Center for the literary arts in New York State
THE ART OF THE “TRUE CRIME” PODCAST
Gilbert King: The Bone Valley Podcast
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
4:30 p.m. — Craft Talk, Standish Room, Science Library (3rd floor)
7:30 p.m. — Conversation / Q&A, Campus Center West Auditorium
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12222
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Free and open to the public.
Gilbert King, Niskayuna native and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, is the creator of “Bone Valley,” one of the most acclaimed podcasts of 2022.
King tells the story of Leo Schofield, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife Michelle in Florida in 1987 and remains behind bars despite the fact that another man, Jeremy Scott, has confessed to the murder.
In the course of 9 episodes, King uncovers startling new evidence that Scott is responsible for a string of murders.
King won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction for Devil in the Grove, an account of the future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall’s role in defending four black men falsely accused of raping a white woman in Florida in 1949.
This will be Gilbert King's third visit to the NYS Writers Institute.
Update May 10, 2023: Bone Valley’ Podcast Subject Denied Parole Again in Wife’s Murder
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Listen to "Bone Valley" on iheartradio / Apple
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A Florida Judge Finds a New Job: Defending an Inmate, New York Times
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Pulitzer winner Gilbert King to speak on cold case podcast in Albany, Times Union
Cosponsored by the UAlbany School of Criminal Justice and the Honors College.
Praise for Bone Valley
"Whew, but I have a treat for all you fans of true-crime-cold-case-clue-by-clue-to-the-truth podcasts. Bone Valley, about a 1987 murder in Florida, and the far-reaching consequences of its seemingly botched police investigation, is an absolute doozy.
Dogged and meticulous, with a spine of moral certainty, it makes other true crime podcasts look lazy simply through its completeness.
Not only do journalist Gilbert King and his assistant reporter, Kelsey Decker, take you through every single step, from background to current situation, they do so without artifice or ego. I enjoy a spot of clever-me script flummery, but Bone Valley aims to be thorough and direct and is all the more hard hitting because of it." Read more.
Lauren Passell, "The 13 Best New Podcasts of 2022" on Lifehacker
They seem to have thrown out the “true crime podcast” rule book for this one—you’re along for the ride as the team follows their own instincts, does their own dirty work, and brings themselves emotionally into the story of Leo and Michelle. This podcast isn’t only entertaining; Gilbert and Kelsey do what other true crime podcasters wish they could do—they solve the murder, and get a confession on tape." Read more
Bone Valley was also featured in The New Yorker's The Best Podcasts of 2022, Paste Magazine's The 10 Best Podcasts of 2022,
and Uproxx's The Best Serialized Non-Fiction Podcasts Of 2022.