Dateline ‘Mommy Doomsday’ podcast, hosted by Keith Morrison, premieres today
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IDAHO FALLS — The Chad and Lori Daybell story is now part of a six-episode true-crime podcast that debuted today.
“Mommy Doomsday” is hosted by “Dateline NBC” correspondent Keith Morrison, who has been reporting on the case for the past year. The podcast has been ranked No. 1 on Apple charts since it was announced last week.
“Mommy Doomsday” takes a closer look at the Daybells and events surrounding the disappearance of JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, Lori’s children. They were found buried on Chad Daybell’s property in June. The couple is now facing charges of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. They have denied any wrongdoing.
“This is such a strange and remarkable tale with events which have occurred that people find hard to believe,” Morrison tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Among stories to cover, this is one of those that you go, ‘Well duh, of course you do a podcast on “Mommy Doomsday” because it’s just such an unbelievable story.'”
Morrison says the podcast is “freeing” in that it allows him to tell the story without worrying about video to match his narration. He also doesn’t need to be concerned about time constraints he faces in television.
LISTEN TO THE PREVIEW OF THE PODCAST HERE
“One of the advantages of a podcast is you can let the story breathe. You can go down all the rabbit holes and delve into the mysteries that you simply don’t have time for in a television story,” he says.
Morrison’s previous podcast
This marks the second original true-crime podcast from Morrison, who previously hosted the No. 1 podcast “The Thing About Pam,” which was downloaded more than 14 million times since it launched in September 2019 and was listed on Apple’s top 25 most popular new shows of 2019.
The podcast tells the story of Russ Faria, who came home two days after Christmas in 2011 to find his wife, Betsy, dead. Her brutal murder set off a chain of events that would leave another person dead and expose a diabolical scheme.
This month, NBC greenlit a series based on the story featured in “The Thing About Pam.” Two-time Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger will star and executive produce the show.
“It was another story that was just bizarre and strange. Curious things happened and then more curious things happened,” Morrison says. “Interesting that when we made the announcement it was going to be a movie, and Rene Zellweger was going to be in it, all of a sudden the podcast was back in the top 10 again.”
The first two episodes of “Mommy Doomsday,” produced in partnership with Neon Hum, will be available for download and streaming on any podcast platform beginning today. An additional four episodes will debut over the next three weeks.
Watch our entire interview with Morrison in the video player above.
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