The Journey, Episode 1: Gifts — In the Dark, podcast-episode
In the Dark
•
September 15, 2026

The Journey, Episode 1: Gifts

In the Dark opens a new season on a Texas surrogacy arrangement gone wrong

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About This Episode

HostMadeleine Baran
NetworkThe New Yorker / Condé Nast
Podcast SeriesIn the Dark
Episode#1
Duration59 minutes

What is this episode about?

The episode "The Journey, Episode 1: Gifts" from The Journey covers a woman in Texas who agrees to carry a child for a wealthy couple in California. She believes she is helping a family in need, but the arrangement takes a turn as she becomes a whistle-blower.

The episode runs 59 minutes and marks the first installment of this storyline, tracing how a personal decision to help another family unravels into something the woman feels compelled to expose.

Hosts and release

Madeleine Baran hosts In the Dark, the investigative podcast published by The New Yorker that first aired in 2016. The show has previously examined cases including the abduction of Jacob Wetterling, the conviction of Curtis Flowers, and the Haditha killings, and its latest season arrived in 2024. This episode, part of a series titled The Journey, was released on September 15, 2026, and is available on Apple Podcasts and Audible.

Listeners interested in the show's broader body of work can find flere episoder af showet, which spans multiple seasons and a range of investigative subjects tied to the American justice system. In the Dark has built its reputation on long-form, deeply reported storytelling, and this new installment continues that approach by following one woman's personal journey from surrogate to whistle-blower, examining the gap between what she was promised and what she ultimately experienced.

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