We don't talk about it enough. Suicides are reported nearly every day in the Tri-State. The coroner's report shares the basic statistics. There's no pattern here; The very old. The 20-something. Teenagers who aren't old enough to drive. Men and women in mid-life who have lost all hope. Every race, religion and persuasion. Hopelessness doesn't discriminate.
This show is about bringing hope to loved ones, friends and community members, through a two-hour and no-cost training program that equips everyday people with the tools and skills they need to help people who are talking about self-harm, thinking about it or threatening it.
Jason Hughes is the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation Program Manager and the Veteran's Liaison. The state is committed to helping people with this completely avoidable loss of life.
This show isn't about suicide methods, boring statistics or tragic stories. It's about QPR Training, specialized instruction in how to intervene when someone is without hope.
Q-P-R -- Question - Persuade - Refer
Recognize the warning sides of suicide
Learn how to offer hope
Learn how to get help and save a life
This show explains how QPR training works, how to find QPR training in your area, and Jason explains the best, evidence-based recommendations to address the issue with someone you care about.
If you're struggling or want to know how to help someone who is, call or text 988 -- anywhere in the US. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline promises to listen, no judgment, and won't force someone to do anything. The trained professionals merely want to help.
[more information]
OH Department of Behavioral Health - Suicide Prevention
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode Transcript
This week on iHeart Sensey, it's hard to talk about
and it happens more often than you're told. It's a
public health emergency. Today we are talking about preventing suicide
and what friends and family can do when someone is
considering it.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Anyone can do this training and their job is to
then hand them bolk to the professions.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
My guest today brings hope and help to those in
crisis who feel hopeless, to friends and coworkers and families
who feel ill equipped to address this life or death issue.
Jason Hughes of Ohio's Suicide Prevention Foundation in Columbus is
here with the no cost training tools we can all
use to prevent suicide.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Now on iHeart Sinsey with Sandy Collins, Folks.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You're listening to iHeart Sinsey and today we are talking
about suicide prevention and more importantly today about hope and
about help. And let me just get started by saying,
if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide
or struggling, you're not alone. You can call or text
this number nine to eighty eight. It's the Suicide and
(01:09):
Crisis Lifeline to talk with trained counselors. They're available twenty
four seven, three sixty five, they'll listen, they won't judge,
and they will offer help.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
We're going to be.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Repeating that message throughout this because this is a very
important topic and one that makes many of us feel
uncomfortable even bringing up.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
But we have some hope for you.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Today you're going to be hearing about a program called QPR,
which is the training of question, persuade and refer and
it's training that ordinary people can get that will help
them recognize the warning signs of suicide and connect someone
who's in crisis to professional help. We are not going
to be talking about details about methods or personal loss stories.
(01:55):
Our focus is really learning how to help and where
to find support for yourself, well for your friend or
a loved one. Now and do any research for this show,
I came across a resource that everyone needs to know about.
It's this training, this QPR, and it helps regular people
talk to someone who is thinking of taking their life
(02:15):
and how to get them help. And that's really what
is the scariest part for untrained folks. So I've invited
Jason Hughes to talk to us today. Jason's a program
manager at Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and the Veteran Liaison. Jason,
thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Today, Jason.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I wanted to let you know that, you know, my
goal today is to help the listeners understand how to
recognize those who are struggling with suicide, what individuals can do,
and how to help prevent these unnecessary deaths.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
It's such an intimidating topic.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
I've been struggling all week long, you know, for fear
of bringing it up and saying the wrong thing. So
we kind of talked about that before we hit the
mid because I wanted to make sure that we do
this right and don't cause any pain.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Jason.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I see the Corners reports come in, and I was
really shocked at how many people every day, every week,
just in our area take their own lives, and organizations
like yours have been sounding the alarm for years that
this is an epidemic proportions.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Let's talk about that first.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, So when we talk about suicide data, will reference
the Higher Department of Health Suicide Report. So one thing
about suicide data that the general population may not recognize
is that data is always two years behind. We can
see preliminary data, in other words, like data that's being
currently updated, but the actual reporting process is two years behind.
(03:50):
So the current report for the state of Ohio would
be twenty twenty three, So meeting in January of twenty
twenty six, we'd get the twenty twenty four report, the
last report that we got from ODH, which is compiled
from the eighty eight counties submitting their data and then
ODHS generates a report based on the eighty eight counties.
(04:11):
So we know that in twenty twenty three, one thousand,
seven hundred and seventy seven Ohioans tragically died by suicide.
And the thing about suicide data is that we know
that that's unfortunately underreported, meaning that number is probably north
of that one thousand, seven hundred and seventy seven hilans,
Meaning we know that we've got a lot of work
(04:33):
to do because one suicide hasn't one too many.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
The reason that you don't hear about these suicides unless
they're public or they involve a public figures because we
have a standard in journalism where we don't report the
mere fact that someone has done this, and that is
because we don't want to put the idea in somebody's head,
and this has been researched over the years. I was
(04:59):
reading about this called the Worther effect, this imitation effect,
where I understand that that's not necessarily true, that just
bringing it up doesn't put the idea. And someone said,
so that's why we're attacking this today because I really
want to offer this hope and help. So when you
say seventeen hundred people in Ohio have taken their life,
(05:22):
you think, what could I possibly do. I'm not trained
for this, and we're supposed to figure this out, and
you don't want to make a mistake.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
You don't want to make it worse.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
And that's when I came across this QPR training that
you're going to talk about today, and I wanted everybody
to know about it, and QPR, we'll tell you what
it means here in a second.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
But I felt the same way about the idea of.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
CPR, you know, where nobody knew how to do it,
and people were dying of heart attacks in public, and
so a group got together, made a push to get
more and more people trained on CPR, PUTFI relators everywhere
calling nine to one one right away, teaching people how
to do this and we're seeing fatal heart attacks go
down and live saved, and so that's the same with
(06:08):
this QPR training. The idea is that we're going to
train people how to identify and help when someone may
be feeling suicidal. So let's talk about QPR training and
what it exactly is to get started.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Okay, So I'm going to first off, I'm going to
answer some of the questions that you mentioned and how
it relates to QPR. So you had mentioned earlier that
the myth of people believing that talking about suicide or
even asking someone if they are suicidal could potentially put
that seed in their head, and we know that's a myth.
(06:48):
In fact, the research tells us, which is discussed during
the question persuade or QPR training, is that people are
either thinking about suicide or they're not. Tells us that
you asking that question will not put that seed in
their head. Now, if we make judgmental statements or come
(07:10):
across as ikey when we ask the question, that could
impact them. But at the same time, we will not
put that seed in their head.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And that's not like an unfounded myth that has been
debated over the last hundred years by professionals and journalists.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
And sometimes you think myths.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Are just made up, but there was actual reasons why
people thought that was the case, and now we know
for sure that it doesn't because of research.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
So go ahead, Jason, Sorry, do you want to interrupt
you there?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Oh, no, you're fine. And so one thing we know
about QPR is it is evidence based training, and that's
the key thing. Anytime we talk about any type of
suicy prevention training, we want to make sure that it's
evidence based. In other words, it's been tested by the
professionals that you just reference that prove that this particular
strategy works. Now, there are several other different amazing gatekeeper trainings,
(08:05):
but what we're talking about today is the question persuader
for those who not aware, this is a national training.
This isn't an OSPF thing. So the QPR Institute out
in the Seattle, Washington, they own this training. It's a
national training. It's actually been around for several years. It's
one of the more older gatekeeper trainings, but it's still
(08:26):
a very effective training people across the country. Millions of
people have been trained in this great training. And another
thing that you had mentioned was when you compare QPR
to CPR. That's something I also tell folks when I'm
leading this training is because it's a good like the
visual demonstration is you tell them, like, you know, imagine
(08:49):
what you've learned in CPR. The whole process of CPR
is for you to apply temporary medical assistance until you
hand that individual off to the profession and QPR is
the same thing. Is anyone can do this training and
their job is to then hand them over to the professionals.
(09:12):
And so that when we frame it that way, folks understand,
is like we're not asking to do a lot. It's
it's not like you're doing you know, steps one through twenty.
You're asking the question, you're doing the persuade part to
keep them alive. Then it's the referral process and then
you're turning them over to those professionals. So yes, it
(09:34):
is very similar to CPR.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
I want to jump to the end of this training
idea and get this out of the way right now.
When you talk about taking this training, people might think, oh,
it's a months long, there has to be tests, there's
certificates and all that. Can you just give me, you know,
the elevator pitch of how long this training is and
what you mean by taking this training?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Yes, so thank late, folks of clearer across the country
in a state of while a lot of people are
providing this training and it is at no cost to
the individual. So it's being funded different ways and there
are several different times that you can think of. We
talk about QPR training. The core portion itself, in other words,
how we do the steps is only an hour. When
(10:20):
we add supplemental information, which involves like particular data like
state data, national data, maybe data about first responders or
veterans or youth. That's called supplemental and so that can
add anywhere from thirty to maybe even an hour. So
the training could be an hour, ninety minutes, or two
(10:41):
hours based on what the trainer is going to cover.
But the core portion itself, it's just an hour. So
you can learn these life saving skills in an hour,
which is quite amazing.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
And it's free and it's free at no cost to
that end, that is just that is amazing.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
So now you folks know why I wanted you to
know about this. This is all over the place available
and we just don't hear about it. We're talking today
about suicide prevention. And I'm speaking with Jason Hughes, and
he is the program manager at Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.
And let me say once again, if you are thinking
about suicide, you need some help. Just called nine eight eight.
(11:21):
They've got trained professionals that can help you. They'll listen,
they won't judge, they won't even ask your name, and
you'll be able to get resources and help so that
you don't make a decision. That is a permanent solution
to what many would say as a temporary problem. The
second half of the show coming up next here on
(11:42):
iHeart Sinsey. This is fifty five karc an iHeartRadio station.
Back to iHeart Sincy in my conversation with Jason Hughes,
the program manager at Ohio's Suicide Prevention Foundation in Columbus.
And a reminder, if you or someone you know is
in christ we're struggling, called nine to eight eight to
get free help from counselors that are trained and they're
(12:05):
there twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Okay, So we get.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
This QPR training from a high suicide prevention foundation and others.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
What does it teach?
Speaker 2 (12:17):
What does it teach? So we're going to teach folks
about and no particular order some of the things. If
they do choose to do supplemental, which most people do.
We want to give individuals like state and national data,
and it's not just to just throw numbers on the slide.
We remind folks that by seeing that data, it reminds
(12:38):
us that these numbers represent human lives who are transiquently
died by suicide. So that's a teaching point about this
is why this topic is serious. After we move through
that state or national data, we talk about things like stigma.
How do we have the conversation about stigma? In other words,
(12:58):
we're using language that's helpful and not hurtful. Then we
talk about the risk factors and warning signs, so like
some people may say this or they may do that.
And then we talk about asking the direct question. The
direct question is are you thinking of suicide? We ask
(13:21):
direct questions because they generate direct responses. If I asked
you an ambiguous question, obviously i'd get an ambiguous answer back.
So we train folks to ask are you thinking of suicide?
Which means we're only looking for a yes or no.
After we move through asking the direct question, that's the
question piece of QPR. Then we move into the P
(13:44):
which is the persuade. So now we're having that conversation
about how can we keep you safe, and then we
go through portions about do we need to incorporate safety planning?
In other words, if you do say yes, what are
the steps we can do to keep you safe? But
(14:04):
we add a caveat to that as we tell them,
so if they say yes, we do the safety planning
at the same time, though if they say no, we
still do the safety plan And the reason why is
we have this idea that that suicide is the straight line,
but really it's this way. It's up and down, and
it's up and down. Meaning we could ask somebody potentially,
(14:26):
you know, if they're suicidal in the morning, and they
say no, but then some things happen in their life
and later that day it no turns into it yes.
And because well, we've trained folks to have the safety
plane of conversation for yes or no, if that no
does turn into a yes, we've already gave them that
(14:47):
information about how to keep it safe, and that way
we know that they're safe even if they say no.
Then once we move through the persuade, the P aportioned
and the last step is the refer they are and
so like what do we do from there? Do we
take the person directly to a professional or do we
maybe we have to wait until the next day, or
(15:09):
maybe the individual needs like two three days to consider
the referral process and the whole time we're having that conversation.
And so that's how that works. That's that CPR portion
is where you assess them. You gave them the life
staving skills, and then you handed them over to the professionals.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So people that are considering ending their life may have
a variety of different reasons. It might be financial trouble,
it might be what else.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Well, there's several things. And it's a good thing you
brought that up. Is we want to make sure that
everyone understands is there's various reasons. There is no like
one reason fits everyone because we all compartmentalize information very differently.
So it could be things like financial situations. You know,
losing your job, could be a breakup, whether it's a
(16:08):
marriage or boyfriend girlfriend, could be not getting along with families,
maybe even sometimes when people move. That's another thing that
folks forget about is moving is very stressful with people,
especially the families. We often forget about what pressure that
puts on families. You know, I supposed to be I
have children involved, and we've got to move through different schools,
(16:30):
different social circles in that new space. And so there's
various reasons why. Also could be you know, loss of freedom.
Say individual commit said crime, even if they admit it
and they're going to be incarcerated, even if they say, yes,
I did this, it still doesn't take away the fact
that they know that the family life back home, it
(16:51):
doesn't pause during that time, and so they're missing those
benchmark moments like a first prom the first home run.
There is know like first second problem. There's only one
first problem. And other things could be like you know,
service members deploying the same scenarios. They're missing those things
back home. So it's that change or things that flip
(17:15):
flop they're outside.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Nor so finding so finding out a little bit more
through the questioning of what's actually going on can help
you figure out where to get them help for those
again temporary problems that feel like they're never going to
go away.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
We're talking about.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Suicide prevention help and hope today. If you are somebody
that you know is thinking about suicide, Please don't do
it and call nine eight eight, reach out to a friend,
reach out to a professional, and ask for help, because again,
there is hope and there are many people in this
area who are willing to help you get through these situations.
(17:59):
So what's the person do right now if they're worried
about someone in their circle.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
The first thing I always tell people is to remember
this that we know that suicide is the most preventable
cause of death. Let me say that again, suicide is
the most preventable cause of death, and it starts with
someone asking that question, reaching out to that individual that
(18:27):
could be experience a temporary just like you said earlier,
a temporary crisis. By asking that question. There's this myth
that only professionals can help people. Now at the same time,
do we need subject matter experts? Of course we do.
That's that's what they're trained for. That's why they're subject
matter experts. But we know a lot of times someone
(18:49):
within their circle of influence is the person that's going
to get to end with them is because they have
rapport with that person. There's that informal relationship, you know,
when we go see a doctor. Sometimes it feels formal
and it feels kind of itchy, even though it's a
great environment. These are trained people. But when we have
that conversation with someone within our circle of influence, the
(19:11):
anxiety is kind of lower because you know this guy
or gal, and then you have a good way of
knowing when they're kind of skirting around your questions and
you can kind of bring them back respectfully saying like, hey,
I asked you this question, but I'm not sure if
you address that. Let's come back to the suicide question,
and so we can have better conversations in those informal settings.
(19:35):
At the same time, I want to make sure folks
understand we still need those professionals. That's that's why they're trained.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Absolutely, absolutely so, Jason. The Hio Suicide Prevention Foundation offers
a lot of resources. Let's talk about the website and
where the resources are that people can go to now
to read about these issues, to find out more about
getting help from themselves and for helping their loved ones
and friends.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
So if you want to reach our website, it is
OHIOSPF dot org, which is basically a summary of the
Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation dot org. The good thing about
our nonprofit organization is that we do serve all demographics,
from youth all the way up to the older adult population.
I want to make sure that I mentioned the older
(20:23):
adult population because in the state of Ohio and nationally,
the older adult population is something that we are all
focusing on. Is because we are losing a lot of
the older adult population to suicide, and so that is
one of our special focuses. But we do serve from
youth all the way to the adult population, and we
do it through different campaigns and trainings. There are several
(20:46):
campaigns that we have and we have different trainings that
target those specific demographics. Because with suicide prevention training, unfortunately
it's not really a one size fits all. There are
some trainings like QPR, MIDDAL, First Aid, Applied Suicide Intervention
Skills training. It really is for the general population, but
(21:08):
it's nice to have trainings that.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Focus is on a specific demographic and you can find
out more information about the specific trainings. I was excited
looking at the list of upcoming trainings that people can
sign up for. These are done online and I would
imagine are there some in person as well.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
We offer trainings in person and virtually some of the
things that are on our website. A lot of times
we put a lot of general population trainings out there
where it's like anyone can come to this training, but
we do get a lot of in person training requests,
like we'll go to a specific organization and train that organization.
So we offer these trainings in both in person and virtually.
(21:52):
Most of the ones on the website really are virtual,
mainly because it's for the general population.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Sure, Sure, And you were talking about specific popular and
the training being targeted to them. So I saw the
veterans focused training. I saw the first responder focused training,
because these folks are out there, whether they're police, fire, EMT,
they get into these situations a lot and they, depending
(22:18):
on their training or when they were trained, maybe they don't.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Have specific training.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
So they can take this course for free and have
it specifically answer some of the questions that they may
have in their job. I know veterans are a very
big concern, and you're the veteran liaison.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Do you want to address that just a little bit? Now,
what do we need to know?
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yeah, So, for in state of Ohio, we're in the
top ten veteran population. At one point we were number
four or five. Now we're slowly moving back to like
eight to nine. So now just tell people that we're
in the top ten for veteran population in the country.
Do have a lot of veterans. We also have a
lot of Title thirty two National Guard service mes that
(23:00):
live in the state of Ohio. And for those who
are not aware, we have two active duty posts, one
being right Patterson Air Force Base, but it's obviously an
Air Force posts, but there are some army there as well.
And then up north in the Cleveland area we have
the Coast Guard Station. Obviously a smaller post, but we
do have activity units in the state of Ohio. And
(23:22):
we know with veterans there's some concerns like the transition
process that leaving that that mission, leaving that selfless service mission,
in other words, serving a mission that's bigger than them
without the expectation of getting any thing returned, and so
they transition into the Savilian world. Some it's seamless, there
are no concerns, and others it's that they're missing that
(23:45):
that community with them, and so they're going to jobs
that maybe they feel like they're peers, can't relate to
their experiences. No judgment there, It's just that it's hard
to have these conversations about those experiences and then and
this is getting those individuals connected with either civilian organizations
(24:07):
or the VA to make sure that they're managing their
VA stuff with the proper personnel.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
I know the DAV does a lot of great work.
They're a national organization that's based in northern Kentucky and
they serve any veteran who needs help. And there's so
many other organizations out there, and it can feel a
little overwhelming.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So certainly starting.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
That process of reaching out, asking for help, asking for
somebody to listen to what you have to say.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Is easy to do.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Nine to eighty eight is a nationwide toll free number
that you can call and they won't ask your name,
they won't try to make you do anything other than
just talk to them about your situation and offer help. Jason,
we've got to wrap things up. I'd love to keep
talking to you about this. Is there anything else that
we need to co before we go?
Speaker 2 (25:02):
No. I would just remind folks that when we think
about nine eight eight, there's a misconception that you cannot
call on behalf of someone else, but you can with
ninety eight. You can call nine and eight on behalf
of someone you believe the sent a crisis.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
That's good enough.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
We always want to make sure we remind folks of
that because sometimes they mistakenly think of nine to one
one for nine and eight. We think the rules are
the same, and they're not. Nine eighty eight is a
little bit different. It is celebrating the three year anniversary
back in July. It's here to stay. But we just
want to remind folks that if you feel someone's at
the crisis, you may call ninety eight on their behalf.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Jason Hughes, thank you so much. He is the program
manager at Ohio's Suicide Prevention Foundation based in Columbus, and
the veteran liaison for the foundation.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Thanks so much for what you do.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
If you have any questions, go to their website is
Ohio SPF dot org.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Jason, have a good day, Thank you, Thanks.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thanks for tuning in today about suicide prevention. If you'd
like to hear this show again, you can hear it
on the iHeartRadio app. Just search for my name in
the podcast area. Sandy Collins for Iheartsinsey and You can
forward this program to someone who might need to hear
what we have to say today, and don't forget to
(26:25):
call nine eight eight.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts
of ending their life. That is the show for this week.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
If you've got any comments, suggestions, or questions, shoot me
an email. The email address is Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dot com.
Iheartsinsey with an I at iHeartMedia dot com and a
reminder we're still putting together our vocation special on people
that have jobs that you either want other people to
(26:54):
know about, maybe take up in.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Their own lives, or you want to warm them. Don't
ever go down this road.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Just send me an email with vocations in the subject line.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Tell me about your job, What did it.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Take to get where you are? Your education, what's the
pay like, what's the culture? Is it something that you
would recommend others do or are you.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Waving them off saying no, don't do it?
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Send it to Iheartsinsey at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Thanks again for listening. I'll see you here next week.
iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.