There are a lot of morbid people out there who love to hear about terrible crimes; and I’m one of them. I devoured Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood(twice) as well as the Manson family biopic Helter Skelter. I was Netflixed and chilled to the bone watching Making a Murderer and the recent Amanda Knox documentary. I can also often be found at the bar recounting the Moors murders and as a kid I asked my grandparents to regularly drive past a garden near their house where a body was once found.
My somewhat morbid fascination with grisly, awful events is deep-rooted in a constant fear of being murdered (I used to watch Crimewatch far too regularly and as a result have more than once imagined by own reconstruction on the walk home from the pub.) However, I also think I’m just quite curious about the dark realms of human behaviour, and it would seem I’m not alone. Ever since Serial burst into our ears two years ago, gaining 1.5 million listeners per episode, the rise of the true crime podcast has been stratospheric, with many enjoying the investigation and re-telling of some of the world’s most infamous and unknown crimes.
From the forensic to the implausible and downright spine-chilling, here’s a pick of the best podcasts out there, for every type of criminal appetite....
This article was first published October 31, 2016
Serial
The mother of all true crime podcasts, if you haven’t yet listened to Serial, um, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? For its first series, the smooth-voiced host Sarah Koenig investigates the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old student from Baltimore. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed is currently serving life imprisonment for her murder but with what appeared to be an inept defence team and a number of people protesting his innocence, Koenig re-examines the case with meticulous attention to detail. From the eerily-described 'Leakin Park' (where the body was found) to a ton of questionable testimonies, Serial will have you hooked from the start.
The second series, about a U.S. soldier kidnapped by the Taliban, wasn’t quite for me but with Adnan Syed now being granted a retrial, this is the time to catch up with series one. And fast. Don’t be the only one at the water cooler not asking: ‘But really guys, what was Jay’s deal?’
You Must Remember This: The Manson Episodes
You Must Remember This is a podcast about the history of Hollywood so not strictly ‘true crime’. However, the series where host Karina Longworth dedicates six whole episodes to the life and crimes of Charles Manson is one of the most fascinating podcasts I’ve ever listened to and provides everything you need to know about America’s most infamous serial killer. What makes this series so interesting is not the detail of the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders carried out in August 1969 (there’s one episode that gives these details and Longworth warns at the start that it’s a tough listen) but more an examination of the cultural landscape that allowed Manson, a social shape-shifter, to thrive and control everyone around him – from the ‘free love’ movement’ to The Beatles and Beach Boys.
Criminal
Criminal is for the alternative true crime fan who doesn’t want something too heavy on their Monday morning run or who enjoys weird and fascinating facts and anecdotes about killer owls and the unreliability of the lie-detector tests. The voice of host Phoebe Judge (yes, that’s her real name) sounds kind and not creepy with a dreamy Chicago accent. She also starts every ad with a gentle ‘hello it’s Phoebe’ – a trademark line which I myself have adopted when I pick up the phone. I managed to actually sleep soundly after listening to this one so good for any true crime fan who lives alone.
My Favourite Murder
So this podcast is labelled under ‘comedy’. This will be because its hosts – Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark – are two very funny women who happen to be obsessed with murder. These guys are clearly best friends; one minute they'll be bantering about their everyday lives and the next, energetically re-telling the very disturbing crimes of the Original Night Stalker and Jon Benet Ramsey. You might think producing a comically-driven podcast about murder is in poor taste but actually, it works. The girls are sensitive to the nature of the crimes discussed, as well as examining why exactly it is they are both so obsessed with this subject – often attributing it to their anxiety disorders. This feels real and relatable, and if you’re taking the time to listen to two girls hark on about death, you must be one of them.
Casefile
With an anonymous narrator, this podcast re-tells murders from across the world, but with a particular focus on Australian crime. Now, if you’re like me, there is actually nothing creepier than an Australian crime – the stretches of uninhabited outback, the lonely beaches, the swamplands, missing backpackers. After a listen of the first episode, The Wanda Beach Murders – the unsolved 1965 killings of two 15-year-old girls on a lonely sand dune – I was up all night thinking about it. Some of the episodes can be graphic and won’t be for everyone but the storytelling remains empathetic and well-produced. Sweet dreams.
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