This podcast tells the story of Jennifer Cave, a young woman living in West Campus in her early 20’s who was murdered by a (former) UT Austin student in 2005. In episode one, “The Orange Door,” one part that specifically told out to me was the attention to detail that these podcasters gave and the interviews that they were able to do with the families. When listening to true crime, I find that ethical considerations are extremely important and how the podcast affects a case when there are real people involved (the victim, the family+friends, the judge, the jury, etc.). Additionally, some of the most well-known ethical podcasting criteria and journalistic standards are to seek the truth, report it, and minimize harm. While this episode did tell about Jennifer’s gruesome end, it also highlighted her family and what they went through during that time. Specifically, I thought it was great how they highlighted her stepdad protecting her mom from the sight of her murder. It showed real, raw human emotion all these years later. I think the podcasters did the best that they could to inform audiences of what went on and ethically tell Jennifer’s story.
In the following episode, “Jennifer’s story,” one thing that stood out to me was the use of long-form storytelling across all of these episodes. One of the most important parts of long-form podcasting is whether or not the podcast is truly informative and the tone of the podcast. This episode told the story of who Jennifer was, outside of her last moments. I really enjoyed this episode, the connection with her sister (Lauren Cave), and the implications of what this does for Jennifer’s family. This was extremely interesting because, in most podcasts, we don’t get to see this. In this episode, the hosts (also UT Austin students) utilize the love of Jennifer’s family to conceptualize her life. Jennifer was like any of us, she loved her mom and sister Lauren but sometimes got into fights, especially in high school. Jim (her mother’s long-term boyfriend, turned husband) and Jennifer had a very close relationship, they talked a lot and had a lot of love for one another. Jennifer also became close with Hailey, which is Jim’s daughter. They also discuss college and her 20’s. One thing I found interesting was the use of the present tense when telling Jennifer’s story. For example, they said “As close as they are”, “She is”, and “She doesn’t” rather than “she was” or “she had” in the podcast. Although she is not physically still here, Jennifer’s memory and legacy live on and I think that is extremely special. This gives the long-form podcast the tone of everlasting love and memory for Jennifer and exemplifies the tone many other podcasts could use more of. In this episode, they utilize the love of Jennifer’s family to conceptualize her and I enjoyed that.
Overall, this podcast was extremely impactful and important to the UT community and I think everyone should listen to it!