This is my second shout-out this week to Ed Opperman and my appearance on his talk radio show the OPPERMAN REPORT, which appeared on a handful of radio stations (KCAA AM/FM- WWPR AM- WWNN AM/FM- WHSP AM- KYAH AM) and now has episode links on Spotify and Patreon. Ed was kind enough to invite me on his show to talk about Chained Birds, but we got into some other topics too, including a wee bit of politics.
Ed, who’s a private investigator, has hosted the OPPERMAN REPORT since 2015 where he interviews guests about true crime, conspiracy theories, and investigative journalism. I’d say he relishes current controversies in the news … consider that my lead-in was a teaser for a pod about new info on Hunter Biden’s laptop, AND a Matt Gaetz sex tape!
We talked about the security concerns I had writing Chained Birds as I became inexplicably intertwined with my book subject — a federal inmate — and the underworld of prison gang hit orders, penal violence, and corruption he inhabited. Ed also asked me probing questions about the horrific Lewisburg Prison Special Management Unit abuses I document in Chained Birds, and he had his own criminal justice stories to add to the mix.
I reached out to Ed on social media ahead of our podcast recording to share with him an article from this month’s issue of Philadelphia Magazine about a good prison program I wanted to talk about. I appreciate Ed allowing me to highlight the article about Little Scandinavia, a successful pilot program at Chester Prison near Philly in my own backyard. The program seeks to treat inmates with more dignity in a more normalized environment and is based on Norway’s innovative rehabilitation approach to incarceration. It’s a wonderful program that could lead to expansion in our country, and the direct link to that excellent Philly Mag story by Ben Seal is here.
The IMDb database recounts Ed’s fascinating background of his days growing up in the South Bronx among street gangs, and traces his professional career into private security and investigation work. In the early 2000s, Ed became a leader in cell phone forensics and digital data recovery, and he’s been hired in several high-profile cases involving celebrities. According to the bio, he was chosen to examine cell phones in the Tiger Woods infidelity scandal, and he investigated similar allegations in the cases of Aston Kutcher and Todd and Sarah Palin.
And somehow, along the way, Ed ran a Manhattan nightclub and went running with the bulls in Pamplona Spain … What a colorful character!
It was a pleasure appearing on your show, Ed — thanks for a great discussion!
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
