Listen Now: The Apology Line

Suffer the Little Children

Suffer the Little Children Pod

True Crime, Social Sciences, Science, Society & Culture

4.6 • 937 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2023

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For fifteen years you could call a private number in Manhattan and anonymously apologize for anything. It was called The Apology Line. This is the story of the phone line and the man at the other end who became consumed by his own creation. He was known as “Mr. Apology.”

As thousands of callers flooded the line, confessing to everything from shoplifting to adultery, drug dealing, to murder, Mr. Apology realized he couldn’t just listen. He had to do something, even if it meant risking everything.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, it's me Lane. I'm here to present you with another true crime
0:04.4	podcast to binge, the apology line. If there was a phone number you could call
0:09.3	to apologize for anything and no one would know, what would you confess?
0:14.0	The apology line is a podcast about Alan Bridge, who posted flyers around New York City,
0:20.0	asking people to anonymously apologize for their crimes, not to God, not to the police, but to his answering
0:26.1	machine. Within hours, the calls started coming in, people apologizing for stealing, adultery, lying, and even murder.
0:35.0	Alan got dozens of calls from people claiming to be killers, but one stood out,
0:40.0	Ritchie. He was deliberate, measured, and his calls would leave Alan wondering if he really
0:45.8	was the serial killer he claimed to be. That is, until Richie offered to provide proof of
0:51.1	his crimes. Unable to just listen anymore, Alan knew he had to try to stop him.
0:56.0	I'm about to play you a clip from the apology line. While you're listening, make sure to follow the Amazon Music exclusive podcast, The Apology Line, in the Amazon Music app.
1:07.0	Download the app today. It was a
1:15.0	a group of friends at a loft in New York City.
1:20.0	It was a dinner party with I think about six maybe eight of us around the big table
1:26.4	Doug Welch was there too. Through the huge windows we could see the lights of the Empire State Building.
1:33.0	Rosary candles flickered on a curved bookcase that separated the living room from the bedroom.
1:38.0	These gatherings always went late.
1:41.0	We were all artists, so we talked about our work, politics, and how we were surviving
1:46.2	in the city. The host was a man named Alan.
1:49.7	Toward the end of the dinner as it was wrapping up Alan just sort of casually said would
1:56.2	anyone like to hear the latest that came in today from apology?
2:00.8	Apology was Alan's newest project. apology was
	...

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