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Revisionist History

The Alabama Murders - Part 1: The True Church

with Kate Porterfield, Grant Asbell, Lee Camp, Susan Mosley, Carl Roden, Rodney Plunkett

Published October 2, 2025
View Show Notes

About This Episode

Malcolm Gladwell opens a seven-episode series by introducing psychologist Kate Porterfield and the death row client "Kenny," whose botched execution and focus on love after trauma lead Gladwell into an Alabama murder case decades in the making. The episode then shifts to northwestern Alabama and explores the culture and theology of the Church of Christ, including its strict rules, lack of grace, and practices like disfellowshipping, and how that environment shaped the life and unraveling of preacher Charles Sennett. Through interviews with Church of Christ members and ministers, Gladwell sets up the idea that a rigid, shame-driven religious system helped create the conditions for a moral and legal catastrophe that will unfold in the series.

Topics Covered

Alabama legal system Murder trials Death penalty and executions Religion and spirituality Marriage Trauma Cascading failures Morality and ethics Domestic abuse

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Quick Takeaways

  • Psychologist Kate Porterfield describes working with a death row prisoner whose failed execution attempt left lasting psychological scars but who began his sessions by dwelling on the love he felt in his goodbyes.
  • The Shoals region of northwestern Alabama is portrayed as the spiritual center of the Church of Christ, a small, tightly knit, rule-bound Protestant community.
  • The Church of Christ emphasizes a cappella worship, doctrinal certainty, and strict behavioral rules, including severe taboos around divorce and gender roles.
  • Theologian Lee Camp and preacher Grant Asbell recount both deep affection for the Church of Christ and the damage caused by its rigid traditions and fear-based discipline.
  • Preacher Charles Sennett rose as a charismatic minister but was fired for an affair, suffered a breakdown, accrued large debts, and faced a collapsing marriage in a religious culture that made divorce nearly unthinkable.
  • Members of Sennett's later congregation recall him as generous and caring while also acknowledging rumors about romantic improprieties and a "split personality."
  • Gladwell and his interviewees argue that the Church of Christ historically struggled with the concept of grace, fostering environments where shame around transgression could become overwhelming.
  • The episode frames the Alabama murders as a "failure cascade" in which small personal failures, institutional rigidity, and lack of compassion combined into a devastating chain of events.

Podcast Notes

Introduction to psychologist Kate Porterfield and the death row case

Malcolm explains how he met Kate Porterfield

A friend tells Malcolm he must meet Kate Porterfield because she has "the strangest job in America"[2:41]
• They first meet in a small conference room in Manhattan to talk informally, without a clear plan for a podcast episode
They have multiple conversations that gradually lead Porterfield to share a particularly impactful case[3:10]
• Porterfield is a psychologist who describes the story in terms of a "person" rather than a "case"

Porterfield describes her death row client "Kenny" and his focus on love

Porterfield recalls her first visit to Kenny two months after a failed execution attempt[3:35]
• Kenny wants to talk for the first two hours about how beautiful his goodbyes were and the love he received from his family as he went into the execution
Porterfield initially interprets his focus on love as possible avoidance of discussing the execution itself[3:45]
• She finds his response both powerful and clinically fascinating, expecting avoidance but instead seeing a sustained focus on love
She eventually presses him to describe what actually happened in the execution chamber[4:17]
• Porterfield tells him that while his accounts of love are incredible and unsurprising, she also needs to know about the execution itself

Malcolm characterizes the failed execution and its context

Gladwell calls what happened to Kenny a "botched execution" for a crime committed over 30 years earlier[4:17]
• He describes the case as part of a "river of blood" that had already claimed the lives of three other people
Malcolm gathers multiple versions of events beyond Porterfield's account[4:33]
• He says he heard her version, then went to collect other people's versions, and the story of the series emerges from that composite

Framing questions about the case and the justice system

Gladwell asks why this case dragged on for so long and took such bizarre and unsettling turns[4:50]
• He signals an interest in process and systemic delay, not just individual actions
He raises a broader question: why society has built a system that often makes suffering worse while trying to respond to it[5:01]
• He ties this question to Kenny's response, noting how unusual it was to see someone start from a place of love after something so horrible
Porterfield says she had never before seen someone respond as Kenny did, beginning with love rather than trauma in recounting events[5:07]

Series introduction: The Alabama Murders and the Church of Christ context

Malcolm introduces the series and episode title

Gladwell welcomes listeners to Revisionist History, describing it as his podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood[5:17]
He announces a special seven-episode series titled "The Alabama Murders"[5:20]
He identifies this installment as Episode 1, titled "The True Church"[5:27]

Description of the Shoals region and its social character

Geography and towns of the Shoals

The story is set in northwestern Alabama in an area called the Shoals[5:44]
• Gladwell distinguishes it from the Alabama Black Belt of antebellum cotton plantations, which lies several hours to the south
The Shoals is described as rolling hills and Appalachia, not the Mississippi Delta[5:59]
Four towns around the Tennessee River define the area: Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals, and Florence[6:06]
• Sheffield is portrayed as working class and struggling
• Muscle Shoals is noted as a spiritual home of rhythm and blues
• Tuscumbia is famous as the birthplace of Helen Keller
• Florence is the largest town and has beautiful pre-war buildings and a Frank Lloyd Wright house downtown

Florence as a closed, intentional community

Grant Asbell notes there is no interstate or major airport in Florence, contributing to its "closed" feeling[6:31]
• He says Florence is a place you don't arrive at by accident; you have to want to come there
Asbell highlights the presence of good music, art, and food in Florence despite its relative isolation[6:52]

Introduction of preacher Grant Asbell and the origin of the story

Grant Asbell as Malcolm's guide

Malcolm says he started going to Alabama after talking to Porterfield and on one of his first trips met preacher Grant Asbell[6:37]
• Asbell is described as being in his early 40s, with a big beard, wearing a baseball cap (but not on Sunday mornings)
Asbell serves as Gladwell's guide to Florence and its religious culture[6:50]

The initial "personal transgression" at the center of the narrative

Gladwell says the story starts in Florence with a personal transgression, a matter of the heart, by preacher Charles Sennett[7:06]
Asbell recalls being seven when the events occurred and hearing them discussed in "hushed tones"[7:37]
• He says the idea that someone within this Church of Christ framework could do what Sennett did was very disruptive for the community
Asbell recounts a story told by the city historian about a local preacher publicly defending Sennett from the pulpit[7:42]
• That preacher declared that "Charles Sennett is a faithful Christian" and that the accusations against him were lies, implying a faithful Church of Christ member was almost incapable of such wrongdoing

The Shoals as a Church of Christ stronghold

The Shoals as spiritual center of the Church of Christ

Gladwell states that in Alabama, the Shoals is the spiritual center of the Protestant denomination known as the Church of Christ[11:42]
• He notes that there are many Church of Christ congregations within an hour's drive of Florence
He argues that understanding this denomination is essential to making sense of the events in the series[11:52]

Characteristics and culture of the Church of Christ

Lee Camp explains how to recognize a Church of Christ service

Theologian Lee Camp, who teaches at Lipscomb University, says he could recognize a Church of Christ congregation in about three minutes if blindfolded and dropped into one in the early 1980s[12:01]
• He notes that the a cappella congregational singing would be the immediate giveaway, as this is rare outside groups like Mennonites, the Church of Christ, and perhaps the Church of the Brethren
Certain stock phrases in prayers, such as "Lord, guard, guide, and direct us," would also signal the Church of Christ setting[12:46]

A cappella tradition and connections to country music

Gladwell notes that several well-known musicians came out of the Church of Christ a cappella tradition[11:42]
• He lists Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn, Glenn Campbell, Dwight Yoakam, Pat Boone, and Crystal Gale as examples

How to recognize a Church of Christ church building

Camp says that in an empty building, he would know it was Church of Christ by the absence of an organ and the simplicity of the architecture[12:33]
• He describes no art on the walls, no Stations of the Cross, and very plain design
Typical features include pews, a board showing attendance and contribution numbers on one side, hymn-number boards on the other, and a simple pulpit in the center[13:49]

Personal connections to the Church of Christ and Lipscomb University

Gladwell says he knows about the Church of Christ partly because his best friend, screenwriter Charles Randolph, has a father who was a Church of Christ minister and Lipscomb graduate[14:07]
• He recounts an anecdote where a woman at Lipscomb recognizes him as "Dale Randolph's famous son Chuck's friend"
Gladwell notes that Asbell did his doctorate at Lipscomb with Lee Camp, illustrating how small and interconnected the Church of Christ world is[13:58]
He concludes that the Church of Christ is "a very small world" that feels like a family[13:58]

Lee Camp on identity, exclusivity, and rules in the Church of Christ

What it means to say "I belong to the Church of Christ"

Camp, who grew up in the Church of Christ in Talladega, Alabama, explains that membership is understood by many as belonging to the true church that restored New Testament Christianity[14:50]
• He says the implication is that "everybody else is wrong" and that the Church of Christ is not seen as a denomination, Protestant, or Catholic, but simply as "the true Church"

Placement within Southern Protestant taxonomy

Gladwell situates the Church of Christ relative to other Southern Protestant groups[14:07]
• He notes that unlike Pentecostals, the Church of Christ avoids emotional worship like swaying and speaking in tongues
• He distinguishes it from fundamentalist Southern Baptists known for fire-and-brimstone preaching
• He observes that while Baptists and Pentecostals may have services that run all Sunday afternoon, Church of Christ services typically last about an hour

Intellectual and rule-based character of the Church of Christ

Gladwell describes the Church of Christ as "people of the book" with many leaders holding advanced degrees[14:32]
• He calls it a church of rules, certainties, simplicity, and clarity, inspired by the idea that careful Bible study can reveal a clear path to salvation
He characterizes this rational, text-focused approach as both the "good" and "beautiful" part of the tradition[14:48]

Potential harms of rigidity and social control

Gladwell says that the rules, certainty, and intimacy of the Church of Christ can become a straitjacket[15:12]
Camp says he both loves and hates the Church of Christ and its churches[15:12]
• He explains that he was loved by his church and shaped by its teachings, which led him into his life's work
• At the same time, he says that late 20th-century traditions did "a lot of damage to a lot of people," including himself
Camp describes a climate of fear and the danger of being "cut off" from the community[15:36]
• He mentions disfellowshipping practices where individuals could be socially estranged and disciplined publicly, excluded from full membership until public repentance

Specific behavioral rules in the Church of Christ and their consequences

Strict rules on divorce, gender, and worship

Gladwell summarizes firm doctrinal positions: divorce is not permitted unless there is documented adultery, women cannot participate in church services, and music must be a cappella[16:14]
• He characterizes musical instruments as frivolous within this framework

Taboos about dancing, dress, and mixed swimming

Camp recalls taboos against dancing, justified by fears that dancing would lead to lust and then to hell[16:06]
• He describes a prohibition on "mixed bathing"-swimming with people of the opposite sex-because it was believed this would provoke lust and jeopardize salvation
Camp relays a youth-group anecdote in which a preacher disparaged a jogger wearing shorts by saying he looked good in the shorts but would look good in hell[16:23]
• The story illustrates community bans on wearing shorts in public due to concerns about provoking lust

Biography and downfall of preacher Charles Sennett

Sennett's background and family life

Gladwell introduces Charles Sennett as the central figure of the story and as a member of the Church of Christ world[16:31]
• Sennett was born in West Virginia to a father who was a Church of Christ preacher
He married Elizabeth Doreen in 1962, and she fit the archetype of a preacher's wife[18:06]
• They had two sons, and Elizabeth became a grandmother by her early 40s

Portrait of Elizabeth Sennett from a friend's perspective

Nurse Susan Mosley, who became close to Elizabeth, remembers her as a typical doting grandmother[17:39]
• Mosley describes Elizabeth as someone who loved her grandbaby, would make chocolate chip cookies, and keep the grandchild over the weekend so the parents could go out
• Elizabeth often brought the grandchildren to the clinic, where Mosley set up a coloring table for them in the exercise room

Sennett's rise as a successful preacher

Sennett earned a doctorate in divinity in the 1970s and became preacher at a Church of Christ in Jasper, Alabama[17:04]
• Jasper is described as a small town two hours south of the Shoals
He was effective: within a few years he tripled the size of the Jasper church[18:13]
• Gladwell describes him as handsome, dynamic, and possessing a wonderful singing voice in line with Church of Christ musical traditions

First fall from grace: affair and firing in Jasper

Gladwell notes that in his 30s, as his career seemed ascendant, things began to go sideways for Sennett[19:17]
• There were rumors of an indiscretion-an affair-at the Jasper Church of Christ, and the elders fired him over it
Gladwell suggests this firing may be the precise moment when Sennett's life began to unravel[19:17]
• He contrasts this with a possible alternative path where Sennett remained a successful minister in Jasper, enjoying status and attracting congregants in the Church of Christ's "free market" of preachers

Sennett's breakdown and hospitalization

After losing his position, Sennett became despondent and experienced a nervous breakdown[19:17]
• His family found him one night curled up in a ball on the couch, and he became suicidal
He spent weeks in a psychiatric hospital in Birmingham[19:13]
Gladwell quotes from Sennett's medical records at the psychiatric facility[19:17]
• The records describe him as an unkempt, hostile, rebellious white male with agitated psychomotor behavior, labile affect, depressed mood, confused sensorium, high tension, poor insight, and poor judgment

Move to the Shoals and ministry at Westside Church of Christ

After hospitalization, Sennett took other jobs, then moved to the Shoals and became preacher at Westside Church of Christ in Sheffield[19:25]
• Westside is depicted as a small, working-class congregation meeting in a little white church, a step down from Jasper
Gladwell characterizes this move as starting over for Sennett[19:47]

Congregants' memories of Sennett and rumors of another affair

Charlie and Eric recall Sennett's charisma and rumors

Charlie and her son Eric, former Westside members, emphasize that much of what they know was hearsay passed along and should be taken with a grain of salt[20:07]
• They nonetheless recall that Sennett was charismatic and that Charlie's mother labeled him a "ladies' man"
Eric notes that, given his grandmother's very conservative stance, calling a preacher a "ladies' man" would have been a negative judgment[20:14]

Rumors about a congregant named Doris

Charlie and Eric mention whispers about a woman in the Westside congregation named Doris being involved with Sennett[20:38]
• They say Doris's husband was having serious issues and speculate that she might have sought counseling from Sennett, who was likely her minister
Gladwell notes that Sennett kept a book of poems in his office titled "Memories of the Heart" with Doris's picture in it and that someone saw a Valentine he had given her[21:12]

Carl Roden's recollection of Sennett as a split personality

Former Westside member Carl Roden remembers Sennett as exceptionally nice and attentive to congregants' needs[21:12]
• Roden describes Sennett as the first to visit sick people with food, and regularly bringing food to nursing homes
Roden affirms that Sennett was a good preacher and characterizes him as having a "split personality"[22:33]
• He says that no one at the time would have thought Sennett capable of doing "something like that," referring to later events
Roden notes that the Jasper firing over an affair only became known during the later trial, and congregants felt they should have been told earlier[22:01]

Escalating personal crisis: debt, marital conflict, and secrecy

Marital conflict and fear of losing another church

In the winter of 1988, Charles and Elizabeth fought, with Elizabeth wanting a divorce[22:29]
• Gladwell says they both understood what divorce would mean within their religious context
During an argument, Sennett shouted, "I won't lose another church," revealing his fear of repeating the Jasper experience[22:29]

Financial collapse and erratic behavior

Gladwell reports that Sennett was $150,000 in debt due to failed business ventures, despite being on a preacher's salary[22:29]
• He notes that Sennett's behavior grew increasingly erratic as financial and marital pressures mounted
Sennett had secrets: a disintegrating marriage, personal demons, and financial trouble he was hiding from the congregation[22:29]
• He continued preaching every Sunday, but no one in the church knew the full story of his life
Gladwell emphasizes that, in Sennett's frame of reference, the only one who fully knew his condition was God[22:29]

How a rigid religious context shapes dysfunction and shame

Questioning how such a person enters and survives ministry

Gladwell says Sennett seems volatile, ill-suited for ministry, with affairs, financial chaos, and abuse of his wife, and asks how he functioned as a minister in a conduct-conscious community[29:57]
Minister Rodney Plunkett responds that Sennett worked very hard to ensure nobody outside his immediate biological family knew what was happening[30:25]
• Plunkett says such masking is "not atypical" and that the effort involved in hiding these issues is enormous

Lee Camp on how tradition shapes dysfunction

Gladwell asks Camp how Sennett's tradition would shape his dysfunction compared to other faiths[30:32]
• He frames the question around Sennett's affair, his wife's desire for divorce, and his role as pastor of a small white clapboard church in Sheffield
Camp says that while no one can know Sennett's inner thoughts, it is plausible that overwhelming shame was at work[30:51]
• He links overwhelming shame, in the absence of constructive judgment and grace, to potentially terrifying effects on the psyche and "all sorts of madness"

The concept of Christian grace and its absence

Gladwell defines Christian grace as God's unmerited favor and loving kindness, freely given and undeserved[31:10]
• He emphasizes that grace is a spontaneous act of generosity extended to all humanity, regardless of their sin
Gladwell says many in the Church of Christ came to believe their church, especially decades ago, did not understand grace[31:48]
• Asbell recounts that his uncle, a song leader, was let go from a congregation after speaking too much about grace and forgiveness in Sunday school
Gladwell explains the reasoning that if the rules of the Bible were logically deciphered and crystal clear, deviation and forgiveness risked undermining incentives to follow the narrow path[31:56]
• In this framework, granting forgiveness to those who strayed was seen as potentially weakening adherence to strict rules
He connects this dynamic to the shame Camp described: without grace, there is no relief from transgression within the community[32:09]

Ongoing efforts to bring grace into the Church of Christ

Gladwell says people like Asbell and Camp have tried to push the Church of Christ toward a more forgiving stance incorporating grace[32:38]
• He notes that in the 1980s in a small Alabama town, the prevailing teaching conveyed a different, more fear-based message
Asbell describes the belief that final judgment depended on scrupulously keeping rules, with even an unrepented cuss word uttered while falling from an airplane potentially jeopardizing one's soul[32:19]
• He emphasizes how, as a child, it felt like a single unconfessed sin at death could result in eternal damnation

No viable path to happiness through divorce and remarriage

Gladwell contrasts one possible interpretation of an affair-seeking greater happiness despite pain-with Sennett's situation[32:56]
• He suggests that in Sennett's Church of Christ context, there was no viable route to accepted happiness with another woman because the community would not permit it
Camp agrees that, in such a context, pursuing a new relationship would likely mean leaving the community one believed necessary to avoid hell[33:44]
• Camp calls this a "terrifying" place for both Sennett and his wife, given their beliefs and community norms

The joke about murder versus divorce

Gladwell recounts a joke that it was easier in the Church of Christ to get forgiveness for murdering someone than to be divorced[33:11]
• He connects this dark joke to the church's much harsher stance on divorce than on other grave sins, as perceived by insiders
He links this back to Camp's statement about loving and hating his church, identifying the unforgiving stance on issues like divorce as the part Camp hated[33:50]

Failure cascades as a framework for the Alabama murders story

The proverb "for want of a nail" and the idea of failure cascades

Gladwell introduces the Middle Ages proverb about losing a kingdom for want of a nail to illustrate how small failures can cascade into catastrophe[34:09]
• He defines a failure cascade as a sequence where one small misstep leads to a bigger problem, then another, culminating in disaster
He gives the 2003 Northeastern blackout as an example of a failure cascade[34:41]
• In that case, trees growing too tall near an electrical line caused a short, prompting power to reroute to other lines, which overloaded, triggering further failures across the grid
• The chain reaction left 50 million people without electricity, which he summarizes as "for want of a chainsaw, the power was lost"

Applying failure cascade concept to the Alabama Murders

Gladwell says the Alabama Murders story is about a classic failure cascade[35:19]
• Unlike the blackout, this cascade is driven not by mechanical or institutional defects but by failures of character, justice, and compassion
He signals that the widening ripples in the case stem from personal and moral failures interacting with systems of law and punishment[35:32]

Preview of upcoming episodes and closing credits

Audio teaser of voices reacting to the case and execution

A voice expresses disbelief that someone had the viciousness to "do something like that," reflecting community shock[36:12]
Another voice says they answered a call and obtained information on who did it and who was involved[35:10]
Someone comments that in a small church of fewer than 70 people, it is baffling that congregants did not realize the preacher was having an affair with a parishioner[36:38]
A speaker says they do not know which of two people killed "her" but believes both received what they deserved legally and morally[36:13]
Another voice recalls agreeing to participate in an execution at a time when Alabama had not conducted one in a long while, not realizing what they were getting into[36:53]
A medical professional notes that what is taught in medical or EMT training cannot simply be applied in the death chamber; it is "not the same place"[36:22]
Porterfield recounts how Kenny practiced what he would say at his execution: turning right to apologize to the victim's family and left to tell his family he loved them[36:59]

Production credits

Gladwell credits producers, reporters, editor, fact-checker, executive producer, and others involved in Revisionist History[37:32]
• He names Lucy Sullivan, Ben Nadaf Haffrey, Nina Byrd Lawrence, Lee Hedgepeth, Karen Shikurji, Jacob Smith, Luke Lamond, Luis Guerra, Paul Brainerd, Jimmy Bod, and Jake Gorski among the team

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Rigid, rule-focused communities that lack a lived understanding of grace can foster overwhelming shame, which in turn can push people toward secrecy and destructive decisions instead of honest confrontation of their problems.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in your own life or community have strict rules made it harder, rather than easier, to admit mistakes and seek help?
  • • How might introducing more explicit practices of forgiveness and second chances change the way people around you handle failure?
  • • What is one situation this week where you could respond with grace instead of judgment to reduce someone else's fear of being honest?
2

Masking personal struggles to preserve status or belonging can temporarily protect a public image but often deepens crises and isolates the person from potential support and accountability.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What important difficulty in your life are you currently keeping hidden because you're worried about how others will see you?
  • • How could selectively confiding in one or two trustworthy people shift the trajectory of that problem before it escalates?
  • • Who in your network might be silently masking serious issues, and what could you do to signal that you're a safe person to talk to?
3

Failure cascades show how small, seemingly manageable problems can compound into catastrophe when systems and people fail to intervene early and thoughtfully.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In a project or relationship you're involved in, what "small" warning signs are you currently ignoring that could grow into much larger issues?
  • • How could you build regular check-ins or safeguards into your work and personal life to catch and address problems before they cascade?
  • • What is one past situation where a minor issue snowballed, and what early intervention might have changed the outcome?
4

Believing that only one group has exclusive access to truth or salvation can trap individuals in harmful contexts by making exit feel equivalent to damnation or total social exile.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where do you see "only we are right" thinking operating in your own circles-whether religious, political, or professional?
  • • How might your decision-making change if you assumed there were multiple communities where you could belong and still live in integrity?
  • • What step could you take to diversify your sources of input so that no single group completely defines your sense of right and wrong?
5

Rules and boundaries are valuable, but without compassion and context-sensitive judgment they can prioritize appearances over actual well-being, leading institutions to harm the very people they aim to guide.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which rules or norms in your workplace, family, or community sometimes seem to prioritize looking good over doing good?
  • • How could you start a conversation about modifying one such rule to better reflect both principles and compassion?
  • • What is one concrete decision you face now where you could deliberately weigh both the rule and the human context before acting?

Episode Summary - Notes by Rowan

The Alabama Murders - Part 1: The True Church
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