Aug. 12, 2024

Kiran Chawla Unfiltered | Local Leaders The Podcast #201

Kiran Chawla Unfiltered | Local Leaders The Podcast #201

Host Jim Chapman sits down and explores the world of investigative journalist Kiran Chawla. From her early days as an intern to her renowned award filled career, Kieran discusses the challenges and rewards of reporting truth.  Jim delves into her...

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Host Jim Chapman sits down and explores the world of investigative journalist Kiran Chawla. From her early days as an intern to her renowned award filled career, Kieran discusses the challenges and rewards of reporting truth. Jim delves into her decision to launch, "Unfiltered with Kiran,” and her latest venture, her podcast, "Louisiana Unfiltered,”. Kiran’s dedication to community involvement and impactful storytelling highlight this episode, offering a glimpse into her inspiring journey as a dedicated journalist.
#kiranchawla #unfilteredwithkiran #louisianaunfiltered #localleaders #podcast #leadership #business

Timestamps
02:44 Kiran Chawla's Journalism Journey
03:20 Humility
04:55 Kiran Early Beginnings in Journalism
06:43 Passion for News Reporting
08:06 Dedication to Journalism Internship
09:50 Rediscovering Passion for Journalism
11:25 Early Journalism Challenges
14:34 Transition to Investigative Journalism
18:06 Courage in Investigative Reporting
22:56 Launching Unfiltered with Kieran
32:11 Importance of Trust in Journalism
38:01 Impact of Unfiltered Podcast Interviews
40:39 Highlighting the Ryan Sharp Investigation
44:29 Fun Facts about Kiran

You can learn more about Kiran and find links to everything we discussed today by visiting: https://unfilteredwithkiran.com


This episode is sponsored by Level Dumpsters You can learn more about Level Dumpsters by visiting: https://www.leveldumpsters.com

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WEBVTT

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Hi, this is Lori Johnson with Hancock Whitney Bank, and

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you're listening to Local Leaders the podcast. Visit Local leadersthepodcast

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dot com for previous episodes or for information on peering

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on the show.

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Hey, before we get started, I want to thank our

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sponsors for this podcast, the amazing people at Level Dumpsters. Look.

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off right now for new customers. Level Dumpsters a verified

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partner of Local Leaders of podcasts. Now. I've been looking

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forward to this podcast for a very long time, y'all.

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I'm excited about this one, and I'll tell you why.

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Go on Facebook and type in Unfiltered with Karen and

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you'll discover a very active page with over one hundred

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and fifty two thousand subscribers, her TikTok nearly one hundred

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thousand in her website, millions of collects. She is one

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of those investigative journalists that is going to get to

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the truth and give you the straight facts. That's what

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a reputation is. Let me give you a little bit

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more about our background. Her journalism career began as a

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senior in high school with a two week trial internship

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at WWLLEN, New Orleans, and in those two weeks a

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mentor told her that he saw the newsbug had already

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bitten her and there was no turning back. Those two

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weeks extended into a full senior year internship that in

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turn a part time job, and after college it became

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full time. Then fourteen years ago, she got into the

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investigative side of journalism and gained a reputation of being

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absolutely fearless. She has won fourteen regional and three national

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Edward R. Murrow Awards and four Emmy Awards. She is

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a Louisiana Association a Broadcaster Reporter of the Year, an

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Associated Press Newsperson of the Year and get this, y'all

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two two five magazine's Best local news Personality in twenty

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twenty two, twenty twenty three, and twenty twenty four. And

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if all that is not enough, three years ago, a

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shocking event in her life prompted her to launch Unfiltered

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with Kieren, and through that she has built a media

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empire to include her most recent edition with her podcast,

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Louisiana Unfiltered. She is hands down the most recognizable news

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personality in the entire state of Louisiana. She is here

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today and I can only be talking about the amazing

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Kiaran Shaula. Welcome to Local Leaders of podcast.

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Thank you, good Lord. That intro chill.

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Look. If y'all know Kieren she is she is very

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humble to say the least, and so she does not

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like to be doted on when it comes to her accolades.

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Totally earned and totally you know the facts of the facts,

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Giaran Shalla, and that is the facts. We are glad

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to have you here today. And my first question is

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going to be I want you to kind of go

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back to we talked about high school. You were in

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the news realm, the bug bit you, and then you

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went to college and you finally got out there and

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got full time in news.

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You know what the odd thing is now, Jim, I

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have interns at Unfiltered with Kieren who are in high school.

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In fact today is he's a senior now and the

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parking spot, the crown, all of that. But that excitement

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that sparkle in his eyes and he's one of our interns,

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and I'm reminded of what it was like, you know,

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sometime ago, but just a few years ago. But I'm

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taken back to this was you, this was you a

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billion years ago, it feels like. But I see that

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spark and it's actually brought back. There are days when

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we work crazy hours. I've come in here and been like, Jim,

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I'm dead to the world. But he's brought back that

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spark in a sense of like, this is why you

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got into it. And I love till this day. I

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love what I do. I love the team we have.

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But yeah, I started in high school and in fact,

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I used to to just a small little job. You're

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in high school. I used to teach dance, and I

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think a lot of people don't know.

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That I.

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Used to teach dance to little girls. I was one

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of the teachers at Creative Dance in slide El, Louisiana,

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and I had girls from two three years old all

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the way up to high school girls. Frank Davis, I

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don't know if people even remember him, but naturally no

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Leans from New Orleans from WWLL. His grandson actually took

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classes there and I grew up watching him, and I

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just got to talking to him that what it's like

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being at WWL, which was back then the CBS affiliate

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there was like the station you watched. Got to talking

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as far as news goes, and I said, I wish

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I could get my foot in the door and just

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see what it's like. Just see it. It's all I

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wanted at that point, and he goes, well, let me

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let me put connect you with the HR person. So

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senior year of high school, North Shore High they allowed

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people to do internships, but the internships were pretty much set.

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You could go do the medical direction or I think

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teaching was the other one. Why didn't care to do either?

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So in typical care and fashion, I went and paved

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my own path that can I do something else? If

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they sign off on it? We all sign off on it.

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So I had the introduction made with HR, and I

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went and asked HR at WWL that this is something

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I think I may want to pursue, and they said,

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we don't allow internships for high schools. They said that,

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but why don't we do a two week trial. Let's

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see if you like it, and more importantly, let's see

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if the newsroom is okay with you. So two weeks

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in and I'm in love. Like it took two weeks

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and the mentor who I'm talking about, Bill Capo, he

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told me early. He goes, I can see that news

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bug has bit you. He goes, I'd love to try

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to tell you things that don't do this profession, which

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now I see the reasons of don't do it.

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Yeah.

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But two weeks in I go in and go meet

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with the HR guy again and he explains that, what

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do you think? So I'm trying not to be over

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crazy that oh my god, I love it.

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I love it.

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I'm trying to be professional like, oh it's nice. Yeah,

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and he goes, well, the newsroom down there they love you.

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So I'm thinking, really, in the two weeks, I've made

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that impression and the rest is history.

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And you know, it's caring it. It is a different

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field in a lot of ways, especially when you're that young.

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Maybe maybe you don't look at it the same way

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as you do as you get older. But it's not

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ours like people go to a job and it's nine

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to five and that job is so not that it's not.

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In fact, I loved it. I did, and I guess

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back then I didn't see that because I had to

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go fulfill my hours for school. But for school, you're

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required to do what four hours? Three hours? How many

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ever it is, I wasn't doing just the minimum. If

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I'm going at two o'clock, well, the news doesn't go

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on till five and six o'clock, I'm required to fill

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three or four hours. What am I learning If I

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only stay till five. I stayed till seven. Or if

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you're sent out with a reporter and a photographer and

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you're on breaking news, they're not driving back just to

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drop you off. You're stuck. But you would think you're stuck.

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You're getting the experience of a lifetime. That journalism is

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one of those careers you do not learn out of

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a book. And so I have this internship. I'm doing

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it simply for credit. It's not money or anything. I

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get out of high school and I got my very

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first job. Ever. It's a part time job while I'm

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going to college at Loyola University. I gave up all

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my weekends, so I worked Friday, Saturday, Sun nights during college.

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During college, everybody else is party.

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Everybody's party, And in fact, this is how much of

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a loser I was. We'd get off the news at

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ten o'clock and ww well is right in the quarter.

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It's towards the end of you walk two three blocks.

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You're on Bourbon Street, the Blacksmith Bar. That was the

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hangout for all the Channel four people. Ten forty five

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eleven we were. We were all off at eleven o'clock.

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We're all walking to the Blacksmith. I'm the youngest of

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the group, and I'm the only one who sing I'm

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going home. You know, I've just never been that drinker partier.

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I'd go hang out because at first I'm like, I'm

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gonna come across as a loser, or maybe I do

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need to be hanging out and working with some of

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these people. But by midnight, I'm thinking I'm struggling. Oh

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I'm struggling I've just never been a big night owl.

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Yeah. During that internship, I'm sure you learn many different

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aspects of the news. Did you do pretty much everything

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from setting up a camera?

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And I did not learn setting up a camera.

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Yeah.

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The business has changed so much in giving away my

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age twenty two years twenty two years ago, as a reporter,

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you didn't have to shoot your own stuff, so I

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wanted to do reporting, and as an intern, I never

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had to learn how to do my own videography. I

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learned how to edit, but I never had to learn

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how to do my own videography. Now, everybody going in

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as a first time reporter, you're a one man band, sure,

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meaning you have to shoot, edit, do everything on your own.

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And truth be told, times have changed so much for

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new reporters coming in because you don't only have the

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television aspect. You have a digital aspect that is requiring

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you to do now. Yes, but your boss is requiring

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you to do television. Yeah, and you're torn. You're basically

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doing You're a photographer, you're an editor, you're a reporter,

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you're a digital writer. Four jobs, one salary.

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Wow, And you know technology the way it has advanced.

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I mean when you started in news, you were probably

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still free handing a lot of time.

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And we were still tape to tape editing, which people

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may not even know what that means. Now it's so

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easy to edit with digital editing. But back then, if

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you have a murder and the script says you're edited,

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piece says I don't know the name of the suspect

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is not known at this time, but at four point

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thirty they put out a press release saying, the name

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of the person is this. The photographer now has to

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go back and find that one clip re edit that.

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But then you have to re edit everything after that. Yeah,

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tape to tape, that's all. And I mean it was crazy.

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Now you think about that, it's as simple as hurry up,

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go retrack it, drop it in.

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Not back then, you graduate from Lola.

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I did. In fact, Katrina came what would have been

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my junior year. I should have been class of seven,

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but I got out a year early. I had enough

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credits in high school that counted towards college. But then

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so I only really needed one more semester, and Katrina

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had shut down all of New Orleans Loyola's flooded. I

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came to LSU for that one semester. Life is upside down.

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I don't know where I'm going. The house is flooded,

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like Katrina was just a rough time and you covered that.

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I did. I covered it, I lived it. My own

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house is underwater, my school is underwater. My WWL went underwater.

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So it's a hard time. You're twenty one, you're not

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a night I'm lying. I was not twenty one yet.

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I was only twenty because I ran in my twenty

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first birthday covering a hurricane and we were on twelve

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hour shifts and I here in Baton Rouge and I

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ended up in the er for my twenty first birthday

225
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because a frame fell on my head in the middle

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of the night when it was my time to sleep.

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Oh wow, that was my twenty first birthday.

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Happy birthday, right.

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So I've really given this profession a lot of my

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personal time.

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Yeah, you really have. And you know, it's it's a

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whole different world than what normal people's lives and going

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back and forth to work on like, like I said,

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an eight to five job or nine to five job,

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it is a news changes on the dime.

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It does, And I'm sorry, I digress. That's what I

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was trying to answer earlier. But just two days ago,

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I was walking around in the house and I'm thinking,

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you know, there's a special person made to cover news

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and work in news, because, like you said, it's not

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a nine to five job. In the mornings, I say, hey,

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I'm going to go do my two mile walk or

243
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I'm going to work out. That's a good idea. Well,

244
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what if there was a double shooting overnight. The first

245
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thing you were doing in the morning is writing that up.

246
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But then you need to confirm it. You need this,

247
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you need that. Now it's been forty five minutes and

248
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that's your walktime. Yeah, so there are times at twelve

249
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thirty I've been working in the middle of the night.

250
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I'll stay up till three o'clock working. But I love

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what I do. Yeah, and I don't expect that from

252
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every single person, right, but it's not a nine to

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five job.

254
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Let's move on to investigative journalism. And that was something

255
00:14:41.639 --> 00:14:45.759
it's fourteen years ago that you got into, and investigative

256
00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:49.879
journalism really took off around that time it did. That

257
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was when it kind of really hit and it takes

258
00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.679
a different type of reporter to do investigative journalism, you

259
00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:01.960
have to be very you have to be corgeous because

260
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a lot of times you are investigating things people don't

261
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want you investigating. Quite frankly, you know somebody's probably on

262
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the other side doing something wrong, and so it takes

263
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a little courage, It takes a lot of I guess,

264
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an inquisitive nature. Someone who likes to do puzzles and

265
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figure doesn't surprise me a bit. For me, I remember

266
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you back in those days, and I remember thinking, Wow,

267
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this girl right here is good. What was it about

268
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investigative journalism specifically that intragy.

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I think there was an opening you had, Paul Gates

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at waf For a long time, the market had kind

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of settled as far as investigative journalism had not died down,

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but it's slowed, and like you said, this is a

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time when investigative journalism across the country's picking back up.

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So I'm approached. I actually, when I first started a

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w AFB, I was also the weekend anchor. They pulled

276
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me off the anchor desk and they claimed that the

277
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.080
ratings were down, by the way, and so I came

278
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off the anchor desk and I went full time as

279
00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:21.240
a reporter, but in exchange it was about also meshing

280
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investigative journalism. Sounds good, let's do it. And the very

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00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.679
first pieces that we did were things that were going

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missing from LSU and Southern University and a cow went

283
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.240
missing from LSU. How do you lose a cow? That

284
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was my no, that was my very first investigation, and

285
00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:47.559
I mean again the bug bit, and I was hooked.

286
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But from there, I mean, and that was one of

287
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the easier ones. When I say easier, I mean like

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to look at some documents and see, hey, you are

289
00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.960
supposed to have X, Y Z and inventory and you're

290
00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:05.200
missing this. Some investigations, there are times I worked for

291
00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:09.359
months on pieces and we realized there's nothing here. Call

292
00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:13.160
it quits, really, yep, because it's not worth it if

293
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regardless if you spent months on it, or you spent

294
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a bunch of money pulling records, but you find out

295
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:23.000
nothing was done wrong, there's nothing there, Yeah, drop it.

296
00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:27.000
And I learned that lesson early on. In fact, I

297
00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.640
remember spending three months investigating. I can't remember exactly what

298
00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:33.440
it was, but we spent a lot of money on

299
00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.400
it too, and a lot of time, and I had

300
00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:36.920
to go to the news director and tell them there's

301
00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.559
nothing here. Wow, we dropped it. But then after that

302
00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.200
it just got It's kind of like when you start

303
00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.559
a puzzle. You may do one hundred piece first, and

304
00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.680
then you're like, oh, I can do a puzzle, Okay,

305
00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:51.160
two hundred, two fifty. Eventually you're at that thousand piece puzzle.

306
00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:56.079
And that's kind of how it became. And before I

307
00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:00.240
knew it, I was so deep in for hardcore investigation

308
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.240
and we were making a difference. We are making a difference.

309
00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:09.319
Should I say absolutely that I just fell in love

310
00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.880
with holding people accountable and don't think you're above the

311
00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:16.200
law because you have a badge or because you were

312
00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:21.039
an elected official where you're a judge. Yeah, whatever, it

313
00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:22.240
might be right.

314
00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:28.119
And uh, you know, I've heard stories that sometimes your

315
00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.839
I guess it's your camera cameraman, what do they call it,

316
00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.759
videographer is holding you back by your shirt?

317
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.279
Oh my god. In fact, I still remember one of

318
00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:43.519
my photographer and she's one of my closest friends. We're

319
00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.880
actually out in Livingston doing some story and I think

320
00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:50.039
a bunch of employees get let go. They never got

321
00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:53.480
their last check. Well, those people count on that money.

322
00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.200
They've got bills to pay and up. I'm very much

323
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pro victim. That really hurts me that they did a

324
00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:04.559
job pay them. So I knocked on the door. The

325
00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:09.319
guy answers, we're rolling, and he tells me something and

326
00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.839
it's none of your business what I do with the business.

327
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And I just kept on asking questions. Are they going

328
00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:15.440
to get paid? Are they going to get paid? Are

329
00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:17.799
they going to get paid? And I've literally on the

330
00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.079
back of my shirt, i feel somebody pulling, and I'm like,

331
00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.160
who would be pulling me when I'm in the middle

332
00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.599
of an interview, and it's her trying to grab me

333
00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.640
by the shirt and just saying, let's go good because

334
00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.400
he's already told me get off my property. Yeah, and

335
00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:34.039
at that I should have known at that point, after

336
00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:37.720
you've been told one time that's trespassing, after sure, And

337
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.400
I was just in the heat of the moment. I

338
00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.960
had to get an answer for these people because they're

339
00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.599
begging us to get an answer for them. Yeah, but yeah,

340
00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:49.720
I've run her into polls. Yeah, it's been bad.

341
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.440
Some people. There will be hesitation. You're for example, you

342
00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:56.799
went and you just knocked on that door. You just

343
00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:59.519
knocked on that door, and and something is not right

344
00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:02.079
with these people not getting paid and I'm gonna I'm

345
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.519
gonna get to the bottom of it. A lot of

346
00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:07.400
people they would have they would be nervous about that, right,

347
00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:08.880
Do you don't have that?

348
00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:09.359
Nope?

349
00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:13.720
Wow, that's pretty awesome and perfect for this field, right

350
00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.960
because if you had that, there's no way you'd be successful.

351
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.359
And you have seen a lot of success when you

352
00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:25.160
when you started in news to now and I just

353
00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:28.519
read you earlier that intro. I just did that intro.

354
00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.200
Would you have imagined?

355
00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:30.759
Never?

356
00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:31.640
Really?

357
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:35.759
I never even saw myself owning my own company.

358
00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:36.640
Yeah.

359
00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.559
Never. And had you told me even five years ago

360
00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:41.359
this is where you're gonna be, I would have laughed

361
00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:41.640
at you.

362
00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:42.599
Really.

363
00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:45.279
I mean there are days I sit back. We just

364
00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:50.839
celebrated our three year anniversary. But it's only been three years.

365
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.119
And we have a great company. We have a great staff.

366
00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.079
The staff is who makes this as well as the

367
00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:01.680
love and support what we have from the public because

368
00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.319
they choose to come to us for their news.

369
00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:04.880
Right.

370
00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:09.599
But we have a podcast, we have an app, We're

371
00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:14.000
on all platforms, we have advertisers.

372
00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.400
You have a website that is second to none.

373
00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:19.440
Well, thank you. We just did a brand new website

374
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:23.279
and all that within three years. Yeah, I'm very proud

375
00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:23.519
of that.

376
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:24.559
You should be.

377
00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:24.960
Yep.

378
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:28.440
And I'll tell you this and we'll get into a

379
00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:31.759
little bit of the new stuff that you have going on,

380
00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:34.200
and I guess since you brought it up, we'll talk

381
00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.039
about the website and I'll tell you one of my

382
00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.599
favorite things about it is you can go to unfilteredkiron

383
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:45.240
dot com and if you're in Livingston Parish, maybe you

384
00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.559
don't maybe, I mean, you may not care about something

385
00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:52.640
going on and Plaquamin you can click on Livingston Parish

386
00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:57.599
specifically and it will only have Livingston Parish articles, Livingston

387
00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:01.799
Parish news. It won't have something out of Plaquemen. Now,

388
00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:04.279
you can go to Plaquemen and you can collect that

389
00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:06.319
if you want to see it, but it breaks it

390
00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:08.319
down by parish. That's unique.

391
00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:11.480
Yep, yep, And that's I have to give that credit

392
00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.079
to Daniel Brown, one of our executive producer. He came

393
00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:18.200
up with that idea. But even the advertisers on that

394
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.519
parish page are specific to that parish. So hopefully if

395
00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:24.799
you live in the parish you're reading that content, you're

396
00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:28.279
going to go support those advertisers. Yeah, and that's what

397
00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.200
a lot as a small business. I wanted to make

398
00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:34.160
sure we take care of other small businesses well. If

399
00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:39.000
our supporters go support those advertisers, they are able to

400
00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:41.000
keep continuing to support us.

401
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:41.839
That's right.

402
00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:43.119
The world goes round and round.

403
00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:48.079
That's exactly right. And when you started Unfiltered with Karen

404
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:53.000
three years ago, uh, nerves scared?

405
00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:59.599
Not at all? No, wow, not at all, because I

406
00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:03.119
think that is well known. I was fired. I applied

407
00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:05.799
for jobs, applied for jobs. It's deep COVID, and I

408
00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:10.799
had doors closed in my face NonStop. And I was done.

409
00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:14.720
I was done being told no. I don't like being

410
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:19.079
told I can't do something right. And times were changing,

411
00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.440
times were changing so much in news. So I told myself,

412
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.920
let's you have this idea in your head. It may

413
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:31.640
sound stupid that your channel channel is on YouTube instead

414
00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:35.039
of a TV. Let's do it. What's the worst that

415
00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.559
can happen? It doesn't work, Okay, sounds good, and you

416
00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:40.599
give it a year. If it doesn't take off in

417
00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:43.359
a year, you call it quits and you go to plan.

418
00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:46.160
By at that time, I had no idea what a

419
00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:48.359
plan B was. I still don't know what plan B

420
00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:52.839
would be, but what was the worst that could have happened?

421
00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:56.079
It didn't work right, and it sure did and it

422
00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.319
somehow did it did.

423
00:23:58.279 --> 00:24:03.759
And took off almost I wouldn't must say immediately you

424
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:07.519
really saw some traction with it. And you know, you

425
00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:11.039
picked an interesting name because you picked unfiltered with Kieran.

426
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:18.599
Now that time in the news conventional news world, there

427
00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:25.039
were glaring issues with you know, the news just not

428
00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:28.680
being what it used to be, agenda based right, and

429
00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:33.279
especially a lot of these larger networks, and a lot

430
00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:36.640
of people did not want that. They felt like they

431
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:40.519
were being lined to quite frankly, and being manipulated by

432
00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:45.200
the news media. You launched Unfiltered with Kieren, and I

433
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:46.599
think unfiltered is kind.

434
00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:50.160
Of the key and the odd thing though Jim is like, again,

435
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:53.880
God has guided this path from the very beginning, but

436
00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:59.160
me launching unfiltered from the in fact the day I

437
00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:04.440
know this is everybody listening is watching the video. But

438
00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:08.359
the logo that I created it's not perfect. I know

439
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.480
it's not perfect. It's pretty good, but not according to

440
00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:18.519
Daniel No, I know it's not. My magnifying glass doesn't

441
00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.759
magnify the on I get it. But the reason this

442
00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:25.079
has so much meaning is I did an interview and

443
00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:29.119
I'm on a zoom call with a station for about

444
00:25:29.319 --> 00:25:33.599
almost forty five minutes yea. And the look on his

445
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:36.559
face because I never hid the fact that I was terminated,

446
00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:39.759
I wasn't gonna lie to anybody, and so when he

447
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.359
asked me that your best investigation in the last six months,

448
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:44.319
IS said, I haven't been employed in the last six months.

449
00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:46.880
And the look on his face was just like do what.

450
00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:50.680
But in that moment, when I saw his eyes get

451
00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:54.880
that much bigger, I decided I'm done. I'm done applying

452
00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:57.319
for jobs, and I went inside and I created this

453
00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:01.279
logo that very night. Now, Grant, the logo wasn't like

454
00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:03.839
this to begin with. I had friends who told me no,

455
00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:07.519
I had Halloween eyes on it, and they're like, uh uh,

456
00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.839
But this is the one I created that night, and

457
00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:14.799
I'm thinking, okay, if you're going to start your company,

458
00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:17.119
the name just came to me one day that if

459
00:26:17.160 --> 00:26:19.759
I were to start it, I'm literally driving out of

460
00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:22.880
the house. The name came to me like that, unfiltered

461
00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.039
with Kiaren, and it stuck. I did not spend hours

462
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.319
and hours and hours thinking about this. It just came

463
00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:31.119
to me like that that was God. But even our

464
00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:35.839
slogan the news you deserve unfiltered, same thing. That was

465
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:39.279
the thought process of you know what, I want to

466
00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:42.440
do something to where it's the news that the people deserve,

467
00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:46.319
and the slogan came to me like I firmly believe

468
00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:48.960
that was God saying here, this is what you're doing.

469
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:55.039
Yeah, amazing. And you know Daniel Brown, who you mentioned

470
00:26:57.079 --> 00:26:59.640
rockstar on his own right, he is what he does,

471
00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:04.119
he does extremely well, and uh, he came to work

472
00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:07.519
for you. And one of the things that he said

473
00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:13.119
that I that really appealed to me was, Uh, when

474
00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:18.279
I saw what Kieren was doing, she wasn't just reporting

475
00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:23.359
the news, she was telling a story. That's a big difference.

476
00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:27.799
That's a big difference. And it sounds simple, but when

477
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:31.480
you're out there and you're just reporting and so and

478
00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:35.559
so was shot at this place or whatever, and you're

479
00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:38.880
out there and you're telling not only the story of

480
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:42.920
the shooting, but you're you're focusing on the victims, You're

481
00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:48.319
you're putting faces to names, it matters. It makes a difference.

482
00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:51.839
And that appealed to him and one of the reasons

483
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.079
that he wanted to get involved. You're You're not only

484
00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.640
well known for your reporting, you're also well known for

485
00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:01.799
your community involvement. You believe giving back. You sit on

486
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:06.319
a board for is it CALEH and tell people who

487
00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:07.599
are unaware of what that is.

488
00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:12.559
CALIFF is an amazing nonprofit Capital Area law enforcement foundation.

489
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.880
It came about after the twenty sixteen ambush on law

490
00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:23.200
enforcement and we raise money for the vests, the Angel

491
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:27.519
Armor vest that protect police officers, sheriff's deputies, any law

492
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:32.799
enforcement against higher powered rounds. And in fact, our the

493
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.200
Angel Armor vest just saved a deputy in the East

494
00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:40.400
bountin Roote sheriff shooting a few months ago, two officers

495
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:43.640
were shot. This deputy realized well after the fact that

496
00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.200
he had been shot because the bullet was stuck in

497
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:46.920
his vest.

498
00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:47.640
Amazing.

499
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.680
So I know what we're doing is making a big difference.

500
00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:53.839
It sure is. And you also partner with Dudley Debojer

501
00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:55.359
and you'll do difference makers.

502
00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:58.039
We do. I love that One Difference Maker is a

503
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:02.359
series that Dudley de Boecher has always done difference Makers,

504
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:06.240
but we partnered up with the people in the community

505
00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:08.839
who have a need, they fill out a nomination for him.

506
00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:12.279
It goes straight to Dudley de boser. They choose who

507
00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:15.200
they're going to be able to help given how much

508
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:18.720
the cost is. But so far we have replaced a roof.

509
00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:24.319
This lady. Her neighbor recommended her. She was pregnant, she

510
00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:29.720
was expecting, her boyfriend died in a shooting, and she

511
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.920
had no way to compensate for what was coming. Dudley

512
00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:36.559
de Bocher stepped in and brought in all sorts of

513
00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:39.519
things and we are able to go interview that family.

514
00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.160
While we're in the middle of the interview, Chad and

515
00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:45.519
Steve walk up and surprise them. And usually I'm just

516
00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:50.240
holding back tears because we need that. And I highly

517
00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:54.119
respect Chad and Steve, which is half the reason for

518
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:57.559
the partnership, because they actually are the people who give

519
00:29:57.640 --> 00:29:58.599
back to the community.

520
00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:03.920
Yeah. Yeah, well, it's it's a beautiful program. And you

521
00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:07.039
can actually go to Unfiltered with Karen and you can

522
00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:10.119
click on Difference Makers and you can go back and

523
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:15.119
check out you can the articles and whatnot. Let me

524
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.720
ask you, in all your years of reporting, it is

525
00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:22.880
there one particular story or two that stick out to

526
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:27.640
you that more than others that you really enjoyed reporting on,

527
00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:30.759
or maybe it changed you in some sort of.

528
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:35.440
Way, good, bad, ugly, what.

529
00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:37.240
Whatever you stand out to you.

530
00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:43.240
I mean, I know the investigation series I did on

531
00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:47.400
Mayor Broom. It was the Brave grant that was a

532
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:50.720
big one. And then recently we just did the water

533
00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:56.680
sewage fee and because of our reporting, it was discovered

534
00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:59.880
that there was no non disclosure when it came to

535
00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:03.319
the water fee that was going to be pretty much

536
00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:06.920
taxed to all of East Benton Ridge Parish. They refused

537
00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:10.119
to answer questions, saying there was a federal non disclosure

538
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.200
and it prevented them. Federal government came back and said,

539
00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:16.519
we don't even know of a non disclosure the water

540
00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:19.720
I keep calling it water sewage fee. I can't remember

541
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:22.279
the exact terminology of it, but it was taken off

542
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:27.519
to where it's not even an item to consider anymore.

543
00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:31.799
And then back in seventeen sixteen, I can't remember what

544
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:35.839
year it was, but a major federal grant that we got.

545
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:39.240
My investigation showed that a lot of the money that

546
00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:42.440
was coming in was being handed out to friends and

547
00:31:42.519 --> 00:31:47.359
political allies, and we shut that federal grant down. But

548
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.640
that really proved to me hardcore investigative journalism does make

549
00:31:52.680 --> 00:31:56.480
a difference. It really does, because in the grant situation,

550
00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:00.720
that's our tax dollars. That's all of our tax dollars.

551
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:03.400
When it's a federal grant, it comes back to us.

552
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:07.599
But then in the water sewage story, there were some

553
00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:10.240
people who were going to get tax ten thousand dollars.

554
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:12.200
That's crazy.

555
00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:13.200
People can't afford that.

556
00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:21.799
No, they can't. No, how important is trust in what

557
00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:22.319
you did?

558
00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:28.799
Oh my god, it's huge. Sometimes it bothers me that

559
00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:32.160
I get called out all the time, Well UWK won't

560
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:34.440
even touch this one. Oh, she won't touch this one.

561
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:36.640
She won't touch this one. People come up with some

562
00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:41.279
weird reasons why. The main reason is I don't have

563
00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:46.119
the staff. We can't do everything. I remember when Woody

564
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:48.160
had asked me, what is the one thing that really

565
00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:51.200
bothers you? I responded with, I can't get to everybody.

566
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:53.039
There's no way I can get to everybody.

567
00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:54.519
That's right.

568
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:58.640
But you're not asking of all other medias to get

569
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:03.200
to you guys. Yeah, and we do our absolute level best,

570
00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:05.480
but there's no way we can get to everyone.

571
00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.599
Well, you know what's amazing to me in the time

572
00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:12.519
that I've been involved with you in your business is

573
00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:15.880
people will sit down and they will talk to you

574
00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.599
right here in the studio and you'll ask them, you

575
00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:23.519
know what made you talk to me today, and they said,

576
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:27.039
because we trust you. And y'all, I cannot tell you

577
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:31.319
the amount of times that comes out of people's mouths

578
00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:36.400
that sit across from Karen and talk to her about

579
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:45.440
some of the most personal things in life period and

580
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:47.839
you're the only one they will talk to.

581
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:51.119
The odd thing is, I don't know the why you

582
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:53.559
asked the question a second agoing I digressed and told

583
00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:55.759
you this story. We can't get to everybody. But the

584
00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.200
truth is, I don't know why.

585
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.000
I think it's because they trust you.

586
00:34:00.599 --> 00:34:01.480
But why.

587
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:07.119
Well, because you're Kieran Challa and you you just have

588
00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:11.760
a way about reporting and that's a feather in your cap.

589
00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:16.800
That is what you have earned over twenty plus years

590
00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:18.119
in journalism, and.

591
00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:21.880
I'm blessed for that. I don't understand the why. Yeah

592
00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:25.159
I don't, because this is the journalism I was taught

593
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.960
how to do twenty years ago by the veterans at WW. Well.

594
00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.119
Yeah, well that's some pretty good people to learn.

595
00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:33.880
They are they are to tell you that.

596
00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:40.000
Let's talk about Louisiana Filtered. So one thing that I

597
00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:46.400
personally love about Kieran's podcast is look in the news world.

598
00:34:47.000 --> 00:34:51.480
You you know, you can't sometimes tell an entire story.

599
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:54.800
You have to cut it. You're limited, right, You're you

600
00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:58.239
know it's a five minute segment or a ten minute segment.

601
00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:02.639
Maybe they're so I'm much more behind that story that

602
00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:08.280
people don't hear on a traditional news outlet because of

603
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:15.880
time limitation greed. So whey podcast is adventagious to not

604
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:19.760
only the person reporting it, but also the person in

605
00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:23.920
taking that information is there is no limit. You're gonna

606
00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:28.920
get the entire story. What I love about yours is

607
00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:33.039
a lot of times it's you'll report a crime of

608
00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:37.280
some sort that occurred on Unfiltered with Karen, and then

609
00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:40.719
you'll do a podcast with the victims of that crime

610
00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:45.440
or the families of the victim if it was someone

611
00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:48.559
you know. Sadly, some of these people have been murdered,

612
00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:52.639
and it might be the families of that victim, but

613
00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:58.000
you get the actual story from the actual people involved,

614
00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:03.639
and it's you know, it's the entire story. It's thirty

615
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:08.440
forty fifty minutes of an interview, and you are such

616
00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:14.239
a good interviewer. It just flows. It goes that quick.

617
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:18.840
But it's a podcast that just opens up a whole

618
00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:22.400
another avenue for your media company. Would you agree?

619
00:36:22.599 --> 00:36:25.960
I agree? And you know this better than anybody. I

620
00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:27.719
was not for starting a podcast.

621
00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:28.599
No, she did.

622
00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:30.559
She wanted one more thing on her plate.

623
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:34.679
I did not. Like we were and a half years

624
00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:38.719
in and they they ganged up on me. They said,

625
00:36:38.760 --> 00:36:40.679
we have to do a zoom meeting real quick. The

626
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:45.119
staff did, and Farren and Daniel came up and said,

627
00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:46.960
let's do this. All you got to do is show

628
00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:50.039
up at the studio and record one day, one hour

629
00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:52.239
a week. The rest we're going to do it. Yeah,

630
00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:53.360
And how do I say no to that?

631
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:53.960
Yeah?

632
00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:57.480
So finally I'm like, okay, I guess. And we launched

633
00:36:57.559 --> 00:37:00.760
in this year and then you came in there and

634
00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.840
you probably regret that now.

635
00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.719
Nope, sure, but.

636
00:37:06.320 --> 00:37:09.280
I'm not gonna lie, Jim. They're with as busy as

637
00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:12.000
we are with unfiltered and just day to day news.

638
00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:15.559
It's hard. I mean, my phones are both literally sitting

639
00:37:15.559 --> 00:37:17.679
here are ninety five percent of the time whenever we

640
00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:20.159
do these podcasts because I'm out of the mix. Sure

641
00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:22.239
for that one hour, hour and a half whatever, I'm

642
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:24.239
out of the mix. So if breaking news is happening,

643
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:30.039
I'm missing it. But my point is, these interviews are

644
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:34.840
set up, and on the drive here, I'm thinking, why

645
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:37.239
why am I doing this? I don't have the time.

646
00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:39.960
Do we really have the time. But then when I

647
00:37:40.119 --> 00:37:44.320
sit here and I start talking to these people, and

648
00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:50.599
when it finishes, it's this complete opposite feeling of wow,

649
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:54.480
yeah that And I know that many a times you're

650
00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:57.519
right here. Many at times it's their first time ever

651
00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:01.079
speaking up. Sometimes it's been seven years, eight years, nine years,

652
00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:05.760
ten years, only year, but they feel relieved. For me

653
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.480
to sit on that side and be doing the interview

654
00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:11.320
and see that relief, it's just this whole.

655
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:14.360
Yeah.

656
00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:16.079
And at that very moment, I'm.

657
00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:21.320
Like, I love this. Yes, yeah, And look she is

658
00:38:21.400 --> 00:38:27.679
exactly describing it accurately as it as it happens. But

659
00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:33.480
it is. It is something that not everybody's made for podcasting.

660
00:38:33.559 --> 00:38:37.880
I knew Kieran was, and you know a lot of newspeople.

661
00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:42.719
It's a natural progression for most of them. But what

662
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:47.320
separates you, what makes you different is the trust that

663
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:49.800
these people have in you and some of them that

664
00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:52.360
We've had people that Kieran has sat down in here

665
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.840
that have never talked to anybody Nope, and they will

666
00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.679
only talk to Kieran. And I can tell you it's

667
00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:04.920
an amazing podcast. And number one, I would encourage everyone

668
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:07.559
to go checking out. I know there's a little bit

669
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:11.039
of confusion with what we can't find it, you know

670
00:39:11.239 --> 00:39:15.559
under Unfiltered with care Well, it's separate. It's Louisiana Unfiltered.

671
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:18.079
So I want to make that clear. But I also

672
00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:21.199
want to make something else clear. There's a series right

673
00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:25.679
now playing on there that is absolutely fire.

674
00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:27.519
I'm so proud of.

675
00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:31.880
That one amazing series. Tell people about it.

676
00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:35.920
Our staff has killed that series. They've done such a

677
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:38.679
good job on it. But that was another one where

678
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:41.519
people spoke of for the very first time. We did

679
00:39:41.639 --> 00:39:43.280
almost I think it's going to end up being a

680
00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:48.480
four part series into the ACCU serial killer Ryan Sharp.

681
00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:51.480
He was operating in East Flea Shanna Parish and East

682
00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:56.039
Mountain Roach Parish back in twenty seventeen. This manreaked havoc

683
00:39:56.280 --> 00:39:59.039
for that area. But I remember it so well, I

684
00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:02.719
can't remember things now and for some reason, I remember

685
00:40:02.840 --> 00:40:05.679
every single trip to East Fleciana Parish seven years ago.

686
00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:10.000
Long story short, four people, four men were shot, three

687
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.119
of them died, and he was eventually caught, and he

688
00:40:14.239 --> 00:40:17.039
said that he was told by the federal government that

689
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:20.159
he was he had hunting tags and he had to

690
00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:23.440
fulfill those tags, so that's why he was killing the men. Well,

691
00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:27.199
his trial just wrapped up, but our staff did an

692
00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:33.320
amazing job interviewing all the victims. The victim, including the

693
00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:38.599
person who survived buck Hornsby survived. Those families haven't spoken

694
00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:41.480
to anybody else. We had the sheriff, we had the

695
00:40:41.559 --> 00:40:45.519
chief deputy, we had the Eastboundery Sheriff's office walking us

696
00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:49.440
through how they got him, how they had a clear

697
00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:52.199
line of fire in case it was needed as they

698
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:55.760
took down this guy, things like that that I'm sitting

699
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:58.239
on your side, and as I'm hearing this, I'm thinking,

700
00:40:58.599 --> 00:41:00.360
oh my god, I can't believe they just said that.

701
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:03.320
Where the families are talking and opening up for the

702
00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:09.519
very first time, the wives, the father in laws, the kids. Yeah,

703
00:41:09.559 --> 00:41:12.440
and Daniel and Farren took all of that and just

704
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:16.119
pieced it into this beautifully written story that is in

705
00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:18.920
multiple parts. In fact, when I was in East Fleecy

706
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.360
and a parish covering the trial, I had people telling me,

707
00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:23.400
oh my god, you leave me hanging every time. Why

708
00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:25.360
can't you just drop all of them at the same time.

709
00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:29.159
You're always going to get those and look, I get

710
00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:31.920
them on my side too. It's it's some people just

711
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.400
hate to wait, yeah, and all of that. Unfortunately, you know,

712
00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:39.159
sometimes you just can't. You can't tell the whole story

713
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:42.199
in one hour. So one of the things interesting about

714
00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:46.760
this series, and incidentally, y'all, it's called Hunting Games genius name,

715
00:41:47.840 --> 00:41:51.000
but one of the things interesting about it is that

716
00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:56.199
it is highly produced. It's got the theatrical background music

717
00:41:56.360 --> 00:41:59.519
with it, and none of that stuffs the easy. Shout

718
00:41:59.519 --> 00:42:01.920
out to Dan Brown who did a great job of

719
00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:07.039
intertwining that music into that series. And look, y'all, this

720
00:42:08.079 --> 00:42:11.599
lady sitting across from me right now. You cannot impress

721
00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:16.840
her no matter what you try to do. And it

722
00:42:16.920 --> 00:42:20.519
is actually on fire. The numbers look really, really good,

723
00:42:20.599 --> 00:42:23.800
and I'm not surprised to bet it's a phenomenal series.

724
00:42:24.360 --> 00:42:28.559
Definitely go check it out and you can find that.

725
00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:31.800
You can get the website at um Filtered with Karen.

726
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:33.639
You can find it there. You can check out the

727
00:42:33.639 --> 00:42:38.000
Facebook page, and of course everybody study promoting that great

728
00:42:38.039 --> 00:42:40.280
series and you should be very proud.

729
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:42.760
Of I am. The staff did an awesome job on

730
00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:46.519
this one. And we've the fourth part that is being

731
00:42:46.559 --> 00:42:49.199
written right now. I kind of don't you want to

732
00:42:49.239 --> 00:42:52.119
reveal it, but we've got our hands on something that

733
00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:56.760
you're going to hear from the suspected killer himself. And

734
00:42:56.800 --> 00:42:58.480
I'm still calling him suspected though.

735
00:42:58.599 --> 00:42:59.480
Yeah he's convicted.

736
00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:02.679
He's victed in one case. You still got three more

737
00:43:02.719 --> 00:43:06.920
to go, so I guess convicted a que serial killer.

738
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:10.400
Yeah, there you go. That sounds good to me. A

739
00:43:10.440 --> 00:43:14.559
couple more questions. First, I might ask you some fun facts.

740
00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:17.039
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would

741
00:43:17.039 --> 00:43:17.320
you get?

742
00:43:19.840 --> 00:43:21.039
Where would you Colorado?

743
00:43:21.480 --> 00:43:22.159
Colorado?

744
00:43:22.639 --> 00:43:24.440
Anywhere in the world, anywhere in the world.

745
00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:26.920
You going to Colorado? Well, Colorado's beautiful.

746
00:43:26.599 --> 00:43:31.199
Yellow Stone it's so peaceful there. Technically that's not Colorado.

747
00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:34.079
I guess we flew into Denver, so that's why I

748
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:37.679
have Colorado. But yes, so I meant to say Yellowstone.

749
00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:39.119
It's just so peaceful.

750
00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:41.400
My wife a Yellowstone.

751
00:43:41.440 --> 00:43:44.960
Well, Wendy, I'm going to give you the list for

752
00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:49.199
Jim to take you to second I see, I told me, yep,

753
00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:54.280
call me Wendy. No, but Yellowstone is gorgeous. We love

754
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:59.239
to travel, yeah, but the peace you get just seeing nature,

755
00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:04.199
it was. It was so pretty anywhere in the world though,

756
00:44:04.440 --> 00:44:09.559
I don't know. I mean my nationality is Indian. Yeah,

757
00:44:09.719 --> 00:44:13.400
I love going back to India and seeing that side

758
00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:16.679
of my culture, my life. I love to travel.

759
00:44:16.880 --> 00:44:18.800
Yeah, so I'm not.

760
00:44:19.079 --> 00:44:21.719
I can't sit here until you have a favorite spot.

761
00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:26.440
If I had to right now, it's Yellowstone, Colorado, the mountains,

762
00:44:26.679 --> 00:44:29.320
It's just Estes Park. It's so pretty.

763
00:44:30.199 --> 00:44:33.079
Well I got to check those out, and personally for me,

764
00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:34.960
Iceland or New Zealand.

765
00:44:35.199 --> 00:44:39.559
Iceland is where we were actually planning to go in October,

766
00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:42.159
and then we ended up calling it off because I

767
00:44:42.199 --> 00:44:44.039
was like, I think it needs a little more planning.

768
00:44:44.360 --> 00:44:45.920
Yeah. Yeah, that's a big one.

769
00:44:46.039 --> 00:44:46.880
Yeah. Uh.

770
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:50.639
If you can have any superpower in the world, what would.

771
00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:52.039
You pick more time in the day.

772
00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:55.719
Wow? And you answered that really fast. Yes, so if

773
00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:57.079
you could add an extra.

774
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:03.519
Hour more, yeah, each day, I have like thirty six hours. Yes,

775
00:45:03.559 --> 00:45:04.159
I agree.

776
00:45:04.559 --> 00:45:07.199
I can relate there. I get that one hundred percent.

777
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:10.320
Kieren Challill, thank you for coming on and spending a

778
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:13.320
little time with us. I know your time is valuable. Folks.

779
00:45:13.480 --> 00:45:16.840
We're going to link every single thing you can possibly

780
00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:20.960
think of in the description as podcast or website. Will

781
00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:24.719
link her Facebook, her TikTok. Y'all go check out her TikTok.

782
00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.840
It's great if your people, if you have a type

783
00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:31.400
of person into that short form content, you can't beat it.

784
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:35.320
So go check that out. And I think you too much.

785
00:45:35.360 --> 00:45:36.199
I appreciate it.

786
00:45:36.239 --> 00:45:39.119
Thank you. And the YouTube nowadays, well everybody to us

787
00:45:39.159 --> 00:45:43.000
start TVs, pull up our channel on your TV. I mean,

788
00:45:43.039 --> 00:45:46.679
we've got documentaries up there, award winning documentaries. So our

789
00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:51.880
TV channel is our YouTube on Filtered with Karen. Very good, Jim,

790
00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:54.360
I'm going to take over this podcast for a quick second.

791
00:45:54.719 --> 00:45:57.880
That thank you. Thank you for what you do. You

792
00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:01.079
also chase your dream. And the reason that you and

793
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:03.280
I get along so well is the other day the

794
00:46:03.320 --> 00:46:05.480
interview I did, he even said, it's the people who

795
00:46:05.559 --> 00:46:09.360
you surround yourself with and that's who you become. I

796
00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:13.480
am blessed to call you my friend. We met for work,

797
00:46:13.719 --> 00:46:19.159
but immediately something clicked and we became friends. But you

798
00:46:19.320 --> 00:46:22.840
just are a generally good human being with a great heart,

799
00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:26.280
and you, if you're rising, you're not going by yourself.

800
00:46:26.719 --> 00:46:29.920
You're taking your friends with you. So thank you for

801
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:33.079
having me on and thank you for being very punch.

802
00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:34.360
You're gonna make me blessed.

803
00:46:34.880 --> 00:46:36.679
You did that to me earlier.

804
00:46:36.239 --> 00:46:41.800
So there. If if you'd like to check out more

805
00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:44.679
from local leaders of the podcast, please do so. We

806
00:46:44.760 --> 00:46:49.440
are obviously in audio form, but our big, big platform

807
00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:52.480
is YouTube, so go to YouTube give us a follow

808
00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:55.400
if you haven't done so. Thank you to our sponsor again,

809
00:46:56.079 --> 00:47:00.320
Leveled Dumpsters, and until next time, I'm Jim Chapman. You

810
00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:05.039
love your community, support local business, and keep leading. Thank

811
00:47:05.079 --> 00:47:06.000
you very much,