The Escape Pod
A traumedy about the trials and tribulations of people in their journeys of “escape”. Escape what, you ask? ALL the things! From trauma, crime, and unhealthy family cycles, to traffic and good deeds not going unpunished. Like we said—all the things! (Just tune in…you’ll understand.) Co-hosted by Julie Oberlander and Charity Doyle--the journalist and the rehabbed trainwreck--The Escape Pod aims to connect, educate, entertain, and humanize through the lens of lived experience.
Episodes
No “silver spoon” to speak of in this politician’s background. No – Jason Salamun, now Mayor Salamun, was born in West Texas to teen parents, including a mother who struggled with addiction. His childhood was fraught with instability. But his grandparents were a “lifeline,” and a combination of their love and a new life with his father in South Dakota changed everything. Mayor Salamun escaped a challenging childhood and eventually ...
Pie-scape (Escaping financial abuse)
Summary of Episode
Inspired by the fictional movie/musical “Waitress,” the co-hosts explore the very non-fictional issue of financial abuse and – more importantly – how to escape it.
Resources & Links
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He says “med school Stephen” had no interest in addiction and recovery services, but several years after earning his M.D., this doctor with a heart for humanity saw a need for expanded treatment options in Rapid City, SD, and he took action. The co-hosts welcome Dr. Stephen Tamang of Monument Health into The Escape Pod to discuss hard drugs, how they hijack the brain, and why escaping these addictions is so challenging.
Bullet Po...
In this Escape Bite, your co-hosts compete to come up with the best story that answers the question: Who stole the cheese?! Turns out, A LOT of people do. Cheese is actually the “most stolen food” in the world, according to a Yahoo News article published in April 2025.
Resources & Links
Summary of Episode
The conclusion of The Escape Pod’s “Blind Faith” series details the alleged whereabouts of John-Paul Miller on the day of his wife’s tragic death and digs into new allegations against the pastor, dating back to the 1990s.
BE ADVISED: This episode includes discussion of suicide and physical and sexual violence.
Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers:
Topic #1 :01 Recap of Parts 1-3
Topic #2...
Summary of Episode
A controller at a Texas bakery famous for its fruitcake steals a massive amount of “dough” from his employer over nine years. How did he do it, and – more importantly – how can trusting businesses escape such a fate themselves? The co-hosts answer those questions and more in an Escape Bite mini-sode that might leave you saying, “That’s a lot of fruitcake!”
Resources & Links
- “Fail” photo found on Pint...
Escape Pod Show Notes – Episode 69: Blind Faith, Pt. 3 (Mica Miller’s Story)
Date: 5/21/2025
Episode Title and Number: Blind Faith, Pt. 3 (Mica Miller’s Story) – Ep. 69
Summary of Episode
Our four-part series “Blind Faith” focuses on a Carolina pastor and his often-tumultuous relationships, particularly with his second wife, Mica, who – authorities ruled – took her own life in the spring of 2024. In this third installment, Th...
Bad (PTA) Moms
Summary of Episode
The movie “Bad Moms” portrayed PTA parents as crazy, controlling, and conniving – but all in good fun. (It is a movie, after all.) It wasn’t nearly as funny when three PTA moms in southern California scammed millions of dollars from real people, including fellow PTA members. They got away with it for a time but couldn’t escape the consequences of their scheme. Learn more about the case in this ...
The second installment of our four-part series, “Blind Faith,” delves deeper into the second marriage of a Carolina pastor to a young woman he may have wooed – or groomed – when she was just a teen and he was married with children. What initially appeared to be true love became truly terrifying. In this edition of The Escape Pod, the co-hosts examine the disturbing behaviors that characterized the marriage and may have led to Mica ...
When a common person uses the term “insane” or “incompetent” to describe someone, they’re rarely using the same standard as that of a lawyer or judge in a court of law. The Escape Pod’s own former news reporter-turned-podcast co-host can testify to this, using the example of a South Dakota kidnapping/murder case she first covered 20+ years ago.
Resources & Links
- https://rapi...
Call it love. Call it blind faith. Call it the result of a predator getting the best of his prey.
A young woman who appeared happily married claims to be trapped in a controlling, manipulative relationship. She begs for help, but no one listens. Instead, she's publicly shamed – painted as crazy and unhinged. Her pastor husband couldn’t be the bad guy, right? This isn’t a classic case of a respected position covering up a true crim...
A nature reserve and popular party place in the middle-of-nowhere becomes the scene of mass murder in the fall of 1973: four teens are killed; a fifth escapes death but is victimized in other ways – by her friends’ killers and, later, by small-town conspiracy theorists who suspect she was in on the crime. In time, though, this survivor gets to tell her own story of escape and finds healing in doing so. The co-hosts travel back more...
A familiar face on the streets of Grand Junction, Colorado, goes missing in February 2021. Known as “The Reading Man,” Warren Barnes is described as kind and helpful by those who saw him daily at his favorite place to read. Just days after the man's disappearance, a mom makes a gruesome discovery while cleaning her 19-year-old son’s bedroom. But it makes no sense: her son, diagnosed with autism as a child, had never been violent to...
“You can trust your kid all you want, but do you trust the world with your kid?”
Back by popular demand, Hollie Strand of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force returns to The Escape Pod to help us help our kids escape – or at least better navigate – the very real dangers of the digital world. Hollie offers tips to start these tough conversations with kids of all ages (FYI – if you’re waiting until they’re teens to talk a...
In the spring of 2023, police in the U.K. found the most unlikely of overdose victims: a well-liked, well-respected couple in their 60s. Initially, investigators considered that the deaths might be the result of suicide or an accident, but then – as one co-host likes to say – their “Spidey senses” kicked in, turning their attention toward a caregiver who may have been providing the wrong kind of TLC. This week, The Escape Pod goes ...
In 2022, the “self-help” industry in the U.S. alone raked in more than $13B. (That’s BILLION, with a capital B.) There is no shame in wanting to better oneself – personally, professionally, or both. What is shameful is taking advantage of those people who seek self-improvement. Adherents of such programs often expect (and pay big money) to be challenged physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But self-help gurus operate...
It’s not exactly “breaking news.” America has an obesity problem, and we all know it. But, historically speaking, it is a relatively new problem that dates back only about 50 years. That’s when some of the biggest food companies in the world got very smart about how to keep customers coming back for more ... and more ... and more. How? By using incredibly effective formulas to create “hyper-palatable” foods. Hop into The Escape Po...
Even with morning sickness and other side effects, the nine months of anticipating a newborn baby is often an exciting and joyful time for women. But for those in dysfunctional or – worse – abusive relationships, that nine months can be traumatizing and potentially dangerous. Research shows that homicide is among the leading causes of death for pregnant and postpartum women, but some states still have laws that prevent couples from...
A marriage license before a driver’s license? In some states in the U.S. – YES – it's totally legal, even today. And if you think these unions are simply young lovers who can’t wait to “make it official,” think again. Research shows 86% of childhood marriages involve girls married to adult men, and in many of those cases, the age difference is vast. The co-hosts take a closer look at the stats and share true stories of truly crimin...
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