Why murder? I could claim this is a topic on which I’m particularly versed due to some expertise in criminal law—and I do know a lot of criminal law—but that’s not really it. Per the book I’ve taken on my Thanksgiving getaway—The Invention of Murder—it’s a base human instinct to be fascinated by death, especially violent death. The more random, the more frightening. Blame the Victorians.
As I was getting my own beach reading covered, I thought to extend my research into producing a list that could be useful for other ghouls who are going to have substantial travel time, at a minimum. (I’m hoping some of the rest of you are also going to get to relax, too.)
Let’s start with podcasts.
Here are some awesome shows that cover one case per season.
“Dr. Death” is eight, gruesome episodes long, and it’s bloody good. The actual story was so compellingly awful that I followed it closely as it unfolded at the time; the podcast was an unexpected treat. By “treat,” I mean I was glad for the opportunity to get a clearer sense of the bureaucratic and legal mechanisms around what happened. But, seriously, how screwed up is our medical system!?
If you earn the moniker “Dr. Death,” you’re probably a monster. Host Laura Beil investigates the story of Doctor Christopher Duntsch — a Dallas neurosurgeon who likes doing back surgeries. We bet you know where this is going. Dr. Duntsch was all about getting rid of his patient’s back pain and billed himself as the best surgeon in Dallas. Problem was, 33 of his patients became his victims. Then, tragically, those victims found out there were very few repercussions for the doctor through the medical establishment. At least until other doctors started to take note and take Dr. Duntsch to task for his malfeasance. And that’s when things really start to get crazy in this story.
”Somebody Knows Something” is now five phenomenal seasons long. The best part about this series is how incredibly nice and earnest absolutely everyone involved in producing and investigating most parts of the show is because it’s Canadian. The worst part is that at least one person disappears or is harmed per season, obviously.
”In the Dark” really had me with Season One, about the abduction of Jacob Wetterling 27 years ago, but to my great pleasure (and sadness) the show surpassed itself with Season Two by covering something a lot more common and pressing in the justice system: overt, shocking racism.
Curtis Flowers has been tried six times for the same crime. For 21 years, Flowers has maintained his innocence. He's won appeal after appeal, but every time, the prosecutor just tries the case again. What does the evidence reveal? And how can the justice system ignore the prosecutor's record and keep Flowers on death row?
Like “In the Dark,” ”Serial” redeemed itself for me this season. Here was my problem with Season One, with Adnan’s story: Yes, it was close, but it wasn’t nearly as close or even spitting distance from some of the outstandingly obvious miscarriages of justice that take place every (fucking) day in our country. Does that mean Adnan’s story shouldn’t have been covered? Absolutely not.
Who can argue against a phenomenon that motivated Americans to follow a criminal justice system case through an immersive, real investigation format? But I was disappointed as hell every time I had a conversation with someone who got the idea that Adnan’s case was the epitome of imperfect justice, that every defendant had the kind of access, assistance, and opportunity Adnan had throughout the season, not to mention others’ interest and support.
Season Two should have thrilled me: I trained in military law, a former professor was representing the subject of the podcast. But it felt like Sarah Koenig had gotten too far afield. But Season Three—Season Three is what I always hoped for from “Serial:” An accurate, often heartbreaking season-long investigation into how cases are resolved at a Cleveland courthouse that exposes just how much power judges have, just how banal most injustices are.
If you don’t mind something a little lighter, a lot less investigative, and hosts who may or may not be in an altered state, I’ve got two options for you—only one of which I personally really recommend, to be fair, but the other’s so well-liked I couldn’t hold out.
”My Favorite Murder” is the podcast I never knew I needed. We wouldn’t be friends in real life, but that fact in no way dampens my enthusiasm for Georgia and Karen’s hilariously—presumably often high?—conversations about murders. I’ll have to flag that I don’t love the hosts' take on sex work; there are quite a few LGBTQ and gender-related topics—plus some misconceptions vis-á-vis sentencing—that I’d love to talk over with them, but as something to listen to while I get my PT out of the way in the AM? Very enjoyable.
Then there’s ”Wine & Crime.” The hosts describe themselves as “three childhood friends” who “chug wine, chat true crime, and unleash their worst Minnesota accents!” I can verify #2 and #3. Unfortunately, #3 may be the dealbreaker for me.
”White Wine True Crime” is hard to explain. I’m not totally sure how it differs from W&C. Then again, I haven’t listened? Their page has many blood spatter images—points off, we all know that’s junk science—but it’s a little bit of a struggle to get more info from them. Guessing: Hosts get drunk on white wine and talk about murder with astonishing enthusiasm and legitimate amateur expertise.
NB: I couldn’t get into ”S-Town.” Just couldn’t. Maybe it struck me as too exploitative of my region of origin? Ditto ”Crimetown.” I also didn’t care for ”Up and Vanished” for totally different reasons I’m not even sure how to articulate, which is why I link it here. Maybe you’ll have better luck—surely it’s just me.
Onward and upward! Super excited to announce I’ve got a whole list of podcasts I’m pretty sure are fantastic. (Like a little kid, I can’t believe that people are creating this amazing content and essentially letting me have it for free to fill my brain with more weird facts to make people uncomfortable with at cocktail parties.)
”The Trail Went Cold!” It just looks so, so good, from artwork to write-up.
”Criminal,” not because it’s obscure, but because I just haven’t gotten there yet. There are only so many PT exercises in the day, folx.
Finally, a duo: I’ve heard amazing things about ”The Last Podcast on the Left” and ”True Crime Garage!”
Shows?
Netflix’s The Staircase. Former mayoral candidate and author Michael Peterson was accused of killing his second wife; then, turns out, maybe the same thing happened to his first? This show has everything: family trauma, a murder theory that involves an owl, and lots and lots of legalese. Peterson was accused in 2001, when wife Kathleen died, and ultimately convicted in 2003. I’ve been more than a little obsessed with this story for going on 20 years because it happened in my hometown. A fellow ghoul attended Peterson’s estate sale just to score some books he’d made notations in. (Nature? Nurture? Unclear.)
Though I have yet to watch it, I’ve just been introduced to Deadly Women.
Because the list would be incomplete without it, I’ll toss in Making a Murderer, but you should know I’ve also not read that one. Let me know what you think? But watch Deadly Women first.
In conclusion . . .
A note on this post and my recommendations generally: I try to feature non cis male content creators where possible because, TBH, y’all get a head start and prime billing to begin with.
Don’t worry, guys, if you work hard enough you can succeed anyway. Start at the 4:30 mark.