WRAL’s new podcast digs into cold cases and unidentified human remains.
Curious to find outhow tooth enamel can be used to determine where a person grew up or how a body farm (or human decomposition facility) in NC is gathering research that can aid in murder investigations? WRAL’s Amanda Lamb tackles these topics and more in her new podcast, What Remains.
Amanda Lamb (Photo Credit: Jennifer Robertson)
Launched in June 2022, What Remains explores how human remains are connected to missing and murdered people—hence the double entendre moniker… what remains of the remains.
“This has a really wide appeal for true crime junkies, but also science nerds,” says Lamb, “and I really think I’m becoming a science nerd because I get so excited when I talk to someone, and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. Back up. Explain that to me.’ And I’m like, ‘No, really, that’s for real?’”
Appealing it is—as of July, What Remains ranked in the top 200 for all Apple Podcasts and in the top 10 for science podcasts. In fact, it became so popular so quickly that rather than ending season one when the 11th weekly episode dropped in mid-August, the station has continued to produce new episodes.
“We’re just going to keep on rolling and providing new content,” says Lamb. “It may not be weekly. It may be every 10 days. … We have a very small team, but we’re really excited by the interest.”
Throughout the series, listeners hear from forensic anthropologists, including Dr. Ann Ross from NC State University, investigators and families of the deceased.
After submerging herself in various topics surrounding cold cases and unidentified remains for the podcast, Lamb says there’s one important thing she’s learned.
“Everybody, whether you are a person living off the grid, whether you are a person who has fallen on hard times and is living on the street,” she says, “no matter who you are, everybody deserves to be identified and returned to their families.”
We finally did the thing! … Our new podcast Office Talk w/ Raleigh Magazine launched today across all platforms dishing must-listen behind-the-scenes intel on stories, chats with insiders and much more.
Episode 1
Ever mailed liquor or beer? Ordered some online? Transported more than a few bottles over state lines? … Did you break the law? In episode one, Publisher Gina Stephens and Editor-in-Chief Melissa Howsam go beyond our March story “Are You Breaking the Law?” and take a deep-dive into all the things they uncovered. You won’t want to miss this.
Watch our sneak peak below, then tune in here (or wherever you get your podcasts!).
Episode 2
As people continue to leave their jobs more than ever (hey, the Great Resignation!), companies are left with the dilemma of getting employees to stay (or return to the office). The answer, as we found in our February story ”Does Space Really Matter?,” was appeal. … In this episode, Publisher Gina Stephens and Associate Editor Lauren Kruchten chat about three local companies—Pendo, Baldwin&, and Barringer Construction—that have managed to create via positive work culture and fun workspaces (in-house baristas, pizza ovens and a speakeasy, anyone?).
Watch our sneak peak below, then tune in here (or wherever you get your podcasts!).
In a shark eats shark world, Jason Gillikin, the CEO and executive producer of the local podcast production company Earfluence, says he hopes to be a “rising tide lifting all boats” for the Triangle’s startup community.
Through podcasting, Gillikin discovered that when one company in the Triangle succeeds, the whole community benefits. In an effort to give entrepreneurs a more prominent voice, Gillikin launched the Startup Stage Podcast in February with the goal of connecting startup entrepreneurs with investors, specifically women and African American entrepreneurs who are historically underrepresented in business.
According to Forbes, in 2018, companies women founded received only 2.2 percent of all venture capital dollars. Only 1 percent of venture-backed founders were African American. “That disparity—and making a change—is important to several of the venture capital firms in the Triangle area,” Gillikin says. “So, in addition to bringing the startup community together, we wanted to make sure we brought in entrepreneurs—and investors—from all backgrounds to boost the ecosystem of underrepresented entrepreneurship.”
Gillikin’s Startup Stage Podcast began with 11 entrepreneurs who pitched their ideas, which the producers narrowed down to eight individuals who will have the chance to share their startups with four local venture capitalists and angel investors—Robbie Hardy, Keith Daniel, Donald Thompson and Timothy McLoughlin—over the course of eight episodes that will air in April.
Startup Stage Investors: Donald Thompson (Walk West), Robbie Hardy (xElle Ventures), Keith Daniel (Resilient Ventures), and Tim McLoughlin (Cofounders Capital) | Photo by Fancy This Photography
By the end of the episodes, some of the entrepreneurs will clinch investment bids, but, Gillikin explains, there’s a due diligence period in which the investors have time to decide whether or not they actually want to move forward with the deal. In May, the due diligence period ends with a live podcast episode that Sharon Delaney McCloud, a former news anchor and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, will host. As in the show “Shark Tank,” interested investors will make a deal with prospective entrepreneurs and give them capital for their startup during this podcast episode. Some entrepreneurs may be turned away, but others might have multiple investors fighting over them and, in the end, leave with a hefty check to put toward starting their businesses.
“It’s a privilege to be a small part of this startup community,” Gillikin says. “And to share these stories and get the Triangle excited about what’s going on in their backyard.”
