Amanda Knox was convicted — and ultimately exonerated — for the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Italy. Now in a new memoir, Knox explains why getting out of prison was not the end of her saga. Also, we hear from British actor Stephen Graham. He stars in the Netflix miniseries Adolescence as the father of a 13-year-old boy arrested for murdering a girl from his school. He also co-created the series and talks about the ambitious style in which it was shot — in one long take. Ken Tucker reviews new albums by Lucy Dacus and Jeffrey Lewis.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
What is Amanda Knox's new memoir about?
She sits on the board of directors of the Innocence Center, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to freeing innocent people from prison. Yet she grapples with a question that continually follows her. How dare she live when Meredith is dead? Amanda Knox, welcome to Fresh Air.
Thank you so much for having me.
Amanda, you wrote your first memoir, Waiting to be Heard, I think it was a year after you were released from prison. And you write that you thought it would be enough to set the record straight. Why hasn't it been enough?
I think because the record is so convoluted. I think that so many different stories arose around this case. And really, a product was delivered by the prosecution and the media that resonated with people, even though it wasn't based on anything and it wasn't true. And that product really was this idea that women hate other women.
It really came down to that, this idea that young women secretly hate each other and are constantly competing with each other and in certain situations will sexually assault and murder each other. And it was a lie. And it's shocking to me that it wasn't seen for what it was at the time. But it was a story that resonated with people and I think continues to resonate with people.
And I think that in a big way, it wasn't even about Meredith anymore. I think a lot of people really didn't care very much about her or the person who committed the crime. They cared about This idea of a young woman hating another woman enough to sexually assault and murder them. That was titillating and fascinating to people.
And that was ultimately the story that made the rounds of the world and resonated with so many people.
You and Merida didn't know each other very well, did you? You all were brought together in Perugia through a study abroad program. What was your friendship like?
Oh, thank you for asking that. It's true that I didn't know Meredith very well. I had only known her for a few weeks. That said, when you study abroad, you get to know people really quickly because both of us were new arrivals to Perugia. We were both at the very same moment of our lives. I was 20. She was 21. She was studying journalism. I was studying languages.
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