Sep 11, 2026 · 24 min
Elizabeth Smart argues survivors should control their stories
More Than True Crime Content with Elizabeth Smart
The conversation examines how ethical storytelling can respect survivors’ agency while acknowledging that trauma and healing continue long after a crime ends.
- 1The Survivor Files gives survivors control over how their experiences are told, challenging true crime’s usual distance from its subjects.
- 2Smart treats careful interviewing as an ethical practice built on boundaries, compassion, and avoiding retraumatization.
- 3Her life after kidnapping is defined by motherhood, advocacy, and healing rather than by the crime alone.
Don't miss
Smart explains that her kidnapping does not define her, emphasizing her identity as a mother, advocate, and person beyond the crime.
The brief
Elizabeth Smart joins Jane Coaston to explain why she created The Survivor Files: a true crime podcast where survivors tell their own stories and retain control over how they are shared.
Smart describes interviewing as an ethical responsibility, requiring boundaries, compassion, and care not to turn someone’s worst experience into content or retraumatize them.
The conversation rejects a neat ending to trauma. Healing is ongoing, difficult work, and moving forward means finding hope without pretending the past disappears.
Smart’s clearest argument is personal: the places and people tied to her kidnapping do not define her. She wants to be known as a mother, advocate, and person.
The episode closes by widening the lens to September 11 survivors and victims’ families, whose worst day is repeatedly revisited, and the need to prioritize their care.
Books & mentions
The Survivor Files
Smart’s survivor-centered podcast extends the episode’s focus on ethical interviews and firsthand accounts.