Top True Crime Podcasts

Welcome, my darlings, to the enchantingly sinister history podcast that weaves dark tales of humanity's most infamous characters and events. This award-winning podcast shall bewitch you with wickedly captivating stories of true crime and the shadowy corners of history, exploring the twisted desires that drive these rotten souls to the brink of infamy.

Hosted by the delightfully devious queer queen, Joshua Waters.

Running Smoke, hosted by journalist Rajiv Golla, is a white-knuckle true story about fast cars, organized crime, and a NASCAR driver fighting for the future of his nation.

A Tradition of Violence is a podcast about deputy gangs that operate within the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Host Cerise Castle wrote the history of deputy gangs in LA for Knock LA, exposing their 50-year reign of terror and murder.

In December of the year 2000, an unknown male broke into a suburban Tokyo home and killed an entire family. ;Despite leaving thousands of pieces of evidence in the house, including his clothes, the murder weapon, his DNA, his blood, even his excrement—we are no closer to knowing this man’s identity. There’s no clear motive. And no sign of the case being closed. The Miyazawa family murders are a paradox. They’re a case which has haunted Tokyo police for 22 years now. A case which should be solved. But one which has far more questions than answers.

You’ve heard of Jackson Pollock. But you may have never heard of Lee Krasner, an artist, Pollock’s wife, and the woman who made him famous – and in doing so, changed everything about the landscape of modern art. This is a story of love, of power, of alcoholism, of brutality, and an ill-timed death. This 6-episode series, hosted by curator, author, and broadcaster Katy Hessel, offers an inside look into two of the greatest artists of the 20th century, and how their vision impacts ours. 

And listen back to season one, where host Helen Molesworth revisits the artist Ana Mendieta’s death and the trial that followed, and interrogates both the silence and the protest that have accompanied her story ever since.

Death of an Artist Season 1 is a co-production between Pushkin Industries, Somethin’ Else, and Sony Music Entertainment.

Death of an Artist Season 2 is a co-production between Pushkin Industries and Samizdat Audio.

S2: On this season of More Than a Movie, host Alex Fumero takes us through some of our favorite films that have impacted Latino Cinema. From Andy Garcia’s 1990 breakout role in Godfather III to Natalie Morales’s 2021 double directorial debut with Plan B and Language Lessons, this podcast looks at the story behind the story of Latino movies over the last several decades. Every episode will reveal something about the movie you didn’t know, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors, writers and producers behind them, and tap into the history of Latinos in film.

S1: When Edward James Olmos set out on his directorial debut, American Me, he wanted to accomplish two things: to represent Chicano culture on the big screen and to save part of his community from gang violence. But when people were allegedly murdered because of their participation in the film and Olmos himself was allegedly extorted by the real life Mexican Mafia, it exposed the unintended risks of trying to represent someone with an agenda in mind, even a well-meaning one. On the 30th anniversary of the cult classic, host Alex Fumero and producer Nigel Duara delve into the true story of American Me and the legacy the controversial film left behind.

Mom didn’t kill herself. It was murder. That’s what Billie Jean Letterman's daughter is out to prove.

Season 1 of Burden examines the suspicious death of a young mother in Arkansas and the dangers of not holding abusers accountable.

Hosted by attorney Stephanie Harris and journalist Karen Tricot Steward.

Get bonus content on Patreon.

Burden is a production of Power of Pod, a podcast production company that uses the power of podcasting to help us better understand our world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

River Donaghey grew up in a cult. Or at least that’s what some people called it. His parents called it a “personal-growth seminar group.” Its leader called it “one big happy family.” But there was a dark side to the world River grew up in. One he never heard about as a kid. 

In the 1970s and 80s, a self-help company called Lifespring took America by storm. Hundreds of thousands of people walked out of Lifespring as true believers, convinced that the seminars had the power to change the world. But dozens of trainees claimed that after taking a seminar, they had a psychotic break. Some spent months in the hospital. Others attempted suicide. And at least four people died. 

River spent the past year digging into the bizarre, untold story of Lifespring and its controversial leader: a convicted felon turned New Age guru named John Hanley. What he uncovered made him question everything he thought he knew about his childhood. And about the seminars that are still changing lives—and ruining them—to this day.