The Power of the Podcast with Hedley Thomas

About this episode

Hedley Thomas discusses the impact of podcasting on investigative journalism and the pursuit of justice in cold cases.

Hedley Thomas started his career as a copy boy at 17 and spent four decades chasing some of the world's biggest stories, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Hong Kong handover, before finding his most powerful tool yet: the podcast. In this episode of The Missing Matter, Sally sits down with the award-winning investigative journalist and creator of The Teacher's Pet to explore how long-form audio storytelling has reshaped the fight for justice in cold cases and missing persons investigations. From reporting on the Dawson case in a Brisbane newspaper library in 2001 to producing a podcast that helped send Chris Dawson to prison, Hedley explains how the freedom of podcasting allows him to go where traditional media can't, unpacking briefs of evidence, finding new witnesses, and keeping cases alive long after the system has moved on. With more than a hundred million downloads and investigations that have driven real-world change, Hedley reflects on what keeps him going, why he believes the criminal justice system has failed victims, and why the missing still matter even when the guilty think they've gotten away with it.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Sally

Guest: Hedley Thomas

Topics covered

• podcasting
• investigative journalism
• cold cases
• missing persons
• justice
• storytelling

Keywords

• Hedley Thomas
• podcast
• investigative journalism
• cold cases
• missing persons
• justice
• Chris Dawson
• The Teacher's Pet

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Teacher's Pet

Books & works: The Missing Matter

Places: Brisbane

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