Short Creek wasn’t the first podcast I’ve listened to about fundamentalist LDS, but it was the best. A sensitive, nuanced portrait of some complicated and horrible situations.

Season one was the best!!!!!

I would have liked to hear a conclusion on how Black Memphis was destroyed from even what it was in the 50’s due to the very government that was spying on its own citizens; That said, it allowed a detailed discussion of the subject at hand;

I enjoyed style and music. However, it seemed they intentionally led us down one path only to ambush us with new info in the last 2 episodes. The info was new to us, but we find the hosts have known about this angle the whole time, just didn’t share. I felt like they wanted it to be the white community who killed him and were disappointed when they found the truth. I was let down.

Absolutely brilliant. My Mom was a civil rights activist in the 60’s. I’m so glad and grateful to you for this podcast.

In a world of so many podcasts, this stands out. I’m the biggest fan of Unfinished! Excellent journalism!! You’d be missing out if you forgo this experience. Absolutely top notch, and one of my favorite podcasts, but in a 40min clip I hear the same sound clips from each episode over and over. There is a generous amount of padding these in to each episode, and I find myself fast forwarding through multiple segments because I’ve heard it 8x already in 6 episodes. This bothers me enough to take time to leave a review, and it throws off the flow for me.

The story is told with TRUE facts! Wonderfully told! I appreciate that his family and those who remember we him have the chance to share what they remember. I’m sharing this story and podcast with anyone who will listen. Excellent job!

Very informing and told in a way that has a me on the edge of my seat. One of my favorite podcast

Two screaming women basically reading a story to each other from People Magazine. The only scam here is on listeners sucked into hearing this regurgitated nonsense. The worst show yet from Blundery

I have been a fan of the Unfinished Podcast since season 1 “Deep South” (another excellent podcast BTW). I was surprised and excited to see that Wesley Lowry is covering the Ernest Withers story, because we are working with The Withers Collection on a generative art project based on Withers photography. Because of our work with The Wither Collection, I have been digging into to the Withers story, it is fascinating. I find it interesting how many projects exist that either focus on Withers, base their project on photos he captured, or use his photos to help tell their story. To me it’s unbelievable that Withers is not a household name. “Ernie’s Secret” is outstanding, has provided me withnew information about Ernest Withers, and is helping me to paint a more complete picture of the importance of his body of work and the role he played in the civil rights movement. This podcast is awesome. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Wesley Lowry does an excellent job telling this very surprising story. Informative and thoughtful and very well produced. Looking forward to more from Mr Lowry!!

Can’t wait to hear the rest of the series. A fascinating story more people should know about

Love the first two episodes. Delving into the complexities of the man.

Wesley Lowery is an incredibly refreshing voice in this style of podcast. Instead of just going down a list of questions Wesley Lowery has genuine conversations where you can tell he is actually listening and not waiting to speak. I love his versatility to go from a journalistic style narrator to someone just having a normal conversation.

Very good listen, uncovering facts you never knew. Love podcasts like this!

Thanks for sharing this important story. I don’t think it did harm to the movement in terms of its gravity. What it did was expose the weakness in all of us and as was stated. The very real choices and hard decisions we are all tasked to make. We can only hope that when faced with such decisions, that we will do what is right. If not for ourselves, hopefully for humanity.

This series explores how something that seems illogical could makes sense. Thanks to the team who followed the trail and opened our eyes.

Your ending with Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah was brilliant. I didn’t cry until then. Thank you for this story.

Short creek is 5 stars, Deep South is 3 stars, average 4 stars. HIGHLY recommend Short Creek

What a different perspective and unexpected history lesson about the south. We need to update history books. This in disgusting, enlightening and inspiring all in one.

I cannot believe people can be that foolish. They walk among us. Great subject, great podcast… Most concise and informative Warren Jeffs history than I’ve heard in the past.

Love the work Witness Docs supports. Some of the best investigative journalism and documentary podcast stories out there. Unfinished did not disappoint. Really elevates podcasts to such a high bar, I struggle to listen to the rushed unprofessional “true crime” content being churned out. Keep doing great work. Unfinished, and other truly compassionate pieces like it, where you can hear all the work and passion put into the investigation, reporting, and storytelling, are really the pinnacle of podcasting. Thanks to everyone who bravely shared their stories. Please ignore the negative comments by LDS cult members & white supremacists. Apple needs to actually moderate their ratings system & reviews. Every review gets held by Apple for arbitrary periods of time… some get deleted without cause — yet inappropriate reviews are always let thru!

Interesting story. I think the delivery was decent and the information was fascinating. With that being said, there seemed to be all sides of the story except a side representing the “mainstream Mormon church”. I know several people who are LDS and I was bummed to not have their side of the story or their faith explored. The host was ex-LDS and seemed comfortable explaining her disbelief in the religion and it left a sour taste in my mouth to not have the other side represented… close to unbiased but not fully.

Good content for understanding how religious (and political) groups jump the shark and start grabbing power too tightly, and getting out of them soon enough.

I was super into this podcast up until they gave the inaccurate PR version of the death of Joseph Smith rather than reporting on actual historical facts. Please do your research if you want to maintain journalistic integrity.

“The houses got smaller and the churches got bigger.” To me that description is emblematic of the way this whole story was told. It’s incurious and designed around the shorthand way that northern people think about the south. This is a worthy story, unfortunately the hosts chose to tell it by weighting titillation over deep understanding.

Love the podcast(I have only listened to the first season so far, excited for the second). The only thing I didn’t like was when the producer comes on, kinda come out of nowhere and it feels like she is pushing a narrative that isn’t actually the story that is being told. The journalists who are telling the story are doing a perfect job and getting the random commentary from the producer feels out of place, it feels like she insisted on having her voice in the podcast. The podcast is is great, so obviously she did a great job as a producer, but she did not need to give commentary inside the podcast.

The episodes should be organized in a way that the next episode automatically start at the end of each episode. I would think this is common sense but I guess I’m wrong. It’s annoying to be honest, especially when driving. Do better.

So sick

I have only listened to Unfinished: Short Creek. It was outstanding. The hosts were such talented interviewers and analysts. A serious topic compellingly explored.

Listened to Deep South only so far. Travel back to the 1950s South and learn back at the mysterious, unsolved murder of Isidore Banks. The writing, the reporting and the soundtrack are all top notch. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it is a story that needed to be told. Taylor Hom and Neil Shea do a great job at investigating and narrating it.

I didn’t bother listening to Season 1, because I knew they would not just tell an interesting story but beat us over the head with an agenda and tell us what to think about it. I had higher hopes for Season 2, but I was disappointed. Like seemingly every other Millennial / Gen Z podcaster, these hosts are self-indulgent, preachy, and desperate to be more “woke” than the next one. They claim to be “unbiased” by sympathizing with child abuse while simultaneously whining about their own “hardships” and “outsider status,” being ex-Mormon in one case and Jewish in another. The 5-minute diatribe at the beginning of Episode 7 was the icing on the cake. More importantly, they tell the story in a completely convoluted way; if you don’t already know who all these “prophets” were, it’s impossible to keep track and make sense of the story, and the constant jumping around in the timeline results in needless repetition. All of this could be avoided by telling the story chronologically, but there seems to be some law against that now.

I am not so sure that this reporter is the best person to give a clear telling of this story. It doesn’t seem appropriate or professional to bring up your own emotional baggage and expect the interviewee to provide you with support. Nor should it be a place for your tears about your life. This is so unfair to the people you are interviewing and only distracts from the topic here.

The Short Creek story was so interesting and well done. I’ve seen lots of shows on this stuff and to embed yourselves inside the town for such a period of time is a new take that mainstream Arab shows just don’t do.

This podcast is compelling. Gave me a much better understanding of Short Creek and why people, primarily women, stayed and lived this life, initially, but not after Jeffs showed up. One question - do all men from this religious sect speak in a slow, measured, creepy cadence? They all sounded like they emulated Warren Jeffs - even in voice and speech patterns. Also - couldn’t stand listening to Norma Richter after about 5 minutes. Really hard to find sympathy when they allow this to happen to children. And definitely a trigger for anyone molested or abused as a child, particularly if it was due to forced religious practices that parents did nothing about.

We took the opportunity during a long drive through the Carolinas, West Virginia, and Virginia to binge-listen to Deep South from Witness docs. We didn’t intend to listen straight through, but we had no choice; we were instantly hooked! Neil Shea, a journalist I’ve long admired for his writing, has translated his thoughtful, compassionate curiosity to the microphone as he and his filmmaker parter Taylor Hom go in search of answers to an unsolved lynching that happened more than a half century ago. But that powerful wholly unjust and abhorrent act is, in many ways, such a small part of the story. It’s really about stepping into a world and dissecting the dynamics of the relationships within it, like a Tolstoy novel, and then watching as Neil and Taylor draw the clear threads to what it all means to us, here, now. More than ever. Say his name: Isadore Banks. Highly recommended.

Great reporting and tireless investigating by the reporters in this series. So compelling.

The reporting, insight and humanity is unparalleled. Both seasons are powerful and truly stand out in a sea of similar podcasts. Don’t miss it.

Storytelling at its absolute best! The journalists have done an excellent job of capturing an era of Race Terror, tracing its roots, and illustrating how it still exists in a modern form today. Spellbinding mystery and tragic history, for the Banks family, their community and this country. It’s a must listen!! Can’t wait to complete Season 2.

You really should not stereotype “White People”. Maybe “some white people”. You also assume what is in a persons mind.....how can you fact check that on someone who is long gone?? It is just as insulting as stereotyping black people “all like fried chicken....”. Insulting to me & my ancestors who were Abolitionists. You just need to be careful as stereotyping any group of people can incite hate & violence as much as someone who is racist about skin color, sexual preference, gender.......

Listened to both seasons back to back. Amazing topics explored with such depth, finesse and compassion. Can’t wait for Season 3 and beyond.

but wow, I'm learning new info. Since I just started the series I'm only on the 'KEEPING SWEET' episode, but I have a few questions which I hope will be answered during the AMA (ask me anything) last episode. Also, are these two podcasters/women on Twitter by any chance? Would love to be able to keep up with them.

Really fascinating series that valorizes the complexity and suffering of a group not given mainstream attention. Refreshing to learn about victimization and triumph among a people who don’t fit into today’s impossibly narrow definitions of whose suffering is worthy of respect and consideration. Thank you to the creators to allow us to learn of overlooked nuances in identity politics. Helps us understand that infinite groups suffer and triumph, and their pain is as important as anyone else’s. Ash’s connection to the community was fascinating; Sarah’s forced connection with the group via a very different religion, less so, and felt disrespectful to detract from this group’s story while insisting on making the audience think about her unrelated pain.

Read ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ for much better reporting on these topics

This podcast is one of my favorites. I laughed, cried, and even had to pause and sit to absorb the content. As a former LDS member, the messages here resonates deeply with me, and the resilience and power of the people who escaped, who walk towards healing, they give me hope. Thank you for giving these people, and this beautiful little town, a voice.

I can't wait for season 3. How's that for a review? Each season focuses on a completely different story/event. The quality of research and depth of information, the interviews, the thoughtful storytelling... I was riveted each season. I listen to many podcasts. This is one of the best.

It is unfortunate that one of the narrators lets her apparently unpleasant experience in the LDS Church colour her narrative. To project one’s experience as if it would be everyone’s is disingenuous, biased and uneven. While the production was good, unfortunately the content was very lopsided. Too bad. I would have enjoyed listening to other Unfinished podcasts but I would now question its authenticity. So I will pass.

This podcast represents excellent reporting but this is bracing stuff folks. At least it is for this Black woman. I’m working through Season 1 very slowly in large part because I’ve realized that I need a stiff drink nearby when I do gin up (ha, no pun intended) the courage to hit ‘play’ on this. Difficult but important listening.

I wanted to like it but extremely poor reporting... two woke reporters who allow their wokeness to make blanket statements about FLDS and Mormons. Ash- sorry you had a bad experience Growing up in Mormon religion but you made numerous statements without providing any supporting facts. P.s. Mormonism is a religion not an ethnicity. You are not Mormon anymore so stop saying “as a Mormon “ because you ain’t sista. You should have provided more Mormon history if you were going to throw random anti- Mormon statements. Maybe get some real scholars to discuss FLDS and Mormon roots and history. The podcast is storytelling at is worst

These hosts are FLDS explainers and apologists. How can they have Elissa Wall on the show, to tell of being forced to marry her cousin at age 14, and still be such excuse-makers for the FLDS? They allow the FLDS members’ “discrimination” and “victim” narrative to become a legitimate argument. If you want to know about the real FLDS read Elisa Wall’s book, or Carolyn Jessop’s, or Rebecca Musser’s, or Rachel Jeff’s.