I'll be the weirdo and admit... I enjoy true crime podcasts.
But!!! But... I don't like the mindless exploitative stuff (which is unfortunately 95% of it). I like the hard-cutting journalism stuff.
My favorite 3 are Swindled, Court Junkie ('Court', not 'Crime'), and In the Dark.
Swindled is a dry recounting of white-collar crimes. Funny and informative and kinda scary.
Court Junkie focuses not on the crimes, but on the court cases, and is 75% real audio from the courtroom, with additional narration by the host.
And In the Dark is maybe the most gut-wrenching of them all, especially season 2. This podcast uncovered evidence in a wrongful conviction that ended up going all the way to the supreme court. This one is true door-to-door journalism - literally knocking on the doors of homes in a small rural Mississippi town to ask what people remember about a crime from decades ago, and ultimately taking down a corrupt district attorney. Just amazing.
For anyone interested in an intersection of True Crime and Tech/Hacking, you should definitely check out Darknet Diaries: "true stories from the dark side of the internet". The host, Jack Rhysider, has been at it for a couple of years+ now and continues to refine his story collection & fact-checking processes, all while steadily improving production value.
But!!! But... I don't like the mindless exploitative stuff (which is unfortunately 95% of it). I like the hard-cutting journalism stuff.
My favorite 3 are Swindled, Court Junkie ('Court', not 'Crime'), and In the Dark.
Swindled is a dry recounting of white-collar crimes. Funny and informative and kinda scary.
Court Junkie focuses not on the crimes, but on the court cases, and is 75% real audio from the courtroom, with additional narration by the host.
And In the Dark is maybe the most gut-wrenching of them all, especially season 2. This podcast uncovered evidence in a wrongful conviction that ended up going all the way to the supreme court. This one is true door-to-door journalism - literally knocking on the doors of homes in a small rural Mississippi town to ask what people remember about a crime from decades ago, and ultimately taking down a corrupt district attorney. Just amazing.