*This episode contains strong descriptions of sexual situations and abuse, listener discretion is advised.

As a closeted gay teenager, lying was familiar to Mark Olmsted. Concealing parts of his identity was just part of the deal–and he was good at it. But when the AIDS crisis threatened his life and left him with little to lose, the lying would turn so grandiose that no one who knew him could quite believe it. 

In our previous two episodes Mark Olmsted spoke on his upbringing and the complicated history with his brother–and how an unexpected transformation in their relationship would eventually lead to a life of debauchery, all culminating in a dramatic encounter with law enforcement.

For our third and final part of the story, Mark describes the chaotic months he would spend being shuffled throughout the California detention system. As a gay inmate concerned for his safety, lying would initially become a means for survival as he struggled to gain footing in a tense environment. Eventually finding common ground as an outsider with a small group of inmates, Mark would slowly begin to re-examine his life–ironically reclaiming his sanity in a place most would consider insane. With the burden of lying lifted after his release and a certain memory about his mother re-surfacing, would the need to live a life of deception remain? Or will reckoning with a shocking childhood secret and his closeted childhood open the door for contemplation and a new way of life?

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr. Photos by Clarke Tolton.

For more about Mark, you can purchase his book Ink From The Pen: A Prison Memoir.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode contains descriptions of sexual situations, listener discretion is advised.

As a closeted gay teenager, lying was familiar to Mark Olmsted. Concealing parts of his identity was just part of the deal–and he was good at it. But when the AIDS crisis threatened his life and left him with little to lose, the lying would turn so grandiose that no one who knew him could quite believe it. 

In part two, Mark discusses his increased trajectory of deception in the immediate years after a death in the family. With his health hanging in the balance and hopes dashed after a dream screenplay project falls through, casual drug use and debauchery would eventually give rise to dealing methamphetamine in the Los Angeles gay scene–a desperate scenario that would lead to a dramatic encounter with law enforcement. With things escalating beyond his control, Mark would devise a plan to carry out the biggest act of fraud deception yet, but would it be enough to finally turn his life around for good?

For more about Mark, you can purchase his book Ink From The Pen: A Prison Memoir HERE.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode contains descriptions of sexual situations, listener discretion is advised.

As a closeted gay teenager, lying was familiar to Mark Olmsted. Concealing parts of his identity was just part of the deal–and he was good at it. But when the AIDS crisis threatened his life and left him with little to lose, the lying would turn so grandiose that no one who knew him could quite believe it. In part one of our three-part series, Mark vividly recounts his childhood upbringing and the complicated relationship with his brother that would ultimately transform in one of the most unexpected ways. And after thriving in the mecca of 70s and 80s New York City gay life he found himself facing a hard question: How would he cope following an unthinkable family tragedy and react to a future life he assumed had vanished?

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr. Photos by Clarke Tolton.

For more about Mark, you can purchase his book Ink From The Pen: A Prison Memoir.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the year 2000, more than 3,500 border-crossers have met a gruesome fate throughout the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. With over 1,000-and-counting still missing, the numbers have only continued to rise as more attempt the trek each year in pursuit of a better life. This is the story of Alvaro Encisco, an immigrant who found his own version of the myth of the American dream, and with his art, has been on a mission giving a voice to the seekers who have died in search of theirs.

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr.

For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*This episode contains strong descriptions of sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

Susan Pavlak is at work hospicing the Catholic Church, and after spending her youth in the crosshairs of a sexual predator, found solace in forgiveness and truth. Pavlak describes how she reconciles her history of abuse with her continued faith in the Catholic Church and the goodness it provides - and how that faith would lead her to Gil Gustafson. A former priest, Gustafson has become Susan’s unlikely partner in a quest to shine light on the church's darkest secrets. In this episode, both describe their troubling experiences on opposite sides of abuse, how they came together as friends to heal, and their push for accountability.

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr.

Originally produced by Stephanie Lepp for her podcast Reckonings, this episode has been re-edited and expanded to include all new audio and sound design.

For more about this story, including photos by Casey Steffens, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where do we go when we can’t make it in mainstream society? As someone who has often battled mental illness and rage, Del Hendrixson Jr. connects the dots between a violent mental breakdown and his struggle to find a sense of belonging as a child. In this episode, Del talks about a successful career in printing that would eventually turn criminal, hitting rock bottom, and fighting an insatiable urge to kill. Following a suicide attempt and a slow journey toward peace and acceptance of living outside the mainstream, life would eventually come full-circle to the place everything bottomed out - prison - where Del taught newly-released inmates creative skills in order to help them lead productive lives at his Bajito Onda Foundation.

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Produced by Mike Martinez, Tyler Wray, and Grace Heerman. Music by Mike Etten. Sound design by George Drake, Jr.

For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her.

Kims' story continues in part 02, where she shares what transpired in the wake of her boyfriends' death and how she came out on the other side into a career as an activist for domestic violence victims.

*This episode contains strong descriptions of domestic violence, please listen with care.

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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.

Music by Mike Etten

Sound Design by Armen Bazarian

Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder

For more about this story, including photos by Casey Steffens, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forty years ago, military-backed death squads descended on Dora Rodriguez’ hometown as a civil war spiraled out of control in El Salvador. Forced to flee as a teenager and leave her family behind, Rodriguez began what she thought would be the only journey north through Mexico and into the harsh Sonoran Desert. In this episode, Dora recounts her harrowing start-stop passage across the desert, predatory smugglers that nearly cost her life, and an unlikely relationship with a man from the other side of the wall.

*This episode has been edited from the original version for safety and editorial purposes.

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Produced by Clarke Tolton, Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.

Sound Design by George Drake Jr.

Music by Mike Etten

Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder

For more about this story, including photos by Clarke Tolton, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time her boyfriend became violent, Kim Dadou Brown was confident she could handle it. It was just one of those things the women in her family dealt with. It wasn’t until Kim found herself in prison that she realized how seriously the years of abuse had skewed her reality – and what little support the system offered women like her.

In Part 01, Kim meets us in her home in Rochester, New York, where she shares what ultimately led to a final act of violence and how much work she’s had to do in order to free herself from the trauma.

*This episode contains strong descriptions of domestic violence, please listen with care.

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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.

Music by Mike Etten

Sound Design by Armen Bazarian

Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder

For more about this story, including photos by Casey Steffens, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They say stealing cattle in Texas can get a man hung by the neck until dead. From a young age Roddy Pippin was ready to take that risk, as he and his crew would take home close to a million dollars rustling cattle over the course of 3 years.

In this episode Pippin speaks of his idyllic childhood and love for the ways of the old west, the precarious choices he made while chasing the steal that would lead to brushes with death, and how those few years on the run pushed him and his lifelong friendships to the limit. 

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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.

Sound Design by George Drake Jr.

Music by Mike Etten and Dominic Palermo

Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder

For more about this story, including photos by Justin Hollar, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Death, life’s ultimate closure, often casts a long shadow over the funeral that follows. These ceremonies rarely spark protest or public outcry, but in the spring of 2013 Lonewolf Smith was thrust into a national dilemma when he and his colleagues at Graham, Putney, & Mahoney Funeral Parlors were asked to tend to the body of one of America’s most reviled terrorists.

In this story we hear from former mortician Lonewolf on his dedication to his often-misunderstood work, a personal moral dilemma following his own experience with a horrific act of terrorism, and how he answers the question of who deserves a proper burial.

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Produced by Grace Heerman, Mike Martinez, and Tyler Wray.

Sound Design by George Drake Jr.

Music by Mike Etten.

Intro/Outro music by Anand Wilder

For more about this story, including photos by Robert Johansson, visit everythingisstories.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices