In an episode that seems to go off the rails at times, the panel discusses season two of “ The Dream .” Host Jane Marie tackles the wellness industry, covering everything from healing crystals and medicinal herbs to vitamins and natural childbirth. Are they coming after the thing YOU believe is saving you from illness? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE DREAM” BEGINS IN THE 29th MINUTE OF THE SHOW. Then the crime writers review the long, strange trip in “ Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter .” ...
Jan 20, 2020•1 hr 5 min
The panel discusses the new podcast/audiobook hybrid “ Midnight Son ” from Audible Originals. We’re taken to the Arctic to explore the crimes of an Alaska Native and to investigate his claim that while as a fugitive in the wilderness he was visited by mythic tribe thought only to exist in legend. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “MIDNIGHT SON,” GO TO THE 41 MINUTE MARK Then, we’re off to Louisville for season one of “ Dig ” from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. Host Eleanor Klibano...
Jan 13, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Rebecca and Kevin start by addressing some back-end tech changes that could affect listeners’ experience. There are shout-outs to our newest listener. And the panel solicits input from the audience for our upcoming 200th episode celebration. The Crime Writers review the new season of “ Accused .” The eight-part series is a story of corporate malfeasance, wrapped in a missing persons case filled with conspiracy theories, family secrets, and government lies. OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF “ACCUSED” CA...
Jan 06, 2020•1 hr 20 min
The crime writers marvel at Kevin’s encyclopedic knowledge of Dunkin Donuts locations in New Hampshire! The team is blown away by the latest bonus episode of “ In the Dark ,” which covers Curtis Flowers’s bail hearing now that SCOTUS has overturned his conviction. If this were the final installment of the Peabody winning podcast, would it be the perfect ending? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “IN THE DARK” STARTS AT APPROXIMATELY 35:00 Then the panel looks at Netflix’s five-part series, “ The Confess...
Dec 23, 2019•1 hr 11 min
Leading off, Ronan Farrow's “The Catch and Kill Podcast” is an inside look at one of the most important stories of the decade, giving a deeper dive into the downfall of one of the entertainment industry’s most powerful men. Is there still more to this story? YOU CAN FIND OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CATCH AND KILL" AROUND THE 34:38 MINUTE MARK. The team behind “Dirty John” returns with “Detective Trapp.” Anaheim's only female homicide detective is assigned the case of an unidentified woman found ...
Dec 16, 2019•1 hr 16 min
There arose such a clatter at Lara's town holiday celebration ( fowl play ). And Toby has been getting Twitter trolled by Dan Taberski! PBS NewsHour has released a podcast examining the public defender system in the US entitled “ Broken Justice .” Frank Carlson and Amna Nawaz look at the issue through the lens of the Missouri public defenders office, one in which attorneys are given more clients than they can ethically handle. A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "BROKEN JUSTICE" CAN BE FOUND AT APPROXIMATE...
Dec 09, 2019•1 hr 2 min
Netflix’s “The Devil Next Door” recaps the legal battles of John Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker in Cleveland accused of being a Nazi prison camp guard known as "Ivan the Terrible." Featuring extensive film from the original trial as well as disturbing Holocaust images, "The Devil Next Door" challenges the viewer’s allegiances. Then, CBC Podcasts and Norwegian newspaper VG have teamed up for a disturbing investigation into the digital world of child pornography. “Hunting Warhead” begins with an ...
Nov 25, 2019•1 hr 8 min
This week, Lara is bitten by a tick (not on the podcast though), we squee about The Crown, and a person from a recent podcast sends an email to the crime writers. ABC Audio’s new podcast " Have you Seen This Man " goes on the manhunt for a former-death row convict who walked away from an Ohio prison in 1973 and hasn't been seen since. Reporter Matthew Mosk follows US Marshals still hunting Lester Eubanks after five decades on the run. Netflix’s “ Tell Me Who I Am ” documents one amnesia patient’...
Nov 18, 2019•1 hr 7 min
“ Murder in Oregon ” explores one of that state’s most infamous homicides. Corrections Department Director Michael Francke was stabbed outside of his office in 1989. Was his killing tied to his investigation of corruption? OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF "MURDER IN OREGON" BEGINS IN THE 24th MINUTE. HBO's “ Watchmen ” takes place in an alternative history where cops who hide behind masks for their own safety team with costumed vigilantes to fight crime and avoid a race war. Like the comic, "Watchmen"...
Nov 11, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Leading off, the medical mystery behind Wondery's " Bad Batch " is not just who is responsible for contaminated stem cells that made patients sick. It also looks at the company’s claims that stem cells can treat virtually everything, when it’s only approved for blood disorders. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "BAD BATCH," BEGINS IN THE 28th MINUTE Moving on, NYC Studios and OSM Audio are rolling out a nine-part series about an American icon. In “ Dolly Parton’s America ,” RadioLab host Jad Abumrad ex...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr 5 min
First up, Facebook Watch is out with its own imagining of the podcast, " Limetown ." As with the original, the story revolves around a public radio reporter investigating the sudden disappearance of hundreds of people from a tiny town and remote research facility years ago. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "LIMETOWN," BEGINS IN THE 28th MINUTE. Moving on, “ The Undercovers ” is an audio dramatization of the life and career of a DEA agent and his exploits working to take down narco-terrorists from insi...
Oct 28, 2019•1 hr 4 min
We start with a look inside podcasting's biggest business deal: Spotify's acquisition of Gimlet. In " StartUp ," Alex Blumberg and Matt Leiber reveal the behind-the-scenes tensions and pose the question: can a nine-figure paycheck mend this friendship? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "STARTUP" BEGINS IN THE 32nd MINUTE. Next, " Motive " from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ tells the case of teen exonerated for a murder, awarded millions, only to wide up in jail again. With its “Making a Murderer”-them...
Oct 21, 2019•1 hr 4 min
The Crime Writers get into about book covers. (Guess which one has the worst cover ever ?) In “ The Mysterious Mr. Epstein ,” host Linsey Graham hopes to fill in the blanks around the infamous investor-to-the-stars’s origin story and how he was able to lure and rape young women with no consequences for so long. Our spoiler-free review of The Mysterious Mr. Epstein begins in the 32nd minute. BBC Sounds presents an investigation into a multi-million dollar scam involving OneCoin and the disappeara...
Oct 14, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Although her dog is on her final legs, Rebecca pushes through to lead the discussion. Kevin gives a shout out to his Walk a Mile in Her Shoes supporters. First up: Netflix’s new crime series is an anthology set in a police interview room and its adjacent observation post. In Criminal: UK , we see a specialized team try to get suspects to crack. In addition to Criminal: UK, the series also brings us to Spain, France, and Germany without ever leaving the set. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CRIMINAL:U...
Oct 07, 2019•59 min
First off is a look at iHeartRadio's " Hit Man ." The podcast follows the stories of the hit men - one who used music and one who used a gun - as well as a discussion about whether a book providing a step-by-step guide to getting away with murder is speech that ought to be protected. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "HIT MAN" BEGINS IN THE 24th MINUTE. Moving on...in " The Thing About Pam " from Dateline, police zone in on Russ Feria for his wife's murder, pointed there by co-worker Pam Hupp. It’s not...
Sep 30, 2019•1 hr
We're got a true crime podcast update from the team at "In the Dark." Also, Kevin will be doing a walkathon in high-heel shoes. Netflix’s buzzed-about new series “ Unbelievable ” is a dramatic take on the true story of a serial rapist who escaped detection for years. The show follows two narrative timelines. The first focuses on a teenage victim who falsely recanted her story under pressure from investigators. The second thread takes place three years later and follows a pair of female detective...
Sep 23, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Rebecca gets around. Even as she’s laid up recovering from ankle surgery, our host will appear on other podcasts including "Undisclosed Addendum," "The JV Club," and bonus episodes of "In the Dark." Meantime, there’s a True Crime Podcast Update featuring everyone’s least-favorite prosecutor Doug Evans. They were the Pilipino inmates who became a YouTube sensation with their “Thriller” dance. Netflix’s “ Happy Jail ” returns to that detention center. It follows former inmate-turned security consu...
Sep 16, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Kevin provides some good news in his battle with cancer. Also, Lara hired a murderer. (It's complicated.) The panel talks about Netflix’s latest documentary, a deep dive into the scandal around Cambridge Analytica. “ The Great Hack ” is a think piece about how forces can harness our digital footprints to influence our voting behaviors and the way we look at the world. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE GREAT HACK,” GO TO MINUTE 34 Moving on, Vault Studios and WHAS TV News have teamed for the new ...
Sep 09, 2019•1 hr 9 min
On the podcast, Kevin talks about being radioactive and Toby, where is thy sting? In True Crime Update: even more about Dirty John. The panel reviews the latest from 30 for 30 podcasts: The Sterling Affairs . It explores the downfall of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in a whirlwind of sex, race, and sports...all caught on audiotape. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE STERLING AFFAIRS," GO TO MINUTE 28. Then, Netflix is out with season two of its triumphant “ Mindhunter .” This time, H...
Sep 02, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Studio C has been relocated to accommodate Rebecca and Kevin's upcoming medical procedures. They give Lara and Toby health updates. First on the double bill is HBO's " Who Killed Garrett Phillips ." The 12-year-boy was strangled in his apartment after school and the perpetrator escaped from a third-floor window. Reminiscent of The Staircase, it's a look at race and justice in America. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "WHO KILLED GARRETT PHILLIPS" GO TO MINUTE 34. Then it's a review of top-ten podcas...
Aug 19, 2019•1 hr 4 min
As summer rolls on, so do the hot new podcasts. First, the panel revisits the Patriot Movement in the sequel to Bundyville: “ The Remnant .” It’s a deep look at how a bomber who targeted a former co-worker may be tied to the larger anti-government movement. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “BUNDYVILLE: THE REMNANT,” GO TO MINUTE 26. Then the crime writers dive into “ The Clearing, ” an investigation into serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards. A journalist and the killer’s daughter try to sort out wha...
Aug 05, 2019•59 min
We're back with a double review. First, HBO's “I Love You, Now Die,” exams the strange case of a teenager accused of ordering her boyfriend to commit suicide over text message. The documentary tells a deeper story than was presented on TV news, probing the troubled lives of both young people to offer more complex reasons Conrad Roy might have wanted to die and why Michelle Carter didn’t stop him. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “I LOVE YOU, NOW DIE,” GO TO MINUTE 34. Next, Netflix's “Exhibit A” l...
Jul 22, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Following the US Supreme Court striking down Curtis Flowers’ conviction, In The Dark has returned with what could be the final episode of season two. The Polk Award-winning podcast saved some of its most compelling journalism for its final hour, accomplishing more in 56 minutes than most podcasts do in their entire series. FOR OUR THUMBS UP OR THUMBS WAY UP REVIEW OF THIS EP OF IN THE DARK, GO TO MINUTE 25. The Irish Times’s podcast “Atlantic” examines the unsolved mystery of Peter Bergmann, a t...
Jul 08, 2019•53 min
This week, the panel talks about Madeline Baron’s rapid response episode of “ In the Dark ” following the SCOTUS decision on Curtis Flowers. What was the response from residents in Winona…including prosecutor Doug Evans? The crime writers review “The Queen,” a new podcast from Slate. It follows the story of Linda Taylor, the con woman whose brazen public assistance scam gave rise to the “welfare queen” narrative. The mixture of crime, politics, and dog-whistle racism has left a legacy which reso...
Jul 01, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Lots of true crime podcast updates this week! The US Supreme Court has vacated the conviction of In The Dark S2 subject Curtis Flowers in a 7-2 decision . Will he be tried for a seventh time? There’s a shocking discovery in NPR’s White Lies podcast. We have a verdict in the Escaping NXIVM case and a new plea from the suspect in The Teacher’s Pet podcast. After their hit Dirty John, the LA Times and Wondery have paired up again to tell the story of California’s most infamous serial killer. “ Man ...
Jun 24, 2019•1 hr 5 min
In True Crime Update, a listener of the “ Bear Brook ” podcast solved a big part of the cold case. We hear from Rebecca’s colleague Jason Moon, as well as giving a plug for NHPR’s new podcast about parole, “ Supervision .” The panel offers a first-impressions review of Crooked Media’s “ This Land .” It touches on a murder conviction from 2000, but the legal case has less to do about what happened and more to do about where it happened. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THIS LAND,” GO TO MINUTE 38. T...
Jun 17, 2019•1 hr 14 min
In a break from format, this episode was recorded before a live audience at PodX in Nashville! The panel discusses the stylized, semi-serious Netflix documentary " The Legend of Cocaine Island ." Is this story of buried treasure about the American Dream or about American excess? TO HEAR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND," GO TO MINUTE 25. With the help of the audience, the team plays a few rounds of CRIME WRITERS AGAINST HUMANITY! Using cards from the very-adult, delightfu...
Jun 10, 2019•58 min
Kevin makes his return from his latest surgery to sound that call: TRUE CRIME PODCAST UPDATE! From Paris, the trial of "West Cork" subject Ian Bailey is underway. Call it the “feel-bad show of the summer.” HBO and Sky Atlantic have teamed for the five-part series “ Chernobyl .” We know going in that “Chernobyl” will be scary and depressing...but will it also be entertaining? FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CHERNOBYL," GO TO MINUTE 30. It was one of our favorite shows from 2018. BBC America’s " K...
Jun 03, 2019•55 min
With Kevin taking a week off to recuperate from cancer surgery, Rebecca, Lara, and Toby nerd out on the series finale of Game of Thrones. (Bran the Broken? WTF?) Then the panel digs deep into NPR's new podcast, " White Lies ." This look at the cover-up around a 1965 civil rights crime is just as resonant today. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF THE GAME OF THRONES FINALE, GO TO MINUTE 27. FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF WHITE LIES, GO TO MINUTE 51. In Crime of the Week: hey, it's that guy . Get our Patr...
May 27, 2019•56 min
This week on the podcast: TWO REVIEWS! The panel breaks down the latest film in the Ted Bundy canon: It's called Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile and it's on Netflix. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "EXTREMELY WICKED SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE, GO TO THE 27 MINUTE MARK. Then, a review of Jon Ronson's latest take on the porn industry, the podcast The Last Days of August . FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE LAST DAYS OF AUGUST" GO TO THE 6O MINUTE MARK. Plus, a true crime update about the M...
May 20, 2019•1 hr 22 min
