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Zoe Berg, Photo Editor
Two “crime bosses” have joined forces to create a podcast in which they explore the dark side of the Ivy League – including the Yale student murders.
Laura McDonald and Harvard graduate Sarah Alcorn founded the Ivy League Murders podcast, in which they research, discuss and comment on violent crime on Ivy League campuses. The podcast was founded about a year ago, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The weekly episodes explore everything from murder, kidnappings and mystery, as well as power and privilege in the justice system; they invite listeners to take a closer look at what lies beneath the surface of the Ivy League.
“Human nature doesn’t care if you have an Ivy League degree,” McDonald said. “Greed, jealousy, lust – we see these characteristics in all socio-economic groups.”
The podcast started out as an exciting project for McDonald’s and Alcorn with 10 original cases, and has since grown into a weekly podcast that Spotify describes as a talk of “the most haunting cases to come out of some of America’s most elite corners.
McDonald and Alcorn went to high school together at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yet their paths never crossed, until about two and a half years ago, when Alcorn’s daughter asked to adopt a kitten; their search led them to McDonald’s door.
“As a [private investigator], I was the most crime-obsessed person I knew and then I met Laura, and she’s a lot more, or at least as much, a killer as I am, “Alcorn said.
According to the two podcasters, McDonald’s came up with the idea for the podcast but wanted a partner to work with. Rightly so, Alcorn is a private investigator by trade; McDonald’s idea immediately caught his attention.
“She was the seed, I was the earth and [the podcast] grown up, ”Alcorn said.
According to the hosts, spending their childhood in Cambridge, next to Harvard Square, led them to grow up with great curiosity about what lay behind the gates of the Ivy League.
Their shared passion for real crime then prompted further questions about the most nefarious events on Ivy League college campuses.
“It was this curiosity that prompted this podcast,” McDonald said. “People think that being in a certain educational and economic status protects you from certain types of personalities or people.”
In fact, according to the two hosts, Ivy League schools are unique in that they offer a “pastiche of privilege” and many assume that as a result, students at Ivy League schools are exempt from the horrors. violent crimes.
However, podcasters have pointed out that this impression is wrong. With the research and commentary they feature in the podcast, Alcorn and McDonald demonstrate that Ivy League school students, alumni, and affiliates also suffer from the same human flaws of obsession, jealousy, d greed and anger which can lead to violent crimes. Indeed, the hosts described the podcast’s goal as exposing these realities.
Alcorn told the News that it can be quite difficult to find these cases because they are often hidden and court records are not easily accessible. She said she spent a considerable amount of time “digging up” these cases before production could even begin. However, she clarified that the cases are not necessarily hidden by universities.
“Cases are hard to find,” McDonald said. “We have to dig to find them. We started with 10 cases, and have grown to 200. We also occasionally run sister schools.
According to McDonald and Alcorn, interest in the podcast is not only limited to Ivy League students, alumni and affiliates, but also includes people from all over the world.
Both podcasters mentioned that the aura of exclusivity and mystery surrounding the eight Ivy League schools – with their selective admission processes – is often what piques listeners’ interest.
“People love to see kings fall,” said McDonald. “[They are] intrigued by people who seemingly have everything and throw it away because of human emotion.
Their production partner and manager, Zach Zoppa, also reiterated the importance of the “setting” of the podcast’s episodes.
He said podcast listeners often have many preconceptions about Ivy League students. The podcast seeks to subvert people’s expectations and take the criminal genre to a “new level,” Zoppa said.
“It’s a very exotic setting; most people have never set foot on an Ivy League campus, ”Zoppa said. “And we kind of have a clear idea of who an Ivy Leaguer is. … The reality is that these cases are all so diverse. They are people from all walks of life.
According to Alcorn, the Ivy League framework for the podcast also influences the content of each episode.
Specifically, in keeping with the idea of intellectualism and academic excellence associated with Ivy League schools, podcasters have stated that they try to work in a historical, social, political or literary context when describing each case – often leaving the gory details of the cases on the back burner.
“We’re trying to work on elements of philosophy, literature, and history depending on what the episode calls for,” Alcorn said. “We’re trying to set ourselves apart like the Ivy League, by putting a little intellectualism into real crime.”
The two hosts also shed light on a stranger phenomenon when it comes to Ivy League murder, particularly in reference to the case of Richard Herrin ’75 and Bonnie Garland ’77. In 1977, Herrin clubbed to death Garland, his ex-girlfriend and then senior at Yale.
While the murder was investigated, many backed Herrin, undermining the gravity of his actions and regretting that such a brilliant man threw everything away.
“There is a rush to stand up for a lot of these people,” McDonald said. “They almost seem to have more value because of their upbringing and breeding. And so they seem to attract these champions, which is weird. “
According to McDonald and Alcorn, the case ended when Herrin was charged with manslaughter and ended up serving 17 years in prison. Garland’s supporters, however, were unhappy with the verdict because they viewed the crime as first degree murder.
The podcast hosts said this case, and others they are discussing, reveal ways in which “privilege can pervert justice.”
While many of the podcast’s murder cases are from the 20th century, the hosts also cover more recent crimes. One episode was dedicated to Kevin Jiang ENV ’22, was assassinated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student Qinxuan Pan in February.
Ivy League Murders currently has 67 episodes.
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