Three months ago, a recording of Sterling Van Wagenen, a founder of the Sundance Film Festival, appeared on an obscure website for whistle-blowers in the Mormon Church. The “Daily” producer Annie Brown spoke with our colleague about the story that recording told. Guest: Elizabeth Harris, a culture reporter for The New York Times, talked to Sean Escobar, who made the recording of Mr. Van Wagenen.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. This episode contains descriptions of abuse.

Background reading:

Read about how Mr. Escobar’s actions led to the arrest of Mr. Van Wagenen.
Mr. Van Wagenen is expected to go to prison for at least six years after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Confronting a Childhood Abuser

The Daily