McMillions and The Other Latif

As the crime writers prepare for their 200th episode special, Rebecca and Kevin have an invitation to London-based listeners.

First off, in “The Other Latif,” Latif Nasser learns a Moroccan native who shares his name has been held for years at Guantanamo accused of being a top military adviser to Osama bin Laden. This miniseries from RadioLab explores whether his namesake is as dangerous as the US says he is.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “RADIOLAB: THE OTHER LATIF” BEGINS IN THE 31st MINUTE.

Then: It’s the biggest fraud case you’ve never heard about. In HBO’s “McMillions,” a bored FBI agent stumbles on to a tip that McDonald’s million-dollar Monopoly game is fixed. This whodunnit, howdaydoit is lighthearted, intriguing, and – at times – moving.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “McMILLIONS” BEGINS IN THE 59th MINUTE.

In Crime of the Week: jack shit.

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The Pharmacist and Uncover: Satanic Panic

After casting their votes in the New Hampshire Primary, the panel is ready to vote on two new true crime titles.

First, the crime writers discuss the new season of Uncover: Satanic Panic. Host Lisa Rundle brings us to a Saskatchewan town rocked in the 90s by an alleged pedophilia ring run by devil worshipers. The podcast recalls the mass hysteria and the lives forever changed by the charges.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “UNCOVER: SATANIC PANIC” STARTS IN THE 28 MINUTE OF THE SHOW.

Then, Netflix’s “The Pharmacist” tells the story of a mild-mannered Louisiana druggist whose life is turned upside down by the murder of his son. While working through his grief, Dan Schneider notices a pattern of healthy-looking people filling OxyContin prescriptions from a particular doctor.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE PHARMACIST” STARTS IN THE 55 MINUTE MARK OF THE SHOW.

Then in Crime of the Week, that’s nuts.

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Chasing Cosby and The Sneak

Greetings from New Hampshire, where the Crime Writers will be among those casting their First in the Nation primary ballots. Hear them discuss the new text technology campaigns will be using to get your vote.

Leading off, USAToday Sports and For the Win is out with a podcast covering an unusual bank Heist. “The Sneak” tells us of a bizarre armored car holdup where a man disguised as a landscaper escaped down river on an inner tube. Host Nate Scott says there’s much more to the story.

OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF “THE SNEAK” BEGINS IN THE 26 MINUTE MARK OF THE SHOW.

The LA Times’s new podcast looks into the events that took down one of America’s most beloved figures. In “Chasing Cosby”, host Nikki Weisensee Egan uses archival tape and new witness interviews to show the long, difficult road to justice against a rich, powerful celebrity and the unlikely events - and incredibly brave victims - that led to Bill Cosby’s arrest and conviction.

OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF “CHASING COSBY” BEGINS IN THE 59 MINUTE MARK OF THE SHOW.

In Crime of the Week: drug reading dog.

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The Officer's Wife and Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez

Mixed reviews this week from the crime writers. First, they explore "The Officer's Wife" from Vault Studios. Just as you think the story will be a typical by-the-numbers true crime tale...it offers a real plot twist. But does it leave too many listener questions unanswered?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE OFFICER'S WIFE" BEGINS AROUND THE 34 MINUTE MARK. 

Then, Netflix has a new documentary tackling the life and crimes of the late NFL star Aaron Hernandez. Much like the 2018 podcast "Gladiator," “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” is also a revealing look at a troubling story of power, money, family, sexuality, visually elevated in the way only a documentary can.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "KILLER INSIDE" BEGINS AROUND THE 57 MINUTE MARK.

Then in Crime of the Week, little hellions. 

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No Body Recovered and The Outsider

The panel takes a moment to reflect on the premature demise of two of their favorite shows, HBO’s “Watchmen” and Netflix’s “Mindhunter.”

The Crime Writers follow BBC Radio to County Donegal for a look at Ireland’s longest unsolved missing child case. In season one of “No Body Recovered,” host Kevin Connolly explores the 1977 story of Mary Boyle, through the eyes of the family torn apart by her disappearance.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “NO BODY RECOVERED” BEGINS AROUND THE 36 MINUTE MARK.

Then, HBO and Stephen King team for their adaptation of “The Outsider.” How can a man accused of murder have been in two places at once? The all-star cast explores the paradox of this crime and the thought that supernatural forces may be at play.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE OUTSIDER” BEGINS AROUND THE 1:05 MINUTE MARK.

In Crime of the Week: Frostbite of the Iguana.

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The Dream and Disorganized Crime

In an episode that seems to go off the rails at times, the panel discusses season two of “The Dream.” Host Jane Marie tackles the wellness industry, covering everything from healing crystals and medicinal herbs to vitamins and natural childbirth. Are they coming after the thing YOU believe is saving you from illness?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE DREAM” BEGINS IN THE 29th MINUTE OF THE SHOW.

Then the crime writers review the long, strange trip in “Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter.” Host “Rainbow Valentine” interviews her parents about their crazy double-life moving millions of dollars of marijuana across the country.

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “DISORGANIZED CRIME” BEGINS IN THE 57th MINUTE OF THE SHOW.

In Crime of the Week: if I had a nickel for every stupid question…

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Dig and Midnight Son

The panel discusses the new podcast/audiobook hybrid “Midnight Son” from Audible Originals. We’re taken to the Arctic to explore the crimes of an Alaska Native and to investigate his claim that while as a fugitive in the wilderness he was visited by mythic tribe thought only to exist in legend.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “MIDNIGHT SON,” GO TO THE 41 MINUTE MARK

Dog(s) of the week porn

Then, we’re off to Louisville for season one of “Dig” from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. Host Eleanor Klibanoff finds prosecutors in that community are declining to seek charges and close many sexual assault cases, in a policy that may protect conviction rates and crime statistics more than it protects victims.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “DIG,” GO TO THE 1:13 MINUTE MARK.

In crime of the week: Wakanda forever!

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Accused and Don't F**k with Cats

Rebecca and Kevin start by addressing some back-end tech changes that could affect listeners’ experience. There are shout-outs to our newest listener. And the panel solicits input from the audience for our upcoming 200th episode celebration.

The Crime Writers review the new season of “Accused.” The eight-part series is a story of corporate malfeasance, wrapped in a missing persons case filled with conspiracy theories, family secrets, and government lies.

OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF “ACCUSED” CAN BE FOUND AROUND THE 33 MINUTE MARK.

Then they discuss Netflix’s "Don’t F**k With Cats: The Hunt for An Internet Killer." A gang of armchair detectives are looking for the person posting videos of animal cruelty. But before law enforcement takes the virtual manhunt seriously, the suspect turns his violent depravity on an unsuspecting man.

OUR SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF “DON’T F**K WITH CATS” CAN BE FOUND AROUND THE 1:22 MINUTE MARK

Then in Crime of the Week, shoulda called a cab.

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In the Dark update and The Confession Killer on Netflix

The crime writers marvel at Kevin’s encyclopedic knowledge of Dunkin Donuts locations in New Hampshire!

The team is blown away by the latest bonus episode of “In the Dark,” which covers Curtis Flowers’s bail hearing now that SCOTUS has overturned his conviction. If this were the final installment of the Peabody winning podcast, would it be the perfect ending?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “IN THE DARK” STARTS AT APPROXIMATELY 34:53

Then the panel looks at Netflix’s five-part series, “The Confession Killer.” Did Henry Lee Lucas fabricate his involvement in more than 360 murders? Why would law enforcement be so willing to believe Lucas and attack anyone who challenged the claims?

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF “THE CONFESSION KILLER” STARTS AT APPROXIMATELY 1:03:00

In crime of the week: Chicka, chicka-yeah, fake ID!

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Catch and Kill, plus Detective Trapp

Leading off, Ronan Farrow's “The Catch and Kill Podcast” is an inside look at one of the most important stories of the decade, giving a deeper dive into the downfall of one of the entertainment industry’s most powerful men. Is there still more to this story?

YOU CAN FIND OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CATCH AND KILL" AROUND THE 34:38 MINUTE MARK. 

The team behind “Dirty John” returns with “Detective Trapp.” Anaheim's only female homicide detective is assigned the case of an unidentified woman found in a garbage facility. Det. Trapp suspects the crime may be connected to others in Southern California.

YOU CAN FIND OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DETECTIVE TRAPP" AROUND THE 1:09:18 MINUTE MARK.

In Crime of the Week: O Tannan-brawl.

Breaking down Broken Justice and a hot take on Bikram

There arose such a clatter at Lara's town holiday celebration (fowl play). And Toby has been getting Twitter trolled by Dan Taberski. 

PBS NewsHour has released a podcast examining the public defender system in the US entitled “Broken Justice.” Frank Carlson and Amna Nawaz look at the issue through the lens of the Missouri public defenders office, one in which attorneys are given more clients than they can ethically handle.

A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "BROKEN JUSTICE" CAN BE FOUND AT APPROXIMATELY 33:00.

Netflix's documentary “Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator” chronicles the rise of the self-made yoga-master-to-the-stars who founded the hot yoga movement.The film details how Bikram Chaudry used his position to prey on his students who had professional and financial pressures to please him. 

A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR" CAN BE FOUND AT APPROXIMATELY 53:00.

In Crime of the Week: it's written all over your face. 

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Hunting Warhead and The Devil Next Door

Sure to be one of the most difficult sets of reviews to get through, the crime writers tackle two shows sure to stir emotions in most listeners.

Netflix’s “The Devil Next Door” recaps the legal battles of John Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker in Cleveland accused of being a Nazi prison camp guard known as "Ivan the Terrible." Featuring extensive film from the original trial as well as disturbing Holocaust images, "The Devil Next Door" challenges the viewer’s allegiances.

Then, CBC Podcasts and Norwegian newspaper VG have teamed up for a disturbing investigation into the digital world of child pornography. “Hunting Warhead” begins with an investigative reporter whose explorations of the dark web as he stumbles upon “Child’s Play,” a huge network of criminals around the world sharing images of child sexual abuse.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS DISCUSSION OF SEXUAL ABUSE THAT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL LISTENERS.

In Crime of the Week: Skelly's belly.

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Have You Seen This Man & Tell Me Who I Am

This week, Lara is bitten by a tick (not on the podcast though), we squee about The Crown, and a person from a recent podcast sends an email to the crime writers.

ABC Audio’s new podcast "Have you Seen This Man" goes on the manhunt for a former-death row convict who walked away from an Ohio prison in 1973 and hasn't been seen since. Reporter Matthew Mosk follows US Marshals still hunting Lester Eubanks after five decades on the run.

Netflix’s “Tell Me Who I Am” documents one amnesia patient’s quest for answers about his life, answers his twin brother has refused to supply. The documentary poses tough questions about whether it’s better to confront one’s painful past or to remain blissfully ignorant of its destructive consequences.

In crime of the week: Helter Shelter

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Why to watch Watchmen & Murder in Oregon

“Murder in Oregon” explores one of that state’s most infamous homicides. Corrections Department Director Michael Francke was stabbed outside of his office in 1989. Was his killing tied to his investigation of corruption?

HBO's “Watchmen” takes place in an alternative history where cops who hide behind masks for their own safety team with costumed vigilantes to fight crime and avoid a race war. Like the comic, "Watchmen" ponders what kind of heroes are needed in a world where truth and justice are in short supply.

In crime of the week: turn the other cheek.

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Dolly Parton's America & Bad Batch

Leading off, the medical mystery behind Wondery's "Bad Batch" is not just who is responsible for contaminated stem cells that made patients sick. It also looks at the company’s claims that stem cells can treat virtually everything, when it’s only approved for blood disorders.

FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "BAD BATCH," GO TO 28:07

Moving on, NYC Studios and OSM Audio are rolling out a nine-part series about an American icon. In “Dolly Parton’s America,” RadioLab host Jad Abumrad explores the over-sized cultural impact of the perhaps under-appreciated country music singer.

FOR A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DOLLY PARTON'S AMERICA," GO TO 58:36

In crime of the week: who'll start the rain?

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Limetown on Facebook Watch and The Undercovers

First up, Facebook Watch is out with its own imagining of the podcast, "Limetown." As with the original, the story revolves around a public radio reporter investigating the sudden disappearance of hundreds of people from a tiny town and remote research facility years ago.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "LIMETOWN," GO TO 38:32

Moving on, “The Undercovers” is an audio dramatization of the life and career of a DEA agent and his exploits working to take down narco-terrorists from inside their organizations. It attempts to set itself apart in style and storytelling, with tough-guy dialogue to go along with the tough-guy action.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE UNDERCOVERS," GO TO 55:28

In Crime of the Week: blood bath.

Double podcast review: Motive and StartUp

We start with a look inside podcasting's biggest business deal: Spotify's acquisition of Gimlet. In "StartUp," Alex Blumberg and Matt Leiber reveal the behind-the-scenes tensions and pose the question: can a nine-figure paycheck mend this friendship? 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "STARTUP," GO TO 33:28

Next, "Motive" from the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ tells the case of teen exonerated for a murder, awarded millions, only to wide up in jail again. With its “Making a Murderer”-themes, “Motive” is a cautionary tale about the system failing the innocent and what happens when redemption is squandered.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MOTIVE," GO TO 57:11

In crime of the week: these dogs have flees.

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The Mysterious Mr. Epstein & The Missing Cryptoqueen

The Crime Writers get into about book covers. (Guess which one has the worst cover ever?)

In “The Mysterious Mr. Epstein,” host Linsey Graham hopes to fill in the blanks around the infamous investor-to-the-stars’s origin story and how he was able to lure and rape young women with no consequences for so long.

To hear our spoiler-free review of The Mysterious Mr. Epstein, go to 32:34.

BBC Sounds presents an investigation into a multi-million dollar scam involving OneCoin and the disappearance of the cryptocurrency’s founder. Host Jamie Bartlett shows us that Dr. Ruja Ignatova turned her digital money venture into a cult-like phenom.

To hear our spoiler-free review of The Missing Cryptoqueen, go to 1:03:26.

In Crime of the Week: legal dream team.

Passenger List and Criminal:UK

First up: Netflix’s new crime series is an anthology set in a police interview room and its adjacent observation post. In Criminal: UK, we see a specialized team try to get suspects to crack. In addition to Criminal: UK, the series also brings us to Spain, France, and Germany without ever leaving the set.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CRIMINAL:UK" GO TO 25:38

Moving on, Radiotopia’s ambitious drama “Passenger List” follows a woman who seeks answers from friends and relatives of flier on ill-fated Atlantic 702. Is the airline lying about a bird strike taking down the plane? Was the airliner caught up in a global conspiracy?

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "PASSENGER LIST" GO TO 53:10

Then in Crime of the Week: death, taxes, satellite TV.

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The Thing About Pam and Hit Man

First off is a look at iHeartRadio's "Hit Man." The podcast follows the stories of the hit men - one who used music and one who used a gun - as well as a discussion about whether a book providing a step-by-step guide to getting away with murder is speech that ought to be protected.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "HIT MAN," GO TO 24:33

Moving on...in "The Thing About Pam" from Dateline, police zone in on Russ Feria for his wife's murder, pointed there by co-worker Pam Hupp. It’s not an open-and-shut case and the Dateline team gets dragged into the story. But mostly...this is about Keith Morrison.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE THING ABOUT PAM," GO TO 50:22

In crime of the week: golden oldies.

Kevin will be doing a walkathon in high-heel shoes. Click here to donate to Kevin's Walk A Mile In Her Shoes page.

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