{"podcast":{"title":"Facts Matter","slug":"facts-matter-4835545","podcast_index_feed_id":4835545,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/facts-matter/","website_url":"https://www.theepochtimes.com/podcasts","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/64e50301-fb6f-4e79-9f9f-f0692dde09d0/zwXsjF3CyrApvBmRkam2Jkmj.jpg","author":"The Epoch Times","episode_count":249,"summary":"\"Facts Matter\" investigates complex issues based on the principles of traditional journalism: no spin, no favorites. We give you the facts—you decide the rest.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T10:22:01.469462+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/facts-matter-4835545"},"episode":{"title":"Parents Get Prison Terms After Isolating Their 3 Kids for 4 Years Over COVID Fears","slug":"parents-get-prison-terms-after-isolating-their-3-kids-for-4-years-over-covid-fears","published_at":"2026-06-03T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/facts-matter-4835545/parents-get-prison-terms-after-isolating-their-3-kids-for-4-years-over-covid-fears","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/facts-matter-4835545","url":"https://www.theepochtimes.com/podcasts","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/c01ab6ad-d157-45e8-b1d1-b5e31061a072.mp3","summary":"A German-American couple, Christian and Melissa Steffen, kept their three young children—a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins—locked inside their villa in Spain for nearly four years due to an extreme fear of COVID. The children endured squalid conditions—including a room piled with used diapers—never left the house, had no outside contact, and received no medical care, resulting in severe physical and developmental issues such as difficulty walking, hunched postures, and bowel control problems. The children were discovered after a neighbor’s suspicions led to a police raid, and the parents were convicted of habitual psychological violence and family abandonment. They received 28-month prison sentences and lost custody. They were also banned from approaching their children and ordered to pay compensation.","meta_description":"A German-American couple, Christian and Melissa Steffen, kept their three young children—a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins—locked inside their villa in S…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":739,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/facts-matter-4835545/episodes/parents-get-prison-terms-after-isolating-their-3-kids-for-4-years-over-covid-fears/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/facts-matter-4835545/parents-get-prison-terms-after-isolating-their-3-kids-for-4-years-over-covid-fears.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}