Crime Writers On...

Lara hits the roof after hearing the latest installment of " In the Dark ." We knew the court was rough on the defendant - but the jurors too?! Kevin gives a plug for the June 8-9 Toronto True Crime Film Festival. He'll be there Saturday for a panel discussion. More at torontotruecrimefilmfestival.com . Toby gets another chance to roll his eyes about "The Staircase" owl theory . Rebecca leads the...

More paper pasted this week in the Adnan Syed case. The defense has filed its conditional cross-petition . It basically says, "Hey state supreme court, don't take this case. But if you do, we got some stuff over here we want to talk about." This week's " In the Dark " buries the needle on the Brickter-scale. Listen how Cookie's story crumbles. The crime writers break out the leotards and sweatband...

Could it be? Could the next Baltimore State's Attorney be willing to drop charges against Adnan Syed? Well..he's gotta win first. How about them Handmaids - the feel-bad tv show of the year? Lara's Rage-o-meter buries the needle when she hears this week's episode of In the Dark (oh Cookie!), TO SKIP OUR TALK ABOUT "IN THE DARK," JUMP AHEAD TO 29:50. Then from Australia we’ll review “ The Teacher’s...

There are TWO true crime updates this week in the Adnan Syed case. First, prosecutors have decided to ask Maryland's highest court to review the previous rulings granting Adnan a new trial. Second, HBO has announced a documentary about the case is in the works. They promise new information and the first interviews with Adnan since "Serial." We discuss episode four of " In the Dark ." Something's f...

This week the Crime Writers look at the second season of " In the Dark " from APM Reports. Madeline Baron and her team investigate the case of Curtis Flowers, a man who’s been tried six times for the same crime. Is the sophomore season of the Peabody Award winning pod delivering the goods? TO JUMP TO THE SPOILER-FREE REVIEW, FAST-FORWARD TO 1:00:00. Kevin announces his appearance at the Toronto Tr...

Lara makes her triumphant return, promising to bring her A game. We give an update on the COSA appeal in favor of Adnan Syed: why the next 15 days are important. Speaking of triumphant returns, John David Booter is back with season two of Done Disappeared . It seems crimes against water fowl are more common than John David Booter realized. (With John David Booter.) Plus, a fake astronaut claps bac...

Lara picked the wrong week to go on vacation... The panel gives their reaction to the capture of the alleged Golden State Killer. Did Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark play a role in the arrest or is it too soon to tell? Rebecca provides Toby an abridged update on Death In Ice Valley . Then the team offers their first impressions of season two of HBO's " Westworld ." The main event: Gim...

Internet fame is bestowed upon one of the crime writers (thanks to The Daily podcast and interpretive dancing). News from West Cork ...Ian Bailey is going to have to pay a lot of money. And the panel wants to know more about what a "taint team" is. The crime writers give their first impressions of a new podcast collaboration from the BBC World Service and NRK called, “ Death in Ice Valley .” The c...

This episode Toby announces the title and guest panel for his next Patreon book club podcast (name of podcast still TBD). The Peabody Award nominations are out, and true crime is well represented. And Rebecca reveals her new (sort of) friendship with Alison Sweeney from Days of Our Lives and The Biggest Loser, who turns out to be a HUGE fan of true crime podcasts. The panel talks about the new A&E...

This episode we breakdown the recent COSA decision affirming Adnan Syed's right to a new trial. Kevin asks Undisclosed 's Colin Miller (aka Legal Siri) about how the winning and losing arguments were flipped, Adnan's chances on bail, and the local politics infused into the appeals process. Toby talks about his new Patreon-exclusive book club podcast . He, Rebecca, Rabia Chaudry, and Patrick Hines...

We said we had to win the whole damn thing - and we did! THANKS TO LISTENERS LIKE YOU we won Podcast Madness , vanquishing This American Life in the championship bracket. Now we take a victory lap! We return to normal programming with news from the Dirty John TV show. Plus, there's a "cheeky" news story out of Albuquerque that must win all the awards. "Wild Wild Country" is the topic of a wild wil...

IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP! Crime Writers On is facing off against This American Life for a chance to win DiscoverPods's PODCAST MADNESS. We are one win away from SHOCKING THE WORLD! Let's get it done: vote now at discoverpods.com . The panel tackles quite a bit this week: more " Staircase " episodes coming, the " Black Tapes " fake out, a scathing review in Slate on "Atlanta Monster," books that stay wi...

This episode the panel blitzes through a bunch of topics. Who knew Stormy Daniels was an accomplished equestrian ? That $500m lottery winner gets to remain anonymous . Why did Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth) get paid less than Matt Smith (Prince Philip) on "The Crown"? Toby finished Atlanta Monster and has some further thoughts. Did OJ Simpson really confess on that Fox special...or did he REALLY con...

The panel talks about updates from " The Pope's Long Con " and " Mommy Dead & Dearest ." We listen to a profanity-laden rant from " Crime in Sports " about self-important podcasters. And we talk about the gripping new book, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark , published posthumously after crime writer Michelle McNamara's tragic 2016 death. Our main event: " McMafia ," the new organized crime series from BBC...

Before we take a week off for school vacation (thank you, children) we'll circle back to some important True Crime Updates. The election to fill the statehouse seat of the late Danny Ray Johnson, subject of the "The Pope's Long Con," was this week...and it wasn't even close. "Making a Murderer"'s Branden Dassey has asked SCOTUS for a Writ of Cert (we'll explain what that means). The headliner for...

This week we ponder the problems of winning $550 million in the lottery and keeping a low profile. We get a love letter from Ireland and circle back to " West Cork " with a spoiler-full discussion about the prime suspect. IF YOU STILL WANT TO REMAIN SPOILER-FREE ON WEST CORK, SKIP AHEAD TO 33:16. Then we'll have an up-close look at " Mosaic ," Stephen Soderbergh's multi-platform storytelling exper...

Not even a blizzard can stop the Crime Writers from their appointed rounds (though it may crackle the connection once in a while). We get skeeved out by the latest accusations of "Making a Murderer" defense-lawyer-now-judge Len Kachinsky (cue your own cat noises). There's a notable cameo in "Sword & Scale." And we toss around our thoughts on the Onion's new true crime parody podcast, " A Very Fata...

A Done Disappeared encore, Slow Burn’s next story, The Walk’s big idea, and an Alienist review The Crime Writers take on a trio of True Crime Podcast Updates as Slow Burn wraps up season one and teases a *fantastic* follow-up, Dirty John lands a scripted series, and our best friend John David Booter tries to raise funds ( click here to help him !) for a second season in which he’ll appropriate all...

This week we unveil the new name for Studio C (it's a mouthful), learn Toby's actually the nice one, and get freaked out by what this drug can make you do in your sleep. The Crime Writers eat some humble pie and admit they were too quick to dismiss one of America's most underappreciated media figures last week - Keith Morrison from Dateline NBC. Some special podcasters will join the discussion - a...

It was one of 2017's biggest podcasts. Now the tale of " Dirty John " gets the treatment from Dateline NBC . Does a 42 minute TV episode add anything to a story already told over five hours in podcast form? Maybe just some pictures of how hunky John Meehan really was. The main event: we breakdown the first installments in " Atlanta Monster ," the new podcast from Payne Lindsey's Tenderfoot TV and...

"We are not crooks." This episode we'll circle back to Slate's excellent Watergate-based series, " Slow Burn ." Look what happens when those who believe in conspiracies learn those conspiracies are actual conspiracies. (And no, Toby still doesn't believe in conspiracies!) Speaking of conspiracies within conspiracies, we ponder Netflix's " Wormwood ." The genre-blending documentary about a secret C...

The Crime Writers might be from New Hampshire, but the shizz that's been going down with our weather has been BANANAS. Seriously, by the time you hear this, we might all be dead. BUT - we're not dead yet, so we responded to some sassy listener emails, talked about OUTSTANDING finale of John David Booter's podcast Done Disappeared , and reviewed The Pope's Long Con , a pretty great podcast from the...

In our last installment of 2017, we have an exclusive interview with Undisclosed ’s Rabia Chaudry. She’ll be talking about a defense alibi witness for Adnan Syed, whose recent arrest again points to prosecutors looking the other way when it came to witnesses in Adnan's case. Also, is there a new lead in the mystery of Robert Durst's missing wife? Then we shoot it out about Netflix’s new limited se...

Well, lookie lookie here. We've got the latest disappointing news for Brendan Dassey's hopes of a new trial, get to spread some podcast love to both Amber Hunt and Bill Rankin, and take the hit from Done Disappeared's wicked send up, "Crime Writers Off." (Spoiler alert: Bobby Tall needs to count to ten and cool off). Then we look through the peephole at Netflix's " Voyeur ." This odd tale pivots f...

The Crime Writers dig in to the problem with sending flowers to a judge, even when said judge has just ruled the way you wanted her to in the Steven Avery case. Also, a cow named Lara? Toby's daughter is a star? And only Rebecca swears too much? Then, we respond to some ire around our mixed review of the Netflix show Alias Grace. Finally, a review of the (spoiler alert) OUTSTANDING new podcast fro...