This is a brand new installment in the Franky Carrillo saga that I’m very excited to share with you. Franky is the same great storyteller he's always been, and he goes deeper than ever here. 

If you haven’t heard the first two episodes with Franky, which we shared last week and the week before, I would go listen to those first. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you’ll be better prepared for this chapter, though it could also stand alone.

If you’d like to see pictures from my day with Franky on the ranch, check out these free posts on Patreon and Substack.

If you want to listen ad-free, access my member-only seriesThe Way Forward, and unlock the entire Strangers archive of nearly 100 premium episodes, plus all my Hopeful Locals stories, become a paying subscriber today, starting at just $5 per month on Patreon. Paying subscribers make our work possible.

Franky Carrillo is a criminal justice reform advocate and a leading voice for the wrongfully convicted. He has served as Chief Policy Advisor for the Los Angeles Innocence Project and on the Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission. He also sits on the boards of Death Penalty Focus and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and he’s been profiled in the Netflix series The Innocence Files. You can find him on Instagram.

Thanks as always to our production team: Vix Jensen, Aviva Barry, Jen Alevizos, and Paul Dreux Smith.

Please help us keep the podcast going by spreading the word, hitting 'subscribe' wherever you’re listening, and perhaps giving us a good rating or even a little review there. It goes a long way, thank you!

You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and you can write to us at [email protected].

Thanks for listening:)

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

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I hope you heard Franky’s story from last week, because it’s heartbreaking, and uplifting, and enraging, and inspiring, and it’s the foundation for today’s episode, which is Part 2 of his story. If you haven’t heard it yet, I'd go listen to last week’s episode first.

This episode is nine years old, but on Monday I went to meet Franky for a present-day follow-up and I can’t wait to share that story with you next week. 

You might think of this trilogy with Franky a bit like the 7-Up documentary series, which has followed a group of British children every seven years for more than 60 years now to see how their lives have evolved.  

Of course, I haven’t followed Franky since childhood, but I’ve known him since two years after his release, which you might call his rebirth. For many exonerees and the formerly incarcerated, the return home can be fraught, so four years after the first episode, I went to see how Franky was settling in, and this is the story of how I found him in 2017.

If you’d like to see photos that go with today’s episode, you can find them in these free posts on Substack or Patreon. If you want to unlock 100 more paywalled episodes and help support our work, consider becoming a paying subscriber on either platform today! 

Franky Carrillo is a criminal justice reform advocate, who spent 20 years in prison before his exoneration in 2011. After his release, he earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at Loyola Marymount University, and he has since become a leading voice for the wrongfully convicted. He serves as Chief Policy Advisor for the Los Angeles Innocence Project, sits on boards including Death Penalty Focus and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and has also served on the Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission. After the first two stories about Franky aired on Strangers, his case gained wider public attention when he was profiled in the Netflix docuseries The Innocence Files. You can find Franky on Instagram.

You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or you can write to us at [email protected]. 

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Franky Carrillo was 16 when he received a double life sentence for a crime he had nothing to do with. This is his story. It's one of the most beloved Strangers stories of all time, and it will be the first of three episodes about Franky Carrillo's life, including a brand new one.

If you want to see pictures that go with today’s story, check out these free posts on Substack and Patreon, where you can also get our free newsletter. Or you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook, or write to us at [email protected]. 

We welcome all your feedback, and if you like what we do, please spread the word and give us a good rating wherever you’re listening. 

Since this story aired, Franky has finished his degree in sociology from Loyola Marymount University, and he has become a leading voice for the wrongfully convicted, serving as Chief Policy Advisor for the Los Angeles Innocence Project and sitting on the boards of organizations including Death Penalty Focus and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition. Franky has also served on the Los Angeles County Probation Oversight Commission. After the first two stories about Franky aired on Strangers, his case gained wider public attention when he was featured as one of eight exonerees profiled in the Netflix docuseriesThe Innocence Files. You can find him on instagram.

This week, our Summer of Strangers is curated by Glynn Washington of Snap Judgment and Spooked. Glynn picked Franky’s story among his other favorite Strangers stories, which have aired in adapted versions on Snap. They include A Father’s Story – Then & Now, Henry & Jane, Falling Slowly, Terry’s Treasure, and Man on Fire. To unlock all those episodes and 90 more, become a paying subscriber on Patreon (or on Substack, though these links go to Patreon).

Thanks to KCRW for funding the original production of this story and the first two seasons of Strangers. You can stream them on the KCRW site or app, and you can find their podcasts wherever you listen, including the Sam Sanders Show and Question Everything by renowned producer Brian Reed. 

Thanks, as always, to my associate producer, Vix Jensen, and our intern, Aviva Barry, and thanks to Heather Kitching for making our promo reels, and to Jen Alevizos for helping out. Also big thanks to Paul Dreux Smith for making some of the music for this episode and helping me mix.

Last but certainly not least, thanks to all of you for listening and for being my very best stranger-friends. 

Members: Don’t miss our next hangout: Monday, August 31, 5:00 PM PT – 6:00 PM MT – 7:00 PM CT – 8:00 PM ET – 1:00 AM (Tues) BST – 2:00 AM (Tues) CEST – 10:00 AM (Tues) AEST. Check your email for reminders + the link.

See you all next week!

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

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Last week we posted Sharon Houston's hilarious and beloved old Strangers story And Justice for All? and this week we're following up with Sharon to see what she's up to now....which turned out to be a lot of different things.

If you’d like to see photos that go with today’s episode, you can find them in these free posts on Substack and Patreon, where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. If you’d like to access more than 100 exclusive episodes and join our community at a deeper level, consider becoming a paying subscriber on either of those platforms today. 

Or follow us on Instagram – we’ve gained more than 7,000 new followers there in the last month alone! – or on Facebook, or write to us at [email protected]. 

This episode makes a brief reference to suicide and suicidal ideation. If anyone is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, you can find help by calling or texting 988 in the US. 

Big thanks to Sharon Houston for letting us rerun her original Strangers story last week, and for doing this follow-up with me, and for showing me around Chinatown on Sunday and taking me dancing tomorrow night (follow us on the above platforms to see those photos!). Sharon is a comedian, actress, content creator, producer, writer, social media consultant, and property manager. She continues to create and innovate and you can follow her on Instagram, TikTok and across all platforms as @goforsharon.

Thanks to our production team: Heather Kitching, Aviva Barry, Jen Alevizos, and of course my Associate Producer Vix Jensen, who is my indispensable partner in the daily ups and downs here at the podcast factory, and thanks to my partner in life and also on the show, Paul Dreux Smith, who makes the music and mixes and is also my main squeeze and my true love. 

Our new regular post day is Thursday, and we’ll be back in a week with one of the most beloved Strangers stories of all time. 

All your feedback is welcome!

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to our Summer of Strangers. Today's story is an old Strangers episode with Sharon Houston, and next week we'll do a follow-up with her. 

If you want to see photos that go with today’s episode, you can find them in these posts on Patreon or Substack, where you can also join our free community and sign up for our newsletter. If you’d like to support our work, consider becoming a paying subscriber on either platform. 

Sharon Houston is a comedian, actress, content creator, producer, and writer, who has experience across all aspects of web and TV production. She has numerous court shows under her belt, including "Judge Joe Brown", "Divorce Court", "Judge Alex", "The Hollywood Judge", "Judge Faith", and "Judge Jerry." Sharon has produced TV and digital programming for VH1, MTVTres, Mun2, FOX, Universal Music Group, E!,OWN, Oxygen, NBC, FX, and CBS. Her original concepts have garnered deals with The Gurin Company, Scout Productions, UnbelEVAble Productions, Wanda Sykes' Push It Productions, Live Animals, Fox21, MGM, Catalyst Content Group, EveryWoman Studios, and Russell Westbrook's Westbrook Enterprises. Sharon continues to create and innovate and you can follow her on instagram and across all platforms as goforsharon.

Big thanks to my man, Paul Dreux Smith, for making the music for the new parts of this episode and for helping me mix, and to our production team: my associate producer, Vix Jensen, and our intern, Aviva Barry, as well as Heather Kitching and Jen Alevizos.

Want to join the conversation? Let us know what you think of this episode, or share a story of your own, by writing to [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thank you for all the love we’ve received about Joshua Safran’s story from last week. This episode is a follow-up with Joshua about his life now.

It's quite different from the original episode, because it's more of a conversation and less of a story, and because a lot has changed in 10 years – in Joshua's life, and the U.S., and the world. 

Big thanks to Joshua Safran. He is the author of the memoir Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid, which formed the basis of last week’s story. Joshua, and his co-counsel, and their client, Deborah Peagler, were also the subjects of the multi-award-winning documentary Crime after Crime, about the long effort to free Deborah from prison. Joshua is the co-founder and general counsel of Medical Justice Alliance, a nonprofit that protects the right to medical care for the incarcerated. 

I’m deeply grateful for the help from my associate producer, Vix Jensen, and Heather Kitching, who’s been making promo reels for us, including the one about Joshua's story that has gone viral on Instagram this week, as well as Jen Alevizos who has been helping us project manage, and who picked Joshua’s story for the Summer of Strangers. Also big thanks to our fabulous interns, Aviva Barry and Crab Saylor Hochsprung-Cottrell, and of course to my love, Paul Dreux Smith, for making the music and mixing. Finally, thanks to Avi Odenheimer for making the epsiode art this week.

You can join our member communities on Substack or Patreon, where you can sign up for our newsletter and join the chat about the latest episode, free of charge. Paying subscribers also get access to 80 exclusive Strangers episodes like Joshua’s from last week, plus all my new work, all of it ad-free, as well as invitations to member hangouts, and much more. 

Want another way to get in touch? Drop us a line at [email protected] or find us on Facebook or Instagram.

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joshua Safran was born in a coven of lesbian witches in a Haight-Ashbury commune. After the fall of Saigon, young Joshua Safran hit the open road with his mother, and things only got stranger from there. This story is a rerun from 2016. Next week, we’ll run a follow-up with Joshua.

A word of warning: This episode contains moments you may find disturbing. Please use discretion and avoid listening around kids.

To see the photos that go with Joshua’s story, check out these free posts on Patreon or Substack, where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. To unlock another 80 Strangers episodes + new premium content, and to listen ad-free, consider becoming a paying subscriber. 

Joshua Safran is a nationally recognized advocate for the rights of women, survivors of domestic violence, and the wrongfully incarcerated. He has won many awards for his work in this field, and he’s the author of the memoir Free Spirit: Growing Up On the Road and Off the Grid. Joshua and his co-counsel, and their client, Deborah Peagler, were subjects of the documentary Crime After Crime, which was an Official Selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and has won 25 awards. Joshua is also the co-founder and general counsel of Medical Justice Alliance, a nonprofit that protects the right to medical care for prisoners.

Big thanks as always, to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and helping me mix, and to my Associate Producer Vix Jensen and our interns, Aviva Barry and Crab Saylor Hochsprung-Cottrell. Also huge thanks to Jen Alevizos and Heather Kitching for their production support, and to my original co-producer on Joshua’s story, Laura Fetherstonhaugh. 

Paying subscribers, we have a member hangout tomorrow: Thursday, July 23, 5pm PT – 6pm MT – 7pm CT – 8pm ET – 1am BST – 2am CEST – 10am AEST. Zoom link is in your member inbox. 

Did you catch last week’s beloved episode, Unconditional, with Deborah Jiang-Stein and the introductory episode to our Summer of Strangers, called Something Old, Something New, Something Light, Something True with Holly Rothschild, another Strangers favorite? Find them right here in your feed.

How are you liking the Summer of Strangers so far?

Don’t be a stranger and let us know your thoughts at [email protected] or on Facebook and Instagram.

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a story of mothers, love, regret, and redemption, and of secrets from many years past that cast long shadows into our lives. It’s about how Deborah Jiang-Stein came to be pulled over by two highway patrolmen at 19 years-old, with a trunkload of dope, a .38 revolver, and a 10” switch blade. That was only the beginning of her long journey towards what she was looking for. 

This story is a Strangers rerun from 2015, followed by a little catch-up with Deborah. It's the first installment of our Summer of Strangers where we revisit some of our favorite stories from that show. All the stories we’ve picked for the series relate in some way to the American experience, as we take a close look at the country that just turned 250, through the personal stories of some of its people. 

If you’d like to see pictures that go with this episode, you can find them in these free, public posts on Patreon or Substack where you can also sign up for our free newsletter. 

Thanks to our storyteller, Deborah Jiang-Stein, author of the memoir Prison Baby, and the story collection Lucky Tomorrow, and founder & CEO of the unPrison Project.

Thanks to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music for the new parts of this episode and for helping me mix. Big thanks, as always, to my associate producer Vix Jensen, and to our interns, Crab Saylor Hochsprung-Cotrell and Aviva Barry, as well as to Heather Kitching.

We’d love to hear what you think of this story, and of this series, and of life in America.

If you have anything to say, send a voice memo to [email protected] and we might use it on the show, or just send us a regular email.

You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram. 

If you’d like to help make our work possible and access another 80 Strangers episodes like the one you just heard, and much more, become a paying subscriber on Patreon or Substack.

Thanks for listening…and don’t be strangers:)

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we wrap up The Hopeful Locals and preview our SUMMER of STRANGERS with a Strangers story that has been offline since 2014.

Or leave a review wherever you’re listening right now to let us know! 

To whet your appetites and tide you over until kick-off, we’re taking three episodes from the Strangers archive each week and making them available right here in your public feed. 

We’re NOT reposting these at the top of the feed, so they will be under their original publication dates, and each set of episodes will only be available for ONE WEEK, so make sure you’re subscribed and that you listen to or download the episodes while they’re unlocked.

This week we’re featuring the series Two Men and a Baby, which ran from 2014 to 2017, and the episodes will be available until July 2nd. Start with the first one, Two Men and a Baby, then Like a Pizza, Two Men and a Baby - The Follow Up, and Two Men and a Baby - The Final Episode!

But hey, if you want access to the entire Strangers archive today and want to help make my new work possible, become a paying subscriber today on Patreon or Substack. 

Big thanks to Holly Rothschild for sharing her story. She and her husband, Luke Rothschild, and cellist Joseph Harvey, co-founded the genre-bending super-group, String Theory. Based in Los Angeles, they’re a hybrid performance ensemble, consisting of musicians and dancers, and combining architectural harp installations, original music, dance, and projections. Holly is also a choreographer and dancer, and she’s the artistic director of the dance & performance installation company, Bipedal Herd, which she founded. 

Holly’s story was originally produced with support from KCRW’s Independent Producer Project.

Thanks to my love, Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and mixing, and to his band, Dengue Fever, for letting me play the song you heard in the outro. It’s called Tooth & Nail and it’s from the album Venus on Earth.

Deep gratitude to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, for her help kicking off the summer series and producing The Hopeful Locals, and to the newest member of the team, our summer intern, Crab Saylor Hochsprung-Cottrell.

Also thanks to my project editor, Christina Thyssen, and to Pernille Clifforth for illustrating The Hopeful Locals so beautifully. A special thanks to Heather Kitching and Sunny Jen Adrian for their help.

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Episode 7 of the Hopeful Locals, but this installment can also stand alone. Today you’re going to meet John Doyle, and I’m going to let him tell most of the story, because I like the way he tells it. John has had an interesting life, and he tells his story in the same warm, frank, meandering way that he seems to approach most things. 

He lives and works in the town of Crow Agency, and it’s small enough that the only directions he gave me to his office were to “drive through town and look for the pink house.” Inside, I found John, surrounded by machines and samples that related to his scientific research, and I found a story of hope, resilience, and reconciliation, beyond what I’d imagined – and beyond what I, myself, can muster, even on my best days. 

This episode is brought to you without commercial interruption by Tink Media, Podcast the Newsletter, and our paying subscribers on Patreon and Substack.

Big thanks to John Doyle for sharing his story. He’s getting ready to retire from Little Big Horn College where he’s served as Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator for the Crow Water Quality Project and several environmental health grant research initiatives. He also works closely with Montana State University and with the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, which he co-founded. John serves on the Board of the local non-profit, Plenty Doors, which he helped Charlene Johnson start. They’re a native CDFI, supporting new businesses on the reservation, and they run a number of great programs, including a workforce development program and an Elders and Youth program, where the youth learn from the elders and benefit from their cultural knowledge and wisdom. Be sure to check out and support their work!

Thanks to Paul Dreux Smith for making the music and mixing, and to my Associate Producer, Vix Jensen, for her help with this story and so many other things. Also thanks to my project editor, Christina Thyssen, and to Pernille Clifforth for illustrating this series. A special thanks to Heather Kitching and Jen Alevizos for their help this month.

If you'd like to see photos for John's story and all the stories we share, become a FREE newsletter subscriber on Patreon or Substack, or join my community on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to support my work, you can also become a paying subscriber and get invited to my member hangout in Copenhagen on June 25, our monthly community hangs on Zoom, our member-only Discord, our Episode Debriefs, AND you'll get lots of bonus episodes.

You can email us anytime at [email protected]. We love hearing from you!

The entire back catalogue of Strangers can be found at STORIES by Lea Thau on Patreon and Substack, where you can also find my new work in its entirety, all of it ad-free. You can join as a free or paid member, so come be part of my community! Or follow my new work in my new public feed, STORIES by Lea Thau, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.