Crime Writers On...

00In Dateline NBC’s newest podcast “ Mommy Doomsday, ” Keith Morrison picks up where he left off with “The Thing About Pam,” applying his unique reporting style to a true crime mystery. Where are Lori Vallow’s missing children? Why have so many people around her suddenly died? And does her religious cult focused on the apocalypse have anything to do with it? FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "MOMMY...

When we left off with “I’m Not a Monster” from BBC Panorama and PBS Frontline, Samantha Elhassani was wanted by the FBI. In the final episodes, Josh Baker returns to Syria to fact-check her claims she was an ISIS prisoner, not an ISIS soldier. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF THE FINALE OF "I'M NOT A MONSTER" GO TO 37:30. When a Canadian tourist disappeared from her downtown LA hotel, video of her o...

They were the famous male exotic dancers that made the ladies scream. But behind the scenes the story of Chippendales is filled with drugs, backstabbing, and even murder. We'll preview the new podcast "Welcome to Your Fantasy." FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WELCOME TO YOUR FANTASY" GO TO 34:40 In 1974 a new three-wheeled car promised to change the automotive industry. But both the car - and the...

In 1980, California cops found themselves outgunned at a deadly bank robbery firefight. “ Norco 80 ” from LAist Studios revisits the heist and chase which set law enforcement down the path to the modern militarized police force. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "NORCO 80" GO TO 30:00 In the new film " The Little Things ," Deputy Sheriff John Deacon returns to his old homicide squad during a string o...

Rebecca returns to the host's chair in time to talk about “ Chicano Squad ” from Frequency Machine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. To deal with a crime spree in a Latino community that no longer trusts them, Houston police create a special unit of Spanish-speaking officers to solve its toughest cases. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CHICANO SQUAD" GO TO 34:00 Then, the Netflix documentary “ Cra...

After Rebecca calls in sick at the last minute, Kevin is pressed into hosting duties. He, Lara, and Toby talk about Netflix's new documentary, " Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer ." The series largely removes the killer from the frame, focusing instead on the crimes and those affected by the case. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "NIGHT STALKER" GO TO 28:00 A lowly janitor at the Louvre c...

The HBO Max documentary “ Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults ” traces the group’s founding in the 1970s through the Internet age to explain the origins of the largest mass suicide in US history. The four-part series takes a serious look at a religious group dismissed as space cadets. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "HEAVEN'S GATE: CULT OF CULTS" GO TO 30:00 When New York City police arrested Dominiqu...

A foreign correspondent is pulled into the story of a Westerner whose account of joining ISIS is suspect. No, it’s not "Caliphate" - we’ll discuss “ I'm Not a Monster ” from BBC Panorama and Frontline PBS. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "I'M NOT A MONSTER" GO TO 37:00 Their father was a fertility doctor who used his own sperm for insemination. “ Baby God ” from HBO Documentaries follows some of hi...

In this episode, Kevin begins with a thank you to the listeners. THANK YOU. We love you a lot. In 1975, West Yorkshire police discovered the body of a woman who’d been brutally murdered, the first in a series of killings that rocked Northern England. The British press could not resist the similarities between this criminal and London’s most famous killer. Netflix’s “ The Ripper ” explores the kill...

While the team enjoys the holiday vacation, here's a classic rewind of their original discussion from January 2016 of "Making a Murderer." Lara loses her mind over the ethics of Dassey's defense, Toby is skeptical but sympathetic, Rebecca goes out on a limb, and Kevin gives his wife a terrible anniversary card. Plus, the Crime of the Week! Click here to get the Crime Writers On After Show, plus mo...

A string of femicides in a Mexican border town dating back to the 1990s has claimed the lives of hundreds of women. Were the women snatched by a serial killer...or by a network of people who knew they could get away with it? We review the podcast, “ Forgotten: Women of Juárez .” FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "FORGOTTEN: WOMEN OF JUÁREZ," GO TO 32:00 In 1991, a woman claimed her jealous husband t...

With such a fantastic finale, the crime writers dig into episode four of " Murder on Middle Beach ." Taken as a whole, this documentary exceeded expectations...by a lot! After being arrested in 1983 for a petty theft in London, a homeless Irishman killed his cellmate for snoring too much. When grilled by detectives, Kieran Patrick Kelly unexpectedly confessed to a series of unsolved murders. The R...

In 2010, Barbara Beach Hamburg was bludgeoned to death outside her Connecticut home. In HBO’s four-part “ Murder on Middle Beach ,” Madison Hamburg offers an intimate look at his mother's killing, his troubled family, and his own painful search for answers. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH," GO TO 36:00 Grace Fraser’s life is upended when the mother of a student at her son’s...

Though we took last week off for Thanksgiving, we didn't feel right about not putting anything in the feed this week. So we're offering up this classic rewind of our 2015 discussion of "The Jinx" and "The Staircase."   For exclusive podcasts and more, sign up at Patreon . Sign up for our newsletter at crimewriterson.com. This show was recorded in The Caitlin Rogers Project Studio . Click to find o...

As Lara gets closer to her pet detective graduation, the panel's got some great things from Netflix to talk about. Sean Ellis won a new trial decades after being convicted of murdering a Boston policeman. What he didn’t know then was Detective John Mulligan was a dirty cop and his partners steered the investigation away from their own illegal activity. In “ Trial 4 ,” Ellis prepares to go back to...

Doctor Farid Fata was Michigan’s go-to oncologist, but clinicians who got a closer look at the medicines he was administering became suspicious. Wondery's out with season two of the hit podcast "Dr. Death." FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DR. DEATH" GO TO 22:00 Then, from famed documentarian Alex Gibney comes “Crazy Not Insane,” a look at Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis’s career and the controversy around...

WHAT A WEEK! Can you believe we had time to listen or watch anything ? It was considered a crime against the game. When the Houston Astros went from worst-to-first, the baseball world loved the story. Then it came out they’d been stealing the other team’s pitching signs. What does it all mean? We review the new podcast, " The Edge ." FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE EDGE," GO TO 32:00 In 1969 t...

Guys! Lara is getting close to being a certified pet detective now that she's learned cat forensics. Can't get enough of the election? Luminary has re-released for free “ Fiasco: Bush v Gore .” Leon Neyfakh brings his signature style to butterfly ballots, hanging chads, and the Brooks Brothers Riot. Was the 2000 Florida recount a political anomaly or a blueprint for future electoral triumph? FOR O...

The newspaper story of a woman who crusaded against her attacker's light sentence unveiled a secret about a different person in the courtroom. In “ Canary ” from the Washington Post, we follow a three-year effort to flesh out the long-ago accusation and its effect on those directly and indirectly involved. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CANARY" GO TO 34:00 An English village was rocked in 1985 wh...

Stop, what's that sound? CWO reveals its new theme music (listen for the typewriter). The 2016 disappearance of the senior class president divided a small Texas town. And when he turned up dead two years later it only added to the mystery. In the Texas Monthly podcast “ Tom Brown’s Body ” award winning journalist Skip Hollandsworth explores this unsolved case featuring a defensive sheriff, an offe...

It was a scam that tricked film crew members to fly halfway around the world for a fake movie. But what was this con job really about? We’ll talk about the new podcast, " Chameleon: The Hollywood Con Queen ." FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CHAMELEON" GO TO 24:00 Netflix’s new documentary “ American Murder: The Family Next Door ” is told exclusively through texts, Facebook posts, police body cams...

It's the feel bad episode of the season! First, the Oklahoma City bombing opened America’s eyes to anti-government groups. In “ Two Minutes Past Nine ” from BBC Sounds, host Leah Sottile ("Bundyville") provides a primer on American extremism and draws a straight line between Timothy McVeigh and today's extremists. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "TWO MINUTES PAST NINE," GO TO 26:00 Then, in season...

He was a troubled teen who fell into a gang before being gunned down in an East London park. Was CJ the actual target? Are his killers taunting his family in rap videos? We’ll review “ Who Killed CJ Davis ?” FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "WHO KILLED CJ DAVIS?" GO TO 33:00 It's the story of a womanizing real estate developer whose unconventional political movement propelled him to the highest elec...

His parishioners didn't learn Father Ryan Scott wasn't a priest until he'd already made off with their money. The crime writers share their thoughts on " Smoke Screen: Fake Priest ." FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SMOKE SCREEN: FAKE PRIEST," GO TO MINUTE 24:00 Then HBO Max's " Class Action Park " plays for laughs with its look back at a NJ water park with rides so ridiculously hazardous that no i...

Lara announces she's combining her love of cats and investigative skills into a new career. Who knew you could? Was the 1954 lynching of prominent Black businessman Isadore Banks solely an act of racism, or was there also a financial motive? We're discussing " Unfinished: Deep South ” from Witness Docs. FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "UNFINISHED" GO TO MINUTE 29:00 Then the panel gets a real-time...