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The original true crime review podcast that looks at other podcasts, TV, and pop culture. True crime authors and real-life couple Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn hold a pop-culture round table with noir novelist Toby Ball and journalist-turned-investigator Lara Bricker. The panel chats about other podcasts (including 'Serial') as well as journalism, storytelling, TV shows and films, and the special segment, 'Crime of the Week.' Show website: crimewriterson.com. Follow the show on X @crimewriterson. Find us on Facebook facebook.com/crimewritersonpodcast. Email the show at crimewriterson@gmail.com.
In the 1940s and 50s, Dr. John Bodkin Adams grew a large practice in East Sussex caring for the elderly. But few knew that Adams was administering heroin to his wealthy patients before they slipped into comas. Many listed the doctor as executor of their estates or left him a sizable inheritance in their wills. Officials later determined the deaths of over 160 of Adams’s patients were suspicious. His 1957 prosecution for murder was dubbed the “Trial of the Century.” But was Adams killing his elderly patients for money or was he simply easing the pain of their dying days?
Broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster and distributed by BBC Sounds, “Assume Nothing: A Deadly Diagnosis” is the latest installment in the investigative podcast series. Host Vinny Hurrell revisits the historical true crime case of the Northern Irish GP suspected of being a serial killer. Was Adams an angel of mercy or an angel of death?
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ASSUME NOTHING: A DEADLY DIAGNOSIS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL ELEVEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Souper Bowl-less.
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In 1979, a teenage girl drowned while vacationing in Hawai’i. Months later, her distraught mother drove her car off a cliff with her nanny in the passenger seat. In each case, the beneficiary in their wills was Terri Lee Hoffman, the leader of a Dallas-based spiritual group. Over the next ten years, a dozen people in her orbit died by suicide or accident, including two who believed they had terminal illnesses but did not. Several left Terri their assets, and for years, family members have suspected the spiritual leader may have used her power of persuasion to cause the deaths.
From Sony Music Entertainment comes “Scary Terri.” Host Jonathan Hirsch revisits the deaths and attempts to answer whether she manipulated her devotees into taking deadly action. He also tries to follow the money that disappeared when Terri claimed she was bankrupt.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SCARY TERRI" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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After ratting out John Gotti and leaving witness protection, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano joins his adult children in Phoenix to start over. Despite trying to go legit, his son, Gerald, is making extra money selling ecstasy at underground raves. Gerald finds himself in a turf war with English Shaun, a former British stockbroker who’s now Arizona’s biggest E dealer. As police look to disrupt the party drug trade, they’re stunned to learn the famous New York hitman is in the middle of it all.
The Max Original documentary “Sons of Ecstasy” features Sammy the Bull and the whole Gravano family, plus members of the rival crew locked in a lucrative turf war over Molly. The show lets its subjects do the talking about their crimes, their beefs, and their ideas of what “loyalty” means.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "SONS OF ECSTASY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: ballin'.
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Audiences were charmed by “Free Willy,” the 1993 movie about a captive orca returning to the wild. But when the world learned the real whale was wasting away in a Mexican amusement park, scientists and activists united in a project to re-introduce Keiko to the open ocean, just like his on-screen counterpart.
NOTE: We are reviewing the entirety of The Good Whale, although some of it is still behind a payway via The New York Times. (It is being released weekly on public platforms)
But learning the skills to fend for himself in the sea proved difficult for an orca who grew up in an aquarium, not in a killer whale pod. Meanwhile, as the public waited for a cinematic conclusion, disagreement grew about how best to help Keiko and whether his lifelong reliance on humans made it impossible for him to return to the ocean.
From Serial Productions and The New York Times comes “The Good Whale.” Host Daniel Alarcón recounts the ambitious, multinational experiment to rewild the famous orca, as well as the scientific and ethical struggles around the effort. The series also includes a controversial creative choice: presenting Keiko’s unseen journey through the ocean in the form of a musical number.
OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEWS OF "THE GOOD WHALE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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The Garvey sisters gather to celebrate Grace’s wedding to Ian, a man far more loving than her dead first husband, John Paul. But Roger is struggling with his guilt of helping Grace get rid of The Prick and making it look like an accident. After an unexpected turn, Eva and her sisters struggle with a pushy neighbor, an unexplained absence, and a possible blackmail scheme. As the Garveys dig themselves deeper into a hole, the Garda re-examine John Paul’s untimely death and the sisters’ connection to it.
The second season of the Emmy-nominated “Bad Sisters” from Apple TV+ finds Eva, Bibi, Becka, and Ursula trying to cover up more crimes and confront their own family turmoil. The dark comedy explores how far people will go to protect the ones they love.
OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEWS OF "BAD SISTERS" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Can do it with my eyes closed.
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Jared Akron seemed to be living the perfect life: a newlywed with a new house and twins on the way. But as the due date approached, that life started to unravel. Their home was destroyed in a fire. Then, kept from the delivery room by COVID protocols, his wife Kristy texted that the babies were gravely ill. As he tried to put their lives back together, Jared realized he overlooked some red flags about the pregnancy and his social media-obsessed wife. Were the calamities around them caused by bad luck - or by someone close to him?
From iHeartMedia, Audio Up, and Just Sweep Press Productions comes the podcast “The Unborn.” Host Trisha LaFache talks with Jared and his loved ones about his tale of illusion, deception, and psychosis.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE UNBORN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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After she quits Scotland Yard, detective Millie Black takes a post in her native Jamaica to confront her troubled past. She tries to reconnect with Hibiscus, the sibling who for years she thought was dead, but is now living on the margins as a trans sex worker. Millie works the case of a missing child who may be connected to a powerful family. The investigation takes a turn when a British detective turns up in Kingston with an interest in a lead suspect.
Tamara Lawrence and Joe Dempsie star in the HBO Original “Get Millie Black.” The crime thriller follows the detective haunted by unsolved cases and unresolved trauma as she navigates the gritty parts of Jamaica tourists don’t see.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "GET MILLIE BLACK" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: ding dong dog.
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There was something for everyone on the TV in 2024. We saw documentaries that revealed intimate aspects of the justice system. And there were some that challenged viewers to decide what is fact and what is fiction. But there were also shows that made us laugh…and more than one that made us cry. But which TV shows and documentaries truly stood out? Here are the crime writers; top ten lists for the best TV of 2024.
Lara Bricker:
Toby Ball:
Kevin Flynn:
Rebecca Lavoie:
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2024 was an exceptionally strong year for podcasts. There were multiple investigative series, fascinating retrospectives of the history you thought you knew, and even some light-hearted fare that was quirky and entertaining. But which titles truly stood out? Here are our top ten selections for 2024.
Lara Bricker:
Toby Ball:
Kevin Flynn:
Rebecca Lavoie:
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Sap farmer Ruth Landry is deeply in debt and faces losing her property to the Quebec Maple Association. Her friend Mike hatches a million dollar scheme with a security guard to rip off the association. They plan on stealing barrels of syrup from the warehouse and selling it themselves. Plans for the heist become more ambitious, but a murder connected to the conspirators threatens to complicate the operation. And if Mike’s mob bosses find out what he’s up to, the trio will have more to worry about than the police.
Margo Martindale stars in “The Sticky” from Prime. Inspired by the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the comedy-thriller mixes “Ocean's Eleven” with “Fargo.” Can this unlikely trio syphon millions of dollars in syrup and land a sweet deal?
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE STICKY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
