In February 2024, celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them?

In season 3 of Death of an Artist, journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael’s letters—as one married couple trying to understand another. Told through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael’s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers’ deaths and the final words they left behind.

Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

In February 2024, celebrated children&rsquo;s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them?
In season 3 of Death of an Artist, journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael&rsquo;s letters&mdash;as one married couple trying to understand another. Told through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael&rsquo;s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers&rsquo; deaths and the final words they left behind.
Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the <a href="https://apple.co/4fCN9Qb">Apple Podcasts</a> show page or at <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/join-pushkin">pushkin.fm/plus</a>.

How the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave Desert's meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.

On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park. A long-distance runner and former military, Aujay felt at home in the rocky terrain, but when he didn’t return home by nightfall, his wife reported him missing. Nearly 30 years later, Aujay has yet to be found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened.

Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true… that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up.

Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd dig into what the sheriff’s department has kept hidden all these years.

Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case, and breaks new ground in the search to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy. New episodes release on Mondays.

Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack on Spotify.

How the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave Desert's meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.
On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff&rsquo;s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California&rsquo;s Devil&rsquo;s Punchbowl park. A long-distance runner and former military, Aujay felt at home in the rocky terrain, but when he didn&rsquo;t return home by nightfall, his wife reported him missing. Nearly 30 years later, Aujay has yet to be found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened.
Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there&rsquo;s another theory that many of Aujay&rsquo;s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true&hellip; that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up.
Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd dig into what the sheriff&rsquo;s department has kept hidden all these years.
Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case, and breaks new ground in the search to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy. New episodes release on Mondays.
Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/valley-of-shadows/id1858046983">Apple Podcasts</a> or at&nbsp;<a href="http://pushkin.fm/plus" data-stringify-link="http://Pushkin.fm/plus" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Pushkin.fm/plus</a>. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4JqqPNYDkyAHVFFEv7pEeq">Spotify</a>.

Valley of Shadows

How the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave’s meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.

On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park. A long-distance runner and former military, Aujay felt at home in the rocky terrain, but when he didn’t return home by nightfall, his wife reported him missing. Nearly 30 years later, Aujay has yet to be found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened.

Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true… that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up.

Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd dig into what the sheriff’s department has kept hidden all these years.

Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case, and breaks new ground in the search to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy. New episodes release on Mondays. 

Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, starting January 12 by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm/plus. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack on Spotify.

How the search for a missing deputy uncovered the Mojave&rsquo;s meth epidemic, the outlaw bikers supplying it, and the corrupt police force covering it up.
On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff&rsquo;s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California&rsquo;s Devil&rsquo;s Punchbowl park. A long-distance runner and former military, Aujay felt at home in the rocky terrain, but when he didn&rsquo;t return home by nightfall, his wife reported him missing. Nearly 30 years later, Aujay has yet to be found and the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened.
Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there&rsquo;s another theory that many of Aujay&rsquo;s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true&hellip; that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up.
Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd dig into what the sheriff&rsquo;s department has kept hidden all these years.
Told over 8 episodes, Valley of Shadows follows the hairpin turns of the Aujay case, and breaks new ground in the search to uncover what really happened to the missing deputy. New episodes release on Mondays.&nbsp;
Binge the entire season of Valley of Shadows, ad-free, starting January 12 by subscribing to Pushkin+. Sign up on the Valley of Shadows show page on&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/valley-of-shadows/id1858046983">Apple Podcasts</a> or at&nbsp;<a href="http://pushkin.fm/plus" data-stringify-link="http://Pushkin.fm/plus" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Pushkin.fm/plus</a>. Hear the full Valley of Shadows soundtrack on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4JqqPNYDkyAHVFFEv7pEeq">Spotify</a>.

Petra Mathers and Her Michael | From Death of an Artist 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ad3d3678-43f6-425a-be6c-b4aa01102b40/transcript