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Hi there. I hope you're well. I just wanted to check in with a quick update because you've probably noticed Canadian True Crime has gone a little bit quiet since the last series. We're on a break from releasing new episodes until April. I'll explain why in a second, but first I wanted to say thank you for the response to the latest Robert Picton series. It ended up being very different to the original and we've received so many thoughtful messages and comments from listeners who really engaged with it. Thank you so much for listening. I also wanted to shout out the support we received from the industry in relation to episode 200, Castbox podcast player and Apple Podcasts for their special promotion of the Picton series, to the Sound off podcast and Broadcast Dialogue podcast for having me on, and to CTV's the Social, which I fortunately did not stuff up. There's links to all of this in the show notes as I've said before, responsible storytelling and true crime can open minds, challenge harmful narratives and deepen our understanding of the world around us. There's no getting around the fact that true crime sits within the world of entertainment, but it's always been important to me to use this platform to do as much good as I can to advocate for victims and survivors, to raise awareness about systemic issues and try to give back. As an indie passion project with a very small team, striking the right balance has always been tricky and over the past year we've had some incredible opportunities to make a difference that made that balancing act harder than ever. Our podcast series about the first sexual assault trial of Headley lead singer Jacob Hoggard was turned into a CBC documentary called Breaking Idol. Link in the show notes to watch it I spent last summer and part of the fall digging into the truth of what happened in the high profile Hockey Canada trial. The most mentally exhausting case I've covered yet. But I heard from a lot of sexual assault survivors that it was meaningful. So thank you. I joined forces with survivors Jessica Baker and Kelly Favreau to co found BeyondtheVerdict CA, an advocacy group to challenge rape myths and abusive defence tactics at sexual assault trials. I also worked with the family of Beverly Rowbotham on an outreach project with the media and the installation of a legacy memorial bench in her honour in Regina. More behind the scenes details will be coming up in a very long overdue case updates episode. These opportunities have been incredibly meaningful, but in a nutshell, I over committed myself last year. Long time listeners know that I also struggle with perfectionism, which means I tend to push myself harder than I should because I. I don't want the quality of episodes to drop because I'm stretched too thin. It was a very, very intense year behind the scenes without any real downtime, which continued right through to the recent Robert Pickton series. And days after that last episode dropped, I came down with a virus, which I suppose was the body's way of saying a break is no longer optional. All this to say that in the last 12 months, the balance between listener expectations, the responsibility that comes with telling these stories, the advocacy work that's grown around the show, and my own capacity went completely out of whack. I want to thank you for your patience and understanding, and I want to reassure you that at the end of the day, I know it's the podcast itself and the fact that you listen to these episodes that makes all of that other stuff possible. So this year I'll be working hard to bring that balance back and make the podcast more sustainable. But please know that we're doing the absolute best we can for the moment. For the next month, to meet our sponsor obligations, we're going to be replaying some carefully selected episodes from the archives, with a special introduction from me about why I hope you'll listen. Thanks again for your support and understanding, and I'll see you in April when we're back with a new episode. It.
