Episode 2: An Unreasonable Act from Valley of Shadows
Lost Hills: Dark Canyon
Western Sound and Pushkin Industries
4.2 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After deputy Jon Aujay disappears, the sheriff’s department claims he was suicidal — pointing to marital troubles and erratic behavior in the weeks before he vanished. But the LASD’s official story doesn’t square with what Aujay’s loved ones and colleagues remember. Then, investigators start to hear rumors that the deputy didn’t take his own life, but was murdered for something he witnessed out in the desert.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There are moments in each of our lives that seem to change everything. |
| 0:04.0 | An unexpected diagnosis, the sudden end of a relationship, the loss of a job. |
| 0:09.0 | As our lives fear off course, it can feel like time is dividing into a before and an after. |
| 0:15.0 | I'm Dr. Maya Shunker, a cognitive scientist, and my new book, The Other Side of Change, |
| 0:26.4 | Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans, is all about how we navigate these inflection points. |
| 0:31.7 | The other side of change pairs singular real-life stories with scientific insights to help us find meaning in the tumult of change. |
| 0:34.9 | What if we saw the hardest moments in our lives, not simply as something |
| 0:38.6 | to endure, but as an opportunity to reimagine who we can be? I'm thrilled to share that book |
| 0:44.6 | list gave the other side of change one of its coveted starred reviews, saying, quote, |
| 0:50.1 | it's impossible not to be moved. The other side of change is out now. |
| 0:54.9 | Get your copy today wherever you like to buy books. |
| 1:06.0 | Pushkin. |
| 1:09.3 | Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to hear the entire season of Valley of Shadows ad-free starting |
| 1:14.8 | January 12th. You'll also get bonus episodes, full audiobooks, and early ad-free listening |
| 1:20.6 | from your favorite Pushkin hosts and authors. Find Pushkin Plus on the Valley of Shadow's |
| 1:26.0 | show page on Apple Podcast, or at pushkin.fm. |
| 1:29.8 | slash plus. |
| 1:31.2 | And thanks for your support. |
| 1:33.9 | This series includes content that may not be suitable for all listeners. |
| 1:38.5 | Listener in discretion is advised. |
| 1:41.7 | Previously on Valley of Shadows. |
| 1:45.5 | It's an all-out manhunt for John Aalj. |
... |
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