The Blotter Presents

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098: Two on Rebecca Zahau and Two American Experiences May 29, 2019

Show notes

Recording on Memorial Day, I went guestless to talk about two takes on the contested death of Rebecca Zahau: ID's Murder Mystery version, and a limited series from Oxygen called Death At The Mansion featuring Loni Coombs, Paul Holes, and Billy Jensen. Is either one worth your time? Does the nature of the case mean no TV show about it can maintain any momentum? And what is with the lingering shots of the courtroom death mannequin?

Later, I bail out my sinking DVR one teaspoon at a time by reviewing two American Experiences from Season 30, "The Bombing Of Wall Street" and "The Island Murder." One gives good context on post-World War I revolutionary "action," the tension between security and privacy, and the rise of J. Edgar Hoover. The other one is bizarrely flip about Thalia Massie's mental illness. Should you watch either? And will you feel for the narrators? Overlooked victims, colonial injustice, and a reading from Bill James in The Blotter Presents, Episode 098.

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097: Who The Hell Is Hamish? and The Woman Who Wasn't There May 22, 2019

Show notes

It’s taking all my strength to resist making a “throw another con on the barbie” joke, so why fight it: today Eve and I are talking about tragedy vampires on today’s episode, starting with the latest limited series from The Australian: Who The Hell Is Hamish?. How did Hamish Watson con so many people? Where did all that money go? And what makes Greg Bearup and The Australian's narrative construction so perfect for the story it's telling?

Later, we return to 2012, and 9/11, with Angelo Guglielmo’s documentary on 9/11-survivor faker Tania Head, The Woman Who Wasn’t There. It’s a trim 64 minutes that we both enjoyed...but what got left out? Guglielmo set out to make a film about Head’s primacy in the 9/11-survivor world; what changed? Does she have emotional Munchausen’s? And...where is she now? All that plus a newsletter launch, in The Blotter Presents, Episode 097.

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Special Guest: Eve Batey.

096: Extremely Wicked... and In Cold Blood (1996) May 08, 2019

Show notes

Did Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile live up to the hype? ...Not quite. Jeb rejoined me to discuss Berlinger's scripted take on Ted Bundy, or more accurately Bundy's corrosive effect on one of his living victims, his longtime girlfriend Liz Kendall. Did the film do what it set out to, or was the dark gravitational pull of the killer himself too strong? Should Terrence Malick have taken a run at the material? And what's with those lazy music cues?

But Zac Efron's performance is pretty good...which is more than you can say for anyone's in the 1996 miniseries remake of In Cold Blood starring Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts, and Kevin Tighe as Herb Clutter. It's slow, it seems table-read-y, the director -- veteran of several thrillers -- can't make it thrilling, and I for one found myself wishing I were watching something else...specifically, the Clutter-murders documentary Joe Berlinger made a while back. Good blocking, bad exposition, and new angles on old stories: it's The Blotter Presents, Episode 096.

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Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile on Netflix
In Cold Blood (1996)
TBP 032 on Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders
TBP 082 on The Ted Bundy Tapes
Dave And Jeb Aren't Mean
Five Actors Whose Ted Bundy IMDb Credits Might Surprise You

Special Guest: Jeb Lund.

095: At The Heart Of Gold and Cold May 01, 2019

Show notes

Stephanie Early Green was here to talk about Believed in Episode 077, and somehow made it through Erin Lee Carr's excellent but harrowing At The Heart Of Gold also...though we both wept at various points. The film comes to HBO May 3, but you can listen to our discussion about the importance of testimony, the miasma of guilt and responsibility around Nassar, and our admiration for Judge Aquilina right now.

And a podcast with a Cold Case section can't NOT talk about Wondery's very deep dive into the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, Cold...so that's what we did, and while we both liked the podcast, it's got the occasional narrative issue...and Stephanie isn't sure how much further she can go with this bleak and possibly unsolvable mystery. It's not easy listening this week, but good storytelling isn't always fun, as we'll discuss in The Blotter Presents 095.

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Special Guest: Stephanie Green.

094: Kids Behind Bars and A Crime To Remember (the Looking For Mr. Goodbar case) Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

The name is a little glib, but A&E's Kids Behind Bars: Life Or Parole looks at the Supreme Court decision that forced the resentencing of juveniles given life without parole as teenagers, and Piper is back to look at the eight-episode series: the incarcerated "former kids" it chooses to focus on, the way each story is built, the perspectives of law enforcement and victims' families, and the conversation we need to keep having about the role of racial bias in sentencing practices.

Later, we looked at a better-than-average (but still kind of bad) A Crime To Remember that focused on the murder of Roseann Quinn, whose death heavily inspired Looking For Mr. Goodbar, both book and film. Half-decent re-enactments and A-plus talking-head interviewees (including the late Michelle McNamara) meant I enjoyed it, but Piper wasn't crazy about it -- and was it trying to have it both ways in terms of commenting on the sexism and victim-blaming of the time? Plus, who's going to play us in the docuseries of this podcast, Joe Berlinger's twisted knickers, and more in The Blotter Presents, Episode 094.

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SHOW NOTES

Kids Behind Bars: Life Or Parole on A&E's page
A Crime To Remember S03.E02, "Last Night Stand"
Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Judith Rossner on Wikipedia
Emily Yoshida on post-film real-life slideshows for Vulture
Piper Weiss's You All Grow Up And Leave Me, now out in paperback

Special Guest: Piper Weiss.

093: We Are Columbine and Most Notorious on Adolph Coors III Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

Director and Columbine High School graduate Laura Farber made a very personal look at living with the 1999 massacre, featuring a handful of her classmates, and Toby is back to talk about the emotional terrain it covers, how it chose its subjects, and the ways survivors live with trauma.

In the Cold Case section, my attempt to impose a Colorado theme backfired somewhat with a Most Notorious episode from last year on the kidnapping of Coors heir Adolph "Ad" Coors III, and we tried to diagnose what it was about this story and this interview-podcast style that didn't quite match up for a good listen. I'll fire myself for this "Rocky Mountain low" pun, but in the meantime, open a cold one and enjoy The Blotter Presents, Episode 093.

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We Are Columbine
Toby on Episode 072 about The Sentence
Most Notorious's 4/27/18 episode with Philip Jett
An excerpt from Jett's book on the Adolph Coors III kidnapping, Death Of An Heir
Crime Writers On...

Special Guest: Toby Ball.

092: The Disappearance Of Madeleine McCann and Who Took Johnny Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

Netflix's eight-part review of the Madeleine McCann case, The Disappearance Of Madeleine McCann, is journalistically rigorous -- but is it rigorous to a fault? Eve returns to look at the series, its organizing principles, its indictment of tabloid media's role in the case, and how we think the case would "play" if Madeleine disappeared today.

The bleak possible outcomes continue in the Cold Case section; we're looking at Who Took Johnny, a 2014 documentary about the 1982 disappearance of Johnny Gosch in West Des Moines, IA. It's a watchable film that at the same time isn't good, but provides an interesting contrast with TDOMM in what it chooses to highlight, and whom it chooses not to question. Fake news, Etan Patz, and many other debates in The Blotter Presents, Episode 092.

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SHOW NOTES

The Disappearance Of Madeleine McCann
McCann parents' statement on not participating in the series
A This Morning interview with the McCanns' spokesperson elaborating on the same subject
Who Took Johnny
Interesting analysis on Who Took Johnny by amateur online sleuth (?) Blake Hunt
Avenues Dry Goods on Instagram

Special Guest: Eve Batey.

091: Screwball and 30 For 30: No Crossover: The Trial Of Allen Iverson Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

You may not remember much about the Alex Rodriguez/Biogenesis flap from a few years back; you may not care about it now. But Billy Corben's weird, withering Screwball is the best kind of documentary: the kind that works even for people who don't think they care about the topic. Mike Dunn returns to the podcast to discuss the bizarre, yet perfect, re-enactments by Little Leaguers, the snarky sound design, and which bedtime stories we'd read to Manny Ramirez.

Later, we head back to 2010 for a first-season 30 For 30 on Allen Iverson, whose trial forced the town of Hampton, VA to reckon with some uncomfortable truths. Filmmaker Steve James tries to reckon with them in the film himself, and while the episode is a good one and does what the series has always done best, we wondered if it would be made the same way today. 'Tis the season for baseball, college basketball...and The Blotter Presents, Episode 091.
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Screwball
Billy Corben's "The U" for 30 For 30
30 For 30's "No Crossover: The Trial Of Allen Iverson
Ned Zeman's "Southern Discomfort" for SI

Special Guest: Mike Dunn.

090: The Act and History Detectives Mar 27, 2019

Show notes

Is Hulu trying to make its own American Crime Story with anthology true-crime series The Act? Maybe; Tara Ariano and I agree they're off to a good start with the eight-part Gypsy Blanchard limited series co-created by Michelle Dean. Good production design, good performances, and a good sense of the claustrophobia in Gypsy and DeeDee's relationship make for a compelling look at a case full of cons.

History Detectives isn't as successful; I thought recent Austin transplant Tara might enjoy an investigation into one of the city's more gruesome chapters, but the show's ponderously didactic tour of the servant girl murders of 1884-5 didn't work for the true-crime buff OR the civilian on the panel. But sidle on up to kiosk anyway, and slide The Blotter Presents, Episode 090 right into your tote bag.

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