The Silver Linings Handbook

In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, some entered a house just off the University of Idaho campus and stabbed four students to death. Months later, a suspect was identified. This year, he pled guilty to the charges without giving any hint why he committed the crimes or what made the victims desirable targets. Julia Cowley, a retired FBI profiler and host of The Consult podcast, joins me to discuss what we can learn from the behavior of the real-life nightmare that is the suspect, Bryan Kohberger.

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The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Criminal defense attorney Matthew Tympanick joins me to examine the boundaries of legal strategy in three high-profile cases — Karen Read, Bryan Kohberger and Richard Allen — and low-profile ones as well. Tympanick discusses how jury selection shaped the outcome of the Read trial, the pressures defense attorneys face in the public eye, and the ethical challenges of balancing media presence with legal practice.

We also discuss the impact of jury composition on trial outcomes, defense strategies in cases with intense public scrutiny, the role of attorneys in shaping public narratives, client relationship management and Tympanick's approach to transparency and professional boundaries.

Submit a question for or raise your hand to join the Listeners Episode:

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Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

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Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, I sit down with veteran journalist and author Mark Pinsky, whose career has taken him from high-profile crime reporting to covering racial justice and religion. Mark shares how his political awakening at Duke University in the 1960s and the civil rights movement shaped his worldview, how his interest in social justice led him to cover crime and religion, and how he’s navigated the tightrope between advocacy and objectivity throughout his work.

We talk about his reporting on landmark cases — including his rare jailhouse interview with Ted Bundy, the Jeffrey MacDonald murder trial, and the 1979 Greensboro Massacre. Mark opens up about how race, class, and bias influence the criminal justice system, and the ways journalists have to balance empathy with detachment when covering violent crime.

We also dive into his coverage of televangelism, the political rise of white evangelicals, and how shifts in grassroots attitudes foreshadowed major political changes. Along the way, we discuss wrongful convictions, the impact of projects like the Innocence Project, and the role of media as a kind of “last-resort appeals court” for injustice. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about values, choices, and the lived experiences that shape a journalist’s craft — and the human stories that keep us doing this work.

This episode includes a tribute to Jessica Olive Cash, a researcher for this podcast and The Prosecutors Podcast. Jessica was a true gift to me and the team and will be missed.

Submit a question for or raise your hand to join the Listeners Episode:

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To listen to me on Jessica's own podcast, Version of Events, talking about Missing and Murdered Indigenous People:

Interview with Jayson Blair - Version of Events | Podcast on Spotify

To donate to support a charity that fights for the cases that Jessica believed in:

https://gofund.me/0f3cb380d

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this bonus from the Santana True Crime podcast, I discuss the disappearance of Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, a 20-year-old Indigenous woman who went missing from the Blackfeet Reservation. We talk about my recent trip to Montana, meeting one of the key suspects in the case, theories and what being on the ground told me about the case and the cross-jurisdictional barriers that appear to be getting in the way of solving what happened to Ashley.

To listen to Santana True Crime:

Santana True Crime - Podcast - Apple Podcasts

To listen to Santana True Crime host Cameron Santana and his brother on The Silver Linings Handbook:

123. Murder on Campus: The Unsolved Death of Ginger Olson with Brian and Cameron Santana - Silver Linings Handbook

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

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Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the second half of our conversation, we move from systemic critique to case-specific urgency. Ed Dentzel and I examine the disappearances of Olivia Lone Bear, Jermaine Charlo, Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, Leo Wagner, Jeremy Jourdain, and Nevaeh Kingbird —not as isolated tragedies, but as part of a devastating pattern of institutional neglect.

We unpack jurisdictional breakdowns, media silence, and the emotional labor families shoulder when systems fail. From lakes left unchecked to leads left cold, these stories reveal how Indigenous lives are too often treated as disposable.

Ed has had more than 300 episodes on disappearances on Unfound and testified in the trial of Steve Pankey, who was convicted in 2022 of the infamous 1984 murder and kidnapping of 13-year-old Jonelle Matthews in Greeley, Colorado.

This episode is a call to remember, to reckon, and to respond.

Listen to Part 1

Listen to all of our episodes on Indigenous people.

Check out Ed's work on disappearances on the Unfound podcast.

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it mean to disappear when so few notice? What does it mean to disappear from the very place meant to protect your presence?

In the first half of a two-part conversation, I speak with Ed Dentzel — an expert on missing persons cases and the host of The Unfound podcast — about the unsettling realities surrounding disappearances of Native people in the United States. We explore the unique threads within the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis, one facet of a broader vanishing that has spanned centuries.

Together, we examine the parallels to other disappearances, the patterns that emerge and the silence that surrounds them.

For more episodes on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis:

MMIP Archives - Silver Linings Handbook

To listen to The Unfound podcast:

The Unfound Podcast Channel – Focus on Finding the Missing

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In February 2017, two friends—13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German—set out across a bridge in Delphi, Indiana. They never came home. What followed was one of the most haunting and widely followed true crime cases in America.

In this episode, I speak with Brett Talley, co-host of The Prosecutors Podcast, about the long journey from tragedy to trial in the Delphi murders. We explore the lessons learned from years of investigation, the power and peril of media attention, and the human cost behind the headlines.

From the girls’ bravery in capturing evidence, to the community fractured by suspicion, to the guilty verdict that finally brought resolution, Brett shares what it was like to cover the case that became deeply personal for him. This is not just a story of crime and justice—it is a discussion of the stories we tell and why we will tell them, of empathy, memory, and the bridges we all must cross.

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

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Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German disappeared from an abandoned railroad bridge on February 13, 2017, the community rushed to search for them. Once they were found murdered, law enforcement began the arduous process of searching for their killer. But, at the end of the day, it was clear from the investigation by Kevin Greenlee and Áine Cain, the co-authors of the forthcoming book Shadow of the Bridge, that Libby and Abby solved their own case– Libby by recording the man on the bridge and Abby by hiding the cell phone with the video on it.

In the second and final part of my interview with Kevin and Áine, they take us through the investigation and the ineffectiveness of the defense team’s approach to fighting the charges against the accused, a local man named Richard Allen. Kevin and Áine write about how the defense team was hampered by the moment Allen found God, began confessing to anyone who would listen and he said he wanted the opportunity to apologize to the girls’ families. We explore the psychology of denial and conspiracies, clearing up misconceptions that have persisted over the years, and we examine the emotional aftermath. Kevin and Áine tap into five years of covering the case to discuss the man convicted of the crime and his family, alternate suspects, the true crime community and creators, the loved ones of Abby and Libby and the legacy of the girls.

You can order the book here.

You can read Jayson's review of the book in The True Crime Times here.

To listen to The Murder Sheet podcast, click here.

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On an unseasonably warm February day in 2017 in Delphi, Indiana, two friends, 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German, decided on a whim to head out to the trails near their homes. An abandoned railroad bridge that once carried trains gave way over time to the feet of residents. Many would venture out onto the bridge only to find themselves crawling back on their hands and feet, but Libby was brave and she was taking Abby across as she had with others before. At the end of the bridge, as Libby was recording, a man appears over Abby’s shoulder and says, “Guys, down the Hill.” Down the hill and across the creek, prosecutors would later say, the man stabbed the girls to death.

In 2022, the man was identified by law enforcement as Richard Allen, who was convicted of the girls’ murders in 2024. Since 2020, Kevin Greenlee and Áine Cain have covered the murders that occurred beneath the bridge and have just completed writing their book, Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland. Kevin and Áine joined me today to discuss their coverage of the case, their continued investigation and their forthcoming book, Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland.

You can order the book here.

You can read Jayson's review of the book in The True Crime Times here.

To listen to The Murder Sheet podcast, click here.

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amanda Erickson grew up in the Boston suburbs, always knowing there was something a little different about her - the dark pigmentation in her skin. Years later, she would reconnect with her father, who lived on the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona. This would begin a journey that would lead her to connect with her Indigenous heritage and transform her long career in film. After 16 years working for Hulu, Discovery, The Travel Channel, National Geographic, and others, she has begun making films about Indigenous people for mainstream audiences.

Contact me at [email protected]

Check out the Silver Linings Handbook website at:

https://silverliningshandbook.com/

Check out our Patreon to support the show at:

https://www.patreon.com/thesilverliningshandbook

Join our Facebook Group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1361159947820623

Visit the Silver Linings Handbook store to support the podcast at:

https://www.bonfire.com/store/the-silver-linings-handbook-podcast-store

Visit The True Crime Times Substack at:

https://truecrimemessenger.substack.com

The Silver Linings Handbook podcast is a part of the ART19 network. ART19 is a subsidiary of Wondery and Amazon Music.

See the Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and the California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.