True crime is a staple genre for podcasts. I don’t understand the psychology behind it, but there’s something about listening to a soothing voice discuss horrific crimes that just makes chores and errands fly by!
On a serious note, though, the popularity of true crime podcasts has made it easier than ever to tell victims’ stories and sometimes even help families find justice. Here are some fascinating true crime podcasts you should consider checking out.
- Your Own Backyard
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This podcast covers the disappearance of Kristin Smart, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University, in 1996. Kristin was only 19 years old when she attended her party and didn’t make it back to her dorm room. This podcast is fantastic because it takes the time to really deep-dive into the case. All the little details and the emphasis on seeing Kristin as a person rather than just a victim is what really puts this podcast over the top. It’s also mildly infuriating to listen to how the San Luis Obispo Sheriff Department treated the case (which is somewhat of a common theme in a lot of true crime podcasts). Because of the attention drawn to the case by this podcast, new evidence has actually been found! If you listen to this, I’d recommend you check out the website, which has some great pictures, and follow their socials, since it seems like the host may be releasing an update episode soon!
- Dirty John
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Dirty John is a podcast created for the LA Times that follows the life of John Meehan, a con-man and criminal. It especially focuses on his relationship and tumultuous marriage with Debra Newell, a wealthy businesswomen who met him on a dating site. Her children and close family disliked him, recognizing his manipulative and abusive tendencies, but what they observed only scratched the surface of who John really is. This podcast is addicting and, honestly, pretty terrifying. It’s crazy to learn about how someone who is especially charismatic can convince other that they’re someone else relatively easily. The interviews with Debra and her children are especially well-done and give the story a really personal perspective.
Warning: don’t Google this one before you finish! The ending is especially wild.
- Someone Knows Something
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Unlike the first two podcasts, this one is a multi-season podcast that focuses on different stories each season, all based around cold case disappearances. I’ve only listened to the first season, about five-year old Adrien McNaughton who went missing on a family fishing trip, and it was so interesting (as well as really, really heartbreaking). Between thoughtful interviews with family members and deep dives on the logistics of cadaver dogs, I was hooked and really want to listen to the other seasons. Since this podcast focuses on exclusively cold cases, there’s a unique sadness to it. To quote the CBC website, it’s all about “trying to put the ghosts of the past to rest,” a sentiment echoed by a few other cold case podcasts on this list.
- The Fall Line
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I only recently started listening to the first season of The Fall Line, but I have a feeling that I’m going to be bingeing this podcast very quickly. Similar to Someone Knows Something, each season covers a different cold case. However, this podcast specifically focuses on cases (murders and disappearances) in the Southeastern United States that received very little public attention during the investigation. They put a special emphasis on featuring cases involving marginalized communities, which is so important since true crime media tends to be whitewashed and largely ignore victims who were LGBTQ+, sex workers, homeless, or just don’t fit a twisted societal ideal of a “perfect victim” (which is a whole other discussion that I could write an essay on, to be honest). The first season focuses on the disappearance of Jeannette and Dannette Millbrook, twins from Georgia whose case was mishandled and closed from 1990 to 2013, when it was reopened.