In this last bonus episode before our season 5 premiere next week, we’re airing Andrea’s conversation with Dr. Catherine Ayoub, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, APSAC member, nurse practitioner, and counseling and consulting psychologist. Cathy tells listeners about her background and first encounter with Munchausen by Proxy. She and Andrea chat about the different groupings of perpetrators and the characteristics/background that may signal that an abuser can be rehabilitated. Cathy dives into family dynamics, and her current study on the long-term effects of this abuse.

***

Links and Resources:

More about Dr. Cathy Ayoub: https://www.childrenshospital.org/directory/catherine-ayoub

Preorder Andrea and Mike’s new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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Introducing How to lower cholesterol in 10 days | Prof. Sarah Berry from ZOE Science & Nutrition.

Follow the show: ZOE Science & Nutrition

Forty percent of people in the UK and US have high cholesterol. Knowing how to lower it can be confusing. In today’s episode, we simplify the science of cholesterol, drawing from ZOE’s 2021 PREDICT study, which explored its link to the gut microbiome.

Dr. Sarah Berry explains the differences between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol, discusses how cholesterol can impact your health, and shares tips on maintaining healthy cholesterol levels.

Sarah is a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King's College London and Chief Scientist at ZOE. She is also the lead nutritional scientist on the PREDICT program.

🥑 Learn how your body responds to food 👉 zoe.com/podcast for 10% off

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Introduction

01:40 Quickfire questions

04:01 What is cholesterol?

05:50 LDL vs HDL cholesterol

11:35 How diet affects cholesterol

13:55 Which fats should you increase?

16:00 Why do some people have high LDL levels?

18:40 The gut microbiome and cholesterol

20:37 What is ApoB?

24:00 Why don’t all doctors measure ApoB?

25:50 Why triglycerides matter to your health

29:30 Triglycerides and post-meal responses

30:45 Which foods can help lower cholesterol?

33:20 Saturated fat explained

35:30 How refined carbs affect cholesterol

39:50 Can you trust ‘low fat’ food labels?

41:15 The benefits of whole grain carbohydrates and fibre

45:03 Sarah’s personal view on statins

48:13 Cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women

Books by our ZOE Scientists:

• Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati
• Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector
• Fibre Fuelled by Dr Will Bulsiewicz

Free resources from ZOE:

• Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 
• Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

Mentioned in today's episode

• What are triglycerides and why do you need them
• Does variation in serum LDL-cholesterol response to dietary fatty acids help explain the controversy over fat quality and cardiovascular disease risk? Atherosclerosis VOL 328
• Determination of variability in serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol response to the replacement of dietary saturated fat with unsaturated fat, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
• Dietary saturated fat and cholesterol: cracking the myths around eggs and cardiovascular disease, J Nutr Sci. 2023
• The effects of probiotics on total cholesterol, Medicine (Baltimore)
• Microbiome connections with host metabolism and habitual diet from 1,098 deeply phenotyped individuals (Zoe’s PREDICT study)

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here.

Episode transcripts are available here.

DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to [email protected].

This season on Nobody Should Believe Me, Andrea is covering the Sophie Hartman case. After years in and out of Zambia, Sophie Hartman adopted 2 young girls, who we’re referring to as M and C. In 2019, Sophie made her first appearance on a local news station, alleging that her youngest daughter, C, has a rare, one-in-a-million neurological disorder called Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC). This eventually spirals into an investigation for Second Degree Assault charges on her child in 2021.

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In the final part of our miniseries covering the Jesika Jones case, Andrea is once again joined by Detective Mike Weber, who shares the series of events from Jesika’s first bond violation through to her 60 year sentencing, from his perspective as law enforcement. He shares the differences in how seriously child abuse cases are taken when there’s a male vs female perpetrator, and the politics behind trying Medical Child Abuse cases in court. Andrea and Mike wrap up their conversation by talking about the systemic changes that need to happen, not only to protect kids from this abuse, but also to help families after the damage has been done.

***

Links/Resources: 

Preorder Andrea and Mike’s new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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

Welcome back to the 3rd installment of our 4-part series on the Jesika Jones case. In this episode, Andrea is wrapping up her conversation with Derek Jones. Derek recaps the fallout after Jesika’s lies finally start to unravel: the frustrating journey of working with the DA on the case, Jesika’s sentencing, and how his kids are doing today. Stay tuned for the final episode next week, where Andrea is once again joined by Detective Mike Weber.

***

Links/Resources: 

Preorder Andrea and Mike’s new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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

After midnight on July 6th, 2012, three teenage girls walked into the thick Appalachian woods somewhere along the Mason-Dixon line. Hours later, under the glow of a nearly full moon, only two walked out.

The very last time Dave and Mary Neese saw their only child Skylar was in a grainy black-and-white video. In it, she's sneaking out of her ground-floor bedroom in the middle of the night, her purse over her shoulder, her brown hair swinging as she hurries across the small parking lot to a waiting car.

What happened to Skylar Neese has become gothic American lore: the odd girl out in a vicious teenage triangle. But in the ten years since that fateful night beneath the West Virginia stars, a fuller portrait of what happened has emerged. From award-winning journalists Justine Harman and Holly Millea comes a gripping 10-part series featuring Skylar's family, closest friends, and law enforcement who lived the case—and are still living it.

***

Listen to THREE on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5tFRuwruLTrGfQFx51bl5J?si=35d6689b4b3d4e6b

Listen to THREE on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/three/id1728272114

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In the second episode of Andrea’s coverage of the Jesika Jones case, she’s joined by Derek Jones, Jesika’s then-husband. Derek bravely tells the story of how he and Jesika met, their home life, and the decline in their daughter's health. Talking to Derek gives listeners insight into the manipulative nature of perpetrators, not only with their victims, but also with everyone around them, and the mental toll of coming to terms with such a monumental breach of trust.

Stay tuned for part 2 of their conversation, coming next week.

***

Links/Resources: 

Preorder Andrea and Mike’s new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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

Brittani Ard returns to the tangled web of memories, wounds, and connections that shape our lives. After sharing her own story in the first 8 chapters, she’s pulling on the delicate threads that tie our histories to who we are today.

Brittani knows that even though our pasts shape who we are, we hold the power to make sure it doesn’t define who we want to be. It’s not just her story anymore—it’s about the people she’s met, their experiences intertwined with hers, and the universal truths hidden in the most personal details. A woman embarks on a quest to find a photograph of her abusive ex. A foster youth trades black trash bags for her voice. The story of returning to an old relationship with new found power and finding love.

You Probably Think This Story’s About You isn’t just an unraveling—it’s the messy, beautiful, sometimes painful ways our pasts can shape us, and the power we have to chase joy during the highest and lowest moments.

***

Catch up on season 1 of You Probably: https://brittaniard.com/

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This week on case files, Andrea is joined by Detective Mike Weber, a crimes against children investigator and long-time friend/contributor to the show, to discuss the Jesika Jones case. Detective Mike is called onto this case in mid-2022 after Jesika brings her 4 year old daughter into Cook Children’s Hospital multiple times for an alleged seizure disorder. As the case evolves, Mike learns just how compulsive an offender who is allowed to walk can truly be. 

***

Links/Resources: 

Preorder Andrea and Mike’s new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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

Chapter 1: It Started as a Love Story 

When Brittani Ard matches with Kanon* on Hinge sparks fly. Their first date revealed an instant connection and chemistry. Kanon is devastatingly handsome with a charm that disarmed even the most guarded heart — plus he is surprisingly emotionally available for a man in his forties. It’s as if the universe has conspired to bring them together, two soulmates destined to find each other.  

The couple spends the next five months diving fast into a whirlwind romance. Their connection so intense and their bond so deep that it seems like Brittani’s fairytale has finally found its happy ending. Until one weekend that changed her life forever. 

*Some names and details have been changed to conceal the identities of those who wish to remain anonymous.

***

Listen to You Probably Think This Story's About You: https://brittaniard.com/podcast

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While the Nobody Should Believe Me team is hard at work on season 5, we’re revisiting the first episode of our third season, which covered the Kowalski v Johns Hopkins All Children's trial, also known as the Take Care of Maya Case. 

Next week, we have a brand new miniseries coming to your ears, so stay tuned.

***

As the Maya Kowalski case heads to trial, we dig into the massive trove of documents about this case and begin to unpack what we know about what really happened during Maya Kowalski’s fateful stay at Johns Hopkins All Childrens in October 2016.  

The Netflix documentary about the case—and the prevailing media narrative---would have you believe that Maya was ripped from her parents by a corrupt system, and that this could happen to any parent of a sick child. But did Maya really have a deadly disease for which she required the massive amounts of ketamine and other drugs she was being given? Was the hospital unfairly biased against Beata Kowalski because she was difficult, or was something more sinister at play?  

We talk to national law enforcement expert on medical child abuse, Detective Mike Weber, as well as a Florida pediatrician who helps us unravel some of the myriad strange details about Maya’s medical history.  

The beginning of our multi-part deep dive into the case reveals the shocking events that led up to the family separation. 

***

Links/Resources: 

Join Patreon for a look at Andrea and Dr. Bex’s previous coverage of the Kowalski case: https://www.patreon.com/collection/548199

Preorder Andrea's new book The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy

Click here to view our sponsors. Remember that using our codes helps advertisers know you’re listening and helps us keep making the show!

Subscribe on YouTube where we have full episodes and lots of bonus content.

Follow Andrea on Instagram for behind-the-scenes photos: @andreadunlop

Buy Andrea's books here.

To support the show, go to Patreon.com/NobodyShouldBelieveMe or subscribe on Apple Podcasts where you can get all episodes early and ad-free and access exclusive ethical true crime bonus content.

For more information and resources on Munchausen by Proxy, please visit MunchausenSupport.com

The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP Practice Guidelines can be downloaded here.

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