2026 Update: Julia

June 18, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 2018, the podcast Heavyweight revisited a story it had first told years earlier—the story of Julia, a journalist who, as a 14-year-old in an all-girls private school in Montreal, was systematically bullied by her classmates. The cruelty culminated in a document titled "100 Reasons Why We Hate Julia," compiled by her former best friend, Jane. After Julia’s parents transferred her to a new school, the girls showed up at her front door one afternoon. Julia, terrified, hid on the floor of her parents’ bedroom and never answered. That moment—the unanswered door—became a fixed point of shame and regret she carried into adulthood. More than two decades later, she still avoided the neighborhood, avoided Facebook connections with anyone from that class, and lived with the question: What did they want that day?

The Search for an Answer

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What you'll learn

1 (00:11) **Cold Open & Host Banter** - Jonathan and his co-host introduce the episode's subject, Julia, and set up her story.
2 (05:56) **The Setup: A 21-Year-Old Mystery** - The episode formally introduces Julia and the central mystery that has haunted her since eighth grade.
3 (09:36) **The "100 Reasons Why We Hate Julia" Document** - Julia discovers the tangible evidence of the bullying, deepening her trauma.
4 (11:02) **The Doorbell: The Unanswered Question** - The key moment of the episode: the girls show up at Julia's door, and she is too afraid to answer.
5 (14:02) **The Fear of Knowing** - Julia confronts her deep-seated fear of what she might discover about herself.
6 (16:30) **The Investigation Begins** - Julia decides to return to Montreal to find the truth.
7 (21:17) **The Calls: A Collective Fog of Chaos** - Julia contacts her former classmates, but none remember the doorbell incident.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

In grade 8, Julia was bullied so badly by a group of girls that she changed schools without telling anyone. Soon after, the girls from her old school showed up at her house and rang her doorbell. She didn’t answer it. For the past 20 years, Julia’s been wondering what those girls wanted.

Ten years after the release of this episode, we check back in with Julia, to hear how her life changed in the aftermath of the episode.

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This episode was produced by Jonathan Goldstein, Chris Neary, and Kalila Holt, with senior production by Wendy Dorr. Editing by Alex Blumberg and Jorge Just. Special thanks to Emily Condon, Maya Goldberg-Safir, Lina Chambers, Emily Kennedy, Laura Scott, and Jackie Cohen. The show was mixed by Haley Shaw. Music for this episode by Christine Fellows, with additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Keen Collective. Our theme song is by The Weakerthans courtesy of Epitaph Records, and our ad music is by Haley Shaw. Mixing on this update by Sarah Bruguiere, with production by Lisa Wang.

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