Hush

I’ve always found the majority of true crime shows gimmicky and exploitative — Hush confronts those tropes head-on from the start. I’m so impressed and enthralled by this show, which unpacks a crime that happened in basically my own backyard (that I was only ever passingly aware of) with mindfulness and perspective. Well done to OPB & all involved!!!

This podcast was very well done. As a native Oregonian who grew up in the 80s and 90s, I certainly had flashbacks to Twin Peaks. Even the writers acknowledged the superficial resemblance. But while David Lynch reduced his characters to “archetypes”, the producers of this podcast aren’t afraid to stare ambiguity in the face and accept that real life is messy. Sarah Zuber wasn’t Laura Palmer, and we may never find out what happened to her. But she is worth remembering. This podcast did a great job of doing that without resorting to sensationalism, true crime cliches, or a cheap attempt to speculate for the sake of teasing a satisfying conclusion. I appreciated the trauma-focused approach and the respect for Sarah’s family and community. Ethics matter. Thank you OPB for bringing us this thought provoking production.

This is a great podcast, but the host goes off the rails in the last episode. Peabody makes a really good point that in the event the explanation for the victim’s death is she became inebriated and passed out in a ditch in the cold, all the investigating and energy going into “solving” the case is directed at something that isn’t even there. He makes very clear this is a hypothetical and stresses that they keep looking regardless. Then the host mischaracterizes what he said, saying he’s “grasping at straws.” Seriously? Might it be possible the podcast, newly-elected mayor, and others who want the investigation to continue are grasping at straws, or rather, nothing at all? Also, high school students do get obsessions - it’s part of being a high schooler. That editorializing diatribe in the last episode was really disappointing.

Leah Sottile & Ryan Haas (I may have misspelled their names) have put together 6 intriguing episodes examining the events surrounding Sarah Zuber’s death. The loss of a young person on the cusp of adulthood is ALWAYS a tragedy & I understand her parent’s inability to wrap their minds around the conclusions of a an investigation that was clearly bungled. I do wish that the hosts had done an ep on how an autopsy is done & how blood alcohol levels are determined in the deceased. The general public have a poor understanding of human anatomy & physiology through no fault of their own (I’m a RN, I see it constantly.) The Zubers clearly never understood how the medical examiner came to her conclusions & they will never accept them because said facts don’t fit their picture of Sarah. They want “facts” that will give them someone to blame, “facts” that will allow our justice system to punish them so that they can find “closure.” And I don’t blame them, that’s what American culture tells us is justice.