Snap Judgment

STORIES

Mulatto

Glynn’s brother wants him to take a DNA test but Glynn already knows he’s one part Luna and one part Midnight.

Produced by Pat Mesiti-Miller, original score by Cheflee

Bloodlines

When Adreanna Rodriguez was a kid, she was given a choice about whether or not she wanted to stay in her home state of California. It was a choice she’s reckoned with for her entire life. Today, over a decade after she made that choice -  Adreanna takes us with her to North Dakota to find out… what could have been.

This story was supported by the USC Center for Health Journalism, which helps journalists investigate health challenges and solutions in their communities reporting that serves as a catalyst for change.

BIG love to Adreanna’s mom, Sylvia, and her kid sister, Maudy.

Produced by Adreanna Rodriquez and Shaina Shealy

Original score by Renzo Gorrio

You can also hear this story on a new podcast from VICE Audio called Strongman. It’s a six-part series of intimate stories about power and control at every level... all over the world. It’s out now… subscribe & listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Special thanks to the incredible VICE squad: Adizah Eghan, Annie Aviles, Stephanie Kariuki, Joaqlin Estus, Karen Brown, Ivan MacDonald, and Catherine Stifter.

Full Episode

This episode features music from Cheflee, check out more of Cheflees’s music at cheflee.bandcamp.com!

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 14

A scientist studying the minds of psychopaths gets dangerously close. A father’s inability to recognize faces tests his relationships. And a brother is reunited with his North Korean sister for the first time in over five decades.

You can look human and you can sound human... but what happens when you take a good hard look inside and realize... you're missing something?

STORIES

If I Only Had a Heart

Glynn knows… sometimes the sum of the parts does not equal the hole.

Produced by Pat Mesiti-Miller

The Scientist and the Psychopath

Neuroanatomist James Fallon, Ph.D. studies the most dangerous kind of person: the psychopath. His job is to get up close and personal with the mind of the psychopath so that we can better understand what makes them tick. He treats their brains with the cold calculation of a scientist at work. But in the process, things get mighty personal.

James Fallon, Ph.D. is a neuroanatomist and geneticist at UC-Irvine. For more about his work and his own life, check out his book: The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain.

Produced by Julia DeWitt

About Face

You’ve heard the saying, right? You can’t see the forest for the trees. Well, imagine if your whole life all you could do, all you knew how to do, was see the trees, the details, the minutiae of the world. What would you miss out on? Let’s take a walk in Tom Conces’ shoes and find out.

Produced by Nancy López, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Across the DMZ

What happens when you are reunited with your North Korean sister for the first time in over five decades?

Thank you to our voice actors, Yongnam and Mikyung Kim!

Produced and scored by Davey Kim

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Season 12 - Episode 13

Sieu is a young boy living in the big city of Phnom Penh, but he misses his old life in the Cambodian countryside. The air, the farms, but mostly… the animals.  When the Khmer Rouge promises a return to the land, Sieu has no idea how far he and his family will have to go.

This story recounts aspects of the Khmer Rouge civil war including scenes of torture and death. Sensitive listeners, please be advised.

BIG thanks to Sieu Do for sharing your story with us! There is so much that we were not able to share with you about Sieu and his family’s incredible journey. To find out more check out his book, A Cloak of Good Fortune.

Produced by Nikka Singh, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 12

Hosted by Glynn Washington, Snap Judgment brings new voices to public radio and podcasting... voices that did not know the world of public media, and many voices that did not know they belonged.

We build Snap Judgment’s signature sound around immersive audio, incredible first-person storytelling, and original scoring for each and every experience. Snap’s musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling… with a BEAT!

Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 400 NPR & CBC stations and is brought to the airwaves by PRX.

Don’t miss a beat! Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

There was a legend in central Maine, about a hermit who had lived in the woods, unseen, for 30 years. Then, in 2013, the police arrested a man named Christopher Knight.

To learn more about Chris Knight’s story, be sure to check out Mike Finkel’s book, The Stranger In The Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit. 

Check out The North Pond Hermit Song by Stan Keach.

Produced by Joe Rosenberg, original score by Renzo Gorrio & Andrew Vickers

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 11

Glynn finds a cheap place to spend the summer… at a halfway house.

This story was performed at Snap LIVE in Los Angeles and was presented by KPCC.

Original Music by Alex Mandel, performed by Alex Mandel and the Snap Players (David Brand and Tim Frick).

Watch the live performance!

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 10

Katie falls hard for Barys during a whirlwind trip to Belarus. But there’s a giant red flag she can’t ignore any longer. And two people who have the same name, live in the same city, and have the same professional interests soon find out what else they have in common.

STORIES

Real Love

Boston-based writer Katie Simon is on assignment in Belarus when she meets and falls hard for Barys in less than a week. When she’s back home, her friends alert her to a giant red flag she can no longer afford to ignore.

This story briefly mentions sex, sensitive listeners please be advised.

Thank you, Katie, for sharing this story with Snap! Keep up with her latest work, including an upcoming book about falling in love and generational storytelling here. Learn more about Katie on her Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.

Produced by Regina Bediako, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Ovrkast “Love Somebody” - Music Spotlight

This week’s Snap Music Spotlight features Oakland artist Ovrkast with the song, "Love Somebody" watch the video here!

Listen to Ovrkast's latest album, Try Again (DELUXE) out now!! To stay up to date with all things Ovrkast, be sure to follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

Katie vs. Katie

When Katie Crouch learned there was another Katie Crouch who lived in the same city and apparently had the same professional interests as her she thought, huh, what else do we have in common? She would soon find out.

This story was done in collaboration with Ozy.com, the online magazine that published both Katies’ essays: The Other Me and Doppelgangers Unite?

Katie Crouch continues to virtually cross paths with her name twin from her new city of Chicago, where she works for an educational publisher, raises a toddler on her own, and writes a blog.

Katie Crouch is a New York Times best-selling novelist. Her books include Girls in Trucks and Abroad, among others.

Produced by Nancy López, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 9

A group of all-native girls with a lot to prove take on the future of their high school lacrosse team. And an ENT doctor learns to be comfortable outside her comfort zone.

STORIES

The Medicine Game

A group of all-native girls with a lot to prove, take on the future of their high school lacrosse team.

This story contains racially insensitive language. Sensitive listeners, please be advised.

Thank you, Jacelyn, for sharing your story with us! Jacelyn now plays lacrosse for Virginia Tech.

We first heard about Jacelyn’s story from the film, Keepers of the Game, which follows the Salmon River Girls lacrosse team during the 2015 season. Big thanks and love to “The Halluci Nation” formerly known as “A Tribe Called Red” for letting us use their song “Stadium Pow Wow” in this story. Also special thanks to the film’s director Judd Ehrlich.

Some of the audio in this story comes from the Keepers of the Game documentary and was aired courtesy of the Dicks Sporting Goods Foundation.

Produced by Shaina Shealy, special thanks to Regina Bediako

Original score by Leon Morimoto

Rhino Rocket

Otolaryngologist Tina Munjal tells a story about learning to be comfortable outside of her comfort zone. This story was told live at The Nocturnists' live show Out of the Comfort Zone, at the Grey Area Theater in San Francisco on October 18, 2019.

Original theme music by Yosef Munro, additional music from Blue Dot Sessions

This story comes to us from The Nocturnists, a San Francisco-based medical storytelling live show, and podcast where healthcare workers share stories of joy, sorrow, and self-discovery. It was created and hosted by physician Emily Silverman.

For more stories from the world of medicine, check out The Nocturnists wherever you get your podcasts or visit their website. Listen and subscribe right now!

Season 12 - Episode 8

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

This week, Snap is proud to spotlight Suave! This podcast captures the true story of a teenager sentenced to life in prison without parole & what happens when, decades later, he suddenly gets a second chance at freedom. It’s the story of thousands of juveniles sentenced to die in U.S. prisons told through one man’s journey of incarceration and redemption and his near 30-year friendship with journalist, Maria Hinojosa.

This episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence and sexual assault, listener discretion is advised.

Suave is an amazing podcast from Futuro Studios and PRX. Suave is available wherever you listen to podcasts and at www.suavepodcast.org. New episodes drop every Tuesday... listen and subscribe!

Artwork by Virgilio Tzaj

#Suavepodcast

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Snap Spotlight - Season 12 - Episode 7

In the mid-70s, Conan was hired to direct and produce a nature documentary. But he wanted to do something more ambitious. The film he made became one of the most infamous movies ever, but his success came with deadly consequences...

This episode contains a content advisory for graphic imagery and strong language. It describes scenes of both human and animal death. This story is not for children and sensitive listeners, please be advised.

Special thanks to our film consultants, Spencer Parsons and Todd Wieneke.

Produced by John Fecile, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller

Artwork by Teo Ducot

Snap Classic