If you want to feel better about the future and the next generation, just become a client of Patrice Nealon's Digital Marketing class at N.C. State.

For more than seven weeks and counting, going towards the rest of the semester, teams of talented marketing students have worked to give me their best creative ideas as to how better to market my podcast Grit: Stories of Resilience.

Not stopping there, they are also putting together feasibility studies and marketing strategies for a second possible podcast dealing with the ever-popular true crime genre in general, and the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case in particular.

These students envision video podcasts, complete with still photos as well, and even clip previews of podcasts before they air.

So, following their lead, the balance of this week's new podcast is a preview or preamble of what a finite number of episodes on the MacDonald case, from my point of view, would involve.

You might ask what does this long- ago murder case have to do with Grit. However, this case is perhaps the longest running federal criminal case in United States history.

Scores of lawyers over the many years since the 1979 trial have worked tirelessly to uphold the jury's conviction. They have succeeded.

They are not household names. But they are some of the best lawyers anywhere. They have shown, despite many challenges, the very best attributes of Grit...in all its forms.

This podcast is the beginning of the story.