Alumni collaborate on true crime podcast

Two Ryerson University alumni have combined forces to create a true crime podcast.

The podcast, Do You Know Mordechai?, follows the story of Arya, who has fallen in love with a man named—you guessed it— Mordechai. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Arya is not the only woman in Mordechai’s life.

Created by Kathleen Goldhar and Michelle Shephard, Do You Know Mordechai? is a thought-provoking series that questions the limits of love— and lies.

This particular podcast is personal to Goldhar, as Arya is a close friend of hers. She describes the moment where this situation went from being “a crazy story” to becoming a full-fledged series. 

After a woman came knocking on Arya’s door, asking the fateful question: “Do You Know Mordechai?” Arya called Goldhar. 

“She [Arya] actually said, ‘I think my life is a podcast.’” Said Goldhar, “And I said, ‘Why don’t we do that?’” 

The podcast was created through Antica productions and UCP (external link)  audio, while Michelle Shephard joined the team a little later on to help with scripting and producing.

“We’ve worked together before and we love working together,” Shephard said. “This is Kathleen’s baby, and she had already started reporting on it and done a lot of the work [beforehand].”

When Shephard and Goldhar both graduated from Ryerson in ‘96, they had no idea audio journalism would become such a big part of their careers. 

Shephard, who was very broadcast-focused during her time at Ryerson, hadn’t been sure about her path post-graduation.

“Between my first and second year that we were in the [jrad] program, I got an internship at the Star,” Shephard said. “And then I thought okay, I like print.”

More recently, Shephard moved out of print and into documentary journalism, before eventually going independent.

“I really liked those [documentaries], so when I went independent, I thought I’d do more of that, and then thankfully fell into podcasting, which I really love.”

Goldhar fell into audio journalism much earlier. 

“What Michelle ended up doing was what I thought I was going to do,” Goldhar said. “I was going to be a print reporter because my dad’s an editor...and I did three or four years working in print after graduation.”

After those few years in print, Goldhar moved around western Canada a bit before settling in Manitoba.

“I ended up working as a reporter at CBC in Winnipeg, and that got me into audio,” she said. 

After making her way back to Ontario, Goldhar’s audio career really jumped off.

“I kind of floated back to Toronto in audio and then really fell into it.” 

As the two have worked together in the past— notably their series on murder victim Sharmini Anandavel, their dynamic and somewhat juxtaposed work styles make them a great team.

“We have different strengths that we bring to it— like Kathleen’s super-decisive and I’m super, super, overthink-y,” Shephard says, “And so we balance each other out that way.”

After joking about hoping this podcast makes her world famous, Goldhar said she was proud of how the series turned out.

“On a personal level, I wanted it [the podcast] to be what it is, I wanted every episode to be strong and good.” She said, “I wanted the modern, sort of, take on what happens to women dating. I wanted the idea of that vulnerability, but taking advantage, and that sort of exploration of a person who knows how to take it.”

Do You Know Mordechai? can be easily summed up into one sentence from Shephard.

“I think it’s a wild ride.”

You can find Do You Know Mordechai? on any platform where you get your podcasts.