Best Serial Podcasts (2024)

1
Cover Up: The Anthrax Threat 47:27

1h ago47:27

47:27

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…

101
S04 - Ep. 5: The Big Chicken, Part 1 54:44

11h ago54:44

54:44

A new warden comes to Guantánamo and decides to make some changes. A prison’s a prison, he thinks. How hard could this be?By Serial Productions & The New York Times

1
The Truth vs. Alex Jones 45:05

5d ago45:05

45:05

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 theori…

1
Stolen: Trouble in Sweetwater 41:44

4d ago41:44

41:44

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 Nav…

1
S04 - Ep. 4: The Honeymooners 50:50

7d ago50:50

50:50

The case against a young airman gets even weirder when the government pulls in two fresh investigators. Part 2: A bride, an FBI agent, and a polygraph machine.By Serial Productions & The New York Times

1
Murder 101 44:57

13d ago44:57

44:57

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 Inves…

1
S1 Ep4: Undisclosed: Crossover Edition 1:24:20

10d ago1:24:20

1:24:20

Check out the latest updates on Susan, Colin, Rabia, and news about Undisclosed, and then stay tuned for a special crossover episode of "Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case"!By Undisclosed

1
Death and Other Details 54:11

11d ago54:11

54:11

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:…

1
S04 - Ep. 3: Ahmad the Iguana Feeder 1:00:49

20d ago1:00:49

1:00:49

An Arabic-speaking airman is sent to Guantánamo to translate, and soon finds himself at the center of a major scandal. Part 1: Suspicion swallows evidence.By Serial Productions & The New York Times

1
CWO Classic: Slow Burn 31:32

19d ago31:32

31:32

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.” For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for…

1
Beyond All Repair 47:40

18d ago47:40

47:40

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 s…

1
S04 - Ep. 2: The Special Project 47:09

21d ago47:09

47:09

In 2002, an elite interrogation team secretly staged Guantánamo’s most elaborate intel operation — to try to get a single detainee to talk.By Serial Productions & The New York Times

1
S04 - Ep. 1: Poor Baby Raul 41:11

21d ago41:11

41:11

Maybe you have an idea in your head about what it was like to work at Guantánamo, one of the most notorious prisons in the world. Think again.By Serial Productions & The New York Times

1
CWO Classic: Gladiator 27:12

22d ago27:12

27:12

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. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for ou…

1
Dissident at the Doorstep 45:43

25d ago45:43

45:43

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…

1
S04 - Trailer 2:22

28d ago2:22

2:22

From Serial Productions and The New York Times, Serial Season 4 is a history of Guantánamo told by people who lived through key moments in Guantánamo’s evolution, who know things the rest of us don’t about what it’s like to be caught inside an improvised justice system. Episodes 1 and 2 arrive Thursday, March 28.…

1
Varnamtown 45:39

29d ago45:39

45:39

“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…

1
The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping 51:27

1M ago51:27

51:27

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 retur…

1
Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative 56:06

1M ago56:06

56:06

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 editoria…

1
The Truth About Jim 47:19

1M ago47:19

47:19

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…

1
CWO Classic: Murder on Middle Beach 34:29

2M ago34:29

34:29

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.” For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.comBy Partners in Crime Media

1
Cover Up: Body Brokers 50:11

2M ago50:11

50:11

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. Investigator…

1
CWO Classic: True Detective 3 51:03

2M ago51:03

51:03

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. For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon. Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com…

1
True Detective: Night Country 48:57

2M ago48:57

48:57

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…

1
Runaway Joe 41:29

2M ago41:29

41:29

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 …

1
They Called Him Mostly Harmless 47:34

2M ago47:34

47:34

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…

1
On Our Watch: New Folsom 42:53

2M ago42:53

42:53

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 new…

1
Dr. Death: Bad Magic 44:04

2M ago44:04

44:04

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 dipl…

1
Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial 43:56

2M ago43:56

43:56

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 …

1
The Runaway Princesses 46:36

2M ago46:36

46:36

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…

1
The Vanishing Point 39:25

3M ago39:25

39:25

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…

1
Radical 48:27

3M ago48:27

48:27

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 …

1
The Estate 44:59

3M ago44:59

44:59

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, R…

1
American Nightmare 46:38

3M ago46:38

46:38

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 p…

1
In Her Defence 45:49

3M ago45:49

45:49

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 muc…

1
Peacock's Dr Death 2 44:26

3M ago44:26

44:26

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…

1
Burden of Guilt 40:30

3M ago40:30

40:30

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,…

1
Boston Globe's Murder in Boston Podcast 45:15

3M ago45:15

45:15

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 eag…

1
HBO's Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning 52:03

4M ago52:03

52:03

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 ha…

1
The Bakersfield Three 48:58

4M ago48:58

48:58

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 believe…

1
Best TV of 2023 1:03:46

4M ago1:03:46

1:03:46

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 wi…

1
Best Podcasts of 2023 1:04:20

4M ago1:04:20

1:04:20

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 s…

1
Great Photo, Lovely Life 49:18

4M ago49:18

49:18

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 grandfathe…

1
Gooned 47:53

4M ago47:53

47:53

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 t…

1
Gay Girl Gone 40:40

4M ago40:40

40:40

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 gover…

1
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God 45:03

4M ago45:03

45:03

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 wi…

1
Ghost Story 49:12

4M ago49:12

49:12

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 n…

1
Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen 44:41

5M ago44:41

44:41

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 he…

1
Witnessed: Fade to Black 50:09

5M ago50:09

50:09

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 discove…

1
The Kids of Rutherford County 51:00

5M ago51:00

51:00

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 h…

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