Life after Italy. Life after shame. The Amanda Knox interview

Fourteen years ago – yesterday in fact, on November 1st, 2007 – British exchange student Meredith Kercher was murdered in Perugia, Italy. She was just 21 years old. The truth about what happened that night isn’t hard to source, despite the hash of misinformation, prejudice and sloppy policework that began being assembled the very moment police were called to the murder scene. What happened to Meredith Kercher is a tragedy. To her loved ones she will be forever missed. But this isn’t a podcast about Meredith. This isn’t a true crime podcast, though that’s unquestionably territory within which this podcast's subject matter resides. This is a podcast about shame. And this episode is about Amanda Knox.

You know Amanda Knox – or at least you think you do. You probably have an opinion on her, the court of public opinion is vast and far reaching. Seattle born Amanda was also an exchange student. She was Meredith’s roommate at the time of the murder. Amanda and then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the murder. She spent four years in prison. She got a retrial and was released. There was another trial. She was found guilty once more.

Then, on March 27th, 2015, both Amanda and Raffaele were definitively equited of their role in the murder. The court report stated that there were 'sensational failures' in the investigation, and that the lower court had been guilty of 'culpable omissions' in ignoring expert testimony that demonstrated contamination of evidence. If you’d like to know more about the case, the Netflix documentary Amanda Knox and Amanda’s recent interview with Joe Rogan come much recommended. 

But right now, let’s talk about shame.

What happens when you’re cast as a character you don’t know the lines of, in a life that’s a play not of your direction? What happens when you walk into a room and hear whispers? Where strangers on the internet think they know more than a court of law? What happens when you’re given a name, it’s doused in oil and mud. How do you reclaim it? Can you?

This podcast, since it’s very beginning, has largely hung around one central premise - can you escape shame? Talking to Amanda, I think maybe we can. My name is James McMahon. And episode 9 of Shame is my conversation with Amanda Knox.

Shame is a Spoook Media production. Spoook is also a record label, a promoter, a shop, a Substack - it's many things. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. And please do Like, Review and Subscribe - it actually really helps people find our podcasts!

Watch the series trailer here: https://tinyurl.com/7r326hhc