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Bear Brook

Introducing: Safe to Drink

12 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the story behind the water contamination in New Hampshire?

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I took a knife away from a guy once that was intent on killing me. I choked up on the knife and I tattooed a circle around his heart. Lasting circle. And that was a very intimate act. He said, here's a list of all Aaron Brotherhood dropouts. Go through this list, send a letter to each one of these MFing rats, and ask them if you could come and interview them for me.

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25.713 - 30.257 Jason Moon

He has created this illusion of who he is.

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My mom told me, Eric, you're kind of a borderline con person most of your life too, but you got conned by a con man.

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55.616 - 59.223 Jason Moon

Blood memory. a new podcast series from Love and Radio.

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Search for Blood Memory wherever you get your podcasts.

64.671 - 76.95 Jason Moon

It's one of Britain's most notorious crimes, the killing of a wealthy family at White House Farm. But I got a tip that the story of this famous case might be all wrong.

77.909 - 80.597 Unknown

I know there's going to be a twist one day, a massive twist.

80.877 - 84.889 Mara Hoplamazian

At every level of the criminal justice system, there's been a cover-up in this case.

84.909 - 92.931 Jason Moon

I'm Heidi Blake. Blood Relatives is a new series from In the Dark and The New Yorker. Find it now in the In the Dark podcast feed.

Chapter 2: How do families react to discovering their water is unsafe?

775.395 - 792.7 Jason Moon

There are industrial buildings fanning out from the center of town, and a main drag with a park, a library, a few places where you can get steak for dinner. On this night, tons of people are filing into a school gym, filling up the chairs that have been set up on a basketball court.

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State officials called this meeting.

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799.61 - 826.371 Jason Moon

They had just announced that something had been detected in Merrimack's drinking water. A chemical called PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid. They knew people would have questions. I wasn't in Merrimack that night. I didn't even live in New Hampshire in 2016. But I've been watching the aftermath of this night unfold since I started working as a reporter here.

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There's a recording of the night on YouTube. The room has the atmosphere of a town meeting. It's an annual tradition in New Hampshire.

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I'm going to remind you that just like at town meeting, we have Merrimack manners. You guys have always been good about this. I want to remind you that we're still under those rules.

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Town meetings can be kind of sleepy. A couple dozen dedicated citizens showing up to vote on how much to spend on the sewer system or whether to cut down and sell trees from a town-owned forest. But on this night, the room is absolutely packed. People bring in extra chairs for the crowd, but there still aren't enough. Eventually, the walls are lined with people standing.

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Everyone is looking around at each other, whispering to their neighbors. It seems tense. This is not a situation that any of us wanted.

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And I want to assure you that we here are as concerned about this as you are.

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For an hour, state officials in suits give a presentation about this chemical that was found in the water, PFOA. A screen behind them ticks through slides full of acronyms, diagrams, color-coded maps. They explain that this chemical is used to help manufacture Teflon products. And that it's part of a bigger family of chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, nicknamed PFAS.

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