This is an episode of Inside the Tent, a podcast going behind the scenes of Campside’s award winning shows.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
When a birthday party in suburban San Jose turns deadly, 18-year-old identical twins are arrested for suspected murder. One brother spends nearly two years in jail before the truth comes out: authorities locked up the wrong twin.
How could one brother let his twin take the fall? And why would the other sacrifice his freedom for a crime he didn’t commit?
Jen begins by recounting her first meeting with one of the twins, Trung, during a visit to San Quentin State Prison in 2020. She was reporting a story about therapeutic Shakespeare programs for incarcerated men.
Matt wonders why the story was a better fit for a limited series podcast, rather than a magazine article. Jen explains that it was a complicated story that needed to be told in an expansive way, with the voices of the brothers literally heard. Trung and Anh ultimately participated even with death threats directed at them.
Jen goes on to say that making Blood Will Tell was a collaborative experience and, in this instance, putting up a wall between the reporter and her sources was not the right way to go about it.
Matt highlights that talking to reporters at all must be a difficult decision for sources. And Jen explains what motivated Trung in particular, who has actively worked to change his life.
Finally, Jen compares the experience of finishing a book to completing a podcast and gives us insight into what the brothers thought of Blood Will Tell.
Listen to Inside the Tent on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Email us with questions or comments: questions@campsidemedia.com.
We hope to see you inside the tent again soon. Subscribe now for updates on Blood Will Tell and all of Campside’s hit shows.
