Friday Favorites- 8/21/26

HOLLIE- FATAL DISTRACTION- (stream for free on Pluto or Tubi)

On TikTok, every Tuesday, I talk about a true crime story making headlines in a series called “True Crime Tuesday.” This week, I shared a story of a 20-year-old woman who has been arrested for murder after leaving her son in a hot car. When I learned there was a documentary about people who’ve done this, I had to watch. Heather called me a masochist, and maybe that’s true, but I’m always drawn to watching documentaries about things that scare me.

Fatal Distraction is the untold story of the 2016 high-profile murder trial of Justin Ross Harris following the death of his toddler son, Cooper, who he left in his car during the scorching summer of 2014.

Police accused him of murder, and said he intentionally left Cooper while Harris insisted it was a tragic mistake. This case got national attention because every year there are an average of 37 kids who die in hot cars (that number is so much higher than I thought.)

This phenomenon was documented in a 2009 Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning feature by Gene Weingarten, also called “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” which you can read here.

It tells the heartbreaking stories from multiple families who lost their children when they forgot them in cars.

Weingarten does such a brilliant job capturing the guilt and despair these deaths cause their families that even sixteen years later, the article has stayed with me.

When I read it, I wasn’t a mom yet, but I remember thinking how easily it could happen, especially if you’re someone who gets easily distracted. Even more so if your routine changes.

Do I feel the same now? I’m not sure. Having triplets means you’re always counting kids, and I was rarely flying solo with one baby. To my horror, Google told me there are at least three documented cases of parents doing this to their twins. Whether it’s considered a crime or not appears to be dictated by what state you live in.

One of the questions the documentary asks is whether Cooper’s death a tragic accident or murder? I can’t say for sure. Usually, when I watch a true crime doc, I’m like “Yep, guilty as sin.” Or holy crap, they convicted an innocent person. But here I’m not sure.

It is interesting to note that Justin’s wife, Leanna Taylor, stood by him during the trial (though she divorced him in 2016), insisting he would never have intentionally hurt Cooper.

But Harris was a very problematic defendant. Shortly after his son died, police discovered Harris’s affair with multiple women, including sex workers. On the day his son died, he was texting with SIX WOMEN!

Now there’s an argument to be made that it wasn’t intentional murder, and he was distracted juggling his secret life, but it’s hard to have sympathy when you think about how that baby suffered while he was busy scheduling his sex trysts.

There were some other concerning things. He worked at Home Depot in IT and that day he bought light bulbs. At some point he went back to leave them in the car and still never noticed his son. Prosecutors said he was checking to make sure his son was dead but come on. I mean he couldn’t have been that stupid, right? There was also evidence presented that he Googled “leaving kids in hot cars,” but there was a campaign in his area to bring awareness to this issue, so it could have just been a coincidence.

Also, wouldn’t someone who worked in IT be smarter about all of this if he were plotting to kill his kid?

The other thing I thought about watching this story, and the way people jumped in to say Harris was guilty is that he just had an unlikeable face. He just looked like a guy who would cheat on his wife with escorts. It might not be fair but optics matter. He also didn’t respond in the way we want grief-stricken people to.

But it did seem like he was convicted in the media first. He was featured nonstop on Fox News and his local Alabama affiliate. They actually had to move the case to another county because they could not find impartial jurors. The county he was tried in was predominantly Christian and saw his infidelity as a character flaw.

Eventually, the Georgia Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn his murder and child cruelty convictions in June 2022, saying the jury saw evidence that was “extremely and unfairly prejudicial” since they made so much of the case about his extramarital affairs.

Harris’s murder conviction was overturned, but he continued his sentence for other charges related to child exploitation (unrelated to his child’s death). He was released from prison in 2024.

So, was Cooper’s death intentional? I’m still undecided. I do know that in the few days since I watched this doc to writing this recommendation, two children died in hot cars, so it’s definitely something we should be talking about.

Let me know if you watch and what your takeaway is.

HEATHER:

Blood Will Tell- podcast- (available on all platforms)

I swear I don’t go looking for stories about twins, but somehow, they always find me. I was scrolling Apple podcasts looking for a new binge when I saw the cover of Blood Will Tell from Campside Media and Wondery (Audible). I wasn’t sure if the two men featured were twins or just two faces morphed together, but it was enough to make me click. Sure enough, the trailer promised a story about twins and murder. Those two things, plus I always enjoy Wondery/Campside podcasts, so I dove in.

It is almost unimaginable what unfolds. Anh and Trung Tong were 18-year-old identical twins from a suburb of San Jose, California. They go to a birthday party, and one twin brings a knife. They’re both drinking too much, when one of the girls in their group complains about a drunk guy hitting her. This leads the twins, who are pretty drunk, to head outside. A fight ensues and at that point, a knife is pulled and someone is stabbed. The question is, was it Anh or Trung?

The twins rush home and change clothes and make a plan. “We don’t talk about it.”

They don’t know it yet, but in less than 24 hours both their lives will change forever.

The person they stabbed, Robert Phan, died, and now they’re wanted for questioning in his murder. The police descend on their apartment and both twins are arrested.

What unfolds is something I have nightmares about. Trung is the one who stabbed Richard, but it is Anh that is identified by a witness as the killer (in a very problematic witness lineup).

Prosecutors charge the wrong twin. This leads to Trung being released. He’s the killer, but he doesn’t tell the police or anyone else, even his parents. His brother is sitting in a prison cell taking the blame for a crime he committed. But they promised they won’t talk.

Blood Will Tell came to be when writer, reporter, co-producer, and show host Jennifer Miller, was a correspondent for the Washington Post. She was interviewing prisoners at San Quentin about a prison-based Shakespeare program that Trung was participating in. And this led to her learning about how he ended up there.

Keeping up? Trung is now in prison, so the wrongs were righted, but not before a lot of twists and turns. Not only does this podcast present an interesting moral dilemma: Would you be willing to take the fall for your brother or sister or spouse? It also showcases what led the twins down this path, growing up as children to a Vietnam soldier who wanted a better life than he had, to his sons getting caught up in the Southeast Asian underworld in San Jose to ultimately finding redemption and healing.

What I related so much to is how powerful the twin bond is. It’s not always easy for partners to understand this connection. Hollie’s lucky to have met David, who always accepted my importance (even if I annoy him to death), and I’m grateful to have found Vic, who understands our need to talk every night before bed and at least ten other times a day (schedules permitting, of course.)

My only real critique of the podcast is the Shakespearean framing. The writer suggests the brothers’ struggles emulate the sibling rivalry of King Lear and positions the warring neighborhood gangs as the Capulets and Montagues (among others).

While I’ve had my moments with Shakespeare (I majored in British Literature in college), something about this device felt unnecessary. The story itself is strong enough to carry on its own, and it felt a bit distracting. I understand the serendipity of the writer meeting Trung when he was performing Shakespeare, but the parallel never quite worked for me.

It’s a small criticism for a show that was six years in the making. Miller was able to earn the twins’ trust, which helped shape this powerful story, and thanks to her role in it, she brought the twins to a new understanding of each other. It’s a great listen, especially for a deep dive on how the twin bond played such an important and emotional role in this story.

HEATHER: THE WAKEUP- ANKLER (this is not an ad!)

I discovered the Ankler back in 2022 when it was still a small-ish company, though I was surprised to learn it actually launched in started in 2017.

The Ankler was created by veteran entertainment reporter and novelist, Richard Rushfield, who’s written for The New York Times, Washington Post, and Vanity Fair, to name a few. His goal was to reach a different audience, and he was willing to speak plainly about the entertainment industry and say things others might be too afraid to say because they’d upset their sponsors or the studios or networks. Everyone told him it was a terrible idea. He proved them wrong.

Rushfield is a great writer, and I became a paying subscriber pretty quickly. In 2021, Janice Min, former co-president of the Hollywood Reporter, became co-owner and CEO, and things really took off. They now have a podcast, events, and a ton of sponsors.

I read that subscriptions could total around $1.9 million per year, and with advertising they could break $10 million in revenue.

There are lots of offerings, but what’s kept me paying the $19 a month is The Wakeup.

The Wakeup is an almost daily newsletter written by Sean McNulty. McNulty worked for over two decades as a producer and executive at HBO, Charter and Dotdash. He covers everything from movies to TV, stocks, AI, studio mergers and acquisitions, publishing, sports and pop culture. Reading his newsletter feels like having a chat with a funny, well-informed friend. He incorporates the best use of GIFS, and he’s not a kiss ass, but also isn’t mean. I can read the whole recap as I drink my Celsius (back on it now, sigh) and feel fully informed (or as informed as I need to be) on the inner workings of the entertainment industry.

I am so curious how many people Sean has on his team. Daily posts seem like such a huge undertaking, especially knowing how much work it takes for Hollie and me to do bi-weekly Substack posts. Even if he only has a couple people assisting him, it’s still an impressive feat.

The Wakeup ends almost every post with new trailers for upcoming movies or TV series which helps me with my watch list. It’s how I discovered the new Sara Bareilles trailer, and I can’t wait to see it.

While some of The Wakeup is pretty inside Hollywood, there is a lot of information here for anyone who might be interested in AI, stocks, tech, and the convergence of entertainment.

Also included in the Ankler subscription are podcasts, events, creator economy and lots of articles from experts and entertainment professionals.

If you’re on the fence about checking it out, sign up for a month and see what you think. It’s become a success for a reason!

What have you been watching, reading or listening to lately? Anything that’s keeping you up at night? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!