I’ve been working on a true crime/history podcast for the last couple of months based on my book Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator. My original thought was that it would be a great way to reuse some of the research I do for my books, and it is, but it’s become a bit of an obsession, and I plan to do a future series on Cold Case Vancouver, where I can weave in many of the interviews that I conducted with family, friends, and law enforcement over the years.
The learning curve is huge and my podcasts are a work in progress. I’m learning to write for the ear, and I’ve spent dozens of hours watching YouTube videos to teach myself Audacity, the free audio software program, so I can produce the show myself.
12-episodes:
There will be 12 episodes in this first series, published every second Friday. Each one follows a major crime that Vance helped to solve using cutting-edge forensics during his 42-year-career.
I’ve tried to show how the social forces of the time impacted the crime. For instance, Vance’s work took him all around the province and up into the Yukon in what is one of the most interesting periods in British Columbia’s history. Vance started work for the city of Vancouver in 1907, four months before anti-Asian riots swept through the city. He worked through the crime-ridden Depression and two world wars, and he was employed by two of the most corrupt police chiefs in the history of the Vancouver Police Department.
Much of the information came from the Vancouver Sun, Province, Vancouver News Herald, and the World. Most of the quotes are from Coroner’s Inquests, but the bulk of the information (including the clippings shown in the post) came from the personal files of Inspector John F.C.B. Vance that were discovered in a garage on Gabriola Island by one of Vance’s grandchildren when I was doing the research for the book in 2016.
The first episode: The Mysterious Disappearance of Clara Millard, takes place in Vancouver in 1914.
7 comments on “Blood, Sweat, and Fear: A True Crime Podcast”
I’m looking forward to receiving your epoisodic adventures!
Thanks Thomas, much appreciate you giving it a listen!
Very time-consuming on your part, these will no doubt be very rewarding to present and past Vancouverites who yearn to learn more about the city’s past.
Best of luck, Eve.
Thanks Richard. Had no idea how big the learning curve would be. But what a lot of fun!
always interesting, never boring. The learning curve often includes a curve ball or two. Makes the project so exciting and increases one’s stamina to carry on and on and on.
Couldn’t agree more! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, and for the follow
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