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Stitcher’s recently launched Witness Docs unit has teamed with podcast network Critical Frequency for a new documentary podcast called “Unfinished: Short Creek.” The show will be created and reported by journalists Ash Sanders and Sarah Ventre.
Short Creek is a community on the Utah/Arizona border divided by much more than a state line. On one side are fundamentalist, polygamous Mormons who believe the town should be run by God—and his prophet. On the other are ex-believers who want democracy—and the right to believe (or not believe) as they want. When the prophet, Warren Jeffs, goes to prison for sex crimes, the community has to face its painful past…and struggle to define its future.
In researching the story, the team embedded in the community for several months. The result, “Unfinished: Short Creek,” is a deeply American story about the battle between freedom of religion and freedom from religion, asking whether people on two sides of a deep divide can rediscover common ground.
“Unfinished: Short Creek” begins streaming weekly on all major podcast platforms and devices for audiences worldwide on September 14. Stitcher Premium subscribers will be able to listen to all 10 episodes on September 14.
“Growing up mainstream Mormon, I was always taught that the fundamentalists of Short Creek were weird, wrong and backward,” says Ash Sanders. “But as I started reporting on this community, I realized that this far-flung religious outpost is grappling with the same questions as the rest of America. It’s a story about insiders and outsiders, discrimination and persecution, democracy and theocracy, and the limits of religious freedom.”
‘Living in Short Creek provided amazing insight into a community that few people really get to know,” says Sarah Ventre. “I got to spend time everywhere from city hall and local parks, to people’s homes and places of worship. Through this, we learned just how complicated and layered this community is, but also how it’s just as determined and resilient.”
The series is Executive Produced by Amy Westervelt and John DeLore, with further editing and content support from Peter Clowney and Chris Bannon. Abigail Keel is the series producer. The show’s original score was composed and performed by Allison Leyton-Brown.