Yarn is a podcast production company set up by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde to make more shows like West Cork. Big surprising stories that drop the listener into an unfamiliar world. We’re really excited about the two projects we have on the way, and as an email subscriber you’ll be the first to hear about these shows as well as any new episodes of West Cork.
The Series
Like a lot of places out on the fringes, West Cork attracted people for all sorts of reasons. It was a place to escape to, where the rules of modern life didn’t seem to apply. A community that grew by word of mouth, people floating in on the breeze. The locals had a name for them - they called them blow-ins.
For a while it was perfect.
But then one blow-in was murdered, and another was suspected of doing it. And where you might expect him to leave, he dug in. He stayed in his cottage just a few miles from town. And everyone else was supposed to go on with their lives, with the embodiment of all their unsettled nerves still resolutely among them.
HOW TO LISTEN
You can listen to West Cork in many places: on Apple Podcasts, Acast and on Google Podcasts. You can also find the original series on Audible.
Reviews
“Possibly the best ever true crime podcast.”
“It knocked me out like no podcast since S-Town. A masterpiece. Listen”
“A work of forensic journalism stamped with integrity”
“Brilliantly reported and compelling constructed.”
“West Cork is the new Serial. It may even be better.”
“An utterly unforgettable testament to the power of good reporting.”
“A nuanced, insightful examination. ”
“Engrossing.”
“The hosts beautifully communicate how a tragedy can impact a town and its people in devastating ways”
“An intricately reported masterpiece of content and form”
“West Cork stands out for the thoughtfulness of its approach and the strength of its milieu. This is a show that’s uncommonly connected to the substance of the place that’s been rocked by the crime”
“Very few series (like STown, for instance) have transcended the true crime genre to present a riveting picture of humanity. West Cork manages to do so. In narrating the story of Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s death, Forde and Bungey are really telling the story of a community, of a place, and its people. West Cork makes for a fascinating listen.”
“This series is important because of the way it handles the tragedy. Characters are brought in to tell us who Sophie was besides simply being an infamous victim. With a deep exploration into local and national policing, and an empathic look into how a small town in Ireland ticks, it has everything you need for a top notch investigative series.”
“Meticulous and thoughtful reporting … A show can attempt to justify its value apart from the core facts, beats, and twists of the crime in question. To that end, West Cork is intermittently sublime. The podcast is vastly more soulful than so many of its peers, in large part by functioning as an exploration of how a tragedy, mixed with spectacle, can redefine and consume the terms of a place, a person, and a time.”
“Attention to detail is what sets West Cork apart”
“Compelling”
“True Crime classic”
“A humane look at the impact this crime had on a community, how it changed the area – a weather-beaten idyll – and how an incredible narrative developed around it”
“It is a high bar for a piece of journalism to tell the insider something new, forcing him to rearrange the architecture of a murder case which has found coordinates in his mind across twenty years. Audible’s West Cork has so much original reporting, such depth of curiosity, and such breathtaking access to key players and opposing opinions, that it clears the bar. It becomes a strange kind of magnum opus – the cultural equivalent to a Book of Evidence. Indeed, it acts as a stand-in for a crucial legal document which, as yet, has never been presented in court.”
“Across the podcast, the breadth of research and interviews is impressive ... weaving a narrative that encourages binge-listening ... An eye opening study of an investigation. For many Irish listeners, West Cork will be the first time a podcast approaches a local story with the same depth of stories in Maryland (Serial season one) or Alabama (S-Town).”
“‘Not going to keep tweeting about how good #WestCork podcast is. You either believe me or you don’t.’”