In 2016, a 22-year-old Black man from Chicago named Courtney Copeland was shot in his BMW, drove himself to a nearby police station for help, and later died. The podcast Somebody follows his mother, Shapearl Wells, as she investigates his murder. This setup might sound like a familiar look at how the police fail Black Americans time and again, but Somebody goes even deeper. It examines how racism plays out in discrete moments, both in Wells’s life and Copeland’s death. Prejudice pervades their existence, not just in times of duress. Throughout, Wells is more than a caricature of a grieving mother or a strong Black woman; she’s a memoirist–cum–private detective who interviews witnesses, confronts police officers, and works to change laws. The show is billed as true crime, but the major draw is the chance to see the world as Wells does—through her powerful display of love.