Show Notes
In 1986, the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov sank in the Marlborough Sounds. Decades later, questions still float around. Why was the ship sailing through dangerous waters? Why did the captain resist help to save it? And did Vladimir Putin really attend the inquiry? Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham dive into a strange maritime mystery – a tale of tragedy, intrigue and Cold War paranoia. ____________
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More from Long Story Short
In 1989, a jetboat skipper spots something snagged on a submerged tree, just downstream from the picturesque Huka Falls. It’s the body of a 51-year-old cricket umpire, Peter Plumley-Walker – bound hand and foot. Police soon figure out Plumley-Walker was last seen at a bondage session with a young sex worker and her boyfriend. But was his death a terrible accident – or murder? Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham revisit a sensational case involving secret witnesses, duelling pathologists and three murder trials that had the nation transfixed. ____________
Season two of Long Story Short is sooooooooo close – but in the meantime, check out this episode from a series Adam and Eugene made for Stuff a few years back, called Out of My Mind. Each episode of this series is one person who has struggled with their mental health, talking openly about their lived experience and their path to recovery. This episode is called Angels and Demons, and the voice you’ll hear is Egan Bidois, who was institutionalised after seeing and hearing things that no one else could perceive; but who then found a remarkable way to navigate the world – and thrive. This is the last of three “inter-season” bonus eps. The first episode of Season Two of Long Story Short is coming very very soon! * Content warning: Strong language; discussion of suicide. * If you want to talk to a trained counsellor, call or text for free to 1737. ____________
The countdown to new Long Story Short eps continues, but in the meantime Eugene and Adam caught up with Dame Juliet Gerrard, former chief science adviser to PM Jacinda Ardern (as well as two other PMs called Chris). We first met Dame Juliet when doing interviews for the podcast Quarantine Nation, about NZ’s experience of the Covid pandemic. She was a great interview subject back then, so when we heard she’d written a whole book about her time advising the government on matters scientific, we had to read it, and then after reading it we had to talk to her. Luckily, we hit record, so now you can listen to that conversation.
We’re busy making season two of Long Story Short, but in the meantime, check out this episode from a series we made a few years back when we were working at Stuff, called True Story. This episode was called The Great Macron War, and it’s a story about language, online feuds and dirty deeds done in the dead of the night. Thanks to Stuff for letting us showcase this from their amazing podcast archives, and if you want to hear more of the True Story series, go to https://www.stuff.co.nz/truestory. We have a couple more treats coming up on this feed, then in late October, Long Story Short’s Season Two begins! ____________
Scott Watson has spent more than two decades in prison for the murders of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart – crimes he has always denied committing.