On Taking A Life

On Failure & Closure

Last week I got to meet Joe Berlinger, a documentary hero of mine. As we chatted, I had a realisation about a failed documentary idea of mine - and in talking to him, I got closure. See you in the comments section: https://www.webworm.co/p/failureandclosure [https://www.webworm.co/p/failureandclosure] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe [https://webworm.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Tear Gas & Rubber Bullets: The National Guard Has Moved In

Getting tear gassed by the National Guard fucking sucks. Everything stings, you can’t breathe, and you can’t see. You can hear just fine — the almost comical pop-pop-pop of more tear gas canisters arcing over the crowd. It strikes you how everyone has their own unique cough; their own way of sounding when they splutter. Like many of you, last night I heard that Donald Trump was allegedly sending 2000 members of the National Guard to LA [https://apnews.com/article/insurrection-act-trump-troops-newsom-military-national-guard-a842f79e1c0e244039be274a6f266a7a], all with the purpose of stopping the terrible violent protests against all the ICE raids and deportations going on in this city. Of course there has been little to no violence — he just wants to swing his tiny lizard dick around, and stoke fear. His dream, I imagine, is conflict. “See, look, the people of LA are out of control,” he’ll mumble and dribble, distracted by whatever bugs are buzzing around in his sloppy mess of a brain. I saw there was a planned protest outside City Hall at 2pm — so I drove downtown at 10am to get an early start. You fund my journalism here on Webworm, so let’s fucking do journalism on my Sunday. For more and to comment, please come to www.webworm.co This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe [https://webworm.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The National Guard is in LA

Hi, Tear gas in the air, a lot of coughing. A lot of guns. And anger. But so far, peace. I’ll be going live throughout the day here on Webworm. If you have the app, you’ll automatically see when I go live. UPDATE, 7.45pm PT: For anyone who missed the lives — the quality was pretty patchy, so I have summed up my experiences and interviews (with much better audio) here [https://www.webworm.co/p/teargasandrubberbullets]: David. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe [https://webworm.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

On Taking A Life

I wanted to share the short audio documentary I created for Flightless Bird about the execution of a quite possibly innocent man, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams. I travelled to Jefferson City, Missouri, as both the victim’s family and the original prosecutor in the case urged lawmakers to halt the execution — saying terrible mistakes had been made in the case. This was all based on the reporting I did for Webworm back in September last year [https://www.webworm.co/p/marcellus]. Some of you are Flightless Bird [https://www.flightlessbirdpod.com/listen] listeners and will have heard this already, but I figure plenty of you aren’t. I felt proud of how this turned out and wanted to share it with you. It’s just the audio documentary — no yapping from any podcast hosts. This reporting wouldn’t have been possible without you. So thank you. Finally, I wanted to note that January 20, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to implement a fed­er­al death penal­ty [https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-the-death-penalty-and-protecting-public-safety/]. Looking back on my time in Jefferson City, this fills me with fucking horror. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe [https://webworm.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Secret In The Safe

Today’s Webworm story comes in the form of a short podcast episode. It’s the sort of story I tend to be attracted to — a tale that’s weird, dark and strangely redemptive. And true. I came across it while researching a story about US prisoners who volunteer to fight fires. Matt was one of these prisoners — but he also had another story that I wanted to share. Please be aware this episode is for adults only. By now you probably know my stories go to some pretty dark places. There are markers along the way, so you should get a feeling of whether it’s for you or not. But please do take care when listening — and don’t listen with your kids in the car. See you in the comments and discussion over on https://www.webworm.co [https://www.webworm.co] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe [https://webworm.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]