The Ballad of Dena & Andrea
“The Ballad of Dena & Andrea” is a podcast featuring original murder ballads and conversations in reaction to the story of Andrea Yates and Dena Schlosser, two women who murdered their children in the early 2000s.
Host Becky Poole was originally drawn to this story when she learned that Dena and Andrea ended up as roommates, briefly, in a North Texas mental institution. She soon discovered that their lives had been heading in the same tragic and preventable direction for years. Poole wrote an album in the style of Appalachian murder ballads and Americana to create empathetic myths about these mothers.
With this podcast, she invites artists, colleagues, and friends to have conversations in reaction to the story - covering topics like religion, mental health, women's health, misogyny, our failing justice and healthcare systems, motherhood, creating work about tragedy, and more. Each episode includes a bit of Dena and Andrea's story, an interview chat, and an original song. Not a classic true crime doc but myth-making by ballad with honest conversations. Please join us to discover what might come up for you.
The Ballad of Dena & Andrea
Get A Job - Episode 7 - With Comedian & Ceramicist Eliza Skinner
Comedian, Showrunner, Ceramicist and very good friend Eliza Skinner and I talk about how rom coms effed us all, Bad Women, cultural fables, what do our "butts and guts want" and how she should’ve been a Unitarian Minister.
The song for this episode is Get a Job. Inspired by the fact that Dena was fired from Walmart within hrs of the local news making public a picture of her at work. She was doing nothing wrong, had served her time, and was following all the rules given to her.
Links
Eliza's Socials:
https://www.tiktok.com/@realelizaskinner
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1982901/
Faster Pussycat Kill Kill Trailer
Masterpiece Bakery / ACLU (Colorado)
Kim Davis - Kentucky Clerk who denied licenses
Web Designer Supreme Court Decision
Down Came the Rain - Brooke Shields book on postpartum depression
Postpartum Book Club Chat about it…
Ballad of Dena & Andrea Links
Postpartum Support International
https://www.postpartum.net/
PSI Yates Children Memorial Fund Legal Justice Program
https://www.postpartum.net/about-psi/legal-justice/
A bit about the Yates Children Memorial Fund
https://www.postpartum.net/twenty-years-later/
I Need An Abortion
https://www.ineedana.com/
National Suicide Hotline: You can call 998 or find help online at
https://988lifeline.org/
Domestic Abuse Hotline
https://www.thehotline.org/
Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Support the Podcast Links
Hosted and created by Becky Poole
Songs written and sung by Becky Poole
Musical Saw by Becky Poole
Song and Theme Instrumentation, Production, and Mix by Abby Posner
Mastered by Dave Locke
Podcast Audio Editing & Mixing by Evan Mosher
Graphic Design by Stefan Lawrence
Photo by Logan Futej
Thank you for listening. For more about postpartum psychosis, go to Postpartum Support International. For the full album click here . Join the conversation on Instagram.
