan and Ellie Lightfoot reported this story while participating in the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s National Fellowship and the Kristy Hammam Fund for Health Journalism.

Season 15 - Episode 11

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Weight For It Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

We’re going back to college with Ronald Young Jr., where he couldn’t wait to explore a world beyond the watchful gaze of his churchgoing parents. He meets an amazing girl, but their story would not be a love story… because of their weight.

This story comes to us from Weight For It, a production of Oh It’s Big Ron Studios and is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. This podcast series was a Tribeca Official Selection. It was also picked by the New York Times as one of the best podcasts of the year. Listen to Weight For It wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Ronald Young Jr. on Twitter, Threads, IG, and TikTok - @ohitsbigron

Episodes of Weight For It were produced and written by Ronald Young Jr., with editing from Sarah Dealey. The version you heard was edited for Snap by Regina Bediako.

Sound design and mixing from the Reverend John DeLore of Starlight Diner. Theme music from Jay Redd, with additional music from Mass Potential, the artist DT, and the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder.

Special thanks to Caitlin Scanlan, Jessica Taylor Dickin, Myra Mejia, and Dr. Caitlin Gunn. Artwork by Heather Wilder.

Support Resources

If you need support for disordered eating or your body image; please check out the links below:

Crescent Counseling Center

Intuitive Growth Counseling

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated disorders

Project Heal

Muti-service eating disorders association

National Alliance for Eating Disorders

Eating Recovery Center

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat - Aubrey Gordon

Heavy - Kiese Laymon

Belly of the Beast - Da’ Shaun Harrison

The Body is Not an Apology - Sonya Renee Taylor

Season 15 - Episode 10

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Money Truck - Snap Classic Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

Armored trucks spew clouds of cash into the sky and the people who happen upon it are faced with an unexpected moral dilemma. And a kid from Harlem becomes the biggest heroin dealer in upstate New York. He soon learns what it will take for him to turn his back on a mountain of cash.

STORIES

Money Truck

Six people, six different times and places, but they all find themselves in the same predicament, asking the same question, should they stop or should they go?

This episode contains strong language, sensitive listeners please be advised.

BIG thanks to Tyler Estep, who first reported Philip Dean’s story for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Thanks also to Cole Richards and Randy Scott Carroll for recording assistance.

Thank you to everyone interviewed for this story: Troy Stokes, Philip Dean, Betsy Richards, Delrish Moss, Carol Steele, and the Lucky Guy.

Big love and thanks to Shannon Cason, who narrated this piece. Check out Shannon’s podcast ‘Homemade Stories’ to hear more from him.

Produced by Anna Sussman, John Fecile & Nancy López, original score by Renzo Gorrio, artwork by Teo Ducot

Whiteboy John and The Seven Saints

A kid from Harlem becomes the biggest heroin dealer in upstate New York. He soon learns what it will take for him to turn his back on a mountain of cash.

Abdul-Kenyatta has performed as a workshop facilitator and motivational speaker. He is a poet, storyteller, jazz and blues vocalist, and a novelist.

He was an actor with the San Francisco Neighborhood Arts Children’s Theater for five years, and a San Francisco State University, Black Studies Department Associate Professor, lecturing on African and African-American History and Literature.

His novel Five Thousand Urgently Pointless Distractions was published in 2000. He is the 2005 Berkeley Poetry Festival Slam Poetry Champion. He was a member of the Oakland 2004 National Slam Team and the 2006 San Francisco Slam Master, the 2007 Marin County Fair Slam Poetry Champion, and a member of the 2007 San Francisco National Slam Team. He appeared in the Jamie De Wolfe film “SMOKED”.

Produced by Anna Sussman, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Snap Classic – Season 15 – Episode 9

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New Folsom from On Our Watch Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

Two correctional officers pay a high price for exposing corruption and abuse by their fellow officers, in the most dangerous prison in California–New Folsom. This incredible episode is from On Our Watch, an investigative podcast series from our friends at KQED.

This story touches on intense topics including substance use, state violence, and self harm. Please take care while listening. If you need support, there are resources below.

On Our Watch is a story about broken promises and unwritten rules. It’s a story about who gets hurt when the system that promises to keep us safe is bent on protecting itself. Host Sukey Lewis and co-reporter Julie Small piece together an explosive narrative through interrogation tapes, 911 audio, prison phone calls, personal audio recordings, and hours of emotional interviews. It includes exclusive analysis of hundreds of previously secret documents—some only unsealed by lawsuits brought by KQED—and sheds light on misconduct and abuse within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Listen and follow now.

RESOURCES

If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
SAMHSA National Help Line
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline
US Health and Human Services
Warmline Directory

Season 15 - Episode 8

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Photo Session Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

When a reporter’s love story hits a dead end, she turns to a Palestinian couple for answers. A pretty ugly Photoshop project explodes and a man comes out to his mother repeatedly.

STORIES

Photo Session

When a reporter’s love story hits a dead end, she turns to a Palestinian couple for answers.

Thank you Rayan, Samih, and Anna!

Two years after their engagement, Rayan and Samih got married and moved to a flat just outside the camp and they still work there as journalists. Our storyteller Anna and her boyfriend got engaged shortly after she moved to Iraq to be with him. Read these two stories and many more in Anna Lekas Miller’s book Love Across Borders.

Produced by John Fecile. Original score by Clay Xavier. Artwork by Teo Ducot. Translation by Naziha Baassiri. Voice acting by Snap producer John Fecile and his wife Sarah Fecile.

Make Me Beautiful

Esther asked 50 Photoshop artists to make her beautiful. Things got pretty ugly.

Thanks Esther for sharing this story!

Esther Honig’s photo project still gets re-published to this day. It’s appeared in books for English language learners. The University of Cambridge put it in a textbook chapter about beauty. Her photos have been printed and hung on the walls of the Museum of Tomorrow in Brazil and The National Science and Media Museum in the UK. Check out her TED talk about this project.

Esther is currently a producer at Storycorps, and has also produced two Snap episodes, “White Gold Fever” and “Map to the Disappeared.”

Produced by John Fecile. Original score by Dirk Schwartzhoff.s

When Are You Going To Get Married?

For Ben Nakamura, coming out gay to his parents was not exactly like ripping off a band-aid…

Produced by Liz Jones. Sound design by Renzo Gorrio.

Season 15 - Episode 7

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Genghis Khan Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

From the heart of Waziristan, the legend of Genghis Khan is being rewritten... on the squash court. Maria Toorpakai Wazir was raised as a boy, and took on everyone and everything - neighborhood bullies, Peshawar weightlifters, and all the rules about who should be able to compete.

This story contains references to violence. Please take care while listening.

Thank you, Maria Toorpakai Wazir, for sharing your story with Snap.

In 2011, Maria moved to Toronto to train with Jonathon Power, a world champion in men's squash. Maria writes about this and so much more in her book: A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid from the Taliban in Plain Sight. She has also set up the Maria Toorpakai Foundation encouraging families to educate girls and allow them to play sports.

Produced by Zahra Noorbakhsh & Nancy López, original score by Dirk Schwarzhoff, artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 15 - Episode 6

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