11 episodes

When April Balascio was 40 years old, something she’d feared for decades was finally proven true. Her father, Edward Wayne Edwards, really was a murderer. The Clearing is about what came after April called a detective in 2009 to tell him about her suspicions — a call that led to her father’s arrest and eventual conviction on multiple murders — and tracks the emotional journey as she and host Josh Dean dig back into her childhood, unravel the truth of her father’s life, and overturn a viral online narrative that had turned Edward Wayne Edwards into a kind of serial killer caricature. Produced by Pineapple Street Studios in association with Gimlet.

The Clearing Spotify Podcasts

    • True Crime
    • 4.6 • 8.7K Ratings

When April Balascio was 40 years old, something she’d feared for decades was finally proven true. Her father, Edward Wayne Edwards, really was a murderer. The Clearing is about what came after April called a detective in 2009 to tell him about her suspicions — a call that led to her father’s arrest and eventual conviction on multiple murders — and tracks the emotional journey as she and host Josh Dean dig back into her childhood, unravel the truth of her father’s life, and overturn a viral online narrative that had turned Edward Wayne Edwards into a kind of serial killer caricature. Produced by Pineapple Street Studios in association with Gimlet.

    1. Hunting Season

    1. Hunting Season

    April reads a news story and everything changes. 
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    • 51 min
    2. Creepy John Wayne

    2. Creepy John Wayne

    Who the hell was Edward Wayne Edwards anyway?
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    • 52 min
    3. Give Me The Needle

    3. Give Me The Needle

    How one murder case turned into three. 
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    • 57 min
    4. Bullshit Bullshit B******t

    4. Bullshit Bullshit B******t

    Confronting the myth of Ed Edwards.
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    • 44 min
    5. A Lot of Old Memories

    5. A Lot of Old Memories

    What else could Ed Edwards have done?
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    • 51 min
    6. Give Yourself Up Son

    6. Give Yourself Up Son

    How to solve a murder and why you probably won’t. 
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    • 54 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
8.7K Ratings

8.7K Ratings

Churchill mom ,

My current obsession

This podcast has absolutely fascinated me. It is so well paced and presented that it’s difficult for me to set it aside. I’ve listened to many podcasts about killers and the fact that I’d never heard of Ed Edwards just blows me away. I also now follow Matthew Dear’s music. It’s wonderful!

I’m currently watching the documentary “It Was Him…” simply so I can put some faces to the names in your podcast. I’m completely hooked on following whatever murders may be cleared up in connection with that monster. Thank you for allowing me to be aware of him.

Nikks456 ,

Excellent

Will be checking out other pods by this team. Really well done.

M. Lives ,

A Must Listen For True Crime Pods

In a market saturated with true crime podcasts, unique ones can be hard to find and GOOD unique ones like unicorns. Meet your unicorn! An abused daughter discovers as an adult her father is a serial killer and sets about trying to solve his cases and get closure for the victims’ families. On its surface, that’s what this podcast is about. Look deeper and you’ll see it’s how human beings cope with trauma and make sense of a senseless world. The way murder has impacted the lives of those affected by it is something glossed over in too much of true crime and this unflinching look, particularly how the daughter of a serial killer bonds with the families of her father’s victims and suspected victims and they move forward, is extraordinary.
The reporting throughout is quite good and we’re not just left with more information about a killer and how they work but how those left behind pick up the pieces.

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