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Five City LIVE: Bear Brook Podcast On Tour

Sara Plourde

New Hampshire Public Radio will launch its first podcast tour this spring when the team behind Bear Brook goes live onstage in five East Coast cities. 

The popular podcast focuses on four unsolved murders from the 1980s near Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire—cold cases that went warm after new investigative techniques came into play.

In the podcast, NHPR reporter Jason Moon and producer Taylor Quimby explore a central question: How could a murdered family go missing and unidentified for so long? Now, the team behind Bear Brook will share perspectives on the multi-year investigation; the role of genetic genealogy in solving crimes; and the stories behind key players surrounding the case—from family members to amateur sleuths to law enforcement.

In early May, Bear Brook will hit the road for its debut tour—starting outside the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., and traveling to Baltimore; Asbury Park, N.J.; Brooklyn, N.Y.;  and finishing up in Boston. Join Moon and Quimby for a fascinating stage show as they discuss the stories behind their reporting, including:

  • How a one-time news conference assignment turned into a multi-year, long-form reporting project.
  • How the sprawling, intricate law enforcement investigation took shape.
  • The role of forensic technology and genetic genealogy in solving crimes—and the science and ethics of both.  
  • The team’s personal impressions of various relevant sites to the case in New Hampshire, including the area where the bodies were found and the gravesites of the first two victims.
  • The story behind the podcast’s original music, which was composed and performed by Moon and Quimby.
  • What’s next for final resolution of the case?

Each of these special presentations will be moderated by NHPR’s Rebecca Lavoie, also a creator and host of the popular true crime podcast Crime Writers On. At each show, there will be time for audience questions.

“The response from listeners around the world speaks to the quality of Jason Moon’s reporting and storytelling,” said Maureen McMurray, Director of Content Innovation at New Hampshire Public Radio. “His journalistic rigor and thoughtfulness moved people and inspired renewed interest in this heartbreaking case. The Bear Brook team is looking forward to bringing the podcast to the stage, as a way to bring fans behind the scenes of the production and connect with more listeners.”

Since making its debut in October 2018, listeners from around the world have downloaded more than four million episodes of Bear Brook to learn more about the mysterious victims, an enigmatic killer and innovations in forensic technology that may forever change how murders are investigated. The podcast has been named to numerous “Best Of” lists, including The Verge, The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.), BuzzFeed, and Vulture; it also earned a Top 10 citation as one of the “Best Podcasts of 2018” from The New Yorker.

TOUR LOCATIONS & DATES

Contact individual venues for more information and to purchase tickets. [NOTE: General on-sale for all five tour venues will be Thursday, March 14 at 10 a.m.]

The Birchmere: Alexandria, Virginia – Wednesday, May 8

Rams Head Live: Baltimore, Maryland – Thursday, May 9

House of Independents: Asbury Park, New Jersey – Friday, May 10

The Bell House: Brooklyn, New York – Saturday, May 11

The Wilbur: Boston, Massachusetts – Tuesday, May 14

WHERE TO FIND THE BEAR BROOK PODCAST

Subscribe: Listeners can hear Bear Brook by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever they access podcasts.W

Website: www.bearbrookpodcast.org.

Soundtrack (featuring original compositions performed by Moon and Quimby): www.bearbrookpodcast.com/podcast-soundtrack

Social Media: Twitter – @bearbrookpod   Facebook – @bearbrookpod

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About New Hampshire Public Radio

Since 1981, New Hampshire Public Radio has shaped the media landscape in the Granite State and beyond. Our mission is “Expanding minds, sparking connections, building stronger communities.” NHPR is broadcast from 14 different sites, making it by far New Hampshire’s largest (and only) statewide radio news service. Every week, NHPR is the choice of 170,000 listeners as a primary source of in-depth and intelligent news coverage, with thousands more viewing NHPR.org, following our social media sites or listening to our podcasts. Each day, New Hampshire Public Radio delivers several hours of local news reported by its award-winning news team. Locally produced programs and podcasts include The Exchange, Word of Mouth, The Folk Show, Outside/In, and Civics 101, among others. NHPR is the exclusive outlet for NPR News in the Granite State and broadcasts national weekly programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, and This American Life.

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