by Rob Clay
Amanda Knox knows first hand about feeling lost, having spent four years in an Italian prison after she was wrongfully convicted for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher. Since Knox was fully exonerated in 2015, she's been busy. She wrote a column for this paper, a memoir, Waiting to be Heard, and she has traveled across the country advocating for the falsely accused. And now with her husband, Christopher Robinson, she's telling stories on her podcast Labyrinths about times people feel lost and how they find themselves again.
Knox and Robinson have interviewed such guests as LeVar Burton, Malcom Gladwell, Sam Harris, Michael Pollan, and presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Now they're bringing their brand of intimate and playful storytelling out of the earbuds and onto the stage. They will host a live recording of Labyrinths at the Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10th.
Knox and Robinson are newly minted Vashon Island residents as of 2019, but Knox has island legacy. Her dad Curt was born on the island, and her grandparents currently reside there. Many summers for Amanda included running around her grandparents' small orchard and collecting shells on the beach.
Joining Amanda and Chris at the VCA will be interview guests from Vashon island: Craig Beales and Truman O'Brien, survivors of a small aircraft crash, as well as Amy Carey, executive director of Sound Action, who works in animal rescue, and who will bring heartbreaking stories of lost pets.
"A live podcast recording has a special kind of energy," Knox said. "Most of us are used to hearing these kinds of interviews and stories in the intimacy of our headphones, but when we interview guests live, the presence of the audience shapes the conversation."
"We all feel lost from time to time," Robinson added. "But we don't have to be alone in that feeling. One of the great things about bringing the community together for this podcast event is that we can all feel lost together."
Following the live interviews, Knox and Robinson will have a time for Q&A with the audience. They will also be available to sign their books, including Knox’s memoir “Waiting to Be Heard,” Robinson’s novels "War of The Encyclopaedists" and "Deliver Us," and their joint collection of poetry, “The Cardio Tesseract.”
Tickets are $15 to $23 for the evening event, and are available at vashoncenterforthearts.org. Masks are required. You can learn more about Labyrinths and how to listen at knoxrobinson.com/labyrinths.
And if you want a preview, prior to their live podcast at Vashon Center for the Arts, Amanda and Christopher can be heard on a special Voice of Vashon “Morning Scramble” episode with Jeff and Cindy Hoyt from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Monday, June 6. Listen on KVSH 101.9 FM or on voiceofvashon.org.
