I Was Never There

Wonder Media Network
  • 4.7 (753)
  • TRUE CRIME
  • WEEKLY SERIES
I Was Never There

In this eight-episode series, take a trip into the countercultural movements swirling through West Virginia in the 1970s and 80s. Jamie Zelermyer and her mother Karen investigate the shocking disappearance of their friend Marsha “Mudd” Ferber and explore her evolution from suburban housewife to back-to-the-land hippie to drug-dealing bar owner. As mother and daughter venture deeper into the mystery of Marsha’s disappearance, the two process their own history: Jamie reflects on her nontraditional upbringing and Karen reckons with the joyful and complicated consequences of her decisions.

Season 1

  1. Episode 1: What the Hell Happened to Marsha "Mudd" Ferber?

    EPISODE 1

    Episode 1: What the Hell Happened to Marsha "Mudd" Ferber?

    I Was Never There launches with the range of theories swirling around the disappearance of Marsha “Mudd” Ferber. We meet our hosts, Jamie and Karen Zelermyer and learn who they are in relation to Marsha's story, and why they've decided to try to find out what really happened to her now.

    28 min
  2. Episode 2: She'll Show Up

    EPISODE 2

    Episode 2: She'll Show Up

    Through interviews with Marsha’s friends, Jamie and Karen detail everything that is known about the days leading up to and following the disappearance. They read through the police notes which leaves them with more questions than answers. Why didn’t the detectives do better follow up with one of the primary suspects? And, why didn’t anyone investigate the role Marsha’s drug business might have played in all of this?

    38 min
  3. Episode 3: West "By God" Virginia

    EPISODE 3

    Episode 3: West "By God" Virginia

    We go back to Marsha’s early days as a suburban housewife and independent bookstore owner in New Jersey. We follow her and her cohort of Back-To-The-Landers to rural West Virginia, where she built a commune called the Mudd Farm, and gained a new name: Marsha Mudd.

    32 min
  4. Episode 4: The Underground Railroad

    EPISODE 4

    Episode 4: The Underground Railroad

    Marsha’s bar was much more than a place to grab a drink. It was ground zero for a cultural revolution, a haven of progressive politics, free expression, and creativity. In an episode brimful of music, we hear recollections from the musicians, teens, and bartenders of two extraordinary community projects that would ultimately be Marsha’s swan song and establish her as a folk hero.

    36 min
  5. Episode 5: Yacht Babes

    EPISODE 5

    Episode 5: Yacht Babes

    In a swirl of partial truths and murky theories, Jamie and Karen find one person who believes he knows exactly what happened to Marsha. What Jamie and Karen find out sounds like a plot line from an action movie, not what they expected to hear about someone Karen considered a close friend. Did Marsha really just get in over her head?

    31 min
  6. Episode 6: The Magic Veil

    EPISODE 6

    Episode 6: The Magic Veil

    Karen helps us understand the mindset that helped Marsha and Karen both live life unafraid of consequences. To explain, we head back to Karen’s back-to-the-land world in Braxton County where Karen and her lover Patty grew pot right out in the open, protected by what they called “The Magic Veil.”

    37 min
  7. Episode 7: The Outlaw Handbook

    EPISODE 7

    Episode 7: The Outlaw Handbook

    When it came to living on the edge, Marsha wasn't just a big talker; she really did walk a vanishingly thin line between fearless and reckless. We consider Marsha’s complicated and ultimately unsettled legacy, speaking with those whose politics she shifted and shaped, those whose artistic trajectories she launched, and those she left in the emotional — and financial — lurch.

    36 min
  8. Episode 8: Be Here Now

    EPISODE 8

    Episode 8: Be Here Now

    Karen and Jamie sit down to sift through everything they’ve heard and all they've learned in the process of trying to get to the bottom of Marsha's disappearance. At the end of the journey, Jamie and Karen consider the most important question of all: Where do they go from here?

    39 min

  9. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Introducing ... I Was Never There

    Thirty-four years ago, Marsha “Mudd” Ferber vanished without a trace from Morgantown, WV. Mother-daughter duo Karen and Jamie Zelermyer are going back to the land to figure out what the hell happened. From Wonder Media Network, I Was Never There is as much true crime show as it is an ode to Appalachian countercultural movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Named a 2022 Tribeca Festival Official Selection for audio storytelling, the series premieres June 2022.

    2 min
  10. Bonus: Radical Family Histories (A Crossover with Mother Country Radicals)

    BONUS

    Bonus: Radical Family Histories (A Crossover with Mother Country Radicals)

    Karen and Jamie sit down with Zayd Ayers Dohrn and his mom Bernardine Dohrn of Crooked Media’s Mother Country Radicals to look back at the process of making a show so deeply rooted in personal family history. Jamie and Zayd interview the moms to learn how they felt reliving their radical pasts and what it was like to make a podcast with their children. And in a time that feels so similar politically to the turbulent decades Karen and Bernardine lived through - how do they find hope?

    41 min

Trailer

Hosts & Guests

4.7
out of 5
753 Ratings

About

In this eight-episode series, take a trip into the countercultural movements swirling through West Virginia in the 1970s and 80s. Jamie Zelermyer and her mother Karen investigate the shocking disappearance of their friend Marsha “Mudd” Ferber and explore her evolution from suburban housewife to back-to-the-land hippie to drug-dealing bar owner. As mother and daughter venture deeper into the mystery of Marsha’s disappearance, the two process their own history: Jamie reflects on her nontraditional upbringing and Karen reckons with the joyful and complicated consequences of her decisions.

Information

  • Channel
    Wonder Media Network
  • Creator
    Wonder Media Network
  • Episodes
    10
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2022 Wonder Media Network
  • Show Website
    I Was Never There
  • Provider
    Wonder Media Network

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