A new podcast called “Stay Away From Matthew Magill” from production house Pineapple Street Media is set in the Jacksonville area and tells the story of a mysterious box left behind when a strange man dies in the small town of Woodbine, Georgia.
The podcast’s host, Eric Mennel, is from Jacksonville, and his experience of the landscape of the area is a big part of the podcast’s first episode.
“I grew up here, and there are things you learn to notice about the landscape that vacationers miss,” he said.
When Matthew Magill showed up and opened an exotic plant nursery near Woodbine, he stood out like a sore thumb, Mennel said. He was handsome and well-dressed, and he developed a strange reputation: He didn’t seem to want to sell any of his plants.
After Magill’s death, Mennel comes into possession of a box containing the artefacts of an incredible life: Broadway in the 1970s, the hijacking of a 747 airplane and the culture of cars and drugs in 1980s Florida.
The podcast is available on iTunes and on other podcast apps.
Contact Sydney Boles at sboles@wjct.org, or on Twitter at @sydneyboles.
