Why do I have commercials?

I had never heard this story despite my affection for true crime podcast. I am so glad I found it and I do believe it fits the genre of true crime because these two women were criminal in their actions against the children. Without a doubt this is an American tragedy. Great job well worth your time and may I say to some degree it’s perspective changing.

Much needed in a genre that regurgitates the same stories over and over again. However…. I needed so much more. I am now searching for more information about this case. Perhaps it is the need to make sense of the nonsensical.

I listen to a lot of true crime, mostly the traditional podcasters that tell about a whole case within an hour to an hour and a half with occasional two parters, but I’m not against podcasts that focus entirely on one case. Seeing an investigative journalist explore different angles that law enforcement may have missed, have conversations with friends and family, and get into the deep issues that led to tragedy can make for a great podcast and an eye opening experience. This is not that podcast and you don’t have to get political to say how bad it is. This case could’ve been told in two episodes at most. The way it is laid out, it feels as though the narrators were going for a traditional telling of the story. This is what the world saw, this is the truth, and finishing with the tragic conclusion. The problem is they are all over the place. By episode seven I could no longer tell where the story was in the timeline of events. They spend the first four episodes painting these women as misunderstood or tragic heroes. Let’s be clear, these two monsters tortured and murdered children. I don’t care what their sexualities or personal ideologies were. The podcasters seemed to be trying to portray how their friends and family didn’t realize what was going on behind the scenes because of how perfect they seemed on the surface, but to us listeners, it really does come off as being overly defensive of the Hart women. The interviews add little to nothing. Most of the people have nothing more to say then, “they seemed nice, but there were some weird things in hindsight.” I kept waiting for deep dives into the psychology of the women, their relationship, the abuse the children endured, etc. This podcast doesn’t really care about that though. By episode seven I wasn’t sure where the podcast was going and was even becoming confused on details that had been established up to that point. Ultimately this podcast is a gross injustice to the children that were murdered, glossing over their suffering as almost a secondary subject. It confuses the listener about the timeline and details regarding the case, with interviews that add little, if any, extra information. I find myself asking why was this made? To defend two women that murdered six black children? Not a position I would want to take. To talk about what role society could’ve had in this? They don’t delve nearly enough into the personal psychology of the women for us to say how much of it was their fault or enough into the issues personally experienced by the family for us to have that conversation. Were they trying to tell the story of a horrific tragedy? Again, I’m more confused about the details of the case now then when I started. Whatever the podcasters were going for here, they dropped the ball. I don’t see any reason to continue listening and will probably avoid their work going forward.

Lots of apparent excuse making for murdering children. Being LGBTQ doesn’t alleviate responsibility for one’s own actions especially when it literally kills innocent children.

The fact that they labeled this murder as a “rational decision” is mindboggling. At the beginning, the hosts seem to be unbiased and neutral. However, as the story progresses, they empathize more and more with the murderous adoptive parents. This podcast did not do the children justice.

Episode 7 is for the wrong podcast

Overall, I appreciate the journalism. As an African American this really confirms that White people are oblivious to so many issues that people of color face. It’s absurd that so many of the Hart’s so-called friends turned a blind eye to children that were clearly starving. I applaud those who had enough awareness to speak up and report the abuse. Additionally had anyone investigated the possibility that Jen and Sarah somehow killed Devonte in the home, after his interactions with the neighbors? Maybe that’s what precipitated the murder/ suicide crash.

Your dedication to tell this story in its entirety is amazing. Thank you for standing up for the children. Seeing continued support for the adoptive “parents” (more aptly named abusive manipulative monsters) is awful and you did a great job exposing them.

Thank you for your great journalism and ability to tell the whole yet unbiased story of their lives. It is tragic and heartbreaking and sadly true the foster system and this podcast brings this to the forefront again and hopefully can spark some positive change

I felt this was all over the place -didn’t really go into any true detail~ sorry

Interesting and tragic story. Can’t handle the narrative being pushed here. Sickening for these podcasters to focus on racism and lesbian inequality when the innocent, adopted children were the true victims. 🤮

Wow, just wow. This podcast gives us the perspective we need on this case, two ultra liberal white/ jewish women that apologise and try to find excuses for why these murderers killed these children. Of course around an hour and a half of this show is them explaining to the audience that racism is bad and being a lesbian is difficult so thats probably why all of this happened. They dont even refer to it as murders, just as an “accident” or “crash” Its pathetic honestly, but its clear from the first two minutes these girls are loving the smell of their own farts when theyre not regurgitating racial platitudes and making excuses for lgtbqia+ murderers. The children that were murdered are spoken about as backdrop characters, and almost forget about entirely while the hosts discuss prejudice. Youre better off watching s3e1 of the show Atlanta for a clearer picture of what happened and the true evil of these monsters. Listen to this as a curiosity of the apologetic, narcissistic liberalism on display.

This podcast was hard to get through mainly because of the number of ads in every episodes. The family of the young children weren’t interviewed and the hosts and pretty much everyone they interviewed seemed to sympathize the parents. This podcast was a poor tribute to those children. These hosts are the same type of racists that the parents were.

I found the editorial voice of this podcast disturbing. Referring to these two white women who adopted six black children and exploited and abused them as “their mothers” bothered me. These children had mothers and African American relatives who wanted to care for them. These adoptive parents were narcissists who used these children to create an imaginary life as saintly figures meanwhile starving and abusing these kids. These black children were not Sarah and Jen’s children. They were not their mothers. Shame on the cops and social workers who failed to protect these children and on the New Age festival goers who ignored all the signs of abuse and naively bought their fake narrative.

Read a book that came out that talked about how poorly done this podcast was and it is. The document I saw was better researched I found.

This is simply too serious a subject for glamour magazine to handle. The host is in way over head and it shows.

The actual subject of this podcast is appearances vs. reality, as typified by social media. It’s actually quite shallow and tawdry. There is very little time spent investigating the systems that tragically failed these children- episode 6 is the only substantive one- and much more time relishing in the deception tactics of the murderer on Facebook. Why weren’t members of the children’s birth families interviewed??? Listen if you want a play-by-play of secondhand Facebook debates instead of meaningful investigative journalism.

Very well done

This podcast is insanely sympathetic to the killer. She pulled her kids from schools and moved to another state to avoid authorities.

Excellent podcast. These two women were crazy. So sad for the children. Thank you for sharing their story.

A very interesting and tragic story, well researched and thoughtful. Two quick cons: I totally understand why podcasts need advertisers but it’s really a lot in these short episodes. I also wonder a bit about the title “broken harts”? Is it worth the pun given this painful story?

Reasonably interesting story but excessive amounts of commercials for such short episodes

A kid that hates Donald Trump. 🙄

I actually listened to this following watching the episode of the FX show ATLANTA in which they envisioned the situation. The podcast does well however I am angered by the lack of response by the agencies, people and organizations that allowed this to get to this point.

This podcast is obviously a difficult listen. However, it is a high quality piece that delves not just into a terrible tragedy but also how this is possible. Difficult questions examining the system are proposed and investigated. In the end it is obvious with this reporting that both foster parents and the children need more support, especially for mental health.

Honestly this podcast was yet another smack in the face to those 6 children who lost their lives. Those monsters are murdering, abusive, demented, racist vile people. They should’ve killed themselves and let the children go back to their real families. The victimization of the women really pisses me off.

I also recommend reading the articles written by Lauren Smiley published by Glamour Magazine.

Very well told.

Far and away the best investigative podcast I’ve ever listened to. Impeccably researched, thoughtfully told, and perfectly rendered, “Broken Harts” is an astonishing piece of work. Bravo to all involved.

Reading previous Facebook posts of a murderer isn’t investigating. This podcast is a money grab with 4min of ads every 5 minutes of podcast.

The strong appeal to victimize these two vile, abusive, and murderous white women is sickening. The kids are the TRUE victims here.

Way too long. Little actual investigative reporting in the sense of impact made or new information. Disgusting amount of ads in every episode. Well produced though.

The music becomes really annoying when listening to them talk.

I only made it halfway through the series and the episodes are now unavailable.

I am a Social Worker in WA State, and I hope you listen to this podcast and “Cold” to help us KEEP EXPOSING the corruption in our State making us a known safe haven for child abuse, child trafficking and egregious conflicts of interest Govenor Jay Inslee and his personal business attorneys create to exploit self dealing. I am litigating for their interference ruining our 20+ year family business Empowering, Inc. For my refusal to comply with data manipulation lying that our Network Administrator run by Inslee’s own lawyers is making any positive impact. PLEASE SHARE THIS and check out “Cold” to learn more about our issues and the tragic deaths of Susan, Brayden and Charlie Powell.

Great reporting, great podcast.

This series could have easily been 4 episodes but they dragged it out with tons of information and interviews that added absolutely nothing to the facts of the case. They also went to great pains to paint these women in the best light possible and come up with alternative possible motives instead of just attributing the complete lack of moral compass or personal responsibility for their actions.

There is no there there. They are reflecting on Jen’s FB page, guessing at what happens, reading between the lines, and only a few times was the story interesting because someone who actually knew the family shed light on the story. Mostly though - the story was pulled from Jen’s Facebook page. I listen to a lot of podcasts. This was the worst I’ve ever heard.

I take real issue with the hosts’ repeated and insistent characterization of the murderers as anti-heroes. I think maybe they need to recheck the definition. I have deep sympathy for people who become suicidal and those who deal with mental illness, but those women were not heroic and that is a required element of being an anti-hero. Good pod, though.

If you come into this podcast with a close-mind and as a sworn protector of whiteness like the MAGA reviewer “Goxtixgcfftcypkojg” below, not only will you miss key facts but you’ll be sure to miss the exact reason this tragedy was allowed to happen in the first place. Thus, allowing it to happen again. These children were failed by so many, including the parents. But especially by the system. No doubt about it. These women were determined to be the “right” kind of parents according to the powers that be because of their backgrounds and carefully curated web of lies on social media. And they claimed many fools, as evident by the myriad of clueless so-called progressive friends who still defend their honor even after exposure. Thats the sinister backdrop of this crime: the way these women were allowed to move through this ordeal based on fabrication after fabrication. Unlike what reviewer Goxtixgcfftcypkojg mentioned in his inaccurate political rambling, the first set of siblings were actually born to a WHITE mother (who was not drug addicted) and Black father. The second set of siblings were very much wanted. And were fought for by an aunt and stepfather who’s actually interviewed in the podcast. It was not the systems place or societies to deem the blood family less than a couple of middle class picture-perfect white lesbians. These women were given chance after chance after chance by this very system despite being proven unfit (conviction of child abuse). A benefit of the doubt not even the blood relatives were given. If you want to pretend that you don’t know what white privilege means, read that former FACT again. And maybe it will sink in if you’re receptive to it.

Compassionate details of horrific abuse at the hands of adoptive parents. This story will make you both angry and sad as you listen to each episode. A difficult story to tell, yet done in a sensitive manner.

I read and seen the news articles regarding the Hart family murder/suicide and I watched the new Documentary on Discovery+. I watched the documentary first which led me to research more information about it. That is how I stumbled across this podcast. I have to say they did an EXCELLENT job on this podcast!! I read somewhere that said the documentary is based off of this podcast. I recommend listening to this podcast in its entirety, and then watch the documentary. They make great companions. I have learned so much about the family and the children, and I have become so invested in this entire situation.

Very well done. Thought provoking. And totally heart breaking!

Good storytelling, although I didn't listen to the last one-plus episodes. The narrators talked a lot about themselves, which didn't add much to the story. Then every once in a while a woman would come on and spend 20 minutes describing every blade of grass and grain of sand in the area.

You guys did a fantastic job covering this story. It’s extremely sad and heartbreaking but I do feel it’s a story that needed to be told in depth. We all need to pay better attention and never ignore a child’s well being because we as people don’t like to get involved. Me personally, so far it’s only been with animals, I don’t care to piss someone off if I think some mistreatment is going on so I will confront and report. It hasn’t hurt me to speak out and stand up! Anyways, thanks for putting this out there. Much love.

Hooked!

It must be a requirement for podcasts to bring up racism, “white privilege” and all the other mumbo jumbo phrases coined by the Leftists, in order to get aired. I liked this podcast, it was in-depth and interesting. But geez even lesbians ( who can’t defend themselves bc they’re dead) get called out for being white. Give me a break. So sick of this. Take your “white privilege “ conclusion and stick it in your poo holes. How about some REAL investigative journalism? Like, why is it that these kids were taken away from their mothers. And no fathers are mentioned, of course. Why? Why are so many black children born out of wedlock? Why are so many black mothers addicted to drugs? Why do black people kill other black people by the thousands in this country every year? I know, the easy answer is it’s Whitey’s fault. But dig deeper. How about examining the policies that keep black people poor, drug addicted, and killing each other? Where’s BLM after a weekend of mass murder in Chicago EVERY WEEKEND? It’s Democrat policies, you morons. They HAVE to have an under class to survive. Is anyone brave enough to be real? I doubt it. For shame, all of you “investigative journalists “. What a joke.

So compelling and thought provoking

Trying to listen to the first episode and there’s annoying music that should be used for transitions or intros constantly in the background almost as loud as the narrator. Hopefully the other episodes don’t have that!