New podcast series tells unheard stories of law enforcement trauma

Women-led production house, Kouvenda Media, has launched its first limited series From Words to Weapons on the podcast Obscured.

The series centres on law enforcement trauma survivors and related challenges, solutions, hope and resilience.

Kicking off the series is a revisit to the story of Jimmy Warren, who was the subject of a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case that ruled a black man who runs from police shouldn’t necessarily be considered suspicious.

Despite the fact that Jimmy’s case made headlines, no journalist has ever spoken directly with Jimmy before now.

Other stories featured include law professor Joanna Schwartz on how the police became untouchable, Chester Holman III’s exoneration and challenges facing exonerees, Hector Rivera’s experience and his advocacy for alternative trauma support, Maija Anderson’s research on medical treatment post-law enforcement encounters and more.

As seasoned journalists, Obscured is Stephanie Marudas and Emily Previti’s response to seeing too many issues and stories remain unknown to the public due to underreporting.

“Throughout both of our careers, we’ve gravitated towards what we call obscured stories. The ones that don’t necessarily get daily news coverage and are on the fringe, maybe overlooked sometimes,” said Stephanie Marudas, founder of Kouvenda Media & co-creator of Obscured.

“With ongoing cuts and consolidation within journalism, we’ve seen an increasing trend of underreporting on critical issues that don’t get much attention because they’re complex, overshadowed and happen largely out of the public eye,” added Emily Previti, co-creator and executive editor of Obscured.

The first episode of From Words to Weapons is available now on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. Episodes are released every Wednesday through until January.