Square Peg

In 2017, Frank Carver, a one-eyed English septuagenarian and somewhat lovable provocateur, accidentally emailed someone he’d never met. That someone was Rob Collins, a kind and reliable 43-year-old suburban dad from Virginia. That email would change both of their lives. The email was meant for a British blogger. But instead, Rob heard the story. Frank said that when he was in the Army, over 50 years ago, he was viciously assaulted by a fellow soldier, and that attack left him nearly blind at 17 years old. Oh, and the alleged attacker was Frank’s older brother. But the crime was “covered up,” and while Frank had already sued the British military over this—the case even reached the country’s High Court of Justice—only recently had Frank decided to bring criminal charges against his brother. Meanwhile, Frank had been diagnosed with cancer and felt he was running out of time to right this wrong. So despite having no journalistic experience and some doubts about the details of the story, Rob decides to investigate the case and help Frank in his quest for justice. Two years and many detours—including a psychiatric evaluation in Berlin—later, Rob’s self-funded quest for the holy grail of getting justice for Frank concludes... and Rob, struggling with what it all meant, realizes he gave Frank what he really needed. That’s how, in the end, it wasn’t Frank’s son or his siblings, but Rob, suburban dad from Virginia, who officiated and was the only speaker at Frank’s funeral in 2019. And the big question remains: who was left more affected by this relationship, Rob or Frank? ”…riveting enough that I couldn’t stop listening, and am so glad this show has completely dropped, I would have died if I wouldn’t have been able to binge it.” — Lauren Passell, Podcast the Newsletter “This is what David felt like when he slew Goliath. The Square Peg podcast, an indie production, has released an eight-episode narrative series that is comparable to—and in many ways —better than any production a large podcast network could create, develop, finance and produce.” — Frank Racioppi, EarWorthy