The Blotter Presents

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Brief 29: Untouchable Jan 18, 2019

Show notes

David Feige's 2016 documentary interrogates sex-offender registry statutes, but may not have questioned its own edit closely enough.

081: The Skies Belong To Us And The New Yorker's "A Cold Case" Jan 16, 2019

Show notes

First-time guest Alex Segura joints me to talk about The Skies Belong To Us, a page-turner that made a bunch of 2013's best-of lists -- and with good reason, as each of us only needed a day to finish it. But it did leave us wanting more of some subjects, and not necessarily in a pleasing way.

Later, we go back even further in time with a New Yorker piece from 2000 on the crimes and disappearance of Frank Koehler, one that satisfies two competing readerly desires: to see someone walk away from a "perfect" crime; and to see justice done.

SHOW NOTES

The The Skies Belong To Us website, which might do in a pinch if you didn't read the book (yet; spoiler: you should, it's good!)
"A Cold Case" in The New Yorker
Where my click-slide into mid-century boxing lingo began
Rosenzweig's bookstore, Book 'Em, is still there; get the car!
And bring one of Alex's books for the road

Special Guest: Alex Segura.

Brief 28: Dirty John, The Dirty Truth Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

Revenge Of Return Of Even More Dirty John Meehan, tonight on Oxygen.

080: Surviving R. Kelly and Behind The Music Jan 09, 2019

Show notes

Mark Blankenship on Lifetime's wrenching, but imperfect, Surviving R. Kelly: the power of the first four episodes, and the weirdness of the last two; the "tradition" of fetishizing teenage girls in rock music; the voices we heard for the first time, and the ones we still haven't heard; and whose time is up next.

Then we move on to a vintage Behind The Music that's both very typical of VH1's legendary pop-gossip video mag, and delightfully off-brand, as it follows narrator Jim Forbes out of the audio bay, on camera, and into prison for a profoundly impatient interview with the murderer of Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Terrible brothers, awful fan-club presidents, and much more in the latest episode of The Blotter Presents.

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SHOW NOTES

Surviving R. Kelly
Anjelica Jade Bastién's SRK review on Vulture
MASTAS Episode 11 (from inside a tin can, apparently; sorry) on Chic and R. Kelly
The Selena Behind The Music

Special Guest: Mark Blankenship.

Brief 27: 60 Days In, Season 5 Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

A&E's undercover show heads to Arizona, and raises the stakes. Is it worth revisiting?

Brief 26: Broken Harts Jan 04, 2019

Show notes

Two moms, six adopted kids, one terrible crash...and a somewhat amateurish podcast that's still compelling.

Brief 25: Murderville Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

The Intercept's investigation of a wrongful conviction in Georgia is a sadly familiar story -- in more ways than one.

Brief 24: The Lake Erie Murders Dec 28, 2018

Show notes

Will ID's event series on a notorious 1989 Ohio abduction hold your attention?

Blotter's 11: The Best Of 2018 True Crime Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

Three reads, three listens, and five watches that made my best-of list for the last year.

SHOW NOTES

Bad Blood, Episode 70
Jessica Pressler on Anna Delvey, The Summer Of Scam
Kathleen Hale, "Living With Slenderman"
Last Seen, Brief 1
Slow Burn, Episode 64
Dr. Death, Episode 74
Making A Murderer Part 2, Episode 73
American Vandal S2, Episode 69
The Sentence, Episode 72
Rest In Power, Episode 66
American Crime Story S2 recaps at Previously.TV

Brief 23: Magical Unsolved Mysteries Tour Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

Listener Scott J. tasked me with a line-up of noteworthy Unsolved Mysteries segments; I ranked all five, from ghostly hecklers to NKOTB video mysteries and everything in between.

SHOW NOTES

Season 1 Episode 22
Season 1 Episode 24
Season 4 Episode 1
GoSanAngelo.com on the McNelly/Stewart case
Season 5 Episode 32
Season 8 Episode 12

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