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Crime Writers On...True Crime Review

Crime-Justice

The original true crime review podcast that looks at other podcasts, TV, and pop culture. True crime authors and real-life couple Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn hold a pop-culture round table with noir novelist Toby Ball and journalist-turned-investigator Lara Bricker. The panel chats about other podcasts (including 'Serial') as well as journalism, storytelling, TV shows and films, and the special segment, 'Crime of the Week.'Show website: crimewriterson.com. Follow the show on Twitter @crimewriterson. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/crimewritersonpodcast. Email the show at crimewriterson@gmail.com.Artwork by Benjamin Frisch

Location:

United States

Description:

The original true crime review podcast that looks at other podcasts, TV, and pop culture. True crime authors and real-life couple Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn hold a pop-culture round table with noir novelist Toby Ball and journalist-turned-investigator Lara Bricker. The panel chats about other podcasts (including 'Serial') as well as journalism, storytelling, TV shows and films, and the special segment, 'Crime of the Week.'Show website: crimewriterson.com. Follow the show on Twitter @crimewriterson. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/crimewritersonpodcast. Email the show at crimewriterson@gmail.com.Artwork by Benjamin Frisch

Language:

English


Episodes

CWO Classic: Gladiator

3/28/2024
He went from NFL tight end to having three murder charges. Could his rags-to-riches-to-ruin story have been different? In this CWO Classic, we’ll revisit our October 29, 2018 review of "Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc." from Wondery and the Boston Globe Spotlight team. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:27:12

Dissident at the Doorstep

3/25/2024
Western news outlets became fascinated with Chen Guangcheng, a blind self-taught lawyer who advocated for human rights inside communist China. When Guangcheng escaped house arrest and fled to the US in 2012, he was held up as a symbol of freedom and democracy. But in the subsequent years, observers were puzzled when Guangcheng re-entered the public sphere as a Trump supporter, repeating right-wing talking points. And the humble dissident who stood up to China’s authoritarian government was spotted in Washington on January 6th. The podcast “Dissident at the Doorstep” from Crooked Media looks at Guangcheng’s story, tracing his early advocacy for reproductive freedoms and disability rights, to the diplomatic crisis caused by his flight from captivity, and his latter day emergence as a right wing darling. Hosts Alison Klayman, Colin Jones, and Yangyang Cheng ask if the man known as “the barefoot lawyer” changed his political stripes…or was he misunderstood from the beginning? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DISSIDENT AT THE DOORSTEP" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: Every dog has his DNA. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:45:43

Varnamtown

3/21/2024
“Twin Peaks” actor Kyle MacLachlan had a crazy story for his friend. In the 1980s, kingpin Pablo Escobar bribed an entire North Carolina town to let him land airplanes and smuggle cocaine into the US. The little-known story happened in Varnamtown, population 300. They found that residents, many with the last name of Varnam, got rich as a cog in the cartel's trafficking operation. But one fisherman who refused to be intimidated took on the town in a quixotic effort to stop the smuggling. It took a spate of bad luck and double crosses to bring the whole thing down. In the podcast “Varnamtown,” MacLachlan and war correspondent Joshua Davis revisit this drug war footnote in a tale that features REO Speedwagon, lawn mowing Playboy bunnies, and an attack turkey. We hear from residents, investigators and drug smugglers while the actor and the journalist banter with each other about the story’s quirky twists and turns. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "VARNAMTOWN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:45:39

The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

3/18/2024
Concerned by her adolescent behavior, Katherine Daniel’s parents sent the teenager to the Academy at Ivy Ridge, a school that promised to set her straight through a rigorous program. But within its walls, Ivy Ridge’s students were subjected to humiliation and violence at the hands of its staff. Years later, Katherine and her former classmates returned to the now-closed school. Riffling through its abandoned files and surveillance tape, they put together the pieces of their traumatic experiences, hoping to prove to an unconvinced world they were abused by so-called educators more interested in collecting tuition than in their well being. The Netflix documentary series “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” is a unique view of the troubled teen industry told through the eyes of a former student. Katherine Kubler retraces the academy’s history while confronting former workers and pursuing current owners. She also attempts to come to terms with her own experience at the school and her strained relationship with the parent who put her there. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE PROGRAM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 14 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: rise, dry, reboot. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:51:27

Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative

3/14/2024
Journalist Jess Shane had become disillusioned with the documentary industry and its effects on those profiled. She set off to create a new paradigm and craft stories with input from the people whose lives she’s covering. Shane reveals her process of creating a new kind of storytelling, featuring four people who’ll receive compensation and editorial input. But after months of collaboration, the subjects are unable to offer meaningful contributions to Shane’s presentation of their life stories. And the documentarian must confront what happens when subjects want more of the control she offered. From PRX’s Radiotopia Presents comes “Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative.” Shane lets listeners into her earnest project to create stories that do right by their subjects, only to learn what is lost by doing so. It also asks questions about the commoditization of nonfiction programs by the companies that supply them and the audiences that demand them. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SHOCKING, HEARTBREAKING, TRANSFORMATIVE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 16 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:56:06

The Truth About Jim

3/11/2024
Sierra Barter’s step-grandfather had terrorized her family for years before his death in 2008. Jim Mordecai sexually abused the women in his life, including his step-daughter and his high school students. But he also seemed to have knowledge about a string of 1970s unsolved murders involving hitchhikers near his Northern California hometown. Sierra launches an investigation into Jim’s life which draws her closer to estranged relatives, but what she learns of her dead step-grandfather fits the profile of a man who could be responsible for some of the most infamous killings in the Bay Area. The Max Original “The Truth About Jim” follows Sierra’s journey to learn about Mordecai’s past, his victims, and his penchant for violence. Was this serial sexual offender also responsible for the Santa Anna Hitchhiker Murders? Or even more shocking…could he have been the Zodiac Killer? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TRUTH ABOUT JIM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: frankly disappointing. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:47:19

CWO Classic: Murder on Middle Beach

3/7/2024
A young filmmaker sets off to find his mother’s killer. What he uncovers shocks him. In this CWO Classic Rewind we’ll revisit our December 7, 2020 review of HBO’s “Murder on Middle Beach.” For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:34:29

Cover Up: Body Brokers

3/4/2024
Sunset Mesa Funeral Home was a trusted business for bereaved residents in Montrose, Colorado. Director Megan Hess smooth-talked family members and offered steep discounts on cremations for those who donated their bodies to science. But the community was shocked when it learned the ashes in their urns were not those of their loved ones. Investigators discovered customers were being misled as to how their remains would be used. Hess was getting rich in the shadowy world of body dealing. In the backroom, she was dismembering heads and limbs to be illegally sold to medical companies for research. From Sony Music Entertainment, Campside Media and Black Bar Mitzvah, comes “Cover Up: Body Brokers.” The podcast recounts how Hess and her mother harvested body parts from their funeral home while giving families cremains from a mixed pile of ashes. Host Ashley Fantz talks to investigators, Sunset Mesa employees, and loved ones affected by the scam. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COVER UP: BODY BROKERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: By any other name. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:50:11

CWO Classic: True Detective 3

2/29/2024
An aging detective with a failing memory struggles to solve the kidnapping case that has haunted him his whole career. On this CWO Classic Rewind, we'll revisit our February 4, 2019 and March 4, 2019 reviews of HBO's "True Detective" season three. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:51:03

True Detective: Night Country

2/26/2024
After the last sunset of the year, a group of scientists vanish from their arctic research station near Ennis, Alaska. Police Chief Liz Danvers later finds the men naked and flash-frozen in the ice with no indication of how they got there. Danvers reluctantly reunites with Trooper Evangeline Navarro, her former partner still haunted by the unsolved killing of an indigenous woman. The uneasy pair seek to answer what happened at Tsalal station and whether it’s connected to Annie K’s murder. But as an endless darkness settles over the Night Country, are greater forces at play? “True Detective: Night Country” is season four of the HBO series and stars Jodi Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, and Finn Bennett. Are the deaths linked to one another or with the mining operation polluting the water supply? Haunted both literally and figuratively by loss and isolation, the characters confront their own darkness living above the Arctic Circle. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: dick pic. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:48:57

Runaway Joe

2/22/2024
In 1985, Irish residents were stunned to learn the man they knew as country gentleman Michael O’Shea was actually Joseph Maloney, a fugitive from America, accused of poisoning his wife twenty years earlier. He had fled to Ireland after escaping custody in New York. Though a court ruled he be sent back to the US, a legal glitch with his extradition order allowed Maloney to flee with his second wife. Decades later, the accused murderer remains on the run, frustrating authorities on two continents. From RTÉ Documentary on One comes the podcast “Runaway Joe.” It looks at one of the FBI’s oldest cold cases. Host Pavel Barter interviews friends of Maloney’s murdered wife, American authorities hunting him, and Irish residents who knew him for years as Mick O’Shea. Can investigators find the elusive fugitive and bring him to justice nearly 60 years after the crime? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "RUNAWAY JOE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:41:29

They Called Him Mostly Harmless

2/19/2024
The case of an unidentified hiker found dead in the Florida Everglades baffled police. He’d gone by the trail nickname “Mostly Harmless,” but no one knew who he really was. His story energized Internet sleuths who started their own investigation into the John Doe. The online community grew toxic, with splinter groups competing with one another in a search for answers. But when the identity of Mostly Harmless was uncovered and the questions to his life on the trail were answered, some wondered whether the quest had been worth it. The Max Original film “They Called Him Mostly Harmless” recounts the crowdsourced hunt for the mysterious man’s identity. It poses questions about whether these armchair detectives were searching for the hiker - or searching for themselves. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THEY CALLED HIM MOSTLY HARMLESS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: long in the tooth. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:47:34

On Our Watch: New Folsom

2/15/2024
When Valentino Rodriguez Jr. died at home, his family believed it had something to do with his time in an elite investigative unit inside New Folsom Prison. He’d been driven out of the job by other corrections officers Valentino believed were behind the abuse of prisoners. KQED reporters Sukey Lewis and Julie Small began to dig through reams of newly-released documents and interview tapes, hoping to shed light on what was happening in California’s most violent prison. Meanwhile, with guidance from Valentino’s mentor, Val Senior launched his own investigation into his son’s final days with the help of an insider. Season two of KQED’s “On Our Watch: New Folsom” tells the tale of two corrections officers struggling with the pattern of violence and a culture of silence within the high-security facility. The hosts investigate the challenges they faced and follow in their footsteps to uncover the secrets hidden inside the most dangerous prison in the Golden State. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ON OUR WATCH: NEW FOLSOM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. Note: This episode has been updated to correct an error in an earlier posted version. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:42:54

Dr. Death: Bad Magic

2/12/2024
Doctor Serhat Gumrukcu had been hailed as a genius whose experimental treatments for cancer and AIDS made a half-billion dollars for Enochian Biosciences. But the researcher seemed to have two obsessions: one was performing magic tricks and the other was a penchant for secrecy. Financial investors turned up troubling information on Serhat. His diplomas and other credentials were phony, and he’d left a trail of white collar crimes. They’d soon learn, on the other side of the country, a man in a business dispute with Serhat was lured from his home, murdered execution-style, and left in a snowbank. “Dr. Death: Bad Magic” is season four of Wondery’s hit podcast series. Host Laura Beil tells the tale of the amateur magician and professional con artist who fooled financiers, scientists, and patients - and now faces murder-for-hire charges. Was Serhat the medical pioneer he claimed to be or was it all an illusion? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DR. DEATH: BAD MAGIC" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of The Week: Cocaine bears. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:44:04

Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial

2/8/2024
In 2016, a pair of skiers collided on the slopes of Utah’s Deer Valley Resort. Retiree Terry Sanderson said the crash left him with brain damage and emotional pain, so he filed a $300,000 lawsuit against the other skier: A-list celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow. But Paltrow said Sanderson crashed into her. Rather than settle, she defended herself in court with an army of high-priced attorneys and expert witnesses. What might normally be a low-profile personal injury case turned into a televised cause celebre. The documentary “Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial” from Discovery+ and Max looks back at the case that captivated pop culture. Was the actress using her star power to avoid responsibility or was the optometrist to blame and just looking for a payday? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GWYNETH vs TERRY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:43:56

The Runaway Princesses

2/5/2024
In 2000, the daughter of Dubai’s leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ran off to England. Though her father was seen as a progressive champion of women’s rights in the Arab world, Shamsa claimed her father subjected his children to harsh punishment for disobedience. The princess was then forcibly taken from British soil by Sheikh Mohammed’s men, sparking a diplomatic crisis. After spending nearly four years in prison for her own escape attempt, Shamsa’s sister Latifa also fled the country in 2018 to get away from her father. Her swashbuckling, high-profile breakout made international news, but claiming she’d been kidnapped, Indian security forces captured her at sea and brought her home. From the team at The New Yorker and “In the Dark” comes “The Runaway Princesses.” Madeleine Baran and Heidi Blake report on Latifa’s and Shamsa’s attempts to leave Dubai, the consequences for doing so, and what’s happening with the princesses today. Is Latifa now living a happy life in Dubai as she claims, or is she making those statements under duress? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE RUNAWAY PRINCESSES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: no tipping. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:46:36

The Vanishing Point

2/1/2024
Emmilee Risling was last seen in 2021 on the Pecwan bridge. Hoopa Valley authorities were unable to determine whether the troubled woman threw herself into the Klamath River or met with foul play. Emmilee was just another in the growing number of indigenous men and women who vanished from tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest. All their stories are different. Some deal with addiction, mental health, or domestic violence. But what they all have in common is the same location in Northern California. “The Vanishing Point” from Tenderfoot TV looks at the story of five missing people from Hoopa Valley. Host Celisia Stanton and her team explore the cold cases and attempt to learn why this tribal land is a vanishing point for so many. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE VANISHING POINT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:39:25

Radical

1/29/2024
In 2000, a deputy was killed and another wounded in Atlanta’s West End while trying to serve an arrest warrant. Authorities said the gunman was Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the leader of the local mosque and caretaker of the predominantly Muslim neighborhood. In the years before becoming Imam Jamil he’d been known as H. Rap Brown, a leader in the 1960s Black Power Movement accused by the FBI of inciting violence. West End residents did not think their spiritual leader was behind the fatal shooting and wondered if his arrest was motivated less by the contradictory evidence and more by his past as an outspoken activist. From Campside Media, Tenderfoot TV and iHeartMedia comes “Radical.” Host Mosi Secret investigates the night of the shooting and attempts to find out who Iman Jamil really is. Is he truly a man of God? Is he a dangerous extremist? Or is the answer somewhere in the middle? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "RADICAL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: fowl language. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:48:27

The Estate

1/25/2024
Growing up, Alex Estrada knew there was something important about the phone calls his father would receive from a man in prison. He learned his dad and Calvin Jones were accused of having their business partner killed in 1973. They dropped the charges against Rosalio Estrada, but Jones got a life sentence. Already navigating a toxic relationship, Rosalio’s possible culpability confirmed Alex’s belief his father was a bad man. But was he a killer? Alex sets off to scrutinize the fifty-year-old murder case in an attempt to reconcile his complicated feelings for his dead father. In the podcast “The Estate” from Sonoro and Tenderfoot TV, Estrada re-examines the evidence in a long-forgotten case, looking for clues as to who Rosalio really was. It attempts to blend true crime, political science, and family memoir into one. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE ESTATE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:44:59

American Nightmare

1/22/2024
In 2015, Aaron Quinn told Vallejo police his girlfriend had been kidnapped in the middle of the night by home-invading frogmen. Detectives thought he made up the far-fetched tale to hide her possible murder. But days later Denise Huskins turned up at her parents’ house with a similarly elaborate story of abduction and sexual captivity. Citing its parallels to the movie “Gone Girl,” investigators accused the couple of a hoax. But miles away, a rookie detective uncovered an out-of-place piece of evidence in a serial rape case: a strand of blonde hair attached to a pair of blackout goggles. The Netflix series “American Nightmare” follows Aaron and Denise’s ordeal, first as the victims of a bizarre serial rapist, then as defendants humiliated by cops who said they lied about it. It also features the investigator who bucked the system to get them justice on more than one level. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AMERICAN NIGHTMARE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. In Crime of the Week: watch and wear. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com

Duration:00:46:38