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.
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This episode Toby announces the title and guest panel for his next Patreon book club podcast (name of podcast still TBD). The Peabody Award nominations are out, and true crime is well represented. And Rebecca reveals her new (sort of) friendship with Alison Sweeney from Days of Our Lives and The Biggest Loser, who turns out to be a HUGE fan of true crime podcasts.
The panel talks about the new A&E series “Marcia Clark Investigates the First 48.” This new show (and companion podcast) is a mashup of the First 48’s format of highlighting the importance of the first 48 hours of an investigation, along with the OJ prosecutor taking a second look at a famous case.
Then the crime writers discuss ”Felonious Florida,” the new podcast from Wondery and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Can this newspaper-sources and -staffed pod achieve the success of its predecessors? Or will it just make Rebecca's head explode?
OUR DISCUSSION IS SPOILER-FREE, BUT TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE REVIEW GO TO 57:13.
In Crime of the Week: blow.
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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.
This episode we breakdown the recent COSA decision affirming Adnan Syed's right to a new trial. Kevin asks Undisclosed's Colin Miller (aka Legal Siri) about how the winning and losing arguments were flipped, Adnan's chances on bail, and the local politics infused into the appeals process.
Toby talks about his new Patreon-exclusive book club podcast. He, Rebecca, Rabia Chaudry, and Patrick Hines discussed Michelle McNamara's I'll be Gone in the Dark. Also, there's some news about the TV adaptation of Dirty John (they have their John).
Moving on, Panoply is out with a seven-part podcast called Empire on Blood. It’s magazine writer Steve Fishman’s seven-year relationship with crack dealer Calvin Buari, in jail for more than twenty years for a double homicide. To tell the story of Cal’s search for justice, Fishman meets Cal’s drug dealing frienamy; a prosecutor who rescues turtles; a cop who’s too good at getting confessions; and a private eye who carries a Bible, a gun, and a bottle of wine.
TO SKIP PAST THE SPOILERS AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE REVIEWS, FAST-FORWARD TO 1:13:36.
In Crime of the Week - bird is the word.
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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.
We said we had to win the whole damn thing - and we did! THANKS TO LISTENERS LIKE YOU we won Podcast Madness, vanquishing This American Life in the championship bracket. Now we take a victory lap!
We return to normal programming with news from the Dirty John TV show. Plus, there's a "cheeky" news story out of Albuquerque that must win all the awards.
"Wild Wild Country" is the topic of a wild wild panel discussion. It's the Netflix documentary about the times, town, and troubles created by a group of Rajneeshee followers who flocked to Oregon in the 1980s. The material covered is a mile wide and an inch deep. For the original Oregonian expose on the Rajneeshees, click here.
TO GET OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF WILD WILD COUNTRY, SKIP AHEAD TO 1:01:52.
And in Crime of the Week - rotten eggs.
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 THE CHAMPIONSHIP! Crime Writers On is facing off against This American Life for a chance to win DiscoverPods's PODCAST MADNESS. We are one win away from SHOCKING THE WORLD! Let's get it done: vote now at discoverpods.com.
The panel tackles quite a bit this week: more "Staircase" episodes coming, the "Black Tapes" fake out, a scathing reviewin Slate on "Atlanta Monster," books that stay with us, and a special announcement for our Patreon supporters(it involves Toby).
Moving on, season two of CBC’s Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo looks at the case of a girl both murdered and now missing. Will Connie Walker find the Cree girl adopted into some American family? Will she skillfully tie the tale to the heartbreaking story of Canada's "Sixties Scoop"? What do the crime writers think of it?
TO SKIP TO OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF FINDING CLEO, JUMP TO 1:03:49
Then in crime of the week- ready player one.
(Wanna see that "human looking dog?" Click here.)
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.
This episode the panel blitzes through a bunch of topics. Who knew Stormy Daniels was an accomplished equestrian? That $500m lottery winner gets to remain anonymous. Why did Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth) get paid less than Matt Smith (Prince Philip) on "The Crown"? Toby finished Atlanta Monster and has some further thoughts. Did OJ Simpson really confess on that Fox special...or did he REALLY confess? And what's on the Scientology TV Network tonight?
Then the crime writers talk about the new Netflix series "Seven Seconds." The drama explores the effect of a covered-up hit-and-run on the victim's parents, the driver and his crooked police partners, and the alcoholic DA assigned to the case. And can someone explain why everyone's car is so dirty?
TO REMAIN SPOILER-FREE AND SKIP TO OUR REVIEWS OF SEVEN SECONDS, JUMP AHEAD TO 1:00:56
In Crime of the Week - the hits keep on coming.
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.
The panel talks about updates from "The Pope's Long Con" and "Mommy Dead & Dearest." We listen to a profanity-laden rant from "Crime in Sports" about self-important podcasters. And we talk about the gripping new book, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, published posthumously after crime writer Michelle McNamara's tragic 2016 death.
Our main event: "McMafia," the new organized crime series from BBC and AMC. This good-guy-dragged-in-bad-deeds tale is expensive and extravagant, but will audiences like its high-finance meets underworld story?
In Crime of the Week - deadly deodorant.
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.
Before we take a week off for school vacation (thank you, children) we'll circle back to some important True Crime Updates. The election to fill the statehouse seat of the late Danny Ray Johnson, subject of the "The Pope's Long Con," was this week...and it wasn't even close. "Making a Murderer"'s Branden Dassey has asked SCOTUS for a Writ of Cert (we'll explain what that means).
The headliner for this show is the rock'n'roll-themed "Disgraceland." No interviews. No investigations. No audio tape. Not even the artists' music. Just a host spinning tales of musicians behaving very badly. Does this new chart-topper hit all the right notes?
In Crime of the Week, it's one thumb down.
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.
This week we ponder the problems of winning $550 million in the lottery and keeping a low profile. We get a love letter from Ireland and circle back to "West Cork" with a spoiler-full discussion about the prime suspect.
IF YOU STILL WANT TO REMAIN SPOILER-FREE ON WEST CORK, SKIP AHEAD TO 33:16.
Then we'll have an up-close look at "Mosaic," Stephen Soderbergh's multi-platform storytelling experience. The six-part HBO limited series deals with the murder of a famous children’s book writer. While the concept is ambitious, does "Mosaic" deliver the goods?
TO SKIP PAST SPOILER-FILLED DISCUSSION OF MOSAIC, JUMP AHEAD TO 1:02:24
And this week's Crime of the Week is grrrrrrrreat!
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.
Not even a blizzard can stop the Crime Writers from their appointed rounds (though it may crackle the connection once in a while).
We get skeeved out by the latest accusations of "Making a Murderer" defense-lawyer-now-judge Len Kachinsky (cue your own cat noises). There's a notable cameo in "Sword & Scale." And we toss around our thoughts on the Onion's new true crime parody podcast, "A Very Fatal Murder." Does a send up of the crime podcast world seem like it's about three months too late?
Then a no-blarney, spoiler-free review of Audible's new 13-part series, "West Cork." The famous1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier is relatively unknown to American listeners. Not since "Serial" have we had such access to a prime suspect. We'll tell you whether you should make time for this one.
Our review is truly spoiler-free, but if you still want to skip right to our verdicts, go to the 53rd minute.
Then in Crime of Week, how else are you going to carry all that dough around?
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.
A Done Disappeared encore, Slow Burn’s next story, The Walk’s big idea, and an Alienist review
The Crime Writers take on a trio of True Crime Podcast Updates as Slow Burn wraps up season one and teases a *fantastic* follow-up, Dirty John lands a scripted series, and our best friend John David Booter tries to raise funds (click here to help him!) for a second season in which he’ll appropriate all things 1980’s.
Then, our take on The Walk, the hit podcast from Panoply. This show is trying to do something completely different with a story that puts the listener in the middle of the action. But does it work? Or is it just the prototype for a future, better iteration of the format?
And, a review of the TNT adaptation of the smash bestselling book The Alienist. (If you want to skip any and all potential spoilers and just hear the review, go to 51:04.)
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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