Dr. Robert Young rose to prominence in the world of holistic medicine claiming cancer was not a cell, but rather poisonous acid in the body, so a diet rich in alkaline would neutralize it. The charismatic practitioner opened the so-called Miracle Ranch, where sick people sought expensive treatments to balance their pH. Though he doled out advice and performed baking soda IVs, Young had never been to medical school. And as his devoted followers favored vegetable smoothies instead of chemotherapy, their conditions worsened. “Chameleon: Dr. Miracle” is the latest season of the podcast from Campside Media, Sony Music Entertainment, and Dorothy Street Pictures. Host Larrison Campbell recounts Young’s pseudoscientific alkaline diet and talks to ranch employees and patients who received his quack treatments. It also looks into the difficulty of holding Young accountable - and where he is today.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CHAMELEON: DR. MIRACLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Behind iron(y) bars.
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Cathy Terkanian learned the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier vanished under mysterious circumstances while a teenager. When she dug deeper into Aundria Bowman’s disappearance, she learned police never investigated her adoptive father, despite his history of violence. Convinced the Bowmans knew more than they were saying, Cathy began a crusade to force Aundria’s adoptive parents to talk. Could a chance encounter between cold case detectives and evidence left 1,000 miles away be the break they’ve been waiting for?From the producers of the true crime classic “The Keepers” comes the two-part Netflix series “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter.” It follows Cathy’s journey to do right by the child she never knew and learn what happened to her. Her journey is filled with surprising twists and leaves the viewer to ponder how far is too far to seek justice for a daughter. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "INTO THE FIRE: THE LOST DAUGHTER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter

Chameleon: Dr. Miracle

When we last listened to season three of “In the Dark,” Madeleine Baran had collected signatures from the families of the Haditha victims, hoping to obtain secret photographs of the massacre. In the final episodes of the season, the team gives the pictures to an analyst who says the images are clear evidence of a war crime. Military prosecutors eventually charged eight Marines for killing two dozen unarmed Iraqi men, women and children. But a cascade of immunity offers, intervention by commanding officers, and a generous plea bargain meant no one was held accountable for the murders in any meaningful way.The final episodes of “In the Dark” season three probes what went wrong with the prosecution of the infantrymen who rounded up and slaughtered civilians in retaliation for an IED attack. And while the number of victims in Haditha have been listed as 24, Baran and her team find evidence the number is too low.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "IN THE DARK" EPISODES 6 THROUGH 9 BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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In the Dark season 3 (eps 6-9)

Hours before a wedding at the Winbury’s Nantucket estate, the maid of honor’s body washes ashore. Investigators believe the death was no accident. All the family members are now suspects in the case. They include man-of-leisure Tag Winbury, his high-strung wife and mystery novelist Greer, and their three sons: cash strapped Thomas, adolescent Will, and Benji, the groom. Together with the fish-out-of-water bride, Thomas’s pregnant wife, a shifty best man, and a French cougar, everyone had reasons to kill Merritt Monaco - but who did?Based on the best-selling novel, the six part Netflix series “The Perfect Couple” stars Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and Eve Hewson. The high-profile investigation threatens to undermine Tag and Greer’s facade of considerable wealth and an ideal marriage so necessary for their public persona.  OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE PERFECT COUPLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Goodbye yellow brick nose.
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The Perfect Couple

Secondary school student Pippa Fitz-Amobi selects a controversial topic for an extra credit project. She wants to re-investigate the murder/suicide that rocked her sleepy English village five years earlier. She’s not convinced popular teen Andie Bell was killed by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, and Pip enlists his brother to help her. Pip grills Andie’s friends about what led up to her death and disappearance. Soon she gets anonymous threats to back off. Is someone willing to kill again to keep the truth about Andie from surfacing?From BBC Studios and streaming on Netflix comes the adaptation of the YA bestseller, “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” starring Emma Myers. The thriller series follows Pip’s growing obsession with the Andie Bell case, as she pushes her good girl boundaries to solve the mystery, and navigate adolescent relationships as complicated as the crime.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. 
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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Working off a tip, investigators in a small Georgia town made a gruesome discovery at Tri-State Crematory. Bodies that were supposed to be cremated were instead dumped around the business’s property. The deceased numbered in the hundreds and had been left to rot for years. Owner Brent Marsh was charged with several crimes. Meanwhile, loved ones felt re-traumatized, left wondering who - or what - was really in the urns they had.The true crime podcast “Noble” from Wavland and Campside Media revisits the 2002 Tri-State Crematory scandal. Host Shaun Raviv talks to relatives, lawyers, and investigators about the case, and seeks answers as to why Marsh never put hundreds of remains in the oven.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "NOBLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: line(up) dance. 
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Noble

In 2007, 18-year-old Justin Gaines left an Atlanta-area nightclub, got into a black car and disappeared. Seven years later, Dylan Glass told police he took part in Justin’s murder at an after-hours party and his mother helped clean it up. He was never charged and later recanted his statement.Over the years, tips about Justin’s fate and his whereabouts have led investigators to nothing but dead ends. Theories include a robbery, a jealous boyfriend, and a drug debt to the Mexican cartel. But podcast host Sean Kipe uncovered a promising lead: that Justin’s body was placed in a toolbox and submerged in Lake Lanier.  In the podcast “Drowning Creek” from Wavland, Kipe chases down witnesses, suspects, and possible motives for the disappearance of Justin Gaines. Along the way, he uncovers new clues that might be helpful to the investigation. Kipe also lands an exclusive interview with the man believed to have information that can break open the case.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DROWNING CREEK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL EIGHT MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Drowning Creek

California, September 1975. Within a span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women, working separately, tried to assassinate the president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. These are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate an American president. The first, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, was already infamous as a prominent follower of cult leader Charles Manson.The second, Sara Jane Moore, was a 45 year-old housewife who infiltrated San Francisco's violent radical underground  working undercover for the FBI.The story of one strange and violent Summer, this season on RIP CURRENT.
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Introducing: Toby Ball's RIP CURRENT

A pair of Stanford students turned their senior project on making a new kind of clean e-cigarette into the multi-billion dollar company known as JUUL. But a product envisioned as a way to give adults an alternative to smoking soon contributed to a new epidemic of teens getting hooked on nicotine.Though public outrage, bad press, and legislative action has largely gutted JUUL’s market share, new vape products have taken its place - many with dubious quality and questionable ingredients. And while advocates and regulators continue their fight against sales to minors, one controversial question remains unanswered: is vaping actually safer than smoking cigarettes?From Prologue Projects and exclusively on Audible, “Backfired: The Vaping Wars” chronicles the rise and fall - and rebirth - of a multi-billion dollar industry laser focused on satisfying customers’ nicotine cravings. Hosts Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes go beyond JUUL’s cautionary tale and explore the current marketplace. It features an extended interview with JUUL founder James Monsees. It also follows Neyfakh’s own struggle with vaping and his quest to learn what the early science actually says about the hazards of the product.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BACKFIRED: THE VAPING WARS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: sticks nix chick flicks. 
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Backfired: The Vaping Wars

For the first time, network TV’s biggest true crime personality brings his signature style to podcasting. We’ll rewind to our September 30, 2019 review of the quirky classic from Dateline NBC, “The Thing About Pam,” with a "Date with Dateline" cameo appearance. 
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The Thing About Pam

An Iraqi lawyer reaches out to an American investigative journalist about a massacre that killed family members and others in his hometown. In 2005, after an IED attack on their convoy, US Marines stormed a village and executed 24 men, women, and children. The servicemen claimed they were returning fire from insurgents, but the evidence collected - including secret photographs - suggested a war crime was committed. Despite international condemnation of the Haditha massacre, none of the Marines served time for the killings. Two decades later, Madeleine Baran asks the question “why not?”Season three of the two-time Peabody Award winning podcast “In The Dark” from The New Yorker digs into the arcane world of the military justice system. The nine-part series is the result of four years of investigation, hundreds of interviews, and thousands of unreleased documents. Along the way, they uncover new details about that day in Haditha, the Marine Corps’s efforts to minimize it, and why no one involved in the biggest American war crime since Vietnam was ever punished.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF EPISODES 1-5 OF "IN THE DARK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THIS EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: who can it be now?
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In the Dark: Season 3 (eps 1-5)

A man awakes to find his one-night stand has been murdered. Can a down-on-his-luck lawyer win his freedom? We’ll go back to our July 22, 2016 review of HBO’s Emmy award winning “The Night Of."
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The Night Of

A group of young girls prepare for a special Daddy-Daughter dance with their incarcerated fathers at a Washington, D.C. jail. For most, it’s the only time they’ll be able to touch or hug their dads until they’ve completed their sentences. The inmates must first complete a course on the meaning of fatherhood and contemplate their relationships with their children. But after the tearful last dance, the men grapple with how to be part of their daughters’ lives either in or out of jail.The Netflix documentary “Daughters” looks at the collateral damage of the criminal legal system through the eyes of four girls growing up with a father behind bars. It shows the men coming to terms with the effects of their incarceration on their children. It also follows the daughters long after the dance to see whether the event had a lasting impact on their relationships.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DAUGHTERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL ELEVEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODEIn Crime of the Week: golden opportunity.
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Daughters

An intelligence analyst and a cunning assassin play a sexy game of cat and mouse. We’ll do a classic rewind to our June 8, 2018 review of BBC America’s “Killing Eve” starring Emmy winners Sandra Oh and Jody Comer.
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Killing Eve

As he nears the end of his life, an aging hitman makes a confession to podcast host Marc Smerling. In 1978, he traveled to Rome to help the Italian mafia assassinate Pope John Paul I to cover up wrongdoings by the Vatican bank. Anthony Raimondi says he got into organized crime because his father was a ruthless mob enforcer. Instead of going to prison for killing a rival, he was recruited into a secret commando squad in Vietnam, and later instructed mobsters how to poison the Pontiff. The only problem for Smerling is he can’t verify anything he’s saying.In “The Confessions of Anthony Raimondi,” Smerling walks us through the mobster’s tales and his proclaimed role in the secret killing of the head of the Catholic Church. As the “Crooked City” host tries to discern fact from fiction, he wonders if the exploits are real…or whether Raimondi believes they are.OUR SPOILER-FREE EPISODES OF "THE CONFESSIONS OF ANTHONY RAIMONDI" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: no bones about it.
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The Confessions of Anthony Raimondi

Who’s ready for a “number two”? America’s favorite true crime teenagers return to investigate who is the Turd Burglar. We’ll go back to Oct 7, 2018 for a classic rewind to our review of the Peabody Award-winning comedy series “American Vandal" season 2.
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Don't F**k with Cats

Their parents think they need tough love to get off drugs or improve their behavior. That’s how many adolescents wind up in a facility for so-called troubled teens. Billed as schools or camps, staff members often use violence to maintain discipline or mete out punishment. For decades, these programs resulted in physical and sexual abuse, deaths, long-lasting trauma, and few consequences for staff or management. Only now, after a series of high-profile incidents and celebrity awareness, attention is focused on the loosely-regulated industry and its legacy of pain.“Teen Torture, Inc.” from Max Originals is the latest title in the growing true crime subgenre about the billion dollar Troubled Teen Industry. This three part series features survivors from a variety of programs. It also looks into the history of the business, the corporations making money off the families, and the political efforts to add some accountability to the industry.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "TEEN TORTURE, INC." BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: thar she blows.
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Teen Torture, Inc.

Was a cold war rock song actually a piece of CIA propaganda? We’ll rewind the cassette to our May 25, 2020 review of "Wind of Change " from Spotify, Pineapple Street, and Crooked Media, with host Patrick Radden Keefe.
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Wind of Change

In 2009, after her release from the LA County Sheriff’s Department on a minor arrest, Mitrice Richardson walked into the night and vanished. Her naked, mummified body was discovered months later in a remote Malibu Canyon creek bed. Authorities said the cause and manner of her death were undetermined. Mitrice’s family accused the department of botching the investigation, mishandling her remains, and ignoring signs of foul play. They also failed to get answers from the last person who saw her alive: a man with a violent past living in a wilderness fort near the creek.“Lost Hills: Dark Canyon” is the fourth season of the true crime podcast from Pushkin Industries and Western Sound.  Host Dana Goodyear traces Mitrice’s last steps in an effort to learn how she died. She also identifies a new person of interest and tries to do what detectives couldn’t: get evidence against this prime suspect.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LOST HILLS: DARK CANYON" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Lost Hills: Dark Canyon

A therapist discovers the mysterious clinic where she works is treating war vets by erasing their memories. We’ll go back to our Dec 30, 2016 review of Gimlet’s “Homecoming” starring Catherine Keener and Oscar Isaac.
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Homecoming

In 2011, more than a dozen high school girls in Le Roy, New York began displaying Tourette-like twitches and tics. Health officials could not find a physical or environmental cause for the symptoms, and believed the teens were suffering from conversion disorder. But some rejected the implication their illness was all in their heads, insisting a medical cause was to blame. Was Le Roy High School the site of the latest chapter in the history of mass hysteria? From Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios comes the seven part podcast “Hysterical.” Host Dan Taberski looks to answer whether the teens were victims of a mysterious illness or a psychosomatic contagion. He also examines Havana Syndrome and fentanyl-exposure overdoses, other instances where victims may be affected more by suggestion than by science.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HYSTERICAL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: send our regrets.
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Hysterical

It was a water park focused on crazy rides and little concern for safety...and Rebecca has the scars to prove it. We’ll return to our Sept 21, 2020 review of “Class Action Park.”
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Class Action Park

While conducting a routine firearms background check, a federal agent hears a rumor about Thomas Gibison that dated back to high school. He’d bragged that he and a friend shot a Black man to earn a skinhead spider web tattoo. Investigators get accomplice Craig Peterson to confirm 15 years earlier they killed a random pedestrian in Philadelphia. But with no name, date, or open case to work from, the agents are at a loss as to how to solve this crime. They’re able to match the details to the unsolved death of Aaron Wood, the victim of a random shooting in 1989. But can prosecutors win a conviction for a real life hate crime working off of loose talk and old memories?“Deep Cover: The Nameless Man” is the fourth season of the investigative podcast from Pushkin Industries. Pulitzer Prize winner Jake Halpert talks to investigators, jurors and family members about the crime and its implications. How were the authorities’ questions answered about who was their victim and the family’s questions about who was the shooter?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DEEP COVER: THE NAMELESS MAN" IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.
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Deep Cover: The Nameless Man

A pair of FBI agents teams with a researcher to interview the most dangerous serial killers to create a new investigative tool: criminal profiling. We’ll revisit our Oct 27, 2017 review of Netflix’s “Mindhunter”
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Mindhunter

In 1989, 23-year-old Kevin Hughes was killed when he was ambushed by a gunman along Nashville’s famous Music Row. Hughes had been troubled that the country music record chart he worked for was accepting money under the table to manipulate the rankings of up-and-coming artists.Hughes’s opposition to the dirty practice put him in the crosshairs of powerful independent music promoters who paid for chart positions to milk money from their unsuspecting clients. Detectives wondered if Hughes was executed because he didn’t want to play ball…and whether someone lured him into a deadly trap to get back on the chart with a bullet.In the podcast “Music on Murder Row” from The Tennessean, host Keith Sharon explores who benefitted from Hughes’s killing, challenges the claims of the passenger in the car, and looks at the unscrupulous actions of promoters who prey on those dreaming of stardom. Sharon also tells the tale of the hit country music song “Music on Murder Row” and how it does and doesn’t fit in with the case.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER ON MUSIC ROW" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 14 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: bust a gut!
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Murder on Music Row

After seeing a report about facilitated communication, a student of professor Anna Stubblefield asked if she could help his disabled brother. With support for his arm and hand, Derrick Johnson could type on a small keyboard. With Stubblefield’s assistance, the nonverbal man could express a wide range of thought, feelings, and academic promise. Over time, the pair fell in love and started a sexual relationship. But the Johnsons speculated Stubblefield was manipulating his communication, guiding his finger to type out what she wanted. They also believed Derrick was incapable of consenting to a relationship and the professor was raping the man she promised to help. Who was actually typing his messages? In the Netflix documentary “Tell Them You Love Me,” we hear from both Stubblefield and the Johnsons and their differing takes on what happened to Derrick. It also explores the controversy around facilitated communication and the likelihood of bias by those assisting nonverbal users.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Tell Them You Love Me

In 1982, restaurant manager Michael Moore shot accountant Jordan Rasmussen, then laundry van driver Buddy Booth who discovered the body. Though he escaped the firing squad, Moore sought advice from the sentencing board on how he might someday win his release from prison. The murders left gaping holes in the lives of the victims’ families, but when they learned Moore was an exemplary prisoner who was contrite about his crimes, some saw the killer in a new light. They began a process of forgiveness, one to provide compassion for Moore and one to heal their own pain they’d been carrying for years.From Lemonada and KSL Podcasts comes the second season of “The Letter: Ripple Effect.” Host Amy Donaldson brings another unlikely tale on the power of restorative justice. Could a grieving family recover by extending mercy to Jordan and Buddy’s killer? And can Moore be completely rehabilitated - or is he just playing the family in a long con to get out of prison? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE LETTER: RIPPLE EFFECT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL NINE MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Happy birthdays to me
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The Letter: Ripple Effect

As California’s gay community began flourishing in the 1970s, a conservative politician pushed through a statewide ballot question: should gay and lesbian teachers be banned from California schools? State Senator John Briggs told voters children were at risk of molestation and indoctrination in the classroom. Though their political influence was small, queer activists began to mobilize against a growing anti-gay countermovement. If Proposition 6 passed at the ballot box, it would be more than a defeat for the teachers. It could set gay rights back for decades.In its ninth season, Slate’s “Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs” revisits this consequential dispute on equality - the first time a state held a vote on gay rights. Host Christina Cauterucci brings us the voices of the activists and political consultants on both sides of the referendum which echoes in today’s news.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SLOW BURN: GAYS AGAINST BRIGGS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 7 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs

In May 2021, Belize police superintendent Henry Jammott was shot in the head with his own service weapon. Investigators arrested socialite Jasmine Hartin, who claimed the gun accidentally fired while Jammott was teaching her to handle it. Many in Belize assumed Hartin would get special consideration because her common-law husband was the son of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft. Instead, Hartin believed the Ashcrofts weren’t using their considerable clout to help her - they were doing all they could to bend the rules, convict her, and cut her out of the family and its fortune.In the 12-part series “White Devil” from Campside Media, host Josh Dean uses extensive interviews with Hartin to dig into the puzzling investigation of the shooting, as well as examine her high stakes custody case and financial disputes with the Ashcrofts. It also looks into the depths of corruption in Belize and the unchecked influence of a businessman dubbed by locals as a “white devil.”OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WHITE DEVIL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: take it from a Top.
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White Devil

In 2019, authorities in California searched the sea for Scottish tourist Kim Avis, who was last seen going for a swim. BBC journalist Myles Bonnar remembered Avis as an eccentric street vendor from his hometown. But American police believed Avis faked his disappearance to avoid criminal prosecution for sexual assault back in Scotland. An international manhunt failed to turn up the fugitive. But a thousand miles away, a Colorado woman was growing suspicious of her new friend with the indiscernible accent.In “Dead Man Running” from BBC Sounds, Bonnar recounts the search for Avis. It also does a deep dive into his life as a figure around town, the crimes he committed, and why it took years to bring him to justice.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DEAD MAN RUNNING" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. 
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Dead Man Running

For fifty years, George Coulam has owned the Texas Renaissance Faire, which he runs with an iron fist. Seeking to fill his remaining years with romance, the 86-year-old is considering selling the faire. His earnest general manager Jeff Baldwin believes “King George” will someday pass the reigns to him.For reasons unclear, the mercurial owner sours on his loyal employee, forcing him to share responsibility with a former elephant trainer. Meanwhile, a kettle korn vendor with deep pockets makes a play for the faire. It sparks a game of thrones among those seeking to rule, and for the future of the kingdom.The HBO Documentary series “Ren Faire” mixes cinema verité and fantasy to tell this feud among subcultures. Will the festival’s temperamental monarch sell his prized asset? And how will those decisions affect those in this Shakespearean-sized story of succession?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "REN FAIRE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: nut case.
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Ren Faire

In 2015, the gentlemanly world of professional curling was rocked by a new breakthrough. A team debuted the Hardline broom, one whose brushes were incredibly effective at guiding the gliding rock across the ice to the target with astonishing precision. Opponents bristled, claiming the Hardline broom provided an unfair advantage. Then a competing manufacturer unveiled an even better broom, one that practically allowed players to steer the rock. In a sport operating mostly on handshakes, this broom arms race threatened to alter the game and sweep away the bonds among the curling community. In the podcast “Broomgate: A Curling Scandal” from CBC and USG Audio, comedian and curler John Cullen recounts those rancorous days when gamesmanship nearly won over sportsmanship in the most unlikely of athletic controversies. Cullen talks to the central figures who brought curling to the brink, but later found a way to preserve the sport.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BROOMGATE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Broomgate: A Curling Scandal

Workers discover a young woman has overdosed in a hotel room filled with drugs and a video camera, but the police never take any action against the older man who was with her. After getting a tip, LA Times investigative reporter Paul Pringle learns the man is Doctor Carmen Puliafito, the dean of USC’s medical school, who’s been living a secret life of hard drugs and coercive sex with the victim. Pringle and his colleagues are stonewalled by Pasadena police and the administration at USC. But once they uncover enough to print an explosive story about Puliafito and the medical school, they find their own editors are slow-walking the exposé on the powerful university. From iHeart Podcasts and Best Case Studios comes “Fallen Angels: A Story of California Corruption.” Pringle recounts the steps of his investigation into Puliafito and lengths taken by USC to cover up the scandal. Pringle also points fingers at the bosses in his own paper who acted as if they were in cahoots with the university to kill the story.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "FALLEN ANGELS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.In Crime of the Week: cock up.
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Fallen Angels

What do some of the most prominent Indigenous celebrities, politicians, and cultural leaders have in common? They’re not actually affiliated with the tribes they claim to have ties with. More and more so-called “pretendians” are being unmasked, accused of fabricating their native heritage. Some fake their ancestry to accumulate power, reshape their public image, or obtain benefits meant for Indigenous people. While motivations vary, risk of exposure or accountability remains low.In “Pretendians” from Canadaland, co-hosts Robert Jago and Angel Ellis reveal unbelievable stories of audacious fraudsters and investigate the complex phenomenon of Indigenous identity theft.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "PRETENDIANS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE SHOW.
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Pretendians

Writer Rebecca Godfrey returns to her parents’ home in Vancouver to develop a book about local teens in a foster home. One of the troubled girls she focuses on is soon connected to the disappearance of her frenemy, Reena Virk, last seen fleeing a group of teens who chased her from a party. When Reena’s body is discovered, Rebecca inserts herself in the teens’ world to find the real story for her book. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s childhood friend, Officer Cam Bentland, seeks her own answers as to what happened that night under the bridge.  Hulu’s “Under the Bridge” stars Riley Keough and Golden Globe winner Lily Gladstone in this adaptation of Godfrey’s nonfiction book. The series combines the real life story of Reena Virk and the teens responsible for her death with a dramatized story of women confronting their pasts.  OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "UNDER THE BRIDGE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: traffic jam.
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Under the Bridge

Two decades ago, reporter Tonya Mosley got an unexpected phone call from a man claiming to be her nephew by a half-sister she never knew about. Antonio Wiley said his mom vanished in Detroit in the 1980s when he was just 14-years-old. When Anita Wiley’s body was identified in 2020, Tonya and Antonio teamed up to retrace her life and examine why she died. The journey changed the way the journalist looked at her hometown, her family, and herself.From APM Studios and TMI Productions comes the latest season of “Truth Be Told Presents: She Has a Name.” The series is part investigation/part memoir, with the host exploring Anita’s troubled life and unsolved murder. It also examines Tonya’s and Antonio’s struggles to reconcile their feelings about absent parents and their lives that could have been.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SHE HAS A NAME" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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She Has a Name

Behind the scenes, years before Robert Durst’s hot mic murder confession made it to air, investigators in the Susan Berman case had been reviewing evidence uncovered by the producers of “The Jinx.” And as America grew transfixed with the 2015 TV series, the man connected to three high-profile crimes felt the heat.Once the millionaire fugitive was captured, prosecutors began building their legal case by tying together two crimes. They argued Berman knew Durst was behind the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen, and he murdered Berman to keep her quiet. But to prove their theory, they’ll have to get it out of Durst’s many loyal friends and associates.In “The Jinx - Part Two,” director Andrew Jarecki reveals in real time what was happening as the original HBO series shook up the cold case. With extensive jailhouse recordings and courtroom footage, the sequel dissects the murder trial and seeks to answer the final mystery: what happened to Durst’s money?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE JINX - PART TWO" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: inhospitable.
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The Jinx - Part Two

How did America law enforcement get to its present state of near-unaccountability? An examination of its history shows policing has its origins in running slave patrols, displacing indigenous tribes, and coercing organized labor. Once used as a tool by the powerful to maintain social order and protect their personal property, modern police have become a power unto themselves.With the help of “tough on crime” politicians, law enforcement has only grown in strength and resources. And despite an onslaught of high-profile police brutality, murder, and misconduct cases, legal protections prevent most cops from being answerable for their actions.The Netflix documentary “Power” is a deep dive into the history of policing in America and where it’s going in the future. Historians, academics, and critics discuss the problems of a system that demands unqualified compliance from its citizens. The film also asks whether the police - or the people that they serve and protect - ultimately hold the real power in America.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "POWER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Power

Why is (almost) everyone talking about the Karen Read case? If you've also been wondering, you're in luck. Rebecca was asked to dive into it for the Boston Globe's Say More podcast, and on this special crossover edition of Crime Writers On, we're thrilled to share that episode. Rebecca chats with host Shirley Leung and courts reporter Sean Cotter about the case, why it's gotten so much attention, and what's happening in the trial. Plus, what should we be watching for?FOLLOW SAY MORE FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE ON APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY, OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR AUDIO!
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What's up with the Karen Read Case? (A Boston Globe/Say More crossover!)

A hardscrabble journalist is reassigned to help an American podcaster investigate a cold case in a remote Irish village. After twenty years, Bodkin is set to resume its annual Samhain  celebration - a tradition that was canceled after three people disappeared the night of the pagan festival.While host Gilbert Power focuses primarily on the human interest angle,  Dove Maloney thinks a larger story is hiding within Bodkin. Along with their researcher Emmy, Dove looks for connections between the festival victims and an infamous smuggler living in the village under an assumed name. The Netflix comedy/mystery series “Bodkin” stars Siobhán Cullen and Will Forte. The team tries to navigate car fires, hit-and-runs, yoga teaching nuns, an eel smuggling ring, and the secrets a small town wants to bury, peppered with insider quips about the state of podcasting.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BODKIN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: home shopping.
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Bodkin

Donnie Dunn, an aspiring stand-up comedian, extends a courtesy to a distraught pub customer. Martha Scott becomes a friend and a regular at the bar, but her fixation on Donnie starts crossing boundaries. He tries to push away, but a spurned Martha begins an unrelenting stalking campaign which upends his life. The stress of the stalking triggers repressed feelings of Donnie’s own sexual assault at the hands of an influential television writer. As things continue to spin out of control, Donnie struggles to understand himself and decipher the woman who’s obsessed with him.Netflix’s buzzworthy dark comedy-slash-searing drama “Baby Reindeer” stars Richard Gadd and is based on his autofictional one man show. The series mines deep emotional territory, with performances that are fiercely raw and often unsettling.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BABY REINDEER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Baby Reindeer

Police in Austin, Texas had no clue as to who was behind a package bomb that killed a homeowner in March 2018. Ten days later, when two more devices exploded in the city, investigators knew they were dealing with a serial bomber. With each new attack, the devices were more sophisticated. But authorities caught a break when bombs found at a FedEx facility could be traced to a suspicious man who dropped them off.In the newest installment of the series from Campside Media, Pegalo Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment, “Witnessed: 19 Days” recounts the hunt for the Austin serial bomber. Host Sean Flynn describes the shoe leather efforts of law enforcement to stop the attacks and discern the motive behind the terror campaign.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WITNESSED: 19 DAYS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Don't stop bee-lieving.
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Witnessed: 19 Days

Grifter Thomas Ripley is hired by a wealthy businessman to convince his prodigal son to return from his extended holiday in Italy. But instead he ingratiates himself with Dickie Greenleaf and shares in his host’s life of luxury. Once he overstays his welcome, Ripley hatches a plan to get rid of Dickie and assume his playboy identity.Instead of Easy Street, Ripley finds himself living one step ahead of Dickie’s suspicious girlfriend, Marge, and an Italian detective investigating the missing bon vivant. Can the talented con man keep up the ruse and avoid getting tangled in the web of lies he’s spun?Netflix’s series “Ripley” stars Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning, and is based on the book and movie “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” The moody black &amp; white thriller is punctuated with rich symbolism, awe-inspiring scenery, and heart-stopping suspense, wrapped around a tour de force performance by Scott.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "RIPLEY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Ripley

In 1988, three months after going missing from a lake in San Angelo, Texas, the bodies of teenagers Shane Stewart and Sally McNelly were discovered - the pair had been shot. Among those in their friend group were a collection of self-styled occultists, and evidence of satanic rituals was found near the park where they vanished. Evidence suggested there was more than one killer and rumors of a falling out between the victims and members of the cult interested investigators. Other possibilities included a drug debt, a random robbery, or police perpetrators and a cover-up. Decades after the murders, new clues keep emerging, but detectives seem no closer to solving this cold case.From Texas Monthly True Crime comes “Shane and Sally.” Hosts Rob D’Amico and Karen Jacobs take a fresh look at the prominent unsolved mystery. They track down past suspects and seek a motive for the killing of the teens. Did they really double-cross a drug dealer, provoke a satanic cult, or were they the latest victims of a stick-up gang prowling the lake?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SHANE AND SALLY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: give us this play.
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Shane and Sally

Among the missing persons cases online sleuth Todd Matthews followed were that of two boys from the same family who vanished 25 years apart. He was shocked to receive a call from a man who thought he might be Phillip Steven Brandenburg, the baby who went missing in 1974.Todd determined Steve Patterson was indeed the John Doe they’d been searching for and helped him reconnect with the mother he never knew. Sandi Brandenburgh claimed the underground adoption was brokered by her husband. Soon after, Franklin Floyd disappeared with Sandi’s oldest daughter and lived on the run with her for years. Authorities would not tie all these threads together until three more people were dead or missing.From iHeartMedia, Revelations Entertainment, First and Last Productions, and Neon Hum Media, comes "Hello, John Doe." We hear Todd work with Steve to learn more about where he came from, though the answers are discouraging. It also guides listeners through the connections to the Sharon Marshall and Michael Hughes cases and Todd’s efforts to reunite a family torn apart by tragedy.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HELLO, JOHN DOE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Hello, John Doe

In 2014, Sarah Koenig and Dana Chivvis traveled to Guantánamo Bay hoping to find the untold stories about the infamous military prison. They found many friendly soldiers willing to repeat Army talking points, but no one willing to be candid about life at the detention center.A decade later, the pair reached out to those people, many who had left the military and were now willing to go on the record. Many remembered Gitmo as a plum wartime assignment in sunny Cuba, filled with strong drinks and sexy personnel. Others have slowly come to terms with what the mission was and the role they played in it. Koenig also spoke with former prisoners, some with little or no connection to the Taliban or Al Qaeda when they were detained. In season four of “Serial,” Koenig and Chivvis drift away from the podcast format it popularized ten years ago, telling a variety of stories week-to-week about Guantánamo Bay from the people who were there. Instead of a deep investigation into policies and procedures at Gitmo, the hosts seek personal, unexplored stories from more than 100 of those on the ground. The podcast promises an oral history of the military detention center long cloaked in mystery and infamy.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF SEASON 4 OF "SERIAL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODEIn Crime of the Week: distill my heart.
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Serial season 4

After being booked, defendants in Nashville’s justice system must navigate a labyrinth of challenges. They include people whose mental illness gets them in trouble, an abuse survivor who finds herself both victim and defendant, a couple using jail as an opportunity to get clean from heroin, and teenagers facing life sentences for murder. There are also judges and corrections officials who acknowledge the system’s default setting is for incarceration, not rehabilitation. And they recognize the inadequate resources available for those who need help once they’re released.The Max Original JUSTICE, USA is an insider’s view of Nashville's criminal justice system, going into the jails for men, women, and juveniles. The series features a variety of stories about inmates, lawyers, and judges who confront issues of incarceration, mental illness, and addiction.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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JUSTICE, USA

With the nation already on edge after 9/11, envelopes containing deadly anthrax were mailed to journalists and politicians. It killed five postal workers and reporters, and sickened Congressional staffers. Government officials claimed these attacks originated overseas, and used the threat as justification for the invasion of Iraq. The FBI relied on leading experts to decipher the anthrax, and traced the weaponized strain to a particular beaker in a US biolab. Was one of the scientists working with investigators actually responsible for the attacks? In the latest installment of the series from Sony Music and Campside Media, “Cover Up: The Anthrax Threat” recounts the seven-year probe that shocked the nation, ruined lives and careers, and set the country on the path to war. Host Josh Dean details the sprawling investigation into who mailed the bio-weapon and why.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COVER UP: THE ANTHRAX THREAT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Octomess!
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Cover Up: The Anthrax Threat

The 2012 murders of 20 school children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary shocked the nation and shattered their grieving families. But InfoWars host Alex Jones immediately unspooled a series of conspiracy theories accusing the parents of faking their kids’ deaths in an elaborate hoax. For years, the families were harassed by conspiracy theorists and routinely slandered by Jones. Fed up, a group of parents sued the host for libel and asked courts in Texas and Connecticut to hold him accountable in the biggest defamation case in US history.The HBO Original documentary “The Truth vs. Alex Jones” goes behind the scenes of the billion-dollar-plus lawsuit. It also digs into the origins of Jones’s unrepentant personna and his scandal-driven business model, as well as the worldview of the followers he inspired to torment the victims’ loved ones.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TRUTH VS. ALEX JONES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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The Truth vs. Alex Jones

In June 2021, Ella Mae Begay vanished from her Sweetwater, Arizona home in the middle of the night. Preston Henry Tolth admitted to tribal police he stole the 62-year-old’s truck and beat her, but Ella Mae’s family pressured him to say where on the Navajo reservation he left her. A year later, 38-year-old Kristina Carrillo went missing from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. But as host Connie Walker investigates her disappearance, she uncovers an unlikely connection between the two cases.In the final season of “Stolen: Trouble in Sweetwater,” Walker looks at two missing persons cases from the largest Indian reservation in the US and their potential link. In addition to her journalism on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous people, the Peabody Award-winning host also focuses on the systemic issues that make solving these cases so difficult.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "STOLEN: TROUBLE IN SWEETWATER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: the beat slows down. 
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Stolen: Trouble in Sweetwater

To engage his sociology students, Elizabethton High School teacher Alex Campbell created a unique lesson plan. The class would research a 1970s cold case known as the Redhead Murders. By semester's end, the students had created a profile of the possible serial killer. Six months after the class released their findings, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified someone who fit their profile. They said DNA linked a now-deceased truck driver to one of the half-dozen murders. But with links to the other victims still missing, a new group of Mr. Campbell’s students pick up the trail to solve the case once and for all.From iHeart True Crime and KT Studios, “Murder 101” traces how a group project turned into a potential break in a 40-year-old mystery. The podcast brings us into the classroom discussions on possible clues and an interview with the one person who might tie the crimes of Jerry Leon Johns together: his one surviving victim.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER 101" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE PODCAST.
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Murder 101

Imogene Scott finds herself aboard a luxury cruise ship chartered by the Collier family. The guest list includes powerful friends, as well as Chinese investors interested in acquiring their clothing factory. But after setting sail, an obnoxious passenger is killed with a harpoon through his chest.Also on board is a figure from Imogene’s childhood: world famous detective Rufus Cotesworth, who tried to solve her mother’s car bombing but abruptly dropped the case. The murdered passenger was actually Rufus’s undercover partner, looking for connections between the Colliers and the enigmatic Viktor Sams. Though she despises him, Imogene agrees to help Rufus investigate when she learns Sams was somehow tied to her mother’s death.Hulu’s high seas whodunnit “Death and Other Details” stars Violett Beane and Mandy Patinkin. The stylized drama takes the locked room murder format and sets it afloat. Can the pair learn what Danny uncovered that got him killed? Why is Viktor Sams targeting the passengers ? And will Imogene discover who was responsible for her mother’s death all those years ago.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DEATH AND OTHER DETAILS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Up shit's creek.This episode was recorded live at The Word Barn in Exeter, NH. 
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Death and Other Details

It was the scandal that took down a President…but it didn’t happen all at once. The road to Watergate was paved over time with small turns and little-known stories that need to be heard.In this CWO Classic: we’ll revisit our December 8, 2017 review of the classic podcast “Slow Burn.”
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Slow Burn

After profiling lawyer Shane Correia years ago for her podcast, part of his story stuck with host Amory Sivertson. He grew up under the cloud that his sister Sophia had been arrested for murdering her mother-in-law. And it was his brother Sean who said he witnessed Sophia commit the crime. But something about the story bothered Sivertson. Did the six-month pregnant 23-year-old really beat Marlyne Johnson with fireplace tongs just to steal some money? Why does the blood evidence only point to Sean, who was given a deal to testify against his sister? But her own investigation takes several turns, and Sivertson wonders if she’ll ever know who’s telling the truth.In “Beyond All Repair” from WBUR and ZSP Media, Sivertson offers up a classic murder mystery with an enthralling cast of characters. She brings a vibrant narrative style and leaves no stone unturned in her quest to find out who killed Marlyne . OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BEYOND ALL REPAIR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: sinking feeling.
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Beyond All Repair

He went from NFL tight end to having three murder charges. Could his rags-to-riches-to-ruin story have been different?In this CWO Classic, we’ll revisit our October 29, 2018 review of "Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc." from Wondery and the Boston Globe Spotlight team.
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Gladiator

Western news outlets became fascinated with Chen Guangcheng, a blind self-taught lawyer who advocated for human rights inside communist China. When Guangcheng escaped house arrest and fled to the US in 2012, he was held up as a symbol of freedom and democracy. But in the subsequent years, observers were puzzled when Guangcheng re-entered the public sphere as a Trump supporter, repeating right-wing talking points. And the humble dissident who stood up to China’s authoritarian government was spotted in Washington on January 6th.The podcast “Dissident at the Doorstep” from Crooked Media looks at Guangcheng’s story, tracing his early advocacy for reproductive freedoms and disability rights, to the diplomatic crisis caused by his flight from captivity, and his latter day emergence as a right wing darling. Hosts Alison Klayman, Colin Jones, and Yangyang Cheng ask if the man known as “the barefoot lawyer” changed his political stripes…or was he misunderstood from the beginning?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DISSIDENT AT THE DOORSTEP" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Every dog has his DNA.
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Dissident at the Doorstep

“Twin Peaks” actor Kyle MacLachlan had a crazy story for his friend. In the 1980s, kingpin Pablo Escobar bribed an entire North Carolina town to let him land airplanes and smuggle cocaine into the US. The little-known story happened in Varnamtown, population 300. They found that residents, many with the last name of Varnam, got rich as a cog in the cartel's trafficking operation. But one fisherman who refused to be intimidated took on the town in a quixotic effort to stop the smuggling. It took a spate of bad luck and double crosses to bring the whole thing down.In the podcast “Varnamtown,” MacLachlan and war correspondent Joshua Davis revisit this drug war footnote in a tale that features REO Speedwagon, lawn mowing Playboy bunnies, and an attack turkey. We hear from residents, investigators and drug smugglers while the actor and the journalist banter with each other about the story’s quirky twists and turns. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "VARNAMTOWN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Varnamtown

Concerned by her adolescent behavior, Katherine Daniel’s parents sent the teenager to the Academy at Ivy Ridge, a school that promised to set her straight through a rigorous program. But within its walls, Ivy Ridge’s students were subjected to humiliation and violence at the hands of its staff. Years later, Katherine and her former classmates returned to the now-closed school. Riffling through its abandoned files and surveillance tape, they put together the pieces of their traumatic experiences, hoping to prove to an unconvinced world they were abused by so-called educators more interested in collecting tuition than in their well being.The Netflix documentary series “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping” is a unique view of the troubled teen industry told through the eyes of a former student. Katherine Kubler retraces the academy’s history while confronting former workers and pursuing current owners. She also attempts to come to terms with her own experience at the school and her strained relationship with the parent who put her there.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE PROGRAM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 14 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: rise, dry, reboot.
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The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping

Journalist Jess Shane had become disillusioned with the documentary industry and its effects on those profiled. She set off to create a new paradigm and craft stories with input from the people whose lives she’s covering. Shane reveals her process of creating a new kind of storytelling, featuring four people who’ll receive compensation and editorial input. But after months of collaboration, the subjects are unable to offer meaningful contributions to Shane’s presentation of their life stories. And the documentarian must confront what happens when subjects want more of the control she offered.From PRX’s Radiotopia Presents comes “Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative.” Shane lets listeners into her earnest project to create stories that do right by their subjects, only to learn what is lost by doing so. It also asks questions about the commoditization of nonfiction programs by the companies that supply them and the audiences that demand them.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SHOCKING, HEARTBREAKING, TRANSFORMATIVE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 16 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE. 
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Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative

Sierra Barter’s step-grandfather had terrorized her family for years before his death in 2008. Jim Mordecai sexually abused the women in his life, including his step-daughter and his high school students. But he also seemed to have knowledge about a string of 1970s unsolved murders involving hitchhikers near his Northern California hometown. Sierra launches an investigation into Jim’s life which draws her closer to estranged relatives, but what she learns of her dead step-grandfather fits the profile of a man who could be responsible for some of the most infamous killings in the Bay Area.The Max Original “The Truth About Jim” follows Sierra’s journey to learn about Mordecai’s past, his victims, and his penchant for violence. Was this serial sexual offender also responsible for the Santa Anna Hitchhiker Murders? Or even more shocking…could he have been the Zodiac Killer?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE TRUTH ABOUT JIM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: frankly disappointing. 
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The Truth About Jim

A young filmmaker sets off to find his mother’s killer. What he uncovers shocks him. In this CWO Classic Rewind we’ll revisit our December 7, 2020 review of HBO’s “Murder on Middle Beach.”
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Murder on Middle Beach

Sunset Mesa Funeral Home was a trusted business for bereaved residents in Montrose, Colorado. Director Megan Hess smooth-talked family members and offered steep discounts on cremations for those who donated their bodies to science. But the community was shocked when it learned the ashes in their urns were not those of their loved ones. Investigators discovered customers were being misled as to how their remains would be used. Hess was getting rich in the shadowy world of body dealing. In the backroom, she was dismembering heads and limbs to be illegally sold to medical companies for research.From Sony Music Entertainment, Campside Media and Black Bar Mitzvah, comes “Cover Up: Body Brokers.” The podcast recounts how Hess and her mother harvested body parts from their funeral home while giving families cremains from a mixed pile of ashes. Host Ashley Fantz talks to investigators, Sunset Mesa employees, and loved ones affected by the scam. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COVER UP: BODY BROKERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: By any other name.
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Cover Up: Body Brokers

An aging detective with a failing memory struggles to solve the kidnapping case that has haunted him his whole career. On this CWO Classic Rewind, we'll revisit our February 4, 2019 and March 4, 2019 reviews of HBO's "True Detective" season three.
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True Detective 3

After the last sunset of the year, a group of scientists vanish from their arctic research station near Ennis, Alaska. Police Chief Liz Danvers later finds the men naked and flash-frozen in the ice with no indication of how they got there.Danvers reluctantly reunites with Trooper Evangeline Navarro, her former partner still haunted by the unsolved killing of an indigenous woman. The uneasy pair seek to answer what happened at Tsalal station and whether it’s connected to Annie K’s murder. But as an endless darkness settles over the Night Country, are greater forces at play?“True Detective: Night Country” is season four of the HBO series and stars Jodi Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, and Finn Bennett. Are the deaths linked to one another or with the mining operation polluting the water supply? Haunted both literally and figuratively by loss and isolation, the characters confront their own darkness living above the Arctic Circle.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: dick pic. 
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True Detective: Night Country

In 1985, Irish residents were stunned to learn the man they knew as country gentleman Michael O’Shea was actually Joseph Maloney, a fugitive from America, accused of poisoning his wife twenty years earlier. He had fled to Ireland after escaping custody in New York. Though a court ruled he be sent back to the US, a legal glitch with his extradition order allowed Maloney to flee with his second wife. Decades later, the accused murderer remains on the run, frustrating authorities on two continents.From RTÉ Documentary on One comes the podcast “Runaway Joe.” It looks at one of the FBI’s oldest cold cases. Host Pavel Barter interviews friends of Maloney’s murdered wife, American authorities hunting him, and Irish residents who knew him for years as Mick O’Shea. Can investigators find the elusive fugitive and bring him to justice nearly 60 years after the crime?  OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "RUNAWAY JOE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Runaway Joe

The case of an unidentified hiker found dead in the Florida Everglades baffled police. He’d gone by the trail nickname “Mostly Harmless,” but no one knew who he really was. His story energized Internet sleuths who started their own investigation into the John Doe. The online community grew toxic, with splinter groups competing with one another in a search for answers. But when the identity of Mostly Harmless was uncovered and the questions to his life on the trail were answered, some wondered whether the quest had been worth it. The Max Original film “They Called Him Mostly Harmless” recounts the crowdsourced hunt for the mysterious man’s identity. It poses questions about whether these armchair detectives were searching for the hiker - or searching for themselves.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THEY CALLED HIM MOSTLY HARMLESS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week:  long in the tooth.
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They Called Him Mostly Harmless

When Valentino Rodriguez Jr. died at home, his family believed it had something to do with his time in an elite investigative unit inside New Folsom Prison. He’d been driven out of the job by other corrections officers Valentino believed were behind the abuse of prisoners. KQED reporters Sukey Lewis and Julie Small began to dig through reams of newly-released documents and interview tapes, hoping to shed light on what was happening in California’s most violent prison. Meanwhile, with guidance from Valentino’s mentor, Val Senior launched his own investigation into his son’s final days with the help of an insider.Season two of KQED’s “On Our Watch: New Folsom” tells the tale of two corrections officers struggling with the pattern of violence and a culture of silence within the high-security facility. The hosts investigate the challenges they faced and follow in their footsteps to uncover the secrets hidden inside the most dangerous prison in the Golden State.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ON OUR WATCH: NEW FOLSOM" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.Note: This episode has been updated to correct an error in an earlier posted version.
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On Our Watch: New Folsom

Doctor Serhat Gumrukcu had been hailed as a genius whose experimental treatments for cancer and AIDS made a half-billion dollars for Enochian Biosciences. But the researcher seemed to have two obsessions: one was performing magic tricks and the other was a penchant for secrecy. Financial investors turned up troubling information on Serhat. His diplomas and other credentials were phony, and he’d left a trail of white collar crimes. They’d soon learn, on the other side of the country, a man in a business dispute with Serhat was lured from his home, murdered execution-style, and left in a snowbank. “Dr. Death: Bad Magic” is season four of Wondery’s hit podcast series. Host Laura Beil tells the tale of the amateur magician and professional con artist who fooled financiers, scientists, and patients - and now faces murder-for-hire charges. Was Serhat the medical pioneer he claimed to be or was it all an illusion?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DR. DEATH: BAD MAGIC" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of The Week: Cocaine bears.
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Dr. Death: Bad Magic

In 2016, a pair of skiers collided on the slopes of Utah’s Deer Valley Resort. Retiree Terry Sanderson said the crash left him with brain damage and emotional pain, so he filed a $300,000 lawsuit against the other skier: A-list celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow. But Paltrow said Sanderson crashed into her. Rather than settle, she defended herself in court with an army of high-priced attorneys and expert witnesses. What might normally be a low-profile personal injury case turned into a televised cause celebre. The documentary “Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial” from Discovery+ and Max looks back at the case that captivated pop culture. Was the actress using her star power to avoid responsibility or was the optometrist to blame and just looking for a payday?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GWYNETH vs TERRY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial

In 2000, the daughter of Dubai’s leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ran off to England. Though her father was seen as a progressive champion of women’s rights in the Arab world, Shamsa claimed her father subjected his children to harsh punishment for disobedience. The princess was then forcibly taken from British soil by Sheikh Mohammed’s men, sparking a diplomatic crisis.After spending nearly four years in prison for her own escape attempt, Shamsa’s sister Latifa also fled the country in 2018 to get away from her father. Her swashbuckling, high-profile breakout made international news, but claiming she’d been kidnapped, Indian security forces captured her at sea and brought her home. From the team at The New Yorker and “In the Dark” comes “The Runaway Princesses.” Madeleine Baran and Heidi Blake report on Latifa’s and Shamsa’s attempts to leave Dubai, the consequences for doing so, and what’s happening with the princesses today. Is Latifa now living a happy life in Dubai as she claims, or is she making those statements under duress?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE RUNAWAY PRINCESSES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: no tipping.
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The Runaway Princesses

Emmilee Risling was last seen in 2021 on the Pecwan bridge. Hoopa Valley authorities were unable to determine whether the troubled woman threw herself into the Klamath River or met with foul play.Emmilee was just another in the growing number of indigenous men and women who vanished from tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest. All their stories are different. Some deal with addiction, mental health, or domestic violence. But what they all have in common is the same location in Northern California.“The Vanishing Point” from Tenderfoot TV looks at the story of five missing people from Hoopa Valley. Host Celisia Stanton and her team explore the cold cases and attempt to learn why this tribal land is a vanishing point for so many. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE VANISHING POINT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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The Vanishing Point

In 2000, a deputy was killed and another wounded in Atlanta’s West End while trying to serve an arrest warrant. Authorities said the gunman was Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the leader of the local mosque and caretaker of the predominantly Muslim neighborhood. In the years before becoming Imam Jamil he’d been known as H. Rap Brown, a leader in the 1960s Black Power Movement accused by the FBI of inciting violence. West End residents did not think their spiritual leader was behind the fatal shooting and wondered if his arrest was motivated less by the contradictory evidence and more by his past as an outspoken activist.From Campside Media, Tenderfoot TV and iHeartMedia comes “Radical.” Host Mosi Secret investigates the night of the shooting and attempts to find out who Iman Jamil really is. Is he truly a man of God? Is he a dangerous extremist? Or is the answer somewhere in the middle?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "RADICAL" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: fowl language. 
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Radical

Growing up, Alex Estrada knew there was something important about the phone calls his father would receive from a man in prison. He learned his dad and Calvin Jones were accused of having their business partner killed in 1973. They dropped the charges against Rosalio Estrada, but Jones got a life sentence. Already navigating a toxic relationship, Rosalio’s possible culpability confirmed Alex’s belief his father was a bad man. But was he a killer? Alex sets off to scrutinize the fifty-year-old murder case in an attempt to reconcile his complicated feelings for his dead father.In the podcast “The Estate” from Sonoro and Tenderfoot TV, Estrada re-examines the evidence in a long-forgotten case, looking for clues as to who Rosalio really was. It attempts to blend true crime, political science, and family memoir into one.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE ESTATE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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The Estate

In 2015, Aaron Quinn told Vallejo police his girlfriend had been kidnapped in the middle of the night by home-invading frogmen. Detectives thought he made up the far-fetched tale to hide her possible murder. But days later Denise Huskins turned up at her parents’ house with a similarly elaborate story of abduction and sexual captivity. Citing its parallels to the movie “Gone Girl,” investigators accused the couple of a hoax. But miles away, a rookie detective uncovered an out-of-place piece of evidence in a serial rape case: a strand of blonde hair attached to a pair of blackout goggles.  The Netflix series “American Nightmare” follows Aaron and Denise’s ordeal, first as the victims of a bizarre serial rapist, then as defendants humiliated by cops who said they lied about it. It also features the investigator who bucked the system to get them justice on more than one level.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "AMERICAN NIGHTMARE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: watch and wear. 
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American Nightmare

After missing for six years, Miles Naslund was discovered at the bottom of an Alberta pond, his body welded inside a metal toolbox. Police arrested his wife Helen who said she shot him in 2011 while he slept after enduring three decades of abuse. But the full extent of her sons’ involvement in the killing remains murky. And Helen’s sentence was much harsher than that of other Canadian women who’ve used the Battered Woman defense. From The Globe and Mail  comes the podcast “In Her Defence.” Host Jana G. Pruden recounts Helen Naslund’s case through jailhouse interviews and commentary from friends, children, and legal experts. Did the court fully take into account the 30 years of domestic violence she endured at the hands of her shooting victim? And is she protecting any family members who might have played a larger role in the killing and coverup? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "IN HER DEFENCE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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In Her Defence

TV producer Benita Alexander thinks the work of a transplant surgeon will make for a great story. Dr. Paolo Macchiarini is saving lives by implanting the first artificial tracheas, and Benita soon finds herself in a secret relationship with the charismatic medical pioneer. Once they’re engaged, Benita grows suspicious of his tales of famous friends and promises of a new life in Europe. But worse, Macchiarini has been obfuscating the results of his surgeries, treating patients like human guinea pigs while the devices rot inside their bodies.Peacock is out with the second installment of their dramatic adaptation of “Dr. Death,” based on the Miracle Man season of the Wondery Podcast. Actors Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramírez recreate Macchiarini’s catfishing romance in the US, while Luke Kirby plays one of the doctors in Sweden looking to expose the surgeon’s deadly lies.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DR. DEATH" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of Week: road script.   
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Peacock's Dr Death 2

As a child, Tracyrachel Bern’s father would beat her if she asked about the 1971 death of her baby brother Matthew. Her parents would later tell her what they told police: that the two-year-old girl threw the infant from his crib. After living years with the guilt, Tracyrachel came to question details of the accident and whether her abusive father, Jan Barry Sandlin, may have killed the baby and blamed it on her. She set off on a four decades long journey to learn the truth and get justice for Matthew.From Glass Podcasts comes “Burden of Guilt.” Host Nancy Glass interviews Tracyrachel about her efforts to clear her name and hold Matthew’s killer responsible. Did a toddler really dash a baby’s head or was she scapegoated to hide someone else’s fatal act of violence?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BURDEN OF GUILT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Burden of Guilt

It was a crime story that shook Boston. The survivor of a fatal carjacking said his pregnant wife was murdered by an unknown Black man - triggering an unprecedented police crackdown in Black neighborhoods still dealing with the racial legacy of bussing. The city’s spotty track record on civil rights fueled police, politicians, and the media too eager to believe a fiction wrapped in racism. But even after it was revealed to be a hoax - and that Charles Stuart staged the death of his wife - the damage to the community could not be undone.  The “Murder in Boston Podcast” by The Boston Globe is a companion to, but separately produced from, the HBO series of the same name. Hosted by editor Adrian Walker, the podcast digs into the Charles Stuart case from a local point of view, going deeper into its many threads. It takes a critical look at the city’s racial backstory, flaws in the investigation, and the indiscriminate targeting of Black men - as well as the failures of its own newspaper. It even uncovers new information about who knew ahead of time that Stuart was the culprit.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER IN BOSTON PODCAST" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: pothole committed.
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Boston Globe's Murder in Boston Podcast

In 1989, Boston was stunned by a dramatic carjacking. Charles Stuart said his wife Carol was shot in the head and he was gravely wounded by a Black man who robbed them. While the media fought each other for the latest details, police launched an aggressive and prolonged manhunt in the adjacent Black neighborhoods. Within the Black community, the harassment and heavy handed arrests opened fresh wounds in a city with a checkered past on race relations. But police were so willing to believe Stuart’s account of the bizarre attack, few suspected he was behind it all along.From HBO Documentary Films in association with The Boston Globe comes “Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage &amp; Reckoning. The three-part series retraces the investigation into who killed Carol Stuart against the backdrop of a liberal city unable to reconcile its racist history. We also hear from reporters, activists, and local residents affected by the manhunt and an unapologetic cop who helped run it.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER IN BOSTON: ROOTS, RAMPAGE &amp; RECKONING" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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HBO's Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning

In 2018, Micah Holsonbake’s family said the 34-year-old banker went missing from Bakersfield, California. Two weeks later, a friend of Micah’s reported his 20-year-old girlfriend Baylee Despot also vanished. Just weeks after that, another friend, 38-year-old entrepreneur James Kulstad, was gunned down in a quiet neighborhood. Their families believed the fates of the three were more than a coincidence.The three were loosely connected in a world filled with drug addiction, sex trafficking, and illegal weapons. The mothers of the so-called Bakersfield 3 banded together to alert the public, keep pressure on investigators, and support each other, all while Baylee’s boyfriend publicly taunted her mom. But as new evidence turned up, the answer to what happened threatened to tear their alliance apart.From Casefile Presents comes the 15-part podcast “The Bakersfield Three.” Host Olivia LaVoice draws upon her years of covering the case as a TV reporter. Using her police sources, intimate relationships with the families, and her own story, LaVoice walks us through a mystery filled with shocking twists.  OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE BAKERSFIELD THREE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: gold brick. 
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The Bakersfield Three

There was something for everyone on the TV in 2023. We saw documentaries that dug deep into issues of crime and punishment. There were several true stories told in real time by the people in the middle of them. But there were also shows that made us laugh…and sometimes sing.But which TV shows and documentaries truly stood out? The crime writers will reveal their lists for the Best TV of 2023. Lara's Top TenGreat Photo, Lovely LifeNavajo Police: Class 57Victim/ suspectRealityOnly Murders in the Building season 3NavalnyTelemarketersHow to Create a Sex ScandalJury dutyLast Call Toby's Top TenGreat Photo, Lovely LifeRealityShiny Happy PeopleTelemarketersLast CallSavior ComplexMurder in Big HornOnly Murders in the Building  season 3NavalnyThe Diplomat Kevin's Top TenJury DutyVictim/SuspectGreat Photo, Lovely LifeOnly Murders in the Building season 3BS HighScouts HonorStolen YouthBurden of ProofTelemarketersMurder in Big Horn Rebecca's Top TenGreat Photo, Lovely LifeJury DutyThe DiplomatShiny Happy PeopleOnly Murders in the Building season 3TelemarketersNetflix's Murdaugh Murders: A Southern ScandalNavalnyNavajo Police: Class 57Last Call
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Best TV of 2023

This year brought us podcasts that examined interesting characters - from the super famous to the terribly infamous. There were the meticulously investigated stories of people caught in a system stacked against them. And it provided us with many series told by hosts with very personal connections to the crimes they covered. But which titles truly stood out? All four crime writers present their top 10 podcasts for 2023.In Crime of the Week: A lot of nerve swerve. Lara's Top TenEarwitnessSuspect: Five Shots in the DarkThe RetrievalsBlind PleaGhost StoryThe Kids of Rutherford CountyFiasco: VigilanteVerified: Full DisclosureOverlookedAdmissible Sheds of Evidence Toby's Top TenFiasco: VigilanteYou Didn’t See Nothin’Blind PleaEarwitnessI’m Not a Monster season 2Alabama AstronautWitnessed: Devil in the DitchGhost StoryChameleon: Dr. DanteThe Retrievals Kevin's Top TenYou Didn't See NothinEarwitnessI Am Not a Monster season 2Fiasco: VigilanteWitnessed: Devil in the DitchCity of Tents: Veterans RowSuspect: Five Shots in the DarkBlind PleaThe RetrievalsOverlooked Rebecca's Top TenYou Didn't See NothinEarwitnessWitnessed: Devil in the DitchThe RetrievalsThink Twice: Michael JacksonFiasco: VigilanteGhost StoryBlind PleaDear Alana,The Dream season 3 
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Best Podcasts of 2023

International photojournalist Amanda Mustard returns home to pursue an open family secret. As her grandfather Bill Flickinger nears the end of his life, Amanda investigates the decades of sexual abuse he inflicted on his young chiropractic patients. Mustard looks at how Flickinger avoided accountability for decades and reaches out to her grandfather’s many victims. They include her mother and sister, but the effort to find forgiveness between them threatens to tear the family apart.In the raw HBO Original “Great Photo, Lovely Life,”  Mustard chronicles her family’s story, seeks to empower survivors, and confronts the fallout that facing family trauma head-on can bring. Viewers are presented with home movies, boxes of mementos, and intimate conversations aimed at disrupting a cycle of abuse, blame, and anger.OUR-SPOILER FREE REVIEWS OF "GREAT PHOTO, LOVELY LIFE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Great Photo, Lovely Life

The Troubled Teen Industry comprises the wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and group programs desperate parents turn to when their kids are struggling with mental health, substance misuse, and behavioral issues - whether real or perceived. Often, kids are escorted to these programs by so-called Goons - transport agencies hired to take kids away from home, often against their will in the dark hours before dawn. But are these Goons a last-resort tactic for families at the end of their rope or a high-ticket, legal kidnapping operation?In the podcast “Gooned,” journalist Emma Lehman details many facets of the Troubled Teen Industry, interviewing survivors, former employees, and even impersonating the parent of a teen in crisis in order to dig up dirt on what she asserts is ground zero for the emotional, physical, and psychological abuse that leads to lasting trauma for those the industry is claiming to help.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GOONED" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: ghost in the machine.
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Gooned

Amina Arraf grew a following for her blog recounting her life as an openly gay woman in Syria, a nation where homosexuality is illegal. She was revered by the queer community internationally, started an online romance, and drew attention from journalists covering the Arab Spring. Her legions of fans were shocked when Amina was arrested by the government and disappeared. But Amina’s descriptions of life under the Syrian regime didn't ring true to those in the small gay community of Damascus. As international efforts to locate and rescue Amina were underway, cracks in her story appeared.From the CBC comes the podcast “Gay Girl Gone.” Journalist Samira Mohyeddin investigates what happened to the famed blogger. The show also explores the impact on the people and political causes damaged by the whole affair. OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GAY GIRL GONE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Gay Girl Gone

In 2021, police in Oregon discovered the mummified corpse of Amy Carlson. Her body had been transported and adorned by the members of her small cult “Love Has Won.” The woman they called Mother God had been emaciated and her skin had turned blue. Her followers believed Carlson was the reincarnation of Joan of Arc and Marilyn Monroe, and communed with a group of Galactics led by dead celebrities like Robin Williams and John Lennon. The cult sustained itself through online donations and selling miracle cures as new leaders annointed by Mother God sewed internal strife. Was it her very practices and beliefs that led to her failing health and eventual death?From HBO Documentary Films, the series “Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God” examines Carlson’s rise as spiritual guru and her conspiracy-laced convictions. It features interviews with her followers in the immediate days after her death, still enthralled with her dogma.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LOVE HAS WON: THE CULT OF MOTHER GOD" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: A Santa Claus bites the dust.
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Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God

Journalist Tristan Redman had no idea his wife's great-grandmother Naomi Dancy had been shot in the eyes by her brother in a 1937 murder-suicide that happened in the house next door. He wondered if it was connected to the spooky incidents in his bedroom or claims from the new owners that it was haunted by a ghost with no face. Naomi’s husband had narrowly escaped a bullet during the crime, but modern researchers questioned whether it was he who might have killed his wife and brother-in-law. Redman wondered if the apparition was Naomi asking him to prove John “Feyther” Dancy was the real killer…an inquiry that wouldn’t sit well with Redman's in-laws.In the podcast “Ghost Story” from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Redman explores the life of the accomplished-yet-problematic patriarch while managing his in-laws’ misgivings. He employs historians, cold case detectives, and spiritual mediums to determine whether his long-dead neighbor was killed by her troubled war veteran brother or her braggadocious husband.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GHOST STORY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Ghost Story

Mommy-influencer Katie Sorensen went viral with a story of a couple who attempted to kidnap her kids in a craft store. When Sadie and Eddie Martinez saw their photos in the news, they knew they’d been racially profiled and falsely accused in the latest so-called “Karen” incident.As it became clear Katie had exaggerated the event, police charged her with filing false reports. The criminal case turned into a litmus test on the online phenomenon of white women accusing people of color of criminal behavior for innocuous things. Did she make up the story to get clicks, or did other factors contribute to her allegation?In a short series from LAist Studios, “Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen” looks into the backlash against one white woman’s incrimination and the people who fought back against the racism and social media shaming. Reporter Emily Guerin also examines other things in the zeitgeist that may have led to her thinking her children were at risk.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "IMPERFECT PARADISE: PEOPLE VS. KAREN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Airing of the Grievances.
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Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen

Screenwriter Gary DeVore vanished in 1997 driving through the Mojave Desert. He’d been writing an action film with input from CIA agent Chase Brandon. His wife Wendy wondered whether Gary's disappearance and his missing script were linked to the CIA and whether authorities were trying to scuttle the case. And even when his body and SUV were discovered a year later in the California Aqueduct, she still was convinced things didn’t add up.The newest season of “Witnessed: Fade to Black” looks into the conspiracy theories around the famous case and explores the CIA’s very real Hollywood influence efforts. Host Josh Dean tries to pull apart fact from fiction, with new reporting on whether Gary’s death was a high-stakes assassination or a simple accident.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WITNESSED: FADE TO BLACK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: flying horses couldn't drag me away.
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Witnessed: Fade to Black

A fight among children caught on video led to the arrest of eleven Black students, charged for not stopping the fight. Kids as young as 8 were cuffed and booked into jail, even though Tennessee law says juveniles can’t be detained for minor infractions. Two attorneys were shocked to learn that over a decade officials in Rutherford County arrested hundreds of children for small violations and left them in jail cells for days. The police, the prosecutors, and the detention center all ignored the case law for one reason: the juvenile court judge told them to.From Serial Productions and The New York Times comes “The Kids of Rutherford County.” Host Meribah Knight looks at a massive civil rights violation, reveals how it came to be, and follows the two juvenile delinquents-turned-lawyers who try to do something about it.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE KIDS OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: faked Alaska.
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The Kids of Rutherford County

In 2014, Catherine Hoggle returned home without her three- and two-year old children. Though their bodies have never been recovered, Hoggle was placed in a psychiatric facility to treat her mental illness and restore her competency for trial. But Maryland law states if a defendant is still deemed incompetent after five years, their charges will be dropped. With the deadline approaching, both prosecutors and the children’s father accuse Hoggle of faking it, trying to run out the clock and avoid prison.In the podcast “Unrestorable,” journalists Sarah Treleaven and Beth Karas examine the balance between a father’s quest for justice and the rights of the mentally ill in the justice system. Meanwhile, one key question that overshadows this case: Can you really fake being incompetent and get away with murder? OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "UNRESTORABLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTE OF THE EPISODE. 
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Unrestorable

In 1995, Deputy Sheriff William Hardy was shot while moonlighting at a Birmingham hotel. An informant told police the shooter was Toforest Johnson. Even though ten people saw him in a nightclub at the time of the crime, detectives believed they had their man. But after Yolanda Chambers’s statements were discredited, prosecutors turned to Violet Ellison who said she overheard Johnson confess on a three-way phone call. Years later, even the prosecutor has doubts about the so-called “earwitness” and whether Johnson should be on Alabama’s death row.From the producers of “Bone Valley” comes “Earwitness.” Host Beth Shelburne picks apart the original investigation, police conduct, and the credibility of the key witness. What does it say when even the people who put an innocent man on death row can’t get the justice system to right a wrong?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "EARWITNESS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: It's a small turd after all.
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Earwitness

In 2005, Kevin Jones discovered his girlfriend bludgeoned to death in her Russellville, Arkansas apartment. Police zeroed in on Jones, thinking the murder of former beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer was an open-and-shut case. Despite a strong alibi and critical evidence pointing to an unknown assailant, prosecutors would not alter their theory of the case. And years after a jury would decide Jones’s fate - and DNA from the scene was linked to Nona’s violent neighbor - many would not change their minds about what happened in apartment 12.From Dateline NBC comes their latest podcast, “Murder in Apartment 12.” Host Keith Morrison looks back at his two decades of covering the case. While still employing his famous droll delivery style, this Dateline mystery does not get wrapped up in a bow at the end.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MURDER IN APARTMENT 12" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 9 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Murder in Apartment 12

The Navajo Nation is the only tribe that runs its own police academy, training officers for an understaffed force patrolling the largest reservation in the US. The latest class of about two dozen Navajo recruits must go through a rigorous 28 week boot camp to prepare them for the rigors of the job.But Class 57 begins to dwindle, with recruits dropping out or being dismissed for misconduct. Yet those who graduate find themselves unprepared for the emotional reality of patrolling a reservation filled with poverty, addiction, and violence which mirrors their own experiences growing up Navajo.  The HBO Original documentary series “Navajo Police: Class 57” takes us inside the academy of a police force desperately trying to fill its ranks and into the complicated lives of those seeking to wear the uniform. It reveals how the NPD is a microcosm of the Navajo Nation itself…revealing its history, uncertain future, and its resiliency.  OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "NAVAJO POLICE: CLASS 57" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.Plus, the Crime Writers read a statement regarding toxicity in podcasting.In Crime of the Week: Mamas boys. 
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Navajo Police: Class 57

A serial killer father! Truckers! Bunk beds! Prison letters! BEARS! This podcast seemed to have everything, except maybe a point. In this CWO Classic, we'll revisit our October 22, 2018 review of "Happy Face."
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Happy Face

Grad students James Monsees and Adam Bowen envisioned a new technology, one that would give smokers like them the hit of nicotine they craved without the carcinogens of a combustible cigarette. After a decade of refining vape products, they finally achieved commercial success with Juul. But instead of reaching smokers wanting to quit, Juul’s biggest customer base were young people attracted by their fruity flavors and extra pack of nicotine. Instead of being an alternative to Big Tobacco, the company had its own problems with regulators, parents, and public health officials.With users, experts, and former employees, Netflix’s “Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul” chronicles the history of the controversial tobacco product. Did Juul’s mission backfire, making the public health crisis it tried to mitigate only worse? Or did its financial success blind its creators to the inevitable outcomes of perfecting smokeless tobacco?OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BIG VAPE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: gummin' bears.
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Big Vape

The 1970 shooting of a Wisconsin man should have been an open-and-shut case - but it led the victim’s niece on a decade’s long search for the truth. On this CWO Classic we’ll revisit our epic April 12, 2021 review of MANslaughter.
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MANslaughter

When Maya Lin Sugarman was cleaning out her grandmother’s home, she discovered some screenplays written by her late uncle. Galen Yuen was in a Chinese street gang before becoming a small-time actor. Maya had no idea the script about his life story was made into the 1997 movie “Crazy Six.” By the time Hollywood was finished with the semi-biographical thriller about an Asian crack addict looking to rip off some Oakland drug dealers, it featured Rob Lowe trying to steal plutonium from Eastern European gangsters. The screenplays send Maya on a quest to uncover her uncle’s true life story, find the real people who inspired the characters, and learn how his movie got whitewashed in the first place.The Apple Original podcast “Magnificent Jerk,” produced by Pineapple Street Studios, is the true story of the fake story of a real life. The host takes a journey into the colorful past of the uncle she thought she knew and finds a tale about identity, ambition, and family.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MAGNIFICENT JERK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: Paying your debt to society.
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Magnificent Jerk

While his wife and eight of his children lay sleeping, James Peterson awoke to a stranger at his farmhouse door. Within a matter of minutes, all but one family member would be shot to death in Canada’s worst random murder spree. The scope of the 1967 crime shook Saskatchewan, leaving locals in fear for their lives. Mounties would later interrogate a neighbor who’d been recently released from a hospital and had been hallucinating about the devil.Rawlco Radio presents the six-part podcast “The Shell Lake Massacre.” Host Brittany Caffet recounts one of Canada’s most gruesome slayings. She also introduces us to Kathy Hill, the only surviving member of the Peterson family, as they both return to the scene of the crime.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE SHELL LAKE MASSACRE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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The Shell Lake Massacre

In 2009, nineteen-year-old Renee Bach said the Lord called her to go to Uganda and establish a charity to feed the hungry. But the Serving His Children clinic morphed into an intensive care unit for gravely malnourished babies and toddlers. Her work attracted Christian donors and filled her social media feed. But Bach became the target of Ugandan activists opposed to white missionaries using African children as props for their own agendas. And observers noted why starving babies continued to die at her clinic: Bach was personally directing the children’s care even though she had no medical training.“Savior Complex” from HBO Documentaries uses video of the clinic shot by Bach to tell a story of white privilege and religious hubris. It also follows local activists drumming up opposition to Bach and other Westerners more interested in grabbing the spotlight than providing humanitarian relief.OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SAVIOR COMPLEX" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.In Crime of the Week: stick 'em up.
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