The Generation Why Podcast

In July 2018, 12 youth soccer players and their coach found themselves trapped 6 miles deep in a cave with no food or water and depleting oxygen. The rock formed maze became almost completely submerged as the water rose to levels nearly impossible for survival. There was no light and no way to communicate with the outside world. The first season of Wondery’s new original series Against the Odds takes you into the incredible events of when an adventurous group of teens found themselves...

December 4, 2006. Chadron, Nebraska. In August 2006, Steven Haataja moved to Chadron, Nebraska to work as a mathematics professor at Chadron State College. On December 5, 2006, he was reported missing after he failed to show up to one of his classes. Ninety-five days later, his decomposed and badly burned body was found about a mile south of the school. However, investigators quickly reached a dead end. Was Steven murdered? Did he take his own life? Or did something else happen? You can...

March 11, 2011. Bethesda, Maryland. In this replay of episode 157, we discuss the murder of Jayna Murray at a Lululemon store and the investigation into her coworker, Brittany Norwood, who stated that two intruders had attacked the women. This episode has been remastered to improve the audio quality of the original file.

January 7th, 2007. Kalamazoo, Michigan. Linda and Todd Stermer fell hard for each other and had a sweet little family together. After 14 years of marriage, they started arguing about things most couples do: affairs and finances. But in 2007, a fire broke out at their home and Todd Stermer was found dead on the lawn. Were those arguments just arguments or could they have directly led to Todd’s death? Did Linda kill her husband on purpose or was it a tragic accident? Join us as we discuss a...

May 18, 2012. Lafayette, Louisiana. When Mickey Shunick rode her bike to a friend’s house, it was a normal occurrence. When she didn’t come home for her brother’s high school graduation, family knew something wasn’t right. Mickey was in a violent sex offender’s line of sight as she rode her bike and never made it home. Sponsors: Best Fiends. A puzzle game with more than 100 Million Downloads. Download on the apple app store or google play. Better Help. Professional counseling done...

November 28, 2009. Burlingame, Kansas. Kraig Kahler, husband and father of three children, entered the home of his wife's grandmother and shot her, his wife and their two daughters. Only his son was spared. A seemingly perfect family was destroyed in a matter of minutes. Obsession, jealousy, and, potentially insanity, were possible reasons Kraig Kahler decided to kill his family in cold blood. Join us as we discuss a terrible mass shooting and the legal issues that followed.

If you could call a number and say you’re sorry, and no one would know…what would you apologize for? For fifteen years, you could call a number in Manhattan and do just that. This is the story of the line, and the man at the other end who became consumed by his own creation. He was known as “Mr. Apology.” As thousands of callers flooded the line, confessing to everything from shoplifting to infidelity, drug dealing to murder, Mr. Apology realized he couldn’t just listen. He had to do...

February 23, 1993. Dayton, Nevada. Fifteen year old Jason Kopack was found dead early one morning inside his home, wrapped in a blanket and with wounds from a 20-gauge shotgun. His best friend, Brian Simmons was arrested and charged with his murder shortly after. As details of that night were revealed, Brian’s guilt was questioned. Did Brian Simmons actually kill Jason Kopack? Or was he accused of murder due to the prejudicial assumptions of the prosecution and the jury about his assumed...

September 28, 1994. Fremont Hills, Missouri. Lisa Revelle, a mother of two and an elementary school teacher, was shot inside her home and died a few hours later in the hospital. Her husband George, a banker and mayor of the town, was convicted of her murder, but acquitted two years later. Lisa’s murder leaves people wondering if George is truly innocent, or a con man smart enough to cover his tracks. Let us know what you think after the episode by following us on instagram...

On August 10th, 1991, nine victims were arranged in a circle and executed in a Buddhist Temple outside of Waddell, Arizona. The Framed Team spent two years combing through every piece of evidence, every misstep, and every alibi to try and figure out what exactly happened in the Wat Promkunaram Temple and, maybe more importantly, why it happened. Hosted by Aaron of Generation Why.

February 11, 2013. Wilmington, Delaware. Christine Belford and her ex-husband, David Matusiewicz, had a contentious relationship after their 2006 divorce that culminated in David and his mother kidnapping the couple's three daughters. Four years after she got her children back, Christine and her friend Beth Mulford stepped into the county courthouse to attend Christine’s child support hearing where they were shot dead. What prompted the shooting and why could no one prevent it?

Replay episode. May 28, 1981. Milwaukee, WI. Christine Schultz was found deceased in her home, the victim of a shooting. She had been bound prior to being shot in the back. Her two sons, ages 7 & 11, had been at home and the older one had witnessed the gunman. Despite a description of a male suspect by one of the boys, the police focused their investigation on the ex-husband's new wife. Were the police connecting the dots properly or were their instincts incorrect?

Hosted by Golden Globe winner Taraji P. Henson. Have you ever had a dream? Something you wanted so bad you just couldn’t let it go? For a group of kids in Harlem in the Eighties, their dreams would change pop music forever. Teddy Riley, Timmy Gatling, and Aaron Hall form a group called Guy that would fuse hip-hop and R&B and launch a new sound. By the early Nineties, the New Jack Sound dominated the pop music charts: Bell Biv DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, and many more. But the rise of...

June 13, 1996. Idaho Falls, Idaho. When 18-year-old Angie Dodge failed to show up to work, two of her coworkers went to her apartment looking for her. There they found Angie lying dead on her bedroom floor. She had been raped and murdered. In January 1997, police had a confession from 20-year-old Christopher Tapps. However, the DNA at the scene didn’t match Chris or the other two men he said were present at Angie’s death. Then Chris recanted his confession, claiming it was coerced. Who else...

January 22, 1984. New Orleans, Louisiana. The police received a 911 call from the Mintz home. Aaron Mintz claimed that he woke up to a loud bang and found his wife, Palma, dead in the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head. However, investigators suspected him of murder after they found a pillow with an obvious bullet hole in another room and Palma’s arm at an angle inconsistent with having shot herself. Did Aaron Mintz shoot his wife and stage it to look like a suicide? Or was...

October 29, 2009. Pensacola, Florida. When Samira Watkins, a two-months pregnant single mother, didn’t show up for work for two days or pick up her four-year-old son, her family knew something was wrong. A few days later her body was found floating in a duffel bag near Pensacola Naval Air Station. The investigation turned up two strong suspects: a violent former boyfriend who was the father of her son and a recent boyfriend who was the father of her unborn child. Who had murdered Samira and...

In this rerun of episode 118, Aaron interviewed Mike Morford about his Zodiac Killer research, the investigation, the suspects, and the case as it stood in 2014. Will the Zodiac ever be identified? Mike Morford hosts several true crime podcasts these days, including Criminology. This episode has been re-edited and remastered.

December 14, 2014. Sydney, Australia. In Martin Place, a Lindt Cafe's employees and patrons were held hostage by an armed man. As the manager of the cafe tried to keep things calm, the armed man became more paranoid. The cafe was surrounded by police and a psychiatrist was brought in to aid authorities in managing the situation. What happened from there on out would almost defy belief. Join us as we discuss one of the most frustrating cases that we have ever covered. /// This is our 400th...

December 31, 1993. Richardson County, Nebraska. In the fall of 1993, Brandon Teena, a transgender man from Lincoln, moved to Falls City, Nebraska to avoid legal trouble and make a fresh start. While there, he befriended a small group of friends and dated multiple women. On Christmas Eve 1993, John Lotter and Thomas Nissen, two of those friends, confronted Brandon about his gender identity. Bigotry and hate defined what followed. Join us as we discuss a triple murder that could have been...

June 02, 2007. San Francisco, California. A French-American citizen enjoyed a night out with friends before heading back to his apartment before 2am. When he was discovered deceased the next day in his locked apartment an investigation was launched to discover what had happened and why. It wasn't long before the lead detective seemed to satisfy these questions in his own mind, but friends and family of Hugues had a different theory of his death. Join us as we discuss a locked room death case...