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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Copyright: © 2024 Partners in Crime Media
This week we dive in to two format-smashing shows: one the up-ends the conventions of podcast storytelling, and one that challenges the concept of story telling itself.
The panel examines "Crimetown." This podcast from Gimlet sounds like nothing we've heard before. Are they setting a new bar for the traditional first-person investigative podcast or are they creating a completely new genre?
Also, the crime writers give their take on HBO's dizzying & dazzling "Westworld." Was the western-tinged sci-fi series about man's inhumanity, a study on free will, or a contemplation of on the power of story? Or just a bunch of cowboys shooting and having sex with robots?
Plus, Toby checks his Amazon Christmas list (is your gift on it?). We'll hear from a listener who offers her two cents on the Justin Ross Harris verdict (and then we offer her ours).
The Crime of the Week looks at the War on Christmas...by beavers.
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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.
So many gifts for true crime fans this holiday season, as a new batch of podcasts are hitting the charts. Where to begin...where to begin?
First, the panel drops a ton of true crime updates. These include a last-minute order keeping Brendan Dassey in prison, a verdict in Breakdown's Justin Ross Harris case, and a newspaper editorial calling for a pardon for Bowe Bergdahl. Plus, Rebecca parties-hearty with the team from Undisclosed and Addendum.
The most exciting news comes from "Serial" co-creator Julie Snyder who says their team will be dropping a new seven-week podcast in March. No, it's not Serial season three, but it sounds like a compelling story nonetheless - and Rebecca's got a decent theory as to who will be telling it.
Then we dive into the CBC's investigation of the Alberta Williams case, "Missing & Murdered." Set on an island fishing town off the coast of British Columbia, this podcast looks at a cold case from 1989, and the cop (and reporter) who's not afraid to name names. Bonus: Rebecca interviews host Connie Walker about making the podcast!
Finally, we go all "Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon" in the Crime of the Week.
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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.
A Serial spinoff?! A verdict in the Breakdown / Justin Ross Harris case! Brendan Dassey can go home, and then he can't!
All great topics to talk about, right?
Sorry to say we're not going to get to any of those this week. That's because we pre-recorded this episode at the New England Crime Bake, a convention for crime & mystery writers, on Saturday. Who would have thought all this good stuff would happen after we wrapped?
("So you'll get to it next week, right guys? The week of Thanksgiving?" Well, about that...)
In this live recording, the podcasting crime writers tell a room of nonpodcasting crime writers about Lara's cat's chlamydia, how we got started writing, and answer some listener emails and tweets. (Kevin's a hater? Says who?)
Later, we pluck a writer from the crowd. We ask Maureen Milliken her about her work and boy, does she deliver!
And this week's Crime of the Week is awwwww-ful.
Sponsors for this episode include
Madison Reed - use code WRITERS to save 10% at checkout
Stranglers podcast from Earwolf
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.
Breaking: Lara's cat has a super weird disease! For real.
Some maybe-news about Serial Season 3 has us theorizing. Was Kevin super, duper wrong when he said Sarah Koenig would never do a true crime story again?
Plus, we get a whole lot of listener email and tweets about what podcasts we should be listening to and talking about.
One of the podcasts we’ve had pimped to us the most often lately is the hit show "Up and Vanished," an investigative podcast about the 2005 disappearance of Ocilla Georgia Beauty queen Tara Grinstead.
But before we get into our discussion about Up and Vanished, we'll first listen in to Rebecca's conversation with someone who knows a little bit about that show - its host and creator Payne Lindsey. Even if you haven't heard the podcast, you should listen to this interview.
And, Toby apologizes to a nation. And our Crime of the Week strikes pretty damn close to home.
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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.
What do people want to talk about? World Series? Presidential election? Nope. The world wants to know what Lara Bricker got arrested for. (Hint: it wasn't election fraud.) Looks like her accomplices left her holding the bag...literally.
In our audience feedback segment, the Crime Writers respond to a heartwarming email from a cancer survivor who's ready to take on the challenge of punching one of their least-favorite attorneys.
Then, when it's time for business, the panel digs into the final episode of APM Reports' "In the Dark." Madeleine Baran didn't pull punches when it came to the police narrative that Danny Heinrich was just too good at covering his tracks for 25+ years. But is her conclusion too broad? Unfair? (Sometimes investigators know who did it, but can't get enough to make the arrest - as officials have told Rebecca & Kevin about the Stacey Burns "Mothers Day Murder" case.)
Finally, Rebecca, Kevin, Lara, and Toby offer up their recommendations about what you should be listening to, reading, and watching right now.
Crime of the Week: When it comes to Halloween candy, someone can give you a break - you're just not supposed to steal it.
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.
Heads up Baltimore City Court! Here comes Adnan Syed seeking a bail hearing. It's not your usual motion, written more like a campaign speech than a legal brief.
The Crime Writers dig into the latest in the efforts of Serial's protagonist to get out of prison now that his conviction has been vacated.
And a journalism conundrum: IF Sarah Koenig knew about Jay Wild's post-Adnan criminal history, should she have included it in Serial?
Also, the panel hangs ten in Hawaii with the new podcast, "Offshore" from Honolulu Civil Beat and PRX. Can a white reporter do justice to a tale of Hawaiian culture and disenfranchisement?
Related: Toby recommends reading this article from the New Yorker, "The American Raj," to learn more about Hawaiian history.
In our Crime of the Week, the panel shakes the tree. But who goes undercover as a tree, anyway? (Kevin reported on a similar bank robbery story in NH. Watch the version filed by his colleagues.)
Plus: mystery solved! Who bought the family-sized bucket of massage lotion? We finally know. Finally.
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.
Things get back to normal in the Crime Writers' world. They discuss the perils of doing bad accents and explain why they can't do audiobook versions of their own books.
A true crime update (add your own echo): Burke Ramsey has followed through on his threat to sue over the CBS special on his sister's murder. Looks like the case will focus on one comment from one person.
Then the focus shifts to the new investigative podcast from Australia, "Phoebe's Fall." We know that Phoebe Handsjuk dropped 12 stories down a garbage chute, crawled out, only to bleed to death from injuries from the trash compactor. Was it a suicide attempt? Was it a drunken misadventure? Or was it something more nefarious? So far, the Crime Writers have mixed opinions.
Footnote: for another strange how-did-she-get-into-that situation, check out the case of a 21-year-old Chinese tourist who drowned in a hotel water tank.
Checking in with some of the other leading true crime podcasts, in "In The Dark"'s penultimate episode, the Sterns County sheriff is confronted with their pitiful clearance rate. And the trial of Justin Ross Harris is finally underway in "Breakdown."
In the Crime of the Week, don't block a driveway in Australia...even if it's your own.
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 no! We went there!
The Crime Writers discuss the controversial Netflix doc "Amanda Knox." Why are we still intrigued by the murder case? Does any of the evidence add up? Is the motive believable? Is Knox herself credible? As she says, "Either I am a psychopath in sheep's clothing or I am you."
Rebecca and Kevin welcome back Dr. Elizabeth Yardley to explain why the British have such a different (and more visceral) view of the case than Americans do. Could it be they were each seeing a different case in their papers and on their TV screens?
Bigger question: how bad are the writers going to get trolled on Twitter for their views?
Because it seems some people - not everyone, but some - feel really, really, REALLY strongly about this case and you better agree with them in 140 characters (or the 140 consecutive tweets with which they will flood your feed)!
In Crime of the Week...a SWAT team takes out an 81-year-old woman for growing a single marijuana plant. Good thing she wasn't stealing cable TV...she'd probably be dead.
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.
Every couple of weeks, other podcast comes along and seems like the heir to "Serial." Few live up to the anticipation. Is it possible that the Cincinnati Enquirer's "Accused" podcast has replicated the secret sauce: a truly compelling murder mystery and the transparent, obsessive reporting which goes into the story? It sure is.
Rebecca talks with Amber Hunt and Amanda Rossman about their year-long investigation into the 1978 Elizabeth Andes murder. If her acquitted boyfriend Bob Young didn't do it, than who did?
Next, the Crime Writers dish on who was the biggest villain in the case: one of the four remaining suspects OR the prosecutor who dodged Amber for a year. (Spoiler alert: three quarters of the panel is REALLY down on Gmoser - and not just because the "G" is silent.)
We get a TRUE CRIME UPDATE from Lara about the official Army findings in the Bowe Bergdahl case. Were any servicemen killed looking for Bergdahl? The answer appears to be no...but then again, we don't really know what we're talking about.
Kevin sends out love to all who sponsored his Walk-a-Mile In her Shoes event; yes, he finally completed that mile-long course in high-heeled shoes.
In the Crime of the Week: A bucket list wish unlike any other. Grandma, Grandma, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Interstitial music by Uncanny Valleys.
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 Crime Writers take on what's good - and what's not so good - about the The Case of JonBenet, the four-hour CBS special featuring profilers Jim Clemente and Laura Richards and an all-star cast of forensic investigators. We talk about the case, the show's WTF moments (THEY BUILT THE HOUSE??), and dive deep into the potential defamation of Burke Ramsey, who is (in the experts' opinions) a leading suspect in the cold case.
We also chat with Ann Bartow, a law professor at UNH Law School and expert on all things defamation and internet speech, and tie that conversation in with issues raised in this week's episode of the excellent In The Dark podcast.
Finally, our crime of the week has Rebecca airing an old grudge with her favorite public radio host, Ira Glass.
Episode sponsors are the Havenly app (use promo code "crime") and Modcloth (also use promo code "crime") - and yes, we sometimes flub the ads, as you'll hear in the outtakes.
Interstitial music by Blue Dot Sessions and Jahzzar.
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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