Listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Note: This episode discusses terrorism, familial loss, and grief.
What responsibility do storytellers have when turning real tragedy into entertainment? In this episode, Jena and Michelle discuss The Bombing of Pan Am 103, the BBC series now streaming on Netflix.
For Michelle, the story is deeply personal. Her father, Frank Ciulla, was one of the 270 people killed when the plane exploded in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. In the decades since, there have been many media projects about the tragedy – including news reports, books, documentaries, plays, podcasts, movies, and TV series. Michelle shares how her family decides which projects to participate in, what influence they have over how their story is portrayed, and why remembering accurately matters as much as remembering at all.
Together, Jena and Michelle unpack what audiences should understand about “based on a true story” narratives: when creative license becomes sensationalism and how that impacts the real people whose lives are considered public domain. They also reflect on the unexpected connection they discovered when they first met, and how their lived experiences change the way they consume content.
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Please help us bring Did You See? to SXSW EDU in 2027!
Vote for our live recording on the SXSW EDU Panel Picker in 3 easy steps:
Click on the proposal link: Who’s Actually Anxious? A Dialogue with Gen Z
Click the Heart icon at the top right. You can vote once for as many proposals as you’d like
Two other proposals for your consideration:
The Post-Gatekeeper Institution: A Playbook for Public Trust by Jena Wuu
Media Literacy: The New Standard for Every Subject by the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)
Please vote by August 23rd, 2026. Thank you for your support!
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Find us online!
Read our writing about Pan Am 103
When your life shows up on Netflix, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, 2026.
Remembering 12.21.88, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, 2025.
Michelle Ciulla Lipkin’s letter to the NAMLE community, 2024.
Check out our recs
My Brother’s Bomber, Frontline, 2015.
Targeted: Pan Am 103. Lockerbie, Libya, and the Attack that Brought Terror Home by Jack Carr and James M. Scott. Expected publication in April 2027.
Remembering Pan Am 103: 30 Years Later, FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation (YouTube), 2018.
Sex Education on Netflix
Learn more about Nara Smith’s comments
Is Nara Smith gaslighting us on Call Her Daddy?, Tia Levings, Writer, 2026.
Nara Smith: Stop calling me a trad wife, Call Her Daddy (YouTube), 2026.
The tradwife illusion meets the anti-Trump reality, The New York Times Opinion, 2026.
Read David Ellison’s op-ed
David Ellison: In Defense of the Paramount-Warner Deal, The New York Times Opinion, 2026.
Learn more about Pan Am 103
Pan Am 103 / Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University.
Learn more about “The Bombing of Pan Am 103”
“The Bombing of Pan Am 103” Review: Netflix’s sensitive Lockerbie drama is restrained to a fault, The Hollywood Reporter, 2026.
Director Michael Keillor breaks down depicting the Lockerbie disaster in “The Bombing of Pan Am 103,” What’s on Netflix, 2026.
The horrific true story behind “The Bombing of Pan Am 103,” People, 2026.
The episode cover image shows Michelle with her siblings in Lockerbie, Scotland. Photo courtesy of Michelle Ciulla Lipkin.
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About Did You See? with Jena and Michelle
Did you see that? Whether it’s in the news or pop culture, in print or online, we are living in a media overload. It’s a lot to process!
Did You See? is for anyone looking for space to pause and work through the media moments shaping how we see and understand the world. ◾
