Witnessed: Borderlands & The Women and the Murderer

In the new podcast series “Witnessed: Borderlands” from Campside Media, host Rob D’Amico recalls the story of a drug runner and a crooked lawman who moved pot and cocaine through West Texas and how their alliance culminated in a botched billion dollar coke deal. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "WITNESSED: BORDERLANDS" GO TO 20:50

The Netflix French import “The Women and the Murderer” recalls the manhunt for a serial killer who terrorized Paris. It's told from the point of view of the female detectives, reporters, and lawyers involved in the case. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE WOMEN AND THE MURDERER" GO TO 54:30

In crime of the week: take the money and run.

Suspect and John of God

For years, the Brazilian faithful sought out psychic healer John of God, but the religious leader told young women their miracles were to be performed through other techniques. The Netflix import “John of God: The Crimes of a Spiritual Healer,” explores the case of a man who used his position to assault hundreds of women.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "JOHN OF GOD" GO TO 22:30

A murder in an apartment building left cops with two viable suspects, but not enough evidence for an arrest.  Did they put too much faith in a questionable interpretation of the DNA? “Suspect” from Campside Media and Wondery slowly pulls back the layers of a case with dubious assumptions, racial bias, and junk science which likely put the wrong man behind bars.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SUSPECT" GO TO 1:00:00

In crime of the week: naked grapes.

Firebug and Laëtitia

Southern California officials were dealing with a string of seemingly unrelated arsons. Then a manuscript turned up with a fictional account of the fire setter. Is the book a veiled confession by the author whose identity stuns investigators? The podcast "Firebug" explores that question.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "FIREBUG" GO TO 26:00

When a teenager's scooter is found abandoned in the road, police begin a desperate search. The six-part French language series “Laëtitia,” now on HBO, focuses on her troubled past, the effect on her twin sister, the hunt for evidence, and the leaders who used the crime for their own political ends.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "LAËTITIA" GO TO 56:00

In crime of the week: take a bite out of crime.

9/12 and LuLaRich

The memories of what happened on September 11th are burned clearly into our minds, but what happened afterward is often fuzzy. In "9/12," from Pineapple Street Studios, Wondery, and Amazon Music, host Dan Taberski goes beyond the usual retrospectives, and looks at how 9/11 stopped being a day and became an idea.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "9/12" GO TO35:00

While leggings company LuLaRoe earned billions, the money came not from consumers - but from the tens of thousands of sales women purchasing substandard inventory too flimsy to sell. The Amazon Prime documentary “LuLaRich” dives into what officials have called a huge pyramid scheme. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "LULARICH" GO TO [+4].1:08:00

In crime of the week: no mate, proper whack.

Only Murders in the Building and The Yellow Car

In 1989, daycare provider Effie Entezari was shot in the parking lot of her Vancouver, Washington apartment complex. KGW and VAULT Studio's "The Yellow Car" follows Pooneh Gray's quest to clear her father’s name, questioning the ballistics, and struggling to test DNA from an alternative suspect.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE YELLOW CAR" GO TO 26:20

When a resident in their expensive New York apartment dies under suspicious circumstances, a former TV cop, a washed-up Broadway producer, and a mysterious young woman start their own true crime podcast. Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, is a comic send-up of true crime troupes, an old-fashioned whodunnit, and a character study about regret. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING" GO TO 59:40

In Crime of the Week: we all scream...

The White Lotus and Pray Away

With Toby away on vacation, the crime writers welcome actress and podcaster Janet Varney to the panel.

The Netflix documentary “Pray Away” looks back at the early-adopters of conversion therapy and the advocates who believed in its efficacy...until they didn’t. The film also follows an evangelical who renounced his trans identity and is organizing a political movement for those who identify as “ex-gay.” 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "PRAY AWAY" GO TO 35:00

Who was killed during their stay at this luxurious Hawaiian resort? Beneath the comedy in the HBO series “The White Lotus” there is a simmering tension and a commentary on the tedium of wealth, the indifference of privilege, and the specter of death. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE WHITE LOTUS" GO TO 1:13:00

In Crime of the Week: deal of a lifetime.

TO PRE-ORDER AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF LARA'S NEW BOOK, DEAD ON DEADLINE, CLICK HERE.

Peacock's Dr. Death and No Place Like Home

In Oz, everyone wanted to get their hands on the ruby slippers. In Grand Rapids, someone did! The C13 Originals podcast “No Place Like Home” looks at the 2005 movie memorabilia heist and the hunt for the thieves. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "NO PLACE LIKE HOME" GO TO MINUTE 27:15

A pair of Dallas surgeons are alarmed by their new colleague. Dr. Christopher Duntsch leaves a trail of maimed, paralyzed, and dead patients - while hospital administrators look the other way. The Peacock Originals’ adaptation of “Dr. Death” is the medical-procedural soap-opera buddy-movie think-piece courtroom-drama of the summer. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DR. DEATH" GO TO MINUTE 1:06:20

In Crime of the Week: pissed off.

Heist and Chameleon: High Rollers

In season two of Campside Media’s “Chameleon: High Rollers,” host Trevor Aaronson takes listeners inside the FBI’s ill-fated Operation Botox. The podcast promises a tale of love triangles, gun runners, exotic dancers, wrongful prosecutions, and a pair of agents having too much fun undercover in Sin City.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CHAMELEON: HIGH ROLLERS" GO TO MINUTE 32.

The Netflix series “Heist” looks at three colorful crimes perpetrated by somewhat ordinary people. Employing stylized re-creations and interviews with the amateur perpetrators, it explores the thrill, the dangers, and the fun behind each caper. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HEIST" GO TO MINUTE 72.

In Crime of the Week: hell on wheels. 

Murder in Illinois and Murder By the Coast

Christopher Vaughn was convicted for the 2007 killings of his wife and children in the family minivan. The iHeart podcast "Murder in Illinois" looks into whether someone else was responsible and an innocent man is in prison. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MURDER IN ILLINOIS" GO TO MINUTE 29:00

The killing of a teen in a Spanish seaside village and the prosecution of a family friend for the slaying gripped the country. Netflix's "Murder By the Coast" describes how a subsequent crime would rock two nations. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MURDER BY THE COAST" GO TO MINUTE 58:00

In crime of the week: dog fight.

Un(re)solved and Sophie: A Murder in West Cork

It took an act of Congress to compel the FBI to reinvestigate more than 100 civil rights-era murders. From FRONTLINE PBS comes the podcast “Un(re)solved,” a look at the attempt to close open cases of racially-motivated killings from five decades ago.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "UN(RE)SOLVED" GO TO MINUTE 28:00

In 1996, a French tourist was murdered outside her Irish vacation home. Suspicion in the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier turned to a man already publicly involved in the investigation. Netflix’s three-part series “Sophie: A Murder in West Cork” revisits Ireland’s most infamous homicide.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "WEST CORK" GO TO MINUTE 1

In crime of the week: nacho average customer.

Alligator Candy and Day X

When journalist David Kushner was four-years-old, his older brother biked off to buy him his favorite gum. In "Alligator Candy" from UCP Audio, Kushner struggles to come to terms with the loss and the thought that his request led to tragedy.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "ALLIGATOR CANDY" GO TO MINUTE 28:15

The discovery of a handgun at an airport led authorities to a German soldier posing as a Syrian refugee and the possibility right-wing extremists had infiltrated the nation’s military. The New York Times podcast “Day X” looks at the rise of German extremists, the political figures they were targeting, and their crimes hidden in plain sight.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DAY X" GO TO MINUTE 1:04:00

In Crime of the Week: Do not pass Go. 

Do You Know Mordechai? And Lupin (season 2)

A stranger knocks on a woman's door and asks if she knows her ex-boyfriend, whom she learns was not who he said he was. In “Do You Know Mordechai” from UCP Audio and Antica Productions, host Kathleen Goldhar works on behalf of the bamboozled and brokenhearted to find a romantic con artist. 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "DO YOU KNOW MORDECHAI" GO TO MINUTE 27:00

France’s favorite gentleman burglar is back in season two of Netflix's “Lupin.” Assane Diop employs disguises, high tech trickery, and pure brawn to get his revenge on the man who framed his father.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "LUPIN" GO TO 56:00

In Crime of the Week: how the cookie crumbles. 

The Vaping Fix and The Trials of Frank Carson

Defense attorney Frank Carson was a rough courtroom brawler, unafraid to accuse police and prosecutors of corruption to win cases. But the disappearance of a small-time thief led investigators to focus on Carson. Was the criminal attorney as violent as his clients...or was it a vendetta by cops and lawyers to bring down their pugnacious foe? 

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE TRIALS OF FRANK CARSON" GO TO 30:00

Two Stanford students proposed a safer way to give smokers their hit of nicotine without the harmful carcinogens of cigarettes: a product that would eventually be called “Juul.” But a series of design flaws, marketing missteps, and a failure to anticipate unintended consequences only made the problem worse.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE VAPING FIX" GO TO 1:07:00

In crime of the week: and I've been working like a dog.

Searching for Sheela and The Woman in the Window

After her reclaimed fame in "Wild Wild Country," former cult leader Ma Anand Sheela went on a book tour of India. Netflix's follow-up "Searching for Sheela" shows her greeted by fans and reporters, projecting an image of a woman both enlightened by her experience and unrepentant of her past.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SEARCHING FOR SHEELA" GO TO THE 27:00 MINUTE MARK.

An agoraphobic woman witnesses a crime across the street, but investigators believe the attack was a product of her medicated imagination. Amy Adams and Gary Oldman star in the thriller "The Woman in the Window."

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW" GO TO THE 1:03:00 MINUTE MARK.

In Crime of the Week: moooving violation. 

Exit Scam and Nail Bomber: Manhunt

The sudden death of Gerald Cotten left Bitcoin owners in the lurch, because no one else had the password that controlled the hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. In the “Exit Scam,” host Aaron Lammer asks did this missing Crypto-King take a fortune to his grave...or take it on the run?

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "EXIT SCAM" GO TO 35:30

A series of 1999 bombings rocked London’s Black and gay neighborhoods. Can a regular chap-turned-spy find the neo-Nazi behind the attacks? We’ll talk about Netflix’s “Nail Bomber: Manhunt.”

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "NAIL BOMBER: MANHUNT" GO TO 1:08:00

In crime of the week: I want my mullet back.

Philly D.A. and The Lazarus Heist

A North Korean cyber group made headlines when it hacked Sony Pictures, then stole a billion dollars from a Bangkok bank. The BBC World Service podcast “The Lazarus Heist” explains how the communist regime unleashed a gang of cybercriminals on the world. Are they in it for the thrill, for the politics, or for the money?

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE LAZARUS HEIST" GO TO 30:00

In 2017, Larry Krasner was swept into the Philadelphia DA’s Office on a platform of systemic criminal justice reform. The PBS series "Philly D.A." provides an inside look at a man struggling to fix the system from the inside and those resistant to that change.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "PHILLY D.A." GO TO 1:11:00

In Crime of the Week: what's the buzz?

Mare of Easttown and Camp Hell: Anneewakee

It was founded on a curriculum of hard work, discipline, and emotional counseling for out-of-control adolescents. The iHeartRadio podcast “Camp Hell: Anneewakee” explores the sordid history of the Anneewakee Treatment Center, sold to parents as a solution for their children's problems, but was actually a breeding ground for sexual abuse.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "CAMP HELL: ANNEEWAKEE" GO TO 34:51

When a young mother is murdered, a small town detective's investigation threatens to upend her tiny community - and destroy her career and personal life. Starring Kate Winslet, HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” explores the dark side of a close community and examines how family and past tragedies can define our present.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "MARE OF EASTTOWN" GO TO 1:06:09

In Crime of the Week: 2 - 1 = 0.

In God We Lust and Pray Obey Kill

Wondery’s new series, “In God We Lust,” looks at the origins of the Jerry Falwell Jr pool boy scandal. It’s a tale of a famous Evangelical couple who preached against the sins of the flesh while all along indulging in them.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "IN GOD WE LUST" GO TO 29:20

A Swedish woman says she murdered her lover's wife after getting divine text messages. HBO's "Pray Obey Kill" looks at this religion/sex/murder case as a pair of journalists search for new evidence in the crime.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "PRAY OBEY KILL" GO TO 1:01

In Crime of the Week: hard knocks.

Sasquatch and John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise

A journalist investigates a 1993 murder in California’s marijuana country. Did it actually happen...and was Bigfoot the killer? We’ll talk about the Hulu true crime series “Sasquatch.”

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "SASQUATCH" GO TO 21:00

He murdered nearly three dozen teens and buried most in the crawlspace beneath his house. In “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise” from Peacock, we hear from the killer himself, as well as those who think there's still more to the story.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "JOHN WAYNE GACY: DEVIL IN DISGUISE" GO TO 56:30

In Crime of the Week: turtle waxed!

The Line and The Improvement Association

His follow SEALS said while in Mosul, Eddie Gallagher stabbed to death a wounded, teenage ISIS prisoner, then posed with his corpse. In "The Line" host Dan Taberski brings his unique voice to a controversial tale of how the lines between duty and dishonor are blurred in Iraq’s Forever War.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE LINE" GO TO 31:35

“The Improvement Association,” from Serial Productions and The New York Times, looks into the effects of voter fraud allegations on a small community...even when there is none. Host Zoe Chace shows it doesn’t take lies about nationwide misconduct to destabilize the institution - that simple mistrust of a neighbor can do the same thing.

FOR OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF "THE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION" GO TO 1:06:30

In Crime of the Week: I do, I do, I do, I do.