True crime: The Future of Podcasting
As podcasts increase in popularity, so does the search for America’s favorite obsession: true crime stories. This article includes some of the most popular crime podcasts of the last few years.
October 4, 2018
As podcasts increase in popularity, so does the search for America’s favorite obsession: true crime stories. This article includes some of the most popular crime podcasts of the last few years. All the following podcasts are available wherever you prefer to listen, including Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.
- The award-winning podcast S-Town follows reporter Brian Reed and the story he unearths in a small Alabama town after following a lead on an unsolved murder case. This podcast is full of twists and turns that will have you begging for more. Contains explicit language and suicide.
- One of the first true-crime podcasts, Generation Why began in 2012. Over the past six years the podcast has covered hundreds of notorious crimes and conspiracies, including the Original Night Stalker serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Mothman. Generation Why is graphic in content (including descriptions of rape, murder, cannibalism, and others,) but tension is frequently broken up by the joking mannerisms of hosts Justin and Aaron.
- Narrated by Aaron Mahnke, Lore is a critically-acclaimed podcast about the darker side of history and stories that have been told for centuries. Lore has frequently ranked #1 on Apple Podcasts, and has been adapted into three novels and a TV show on Amazon Prime. For fans of slow, suspenseful builds to a scary climax and supernatural occurrences.
- In 1999, high school student Hae Min Lee was reported missing, and several months later, her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was charged with her murder and sentenced to life in prison. Serial is created by Sarah Koenig, an investigative journalist who delves deep into the case to discover if Adnan Syed was really guilty– or if he has been wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit. Serial contains occasional explicit language and mildly disturbing sequences. Season three of Serial will be released on September 20th.
- Not for the faint of heart, Unmasking a Killer follows what is known about the infamous serial killer known as the Golden State Killer, who went on a decades-long murder spree in California. Certain episodes contain triggering content including details of graphic murder and rape.
- My Favorite Murder is a true-crime comedy series in which hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Harstark combine forces to tell the stories of, you guessed it, their favorite murders. For listeners who love forensics and true crime, but sometimes just can’t handle all the sorrow. May contain explicit language and graphic detail.
- Limetown is a fictional radio drama podcast in which main character Lia Haddock attempts to hunt down the truth of what happened to a government-run scientific community in rural Tennessee. A second season of Limetown will be released on Halloween.
All of these podcasts are written by award-winning podcasters with weekly and semi-weekly released episodes, often with backlogs of over hundreds of episodes, so you should never be afraid of running out of episodes to listen to! Though not for the faint of heart, all are riveting stories that will keep you up late into the night.