Streaming consciousness Ohio podcasters share their stories around the world. BY PATTY YODER
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week after Paula Schleis retired from the Akron Beacon Journal, she received a text message from her nephew:
I know what you’re going to do in retirement — do a podcast with me. Schleis texted back: What’s a podcast?
Podcasts, she soon learned, are digital audio programs that listeners can stream or download. The technology emerged in 2004, allowing people to play internet radio shows on iPods and other early devices — hence the name. Today, Apple’s iTunes is home to more than 1.5 million programs covering nearly every topic imaginable. After several brainstorming sessions, Schleis and her nephew, Stephen Yoder, created Ohio Mysteries, a podcast that explores unsolved crimes, local legends, and interesting stories with an Ohio connection. They use Facebook and Instagram to interact with a growing community of armchair detectives — some of whom occasionally provide additional details or a family connection to that week’s episode. “We’ve told the story of everything from the gold of Minerva to the monsters that live in Lake Erie,” says Yoder, the show’s host and producer. “People sometimes stop me on the street and say, ‘You were talking about my aunt on your show.’” Schleis, the storyteller, relies on her newsroom experience to research each mystery. She has a gift for pulling out details that paint a clear — and sometimes harrowing — picture, as in the 1846 Donner party’s doomed trek west.
Paula Schleis and Stephen Yoder untangle state lore on their Ohio Mysteries podcast.
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Not all stories are grim. The show also explores Wooster’s claim of having the first American Christmas tree and why buzzards visit Hinkley every March 15. To Schleis, Ohio Mysteries is part entertainment and part crowdsourcing unsolved crimes.
