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318: With Great Power
Brief
The episode, titled “With Great Power,” gathers three pieces about ordinary people who unexpectedly hold influence over others or are subject to that influence. Alex Kotlowitz opens with a true‑crime/ethics piece about Carla Dimkoff, who as a 19‑year‑old in August 1979 saw her transient, violent father hurriedly replacing a motor‑home mirror the morning after Kristy Ringler was fatally injured on a nearby road. Carla reported her suspicions to Newaygo County detectives (leaving a note for Detective Charles Foster) but says she was dismissed and intimidated; she buried the fear and guilt for decades. Meanwhile Larry Souter, a trucker interviewed in 1979, was later arrested (Nov 14, 1992), convicted on the theory that a whiskey bottle matched Ringler’s injuries, and served over 13 years. When an article about Larry’s case appeared years later, Carla recognized the injustice and contacted Larry’s lawyers; a FOIA request turned up her original note and police notes, contributing to Larry’s conviction being vacated and his release on April 1. Kotlowitz traces the human fallout: Melody Souter’s lost job and hysterectomy, Larry’s toothpick models made in prison, Carla’s enduring guilt despite Larry’s forgiveness and their eventual friendship (both later face cancer in the story).
Act Two, “Unwelcome Wagon,” shifts to suburban harassment. Ira Glass interviews Betty and her daughter Julia about a neighbor feud sparked by a fence dispute that escalated into stalking, BB‑gun shots at exterior lights, obscene messages spelled with weed killer on their lawn, threats and the brutal killing of their cat Phoenix (autopsy: two blows; a bat left as message). The turning point came when the neighbor dumped a trove of personal papers — bank statements and social‑security numbers — onto their yard; Betty and Julia kept the documents in a briefcase as a form of latent power and deliberately chose not to weaponize them, arguing that the restraint itself gave them control. The program closes with Shalom Auslander's “Waiting for Joe,” a parable about two hamsters (Doughnut and Danish) obsessing about their absent human feeder Joe; the fable satirizes faith, dependence and the powerless’ desperate attempts to read the motives of those who hold power over them. Across the acts the show probes the moral burden of having power — whether one acts, hesitates, resists, or must live with consequences — and the different ways people cope with responsibility and its regrets.
Why it matters
Alex Kotlowitz tells the story of Carla Dimkoff (then 19) who on an August day in 1979 found her father repairing a broken side‑view mirror on his motor home the morning after a 19‑year‑old woman, Kristy Ringler, was killed nearby; Carla reported her suspicions to Newaygo County detectives (she left a note for Detective Charles Foster) but says detectives dismissed her and did not follow up.
Key details
- Larry Souter, a 27‑year‑old truck driver who had been questioned in August 1979, was arrested on November 14, 1992, later convicted (sentenced to 20–60 years) on prosecution claims that a Canadian Club whiskey bottle matched Ringler’s wounds, and spent 13 years and 18 days in prison before his conviction was vacated and he walked free on April 1 (year not specified in the story).
- Carla only realized the consequence of her earlier inaction 26 years after the 1979 killing when she read a newspaper article (in January of 'last year' in the story) about Larry’s case; after contacting Larry’s lawyers, a FOIA pull produced her original note and detectives’ notes, contributing to Larry’s exoneration — Carla describes intense guilt and repeatedly apologizes to Larry, who calls her “my angel.”
- Melody Souter (Larry’s wife) says prosecutors offered Larry a 2–5 year plea deal that he refused; Melody reports the conviction cost them deeply — she lost her job after an accident, had a hysterectomy while Larry was incarcerated, and the family life they planned was disrupted.
- Act Two (Ira Glass interviews ‘Betty’ and her daughter ‘Julia’): a long neighborhood harassment campaign began over a fence dispute — the neighbor watched their house for hours, made threats, used weed killer to write “bitch” and “whore” on their lawn, killed their cat Phoenix (autopsy showed two blows), and later dumped a pile of personal papers including social‑security numbers; Betty and Julia kept the documents in a briefcase as latent leverage but chose not to use them.
- Act Three presents Shalom Auslander's short story “Waiting for Joe” (from Beware of God) — a fable about two hamsters, Doughnut and Danish, whose anxious speculations about their absent feeder Joe dramatize the powerless trying to interpret the motives and responsibilities of those above them.