Michael Brodkorb, a longtime Twin Cities journalist and public relations consultant, joins the podcast to discuss his 2018 true crime book, "The Girls Are Gone: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Vanished, the Father Who Kept Searching, and the Adults Who Conspired to Keep the Truth Hidden." Set in Lakeville, Minnesota, the book tells the story of a messy divorce and child custody fight in family court and -- ultimately -- the mysterious disappearance of two teenage girls. In great detail, Brodkorb and his co-author, Allison Mann, peel back the layers of this compelling and highly complicated drama.   

https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Are-Gone-Searching-Conspired/dp/1634891651

In this episode of the Fugitive Farmer True Crime Podcast, author and journalist Jack Lessenberry discusses his recently published book "Reason vs. Racism: A Newspaper Family, Race and Justice." Thoroughly researched, the book examines how a chain of newspapers owned by the Block family covered issues related to race from the 1910s to the election of Barack Obama and beyond. Along the way, Lessenberry weaves in historical vignettes ranging from the notorious June 1920 lynching of three Black men in Duluth, Minnesota, to the 1920s-era heroism of Tom Lee, a Black man who saved 32 white people from drowning after an overloaded excursion boat capsized in the Mississippi River. Block lionized Lee in his newspapers, only to get nasty pushback from white racists. https://lessenberryink.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Reason-vs-Racism-Jack-Lessenberry-ebook/dp/B08WJRC8R1

Host Brian Johnson interviews historian Nan Hult, a North Branch, Minnesota, resident who has done extensive research about the mysterious deaths of Alvira Lundeen Johnson and her seven children. On April 11, 1933, the family members were found dead in the ruins of their Harris, Minnesota, farmhouse, which had burned to the ground during the night. Investigators later determined the family members were dead before the fire. The prime suspect was Alvira's husband, Albin Johnson. His remains were not found in the ruins of the home and he disappeared after the fire. He hasn't been seen since, dead or alive.