The Blotter Presents

Latest Episodes:

128: True Life Crime and Love After Lockup Jan 15, 2020

Show notes

Piper Weiss and I waded into basic cable's accidental anthropology this week, starting with MTV's new extension of a heritage non-fiction show, True Life Crime. It's got potential, and we'll keep watching, but we couldn't help wondering if the network was giving a lot of Dateline-y notes -- and if the show in its original inception involved a lot more of the late Zachary Stoner.
Later, we looked at Love/Life After Lockup, and questioned WEtv's intentions. Is it trying to make an acerbic comment on the American incarceration industrial complex, or the unintended consequences of mandatory sentencing and the opioid crisis? Or that a coincidence arising from the filming of various figurative emotional trainwrecks? Either way, we're voting B for president in The Blotter Presents, Episode 128.
[Content warning: this episode addresses child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. Please listen with care.]
SHOW NOTES

True Life Crime
William Lee from the Trib: the Kenneka Jenkins case was "never a murder mystery"
Life After Lockup
LAL's Lacey implies that husband Shane has gotten violent with her
Piper on Twitter
Best Evidence: bestevidence.fyi
And of course my sponsor, Feals!

127: Surviving R. Kelly Part 2 and Blood: A Memoir Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

Mark Blankenship discussed the first season of Surviving R. Kelly on the podcast, and kindly returned to unpack the second season. Is the additional testimony, and our bearing witness, the point? Could a different organizational strategy have made Part 2 more effective? And what drives the people who take to the streets with signs to defend Kelly and his ilk?
Later, we talked about singer-songwriter Allison Moorer's memoir of her parents' tragic deaths, Blood: A Memoir. Mark read the book and I listened to it, and these contrasting experiences of the text led to a conversation about the spaces in narrative, whether sometimes physical text is more "musical" than when it's spoken, and how to write yourself as a child.
[Content warning: this episode addresses child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. Please listen with care.]
SHOW NOTES

Surviving R. Kelly: https://www.mylifetime.com/shows/surviving-r-kelly
Episode 080 on SRK Part 1: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349303-080-surviving-r-kelly-and-behind-the-music
Elaine Weiss reads from The Woman's Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnaYTC9r2Mg
Blood: A Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306922681/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0306922681&linkCode=as2&tag=blotterpresen-20&linkId=3a7fdd7f2c2eb5c9c14156eca4391dc2
My review of The Reckoning for Primetimer: https://www.primetimer.com/features/dont-look-away-from-surviving-r-kelly-part-ii-the-reckoning
The Showtune Countdown: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-the-showtune-countdown-50444773/
Best Evidence: bestevidence.fyi

126: The 19 Best Of 2019 Jan 01, 2020

Show notes

All the true-crime properties that were worth MY time last year, from The Act to Zeman. "Special" "appearance" by Bear E. Williams!
SHOW NOTES

Abducted In Plain Sight: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349289-brief-36-abducted-in-plain-sight
“Caught Up In The Act” on Primetimer: https://www.primetimer.com/features/caught-up-in-the-act
At The Heart Of Gold: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349273-095-at-the-heart-of-gold-and-cold
Bundyville: The Remnant: https://longreads.com/bundyville/
Catch & Kill: https://blotterpresents.substack.com/p/november-bonus-book-review-catch
Down City: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349260-108-down-city-and-the-fbi-files-yahweh-ben-yahweh
The Inventor: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349281-089-the-inventor-and-children-of-the-snow
Leaving Neverland: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349284-087-leaving-neverland-and-the-skye-borgman-interview
Murder Mountain: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349295-083-murder-mountain-and-the-weather-underground
Norco ’80: https://blotterpresents.substack.com/p/august-bonus-book-review-1-norco
Savage Appetites: https://audioboom.com/posts/7447885-124-detective-trapp-and-savage-appetites
Say Nothing: https://blotterpresents.substack.com/p/december-2019-bonus-book-review-say
Surviving R Kelly: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349303-080-surviving-r-kelly-and-behind-the-music
Tell Me Who I Am: https://time.com/5706370/tell-me-who-i-am-netflix-true-story/
Unbelievable: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/12/16/an-unbelievable-story-of-rape
We Are Columbine: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349275-093-we-are-columbine-and-most-notorious-on-adolph-coors-iii
When They See Us: https://audioboom.com/posts/7349269-099-when-they-see-us-and-who-killed-nancy
...and of course Best Evidence: bestevidence.fyi

125: Truth Be Told and Dark Tourist E03 Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

Jeb Lund returns, but probably wishes he hadn't, because we're talking about Apple TV's Truth Be Told, a property that may think it brings Serial to mind, but is actually a lot more in line with the estranged-from-reality journalisming of one Brandon Walsh. Have the creators never watched even part of a procedural? Why does the series contain EVERY possible story about this family? And is every agent involved getting fired?
It's bad, is our point. 2018 Netflix series Dark Tourist is better, but it's still muddled as to whether it's trying to comment on the dark-tourism industry -- and its consumers -- or participate in it, or both. We're also not 100 on whether Jeffrey Dahmer is the quintessentially American killer...or just the easiest target. Wasted opportunities abound, but we might save you from wasting your time in The Blotter Presents, Episode 125.
SHOW NOTES

Visit my sponsor, Lola! (Don't forget the code!) http://mylola.com
Truth Be Told: https://wondery.com/shows/detective-trapp
Dark Tourist E03, "The United States": https://amzn.to/2P5XfxS
This American Life 385 (Jon Ronson): https://www.thisamericanlife.org/385/pro-se
Dave And Jeb Aren't Mean: https://daveandjebarentmean.libsyn.com/

124: Detective Trapp and Savage Appetites Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

The latest L.A. Times/Wondery joint project from the Dirty John team, Detective Trapp, may be a podcast in search of a Sunday magazine; Kevin Smokler and I talk about old-media effortfulness, why "merely good" is sometimes great," and narrative choices. The same topics come up again when we look at Rachel Monroe's Savage Appetites, as we ponder difficulty ratings in non-fiction, the power of teenage girls, and how Monroe makes "old" crimes new again. In a nutshell (not that kind), that's The Blotter Presents, Episode 124.
SHOW NOTES
A year of Best Evidence is just $52, now 'til 12/15!

Visit my sponsor, Zola! (Don't forget the code!) zola.com/blotter
Detective Trapp: https://wondery.com/shows/detective-trapp
Rachel Monroe’s Savage Appetites: https://amzn.to/2P5XfxS
Susan Douglas’s Where The Girls Are: https://amzn.to/2YwD4fM
Kevin Smokler’s website: kevinsmokler.com

123: Frontline, POV, Independent Lens, The Confession Killer, Moxley, and JonBenét Dec 04, 2019

Show notes

It's a six-pack of DVR clutter this week as I let you know what I'm granting a continuance...or a motion to dismiss. Netflix's latest on Henry Lee Lucas, plus a Frontline on a predator on the reservation, a doc on Oakland PD, the continuing fascination with the murder of Martha Moxley, yet more JonBenét Ramsey theories, and a new hope for the oldest profession. Get ready for some justifiable deletions, people: it's The Blotter Presents, Episode 123.
SHOW NOTES
A year of Best Evidence is just $52, now 'til 12/15!

Murder & Justice: The Case Of Martha Moxley // https://www.oxygen.com/murder-and-justice-the-case-of-martha-moxley/season-1/mourning-in-greenwich?autoPlay=1
Dominick Dunne on Martha Moxley // https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2000/10/dominick-dunne-martha-moxley-murder-greenwich
New York on Dunne vs. RFK Jr. // http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/n_8816/
Timothy McVeigh: In Defense Of // https://www.oxygen.com/timothy-mcveigh-in-defense-of/videos
POV S32E14, "Blowin' Up" // http://www.pbs.org/pov/watch/blowinup/video-blowin-up/
Hunting JonBenet's Killer: The Untold Story // https://www.aetv.com/specials/hunting-jonbenets-killer-the-untold-story/full-special
Independent Lens, "The Force" // https://www.netflix.com/title/80168198
Frontline S37E12, "Predator On The Reservation" // https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/predator-on-the-reservation/
The Confession Killer // https://www.netflix.com/title/80213588

122: Slow Burn S3 and Hunting Warhead Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

[CONTENT WARNING: language; discussion of child sexual abuse investigation]
Toby Ball is back to talk about two fairly recent podcasts: the first, a departure from politics for Slow Burn, as the podcast's third season delves into the still-unsolved murders of Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur. Am I too impatient with a project that is, after all, called "Slow Burn" -- or are the attempts to give far wider context to these murders too unfocused? And ARE these killings ever going to get solved? Later, we confront Hunting Warhead, a CBC/VG joint venture about a white-hat hacker's investigation into child pornography consumers in Norway that got much bigger...and as the podcast goes on, the story gets much, much darker. Is the excellent reporting worth the harrowing experience of listening?
SHOW NOTES

Slow Burn Season 3 https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s3/biggie-and-tupac
Ep 22 on Biggie: The Life Of Notorious BIG https://audioboom.com/posts/7349398-episode-22-022-biggie-the-life-of-notorious-b-i-g-and-gesualdo-death-for-five-voices
Ep 47 (with Toby Ball) on Unsolved https://audioboom.com/posts/7349366-episode-54-047-unsolved-and-the-family
Connie Bruck in The New Yorker: "The Takedown Of Tupac" (and now that I've reread it, I think it absolutely informs Slow Burn's third ep https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/07/07/the-takedown-of-tupac
Ep 50 on In Ice Cold Blood https://audioboom.com/posts/7349363-episode-57-050-in-ice-cold-blood-and-mysteries-scandals
Hunting Warhead https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/hunting-warhead/index.html
Crime Writers On… http://www.crimewriterson.com

121: The Devil Next Door and two crowd-solving longreads Nov 20, 2019

Show notes

Stephanie Green is back to discuss Netflix's latest original docuseries, The Devil Next Door, in which John Demjanjuk may or may not have been a Nazi extermination camp's Ivan The Terrible...and his true identity may or may not have been the point of the series. How is trauma "remembered"? Why did the U.S. consider some war criminals "useful"? And what did Demjanjuk really do between 1942 and 1952? Later, we talk about two different takes on crowd-solving cold cases: CrimeCon's "true crime experience," CrowdSolve; and the Vidocq Society. The Crime Report's piece on the former raised more questions than it answered, but The Telegraph's 2009 overview of the latter had me and Stephanie wondering if a hybrid isn't advisable. The panel will not be taking questions on Jack The Ripper; it's The Blotter Presents, Episode 121.
SHOW NOTES

The Devil Next Door: https://www.netflix.com/title/80201488
Netflix to amend docuseries following complaints from Polish government: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/nov/15/netflix-to-amend-holocaust-documentary-after-complaints-from-polish-government
"My Weekend As An Amateur Cold Case Detective": https://thecrimereport.org/2019/11/12/my-weekend-as-an-amature-cold-case-detective/
"The Vidocq Society: Murder on the menu": https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/3489805/The-Vidocq-Society-Murder-on-the-menu.html
"Crowdsourcing Criminal Investigations in the Digital Age": https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2014/07/01/cold-cases-criminal-investigations
Stephanie Early Green's site: http://stephanieearlygreen.com
The Blotter Presents's sponsor, Zola: zola.com/blotter

120: The Preppy Murder: Death In Central Park and Killer Legends Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

The Preppy Murder is Sundance's five-part look at the murder of Jennifer Levin by Robert Chambers, and how it gripped New York City for years starting in August of 1986. Guest Piper Weiss and I remember those headlines well, but the miniseries corrects our memory on some points -- though we're still not sure why this is coming out now, or why Linda Fairstein's participation isn't asterisked in some way. In the Cold Case section, Piper and I revisit one segment of Zeman and Mills's Killer Legends, with Piper theorizing on why the "call coming from inside the house" urban legend gained traction and both of us recommending Zeman's Cropsey. We also talk about ghost apps, snack diplomacy, and more in The Blotter Presents, Episode 120.
SHOW NOTES

The Preppy Murder: Death In Central Park: https://www.sundancetv.com/shows/the-preppy-murder-death-in-central-park/season-1/episode-01-woman-down-in-central-park
The book I loaned to Piper: https://www.amazon.com/Wasted-Inside-Robert-Chambers-Jennifer-Murder/dp/1504030370
Michael Stone's NYMag cover story: http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/48262/
Killer Legends: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00M4QPDMI/ref=atv_dl_rdr?autoplay=1
Contemporary coverage of Janett Christman's murder: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3930183/janett_christman_1950_missouri/
Mueller's suit against local law enforcement: https://openjurist.org/203/f2d/797/mueller-v-powell
Piper's book You All Grow Up And Leave Me, now in paperback: https://www.amazon.com/You-All-Grow-Leave-Obsession/dp/006245658X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

119: American Elections: Wicked Game and The Fear Of 13 Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

It's another Wondery podcast up top this week -- I'll try not to make a habit of it -- as guest Eve Batey and I contemplate American Elections: Wicked Game. Eve thinks the deep weekly dive into every single U.S. election, and the adjacent chicanery/felon...ery (?), might have worked better with visuals, while I confess I've still never seen/heard Hamilton but think the podcast is primed to get really good with a few tweaks. But is it crimey enough? We'll compare it to existing properties so you can decide.
In the Cold Case section, Eve makes her pitch to turn 2015 documentary The Fear Of 13 into a podcast instead. Is Nick Yarris's highly personal Spalding Gray-esque tale intimate and credible, or strained and stagey? Is it...both? And who should play him in the scripted version? Philly accents, that notorious milk ad, and yes, the cutting of cheese: it's The Blotter Presents, Episode 119.
[Editor's note: Apologies for residual barking that I couldn't scrub out of the track. Mr. Bear E. Williams is not always a good dog.]
SHOW NOTES

American Elections: Wicked Game: https://wondery.com/shows/american-elections-wicked-game/
The Presidential podcast from WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/podcasts/presidential/
Irving Stone's Those Who Love: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68775.Those_Who_Love
Jon Meacham's American Lion: Andrew Jackson In The White House: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3147367-american-lion
The Fear of 13: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80099305
Nick Yarris talks to The Innocence Project about The Fear Of 13: https://www.innocenceproject.org/yarris-discusses-fear-of-13/
Still not subscribed to Best Evidence? Check it out: bestevidence.fyi

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