Kyleigh & Grace reach a verdict.

Snake River Killer Podcast

Voices for Justice Podcast

“I Used TikTok to Catch My Sister’s Killer,” Elle, 2020

“An Arizona Man was cleared in his stepdaughter's disappearance. His son is convinced he’s guilty.” NBC News, 2023
“Michael Turney acquitted of murder in death of stepdaughter Alissa Turney,” AZCentral, 2023

artwork: alexandre p. manko

Grace & Kyleigh go to court. Three experts — researcher Kat Albretch, lawyer Laura Menninger, and professor Emily Murphy — help make sense of the tangled relationship between true crime media and criminal justice.

“How Science Solves Crime,” Time Magazine, 2002

“‘CSI’ is going ballistic,” Variety, 2002

“The CSI Effect,” U.S. News, 2005

“The Serial Effect,” Kat Albrecht & Kaitlyn Filip, New Mexico Law Review, 2023

“Timeline: The Adnan Syed Case.” NYT, 2024.

“Remembering O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase,” NYT, 2019

“Sam Bankman-Fried Is Found Guilty of 7 Counts of Fraud and Conspiracy,” NYT, 2023

“Johnny Depp Jury Finds That Amber Heard Defamed Him,” NYT, 2022

“The Actual Malice of the Johnny Depp Trial,” NYT, 2022

“The Cases Against Trump: A Guide,” The Atlantic, 2024

“Trying on Bloody Gloves, Simpson Finds Them Tight,” NYT, 1995

artwork: alexandre p. manko

What can you get at a true crime convention? Justice – or a really cool t-shirt. The hosts delve into true crime podcasting’s live event industry. Kyleigh sets out to see first-hand what happens when date-night and murder overlap. Grace sits down with the founder of CrimeCon to talk about the ethics of crime entertainment. Writer Rachel Monroe takes us inside a mega-hotel in Nashville.

CrimeCon

Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe

The Girl I Never Knew, LaDonna Humphrey

“The Nation’s Obsession with True Crime Meets a Mother’s Grief,” NYT, 2023

“The Dark Origins of the True Crime Frenzy at Crime Con,” Vanity Fair, 2024

“The Long American History of ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’,” The New Yorker, 2021

“Daniel Robinson vanished 3 years ago. His father still hopes for his safe return.” NPR, 2024

artwork: alexandre p. manko

It’s time to follow the money. Grace & Kyleigh attempt to figure out if and how anyone is actually making a profit in podcasting, or if they should start considering different career paths. But what are the ethical pitfalls that come with making a living off other people’s deaths? The hosts uncover the hidden power of the Apple algorithm, the surprising origin of true crime podcast advertising, and what SimpliSafe Home Security has to do with all of this.

⁠Somebody Somewhere⁠ Podcast

⁠Serial: Season One⁠

“⁠Serial helped spark an explosion of true crime stories. Will its new season be heard above the noise?⁠” The Washington Post, 2018

“⁠Thanks to ‘Serial’ & Apple’s Podcast app baked into iOS 8, podcast listens grow 18%⁠,” Apple Insider, 2015

⁠“Serial podcast wins Peabody journalism award⁠,”The BBC, 2015

⁠“CONSPIRACY: Jonathan Luna⁠” Crime Junkie, 2022

⁠CounterClock⁠ Podcast

⁠“‘Crime Junkie’ Team Launch True-Crime Podcast ‘Counterclock’”⁠, Deadline, 2019

⁠“Popular ‘Crime Junkie’ Podcast Removes Episodes After Plagiarism Accusation⁠”, NYT, 2019

⁠“‘My Favorite Murder’ Stars Join Joe Rogan As Nation’s Highest-Earning Podcasters,”⁠ Forbes, 2020

⁠U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study⁠, Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2023

Crime Junkie ⁠Promo Codes⁠

Crime Junkie ⁠Sponsors⁠

⁠“Fear is Everywhere⁠,” SimpliSafe Superbowl Commercial, 2019

⁠“This is Your FBI”

artwork: alexandre p. manko

In college, Sara taught seminars instructing other young women on how to not get murdered: avoid parking lots after midnight, don’t stop for strangers, carry mace. Now she’s a devoted true crime podcast listener, one of the many women who make up nearly 75% of the genre’s fan base.

Grace and Kyleigh delve into true crime podcasting’s glaring gender divide. Why are so many women — including domestic violence survivors — seeking out this content? What does this have to do with the historical origins of true crime? Why do we get so freaked out in parking lots? Media experts Dr. Ian Punnett and Dr. Kelli Boling sit down with the hosts to try and shed some light on these mysteries.

“Who listens to true crime podcasts in the US?” Pew Research Center, 2023

“Toward a Theory of True Crime Narratives,” Ian Punnett, 2018

“I survived domestic violence. Now I’m drawn to True Crime Podcasts.” NYT, 2017

“Domestic Violence Survivors in True Crime Podcast Audiences,” Kelli S. Boling, Journal of Mass Communications and Society, 2022

“Fundamentally Different Stories That Matter: True Crime Podcasts and the Domestic Violence Survivors in Their Audiences,” Kelli S. Boling, University of South Carolina, 2020

“‘I’m Not a Journalist…:’ Journalistic Ethics in True Crime Podcast Production,” Kelli S. Boling, 2022.

Audio and Podcasting Fact Sheet, Pew Research Center, 2015

“A Profile of the Top-Ranked Podcasts in the US,” Pew Research Center, 2023

“Top Podcasts 2023,” Forbes, 2023

artwork: alexandre p. manko

It’s Idaho, 2022. Four college students are murdered in their home after a night out. It’s Indiana, 2014. Two kids go for a walk in the woods and disappear. It’s Italy, 2007. An American girl named Amanda Knox goes to study abroad and almost never comes home.

What happens when a crime becomes a viral sensation? Kyleigh McPeek and Grace Carroll team up to investigate how modern true crime media has forever altered three killings. Working with journalists, lawyers, creators, fans and victims, they set out to discover how the meteoric rise of the true crime podcast might be insidiously changing our culture, our legal system, and even our conception of truth itself.

“A Timeline of the Night of the Idaho Murders,” NYT, 2022

“Police rule out Idaho professor,” NBC News, 2022

“Criminology Student Is Charged in 4 University of Idaho Killings,” NYT, 2022

“The Moscow murders,” Vox, Today: Explained, 2022

“How the Delphi, Indiana, murders became ‘true crime’,” Vox, 2023

“Where is the knife?” Reddit post

“Man accused of leaking evidence in Delphi murders,” FOX 59, 2024

“Blood Money — Pt. 1,” Labyrinths with Amanda Knox, 2023

“Italian Jury Convicts US Student of Murder,” NYT, 2009

“Timeline: Meredith Kercher murder case,” CNN, 2016

“Amanda Knox defends moment she was seen kissing boyfriend,” Daily Mail, 2013

“Amanda Knox acquitted of 2007 murder,” NYT, 2015

“Italy must pay damages to Amanda Knox in 2007 case,” NYT, 2019

artwork: alexandre p. manko

In the last decade, something strange has happened to the way we talk about crime.

The meteoric rise of the true crime podcast seems to be changing the shape of our culture, our understanding of criminal justice, and even our conception of truth itself. Why do some podcasts help solve murder cases while others seem to be slowly corroding the sanctity of the American legal system? In the first season of this series, students and journalists Kyleigh McPeek and Grace Carroll spend a year investigating the murky underbelly of the true crime podcasting industry…

…and now, they’ve made a podcast about it.

Episode 1 of the True Crime Podcast Podcast arrives September 8th, 2024.

artwork: alexandre p. manko