I Was Never There

Karen helps us understand the mindset that helped Marsha and Karen both live life unafraid of consequences. To explain, we head back to Karen’s back-to-the-land world in Braxton County where Karen and her lover Patty grew pot right out in the open, protected by what they called “The Magic Veil.”

For archival photos, videos, and more, follow I Was Never There on Instagram. For more information on the show and to get in touch with the team, check out our website.

For one-of-a-kind merch, shop here.

Follow host Jamie Zelermyer on Instagram and Twitter.

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I Was Never There is a Wonder Media Network production. It’s hosted by Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. It’s produced by Allie Wollner, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, and Liz Smith. It’s edited by Jenny Kaplan and Liz Smith. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan, Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. Production assistance by Alesandra Tejeda. Our music supervisor is Sarah Tembeckjian. The theme music is “Take Me Home, Country Roads” performed by Brandi Carlile, courtesy of Elektra Records / A Low Country Sound, written by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, William Thomas Danoff.

When it came to living on the edge, Marsha wasn't just a big talker; she really did walk a vanishingly thin line between fearless and reckless. We consider Marsha’s complicated and ultimately unsettled legacy, speaking with those whose politics she shifted and shaped, those whose artistic trajectories she launched, and those she left in the emotional — and financial — lurch.

For archival photos, videos, and more, follow I Was Never There on Instagram. For more information on the show and to get in touch with the team, check out our website.

For one-of-a-kind merch, shop here.

Follow host Jamie Zelermyer on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

• Website
• Twitter
• Instagram

I Was Never There is a Wonder Media Network production. It’s hosted by Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. It’s produced by Allie Wollner, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, and Liz Smith. It’s edited by Jenny Kaplan and Liz Smith. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan, Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. Production assistance by Alesandra Tejeda. Our music supervisor is Sarah Tembeckjian. The theme music is “Take Me Home, Country Roads” performed by Brandi Carlile, courtesy of Elektra Records / A Low Country Sound, written by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, William Thomas Danoff.

Karen and Jamie sit down to sift through everything they’ve heard and all they've learned in the process of trying to get to the bottom of Marsha's disappearance. At the end of the journey, Jamie and Karen consider the most important question of all: Where do they go from here?

For archival photos, videos, and more, follow I Was Never There on Instagram. For more information on the show and to get in touch with the team, check out our website.

For one-of-a-kind merch, shop here.

Follow host Jamie Zelermyer on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

• Website
• Twitter
• Instagram

If you have any information concerning Marsha's disappearance, please contact the Morgantown Police Department here or call the tip line: 304-284-7520.

I Was Never There is a Wonder Media Network production. It’s hosted by Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. It’s produced by Allie Wollner, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, and Liz Smith. It’s edited by Jenny Kaplan and Liz Smith. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan, Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. Production assistance by Alesandra Tejeda. Our music supervisor is Sarah Tembeckjian. The theme music is “Take Me Home, Country Roads” performed by Brandi Carlile, courtesy of Elektra Records / A Low Country Sound, written by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, William Thomas Danoff. Special thanks to the RamDass.org digital media library. The clip of Ram Dass comes courtesy of the library.

Hey listeners! We've sharing the first episode of another podcast we think you'd love: As She Rises. On the latest season, we're traversing the Colorado River Basin – understanding water through a new lens and centering stories of resilience in the face of the drought. Hosted by Leah Thomas, eco-communicator, author, and founder of the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, each episode focuses on a different corner of the basin, beginning in the river’s reservoirs on the borders of Arizona and Utah, and finishing in the dry delta in Mexico.

In this episode, we’re starting our journey just south of Lake Powell, in the Navajo Nation. Today, Lake Powell is around a fifth of its original size. Pools that used to be deep enough to dive into have turned into puddles of mud. And as the water disappears, the forgotten canyon beneath reemerges. Over the years, the U.S. government has signed a number of treaties with the Navajo Nation, promising certain amounts of water, and water infrastructure. But, as they struggle to reallocate water in the face of drought, the government still tends to leave indigenous communities out of the conversation.

Poet Kinsale Drake reads her poem, “after Sacred Water,” about how the U.S. government drowned an ecosystem to create a dam that is now shrinking fast. Emma Robbins, director of the Navajo Water Project, explains how her organization ensures households have running water, and that the Navajo Nation has a seat at the table.

Wondery+ subscribers can listen to all of season 3 of As She Rises early & ad-free. Find Wondery+ on the Wondery App or Apple Podcasts.

For More:

• Support Navajo Water Project
• Discover more of Kinsale Drake’s poetry

As She Rises is a Wonder Media Network production. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram and Twitter.

Marsha’s bar was much more than a place to grab a drink. It was ground zero for a cultural revolution, a haven of progressive politics, free expression, and creativity. In an episode brimful of music, we hear recollections from the musicians, teens, and bartenders of two extraordinary community projects that would ultimately be Marsha’s swan song and establish her as a folk hero.

For archival photos, videos, and more, follow I Was Never There on Instagram. For more information on the show and to get in touch with the team, check out our website.

For one-of-a-kind merch, shop here.

Follow host Jamie Zelermyer on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

• Website
• Twitter
• Instagram

I Was Never There is a Wonder Media Network production. It's hosted by Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. It's produced by Allie Wollner, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, and Liz Smith. It's edited by Jenny Kaplan and Liz Smith. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan, Jamie Zelermyer and Karen Zelermyer. Production assistance by Alesandra Tejeda. Our music supervisor is Sarah Tembeckjian. The theme music is "Take Me Home, Country Roads" performed by Brandi Carlile, courtesy of Elektra Records / A Low Country Sound, written by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, William Thomas Danoff.