About This Episode
In March 2017, the podcast S-Town launched with a simple premise: investigate an alleged uninvestigated murder in Woodstock, Alabama. What emerged instead was a seven-episode meditation on a man, his town, and the blurred line between crime reporting and intimate portraiture.
The story began in 2012 when John B. McLemore, a horologist and antique clock restorer from Woodstock, emailed This American Life with an accusation. He claimed that a murder had gone uninvestigated in his small town—specifically, the death of Dylon Nicols at the hands of Kabrahm Burt, son of a wealthy local family. McLemore called his hometown "Shittown" (or "S-Town"), a label that would become the podcast's title.
Brian Reed, a longtime producer at This American Life, took the bait. For a year, he exchanged emails with McLemore. Then Reed traveled to Woodstock to investigate. What he discovered was unexpected: there was no murder. Dylon Nicols had not been killed. The initial premise—the entire reason for the podcast's existence—dissolved.