Episodi

  • He reached into the submerged willow root anyway

    He reached into the submerged willow root anyway
    Oct 16 2026
    He reached into the submerged willow root anyway

    Imagine a leather binder pulled from six feet of river water with its pages miraculously dry and bearing a careful, defensive voice that insists a community was merely practicing close reading. That binder was found on July 9, 2019, and it tied a single man’s decades-long pattern of fabrications to an archive of other people’s inner lives. What was inside those pages and why did he try to make them disappear?

    In this episode, we trace the rise and fall of the Ardent Page Collective and its founder Warren Harris, the First Reader who built a literary community that funneled manuscripts, letters, and private correspondence into a climate-controlled archive. We follow Valerie Young’s path from respected eighth-grade teacher to nearly four years inside the farmhouse and the sequence of discoveries that led to Harris’s arrest and conviction.

    Person: Warren Harris
    Person: Valerie Young
    Event: Recovery of leather binder from Cassaway River
    Organization: Ardent Page Collective / Pagemark Holdings
    Date: July 2019

    - Eric Phillips, a fisherman, found a leather binder wedged in a submerged willow root on July 9, 2019 containing sixty-one dry pages.
    - Warren Harris founded the Ardent Page Collective in spring 2015 and called himself the First Reader while fabricating academic and editorial credentials.
    - Members paid between $400 and $1,200 per month and payments flowed through an entity called Pagemark Holdings to a personal account totaling $280,000.
    - Investigators recovered sixty-three banker's boxes from a Faircroft storage unit containing manuscripts letters journals and emails organized by author and date.
    - Warren Harris was arrested July 8 2019 convicted of fraud unlawful interception of communications and financial exploitation and sentenced to nine years.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    26 min
  • The clay around it was rain-softened and smooth

    The clay around it was rain-softened and smooth
    Oct 15 2026
    The clay around it was rain-softened and smooth

    Imagine walking a shallow ravine and finding a three-layer birthday cake with hand-piped blue roses and a single pink candle, unlit, sitting on rain-softened clay with no footprints and no road for 140 feet. A county surveyor's casual discovery would soon expose a sixty-foot tunnel system, a padlocked concrete hatch, and a constructed world beneath an ordinary field. How did a man build an underground community long before anyone agreed to join it?

    In this episode, we trace how Todd Cooper assembled the Steadfast Ground Collective around fabricated credentials and predated paperwork, and how Amy Barnes and other members were moved underground into a tunnel complex on leased Terra Anchor Holdings land without recognizing the premeditation behind it.

    Person: Todd Cooper
    Person: Amy Barnes
    Location: Millhaven, Garner County
    Organization: Steadfast Ground Collective / Terra Anchor Holdings
    Period: Fourteen months active, eight months underground for Amy

    - Rhonda Casey, a Garner County surveyor, found a three-layer white frosted cake with blue roses and a single pink unlit candle on June 14.
    - Cooper had leased a forty-acre parcel under the business name Terra Anchor Holdings and ordered laborers to dig tunnels months before recruiting members.
    - Power of attorney agreements bearing member signatures were dated six weeks before the Collective formally existed.
    - A filing cabinet in the storage corridor contained asset agreements travel receipts and a folder of fabricated credentials including a stock photo and a nonexistent FEMA department.
    - Todd Cooper left the cake and the filing cabinet when he fled through the hatch and was later convicted on eight counts and sentenced to nineteen years.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 min
  • She was standing waist-deep in a service trench on Kellner Road

    She was standing waist-deep in a service trench on Kellner Road
    Oct 14 2026
    She was standing waist-deep in a service trench on Kellner Road

    Imagine pulling debris from a septic intake and finding a leather-bound ledger sealed in heat-fused plastic and weighted with a river stone that has stayed bone dry through two seasons of standing water. That impossible preservation suggests deliberate concealment and a bookkeeping system built to survive scrutiny. What did the pages inside reveal about the man who promised ancestral meaning and the community he constructed around that promise?

    In this episode, we investigate Roger Brown and the Meridian Bloodline Society, a nine-year operation in Callum Falls, Missouri, that sold a fabricated pre-colonial European lineage. We follow Duane West’s entry and escape, the ledger’s discovery by Peggy Williams, and how that book ultimately unraveled Brown’s scheme without resolving the deeper wounds he exploited.

    Person: Roger Brown
    Location: Kellner Road campus, Callum Falls, Missouri
    Organization: Meridian Bloodline Society / Meridian Institute of Hereditary Studies
    Period: Nine years
    Outcome: Convicted on fraud and exploitation charges

    - Peggy Williams found a leather-bound ledger sealed inside heat-fused plastic and weighted with a flat river stone in a septic tank the third week of May.
    - The Meridian Bloodline Society incorporated as a nonprofit with a $300 enrollment fee and grew to 130 members across six states.
    - Residents surrendered phones, ate fixed meals, and lived on a six-hour sleep window while paying $800 a month for room and "archival immersion."
    - Forensic analysis linked the ledger entries to Roger Brown and member funds to a Cayman Islands account held under the name Roland Beaumont.
    - Brown was convicted of eleven counts of wire fraud two counts of tax evasion and three counts of elder financial exploitation and sentenced to nineteen years.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • On a Tuesday morning in April of two thousand nineteen

    On a Tuesday morning in April of two thousand nineteen
    Oct 13 2026
    On a Tuesday morning in April of two thousand nineteen

    Imagine a laminated FEMA auxiliary badge, its printed expiration dated November 2009, threaded on a brand-new lanyard and placed on a concrete piling four miles from the nearest house. The old credential and the fresh lanyard didn’t match - and that mismatch set in motion an investigation that would unspool a twelve-year volunteer network built on borrowed authority. What did that solitary badge reveal about the Meridian Corps, and why was it left where anyone could find it?

    In this episode, we follow Megan Callahan’s discovery and the eleven-month probe that uncovered Jeffrey Underwood’s fabricated disaster history, a shell company skimming donations, and the people who noticed and acted. We trace how a preparedness group that raised $412,000 between 2012 and 2018 became a vehicle for fraud and how members like Connie Russo and Debra Shin helped expose it.

    Person: Jeffrey Underwood
    Organization: Meridian Corps
    Event: Discovery of FEMA auxiliary badge at Sutter Marsh
    Location: Sutter Marsh Wildlife Area and Bering, Caldwell County
    Period: 2007-2019

    - Birdwatcher Megan Callahan found a laminated FEMA auxiliary badge on a concrete piling at Sutter Marsh on April 9, 2019.
    - The badge’s expiration read November 2009 while the lanyard holding it had been purchased in late March 2019 in Millhaven.
    - Between 2012 and 2018 the Meridian Corps received approximately $412,000 in donations.
    - Aldgate Holdings received $400 monthly in rent deposits tied to the Corps and listed Patricia Dunmore as its sole officer.
    - Investigators recovered roughly forty FEMA auxiliary badges from a cardboard box in Underwood’s rental and he confessed on November 14, 2019 confirming the shell company and fabricated Louisiana history.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 min
  • At four fifty in the morning on March eleventh

    At four fifty in the morning on March eleventh
    Oct 12 2026
    At four fifty in the morning on March eleventh

    Imagine a rusted milk box on a Victorian porch and a laminated card inside that should not have been there - hand-sealed, dry, and bearing the words "Clarity Covenant - Member in Good Standing." The card was placed deliberately and quietly by a resident who could not use the phone or leave without oversight. Could a small object pulled from a mailbox at dawn undo an entire manufactured world inside a sober house?

    In this episode, we follow Tammy Myers, a Calloway County woman who entered a residential recovery program in February 2007 and slowly found her life redirected by Jerry Miller and his fabricated Clarity Covenant. We trace how a fraudulent credential, rising fees, restricted contact with family, and journals detailing deliberate manipulation culminated in a welfare check after a paperboy found the membership card.

    Person: Tammy Myers
    Organization: Clarity Covenant
    Person: Jerry Miller
    Event: Milk box discovery
    Date: March 11, 2009

    - Tammy Myers entered Clarity Covenant in February 2007 seeking a structured recovery after a car accident and oxycodone dependence.
    - The program charged $320 monthly initially and raised fees to $480 with a new $60 community fund line in fall 2007.
    - Over twenty-six months approximately $41,000 moved from the community fund into Miller's personal bank account.
    - Investigators found seventeen handwritten journals in Miller's storage unit documenting the deliberate replacement of twelve-step meetings with his seven-stage Clarity Covenant.
    - Miller's journals named Biscuit the cat and described the cat's twice daily insulin schedule as psychological leverage to manage Tammy.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    29 min
  • The road was forbidden after nine at night

    The road was forbidden after nine at night
    Oct 11 2026
    The road was forbidden after nine at night

    At six in the morning on February 11, 2019, a snowplow operator nearly ran over a dry sketchbook lying on an access road outside the Aldren mill after eleven days of continuous snowfall. The pages were bone dry and intentionally blank, bearing Erin Stewart's name and two photocopies of a vocational certificate that would unravel the Foundry Collective. Why did she set that book where a plow would find it and then walk back inside?

    In this episode, we trace Erin Stewart's twenty-six months inside the Foundry Collective and how director John Hughes used isolation, rigorous schedules, and contractual ownership clauses to control artists. We follow the discovery of a thirty-three-year-old sign-painting certificate, a hidden lease discrepancy, and the journalist whose reporting triggered charges against Hughes without revealing the final personal aftermath.

    Person: Erin Stewart
    Organization: The Foundry Collective
    Person: John Hughes
    Event: Sketchbook found on access road
    Date: February 11, 2019

    - Erin Stewart, 51, brought a sketchbook from Dellport and kept every page blank while living at the Aldren mill residency.
    - The Foundry Collective charged residents $800 a month and housed as many as 22 artists at its peak.
    - County records showed the Aldren mill lease was $2,200 a month while Hughes claimed $9,000 creating a $12,000 monthly surplus.
    - Erin photocopied a 1986 vocational sign-painting certificate in Hughes's name and hid copies in her blank sketchbook.
    - The sketchbook with Erin's name and the certificate copies was placed on a forbidden road at 4:30 a.m. and later entered into evidence in Hughes's fraud and theft conviction.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 min
  • She expected a tripped breaker, maybe a corroded contact

    She expected a tripped breaker, maybe a corroded contact
    Oct 10 2026
    She expected a tripped breaker, maybe a corroded contact

    At 6:40 a.m. on January 9, 2014, a utility lineman expected a routine repair but instead found a yellow lunch pail perched on a 480-volt transformer containing a laminated membership card, a hand-drawn map, and a cassette labeled "Final Broadcast." That small, misplaced object unraveled a years-long apparatus of control, a parallel financial and property network, and a countdown designed to move an entire congregation on a single signal. What would have happened if the tape had aired as planned?

    In this episode, we trace how Ryan Campbell used a late-night radio program called The Still Small Hour to build Heron Hollow, how gradual rules about sleep, language, and work consolidated control, and how a routine service call six days before a planned emergency relay broadcast collapsed his plan without a firefight.

    Person: Ryan Campbell
    Organization: Heron Hollow / The Listening Circle
    Location: Alderman Road switching yard, Dunbar, Arkansas
    Event: Discovery of lunch pail and cassette on January 9, 2014
    Period: 2004-2014

    - Janet Fleming, an Ozark Valley Electric lineman, found a yellow lunch pail on a 480-volt transformer at 6:40 a.m. on January 9, 2014.
    - Inside the lunch pail were a laminated membership card belonging to Kimberly Foster a hand-drawn map of the yard and a cassette labeled "Final Broadcast."
    - Ryan Campbell had moved the Listening Circle into a forty-acre property called Heron Hollow in 2007 and consolidated finances through a common account in 2006.
    - Campbell purchased a twenty-foot strip of land adjacent to the switching yard in 2010 through Heron Hollow LLC to access an emergency relay panel.
    - The two-hour cassette instructed members to sever family contact and transfer all assets to accounts controlled by Ryan Campbell.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    25 min
  • It is six fifteen in the morning on December ninth, two thousand nineteen

    It is six fifteen in the morning on December ninth, two thousand nineteen
    Oct 9 2026
    It is six fifteen in the morning on December ninth, two thousand nineteen

    Imagine a purple backpack left perfectly upright beneath a footbridge after two days of freezing rain, dry inside and holding forty-seven handwritten flash cards, a half-eaten granola bar, and a fourth-grade workbook stamped "PATHWAY LEARNING COOPERATIVE - CLEARED FOR HOME USE." That small, precise object unspooled a decade of planning, fabricated credentials, and a residential compound where eleven children lived under a curriculum rewritten by one man. How did one backpack become the single hinge that opened this world?

    In this episode, we trace how Todd Perry built the Pathway Learning Cooperative from an information session to a nine-acre farmhouse compound, how Jessica Moore lived inside and then escaped by walking two miles through frozen brush, and how a journalist and a discarded workbook helped expose fraud and child neglect without fully answering how far the pattern extended.

    Person: Todd Perry
    Person: Jessica Moore
    Location: Dellwood farmhouse, Harwick, Indiana
    Event: Discovery of purple backpack and subsequent warrant
    Date: December 9-12, 2019

    - Runner Ralph Harrison found a purple backpack upright beneath the Sycamore Flats footbridge on December 9, 2019 and called police at 6:41 a.m.
    - Inside the backpack were forty-seven handwritten flash cards, a half-eaten granola bar and a grade-four workbook with post-1945 history pages replaced by Perry's handwriting.
    - Todd Perry claimed a graduate degree in educational psychology from Alderton College but his transcript showed only a 1999 bachelor's in business administration.
    - Foundational Track families were charged an undisclosed fee tier of approximately $11,000 a month routed through Clearview Educational Services, a paper-only LLC with Perry as sole officer.
    - Nine families and eleven children aged four to fourteen were on the Dellwood property when the warrant was executed and Perry was later convicted of fraud child educational neglect and financial exploitation.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    27 min