L I S T E N 〰 true crime podcasts
🎧 My top ten favourites
Welcome to the first edition of watch / read / listen a series of my Substack publication des lettres, in which I recommend to you the entertainment, education, or inspiration I’ve enjoyed. I know there’s a lot of Important Stuff we all care about, but I also believe that it’s okay—necessary, even—to invest in the joyful little things our human race creates in this world too. I explore this here. I am constantly running out of stuff to watch, read, and listen to, so if you have a recommendation of your own, I always appreciate it when you reply to an email or leave a note in the comments.
I wrote to you recently about how every Labour Day Monday—the last day of summer before I go back to work for the new school year—I spend my entire afternoon prepping my closet and outfits. I iron, steam, and try on to my heart’s content while listening to a true crime podcast. It’s become a tradition over the last few years.
Due to said back to school situation, my brain feels like scrambled eggs this weekend and I don’t trust myself to compose full paragraphs. Instead, I thought I’d share with you my favourite true crime stories in case you want something to listen to while you iron, or drive to work, or do your makeup (all times I also listen), or if your own brain feels like scrambled eggs and you need to escape into a good story in the coming days.
Here’s my criteria for an excellent true crime podcast:
An unsolved or questionable case told with an investigative journalism approach
Respectful of family and victims
High-quality sound and production
Not sensationalized or gory just for the sake of it
And, not all the podcasts listed here include this feature, but the very best of the ones I love actually involve the podcast either uncovering new evidence or assisting in achieving justice in real time as the podcast season unfolds.
I’ve rounded up my top ten below, in no particular order.
1. Serial (Season 1)
The one that started it all.
“It's Baltimore, 1999. Hae Min Lee, a popular high-school senior, disappears after school one day. Six weeks later detectives arrest her classmate and ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, for her murder. He says he's innocent - though he can't exactly remember what he was doing on that January afternoon.”
I consider this podcast and the next on the list true crime “canon.” If you’re new to true crime, definitely start with these.
2. Dirty John
“A true story about seduction, deception, forgiveness, denial and, ultimately, survival.”
I can’t remember if Season 2 is amazing, but I think I listened and at least enjoyed it. There’s a Netflix drama based on this story too!
3. To Live and Die in LA (Season 1)
“In Feb 2018, an aspiring actress vanished from her Hollywood apartment. Rolling Stone journalist Neil Strauss was asked to help the family get answers. Together, they found them…sometimes at great personal risk.”
I screamed aloud with shock at one point of this story.
4. To Live and Die in LA (Season 2)
“On January 27, 2017, a 20-year-old college student named Elaine Park left her ex-boyfriend’s home in Calabasas. Five days later, her Honda Civic was found abandoned on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu…”
Binged this one in just a couple sessions while I worked on a furniture restoration project.
5. Bear Brook (Season 1)
“Three boys kick over a mysterious barrel in the woods. A small town cop fishes for answers. Evidence is buried, and the case goes cold.”
Season 2 is also good!
6. CounterClock (all seasons)
“This story is about more than violent crime. It's about motive and a series of events that have never been fully investigated…”
This is the one that started it all when I binged the first full season while prepping for back to school 2020!
7. The Teacher’s Pet
“Lyn and Chris Dawson appear to have the perfect marriage. He's a star footballer and popular high school teacher. She's a devoted wife and mother. They share a beautiful home above Sydney's northern beaches. But when Lyn goes missing, dark secrets are buried.”
Beware spoilers on this one; there are lots of recent updates.
8. Black Hands
“A family mass murder.”
If the intro audio doesn’t spook you the heck out, you’re imperturbable.
9. Suspect (Season 1, Season 3)
“Mislaid justice and the kinds of weighty decisions that detectives, lawyers, and jurors make every day.”
For some reason, I personally could not get into Season 2, but I binged the first and the third.
10. Up and Vanished (Season 1)
“Filmmaker Payne Lindsey sets out to produce a true-crime documentary and discovers an intriguing unsolved missing persons case from Ocilla, Georgia. We are introduced to high school teacher Tara Grinstead, who was last seen on October 22, 2005.”
The host Payne Lindsay gives me the ick sometimes, but I could get past it to get into the first season. Future seasons are more hit or miss.
Honourable Mentions:
If you’ve not yet listened to these, I’m slightly jealous of you. I’d love to go back and unlisten so I could hear the stories with fresh ears again.
That being said, tomorrow is Labour Day and I haven’t settled on what to listen to yet! Aside from the podcasts shared here, can you recommend your favourite true crime for me?
As always, thank you so much for reading. If you are a subscriber to this free publication, it would mean the world if you shared it with a friend.
Or, if you’re new here, subscribe so you can receive weekly-ish letters from me. I write about building a life filled with what I like to call Nice Things like fashion, personal style, beauty, culture, design, art, interiors, music. Because I believe some things are more than just nice: they’re also self-expression, inspiration, stories, and relief from the heavy world we live in. Read more about me here, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe below.
P.S. If you recognize the thumbnail art for this post, we need to be best friends.
Omg this post is exactly what I needed - I've just listened to Serial Season 1 for the first time (a few weeks ago), and am gagging for more True Crime. Thanks for this!
This is a great round-up, thanks! :)