Tonya Mosley Reckons with a Dark Family Story and Holds Tight to Hope in the Podcast She Has a Name

Tonya Mosley's voice is familiar to millions of public radio listeners across the country. She co-hosted NPR's midday news show Here and Now for several years before becoming co-host of Fresh Air in 2022. Now, the award-winning audio journalist is taking listeners on a personal journey.

Around two decades ago, Mosley was just at the start of her career working in Louisville, Kentucky, when she got a call from a young man named Antonio Wiley, who said he was her nephew. Mosley hadn't grown up with her father, so the idea that she might have a nephew she had never met wasn't totally shocking. But then her nephew said something that would shock her and come to define so much of Mosley's adult life.

Wiley’s mom and Mosley’s eldest sister, Anita Wiley, had been missing since 1987, and Wiley has been searching to find out what happened to her since the age of 14.

After a major discovery led to Anita's body in 2020, Mosley and Wiley decided to retrace Anita's life, hoping to find out what happened to her, documenting their effort in a podcast.

It's called She Has a Name, and it's part memoir, part investigative journalism — a deep dive into the city and the history that shaped Anita's life and the lives of the people who loved her.

In this episode of Notes from America, Mosley walks us through how this investigation redefined her relationship with her hometown and her identity, how it impacted her nephew, and what it means for people to try and find closure when so many questions remain unanswered.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET., and listeners to the broadcast and podcast are invited to join the conversation at 844-745-TALK(8255). Podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.