Island Crime Island Crime+

I am glad I stumbled on this podcast. I’m listening to season five right now. The story is very interesting, intriguing and human. The host doesn’t just focus on the story, but also tries to give background on the individuals involved. Their feelings, motivations, fears, faults and lives.

There is just one thing that stopped me from giving this five stars. It’s the unnamed witnesses and the reporter from episode one. My problem is not that they are unnamed, my problem is that there is quite a bit of exaggeration with a few of them. I feel that they are taking the fact that their identity is hidden, voice is altered and the fact that a few of the most dangerous individuals in this story are dead to create an opportunity to exaggerate. In addition I can tell that they inflate their importance and level of friendship in the victims’ lives. The reporter from episode one is so melodramatic and over the top. So, that kind of makes it hard for me to believe them. However, the host does not play into it, she merely moves to another topic or presses them on their exaggerated statements.

Domestic violence, drug abuse, alcoholism, fatherless children, aloof parenting, kids having kids, poor education, generations of living under government subsidized care, police departments incapable of communicating with one another, community members refusing to speak with the police…the list goes on…but these podcasts never address these issues, they just mention them in passing like they don’t really matter, when really they are the issues that matter the most. It starts in the home, a fact that seems lost on the liberal side. They think the solution is empathy, handing out clean needles, subsidizing single motherhood, encouraging victim mentality, using tax payer money to keep the homeless homeless! Until these community leaders, journalists, podcasters and other (mostly white and virtue signaling) individuals are willing to accept these things nothing will change. The issues have been the same since day one, nothing has changed it’s only become worse overtime, in Canada and in the states. They are homeless because they are generally addicted to drugs, which snowballs into mental illness. They aren’t homeless cuz they lost everything in a string of bad luck no fault of their own. That isn’t what is actually happening, not at all, and the people who actually live in these cities know this, but many media sources try to make it seem like these people are all just down on their luck victims who need and deserve our help. Most of them don’t WANT help, and the ones that do, get it. I think this podcast is good, but just like the other podcasts addressing similar topics, they are missing the mark. What is harder to determine is whether or not they do it on purpose. It often feels like gaslighting from the media. Sort of like when our nightly news hosts get on tv and tell us that inflation is down and the economy is booming and crime isn’t on the rise. The opposite is true for all 3, we all know this, but still these journalists sit up there and lie to the public. With giant plastic smiles on their faces.

Really good ethical journalism. All seasons are very well done. A true crime must listen.