Stay ConnectedCrime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast hosted by Rebecca Lavoie and featuring Kevin Flynn, Lara Bricker and Toby Ball. Each week the panel reviews true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV shows, and films, diving into journalism, storytelling, pop culture, and the biggest crime stories in media. Plus: the Crime of the Week.
Show website: crimewriterson.com
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Email: crimewriterson@gmail.com
Copyright: © 2024 Partners in Crime Media
It’s 2019 and the Crime Writers resolve to bring it in the new year.
The panel clicks its way through "Bandersnatch," Netflix’s hot interactive TV show. Toby thinks it meshes gimmick with good story, Kevin likes its meta themes, and Lara is still trying to figure out her Roku. Meanwhile, Rebecca finally finishes her summer reading.
The Crime Writers catch the 4:20 to “Murder Mountain,” the new Netflix doc about the outlaw California region where black market marijuana is cultivated. Does the six-part series effectively weave the story of an unsolved(?) murder with its look at the past and future of the region now that legalization has uprooted the industry?
TO HEAR THE SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MURDER MOUNTAIN" GO TO 59:22.
Then in Crime of the Week: And to all a good fight.
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Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Is it an early Christmas present, or a justified lawsuit? We weigh in on the news that one of the maybe-corrupt law enforcement officers featured in Making A Murderer has filed suit against Netflix and the filmmakers. Plus, one of the Bundy clan is walking away from the movement we heard about in the excellent podcast Bundyville. Why? The answer might surprise you.
And yes, a much-maligned podcast gets a follow up as we break down what we heard in the new trailer for Monster: The Zodiac Killer.
Then, in our main event review, we break down and review the latest entry from Netflix in the true crime documentary genre. It’s called The Innocent Man, and it’s based on a book from an author better known for campy courtroom novels. Do we love it? Find out!
TO HEAR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF THE INNOCENT MAN, FAST-FORWARD TO 1:01:33.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
OH SNAP! Rebecca describes her misadventure in the woods. We make an announcement about PodX. In true crime update, Curtis Flowers's defense hopes to turn the tables on Doug Evans.
We review Cold, the new podcast from KSL examining the Susan Powell case. A thorough examination of the lives of the Powells through recovered computer files, audio diaries, videotape, and dramatic readings, we ask how much is too much?
TO HEAR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF COLD, FAST-FORWARD TO 32:58.
We look back 2018 with our recommendations of the best things to watch, read, and listen to. What's everyone's pick for the best podcast of the year?
Rebecca's picks:
Kevin's picks
Lara's picks
Toby's picks
Then in Crime of the Week: Viva Nun Vegas!
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
IRL Rebecca renders a verdict...and gets to check something off her bucket list. There's a true crime update out of Australia with an arrest in the Teacher's Pet case. Should we reconsider the quality of a podcast story poorly told, yet effective at solving the crime?
HBO brings us to tears with The Sentence, a look at one woman's 15-year mandatory-minimum sentence and its effects on her young children. Can a documentary about a single family speak to a larger institutional issue?
TO HERE OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE SENTENCE" GO TO 33:01.
Then Dan Taberski returns with Headlong: Surviving Y2K. This look at global disaster averted weaves stories about eager doomsday preppers, bank robbers, dissident journalists, mothers in labor, and Taberski's own story of coming out to his wife. Let's party like it's 1999.
TO HEAR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SURVIVING Y2K" GO TO 1:11:53.
Then in Crime of the Week: there arose such a clatter.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Good news/bad news in our true crime podcast updates. He’s podcasting’s second most-famous inmate. Now someone is leaving Ear Hustle…for a great reason. Also, a return trip to Winona by Madeline Baron and In the Dark gins up more CWO anger. Was that recent fire a coincidence or payback for supporting Curtis Flowers?
A microchip has solved the mystery of the stray cat taken in by Lara. Seems she soon after had an awkward conversation with a neighbor.
Bravo’s Dirty John is the first true crime podcast to get a scripted TV adaptation. How well is the Connie Britton/Eric Bana-led show telling the story? And does it matter if we already know how it ends?
Then we take a longer look at USA Today’s ten-part series The City. It’s a giant heap of garbage…we mean, the story is about a giant heap of garbage which turns up overnight in a depressed Chicago neighborhood. Does the examination of city politics, corruption, and environmental racism adequately fill the time the podcast’s been given?
FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE CITY," FAST-FORWARD TO 57:34.
Then in crime of the week: that didn’t last long.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Serial wraps up season 3 with more from Joshua behind bars (should the whole season have been him?). We leave some notes in the suggestion box for Sarah Koenig about how S3 could have pulled together the many themes touched on: overcharging, racial inequality, police misconduct, and the indifference to improving the system.
Then we binge Amazon Prime's "Homecoming," the first major TV adaptation of a hit podcast. It has its own visual and musical style and a plot that suddenly veers from the source material. Is there enough different about the TV series to keep fans of the podcast engaged?
TO HEAR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "HOMECOMING" FAST-FORWARD TO 1:09:34.
Then in crime of the week: doughnut make my brown eyes blue?
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sarah Koenig talking to a man behind bars who got done-wrong by the system. Wait, what season of Serial is this? We're talking about "A Madman's Vacation" with its revealing look at the Cleveland juvenile justice system.
Then we talk about the powerful series from Michigan Radio and NPR, "Believed." This podcast takes a hard look at the crimes of gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar who was convicted of sexually assaulting more than 200 girls. Believed tells the tale through the stories of his victims and tries to examine how Nassar got away with it for so long. And our CWO discussion gets personal.
NOTE: THIS PART OF OUR DISCUSSION MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME LISTENERS. TO SKIP PAST IT, OR JUST STAY SPOILER-FREE, FAST-FORWARD TO THE 1:06:11 MARK.
Then in crime of the week: the spirit within her.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Killers or conspiracy? Justice or just desserts?
We dedicate our entire episode to the much-awaited sequel to 2016's breakout hit and cultural phenomenon: Netflix's Making a Murderer 2. Our review takes two paths. First the panel discusses the Brendan Dassey story line. Did it capture the drama of his reversed reversal of fortune? Then on to the tale of Steven Avery's attorney Kathrine Zellner. Does her investigation create more doubt about Avery's conviction? Or is it more of (a different kind of) the same.
WE ARE DOING ALL THE SPOILERS, SO TO STAY SPOILER-FREE JUMP TO 1:07:26.
In crime of the week: pooper star!
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In Serial episode 7, "Snowball Effect," we see the negative after-effects of Erimius's and Jesse's cases. What were once two men with the moral high ground against police misconduct are now spiraling into self-sabotage.
Then we look at Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc. This podcast from the Boston Globe Spotlight team examines how football and his environment contributed to Hernandez going from NFL tight end to having three murder charges. A must-listen, even for non-sports fans.
Want to skip our spoilers and just get to the thumbs-up or thumbs-down review? Go to 1:00:18
In crime of the week: swift justice.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
It's the return for the Brickter Scale. In Serial episode 6, "You in the Red Shirt," Sarah and Emmanuel get into the story of a man beaten by East Cleveland police who seems to get justice in the court but continues to pay for it on the street.
Then we talk about "Happy Face" AKA "My dad, the serial killer." This podcast of a daughter's take on her secretly-homicidal father has everything: truckers, bunk beds, prison correspondence...bears. But does it have a point? (Spoiler alert: Nope!)
FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "HAPPY FACE" FAST-FORWARD TO 57:35.
In Crime of the Week: skin diver.
For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon.
Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com.
This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio. Click to find out more.
About the show: Crime Writers On… is the original true‑crime review podcast, covering the best in true‑crime podcasts, documentaries, TV, film, journalism, and storytelling.
From Partners in Crime Media — creators of These Are Their Stories, the Law & Order aftershow and Netflix's You Can't Make This Up.
Keywords: true‑crime review, podcast review, documentary review, TV review, media criticism, pop‑culture commentary, crime documentaries, journalism, storytelling
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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