Listen Now: The Apology Line

The Chilling Podcast

Little Fang Media

Society & Culture, True Crime, Documentary

4.4 • 716 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. Prime Members, you can binge all seven episodes of The Apology line exclusively on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today: www.amazon.com/AL_TCP

Transcript

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0:00.0	If there was a phone number, you could call to apologize for anything and no one would know,
0:06.2	what would you confess? The apology line is a podcast about Alan Bridge, who posted flyers
0:13.9	around New York City asking people to anonymously apologize for their crimes. Not to God, not to the police, but to his answering
0:23.9	machine. Within hours, the calls started coming in, people apologizing for stealing, adultery,
0:31.7	lying, and even murder. Alan got dozens of calls from people claiming to be killers, but one stood out, Richie.
0:40.8	He was deliberate, measured, and his calls would leave Alan wondering if he was really the serial
0:47.5	killer he claimed to be, that is, until Richie offered to provide proof of his crimes.
0:54.4	Unable to just listen anymore, Alan knew he had to try and stop him.
0:59.3	I'm about to play you a clip from The Apology Line.
1:02.6	While you're listening, make sure to follow the Amazon Music exclusive podcast,
1:08.3	The Apology Line, in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today.
1:18.4	It was early 1981, and I was with a group of friends at a loft in New York City.
1:24.3	It was a dinner party with, I think, about six, maybe eight of us around the big table.
1:30.3	Doug Welch was there too.
1:32.3	Through the huge windows, we could see the lights of the Empire State Building.
1:37.3	Rosary candles flickered on a curved bookcase that separated the living room from the bedroom.
1:42.3	These gatherings always went late.
1:45.2	We were all artists, so we talked about our work, politics,
1:49.0	and how we were surviving in the city.
1:51.2	The host was a man named Alan.
1:53.7	Toward the end of the dinner as it was wrapping up,
1:57.1	Alan just sort of casually said,
	...

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