Introducing The Clearing, Pineapple Street and Gimlet’s New True Crime Documentary Series

In 2009, more than 20 years after she last lived with her father, April Balascio discovered new information that confirmed something she’d desperately hoped was not true. Her father, Edward Wayne Edwards, was a murderer. Edwards was an eccentric, difficult, and often abusive dad who sold himself as a reformed criminal and even wrote a book about it. He couldn’t hold down a job and often uprooted the family suddenly. April’s childhood was chaotic, confusing, and far from normal. She’d long wondered if he hid darker secrets.

The Clearing is a gripping true crime podcast produced in partnership with Pineapple Street Media about what came after April called a detective in 2009 to tell him about her suspicions — a call that led to her father’s arrest and eventual conviction on multiple murders. Three years ago, April met journalist Josh Dean and formed an unusual partnership. They began to work together to dig back into her childhood, unravel the truth of her father’s life, and overturn a viral online narrative that had turned Edward Wayne Edwards into a kind of serial killer caricature.

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Hosted by journalist and author Josh Dean, and produced by Pineapple Street’s Jonathan Menjivar (formerly of This American Life), The Clearing tells the story of how April came to discover the truth about her dad, and tracks the emotional journey she’s been on since, visiting with detectives, former neighbors, and families of victims in pursuit of a truth that’s often painful to hear.

Episodes 1 & 2 of The Clearing will premiere for free on Thursday, July 18th on Spotify and wherever podcasts are available, with new episodes dropping each week.

For more information on The Clearing or anything Gimlet, visit Gimletmedia.com/shows/the-clearing and follow us @GimletMedia.