Get a peek behind-the-scenes of Boston's own hit serialized podcast, Stranglers - an investigation into the Boston Strangler - with Host/Producer Portland Helmich and Executive Producer Susan Gray. Portland and Susan will dive into how the program is made, play and tell the stories behind some of the show's unforgettable tape, and pull on their decades-long journalistic careers to unveil what makes their stories tick.
This event is free. Please reserve your seat here.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE SHOW
Stranglers, an original 12-part weekly documentary podcast from Stitcher and Northern Light Productions, is a fascinating, contemporary audio investigation of the Boston Strangler story. Using never before heard voices, interviews with actual suspects, extensive original research and new conversations with the victims’ family members, host Portland Helmich will introduce you to every facet of the case, from the reporters who originally covered it to the police who worked furiously to solve it, as well as terrified witnesses who claim to have met the Strangler himself. The program won the best podcast for 2016 in GQ magazine and #7 for the Atlantic Magazine.
ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS
Portland Helmich has worked as a television and radio host, reporter, producer, writer, voice-over talent, and actress for the last two decades. She’s the host and a producer of the podcast, Stranglers; she’s also the host and the producer of Kripalu Perspectives podcast for the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health.
For three years, Portland’s voice was heard on Boston’s WGBH Radio, where she produced and read local news during NPR programs like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace.
As well, she's the creator, host, and executive producer of 78 half-hour national lifestyle television talk shows that aired on the former Veria Living TV and the former Wisdom Television as well as the host of the new To Your Health on NetTV.
Portland began her career as an actress in New York City, where she studied at Circle-in-the-Square Theatre School. She currently works as a producer/writer at the documentary film company, Northern Light Productions. She holds a BFA in acting from New York University and an MA from St. Michael’s College in Vermont.
Susan Gray has garnered recognition for daring reporting and creative documentaries on race, industrial cover-ups, prisoner sentencing, and the corruption of the media. Her documentary expose on Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy, The Prime Minister and the Press, exposed the threat to democracy posed by one man’s enormous wealth, monopolistic control of the country’s media and litigious stifling of dissent. The film won the Prix Europa, Europe’s highest prize for documentary film, was nominated for the Adolph Grimme award (Germany’s Oscar), and won the Best of Input (best of worldwide public television).
Circus Without Borders, which she directed, captures the plight of Inuit and Guinean circus performers struggling to overcome poverty and suicide in two societies devastated by colonialism.
Susan is currently in production on The Democracy Project, a film about grassroots efforts to re-empower American voters and fight against political polarization. Her earlier documentaries have aired on PBS, National Geographic, Discovery, Arte, Channel 5, NHK, Canal Plus, Sundance, Showtime, and television channels worldwide, as well as in theaters and festivals. She began her career as an associate producer for Hedrick Smith Productions, moving to Cronkite Ward (Walter Cronkite’s company), and then produced a series on the brain with Garrick Utley for WETA.
Our programming is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.