Off Record: A Mother on Trial (with Samantha Michaels)
The Knife: A True Crime Podcast
Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 81 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Investigative reporter Samantha Michaels of Mother Jones spent a year digging into Oklahoma’s controversial “failure to protect” laws—statutes meant to safeguard children, but that can also send victims to prison. At the center of her reporting is Kerry King, a mother of four, and the fallout from a single night in January 2015, when her boyfriend, John Purdy, brutally abused both her and her four-year-old daughter, Lila.
In this episode, we speak with Michaels about her investigation and the broader implications of these laws. We also hear directly from Kerry King in a phone call from prison.
Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEPpYkl8gI
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is exactly right. |
| 0:06.9 | Hey, it's Jake Brennan, and on my podcast, Disgraceland, I tell stories from the dark side of the music business. |
| 0:13.2 | And I'm thrilled to announce that now, Disgraceland and its celebrity spin-off, Hollywoodland, |
| 0:18.0 | have found a new home here at the Exactly Right network in partnership with |
| 0:22.1 | iHeart podcasts you can binge over 250 episodes of disgrace land's back catalog and listen to new |
| 0:28.4 | episodes every tuesday bonus episodes on thursday and rewinds on sunday now on exactly right listen to |
| 0:37.0 | disgrace land in Hollywood land |
| 0:38.6 | on the Iheart radio app, |
| 0:40.2 | Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:43.3 | This story contains adult content and language. |
| 0:46.6 | Listener discretion is advised. |
| 0:49.1 | The claims and opinions in this podcast |
| 0:50.6 | are those of the speaker |
| 0:51.7 | and do not necessarily represent the knife |
| 0:53.9 | or exactly right media. |
| 0:57.7 | The problem is that often these laws are enforced against women who are being abused by the same man that hurt the kid, |
| 1:06.4 | and we're throwing these women in prison because they're not strong enough to stop their abuser. |
| 1:30.6 | Welcome to the knife off record. I'm Pasha Eaton. |
| 1:35.2 | I'm Hannah Smith. We have an interview with an investigative reporter for you today. |
| 1:40.5 | But first, we want to talk a little bit about our off-record episodes and what we're planning on doing with them. |
| 1:43.3 | We've been doing the show for a little over a year now. |
| 1:45.1 | Which is mind-blowing to think about. Truly. And in the very beginning, when we started these off-records, they were mainly |
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