The Bagpiper and His Brother is the thirteenth season of the Dakota Spotlight podcast, a five-part true crime documentary built on patient, narrative storytelling, where a seemingly ordinary story gradually reveals itself to be something far more complicated.
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With Spotlight PLUS, you can listen to the entire Season 13, The Bagpiper and His Brother, on May 7, with no waiting for weekly releases. It’s the full series available immediately, along with ad-free listening and a set of supporting materials tied to each episode, including archival photos, documents, maps, and additional research that deepen the story. Spotlight PLUS is $5 a month and can be canceled anytime.
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The Bagpiper and His Brother is an original five-part podcast documentary examining the lives of two brothers from the American Midwest. The series traces Lloyd and Wallace Brenna from their simple, rural North Dakota beginnings through a decades-long pattern of troubling events, culminating in their most serious known crime: a 1971 bombing of a telephone worker in South Dakota.
It is the 13th season of Dakota Spotlight produced by James Wolner.
In this previously untold story, Wolner guides listeners through meticulous research and immersive sound design as the Brenna brothers make a series of curious choices, all while living what appear to be mostly normal, mid-century American family lives.
While one brother is an established and respected Minnesota engineer and the other a hardworking business owner in Illinois, the story uncovers their ties to crimes including: wiretapping, theft, an attempted assassination of a federal agent, and a late-night airstrip landing with a bomb.
In parallel to learning about the Brennas, the life of the bombing victim unfolds with a steady, growing sense of dread toward an unsettling end.
The Bagpiper and His Brother is a serious piece of reporting that occasionally offsets tragedy with moments of dark humor and the occasional quiet nod to regional and popular culture.
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Season 13 Trailer
Binge all 5 episodes of The Bagpiper and His Brother May 7 with Spotlight PLUS
With Spotlight PLUS, you can listen to the entire Season 13, The Bagpiper and His Brother, on May 7, with no waiting for weekly releases. It’s the full series available immediately, along with ad-free listening and a set of supporting materials tied to each episode, including archival photos, documents, maps, and additional research that deepen the story. Spotlight PLUS is $5 a month and can be canceled anytime.