Podcast Summary: The Burden – "Get the Money and Run | First Time Out"

Podcast: The Burden
Host: Ben Adair (Orbit Media)
Episode: Season 4, Episode 1 – "Get the Money and Run | First Time Out"
Date: May 6, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode inaugurates Season 4 of The Burden, focusing on the remarkable and tumultuous life of Joe Loya, once Southern California’s most prolific bank robber. “First Time Out” dives into Joe’s very first bank robbery, the psychological and emotional landscape leading up to it, and the family trauma that shaped his path. Ben Adair (host/interviewer) brings out Joe’s candid, humorous, and haunting reflections—intertwining true crime storytelling with deep personal narrative.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Joe Loya's First Bank Robbery: No Plan, All Nerve

• Spontaneity and Nerves

  • Joe recounts walking in and out of banks all day, working up the courage and bailing out at the last minute—until he finally makes his move.
  • He describes writing a bank robbery note at a McDonald's after chickening out at another bank, highlighting just how improvised his first attempt was.

  Quote: “I would walk into banks and leave them all day long... If this was a short film, it would be a comic film because you would see me... Okay, I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do it. And the next thing, you see me drinking coffee at McDonald's. And then you see me, okay, I gotta do it... I'm biting the Whopper at Burger King.”
  — Joe Loya, 03:13

• The Moment of Action

  • After hesitating all day, Joe’s deadline comes at 4:45pm—he finally passes the note to the teller, but when she doesn’t react, he escalates with an implied threat, grabbing the note and pretending to have a gun.
  • The teller complies, and Joe walks out as casually as possible—until someone yells “He robbed us!” prompting his getaway.

  Quote: “I walk away with my fanny, zipping it up. I'm walking away like I just did banking... I turn around to walk out... somebody yells, he robbed the bank. He robbed us. And so I start running… This jackrabbit’s gone.”
  — Joe Loya, 09:19

• The Payoff

  • Joe describes the thrill of counting $4,500 and reflects on how this single act felt like it rewarded his “wit, ferocity, and heart”—a quick, ‘clean’ transaction versus years of petty crime or hard labor.

  Quote: “I felt like this is what my time is worth... This money already felt so much better. It felt like I got it based on my wit, on my ferocity. I was getting paid for fucking heart.”
  — Joe Loya, 10:44

2. Joe’s Upbringing: Love, Loss, and Early Trauma

• A Loving, Church-Centered Childhood

  • Joe grew up in East LA, the son of teenage parents madly in love, raised with strong church and family values.
  • His mother was a formative influence, described with warmth and vivid sensory memory.

• Tragedy Strikes: His Mother’s Illness and Death

  • Joe’s mother becomes gravely ill when he is seven, and dies when he's nine. The loss shatters the family and fundamentally alters Joe’s trajectory.
  • Joe remembers the unity of grief after his father breaks the news, emphasizing both the pain and brief, intense family closeness.

  Quote: “It was actually one of the best moments of my life in that the feeling you get when my dad leaned forward and pulled us into him and it was just us... And it’s one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever had with my dad.”
  — Joe Loya, 21:35

3. Cycle of Violence: Joe’s Relationship with His Father

• Discipline Turns to Abuse

  • After his mother’s death, Joe describes life with his father as being always ‘in water’—meaning, the violence was so constant there’s no clear start.
  • Recounts a disturbing memory: being made to recite multiplication tables and his father forcing his ill mother to hit him when he fell short. The discipline grows more brutal over time, culminating in one beating so severe Joe couldn’t return to school for days.

  Quote: “He puts the belt in her hand and says, you hit him then. And he bullies her into hitting me. She’s crying while she’s hitting me... torturing her sadistic.”
  — Joe Loya, 27:07

• Toxic Masculinity and Legacy of Violence

  • Joe’s father pushes him to retaliate violently when he's beaten up, teaching “if you get sized up as being weak, you better be willing to go overboard and actually make a statement later.”
  • The psychological toll is clear: Joe internalizes rage, building up a dark energy that, while destructive, also amplifies his sense of strength.

  Quote: “When you go inward like that and you go into the darkness, it gets real dark down there. That’s where you get your most power... I was getting stronger. I was not getting weaker. I was getting demented with a very powerful rage.”
  — Joe Loya, 34:27

• The Unfulfilled Cycle of Apology

  • His father alternates between violence and remorse, apologizing and promising to change, while nothing changes, leading Joe to deep disillusionment.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Improv bank robbery and comic absurdity:
  “It was fucking.” — Joe Loya, 03:13
• On facing fear:
  “You have to push past your fear to get to the next level.” — Joe Loya, 04:25
• The ‘clean’ feeling of the robbery:
  “I love the cleanness of it. Like, everyone's like, oh, okay, we're gonna go do this game where we exchange money... and then we all die. Here, I'm gonna get it.” — Joe Loya, 11:43
• Mother’s death and family unity in grief:
  “We just become this one spasm of anguish and pain and there's this unity of our grief around the same thing. And it's one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever had with my dad.” — Joe Loya, 21:35
• On accumulating rage and darkness:
  “As my dad was beating me and I was taking each blow, there's a different power... there's a different energy in the shadows that builds up inside of you. The animosity, the negativity... it rearranges you and gives you power.” — Joe Loya, 34:27

Segment Timestamps

• [02:31] – The First Bank Robbery Unfolds: Joe’s hesitant, improvised approach, and comedic self-image as he tries (and fails) to start the robbery.
• [04:23] – Facing Internal Fear: Joe discusses his internal struggle with fear before acting.
• [07:24] – Execution and Escape: Joe finally robs the bank, escapes, counts the money, and rationalizes his career choice.
• [15:04] – Early Childhood & Mother's Death: Joe details his loving but turbulent early years and his mother’s illness and death.
• [26:12] – Violence and Abuse: Discussion of physical abuse, shifting to the more severe impacts after his mother’s passing.
• [33:43] – Joe on His Father’s Apologies: Reflections on cycles of violence, apology, and disillusionment.
• [34:27] – Harnessing Rage: How the buildups of trauma and anger became power for Joe.

Episode Tone & Style

• Frank, irreverent, and emotionally raw: Joe Loya balances dark humor (“I probably nibbled a little bit of food from every fast food joint available at the time…”) with gut-wrenching candor about trauma, rage, and family loss.
• Cinematic and immersive: The episode uses vivid storytelling and honest self-reflection, offering listeners both gritty true crime intrigue and deep psychological insight.
• A journey into both method and motivation: It’s not just the ‘how’ of Joe’s crimes, but especially the ‘why.’

Conclusion

The season premiere of Get the Money and Run powerfully sets up Joe Loya’s story as more than just true crime: It’s a study in human frailty, resilience, the scars of childhood trauma, and the choices that shape a life. Joe’s storytelling—unfiltered, often funny, always honest—propels the episode, promising a season that’s as much about understanding the man as chronicling his crimes.

Next Episode: "Who's Your Daddy?"