Our society’s obsession with true crime narratives can often lead down a dark path—whether that’s the creepy romanticizing of murderers or ugly stereotyping of victims or the blind endorsement of abusive policing strategies. What’s often lacking in those gripping stories—wrapped up in a TV series or a spooky podcast—is a deeper look at how they involve and impact marginalized communities.
KGW’s Should Be Alive podcast uses the 2019 murder of a Vancouver, Washington teen to do just that. The six-episode series centers on the life and death of Nikki Kuhnhausen, who was 17 years old when she was killed by a man named David Bogdanov who she had just met.
Bogdanov murdered Kuhnsausen after he discovered she was transgender. In the aftermath, Kuhnhausen’s death spurred the passage of a new Washington law dubbed “Nikki’s Law” which prevents Washington residents from blaming criminal acts on their discovery of a victim’s actual or perceived gender identity. It was signed into law before Bogdanov’s trial, so he couldn’t rely on the argument. In September 2021, Bogdanov was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for Nikki’s murder.
Should Be Alive unpacks this narrative through a collection of court recordings, police interviews, news clips, discussions with legal experts, and one-on-one interviews with Kuhnhausen’s family and friends. Hosted and written by KGW news anchor Ashley Korslien, who has produced other award-winning true crime podcasts with KGW, the podcast includes new information on the investigation and a broader conversation about anti-trans laws and legal arguments across the US. More importantly, the series handles Kuhnhausen’s story with the kind of investigative vigor and compassion granted any main character of a gripping crime podcast while avoiding harmful LGBTQ+ tropes or judgment. We spoke with Korslien about the process of developing the podcast and the impact she hopes it’ll have on its listeners.
