Episode Transcript
Title the light in the frame. They set the camera
up in the living room, right near the window where
the afternoon sun made everything look kinder. A boom mike
dangled just out of frame, and the young woman behind
the camera Sam asked gently, are you ready, mister Holston?
(00:20):
He gave a soft chuckle. I've been getting ready for
sixty five years. The red light blinked on. He looked
directly into the lens and took a deep breath. My
name is Edward Holston. I'm sixty five years old, and
I'm a gay man. The words settled in the air,
not rushed, not whispered, just said, like a truth that
(00:44):
had been floating above the ground his entire life and
finally found a place to land. I didn't grow up
in a time where it was safe to be someone
like me, he continued. When I was in high school
in the early seventies, I knew I liked boys. I
also knew that if I told anyone, i'd lose everything.
My parents would have sent me away, my church would
(01:07):
have called it a sin. My football coach, hell, he
might have beat it out of me himself. He paused,
eyes watering just slightly, so I buried it deep, got married,
had two beautiful kids, became the man I thought I
was supposed to be, and I was content, but never free.
(01:30):
The screen behind him displayed childhood photos, wedding pictures, and
grainy footage of him coaching little league, wearing a cap
that always seemed too big for his head. I loved
my wife in the way I knew how she passed
six years ago cancer. Before she died, she told me, Eddie,
(01:50):
I hope you lived the rest of your life for yourself,
just you, and I knew what she meant. She always knew.
He smiled visibly, like this isn't about regret. I don't
regret raising my kids or the life I had, but
I do regret the fear, the year spent terrified of
being myself. That's no way to live now. A photo
(02:14):
appeared on screen Edward holding hands with another man, both
in Hawaiian shirts, smiling on a beach. That's Paul. We
met at a grief support group. We were both hurting,
then we started laughing, then we started healing. We have
been together two years now, and I've never felt more myself.
(02:36):
He looked again at the camera, voice steadier, if you're
watching this, and you're still hiding because you're scared because
of what people might think. I get it, I lived it.
But let me tell you something. The people who truly
love you will still love you. And when you finally
live in truth, it's like exhaling for the first time.
(02:58):
He leaned back. I'm sixty five, I've got a lot
of life behind me, but now, for the first time,
I'm excited about what's ahead, and that's worth everything. Sam
turned off the camera. Edward wiped his eyes and stood stretching.
You think any one will care to hear that old story,
(03:18):
he asked with a chuckle. Sam smiled, hand on her camera. Yeah,
I think a lot of people will
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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.